It's Like This:

 ... I was at work Thursday November 3rd when Carlos called:

"Call your dad. He's at home saying he's having trouble breathing."

Not a desperate thing, so much, except rather than calling, oh I dunno, say a doctor or a paramedic, the fire department, my father dials a house 3,000 miles away to complain of dizziness and trouble breathing.  I suggest all those aforementioned other choices or I'll make those call myself, so Dad relents and calls the paramedics.

Sidenote: when I was in high school I was home one night watching TV with my mother and sister when my father entered the room, told us he thought he was having a heart attack, and was driving himself to the hospital. M y mother was so stunned she was motionless, and so off my dad went to discover it was gas or indigestion or anything other than a heart attack. By the time he returned home, my mother had recovered enough to rip him a new one about his antics.

I called the nearest hospital to my dad and was told his blood pressure had dropped and there were some issues with his heart and they were looking for a bed for him in a cardiac hospital. I left work and went home where Carlos and I--who had planned on visiting my father this week for a vacation, worked on getting me the quickest flight out, which was at 4:30AM Friday morning. I kept in contact with the doctor in Newport, who told me my father was doing fine, laughing and joking, but being transferred to Salem Health Hospital. I tried them and, well, you know, bureaucracy, they had no record of my dad being admitted. That naturally panicked me, but I was off anyway, flying out as fast as possible.

I got to Oregon, rented  a car and drove down to Salem where my father was in the cardiac wing. He looked a little worse for wear, but I guess, who wouldn't. They were putting two stents in to open up an artery to his heart, and he would also get a pacemaker "installed." One days the stents were in and the next day the pacemaker, and then it was decided he needed two more stents and those didn't go in until Tuesday; Dad was not happy. But this made me feel better because he was awake and angry and ready to rumble to get out.

So, the third stent went in and there was one complication; they go in through a vein in the groin and a blood vessel was nicked and my father was bleeding; not serious, but worrisome. And that little nick kept him hospitalized for four more days until they could figure out what happened and why and how to fix it. And aill that took was a cardiac doctor coming in, explaining that sometimes the nick creates a bubble on the vein that fills with blood; the bubble usually goes down by itself but not in my Dad's case. But when the doctor found out that his home was 90 minutes away and not in Salem, she came back into the room with her nursing assistance and basically popped the bubble right then and there.

And Dad was out. I had, in the meantime, gotten hold of my brother, and he was coming up so we could tag-team dad and I could go home. i hared the idea of Carlos being home alone, though we had friends and neighbors who checked in, stopped by for lunched and drove him to get groceries and such, but as I told my Dads, Carlos is my priority and as soon as my brother arrived, I booked the hell out of Oregon and came home ... where I have been for a few days relaxing and enjoying my life and husband and pets while my dad is home, with my brother, recuperating quite nicely.

And so that was my week-and-a-half of drama, including Dad's dog and his house and the cold and a rental car so tiny I almost had to crawl inside to drive it.

But all is well and we are once again settling into our routine, though Carlos and I may head out to Oregon sometime next month for a real vacation. Again , thanks for all the good thoughts, I really think that energy helps.

Franklin Graham Makes You Promise To Hate Before You Can Help

With all the cases of COVID-19 in New York City, Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization that provides aid to people in physical need, is funding and erecting a Field Hospital in Central Park to handle all those people who need care.

Nice, but … Samaritan’s Purse run by Faux-Christian bigot, homophobe, asshat, fuckmonkey Franklin Graham makes all workers, including health care providers “read and adhere” to a statement of faith that says gay people will burn in Hell.

You know, because when you’re caring for the sick you want god to know who should burn in Hell.

A City Hall spokesperson said the field hospital will operate as a Mount Sinai facility, and must adhere to the hospital’s policy against discrimination. But I guess they still have to read about Hate and agree that The Gays should burn in Hell.

New York state Senator Brad Hoylman, the only openly gay member of the New York State Senate, put the group on notice:

“Graham has a long history of homophobic and transphobic remarks. He’s called LGBTQ activists ‘immoral,’ said being gay or trans is ‘detestable,’ and even claimed Satan is behind the fight for equal rights … LGBTQ New Yorkers already experience health disparities compared to the general population, including higher rates of HIV, cancer and respiratory health issues. This means many LGBTQ New Yorkers have weaker immune systems or pre-existing conditions that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19. COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate, and neither should Franklin Graham. It’s unacceptable that a New Yorker infected with COVID-19 could be subjected to discriminatory treatment from an organization whose leader calls us ‘immoral’ and ‘detestable.’ Today I’m calling on Franklin Graham to publicly assure LGBTQ New Yorkers that they will receive the same treatment as anyone else at the Central Park field hospital. The City of New York and the Mount Sinai hospital network must monitor conditions closely at Graham’s facility and ensure every single LGBTQ patient is treated fairly. We cannot abandon our moral compass in the middle of a pandemic. Sadly, beggars can’t be choosers: New York needs every ventilator we can get. But homophobic pastor Franklin Graham and his field hospital operation in Central Park must guarantee all LGBTQ patients with COVID-19 are treated with dignity and respect. We’ll be watching.”

Bravo, sir, although the idea that Franklin Graham has a “moral compass” is laughable.

I hope the volunteers at that hospital step up, and away, from the kind of “Christian” Franklin Graham represents.

Anthony Dickerson Has To Be On His Best Behavior Before Donating A Kidney To His Son

What is wrong with people? Why, when a simple decision, a right decision, is in front of them, do some people take a step back to think about it? The right thing is always right.

A.J.  is two; he was born without kidneys. But a surgery that could save his life is being held up because of red tape and bureaucracy.

See, there is a donor of kidney for A.J. and he’s a perfect match because he happens to be A.J.’s father, Anthony Dickerson. And Anthony, who had always wanted a son, was ready to donate a kidney to his son until he was arrested for violating his probation last month on an original charge of possession of a firearm.

And that’s when the hospital decided to take a step back and rethink Anthony Dickerson’s offer. Oh, originally, Emory Hospital was fine with the situation, even asking the Gwinnett County Jail if Dickerson could be escorted to Emory for blood work and a pre-operative” but then, Dickerson claims, the hospital’s attitude changed once he was released from custody.

Now, the Living Donor Transplant Team at Emory wants evidence Anthony Dickerson is in compliance from his parole officer for the next three months; they say if Anthony Dickerson exhibits “good behavior” for the next three months, will re-evaluate his offer to donate a kidney to his own son.

So, basically, the man who is a perfect match to donate a kidney to his son, a man who wants to donate, who is ready to donate, who is in perfect health to donate, is being denied that option because he violated his parole. And Emory Healthcare will not answer questions about the case because of patient confidentiality; they have even refused to answer a question about how someone being arrested impacts the possibility of donating a kidney.

Naturally, Anthony Dickerson hopes his arrest doesn’t hurt his son's chances at living a normal life:

"What do he got to do with the mistakes I made? Nothing."

A.J. suffered a stroke two months ago, and now needs constant care and doctor's visits, but now he's being told to wait even though the perfect match has been found. The family now says their only option now is to get on the kidney transplant wait list, and that can take months, or even years.

Emory Hospital is risking the life of a child because, basically, they want to play the moral card: daddy committed a crime so he cannot donate a kidney? A child is suffering because they are asking for evidence of “good behavior”? What kind of fuckery is that? And, while I hate bringing race into it, I wonder, if A.J. was a little white boy in need of a kidney and his father, a perfect match, was a white man who violated his parole, would the story be the same?

I wonder ... and while Emory Hospital wants to wait and see, random strangers are reaching out to the family, calling the local news, contacting the hospital, to see if they’re a match for A.J. ...

This may sound crazy but if I could get in touch with this family, and if I were a match for this boy would it be possible to donate my kidney to him? As a gift so to speak? I would want nothing in return ...  I am a perfectly healthy 25-year-old female and it seems so silly and awful that this child could die because of the situation. I have a 3-year-old daughter and I can't imagine if it were my baby. I know I might not be a match but IF I were, I would want to do this...

I’m only 18 but after reading the toddlers story I feel like no child should have to suffer from mistakes one of their parents have made. I would love to help and see if I’m a match.

I would like to know how I can help the child by donating one of my kidneys.We recently came across your news article about 2-year-old, A.J., being denied a kidney transplant his father, Mr. Anthony Dickerson, is willing to donate to him and thought we may be of assistance to A.J. and his family. We have fought the good fight of justice for over 20 years and offer help and support to those who may not get heard otherwise. We are about community, what's right, and above all, justice for our clients. Our motto is "Not I But We!"

I am a 19-year-old college student in Missouri. I read your story on Carmella Burgess and her 2-year-old son and it weighed on my heart. I would like to get in contact with her to see if she would allow me to get tested to see if I am a match for a kidney transplant for her little boy.

I saw the report on the 2-year-old. We would be delighted to consider doing their surgery at the Texas Medical Center.

I live in Dayton, Ohio. I will be willing to donate a kidney to the 2-year-old boy if I am a match. I do not do any drugs, smoke any tobacco products, nor am I a felon/have a criminal record. The father and myself may be around the same age. If you and the family are willing or want to try to get the process going, you are more than welcome to contact me.”

Strangers are offering kidneys because a hospital wants Anthony Dickerson minds his manners for three months before they will allow him to donate a kidney to his son.

And who knows what might happen to A.J. during those ninety days ...

11 Alive

Random Musings

Okay, so there are certain phrases that people use that I loathe and I’m’a gonna add to that list, which includes ... It is what it is ... and LOL ... and people who actually say OMG rather than Oh My God.

So, the new phrase I would like erased from our culture is ... 

Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Stop it. And, I will ask that women, especially stop saying it, and not because I’m sexist or misogynistic, but because women are smarter than men and don’t need to spout dumb shiz like this.

Carry on.

Tuxedo is an escape artist. He, like the other cats, is not allowed outside because we live in a rural area and there are lots of things cats can catch that are dangerous. But ... and there’s always a but ... Tuxedo is the Best Cat Ever™ and so several morning a week, I take him outside and let him walk along the deck railing so he can smell the outside; don’t worry, he’s always chaperoned.

Still, if he’s in that mood, and someone opens a door, and he’s there, and there’s an opening, he’s been known to fly out the door and escape into the yard where a chase ensues, and treats are used to goad him back inside. 

One morning, Carlos left a door open when he was going into the yard and I couldn’t find Tuxedo. I called all over the house and he wasn’t there ... but I could hear him meow ... over and over again. It was coming near the sunroom, where the door had been left open ... I heard his plaintive meows and called him and then looked down ...

I guess he was playing Hide-and-Seek and I was ‘It.’

So ... will the 2017 NBA Champions Golden State Warriors meet President _____ in the White House, as is custom for winning teams? Maybe; maybe not. 

After the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers and won the championship, Tweets suggested that Golden State Warriors had decided ... as a team ... to boycott a trip to the White House, but then the organization released a statement saying no decision had been made. Yet there is a thought that the team or some on the team, don’t wish to meet _____; some like Stephen Curry, who took issue with his sponsor Under Armor over CEO Kevin Plank's description of _____ as a “real asset” by saying:

“I agree with that description, if you remove the 'et' from asset.”

And Warrior coach Steve Kerr has called _____ "blowhard" who couldn't be "more ill-suited to be President."

And, another player, David West, said this in January:

“All the tactics that he used to get elected are the very things that someone like me, who works with youth on a consistent basis, are the things that we try to talk our young folks out of being.”

Stay home, Golden State, because he’ll just use your visit as a photo op to shore up his fragile ego and failing presidency and do World Champions really wanna stoop that low?

Last weekend, Carlos was working in the garden and when he took a break, he came in to tell me that the, ahem, "understructure" was in place and next he would work on the infrastructure.

I'm terrified he’s building an overpass in the backyard.

The Ninth Circuit Court clapped back at _____ and ruled against his “revised” Travel Ban:

“We conclude that the President, in issuing the Executive Order, exceeded the scope of the authority delegated to him by Congress.”

Plus, it’s racist, you know.

Last weekend was the Tony Awards which I watched because, well, gay, and as a gay man I love all things Broadway and all things Hot Men and especially all things Broadway and Hot men.

As in Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton creator, who presented at last week’s show. I mean, he’s adorable, talented, Latino, and, well, I loves all those things naturally ... since I’m married to an adorable, talented Latino man.

And there was also one Lucas Steele, of The Great Comet, who looks a little like a sexy vampire and I am all about the sexy vampires and Broadway because, again, gay.

Just sayin’.

We all know that Fox News is just a branch of the GOP and will defend and credit the Republicans for every little thing ... whether it’s true or not ... case in point, Fox News reported this:

“First New Coal Mine of _____ Era Opens in Pennsylvania”

Except, like most Fox News stories there was nary a thread of truth to it ... because the permit for this mine was issued back in 2013, when _____ was nothing but an hysterical Birther tool.

Another Fox Lie as they goose-step alongside crazy.

So, this is Pride Month, and even Facebook has gotten into it with one of their emojis; you have the Thumbs Up, the Heart, the Smile, the Wow, the Tear, the Frown, and now you have the Pride Flag.

Cool, right? Well, not for a Facebook page called “Warriors for Christ” who posted this:

And then added:

So, as happens, people began going full-on Rainbow on the “Warriors for Christ” page:

And the Warriors were not happy about all that Rainbow Goodness ...

Too bad, so sad.

Last week, we got the bill for Carlos’ hospital stay ... twenty-eight hours in the hospital equals $20,000.

Yup, and this 20K is just for the bed; he was hooked up to no machines, no monitors, no nothing; he had a bed and a couple of meals and a few times he had his vitals checked by a nurse.

I told him that the next time he needs to be hospitalized, we’ll check him into the Presidential Suite at the Hyatt and hire a nurse for a day; it’d be cheaper.

On the upside ... thank god for insurance... because our out-of-pocket was just $800 and after a call from Carlos to Billing, it fell to just $700.

So, yeah, there’s that.

This week, while testifying before the Senate about Russia, Attorney General, and Keebler Elf, Jefferson Beauregard Beverly Leslie Sessions said 'I don't recall' a lot.

The best part was he said he ‘didn’t recall’ meeting with a Russian spy, but he did recall that if he had met with the man, they didn’t talk about anything like Russia hacking the election.

Huh? I don’t remember meeting the man but I remember that if I met him we didn’t discuss that.

Asshat lying little troll.

More good news? Okay ... Oprah Winfrey says she’s not running for President.

As if anyone seriously thought she would ... I mean, she’s too busy shilling Weight Watcher s and her love affair with bread.

Siddown Oprah, please.

So when President-For-Now _____ announced he was planning another get-together with bigwigs in the tech field, one man, Dick Costolo, the ex-CEO of Twitter, who attended the last go-round, had some advice for those who may want to go, but can’t ...

Twitter is fun ... especially when its ex-CEO uses it to clap back at the Twit-In-Chief!

Random Musings

After a lovely weekend, we are getting ready to leave the house for work; well, Carlos for work, and me for a visit to my hunky dentist Dr. Will. Carlos had made the Cafe con Leche, we’d had breakfast, watched the news, bitched about _____, and I went into the bathroom to make myself purty for the doctor.

When I come out, I see that Carlos has made the bed, and is sitting on the end of it. He says:

“Don’t panic. I think you need to take me to the hospital.”

First off, Don’t panic? Have we met? He knows the phrase ‘don’t panic’ sends me into a panic,  especially when the word hospital follows. I am normally a happy-go-lucky gay, but when I hear Don’t panic, my mind goes immediately to death and destruction.

At any rate, I asked what was wrong, and he tells me that he had a moment some three days earlier where he’d had to stop what he was doing—he was hoisting some yard refuse into the back of a friend’s truck—because he couldn’t catch his breath. And all.weekend.long he was short of breath and felt a pressure on his chest. All.Weekend.Long. I could have killed him for that alone.

So, off we go to the Smallville Hospital—yes, our small town has its own very good hospital—and the emergency room. He is seen almost right away and explains to nurses and doctors about his shortness of breath and his pressure. Any surgeries, they ask. He tells them he had his appendix removed some four, maybe five years ago, but looks at me because I’m better with dates.

“It was sixteen years ago.”

Oy! That man and dates. But again I digress ... they do blood-work and an EKG and a chest x-ray in the ER and all look very good. But they want him overnight to do more tests, like an echogram and a stress test.

I’m feeling relieved at the news, but still ... me, death, destruction. Carlos gets taken upstairs to a room and we sit and visit and he makes his phone calls, telling friends he’s in the hospital and No, it’s not for a face lift.

The next day he does the echogram and his cardiac doctor tells him they rarely see a perfect echogram but his is near perfect; the stress test is next—they either make you run on a treadmill, or they just stimulate the heart to mimic running. He does all that and then it’s wait and wait and wait.

Finally, at the end of the day those results come back and everything is good and normal, or Carlos’s normal, and he can come home.

We’ll see his primary care doctor next week for a follow-up, but it does appear that it was only a muscle pull or something that caused shortness of breath and pressure on the chest.

Now, I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but that was my diagnosis from the jump ... well, after I stopped panicking, so why he didn’t listen to me ... oh, yeah, better safe than sorry.

Anyway, life is back to being good.

Now, on something just odd ...

Richard Patterson, 65, of Margate, Florida, above, is accused of second-degree murder in the choking death of his girlfriend, Francisca Marquinez, 60.

At his trial, Patterson would like the jury to see the weapon with which he ALLEGEDLY choked his girlfriend.

It’s.His.Dick.

Patterson’s attorney claims his client accidentally choked Marquinez while she was performing oral sex, and to prove it, they would like Patterson to show his penis to the jury, saying its size is relevant.

The prosecutor had all sorts of questions:

“Is it going to be erect, or is it going to be flaccid?”

I would think erect because Patterson may be a grower not a shower. And, to be blunt, erect is how this all happened. The prosecutor also wondered how it would be presented to the jury.

“Do we do it in the back?”

Excuse me? Oh, my mind went there.

“Do we do it in open court?”

Yes, and have the court open wide .... ALLEGEDLY.

One nurse in the ER with Carlos this week heard his accent and asked where he is from; to be fair, his accent is part Spanish and part something else because even Latino people wonder where he’s from.

He told her, Mexico, and she said he was a long way from there; and then she looked at me and said,

“And you don’t sound like you’re from Smallville either.”

I told her I was from California, and she asked how Carlos and I ended up here from Mexico and the West Coast; I replied

“Witness protection.”

And then just smiled.

At the U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduation ceremony yesterday, presented _____  with a ceremonial sword and, jokingly[?], told _____ to “use that on the press, sir.”

Note to both Kelly, left, and _____, equal asshats:

Have you never heard the old saying that the pen is mightier than the sword?

Yeah, a pen will bring down this White House and no

t one sword can stop it. The pen s will work overtime until every last one of these asshats are gone from office, like ....

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy—a Republican, because of course, and one of _____’s  closest allies in Congress—who told Paul Ryan, a month before _____ clinched the Republican nomination that _____ could be the beneficiary of payments from Vladimir Putin:

“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and _____.”

Rohrabacher is a Republican, because of course, Congressperson from California, who is also a fervent defender of Putin and Russia.

And when Ryan heard these words from McCarthy he instantly stopped the conversation from going further, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.

McCarthy and Ryan had just come from separate talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions.

So, there you have it, two more GOP goose-steppers putting their party before their country; demanding silence and looking the other way. Every one of these enablers and traitors needs to be voted out of Congress.

Now.

Well, every week since January we’ve heard tale of it being _____’s Worst Week Ever but clearly this week, with him giving confidential information to the Russians and the news that he tried to get former FBI director James Comey to stop investigating Michael “Lock her up” Flynn, is the worst so far ... especially with these new polls:

One shows that, for the first time, more voters—48%—support impeaching _____ versus 44% who are idiots. Just 43% of those polled think _____ will serve a full term, while 45% think he won’t.

And, as with those folks in England who voted for the Brexit and then went, “Wait, what?” it appears that, by an eight-point margin, 49% to 41%, people wish Hillary Clinton was President.

Even better ... by a sixteen-point margin, 55% to 39%, they wish Barack Obama was still in office instead of Trump.

Cue Tweet Storm .

We watched Bad Moms the other night and it was better than I thought, though it did veer wildly from sweet and lovely to F-bombs and dick jokes. One thing it did have going for it was Jay Hernandez as the Hot Guy. He was the Hot Guy.

Also, while I don’t watch Dancing With The Stars—because, really, dancing? Stars?—I did cruise by the channel Monday night and saw one Rashad Jennings, apparently a football player of some sort, dance ... shirtless.

And, yeah, hot.

Well, _____ supporter, soap actor, and recent Chippendale dancer, Antonia Sabato Jr, has announced he might want to run for office.

His estranged wife, though, has announced Sabato is a drug addict and an adulterer.

So, yeah, he’s running as a Republican.

Sitting with Carlos in his hospital room, I kept seeing nurses and orderlies pushing the meal carts up and down the hallway.

I think they should do like flight attendants and have a drink cart for those people sitting with the patients.

I mean, I could’a used a margarita at several points during the last couple of days.

On Mother’s Day, Paul Ryan stepped out of Hell to pose with his Mother and Tweet this ridiculousness:

Luckily, David Frum, former G. W. Bush speechwriter, is, while still a Republican is also part of The Resistance, and so he trolled Paul Ryan for being the hypocrite that he is: