God, Government and Shopping in Jackson, Woming

There is a reason to believe in God rather than government. God can turn things on a dime while bureaucracies generally turn with all the grace and speed of the Titanic. 

Life is like the weather. You can count on change. Sometimes extreme. One day I am in Tucson craving the shallow shade offered by the reincarnation of an old mission wall.   

Barely home long enough to rotate the clothing in suitcases for something more appropriate to wear to Jackson, Wyoming.  

Remember the Glass Gem Corn in Tucson?  Look what I found in Jackson

The custom beaded necklace is priced for practical shoppers

You can't eat this- but you can wear it):- This luxurious custom creation is one of jewelry designer Michele LaBounta's extraordinarily beautiful pieces which she retails exclusively through the Wort Corner shop, Lila Lou's. 

Along with the unofficial store greeter Scamp, proprietress Kathy Sandford has packed this small shop floor to ceiling with a potpourri of visually stimulating items to entice browsers off the sidewalk and into the store. Her assortment of stock is eclectic, the appeal definitely feminine. 

A direct descendant of the one of the founding families of Jackson, Kathy understands the appeal of Jackson. People aren't drawn to Jackson because it is new. It is not. Rather, it is the beautiful. As is everything in her store. 

Lila Lou's at Wort's Corner 

125 West Pearl

PO Box 1693

Jackson, Wyoming 83001

LilaLouWort@Yahoo.com

At this moment a contingent of United States Marines are being deployed to Israel. Please pray for their  mission to be successful and for their safe return.

Tucson ~ La Paloma ~ Garden Writers Association

"The primary joy of life is acceptance, approval, the sense of appreciation and companionship of our human comrades. Many men do not understand that the need for fellowship is really as deep as the need for food, and so they go through life accepting many substitutes for genuine, warm, simple.”

 ~Joshua Loth Liebman

To understand Tucson, you have to grasp a culture which flourishes like the cactus which grow plump along the roadways. Against the odds. Under the unforgiving summer sun. In the shadow of a black volcanic mountain. Historically, the ruling influences represented by flags have come and gone. The United States and Arizona flags follow the  Spanish, Mexican and Confederate banners.

  At times, the politics of this region is more brutal  than the Sonoran Desert geographic conditions. The lesson of the desert landscape is that what first appear to be insurmountable obstacles should be observed for their potential for uncommon beauty.

La Paloma. The Spanish translation is inexact to if it is dove or pigeon. Something odd to this native English speaker. In the American experience, the birds are distinctly different, particularly when you are not in tourist mode. Yet that is how translations often are. Inexact. 

In any case, it is the name of the beautiful Westin resort chosen by the Garden Writers Association for the annual migration of garden communicators known simply as The Symposium.  

Nightfall does not diminish the beauty of  the desert landscape

 In civics, in family, faith and in our professions, every individual in every community has a need for fellowship.  It is simply how God made us. And one of the great pleasures of being a human being.

Sharon Lovejoy at the AK Smiley Library in Redlands

Every person has a story. Every story is better when you know the people.

In August 1990, Country Living Magazine featured Sharon Lovejoy as the proprietress of Heart's Ease Herb Shop and Gardens in Cambria. My admiration for her obvious affection for feminine bonding with the natural world was instant and lasting. Meeting her for the first time at a Garden Writers Association event two years back confirmed my initial impression. This is a woman who might sprout wings at any moment. If she did: I would want to be there to write about it ):-

Now, I in this new role as a grandmother in-waiting, when the children's author, illustrator and speaker's book tour   brought her to Redlands, of course I would be there.

When it comes to creativity- Sharon knows no bounds in getting children to smile.  Don't you just love    her very  neutral clothing- and then these vividly wild sandals and pedicure?

 Four of her books came home to inspire a love of garden and nature in our family's impending population explosion .  Somewhere in a file it doesn't belong, is the card with the name of the woman pictured with Sharon. She is evidently  a master gardener and cook. The "recipes" they bantered from their dinner- I'm still salivating.

You can order personalized book's of Sharon's here.

We said our goodbyes. It was time to explore the magnificent A.K Smiley Library.  Just a few images to whet your appetite. We will revisit this palace to literacy on a stand-alone  visit.

For now- admire the building's likeness in an oil painting.



Let the center rosette stained glass window fill your spirit with awe.

The hand-carved oak banisters - this building wasn't just built with money . It was built with love.

Illustrated Redlands has a lovely story  on the history of the identical twins,  Alfred H and Albert K Smiley.  East coast educators, the Quakers are probably better known as  real estate developers. Their 

Monhonk Mountain House  resort in upstate New York remains in the family. 

 Taking up residence on the west coast, they brought their shared spirit of philanthropy with them. Alfred wanted a park. Albert, a library. Neither demanded their names be attached to the projects. On behalf of their residents, a grateful City Council surprised them.

I hope you've enjoyed reading this snippet about men who did a great thing not for honor or glory- but simply because they could.

09/11 Thoughts ~Loveland, Colorado~The Benson Sculpture Garden~ Part III

Patriotic American mini flag by Toland

 

September 11, 2001 was like so many other days. Yet like no other. Not in my lifetime. Such a beautiful day. A clear sky day turned somber. In the weeks which followed, in my hometown we met at the corner of Diamond Bar and Grand.

We marched clockwise around the intersection, waving flags. Many lit candles.  The crowd grew.  Probably in the hundreds. The patrol cars pulled up, the officers wanting to know who was the organizer.

No one. We were just citizens united in our grief. Offering comfort to each other.

We promised never to forget. We fly flags to promise this.

Today, on the 11th Anniversary, came a sobering reminder of what we have lost between now and then. Commitment and Clarity. Why else the American Embassy wall breached, an American killed at the US Consulate in Libya. Our President too busy for our steadfast ally in that dangerous neighborhood, Israel.

God bless Jordan for harboring the refugees from Syria. May the missing relatives of people I know turn up safely there. 

I cannot make the world safer. All I hope, is to spread a bit of beauty to those I am honored to visit this site.  

 

I have been remiss in not sharing more of the setting of the Benson Sculpture garden, which rims the lake. Cattails. Pine. Aspen. Beautiful apart, gathered together, they elevate each other's beauty.

 

Where there is water, there shall be geese.  What is evocative about this park is how God and man have worked together.

SWAMP DONKEY, Bronze by TD Kelsey

 

  Sited at the edge of the bog, the majesty of  large game,  realistic and rightly romantic.

 

Our oldest son confirmed, swamp donkey is Canadian for moose. It is also slang for many other things which I am going to forget I found on the blogosphere.

 

If today was emotional for you- click on Baby Moose in Sprinkler  to get back in touch with the emotion of  innocent joy.

Thoughts On Independence Day

United States Flag, Gene Sasse photographer

"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God."
~ George Washington

California Capitol. Gene Sasse photographer

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South."  
~ Abraham Lincoln

Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods 

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” 
― Theodore Roosevelt, Strenuous Life

Native Colorado scrub brush

Some of the greatest serenity I have known has been on horseback. As a young girl, my Uncle Frank would lift us nieces up onto his horse to watch the fireworks go off at nearby Disneyland. The 4th of July- it is the one day in the calendar I don't think my father ever drank to excess on.  The date bordered on sacred in our family. 

 With the devastation in Colorado Springs, I am glad I have these memories recorded from a ride through The Garden of The Gods Park. Due to the wildfires, it is currently closed. 

Pikes Peak- the inspiration for Katharine Lee Bates "America the Beautiful"

My husband was assigned to Colorado Springs for 30 days, which turned into 13 months. It was in the Holiday Inn there that he learned to inlay wood- it gave him something to do more interesting than just get up, go to work, dinner and TV. Towards the end of his stay, rather than have him bring his laundry home for 4 days, the company authorized my visiting him there. 

What I remember most about Colorado is clean unspoiled air. I think it is safe to say that this nation is united in praying for the environment the state is rightly renowned for quickly heals. 

Whatever our differences politically, in the contentious months that bare down prior to every election like the sun on the Mojave Desert, it is my prayer that our collective nation   comes to again remember  that people are more than their politics. 

The "Singing Senator" Bob Huff, Robins and Love takes Work

 

Robins are year round residents of the San Gabriel Valley



Some "harbinger of spring". Less than an hour after the robin decided to check out our garden, a full 2" of rain hurled full tilt on what was to be our "date night" ; the Spring Re-election Gala for Bob Huff. If  a political fundraiser doesn't asound like much of a date- you've never heard California's"Singing Senator" croon away in any of the 7 or so languages he performs in. 

Courtesy Photo

 Bob was my replacement when I left the Diamond Bar Planning Commission. Lacking the edgines so prevalent in the popular political culture- the conservative Republican is able to get endorsements from even the liberal Los Angeles Times. To paraphrase the editorial board in one election, they might not agree with Huff on much, but the conversation would be productive. 

Bob cherishes and protects my favorite word in the political vocabulary "freedom." How he has gone on to serve a wider constituency is something  this homebody would never have considered. So in a way, I guess my greatest gift to politics was quitting ):-

Being a Planning Commissioner is an experience that changes how you see the world. I saw urban planning as akin to quilting- with map upon map overlayed, stitched in place with changing lifestyles and embroidered with political theory.   

It is quite out of fashion, but there is something to be said for the urban planning  that allows for privately held open space. In our tract, the utility easement was developed underground, leaving the finger canyon behind our homes undevelopable and in constant rebellion to revert back to nature. 

What we can't do with our land, because of easements preclude structural development, is the gift of interaction with real wildlife and native vegetation. 

No disrespect to my friends with advance degrees from Harvard, but I wouldn't trade their formal educational accomplishments for the seasons spent learning from this quirky little lot that straddles civilization and wilderness. Working land teaches what is important in life.

Love takes work. While the head is wrapped around the rules- the heart wanders off on a path to be cut through the wilderness.

While I have been blessed to enjoy recreational use of public open spaces and keep up on the latest in horticultural trends;  it is seeing a Robin enjoying the abundant garden that lights my heart.

That Robin has the freedom to fly to any trendy garden in North America, yet it chose my garden for a Sunday stroll. With such visits-the commitment to keep a lawn for birds to pull worms from and maintaining trees and bushes abundant with berries to dine from and  build nests in- the joy dividend is better than any bank deposit yields.

In my lifetime I have met a Prime Minister, two US presidents, several premier captains of businesses- yet I am happier for having the company of  my feathered friends. 

  I confess. When the squall ran through, I had my doubts about the wisdom of wandering off from home in a rain storm. We had such a thoroughly good time- I'm glad we did. It was just the right bridge to cross  back to a full work schedule.  

Full capacity- Footing In Times of Turmoil

“Do not undertake anything beyond your capacity and at the same time do not harbor the wish to do less than you can. One who takes up tasks beyond his powers is proud and attached. One who does less than he can is a thief."

-Mohandas K. Gandhi

When it is half-way to Valentines Day and Christmas Decorations still fill the living room, I suspect I have taken on too much. Time to adjust.

Daffodils in San Bernardino Mountains by Gene Sasse

Life is a precarious balancing act, the ground beneath our feet changing from wide walkway to narrow wire without our consent. Sometimes the changes come slowly, giving us time to prepare. Other times, we trip over the sudden change in terrain.

Craggy Summit by Gene Sasse

 Especially in time of turmoil, how we adjust to what to unfairness is a good indicator of mental health. It is imperative that when we least want to, we find the balance towards forward motion. Pacing our plans and actions.

I'm a double- D girl. Not talking about bra size. I have two demons that stalk me: depression and diabetes. Keeping them outside my life is a priority. I am fortunate: exercise works for me.

Working out at Fitness Advantage in Diamond Bar keeps me in what a friend calls "Mighty Mouse" shape.  It's not your typical big box gym teeming with people focused on finding dates or cutting deals. It's more akin in personality to the bar in the defunct TV series Cheers- "Where everyone knows your name." As important- they know their equipment and will work with you to make your journey to better health quick and lasting.  

Syliva Galleli - who co-owns Fitness Advantage with her husband Kelvin Pruenster centers the business on a holistic approach. Getting healthy starts from the inside out- then layering it with the fun stuff- where the improvement comes from the outside in.

The climbing photo was taken when I was in training in Pasadena. A rock climbing adventure anticipated that summer. When the instructor at the practice wall  wall broke her ankle- while standing at the bottom- I decided that God may have wanted me to be in shape to go mountain climbing- that doesn't mean he wanted me to actually do it):-

The last several months have been like living in the center of a perpetual hurricane. Watching the turmoil taking loved ones hostage. I confess: at times I am fearful  of how long I am protected.  Moving my own health to the top priority spot kept my spirits off the floor.

In my youth I would have been angry that "life" was intering with my projects and plans. In particular, my husband is a good man- a man who worked long hours with uncompromised integrity. His family is athletic. He is not deserving anything but GREAT health- and the continued runs to the hospital take a toll on everyone who loves and admires him. It hasn't been the smoothest recovery- but recovery it is. 

We are fortunate that in the very few times the service of a medical provider did not meet our expectations - we have the opportunity to go elsewhere.  The Republican candidates who took Mitt Romney's words out of context this week on this subject - I am done with you. There is a reason people hate politics- and on behalf of everyone who has either wanted to fire a doctor but had not options- go away. Come back if you grow up.

 In youth, in times of great anger and hurt I was known to lash out with my tongue. Or my pen. Or otherwise "bad behavior".  A life of just enough mistakes has taught when vengence is paramount, wrath makes a victim of truth.  "Slow down" was probably the best advice ever given me. Even if it took hearing it more than once for it to sink in.

 As written in the the first Epistle to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 13:11 

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

Thrasher by Gene Sasse

And so every morning, I open with a prayer. Thanking God for just one more day in this personal paradise. Three decades of wife to Gerry and mother to Trevor and Kenny.  All else is secondary to the joy these three men have honored me with.

Opening quote courtesy of the Kingdom of Organization- Franklin-Covey  

Fitness Advantage
1249 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
Phone: (909) 396-0309

The Lesson of Saint Thomas

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio

I have been thinking. Should the images of the slain Osama bin Laden be released by the government?  They are not anything I would want posted on any of my sites. I do not need direct evidence.

Yet there is reason to be skeptical and cynical of government in general.  Clarity and honesty are paramount to trust. In this instance, what to do for the sake of clarity? Even little bits of misinformation feeds distrust. For example, Islamic law is that the bodies of  deceased are to be respectfully disposed of in a timely fashion. But burial at sea?  ONLY when the person died shipboard. 

I believe I found the answer in the Bible. In the New Testament. In the story about the disciple's reaction to the death of Christ. The one centered on whom we know as Doubting Thomas (John 20:19-29). 

The risen Christ showed his wounds. Proof that God finds value in providing physical evidence.  I understand, such open disclosure is not without risk. But certainly not with any more peril than we are without it. Not providing the images is only going to provide fertile ground for misinformation.

So, President Obama. Please. Release a picture. I will take it as a sign of respect for the American people and those who fight to protect her.

Then we can move on to more important issues. Such as regards foreign aid. When is it good and when is it simply enabling bad behavior by unscrupulous souls? If someone hid bin Laden because they were paid so much money to "look" for him: the implications of that question are more important than pretending we had any respect for the man who disgraced the name of  bin Laden. 

Official Portraits



 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one, and they shall be one flesh.
- Genesis 2:24

 

Kenny and Shannon Plunk

The official announcement is posted on DiamondBarPatch.com announcement page.

Full disclosure, this publication is on my client list. However, this feature is completely open to the general public, free of charge. It publishes daily "patching " communities such as Diamond Bar, under served by the  traditional media outlets with everything from history to real-time breaking news.

When I set sail for the wedding cruise; Sun, moon and stars appeared aligned. The Cheshire smiles on staff at City and County created in my journalist's heart the healthy expectation that the same weekend Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and the City of Diamond Bar would announce that they had come to terms on how to build a better library to serve our community. 

Don Knabe



For those who don't know our  County Supervisor, my impressions over the years is this is a man who is both extraordinarily kind- and no one's fool. Many politicians are one- or the other. Knabe is both.  

The issue between those more concerned with expanding library facilities and those more concerned with preserving the public treasury has been a long festering splinter in local friendships.

The catalyst for "why now" was the recession- when the City's fiscal responsibility allowed it to take advantage of the recession. It was able to purchase a commercial building large enough to hold both a City Hall (good-bye rent) and with space enough left over to add a library. If they could get the Supervisor's to buy into the plan. Which if you've ever worked with a bureaucracy- even when the parties are in basic agreement, until the ink  where the signatures go is dry on the contract- do NOT hold your breath.

However, when a city with a healthy cash reserve has the opportunity to fund a city hall and a library for less than half of the cost of just what a library was estimated to cost just a few years ago. Only fools would sit on the bags of money while a community of over 50,000 is served by a facility with 35 parking spaces.

Knabe is also a long time supporter of  our annual wine soiree in support of our library. The following are the Supervisor's thoughts  forwarded by Dick Simmons for a light  article penned on the history of the soiree.

"For the past 18 years, our community of Diamond Bar has enjoyed the wonderful support and dedicated efforts of a cadre of volunteers known as the Friends of the Library. From humble beginnings to the extravagance of the past few years events, the Wine Soiree has been and continues to be the "Event" of the year for Diamond Bar Friends of the Library. It is the Friends of the Library's showcase event, all for the wonderful cause of supporting our Library and the many facets of programs that form the basis library services to the community. BasicallyBOOKS, a FOL operated bookstore, helps to improve literacy and the love of reading."

  My original intent was the statement  would wrap historical data into real time in what is known in the trade as a "sidebar".  The end decision was the article was too bulked up.

However, journalism research is like French country cooking- nothing goes to waste. Everything for head to tail eventually gets used.  The Supervisor's words live here. Additionally, they will provide an outline for a future article. One which will delve more heavily into hard records. The result will be a record of how different years came with different challenges to literacy and how the FOL set to surmount the obstacles of providing literacy to a growing community with a decidedly multicultural population. 





 

A Brief History on Taxation on the Homefront

Thank you from procrastinator's anonymous to Washington DC for having a holiday that extended the window to file through an extra weekend. There was quite a line at the post office today.

From the faces in line at the post office and mailing stations around town, it is fair to surmise the popularity of this day is not in celebration of the great American Institution, the IRS, but rather in spite of.

Mixed iris

In the symphony in favor of raising taxes, there is a missing instrument. The one that evokes the human spirit.For those who are composing future government revenue plans, I submit these examples from  when the Brits planned to raise revenue by raising taxes.

 1696- The window tax. King William III  concluded taxing by the number of windows one owned was far less an invasive than a straight income tax.  As structures grew with wealth and hence more windows, they expected it to be seen as fair. The result: Bricked up facades where windows used to be.

1712- The wallpaper tax. During Queen Anne's reign, what was more a luxury item than printed wallpaper? To tax this purely decorative item, it would impact only the rich. The rich discovered they could purchase plain wall paper. Once hung, it could be hand stenciled without incurring a tax.  


1773.King George III.  The Tea Tax. Three words: Boston Tea Party.

1784.The Brick Tax. King George III needed to pay for the war against the American colonials. With the same reasoning as the window tax, a fee was levied based upon lots of a 1,000 bricks. The result- bricks were manufactured in larger sizes. The burden of the tax caused business failures in construction. Architecture changed to accommodate non-taxed building materials.

My conclusion. Fairness is in the eye of the beholder.  Until textbooks,  line graphs and pie charts pay taxes, the human spirit must reign .  For the government to raise revenue from people and institutions run by people, there is only one way to raise revenue. Through the encouragement of commerce.

Images by Gene Sasse. Used with permission.

Leadership in Crisis 1776 and 2011

"It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win."

Captain John Paul Jones

1747-1792

Memorial to first American Naval Hero in Washington DC

America's first naval hero was an immigrant. Born in Scotland, the fifth son of the gardener at the Scottish estate Arbigland House, John Paul Jones is a role model beyond his lifetime. 

 A few views of  the Abrigland Estate

From humble beginnings he sought his fortune on sailing vessels. Unhappily, he served on a slaving vessel- leaving at his first opportunity.  In Jamaica he arranged for passage back to Scotland on a brig. When the  captain and chief mate both took ill and died,  John Paul, being the only seaman aboard who knew how to navigate, took control, saving the lives of surviving crew of 7. 

When his brother died leaving him property in Virginia, the seaman came to Colonial Virginia, with the intent to write poetry. However, it was the dawning of the colonial revolution and he enlisted in the service of his adopted homeland. 

 The standards and traditions John Paul Jones brought to the Navy live to this day. I remember from elementary school lessons. As I recall

No man should ask another to do what he will not do himself.

Times are  tough in California. We are having to face the results of decades of governance by wishful thinking. We need heroes. Good men and women to serve who are willing to share in the sacrifice needed.

Leadership is What leadership does. 

I am requesting the complete list of Senators who in this time of fiscal crisis have given up a couple major perks: the state car and gas card. This is one of those requests which must go by snail mail.

For now, I can tell you that Bob Huff (R, CA 29th District) deserves respect for turning in the state-paid car and the gas card to the people of California. There would be allot less cynicism about government if the legislators show they are willing to take action for the greater good.  

Bob Huff speaking on the importance of Mothers

Whose leadership do you admire and why?

Values and Common Sense.

Tonight's Moon by Gene Sasse

It is a blessing to live in this place and time- to live in peace and freedom under a moonlit sky. To hold in one's hands a transcription of the  notes James A Baker, III prepared for his delivery of  "The Life and Legacy of Ronald Wilson Reagan" at the Centennial Celebration of President Reagan's Birthday at his namesake presidential library and museum.

History judges speeches not so much for how words are strung together or the style of delivery. History rates timelessness on actual content. These are a few remembrances of James Baker that I believe hit the mark in setting the tone of the times and wisdom. These thoughts are as true today as when Reagan was President.

"Gloom at home was matched by humiliation abroad... Into that storm marched an humble Illinois native with a background a diverse as the country he loved....Through dynamic policy, sound wisdom and inspirational words, he launched the Reagan Revolution and showed us how to be the very best Americans we could be- citizens defined by optimism, determination and self-reliance. At the same time, he defended American exceptionalism..."

"...Ronald Reagan confronted tyranny. And he did it by "speaking the truth to power".

"He reminded us how to work together, While he held convictions as firmly as anyone I've ever known, he was also a pragmatist who saw the world as it is."

"And perhaps most importantly, like Ronald Reagan we must re-learn that as citizens of a democracy, it is OK to voice our disagreements. But at the end of the day, we must come together to solve problems rather than cynically rely on them for partisan advantage."

"Were he here today... he would remind us that each generation of Americans must rediscover its values and its common sense."

The Patient Shouldn't Have to Die

Before the State of the Union is delivered, I wanted you to be able to read this. Annotated  from a retired US Military friend., his situation clarifies the real life concerns about changes in health care commonly referred to as Obamacare.

"It seems that TriCare just doesn't give a damn....... They are going to save money.


TriCare canceled all of my medications, yes, even all of my heart meds...

I have been on 'Brand Name' heart meds for 12 years because I have severe adverse reactions to the Generic ones. TriCare Insisted that 'Justification' be made for me to retain my Brand Name meds. 3 Doctors, with a combined 45 years of Education and a combined 135 years of experience in the practice of medicine and their written justifications were not enough for the admin clerk enforcing the New Rules for ObamaCare.

I have been cut off. Totally. Completely. Nada. Nope. TriCare did not say anteing except "NO" but they did recommend "Generic" drugs as the FDA has said that they are an 'equivalent" to the Brand Name drugs. It didn't matter that I am allergic to the Generic ones and have wound up in the ER a couple of times... I have lost 30% vision in my Left eye due to Amiodorone (Heart Med) and have various serious reactions to others.... etc............ ALL of which was spelled out by my doctors in their scripts which stated: Medically Necessary, NO Substitution, Brand Name Only".

They wouldn't even refill the scripts that they had originally filled to give me time to see my doctors and plan for an alternative treatment plan with newer drugs. Nope ! You're Done ! Next !
I have contacted my Representative's office and a very nice lady Aide is trying to make sense of it all, but even she is getting angry with the lack of common sense on the part of the Government change in the regulations !

I did receive a letter of apology from TriCare where they are attempting to cover their backside and scrape me off of their plate. The Aide, (name deleted), laughed and then she got pissed -- and got on the phone again on my behalf.
So........ I have 3 choices:


1. Purchase the drugs for $1,412.00 per month
2. Take the Generics and end up in the ER.....
3. Take nothing and die."

It seems that TriCare just doesn't give a damn....... They are going to save money.

If physicians are to be the gatekeepers of our medical care, it would seem the government should respect their judgement as to when a specific brand formulary is appropriate. The generic is not always equal. The patient shouldn't have to die to prove their case.

We promise health care for life to our retired military. Is this how we as a nation honor our promises to men and women willing to make as their career a job in which they have little to no say in where they serve while promising fidelity to our safety over their own?

The Road to Inner Peace and Happiness

"First say to yourself what you would be' and then do what you have to do."

-Epictetus

Epictetus

Born a Greek slave in  AD 55, Wikipedia describes the stoic as believing philosophy is more than a state of mind. It is a way of life. The authors there condensed his thought o the road to personal happiness and peace of mind to be, "Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power...human beings have a duty to care for all fellow humans." 

The quote was found on the Diamond Bar City Hall Weekly News issued today by City Manager James DeStefano.  

Wisdom is timeless. She is not bound to economic class, ethnic origin or political party. To live in a city which honors these words of a man born a slave- is priceless.

Diamond Bar Community Center at Night

Image of Community Center at the top of Grand at Summit Ridge from the Diamond Bar Photo Album