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Thursday, September 17, 2020

Sticking to resolutions

 I thought I'd write, yesterday, about the current voting situation in Ohio. I know we're insignificant, but in my lifetime it was "Bush by a Buckeye", and I wasn't amused.

Of course they're all Republicans down in the state house, south of Route 30. Some less qualified than others. The Secretary of State ruled there could be only one drop box per county for absentee ballots.

The Ohio Democratic Party said LaRose was disenfranchising voters, and sued to overrule his "arbitrary and unconstitutional" ruling. And then they all spilled into the ring, throwing suit on suit. Alternating judges ruled for and against; LaRose said no mater what, one box per county.

I began writing about this freaking stupidity, got a headache and a stomach ache, and went to bed. I'd broke my resolution to let politics alone, unless I had to, you know, just be involved. I've met Frank LaRose, back in my political days. Just another hack, working his way up the ladder to governor. I went to high school with his uncle.

Here's another story from yesterday.

I had a late morning appointment with one of my favorite doctors, the endocrinologist. We've known each other almost twenty years. Before the appointment, there was the usual call from Cleveland Clinic, asking me to confirm I'd be there, telling me the new protocol of being questioned and temperature checked at the door, blablablablabla.

On arrival, my usual door was blocked. I know I've complained of this about the Cleveland Clinic medical center housing my primary. This building also was down to one entrance, and is half again as big. So I set out on the quarter mile trudge around the building, questioned, checked, forced to squirt sanitizer at the new entrance, quarter mile back, then an eighth mile corridor to the doctor. 

I was late.

I asked the doctor the location of the nearest exit, and he told me to use the steps just outside the door, go down that corridor and I would exit by my car. We had a short discussion on defying authority, and then I declared, "No, by god, I'll go down the elevator and use the blocked entrance."

"But it's locked!" said the doctor.

"If it is, it is illegal, and I will call the Fire Marshall!"

"You would, wouldn't you!"

He knows me.

But I chose the entrance across the hall from his door. I hadn't recovered from my earlier walk. I started down, twenty plus steps per flight, from the third floor. Somewhere on the second floor set I heard the clatter of feet way above, starting down. It was lunch time.

When I reached the second floor landing I realized there was no noise behind me, so looked back. There were three of them, creeping along at my pace, silently. 

"You all please pass me now, and thanks for not startling me."

With smiles and "Have a good day," they trouped on by. I carried on, walked the last corridor to the exit door. I stood a minute to get my bearings, and there it was. My car.



No, not Frank LaRose or politicians. My very own Pig and zinnias.

43 comments:

  1. Hope you’re fully recovered from your‘journey into the unknown’

    I’m just glad I haven’t had to go to any large public buildings (well the ones that are open). I’d lose my patience if presented with your situation.....it’s bad enough at the supermarket, one door in, one door out, huge amount of space between them. Trying decide whether to park close to the indoor or near the exit...will I be exhausted going in because of the walk to the entrance or fed up trying to manipulate a full trolley all the way back to the car

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  2. Don't you just hate it when they lock entrance doors? Our library has a back entrance from the alleyway. There's a short set of stairs (hate them) but it has a hand rail. If the gate is locked, you know the library will be too. Oftentimes, I will make it through the gate, up the ramp to the back door of the library, only to find it locked and the library actually open. I'm forced to walk back down the ramp, over to the front entrance, up the set of stairs (far more than at the back alleyway) and inside find myself facing yet another set of stairs. All to check out a book... they moved the library from a section of a shopping mall strip (heaven knows why) that was ideal for the library, though smaller in space. It was all on the same level, very convenient parking in front and back. Ideal for those of us faced with difficulty walking at times. The stairs at the new to us library are a definite turn-off for me and make me reluctant to use the library. Off my soapbox...

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  3. Disenfranchising voters and locked doors.
    Enough to exasperate anyone!

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  4. Our library has turned the place upside down to produce a separate way out. A luckless new volunteer has found herself directing people through the back of the toddlers section, through an unused room full of bean bags and a lawn mower, and back out to the fire door right by the entrance. All in the name of Covid safety.

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  5. Hiss and spit - which I suspect you knew I would say.
    Thank you for the delightful partial antidote of Pig and the zinnias.

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  6. Terrible about the lack of accessible voting boxes but so typical of what's happening in many places. It makes my blood boil! I have a doctor's appointment on Monday and a dentist one this month too, and am apprehensive about figuring out the changes and modifications. I'm not sure of any of the new rules.

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  7. I much prefer your pig and zinnias to any politician.

    It is not right for exit doors to be blocked.

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    1. No, it's illegal. It's illegal to hinder an exit door during working hours.

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  8. That's the nicest pot of zinnias I've ever seen. Perfect pig too.
    Politics, I'm so angry at the fool in office that I have steam coming out my ears. Your "one box per" made the national news.

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    1. And I consider Ohio only a mildly stupid R state. At least our governor closed us down and laid out the facts, until his Health Director began having death threats and she quit, and DeWine started buckling some to Trump, and what the hell am I going on for. It's all just a cluster fuck, starting at the top.

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  9. Your Pig and the zinnias are pretty together. As happy looking as a pig in zinnias.

    Locked doors that are exits would probably be banned by the Fire Marshal. I would be out of luck in the library with all of the stairs. What happened to the Americans with Disabilities Act? Has it been canceled due to Covid 19?

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  10. We cancelled all our appointments to the dentist, doctor, and optometrist. We're too nervous. Our COVID numbers in Hawaii are too high per capita right now. As for being political. I'm trying my very best to stay away from politics on my blog, but I'm sorry. Tomorrow, I'm definitely political. Aggravation! I've got some relatives who are not going to like what I'm going to be saying.

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    1. Yes, you are where we were in March, and I think you're right.

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  11. Glad you made it out of there safely.
    Most Ohio counties aren't tiny, and some are rural. One box per county sounds insane.

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  12. One box per county really is stupid. It's such an obvious voter suppression effort. Republicans have become shameless. The city of Tucson is planning to sprinkle ballot boxes everywhere. I'm still planning on taking mine in and handing it to an election official. I, too, was wondering about the requirements of the ADA not being met here.

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  13. My gall bladder is giving me grief again but I REALLY don't want to go to hospital. Like over 20,000 other folks in this sparsely populated county, I don't have a GP.

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  14. It is weird getting a temperature check. They started doing that at work recently. Guess they don't trust that we will stay home if we are sick.

    Betty

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  15. Most new regulations seem to be designed to annoy us.

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  16. Today a new lockdown begins here. Before it starts I'm on my way to the grandchildren with bags of candy. I have time until two in the afternoon to be back at home.

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    Replies
    1. Yael, this is so sweet, and what any g'ma would do, no matter how difficult.

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  17. The zinnias look lovely. I'll have my own soon, many seeds have germinated.

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  18. My admiration for you Joanne knows no bounds. If I had a quarter of your spirit I would be chuffed!

    LX

    PS Do zinnias come up every year because in my garden they have just appeared and having lived here over a year now, I am sure I would have noticed them last year? They are so bright and cheery, I love them. L

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    Replies
    1. They must be self seeding. I will plant a lot of them next year.

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    2. That is exactly what I want, self seeding; they have a far better idea of where for them is good to grow.

      LX

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  19. I was hoping that ballot box situation had been overcome by now. I was surprised that after an intelligent start to the covid-19 situation, your state faltered. You seem to be navigating it all well though.

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  20. I love your diatribe on what is going on in your state. The rest of the world, I am quite sure, now views the United States in much the same way as Burkina Faso, or The Philippines perhaps. A friend of mine in San Diego, CA says that she does not even recognize the country she grew up in.

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  21. Hari OM
    Hello Pig - how pretty you sit. Best view in the park! As for politics and locked doors... yeeech... YAM xx

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  22. American politics, which seems to want to discourage people from voting, is (are?) baffling.

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  23. Thank god I don't understand the American voting system but the flowers look very pretty.

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  24. I love your spirit and determination, your artist's soul and your artist's eye, your strength and humor, your love for the truth and for what is right.

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  25. Politics, eh? It just gets more and more corrupt and cynical. Best given as little attention as possible outside elections.

    Crazy that you had to go such a long way round to your doctor's office. But it would have been fun to call the Fire Marshal!

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  26. I'm being good still and the afib is settling down. it just doesn't do me any good to wallow in the misery that has become our democracy. I can only do one thing to change it and that is to vote. but it is soooo tempting to get in the fray and express my opinion.

    I'm glad to see the zinnias finally arrived.

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  27. Well - politics there sound as annoying as they are here. Grrrrr. At least your clinic has precautions in place. I about had a hissy fit when unmasked people just plopped themselves in the waiting room at mine. When I complained, I was told they couldn't force them to wear masks. Hmmmmmmm - other places can .....

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  28. Dear Joanne, so often, especially when you write about your stance with regard to politics or rights or the absurdity of bureaucracy, I find myself grinning. You have become for me the exemplar of the word "feisty." I so admire your gumption! I wish there were some way to bottle your "contrariness!!!!" I'd buy a crate of bottles! Peace.

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  29. My dentist is no longer answering his phone. Not that I want to chance it and go in. On the other hand, I have a mouth full of "bad teeth" which have been saved by the miracles of modern dentistry. Back in the good ol' days, I was going in every 4 months for a cleaning. Soon it will be 8 or 9 months since I've been in , and I feel as if I am courting trouble. And my dentist no longer answers his phone.

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  30. I feel you Joanne, my critical eyes weigh and measure each unplanned journey and its obstacles and distance.

    Gawd, your election is a nightmare, you know I feel it rigged in every possible way. Biden comes across as weak, he should be screaming from the rooftops about what's happening re the genocide, etc. I wish there were a younger more in 45's face opponent.

    It all does not bode well at all.

    XO
    WWW

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  31. As a Canadian looking on in horror at the American political situation, I cannot for the life of me understand why even one single American would vote for Trump. He is a laughing stock of the world, lets just hope enough Americans can see it. Fingers crossed for all of you.

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  32. I really, really hope we are not that dumb to do it again in November but it seems like they are doing everything they can to keep Cheeto in power. Take care, Joanne, and I am glad you are still being feisty.

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  33. I am tiring of the constant vigil to keep naked faces from entering my building. I don't want to hear that Trump isn't responsible, that we should be blaming local government.

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