Walking away...for a while

I have had enough.

Been kicked, spit on, looked down at, mocked, and many other things good people should never have done. And, after four years, I've had enough.

I am headed out next weekend to camp for a while, take my soul out, and see if I can repair it, see if there is anything left of it.

This place will be dead, while I am gone, but I urge you, read what I have left, not just here, but in other places... for if you ever meet me, you better be ready to deal with me being back on my own high-horse, really fast, and ready to speak with reason, not what you feel is such.

L8r,
D. Rex.

Walking away...for a while

I have had enough.

Been kicked, spit on, looked down at, mocked, and many other things good people should never have done. And, after four years, I've had enough.

I am headed out next weekend to camp for a while, take my soul out, and see if I can repair it, see if there is anything left of it.

This place will be dead, while I am gone, but I urge you, read what I have left, not just here, but in other places... for if you ever meet me, you better be ready to deal with me being back on my own high-horse, really fast, and ready to speak with reason, not what you feel is such.

L8r,
D. Rex.

Ebola has made it to a 1st world nation... and sadly it is the one known as "Medication-Nation", which means many of the things the experts think they know about the disease are going to either fail them, or prove wrong as we get to see it closer now...

Top of that list, in a nation where so many folks are on various medications, treatments, or self-prescribing over-the-counter meds that suppress parts of the immune system, of which fever is one prime part of... can we really take that 3rd world observed temperature for virus shedding point of 100.4 as the Gold Standard?

No. 

Sorry, but our leaders and professionals fucked this one up, and I refuse to recant that usage of a cuss word...

Add to this, the arrogance that we have, letting folks exposed to something like this continue with daily life like normal? I defer to the man with the Doctorate in Swearology, Sgt. Snorkel of Beetle Bailey fame, to express my feelings on that. But, honestly? We really thought that was the answer? Allowing folks to continue to travel during that incubation period? Look at the chaos that is causing, compared to what some common sense travel bans, and a quarantine in place at the site of exposure, would have wrought (a lot less chaos, and much more trust in the leadership of those in the positions we expect that of, but now we will never know).

I'm on a tear about how #Texas did this to us... in truth, we all have. We became complacent, trusted too much, or handed over too much authority, to fools, apparently. At all levels of government.

Our medical community failed us, by not following their own advice, and moving about, our leaders failed us, by not imposing stricter controls, and making sure all agencies communicated and worked together on all the issues around such outbreaks, and worst, we failed ourselves.

I've sat on this long enough... and that is only 12 hours after I made the connection, reached out, admittedly after hours, to a contact in the local health department, and sent that probably lost missive to the folks at 1600 Penn Ave... lost in the flood of others screaming panic...

Don't trust that 100.4. Viral load in a patient, the population of the virus in that human's body, drives the point where viral shedding, or being infectious, occurs. No medical degree, no degree at all, from a homeless bum, who happens to read a lot... and triggered by seeing someone post, who is doing the right thing, and self-quarantining after exposure, a lower than normal temperature. Sadly, it took me nearly ten hours to make that connection. Ten precious hours, then twelve more, debating with myself if laying this out there is wise, or feeding the frenzy... but, we have to know, and take that bit of caution.

With how Ohio is reacting to Index case 1.2, Ms. Vinson, I think at least some are, but not warning others... and they should. All the symptoms have some way to suppress them... I just hope we find a better diagnostic technique soon, and start using some common sense. Like those brave enough to do the right thing themselves, on their own initiative. Without that medical degree, but with Wisdom.

Warning and suggestions about the times we are in.

Time for Dyfedd Rex to pontificate about something he’d planned to keep quite on. Your choice as to what this is, me staring into some crystal ball or reading Tarot cards, or if I’m using deductive powers like a certain renowned detective stepped from the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

We, as a planet, are about to take it in the shorts. Without Mother Nature letting her agents of culling the herds use any lubrication at all…

Period.

When the legendary Four Horsemen ride the world, in a hunting pack, we as a race really don’t stand a chance. Now, before you think I’m saying that this is the End Times, or just scaring folks, let me lay out for you some facts, that the ancient scribes or God, or gods, depending upon your beliefs, really were saying.

Pestilence/Plague, Famine, War, and Death work hand in hand. This is the real message here, today. Each feeds the other, driving the cycle of life that even the greatest of nations must fear. War opens the gates to the Pestilence and Famine, shown in our own often decried and forgotten history, and Death rides his pale horse everyday through us, so we only notice him when that scythe takes larger numbers each swing. Enough with the allegories, time for the facts, the deductions/predictions, and some answers, which, while I am sure some in high places are thinking about, they are taking their own sweet time in doing so. Which will cost us more lives, more freedoms, and maybe our way of life, forever.

War opens the door for diseases to move about easily, as healthcare breaks down in active zones, folks are more worried about surviving the conflict, fleeing places where the dead bodies pile up, than staying healthy, or laying in the supplies/crops to push on beyond the moment. And this, for those in the conflict zone, is fully understandable. You cannot eat crops you are raising if you catch a bullet or are blasted to bits by an explosion, so we run. That running, plus the constant shifting of troops around in the zone, outside it in staging areas, and the rotation home of troops to rebuild morale, re-equip, and train more soldiers.

This leads to a vector for Pestilence, be his form some parasite, some disease, something worse, to ride on those fleeing and fighting into new areas as conflicts shift about the chessboard, reacting to the situations. Famine comes from the places folks flee to, or head back to afterwards, not being prepared for the issues tagging along with them. The World’s current unrest is such a case. Much as WWI was the true spread mechanism for Spanish Flu during the years of the war and after, so too will the current crisis do the same, unless we learn from our past, as several philosophers warn us to do.

Am I saying we should not fight the just wars? No, but we need to move much more cautiously, and that might be why we are resisting so much sending ground troops into the fray against the Islamic State forces. Someone in government is urging caution, and being heeded. This might also explain the recent withdrawal of forces from Ukraine by Russia. Some wise person got Putin’s ear, and warned him of the consequences of continuing a conflict during a pandemic. Not just Ebola, but the enterovirus you see in the news of late, and resurgent, treatment resisting strains of things we thought we beat, like Polio and Tuberculosis. Multiple diseases, with very different presentations, all potentially killers. Not a good scenario for the world.

How is this going to drive Famine? Few these days have a stash of food, unless they accept the ridicule of others for being survivalists, or the religion urges them to have such. The rule of thumb, if we do have to resort to early 20^th Century tactics, is double the incubation period of locking down or quarantining a city, town, household, or what ever level we are forced by the spread of disease to move at. And with the large numbers of folks needing the assistance of food stamps and food banks, here in the U.S., that means Famine will be hitting those folks mid-way through, just as it did during the lockdowns of many places during “The Great Influenza”, who were forced to keep going out to shop, allowing that one vector to continue. Now, Ebola is not quite that contagious, but still, even a slight variance of it’s survival outside a body, could change that into something like the flu, where even wiping with disinfectants is not 100% effective in stopping its spread.

Here in the USA, the most risk groups will be the same as always, the homeless, drug addicts, the immune compromised (be it HIV victims, those recently treated for cancers, transplant recipients who take drugs against rejection, etc.), and any who work with them. IF this outbreak hits them, God help us all. The timing is very scary, as from now until the first week of January is one of the peak times for the transient portion of the homeless to be on the move. I know this, from experience, being homeless much of the last four years myself. The transient section are seeking the shelters and areas with known “Generous Giving Seasons”, where panhandlers make the most money to winter over on. With the crammed and unsanitary conditions in many shelters around our nation, this will prove a problem with no good answer.

Now, one more thing, before I leave. The worst part about any disease, any, is that all it takes to move it from epidemic to pandemic is stupid decisions by supposedly smart people. The homeless, often suffering mental illness, cannot be held to blame as much as those in healthcare and the government who fail to use common sense.

Case in point? Easy. Our Second US transmitted case of Ebola will now be a very difficult to control, thanks to a foolish healthcare worker who took a flight during their supposed time of incubation. One stupid decision, that now lays the other 132 passengers, and all the attending flight support folks, from the ticket agents down onto the ramp rats loading luggage, the TSA folks who inspected the patient’s luggage, and on further, to the virus. A stupid decision, by someone who should have known better. And where was the government in this? Why are those in the 21 day window not on a separate list for “No-Fly” status? Who knows, probably out feeding at the public trough on our tax dollars.  Stupid moves… when the Horsemen are riding, cost lives.

My suggestions? Simple.

1: Take the advice of Doug Adams, from the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, and “Don’t Panic”. Seriously, panic will only make it worse. Be calm, cautious, and remember, it ain’t your fault you get a disease, but it will be your fault if it spreads via you. be prepared, wisely. If in a crowded place, do your best to avoid physical contact, keep a spacing of at least an arm’s length… out of not just caution, but courtesy as well.

2:Lay in now a supply of food in case you are exposed, and some serious entertainment supplies to prevent boredom turning you into a maker of dumb decisions. Books, movies, games, you name it. Keep it handy, it ain’t worth it to put others at risk from your exposure. Plan on a sixty day stay, if you have family/roommates, making them stay in place as well. Might be tough, but you don’t want to be responsible for the spread of it.

3: Be aware that some may not know they are a carrier, thanks to this stupid decision, and probably others. Some fool probably took mass transit, or will, along the line.

4: If exposed, do NOT be a damned fool, and expose others, on the assumption that they have told us we cannot catch it until symptoms appear. Self-Quarantine may seem harsh, but your friends, family, and neighbors will thank you for doing it, instead of sharing something by chance.

5: Make a plan now, for such. If you have a good plan, and stick to it, you won't be the next "Typhoid Mary" out there, spreading it around. And, you can protect any loved ones from further exposure. Include ways to communicate during isolation/quarantine, who becomes responsible for kids, pets, homes, etc., and even how to drop food and other supplies off, if not fully prepared in advance. 

My true biggest fear, regarding Ebola, is a carrier developing. Someone who will be asymptomatic, but shed the virus, a modern day “Typhoid Mary” if you will, who will not have a clue what havoc they are creating. God help us all, if that occurs.

Time to Walk Away Arrives

The time to walk away has arrived.

There are a few last tasks to do. Then I shall walk out, finding me a mountain valley to hide in, here amid the Great American Desert, to see what will unfold below me, as the actions of fools at last come home to collect their price.

I will gather up my few belongings, sort through them, winnow out that which no longer matters, that which will not sustain me, and carry forward with only a small fraction of my once vast wealth of knowledge. I shall hand back to a failed nation that which marked me as serving it, reminding those who I hand those documents to of their earliest training, a class on military justice, and the echo in my voice will be that of the officer who reminded my fellows then of the price that comes of obeying orders that are unjust and unlawful. I shall walk away spreading the word that the days of our glory and rightness never existed, were just an illusion that even I was mesmerized by, as they still are.

I wish only one thing more... only one. Turn aside from the Paths of Damnation, people. I wish I had finished that tale, told the price of Arrogance and Pride, Told the world that they waded into the Darkness, the Madness, that we all carry inside us. But I was too weak. Now, gathering my last bits of self, I walk away to contemplate my failings. Forty days one walked out there, in a vast wilderness before me. I only hope I, too, can resist the temptations I shall face,

Be well... and believe in beauty of the soul, not beauty of possessions and form. Perhaps that final message will save you all...

goodbye, and bother me not again, please. You failed me when I needed help, why should I reach out to save a society, a world, broken by the worship of Sins, instead of eschewing such in favor of Love and Forgiveness.

I will watch, from some high place, but refuse to lift up a finger to save any. For, if I cannot be saved, why should others?

Just a Ghost

That is how I felt... oh, yeah, before going along further, today's rant is canned, I've headed off to find a hidey hole to winter over in. By the time I get back, if I come back (hey, I might enjoy being alone for the next while)... okay, back on track here..

Just a ghost, something few saw, and when they did, horror and fear came to their eyes, mostly.

I could walk along, and unless you were overly fearful, few would stop to offer aid, ask questions, or even nod, wave, or return the hello's and howdy's I gave, tipping my hat or nodding my head to indicate I still saw you all.

Hell, holding a sign, once, I had someone bitch about me trying to get their attention... over their gas cap still sitting on the trunk before they lost it. (Thankfully, an off duty cop saw why, and kept the heat off me, thanks to that officer, even if he thought I did not know about it.)

Dropping all those job apps, all any one remembers is the lesser amounts of time I spent playing a few games to distract my mind from the waiting, not the number of times I had job boards open, or worked on stories between filing applications, as a back up plan to getting a job.

Few remember the times me and my running mate gave helpful directions around town, expressed interest in events going on, and gave directions to events that failed to lay out some decent signage (a Certain runners' event comes to mind, when as a joke for other homeless, we held up our notebooks as if flying a sign, giving the directions to the registration desk...)

Few remember those three times we changed out flat tires, the kid we talked out of her little escapade of running away, thinking the streets better than a foster home, or the times we carried others gear for them when they were injured or just not well.

We were ghosts, to be exorcised from society, evil spirits, one and all, in the eyes of most.

And now, I am a new kind of ghost, one that talks from beyond the bounds you set, just leaving the last bits of my efforts I was willing to share out there... on my blogs... for one last dig at those who feared me.

My biggest regret is still this. That my two BEST poems never really took off. One just a tale of something fun and beautiful, which really did happen, the other a social commentary that actually said thanks for the help you gave to others around me. Those were Deerboy on a Bicycle and You Gave Them Keys, respectively. I pointed out when folks did wrong, tried to remain a good member of society, only to be scoffed at.

I could not care less, now. I accept that I am a ghost to you, just vapors most wish to wave their hands through to disperse... but like a ghost, I hope I haunt you. Even now, just days after leaving, you see my words echoing across the ether of cables and wifi, still tickling along, still teasing you to see me... as I walk away into some piece of forlorn land, not to die, but to regroup, and maybe become corporeal again.

Then again, maybe I was always a ghost, a figment of ecto-plasm that never took on flesh. And thus others felt that doing me ill was fine, as I was not real.

>shrug<

I don't know. I only care about one thing. Keep looking for the beauty in the world around you, and do good deeds just to do them, not for fame or adulation. And be at peace, for the aroma of pipe smoke might remind you of the words I once wove, like previous generations found it evoking fond memories of grandfathers long gone.