Satan Claus

I swear these people must be the result of generations of inbreeding or something:

(click on picture to enlarge)

No further comment needed.

Tip of the Crown to Ol' Broad

Wal Mart: Screwing People Around The World

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post at the flagship for liberal blogs, regarding the BS that WPRI was trying to spread. As can often happen, the comment thread took on a life of it's own, and I and commenter Dan, had a minor exchange about whether or not Wal Mart was a good thing.

I learned today that it is not only Americans that Wal Mart likes to give the shaft to. They like exploiting Canadians as well. From Open Left:

Yup, Saskatchewan, in better times when it had an NDP government, had its own EFCA, which allowed a Wal-Mart in a conservative part of a fairly conservative province to unionize. Now that it has a conservative government, bye bye card-check.

Anyway, the company's position seems to be "Since we fought to delay this so long that many of the original employees have moved on, we demand a new election under the new us-favouring rules." Nice. I wonder how many of those departing employees left voluntarily?

The town's mayor is worried Wal-Mart will close the store, which is a real risk, but unlike many other places, there doesn't seem to be a lot of other places they could put a Wal-Mart nearby. If they close, they're likely abandoning this region of the province (and of course other retailers could move in).

A sad follow up on the 8 lube-shop workers who unionized at a store in Québec, Wal-Mart closed the garage in that store, saying it was losing money. They apparently did keep the workers at least, though.

As for the Union (UFCW) they have pending cases with the Sask Labour Board to unionize two other stores in the Province. Strength in numbers. Wal-Mart can't close every store down.

In said comment thread, Dan argued that Wal Mart is really a liberal group, and offers many benefits tot he community. Well, they don't offer much to their employees.

As for the community, not so much there either. From the mulleted John Michlig:

As I noted in the BULLSEYE comment section: Color me unimpressed. $8,000? Not great, I'm afraid. Wal-Mart can find 8k under their fingernails at the end of a day. You do better if you're a politician with a blog: Wal-Mart gave Mary Lazich $1,000, and got for their money, among other favors, an ostensibly Lazich-authored blog entitled "Wal-Mart to the Rescue"(!)

Bottom line: 8k is certainly not compensation for the corporate socialism Wal-Mart extracts from the local and federal government.

And, to my friend Bryan Maersch (now blogging here) who commented: ""Right or Wrong, Walmart is a big part of our economy," I have to say just this:

Right or wrong? I don't care how "big" you are; I believe we should expect RIGHT in all cases.

Let's contrast Wal-Mart's, er, thriftyness with the generosity of Dave Hahn of the Greenfield Outback Steak House. He was honored last night by the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce as Business of the Year.

This is what Mr. Hahn does: Each year, he chooses ten charities and community groups to host a fundraiser. The fundraiser costs are set by the charity or organization, and what they collect they get to keep, free and clear. This year's beneficiaries were Greenfield Friends of Music, Greenfield Education Association, Wisconsin String Teachers, Downs Syndrome Association, National Campaign for Muscular Dystrophy/Friedrich Ataxia, and local churches.

Outback Steak House is a chain, but Dave Hahn is a local franchisee who recognizes his community's needs and takes positive, ongoing, focused action. His kind of giving takes an appreciable bite from his personal bottom line, but creates the kind of goodwill that gets people like me (and everyone I talk to for the next month or so) over to his restaurant for a dinner or two, or three.

See, there are good business people in the world. Wallyworld is just not one of them.

Now That He Lost, McCain Finds Himself Again

During the election, John McCain sold himself out in many ways. One of the most disappointing was when he flip-flopped on torture.

But in a report issued today, it appears he has found his dignity again:

In the most comprehensive critique by Congress of the military's interrogation practices, the Senate Armed Services Committee issued a report yesterday that accuses Rumsfeld and his deputies of being the authors and chief promoters of harsh interrogation policies that disgraced the nation and undermined U.S. security. The report, released by Sens. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), contends that Pentagon officials later tried to create a false impression that the policies were unrelated to acts of detainee abuse committed by members of the military.

"The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of 'a few bad apples' acting on their own," the report states. "The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees."

[...]

"These policies are wrong and must never be repeated," McCain said in a statement.

It is good to see McCain regain his bearings and stand up for good things again.

H/T James Rowen

Unions Ask For Action, Pols Remain Useless

In the wake of the tragic death of Christopher Thomas, AFSCME, the union representing government workers, have asked the state legislature to listen to their concerns in an effort to improve the child welfare system:

"We are writing today to ask for an opportunity to share with you our concerns about the dysfunctional environment that has existed at the bureau for a long time," Marty Beil, the union's executive director, and Susan McMurray, a lobbyist, wrote in a letter to the Milwaukee delegation to the Wisconsin legislature.

The letter ticks off a list of concerns - a shortage of social workers, high staff turnover, lack of support, insufficient training, inadequate oversight, lack of coordination between the Milwaukee bureau and private child welfare agencies - "all of which make it extremely difficult for social workers to provide the vital child protection services the workers were hired to provide."

Owen Robinson thinks that they are all wrong, and are trying to take advantage of this tragedy:

Christopher’s death could have been prevented if the bureaucrats on staff DID THEIR JOB? We don’t need more social workers or training or whatever. We need government bureaucrats to take their jobs seriously.

Presuming that Owen was referring to people like Denise Revels Robinson, he only gets very partial credit for that comment. Revels Robinson needs to be fired. She actually should have been fired years ago. But even if she were to be fired, it wouldn't go far to fix they child welfare system.

When I worked in the system, before the state took over, we also had federal and state guidelines we had to meet. But the system was much more streamlined then.

For example, we, as workers, would have to prepare and present a report to the courts in order to get an order to keep the child(ren) in foster care. Another report would have to be submitted every year in order to have the order extended. In the pre-takeover days, these reports would be about seven to ten pages, depending on how many kids there were, the history of the case, other influences in the matter, etc. After the state took over, the new reports would be three times as long, and would say less. So they invented supplemental forms to the reports. Then they would invent supplement forms to the supplement forms that would reiterate what was said in the other documents. You get the drift.

To make things even worse, all of these reports had to be completed via a special state computer program invented by the state and only with that program. The problem was the computer program didn't work very well, and saved information would often be lost, required the worker to start all over again.

And that was just one aspect of the job. Despite the increase in documentation, and the subsequent increase in time needed to complete all of the required forms, case loads either stayed the same or actually went up to the point that it was nearly physically impossible to meet all of the guidelines.

And yes, it was bureaucrats like Revels Robinson that kept coming up with these duplicative and cumbersome forms.

What Owen fails to understand is that the creation of the Bureau and its bureaucrats and multiple, redundant forms did nothing to solve the original problem, which is that the child welfare system was being underfunded and that caseloads were too high. Those problems still remain.

Meanwhile, our elected leaders continue to fail the foster kids and their foster parents.

Mayor Tom Barrett has been completely mute on the subject. Is he even still the mayor?

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has also said nothing about the matter. He is probably trying to pick out the colors for the yard signs as he prepares for the next phase in his perpetual run for governor.

Speaking of governors, Jim Doyle has been disappointingly quiet on this. He is probably too busy going to Washington to ask Santa Congress for all the goodies he wants for Christmas.

The entire state legislature is also eerily silent on the matter, except for Representative Zepnick, who has called for an investigation, and Senator Alberta Darling who said she would present a bill to make the system more transparent. I would think it would be better to present a bill to actually fix the system, but what do I know. I only worked on the front line, and saw what worked and what didn't.

Isn't it past time that we start holding these elected officials accountable for doing the job that we elected them to do? Or do we only do that with the workers who are being kept from doing their jobs the way their supposed to?

But They're Professionals!

I've never been much of a sports fan. The only sport I've really gotten into was professional football, and then, usually only the Packers. And even then, I was more of a passive fan. I couldn't rattle off stats of any of the players, even Favre. I enjoyed watching the games, screaming at the TV, and wondering if the refs were blind and/or paid off. Probably like most people do, I imagine.

One of the sports I've grown to actually dislike is baseball.

I attended a few games at the old County Stadium, usually on opening day, or for some party. I didn't go for the game as much as the socializing with some friends. But when the talk started that County Stadium was too old, didn't have enough amenities, etc., and that a new stadium needed to be built, I was turned off by the whole thing. Especially when there was so much debate about the stadium tax, and TOMMY! came up with his infamous "Stick it to 'em" comment.

At that time, I was working in child welfare, and had seen first hand how the state was short-changing Milwaukee County, because money was "too tight" to be wasted on something as trivial as social services. I remember getting royally pissed off that they could raise taxes to build a glorified ball yard worth hundreds of millions of dollars, for multimillionaire players and the extremely wealthy Selig family, but couldn't afford to take care of our own children.

I swore to myself that I would not step foot into Miller Park, and I haven't. Nor do I plan to.

Anyway, whilst I was driving around tonight, doing my errands, I happened to have 620 WTMJ on, and there was Bill Michaels, their sports guy, talking about how the New York Yankees just signed CC Sabathia for a huge contract, that comes to be about $23 million dollars a year. Michaels was going on about this, trying to rationalize it, and pointing out that some players were paid $18 million or more, and that they had a really bad year.

All I could do was shake my head. I'm sorry, but I cannot imagine anyone being worth $23 million or $18 million per year, just to play baseball. I don't follow baseball, but from what I've heard by the water cooler and saw in the paper, I guess this Sabathia is a really good pitcher. So what? He plays a game! He only pitches every five games or so. With time off between series and the mid-season break, he probably only plays once, maybe twice in a week. And that's if he doesn't get hurt.

The other pro sports are just as bad. Favre is still one of my favorite players. He is arguably one of the best players football has ever seen, but is he really worth all of those millions of dollars a year to just play a game?

Actors and actresses and musicians are just as bad. Some actors and actresses are pulling in tens of millions of dollars per movie or TV season. Sure, they might be entertaining, and are good at pretending, but are they worth all of that money?

And don't get me even started on the big CEOs who get millions in salaries, and millions more in bonuses, just so that they can drive their respective companies into the ground, and then beg Congress for a bailout.

Meanwhile, there are real professionals that don't get paid nearly enough. There are police officers who go to work everyday not knowing if they will ever come home again. Yet, most of them don't get paid anywhere near what they deserve. They get to hear cracks about eating donuts or being just a tool to raise revenue for a city or a county. They get told that they can't get raises or have the proper protective gear, because that would mean Joe Taxpayer might have to dish out another 15 cents in taxes each year. The same Joe Taxpayer that thinks nothing of paying $100 per ticket to a football game.

If the worst thing happens, and a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty, there is a large amount of hand wringing and demands that something has got to be done. That lasts a day or two, and then it fades from everyone's mind, except for the family that is missing their loved one.

The same could be said for firefighters, correction officers, and yes, even social workers. They go to work everyday in jobs that require a lot of training and expertise, but are often denied a wage or respect that would be more in line with what they mean to society.

After all, we can't just go around raising taxes so that there are cops on the street to fight crime or prison guards to watch over the criminals that the police catch. We can't raise taxes so that the firefighters have sufficient numbers in their squads or the best gear around. And the thought of raises taxes for a bunch of social workers so that they can actually do their jobs and protect the vulnerable, the mentally ill, the children, the elderly, well, to raise taxes for them is just madness.

After all, that extra five or ten dollars we spend on taxes to support these people takes money out of our pockets. Then we can't go and buy that large foam "We're #1" foam hand with the finger pointing out when we go to the stadium or arena, to watch multimillionaires play games.

The only thing I can't figure out is that is this a reflection of how screwed up the free market has gotten or of how screwed up we have gotten.

Sorry, Folks

After working all day, I cleared out not one, but two driveways of cement-like snow, came home and did seven loads of wash. I just don't have it in me to give you one of my usual insightful treatises on local events. (And I do have one or two things to put up over at one of the other places.)

I hope no one is too disappointed, unless they were looking to score some cheap, hypocritical points.

On the bright side, all the members of team capper made it to work and back home safely. I learned the heating company went through the snow storm to the northern castle and got the royal furnace working. I am having troubles finding a plumber though. The one that the heating company recommended is not impressing me too much. It seems he doesn't want the job, and I'd rather have someone that gives a darn about their work. I have a couple of leads to try in the morning.

Tomorrow may be light on blogging as well. Need to get some victuals and some things for the castle, like a new shower head and one of those freeze alarm thingies, if I can find one.

We'll see what we can do.

No Easy Answers

Meg Kissinger, a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has a story that involves the death of yet another foster child. This comes on the heels of an ongoing series of articles by Crocker Stephenson regarding the death of Christopher Thomas, a baby boy that died in while under the care of Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare

The story about the foster girl, Angellika Arndt, is, in a sense, much harder to deal with than even Christopher's death. In Christopher's death, the murderer is clear, and his aunt/caretaker will be tried on the charges. The failings of the Bureau is also much easier to track and the failures stand out quite clearly.

With Angellika's story, the lines are much more blurred. Angellika, or Angie, according to the story, was killed while being put in a restraint hold by staff at a treatment day program. More on that in a moment.

I read the article several times and there are so many things that disturb me, I hardly know where to start. The story reports that Angie came into the system when she was three due to suffering serious neglect and physical and sexual abuse. Even though I tried to remain relatively calm, sexually abusing a child is more than I can take sometimes. Even though it's been over seven years since I worked with kids, the sexual abuse cases still haunt me. I've had to be asked to be taken off of one case because I couldn't stomach looking at the father who had allegedly raped his own daughter. I knew that if I had to work that case, I would have said and/or done something that would have gotten me in big trouble.

The next thing that bothered me about the story was this:

She had significant psychological problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, reactive attachment disorder, bipolar childhood disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and oppositional/defiant disorder.

Angie took five or six psychiatric medications daily and received mental health treatment and special education.

I think that the doctor(s) involved in this case had over-diagnosed her. The ADHD, anxiety and oppositional/defiant disorder could have all fit under PTSD and reactive attachment disorder. I don't trust the bipolar childhood disorder either. Bipolar disorders usually don't show up until late adolescence at the earliest. (Since the rules were changed regarding mental health care and insurance coverage in the 80's, hospitals and treatment facilities have found ways around this, usually by exaggerating symptoms or by coming up with new diagnoses. This is just so they have something to give the insurance companies so that they can keep providing the necessary care.)

I also have concerns about giving a child that young so many psychiatric medicines. While some kids do need medication for certain disorders, like ADHD, six different medications seems to be just too excessive.

Most hospitals, treatment centers, and other similar facilities have their employees trained through a program called Nonoffensive Crisis Prevention/Intervention, which was created by the Crisis Prevention Institute. Most of these techniques are safe, if used properly. But even innocuous techniques, like the basket hold, can end up with tragic results if not used properly.
I still my training to remember that the holds should only be used as a last resort, and should be stopped the second the person is able to control their own behavior. Waiting until they thought the child was "asleep," as they did with Angie, is way too long.

Now, with all of those criticisms offered, I will contradict myself a bit.

Given the hell and the physical and psychological torture that poor girl had gone through, it does not surprise me in the least bit that she was a difficult child to care for or work with. As I stated above, I have worked with a few children with similar background stories. An adult would have a hard time coping with the things that these children have experienced. A child does not have the same level of cognitive functioning or copings skills that an adult has from a lifetime of education and experience. The child has no way to deal with this, and thus end up acting it out, often for the rest of their lives.

Since they don't have the same coping skills and internal controls that anyone would need to deal with this, sometimes outside influences are necessary to keep them from hurting themselves or others. These outside influences include chemical and physical restraints. In other words, sometimes the child will need medicine to help them deal with the emotional pain and scarring. Likewise, sometimes it is necessary for the caretaker to step in and stop the child, by physically restraining them, to keep them safe.

The calls to remove these care options strike me as being a knee jerk reaction, and a bit irresponsible. Especially given the fact that the advocacy group doesn't offer any alternatives that would allow the child to safe with themselves or with others.

When dealing with certain situations, there are no clear, easy answers. There have been many times in my professional career where I've had to take actions and/or make decisions I wasn' t happy about and struggled with. However, I also know that had I not made those decisions or taken those actions, the consequences would have been much worse.

In the case of Angie, I think that the judge put it best:

The report notes that during sentencing, the judge remarked that "there were a lot of other people who made decisions that led up to her death."

There is no one person or organization to blame in this case. There are many people and agencies that failed Angie, from her parents that abused her, to the doctors that may have made bad treatment decisions, to the child care workers that held her down too long.

And I don't know if there is a way that we could fix it so that this won't happen again. All we can do is try to prevent this sort of thing, by going through continuous training for the workers and having responsible oversight over each step of the way.

Where The Moon Is Always Full

Via JSOnline and the AP:

A man dubbed the "Butt Bandit" for making greasy imprints of his nether parts on windows in the north-central Nebraska city of Valentine has been sentenced to more than a year in jail. Cherry County Attorney Eric Scott says police caught 35-year-old Thomas Larvie in the act on Nov. 19.

Scott says Larvie was sentenced Thursday to 13 1/2 months in jail after being convicted of eight misdemeanor counts of public indecency and one of disturbing the peace.

Authorities said Larvie used lotion or petroleum jelly to make imprints of his naked behind - and sometimes his groin - on the windows of stores, churches and schools in Valentine beginning in the spring of 2007.

I was going to make a crack about this, but then the thought of what would happen to a guy named the "Butt Bandit" in a state prison made me refrain from making him the butt of any jokes. But I can't help but wonder if he knows a certain vicar.

The South

Just too funny to pass up:




From Pundit Kitchen

Moving On Out

And I don't care if he goes to the east side or somewhere else. It's just a shame that William Jefferson even made it to the general election in the first place.

A Simple Request

Would all the right wing nut jobs please stop their foolish yammering about Obama's birth certificate? He won, get over it. He's American, get over it.

And while we're at it, would all the left wing loonies please stop with the questioning of who Trig Palin's mother really is? Please, just stop. Let Palin fade into the obscurity she deserves.

These conspiracy kooks are not adding anything constructive to the world, and are only being an embarrassment to their respective sides.

Eye On Wisconsin

Cory Liebmann, who has been doing a smashing good job at One Wisconsin Now, will be moving in a new direction with the new year.

Along with that new direction, he is resurrecting his old blog, Eye On Wisconsin. Give it a look see. You won't be disappointed.

And Yosemite Sam Celebrated

Just when you thought it was safe to go to your favorite national park, Bush takes that away while pandering to his special interest buddies at the NRA:

People will soon be able to carry concealed, loaded guns in most national parks and wildlife refuges.

The Bush administration said Friday it is overturning a 25-year-old federal rule that severely restricts loaded guns in national parks.

Under a rule to take effect in January, visitors will be able to carry a loaded gun into a park or wildlife refuge — but only if the person has a permit for a concealed weapon and if the state where the park or refuge is located also allows concealed firearms.

The new rule goes further than a draft proposal issued last spring and would allow concealed weapons even in parks located in states that explicitly ban the carrying of guns in state parks. Some states allow concealed weapons but also ban guns from parks.

"If you can carry (a gun) on Main Street, you are allowed to carry in a national park," said Chris Paolino. a spokesman for the Interior Department.

The Interior Department rule overturns a Reagan-era regulation that has restricted loaded guns in parks and wildlife refuges. The previous regulation required that firearms be unloaded and placed somewhere that is not easily accessible, such as in a car trunk.

Mmm. Reagan era? He never struck me as a long-haired hippie type. Anywho, the funny thing is the NRA's all too predictable response to the law they paid for:

The National Rifle Association hailed the rule change, which will take effect next month before President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

"We are pleased that the Interior Department recognizes the right of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families while enjoying America's national parks and wildlife refuges," said Chris W. Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist.

The rule will restore the rights of law-abiding gun owners on federal lands and make federal law consistent with the state where the lands are located, Cox said. The NRA led efforts to change gun regulations they called inconsistent and unclear.

At least his last name is correct.

But protect them from what? Last time I heard, national parks were supposed to be family friendly. Having a shoot out about a camping spot isn't exactly family-oriented or friendly. I could also see some goof hear an acorn hit the ground and think the commies were launching their long awaited attack. I also could see said goof start shooting at everything and everyone. Yeah, that's how I want to be spending my vacation. Dodging bullets from lunatics and wannabe Dirty Harry's.

Does the NRA think that just because they wear masks and sometimes can be found in groups, that raccoons are thugs and gang bangers that are out to camperjack them?

Maybe, when they were just wee little tykes, the would be Yosemite Sam's saw this and were so traumatized, they never got over it:



Whatever the reason, hopefully it won't take long for Barack Obama to nullify this insane policy soon after he takes office.

MJS Editorial Board: Three Fails In Three Days

Don't they ever get tired of getting things totally wrong?

In Thursday morning's paper, the fine folks on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial Board had a piece about the state of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare and how it needed to be fixed. I pointed out that they were amiss on the point that, instead of lauding State Senator Alberta Darling (R-the nearest golf course), they should have been holding her responsible for her part in the death of all of these foster children, the most recent victim being Christopher Thomas.

Yesterday, they noticed my criticism, and put up a post on their blogsite, defending themselves. Unfortunately, they again failed to either see and/or acknowledge the point I was making.

In this morning's paper, they did it for a third time in as many days.

This time, they fail to support the poor in Milwaukee County. In their editorial piece, they correctly lament the state of the public assistance call center, but then they show that they've ignored their own paper's reporting and would rather believe Scott Walker's propaganda.

I've already written about the issue here and here, but I'll try it again in an effort to help them understand.

The public assistance call center is supposed to help people calling in to update information on their case, to check on the status of their case, or to ask for help in a multitude of different ways. Most of the calls require the worker to access a computer system to either update the information or even to just check on the status of a case. State law requires that the workers who have access to this computer system be public sector employees.

Currently, the county's budget has authorized and fully funded 25 positions for the call center. However, not all of these positions have been filled. In fact, the newspaper itself as reported that there are 717 positions throughout the county that are fully funded, but have not been filled.

This past week, the paper itself reported that there were only seven people of the allotted 25 positions working in the call center. Some of the absences could be attributed to people out sick or on vacation. But the great majority of it comes from Walker and his managers willfully failing to fill these positions in an obvious attempt at sabotaging it, in order to make it easier to privatize it. This has also cost the County money in lost grants due to the poor performance ratings.

Walker offered to fix the problem by not filling all 25 positions but by privatizing it. The number of workers would jump to 38. The catch is that 10 of the new workers would be from UW-Milwaukee. The other 28 would be from Impact, a private agency. That means only ten people, instead of 25, would actually be allowed to do the needed work or find the requested information. The other 28 people would only be answering the phone and taking messages that will require the 10 people to call them back for follow through.

In other words, the number of workers that could do the work will be 40% of what could be now. The rest would be a glorified answering service. This will do nothing to decrease the backlog, and will probably increase it, due to people calling back repeatedly when they don't get return calls. This will require the workers to either sort through the repetitive callers or to waste time calling the same person multiple times on the same issue. Furthermore, there would be no savings to the tax payer, and the other grants would probably still be lost.

The County Boards proposed fix to it would be to demand that Walker and his administrators fill all of the funded positions and five more on top of that. This would be there would be 30 workers who could answer the phones and have access to the computer system, taking care of the matter at hand immediately.

Let's review:

Currently, only 7 of 25 positions filled. Walker's solution would have 38 workers. Only ten of which could address the problem. The other 28 would be an answering service, but couldn't address the problem. The County Board's solution is to have 30 of 30 workers who could answer phones AND address issues immediately.

The MJS editorial board fails the poor with their misinformation. They refuse to hold Walker accountable for willfully failing to fill all 25 position, thereby withholding services to the County's poor and needy. Instead, they use some twisted logic in saying 10 people would somehow be able to be more productive than 30.

Methinks that if the editorial board was genuinely interested in making sure the poor receive the necessary services, they would have argued for having more people that could actually be able to answer the questions and resolve the issues as the better idea. Instead, they promote having less, thinking that will somehow make it better.

And then they wonder why their circulation numbers keep dropping.

First they laud Alberta Darling despite her lack of action or direction regarding foster care. Now they are promoting Walker's proposal to make the call center situation worse. I can't wait to see tomorrow's piece. Perhaps it will be one trying to justify the Iraq War. Maybe it will be about they believe homosexuals don't deserve equal rights. Or maybe it will be on why they think Gableman was correct in willfully telling lies about Louis Butler in the most recent race for the Supreme Court.

If It Weren't For Bad Luck...

...I'd have no luck at all.

Three weeks ago was the last time my wife and I had gone to the northern castle. During that weekend, the furnace started to act up. It would kick off prematurely, and wouldn't restart. With the help of the diagnostic tool built into the furnace and some advice from the heating company, I was able to get it started again. The problem apparently was a pile of dead Asian Lady Beetles, which were blocking the air gauge and not letting it open and close properly.

The very next day, the heating company sent up a technician would went over everything. He called me when he was done and said that he took the whole furnace apart, cleaned everything out real good and made sure all the contacts were in good shape. He also told me that he had run the furnace through three cycles and that it was all in good working order.

We had not been up there since then, because of deer hunting season. My wife and I were both anxious to get up there. I was so anxious that I even burned a half day of time off to get home early so we could get up there all the faster.

I shouldn't have bothered.

After fighting are way through that miserable storm last night, we finally got to the castle. It was good to be home. Or so I thought.

As soon as we walked in the door, I knew something was terribly wrong. It was very cold in the house. I looked at the thermostat, and it was pegged at forty degrees, but that is as low as it goes. It was much colder than that. We could see our breaths. I futzed with the thermostat for a few seconds, and went to the furnace. I took the covers off and sure enough, the diagnostic tool was showing that the air gauge wasn't functioning again. I tried to clean that out, and got it running for a few minutes before it conked out again.

Then a scary thought occurred to me. I raced into the bathroom and tried the faucet.

Nothing.

I looked at the shower. The shower head had been broken off and an icicle was hanging down where the shower head used to be.

I looked in the toilet. It was a solid block of ice.

I felt myself throw up in my mouth a little.

I called the furnace company and told their answering service to have someone to call me ASAP.

I got a call back in ten minutes from the same technician who had serviced the furnace three weeks ago. I told him that the furnace died and that the pipes were frozen. It sounded like he threw up in his mouth a little. He apologized profusely and expressed personal and professional shame. I told him that I would be expecting his company to get someone up there, along with a plumber, to take care of the mess. I also added that they would be paying the bill.

We then turned the hot water heater down, but high enough to keep that from freezing. I also turned of the pump, but left the heat lamps on so that that won't freeze on me. The back into the snow storm and another 30 minute ride to find a hotel for the night.

We went back to the land this morning to take out the things that shouldn't be frozen, blow out the snow and feed all the critters. I was definitely abjectly miserable. I was at home, but couldn't stay. It was breaking my heart.

I received a voicemail from the technician today. In it, he said that the office would call me first thing Monday morning to make arrangements to get things fixed. Then he suggested I make a claim with my insurance company. If they think they will get off for not paying for this, they're crazy.

The way I see it, they told me that they fixed the problem, but didn't. Plus the furnace is still under warranty. Whether the furnace failed due to a problem with the furnace itself, or due to his failure to resolve the original problem (but telling me he had), they are responsible for that any damage ensuing from the furnace not working.

And if they don't want to pay, then I will just have to decide if I want to sue them, or file a claim and let the insurance company sue them.

But I have to tell you, gentle reader, this has been a crappy year. First, my garage collapses, on my truck nonetheless. I've lost to friends this year to the grim reaper. My wife has been laid off twice, and it looks like she will be laid off for at least a month after next week. Now this.

I am so ready for 2008 to be over with.