I don’t remember when I first talked to the Air Force recruiter in my senior year of high school, but by that Spring, I raised my righthand and swore an oath, “I, Gregg Macklin, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So, help me God.”
On Sept 5, 1972, going active duty, I swore the oath twice more, once at the Los Angeles Induction Center, before the flight to Lackland AFB, and once again at Lackland, to begin 6 weeks of Basic Training. 
I’ll admit there were a few times during those 6 weeks where I asked, “What in hell have I gotten myself into?” Did I mention my enlistment was not for 4 years, but for 6? Then in Sept of 1978, I did it again.
I enlisted as an aircraft mechanic. After graduating Basic Training, I left for Sheppard AFB to start my Technical Schooling. The first thing they issued me in my first class was ear plugs. I didn’t know how important they would be.
I spent the next 6 years working on an Air Force flight line. Okay, it was 7 years. In Thailand, I had a hanger job, but a taxiway was 30 feet from our shop, with a line of F-4s another 30 feet from there. The background noise was loud. While there, I spent a few weeks at the taxiway that  intersected with Runway 12, working on a Crash Crew for 12-hour shifts, as we gave air cover during our final pullout in Laos, Cambodia, South Viet Nam and the recovery of the SS Mayaguez. 
During those weeks on the Crash Crew, it was constant loud noise. I developed a Prickly Heat Rash by wearing ear protection 12 hours straight. A four aircraft flight of F-4s took off from our end of the runway using full afterburners. As soon as they cleared the departure end of the runway, another four aircraft flight of F-4s started their takeoff roll from Runway 30, heading our way. F-4s always take off using full afterburner. Meanwhile, at our end of the runway, another flight of four was taking their position for takeoff, with a long line waiting behind them. It was a loud environment that never stopped being loud.
When stationed state side, it became clear I was not a mechanic. I knew the systems well, and knew what to do to fix a problem, but I had no mechanical talent. So, I cross trained into a new career field. I became a Security Policeman. The new job kept me on the flight line. It wasn’t until I was PCS’d (Permanent Change of Station) to Malstrom and was assigned to a Missile Flight that I was away from loud noises, unless we were taking a Huey ride to or from our Launch Control Facility or on the range. But the damage was done.
For 11 years I was immersed in noise. Not that noise was eliminated after I left the Air Force. It was not. My hearing was such that by then I didn’t notice it as much. The bill was coming due. 
I’ve had surgery on my right ear for tinnitus. I fired a handgun without ear protection one too many times. Being lefthanded, I was a bit surprised it was my right ear that took the hit. 
I say “what?” “I didn’t catch that,” and “could say that again,” a lot. 
My doctor sent me to an ENT to have my hearing checked. I am in Medicare now. Guess what health issue Medicare does not cover? They cover the hearing test, but not the hearing aids. Hearing aids are not cheap, not the ones that would help me the most, anyway. Sandi, my better half, got me to enroll with the VA. I enrolled over the phone, and the next morning, I had an appointment for a date 6 weeks out, at the VA not 22 miles from the house.
I knew my hearing was bad before I made my first appointment with the VA. The hearing test was done outside the VA on referral by my doctor. Even after the test I had no idea how bad it was, the doc said I had significant tinnitus my in right ear which I already knew, it was the reason I was referred to him in the first place. 
On my second appointment with the VA, I picked up my hearing aids. They were programed by the Audiologist specifically to my hearing needs, then fine-tuned when I picked them up. 
It was an interesting process, the fine tuning. I have no idea what he was doing. Okay I followed some of it, but not much. 
The Audiologist showed me the proper way to put them on and take them off, then he put them in my ears and powered them up. I was shocked at what I could hear when they came on, such as his shoes on the carpet and sound of the fabric of his clothes as he moved back to his chair. What surprised me the most, was the sound of my voice. 
I was already in love with these hearing aids. 
We paired both hearing aids to the App on my phone before I left. Each side set to 0. There are 5 settings above and below 0, so, this seemed best. I could hear my shoes on the pavement. I could hear each breath I took. Driving home, I could hear the turn signal click and the sharp snap as the turn signal lever snapped off. Small things, but things I have not heard in years. I had forgotten what every day things sounded like. 
When I got home and walked from my truck to the house, it sounded like there were birds everywhere in our yard. Inside the house Sandi turned her back to me and whispered, “Can you hear me?” WOW, loud and clear. In hearing my own voice as loud as it now sounds has had unexpected fallout, Sandi keeps telling me I need to speak up.
In our office, the place where our computers are located, the clock on the wall is giving a loud tick tock. I knew it made that sound, but before the hearing aids, I had to concentrate to hear it. Now it was starting to get on my nerves. Watching TV without having to guess or ask about what was said is awesome. Before I was getting about 70% or less of what was said. Now I get about 95% or more. Learning how to use the app to get the best hearing for the environment I am in is going to take time. So is learning to ignore having speakers stuffed in my ears and the rest of the aids behind my ears.
 
My attempt to link my hearing aids to the Bluetooth on my MacBook Air kept failing. Going to YouTube was frustrating. Use the term Mac and the search gives results for iPhone and tablets.  Using Bing gave much the same results. I had to get creative. But the results were mixed as in ranging from it how to do it, too, it could not be done.
The next step was the Phonak P90 Facebook Page, which was helpful.
I got up put in my hearing aids. The floor squeaks. In the kitchen making breakfast, there is a bird outside the window singing away. I am sure that bird has been there most, if not all mornings, but now I can hear her.
We went shopping. I knew there was music pipped in as at times I could hear it. Today I could hear the words and tell you where it was coming from. Plastic and paper sacks are noisy in the car.  
The responses to my question in the Phonak P90 Facebook page continue to come in, so, I sit down to try once again. After several attempts, my right hearing aid pairs with my Mac. It works for about 3 seconds then quits. The left hearing aid won’t pair at all. But now, my right hearing aid won’t pair with phone app no matter what I do. It is annoying to control the volume on the left but not the right via the app. Then I remember, these hearing aids are mini computers. What do you do when a computer won’t do what it is supposed to do? You re-boot it of course. I grab the User Guide supplied with the hearing aids and follow the re-booting instructions, then attempt to pair the right hearing aid to phone app. Success. But what about the Mac Bluetooth pairing. I go to YouTube and pick a video, low and behold the left haring aid has paired. I decide I’ll take the win and stop there. A few minutes later, I am back on YouTube and both hearing aids are paired. How you may ask. I have no idea. I just pray I don’t have to do that again. 
The next morning both hearing aids are still paired to phone and MacBook.
Update, I have to pair them once in a while. The easy way is to put them in the charger for about 30 seconds then pair them to the MacBook. 
It can hear my keyboard, and Sandi using her mouse on the other side of our partner’s desk. The TV “Clicker” actually clicks. Who knew?
One evening about a week after I got my hearing aids I told Sandi to mute the TV, I could hear the Tornado Warning Siren at the RV park ¾ of a mile away. Yes, I have heard it before, but when the TV was off or I was outside and only when it was pointed at me when it was rotating. This time I heard it inside and over the sound of the TV. The storm popped up, spun up a Tornado, and within 3 or 4 minutes died out to a moderate rain event. Thank you, Jesus!
I average about 14 hours of wear time and for the most part don’t notice them as much. But when I take them out at night, the silence gets my attention.  
I had my follow-up appointment with the Audiologist at the VA after about 2 and a half months.
A few weeks before, I removed and cleaned the dome on the left hearing aid. Later that day the dome came off when I removed the hearing aid. I looked for it but they are not large or easy to see. I put on a new one. At my appointment, Doc found the missing dome still in my ear. Doc said it happens all the time. She had to work to get it out, and to be honest, it was an uncomfortable time getting it out. Doc said she had one patient that FOUR domes stuck in one ear. Okay, one, I understand, but FOUR? 
Hearing aids have opened up sound for me once again. They cannot cure my hearing loss and some frequencies are gone for good in this life, but what I can hear now is awesome.  
Of course, just as I was getting used to phone app, Phonak decided to upgrade to a new one. I miss some of the finer functions the old app had. Still, I can set up for different conditions as needed. Just pair to the phone and select the condition I need. I can then fine tune it from there. The TV setting works great with all but the Hallmark Channel(s). From some reason their productions love loud music while people are talking. So, I set up the TV setting to help with those channels, and use the Automatic settings for other TV channels and general everyday situations. 
I have changed the domes and wax guards on both hearing aids for the first time today, 30 Aug, and both feel more comfortable. And I think I hear better, though I didn’t see wax in the wax guards. Okay, I think you would need a large and clean magnifying glass to see if there is wax in the guards.
I thank God for inventing the people that have invented this technology, and the work they are continuing to do on this issue. ​

​The latest SCOTUS ruling in support of religious freedom has the left going mad. It may be perverse to say, but I find it entertaining to watch them go blind with rage over other people taking part in a freedom the left personally hates.
 
The quote we see most often, as a reason the Court got it worng is “…thus building a wall of separation between Church and State,” it is also one of the most misunderstood as well as taken out of context, quotes in history. The quote is easy to remember, and it is easy to believe it is in line with the anti-Christian agenda. Point out where the quote came from and placing it the context of the subject of the paragraph which it came from, in response to the Danbury Baptist Ministers who wrote him, is something the left has a problem dealing with. It doesn’t fit their agenda. So, they try and make the assistant football coach a government employee to bend their out of context quote to fit the separation. “As teacher he represents the government, which bars him from public prayer with the students.”  Why just limit it to students? Would not this logic preclude all other citizens too? He is a teacher, part of the government after all, so why can he teach Sunday School, be a lay preacher, or even attend a church of any kind? Be careful in asking those questions. You will have opened the door to a host of endless side issues. The hateful are, if nothing else, adept at keeping you away for the actual issues of history and the reasons the Court ruled in favor of the 1st Amendment  and our right to freedom OF religion. 
 
“Well,” I’ve been asked numerous times, “would you be okay with the ruling if the coach had been Muslim, or _______(fill in the blank)? I did say the hateful are adept at keeping away from history and the issues that resulted in the ruling, did I not? “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…” I don’t see a specific religion mentioned in any form within this clause of the 1st Amendment. Nor have I read of any such specifics in the debates over the amendment and the defense of it in the writings of anyone involved with the ratification of the amendment. Religion. All Religion. Now, bet the farm some Wing Nut will respond with, “Even those involving human sacrifice?” TBI seems to be a common affliction these days. The fact is, we have the Bill of Rights because the states felt the Constitution required specific protections to the Citizens and the States. “Congress shall NOT. 2nd Amendment “ the RIGHT of the PEOPLE…shall NOT…” Looking over the remaining Bill of Rights it is clear they all prohibit the intervention of government in respect to the rights of the people. Further, the history of the rulings by the courts prohibit all government from limiting our rights. All as in right down to the local level. 
 
“Of course, but, what if…” I very much want to respond with, “You only had a brain?” but well, I am a Christian, and though I think Jesus understands my desire to ask the sarcastic, yet honest question, He would be disappointed if I did. 
 
What if some of the kids feel they must participate, because he is after all their teacher? Grow a pair. I had a Humanities teacher my senior year in high school. She handed out an assignment that counted for 90 of grade our and gave a due date that was on Senior Ditch Day, an activity sanctioned by the School District. Said teacher, said we had to hand in the assignment in person on that day only, or fail her class. We had a great time at the beach that day. As long as the kids are in the right, teach them to stand up for themselves. The left wanted to give the vote to 16 year-olds when Trump won the election, but now those same 16 year-olds are not adult enough to walk away from a prayer they disagree with? 

The Echo Chamber is on life support, and the left has shown it will burn the entire Constitution to make sure they give it life, once again
The 2016 election exposed the agenda of the left. Social Media’s response was to step in and decide what was and was not permissible subjects for the masses to discuss. Much like the Catholic Church did in the 16th and 17th centuries to those that stood up to the power of the Church.
Several people I have discussed this with have agreed the Catholic Church was wrong 500 years ago. Then, those same people have and continue to defend the idea that speech needs to be regulated in order to protect the masses from unapproved ideas and concepts. We the people, in the eyes of these elites, are just too stupid to be allowed to read the ideas of others, or worse yet, publically express our own ideas.
The New Church adds their opinions to our words on Social Media, without our concent or the ability to make our case for why we wrote our posts the way we did. Of course, this is all for our own good and to preserve democracy. Or so we are told.All one has to do is look at how the left reacted to attempts by the Right to start new Social Media platforms. The actions of Google, Apple and Amazon shut Parler and others down, even if only for a short time. But the damage was done.
But then, along comes Elon Musk. He buys Twitter, and the first reaction by the New Church, is to scream our democracy cannot stand free unregulated speech involving unapproved subjects. Someone might not understand the nuances of the subject being discussed. We need to protect those who are less intelligent than those regulating our speech and, therefore, our thoughts.
The second reaction is far more chilling. Biden’s Department of Homeland Security has set up a Disinformation Governess Board. We have learned little since the Secretary of DHS, Alejandro Mayorkas, testified to Congress that such a board exists. He claims the board would have “no operational authority or capacity.” But the disclaimer begs even more questions. If such is actually the case, why spend the money, time, and manpower to do nothing about what the board is monitoring? Who believes the administration is taking this power, and will not use it?
The left opposed the idea of the creation of DHS. I can see why. They claimed it was too much power in the hands of those with already too much power. They were right. But it won’t stop them from doing exactly what they claimed to be against.
​
I see things on Social Media I abhorrer. Ideas that go against everything I am. The 1st Amendment gives them the right to say it. I put my life on the line to support that right. I will never regret it.

On 15 Feb, 2016 I wrote this article, Writing, Research, and Cube Farm of Paranoia  Little did I know back then, that I had just scratched the surface of the problem I was writing about.  
 
In reality the problem became so much worse, and at a speed I was then incapable of comprehending. I made the classic mistake of not understanding how motivating hate can be, how hate is inspiring new ways to silence the public and to control the narrative. 
 
Fascist Germany and the Communists of Russia, China and North Korea are nothing compared to those running Social Media in the once Free World. And now, our government is backing the death our First Amendment. 
 
“We are regularly making sure social media platforms are aware of the latest narratives dangerous to public health that we and many other Americans are seeing across all of social and traditional media and we work to engage with them to better understand the enforcement of social media platform policies,” Psaki told reporters Friday.
 
I posted this late last year:
 
“COVID19 doesn’t scare me. I was stationed in Thailand and lived off base most of the time I was there. I drank the water, ate in town. I should be immune to everything after that.”
 
The post was flagged for spreading false information about COVID19. I had the same reaction you are now feeling. An obvious joke was flagged as false information. 
 
Is there false information out there on social media? Of course, there is, people are not perfect and people have agendas they are pushing. But the First Amendment says the government can’t engage in any way to stop it. We the people have do this on our own. It is we, the people, that have the moral responsibility to do the work, to research the source and what truth there is in those sources. 
 
 
Social Media is run as an absolute dictatorship. Oh, sure they offer you the chance to disagree with their decision that one has violated their rules, but that is all it is. You get to check a box. Either you agree or disagree with the ruling. You have no say other than that. Explanations, reasons, and logic are forbidden. So much so, that you find it impossible to make your case in any form. I did find an email address for appeals. It proved useless; 
 
This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.      

Delivery to the following recipients failed permanently:
 
“So, here is the email, but we’ve blocked all incoming emails.
“You’re guilty.”
“I disagree.” 
“Fine, the ruling stands.”
“Wait, don’t I get a chance to explain?”
“Now that’s funny. Of course not.”
 
Social Media has no concept of satire, sarcasm, or humor. The I in the AI program they use, is for Idiot, not Intelligence.  They give you no real chance to correct a poorly worded post. And you have no chance at all of explaining the post.
 
This post sent me to Facebook Jail of 7 days:
 
“Adverbs. R K Rowlings was absolutely, completely, and hopelessly in love with overly using them. Her editor should be shot.”
 
It was in response to a post asking what drives you nuts in how people write. The AI decided it was a “creditable threat of violence upon a person.” Anyone that knows what an adverb is, even a 5 th grader, can see the sarcasm in the post. What specific person is threatened is never addressed. There are many kinds of editors involved in publishing a book.  Maybe the AI should be AM for Artificial Moron. If that was the programmer’s goal, he or she it hit it dead center. 
 
Social Media has ruled that common phrases used for hundreds of years as hyperbole, are now actual threats. Newspeak has arrived and is being enforced. 
 
What is being done about it? Nothing. In fact, those that can do something have sided with social media, even to the point of blocking new platforms that abide our right to fee speech.  
 
I’d give some credence to the argument that Social Media sites are private enterprises and therefore able to decide what cannot be posted on their sites, but they have abdicated that argument by aggressively advocating the shutting down of sites that won’t bow to their demands to limit the speech of others. 
 
Sites like YouTube are de-monetizing videos that merely mention forbidden subject matter, even including using the subject word in the videos that explain what subjects YouTube won’t allow payments over content, even if you meet all the other requirements. Worse still, YouTube can place ads on your content without paying you for them. It gets worse, you have no control over the kinds of ads placed on your content. So, you could have a YouTube Channel about Gun Repair, which because it is about guns keeps you from making money from them, and YouTube can then run anti-gun ads on your channel and make those ads non-skippable for those that watch your clips. Another example, you are a beekeeper, and you are explaining how the worker bees will kill remaining queen cells when a new queen hatches out before the others. Use the term “they murder/kill those within the remaining cells”, and that video is now not making you a dime, even if it is viewed a hundred hours a day for a year. But YouTube is STILL selling ad space on your content. 
 
Time to demand Congress to come up with a version of the Ma Bell breakup law for social media. 
 
Big Tech is controlling our speech and it needs to stop. The FCC needs to start handing out multi-billion-dollar fines to those companies that are blocking or making it hard to impossible to search new sites dedicated to free speech.
 
Don’t count on your elected to act unless forced to. They owe Big Tech their power and are loath to rock the boat. 
 
Are we a free people, or are we subjects of the government that has in essences told us to our faces we are too F-ing stupid to think for ourselves?
 
The problem is ours, what are we going to do about it?
 

​In 1998 the first Harry Potter book was published in the United States, three years later the first Harry Potter movie was released. 

The books were better than the movies. What else is new? Very few movies from books are as good as the book, and it is a rare thing indeed to find one that is better. The thing is they had 8 chances, and each was worse than the previous. I didn’t expect more than a million words in print to be put on the big screen, as well as they were on a page but I didn’t expect changes just for the sake of changes. The director’s job along with the screen writers’ is to put the authors’ tale to film, nothing more. When will studios figure out the fans will sit through a longer movie if the movie is true to the book? 

J.K. Rowling had a great story to tell. But, as I have written here before, she needed a better Line Editor. She was absolutely, completely found it lovely to overuse adverbs. Drove me nuts when I was reading the books.

We have been watching the movies here at home for the umpteenth time. Maybe this is an example of familiarity breeds contempt. I don’t know. I am talking about both the books and movies.

I ask these questions: If He Who Shall Be Named, had 7 Horcuxs hidden away, why was he attempting to steal Sorcerer’s Stone? Why didn’t he have Quirell use one to bring him back to full power?

One more question. Once it was clear Harry and company were searching for the Horcruxes, why didn’t Voldemort gather them up and keep them safe? No, he ignored his safety to find a weapon he could use against Harry. Did he think he could kill Harry and replace each of the destroyed Horcruxes later? 

Dumbledore was as close to a father as Harry would come to know. Okay, Pad Foot was too for a while. The thing is, Harry loved Dumbledore, he respected him almost to the point of worshiping him. Even after Dumbledore was dead, Harry carried on because he knew that was what Dumbledore wanted him to do. 

Why did Hollywood have to make the battle between Harry and Voldemort something Rowling’s never meant it to be? The destruction of the last Horcrux was never a part of his eventual death. Even Regulus Black knew this. The rules of the Horcrux were established in the Order of the Phoenix, who gave the director the to change a major, well established plot point in the last movie.

This brings us to the Elder Wand. There is a scene in the book, The Deathly Hallows, after the war has ended and Voldemort has been forever defeated, where Harry is in the Headmaster’s Office, discussing with the portraits of Dumbledore and others, what he believed should be done with the Elder Wand. Not once was it ever hinted that it be destroyed. The wand in Harry’s eyes, in his heart, to the core of who he is, believed it was, is and always will be Dumbledore’s wand and therefore must be reburied with him. Harry could no more destroy it than he could kill his friends and himself. It was unthinkable.

The Director, a Death Eater or not, should be banished to Azkaban 

I have been meaning to be more active on this blog, but the pages both in Word and in Mac’s Pages, stare back at me. Thank God, some of the stories I am working on are not completely silent when opening them up to work on.

​The Voyage of the Jules Verne is almost done… Well, unless this last plot idea takes off instead of adding more to the story than a way to close it. The current word count is more than 73k words. Editing will have a say on the final word count. If the plot idea takes off, I may still end the book but as book one of book two, and to be honest, that idea is daunting. I have been working on the Voyage now for a few years and I need to finish it, not expand it.Beneath the New Moon is 47k words and I haven’t added a new word to it in months. Maybe I need to kill off a character to get the rest of them talking. 

The Land Beneath the Rim has a word count that is a short story, 11k words. It is nowhere close to being finished. For now, it is a history of the people told from different times and places involving the myths of the rim that rings their flat world. The gods are feared by the old and the young, but the young are daring and worry less about the tales of the past. They want to find a way to climb to the top of the rim. Or, will they learn to find other ways to reach the top? For now, the story is slow in writing.

Not a Drop to Drink. The seed was planted for this story in the summer of 2014, below Horseshoe Meadows in the Eastern Sierras, by Pastor Fred, a friend going back to high school. He, his wife Cinda, my friend Jim, from work were backpacking, attempting to summit Mt Whitney. Fred and his wife Cinda, are experts on the history of the area. Fred talked about how the Owens Valley was not always dry and how it became such now. 

The seed took most of two years to sprout and take root. And it has taken even longer to research
I’ve learned a lot about California and its history of droughts and flooding.  The story is not yet 8k words, and I suspect when I finish it, there will be people that will dislike the portrayal of some groups of people. 

Earth Freeze is another some will not like for some of the same reasons they will have for disliking Not a Drop to Drink. Earth Freeze is more research than a story at this point. The science is complex and not well understood. Or, should I say more political than science. But, that is the point. Politics is dictating science. Where it was once The Church sacrificing science to the altar of dogma, it is now Politics doing it. The story… nope. If I finish it, read it tell me what you got from it.

If you don’t know by now, you will when I publish them and you read them. I will be PC or Woke in my storytelling. I write to entertain sure, but also in the hope the story inspires the reader to think, to look at something in a new way.

This blog has suffered from so much going on, I can’t seem to settle on a subject. Even now, this article started as something else. Write, read, delete, repeat. It gets old and discouraging. And once again, politics plays a part. I hate to say this, as it now the cliché phrase of the decade, but I blame in part COVID-19. I did not realize how much our Writer’s Group helped me, until COVID… the fear of COVID, shut our meeting place down. Even now, with COVID waning away and the number of people being vaccinated, our County Library has not opened the meeting rooms to groups that depend on those rooms to conduct business. Maybe I need to make some calls on my own.

So, the feedback we give each other is not taking place, and I for one find I need the inspiration. 

​The good news is we survived Carter, Clinton, and Obama. 
 
The bad news is, we didn’t learn after surviving Carter, Clinton, and Obama.
 
Yes, those pushing the narrative of the rich not paying their share, are themselves, self-made million and billionaires. 
 
It never occurs to the plebs, those selling this crap are doing so, only to keep the plebs from making their own way to riches.
 
The good news? There is none. Too many voters have bought the Kool-Aid. There is something in human nature that believes we can be given what we never earned. That those that did earn it, owe the rest of humanity the hard-earned fruits of their labor. Biden and Harris ran on that, and the plebs bought it. A group of self-made millionaires and billionaires sold far too many voters on the idea that you can’t get ahead without their help, because those at the top are not paying their fair share. 
 
We are done. With just two of Biden’s programs, he will bankrupt the nation in less than two years after they are passed. 
 
The United States spent $7.8 trillion in 2020. Our short fall left us $4.3 trillion in the hole. Our debt, the total of all our deficits over the years, comes to more than $27 trillion or $222,191 per taxpayer as of 8 Jan 2021. Joe’s plan for Medicare for all will add $3.2 trillion to the deficit the year it is passed. His New Green Deal will add another $7 trillion when it is passed. This is based on the current estimates of the total cost over ten years. 
 
But, well, Federal budges don’t abide estimates. Estimates are useful in selling the public on the sending, but has little to do with what the voter will end up paying for it. Congress uses base line budgeting. This means the first year of spending will match what the estimate says it should. But next fiscal year? Not so much. When the spending for that item comes up, we find the base line is the $7 trillion plus X% for inflation. Of course, the Democrats will say it is still not enough to get the job done. By the fifth year, the ten-year estimate has been spent.  
 
Ready for more cooking the books to make the taxpayers think they are saving money? Let’s say that X% for inflation is 10%, so year one we spend $7 trillion. The next year we spend another $7 trillion plus 10% or $7.07 Trillion. But on year 3, one party decides 10% is too much an increase, and cuts it to 5%. The other side will scream the budget item has been cut of needed funds, and the side that cut it to 5% will tell you they saved you money. Neither side will admit that in the end, they are spending more money than the estimated cost of the project called for during that budget year. 
 
We are less than 12 days from Biden and the DNC having control of far too much power. TWELVE DAYS and the Democrats are planning to impeach Trump. One wonders why, until you realize that if they convict, they can bar him from federal office if they want. Trump scares them so much, they are willing to spend millions to stop him from a run he has not yet indicted he would make. 

​This is the first, of what I believe will be many articles on a journey I thought I had avoided. But then, I am not known for my good luck.
 
On Nov 23rd 2003, I got a call at work, some 20 minutes before our pot luck Thanksgiving office party. My follow up blood glucose check came back, and it was far too high. I was officially diagnosed as a Type II Diabetic. You have two choices on how you live your life as a diabetic. You can have diabetes, or diabetes can have you. I choose the first option.
 
Diabetes is insidious, it never gets better. Oh, you can hold it off, slow it down, but at some point, meds are going to be needed. I lasted 11 years before having to start meds.  Then another 6 years before starting injections. Not bad actually.
 
But then, well, I enrolled in Medicare. Anyone who knows me, knows my feeling on the subject. Still, my Part D coverage was doing the job. That is, until I was put on Trulicity. The first script required a large out of pocket cost, then settled down to a manageable $47. Then, on Dec 1st I got a text from CVS, telling me my script for December’s Trulicity was ready to be picked up. Okay, no problem, right? Well, instead of paying $47, as I had in the past, I was hit with $211.94. I had hit the so called the donut hole in Part D coverage. Lilly, the makers of Trulicity, will help cover the cost, If you are not on Medicare. To be fair, all the companies play this game, and they do so, because the Medicare laws won’t let them help us.  So, I sat down and wrote a letter to my Senators about this, then posted a similar letter on Facebook asking my friends to write their Senators and share this with their friends, so they may do the same. 
 
I got a response from a friend, Jim, that I didn’t expect. He asked me to call him, so we could speak about it. Eye opening and complicated.
 
In the Spring of 1972, my Senior year of High School, I enlisted in the Air Force. I was on inactive duty until my report date, then active duty from 5 Sept 1972 to 27 Sept 1983. After Basic and Tech School, I was assigned to Offutt in Omaha, NE, then at the end of 1974, to Udorn Royal Thai AFB in northeast Thailand. 
 
The war was over at least for us. Or that’s what I thought. Then April 1975 proved the lie. But, I survived it, as we all did, and came home that November after being there 53 weeks. I said I survived it. Well, I came home without ever firing a shot or being shot at. No, that took being stationed in Southern California to have happen. 
 
Jim asked me if I had been station in Southeast Asia. I told him about Udorn. He as then asked when, and I told him. The next words were chilling, Agent Orange Exposure. I responded, “That was during the war and in Vietnam, not after and in Thailand.” Jim told me to research it.  I did, and still am, and I don’t like what I’m reading. I got on Facebook and posted on the Udorn Royal Thai AFB Veterans page about AO and diabetes. Within the day, there was a flood of responses all telling me what Jim told me the day before. 
 
AO was used around the building I worked in, and all along the base perimeter. On Google Earth I found the hooch I lived in, and it is not 190 feet from the perimeter fence.
 
But, diabetes is just one of the problems AO may be responsible for more that I’m dealing with. Cataracts and hypertension are also something Agent Orange may be responsible for. 
 
Jim and talked about what I need to do now. I had let my membership with the American Legion lapse, so I rejoined. I emailed the local American Legion Service Officer that afternoon. Still waiting for a response. I won’t wait long before I call. 
 
I printed out several Google Earth maps of where I worked and lived. Then others from AO sites showing where AO was used, and when. I sent for my Military Service and Medical Records 
 The file I have started is thin, but I am betting it won’t stay thin. 
 
 
 
 

I can do the math. I know how budgets work. I know we are spending 137% more than the entire nation produces. I know Biden's plan is to skyrocket that spending. 
 
Take Biden’s Medicare for all. The estimate of his plan says it will add $13T to the budget. But if you look at the history of estimates, you will find they are often grossly understated. But let’s keep to estimate, it is easier and limits speculation on guesses.
 
Medicare right now is the biggest line item of Federal spending at $1.3T covering 60 million Americans, or about 18% of the population. But what Biden ignores is those same 60 million Medicare covered Americans, are STILL paying for their coverage.
 
 You pay into Medicare for 45 years or more, enroll at 65, and get charged for coverage, Part B, that covers only 80% of doctor visits, tests, and some treatments. No meds, no vision, no dental, and no hearing, which are big-ticket items for those over 65. So, you buy a Medicare-approved plan to cover what Part B won't, but there is a deductible involved. Same with Part D (meds). Your approved plan can be a cheap and bare bones policy or full of bells and whistles and expensive as you can stand, but It will cost you at least 35% of your Social Security each month. And take care as to which type of plan you buy, because it may limit your choice of where you can go for treatment. If you plan to travel, well… just keep that in mind.
 
So, what is that $1.3T budget item labeled Medicare, being spent on? Why are paying into the system for 4 to 5 decades and STILL have to pay for coverage? Now Biden wants to add almost 270 million more people to that system, and he says he can pay for it by taxing those making more than $400k. That is mathematically impossible, as only .01% of our population makes $400k or more. 
 
We spend more than we produce. You'd have to send every citizen a bill for $81,857. Well that was price tag the first day I started writing this blog post. The next day it was $8 more and each day forward it will be even more, and that bill includes children as they are being born. Biden and his supporters want to add to that. The MONEY IS NOT THERE. Tax everyone at 100%, it is NOT there. Tax all goods and services at 100%, STILL NOT THERE. Tax everything at 100% Guess what? STILL NOT THERE. What about that is beyond a Democrat’s ability to grasp? Like going to a gas station that has one gallon of gas to sell and thinking you filled your tank and driving 3,000 miles. NOT going to happen.
 
For about 18 months before I reached age 65, I researched the hell out of this one item. I am not wrong. And that is just one item Biden wants to expand on. If you look at the rest of his spending plan and can still vote for him, I got nothing for you. Ignorance I can deal with, but stupidity is a lost cause. 
 

There are times I don't sleep. Instead of getting up and writing, I lay there awake thinking, hoping the random thoughts running in my head, bore me enough to put to myself sleep. 
The older I get, the worse I sleep. Is it age, or the medication age seems to demand I take? Then again, what does it matter? I am awake in the dark, alone with my thoughts, and I have more than six decades to contemplate.
The Broken Road getting me here is long. So is everyone else's. I'm not complaining about my Broken Road, it has made me who I am today, and will make me who I'll be in the future. Yet at night, listening to the love of my life breathe in peaceful sleep, I find I reflect more on the bumps and potholes the road laid out before me.
Yes, I think too on the smooth places, the friends that have been there in times good and bad. 
I think of my friends. David, whom I've known since Kindergarten, and Kent going back to about 3rd grade. Ken H, who while, in grade school got me into Church. In high school, there was Nancy, Sharon, Fred, Mel, Harm, Tom, Bear, Ken F, Diane, Howard, Marcia, and most often Sandi and the long-Broken Road that lead me back to her. I think of the many others after high school. The people I served with, they too are touchstones in my life. They were there then, and are here now. They each played and with few exceptions, still play a part on my Broken Road, even though except for a few, we haven't had a face to face is more time than I care to admit to. Yet, they are there. Some not far from where we all met, some in states far away. Distance has not faded our friendship or each other's influence on our personal Broken Road. 
I think of those that entered and walked with me no matter how short the sharing of the Broken Road was, and wonder how they are now? It is them, I reflect on the most. What was my part on their Broken Road? Did I help, or hinder? How has the Broken Road changed them, helped them to grow? What new friends did they make that were there for them in times of need?
It seems with social media it would be easy to reestablish contact with all of those that shared our Broken Road. In some cases, it has, in others, not so much. Some I know are online and my reaching out has been ignored. Ignored for reasons only they know. I must accept it, though I often wonder why. Maybe the Broken Road led them in another direction, made them into someone I don't need on my Broken Road. Or worse, I was not a help but a stumbling block and became the person they don't need on their road. Do I want to know? 
The question is full of problems. What would I learn about me? Would I be faced with something I thought was known only to me? We all have secrets and we all want to keep them. 
In the end, yes. I do. I want to know. They were my friend, I cared then, and I care now. I reached out, they were friends and that is what matters. I think about them in the wee hours of the night, wishing them the best, hoping they each have found happiness and peace. And I hope someday, our Broken Roads will cross in some way. If fences need mending, then I pray we will. If we can't mend them, then I pray we can still be there for each other. We are each now who we are, in part because we laughed cried together on the same Broken Road no matter how brief we traveled together. We laughed, because life hurts, and it's the only thing to make it stop hurting.May you walk in the love of God and love those God sent to you.
Your friend, then, now, and forever.