I'm an admin.  And I'm happy with my pay.  I have enough to feed my cats and pay my rent and pay my bills:  Internet, Cable, Gas, Electric, Car Insurance, One Credit Card for Clothes.

I have two cats, one of which has a urinary tract issue that requires special food and some visits to the Vet.

I haven't been to the movies in over five years.  If I want a film I buy it at my local Best Buy or on Amazon.  If I want a book, same.  I buy my groceries at the local deli or supermarket, and I don't buy anything fancy. 

I get by, and I have good friends who make me happy.

When I want to get out and have a real life, I go to a concert, or visit a new state over a holiday with a friend after having saved up tons of money for airfare.

And my life is good.

Now, I look at my life as compared to the lives of these CEO's of companies like my own and Goldman Sachs and Cigna and Aetna and BofA and all these others......and I wonder.

I wonder how in hell they can justify living the way they do. 

I mean, sure, they have more education than I do.  More work experience.  More exposure. 

But to take home millions?  What in hell do they DO with that money?  Well, of course, we know what they do with it, they invest it overseas in secret accounts.  But, the money they disclose on their Form 4's and Form 5's and taxes and such......they take that money home.

How do they live?  They have huge homes, I'd imagine.  Me, I live in an attic apartment and can barely afford to air condition it.  Most times I just keep all the windows open and hope for a blessed cross breeze.

These guys have AC and maids and staff and personnel, just at home. 

If they would just think of people like you and me now and then, I wouldn't rant......but it just seems to me that these folks want to just live their cushy lives and maybe give to charity now and then as a tax write off without seeing US.  US! 

WE exist.  WE work for them.  WE service them.  WE need our jobs in order to live and get by.  WE need our teeth fixed, our vision corrected, our health taken care of.  WE need our jobs. 

And these CEO's and their families just blitehly go on, gliding through life happily without seeing any of this real life shit that goes on. 

Okay, rant off now.  But, Geez.  Shouldn't there be some kinda balance???

UPDATE on the July 30 Single-Payer Healthcare Rally in DC

Here's a link to Healthcare NOW, an organization dedicated to single-payer healthcare.  They are working hard to coordinate with all organizations supportive of Single Payer Healthcare.

There will be a multi-organizational rally in Washington, DC, July 30th to express the voice of the people who demand a single-payer healthcare system.  Do you want your voice to be heard?!?

If you would like to go and have the means to do so, the Healthcare Now link below will give you information on the rally, hotels/places to stay, and help you find a bus from states close by that will take you, and others like you, to this historical event.  Be the difference!

If you can't attend personally but would like to contribute and send fellow TPM member Gumbun to represent us, we are coordinating collecting funds to cover her expenses.  She will bring your voice by proxy to this important gathering/demonstration.  You can use this link to contribute:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6816319

It is linked to an account set up for this purpose, or contact synchronicity@yeswecan.com if you have any trouble using the paypal link.  (Synchronicity will provide an accounting of all that we accomplish).

Healthcare NOW is coordinating people to ensure every Congressperson on the Hill is individually visited by people who are determined to have a single-payer healthcare system implemented here in the United States .

We are up against a powerful, well-financed lobbying effort, but we beat them with our numbers! We beat them with our votes!  We have a voice that can drown out their dollars, because every Congressperson knows, their job ends when they fail to get re-elected.  We need to remind them who votes and what it is the voters expect them to do... represent the people!  We are the people and we want a single-payer healthcare system.

Visit the website and decide whether this is something you want to support.  Buy a ticket and go, or send a donation so we can sponsor Gumbun from TPM.  When?  NOW!  Right now.  This is probably the most important legislative decision that will come from Congress in the 21st century.  Let your voice be heard.

Buy a ticket! Send Gumbun as proxy!  Let your voice be heard in Washington, DC !  It's time to get this done!


Updates:

**Jason Everett Miller lives in the area, will be attending the rally and has offered his services as chauffer.  Miguelito2o is going and can give a ride from Southern PA.   Kfreed is paying their own way from CO and has already actively jumped in to participate in and sponsor the event and has volunteered to take photos etc in chronicling the event for us.  So far, we are sending one person who needs financial assistance, Gumbun.

Read her personal story to learn why we are so excited about sending her to represent us.  That makes four rep's so far... and we are just getting started.  Donations are definitely needed and appreciated to cover Gumbun's costs.  The sooner we buy her airline ticket the less it will cost us!

**Rep. Anthony Weiner of NY is going to offer an amendment for single payer in the Commerce Committee so please take some action in support of that amendment if you would:)

**Healthcare NOW is offering a teach-in in NYC on July 25.  You can link to it live here: 

http://www.healthcare-now.org/campaigns/single-payer-teach-in/

**Need help filling up a bus from Connecticut.  Any Connecticut readers, please get the word out to your friends and family.  Go here for more information about buses.

**So far we're up to $262 in donations towards Gumbun's travel expenses.  Please be sure to check out her blog.  Also, Gumbun is putting a video together and requests vid clips.  Thanks!

***This blog is the idea of and co-sponsored by several bloggers here at TPM.

I live in Pelham, NY, in the 18th District, and my Congresswoman is Nita Lowey. 

I signed up for her email subscription last year, and I just gotta say, this woman really rawks.  I actually received a personal email from her after I wrote one to her about torture at her website, and it surprised the cr*p outa me.  Shouldn't have, but it did. 

She recently held some open office sessions at local supermarkets and market stands around my area, and I truly wish I'd been able to attend, just so I could thank her in person.  I mean, she stood out there for an hour taking questions from everyone who showed up, in several different towns in my county.  It's my hope she continues to do this throughout the year, or, at the very least, annually. 

I wish everyone in Congress was as responsive, proactive, and communicative as she is. 

Maybe they are, I don't know, so if you follow your elected Congressman or Congresswoman, please compare notes with me. 

Meantime, look out Rachel, cuz I'm in love with another woman.  And I ain't even gay.

;)

Frank awoke from a nasty dream and found himself lying in his own sweat.  At least, he hoped that was his sweat.  Jesus, he muttered (blessing himself).    What a crazy nightmare THAT was!  Flora was already up and puttering around in the kitchen, so Frank got up and joined her for a cup of coffee. 
 
What a nightmare I just had.  It was incredible.  I was -
 
Flora, who had the patience of a saint, if not the wits of most other women, waited a full minute, staring expectantly at Frank, anxious to hear about the dream he'd had.
 
Frank suddenly shook his head as if to clear it of bugs.  I'll be damned!  I can't remember one darn bit of it!  Not one!  And it was so awful, so real, so....I can't remember what the hell it was about, Flo!
 
Well, mebbe that's a good thing, dear.  If it was all that terrible as you say it was, you might not want to remember it.  I just hope it ain't an omen of things to come, what with your big meeting this morning at the office.
 
What big meeting?  Frank gulped down his too-hot coffee and sputtered as he remembered the BIG MEETING today with Harold Bleckies from Headquarters.  Dear God, I forgot all about it!  Oh, Jeezus, he cried, blessing himself. 
 
I had your best suit dry-cleaned dear, Flora proudly informed him as she turned to the sink,  it's in the closet with that nice tie the kids gave you for Father's Day last year - you know, the one that I picked out because the one they wanted to give you had beer steins and four leaf clovers on it and I just knew you would hate it but of course I didn't have the heart to tell them that so I made up that lie about alcoholic beverages on ties not being allowed in offices because it encourages the employees to drink, and all...which is pretty darned funny considering all the alkies you have working for you there at Wrench, if you ask me, not that you did, or even would, but, I've been to enough Christmas parties with you to know...Frank?  FRANK?
 
But Frank was already in the shower, rushing to get ready and into the office on time.
 
Of course he cut himself shaving, twice, couldn't find the small round flesh-colored band-aids he preferred, so had to tear bits of toilet paper off the roll and stick them to the bloody spots - and why did the sight of blood suddenly make his stomach wrench?  And of course Flora WOULD demand her usual kiss and a slap on the ass while he was trying to run out the door, and of course Frank couldn't say no after she'd had the foresight to have his best suit cleaned and his matching shirt ironed in advance of today's big meeting, and of course this distracted them enough for both of them to forget his bagged lunch sitting on the kitchen counter, and of course just as he was pulling out of the driveway in a rush, having realized the gas tank was nearly on E, Flora had to come running out of the house in her goddamned nightie with his lunch bag in tow, and of COURSE he had to hit every red light imaginable on his way to the gas station. 
 
By the time he reached the office, Frank was once again in a sweat and wishing he'd never woken up.  NOT a good way to start such an important day.
 
His relief was palpable when he arrived outside his office door only to be told Harold Bleckies was running an hour late.  Frank decided to celebrate this fact by heading over to The Room for an espresso.  My goodness, how popular that espresso had become.  Everyone in the office was hooked. 
 
Just as he was about to enter The Room he spotted Bill O'Reeley at Bonny's desk, sipping an espresso and trying to peek down Bonny's blouse.
 
Something about Bill and his godawful (blesses himself) fake toupee always irked Frank.  He turned away in distaste and joined Olivia in The Room.  Somehow, being with her in that sweet smelling copy room/coffee lounge always made him feel better.  Maybe, Frank thought to himself, maybe today will be a good day after all...
 
Outside The Room, Bonny was straightening papers by holding them up in front of her chest and banging them loudly on her desk, hoping Frank might hear and come to her rescue.  O'Reeley could be so annoying at times.  She was so glad when his cell phone rang and he excused himself and started walking away down the hall, talking quietly into his phone.  There was something about that man that gave her the heebie-jeebies.
 
Bleckies finally showed in the conference room. Even a twenty-five hundred dollars suit could not adequately array a walrus. I mean if you threw some glitter on him he would look like a big fat Porter Wagner. Lets see:
 
Of course Frank was present. Frank felt better because Olivia not only provided four different types of coffee, and the fixin's, but flowers. He could tell Bleckies was impressed.
 
O'Reely was right there, pantin' like an old dog lookin' for his biscuit.
 
Warren was there all sobered up with his expensive cologne on. Since the hair of the dog was no longer available in the coffee room, and since he was forever barred from entering it, he was looking better.
 
And Art. Who exactly was Art anyway? Well, don't matter much, he was NOT there.
 
Sanford was there from accounting. I mean somebody had to be there from accounting.
 
Sylvia from communications was also there. Nobody knew exactly what she did...but it did not matter much.
 
$100,000 missing. That's right. I told Frank to keep it quiet till I got here. Sanford. You have been vindicated in all this but only by the skin of your stupid teeth. Sam Quinn is coming in from New York next week and will take over accounting for awhile.
 
Now Frank here had warned our office of cost overruns. He knew something was wrong and he asked for an audit. He was looking out for you peeps.  (Bleckies liked to say things like Peeps. He thought it made him look sexy and up to date. His daughter did not have to heart to tell him he was 15 years too late, but what the heck)
 
But I am really here to let you know something. We are going with O'Reely's extension wrench!!! Congratulations to you William!!!
 
Everybody stood and cheered.
 
And this insures that.........geeez this is good Hazlenut. My goodness this place has changed. Good job Frank!!!  Ah, where was I?  Oh yes, this insures that your little operation here will be runnin for some time to come.
 
I came here to thank you all.
 
Well, and to tell you that there will be a new man in accounting watching EVERY GODDAMN PURCHASE. HAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!
 
Only kidding of course. A little anyway.
 
The meeting ended after several other formalities. Frank felt like he had a new lease on life.
 
After everything was wrapped up, Frank stopped in for a quick straight espresso.
 
Olivia saw how the fifth day had been completed.
 
And she said aloud:  It is sooooooooo good!
 
Now, back to Bill....because he's an interesting character and maybe you all wanna get to know more about this extension wrench gizmo of his.  Hell, it ain't a sponge on a stick, mind you, but, still.  Since poor Billy Mays ain't around to tell you about it, heck, we will.

Now, Bill was an 'up & comer'. No this has nothing to do with recent reports of Ensign and Sanford and Vitter getting 'up' and 'comin'.  Geeeeeeeez, pay attention will ya?
 
No he had that MBA from NYSU but he had this 'otherness' about him. He had reached this new level of corporate importance through an epiphany.
 
It all came to him as he was bangin' on the upstairs toilet one Saturday. He grabbed a pipe and put it around the wrench he was using and vwella (anybody know how to spell that damn word. I just do not get it, I mean magicians with rabbits in hats and vwella. Oh well certain mysteries should lay undiscovered).
 
I mean it added leverage to the wrench and it enabled him to perform his domestic duties without laying on his back under the toilet thingy. That was about the extent of Bill's technical skills with regard to engineering. But he remembered that stupid commercial about the stick on a sponge and 'wheels started turning..'
 
So he played on his computer the rest of the weekend getting access to the patent office per his office, and pulled out some diagrams and stuff.
 
And he recalled this plastic material that Wrench had been developing with the Ruskies and...
Well, he put together a presentation and, without even speaking of it with Frank, sent a packet into 'Headquarters'.
 
This thing was going to revolutionize late night infomercials.
 
And what was best was that he would not have to wait till Frank retired.  He had contacted his old buddy from NYU and his rights were preserved forever. And now Headquarters would be sending him back to NY in no time.
 
After a long day at the Wrench, Bill came home a little late. He had been feeling kind of giddy all day. He was not sure but it seemed to have something to do with that Room. Maybe the espresso.  Maybe the blings.
 
I mean two days in a row. He was pretty sure it was not the smell of paint. That was fading fast.
And then there was that...that...tree. Where the hell did that tree come from. I mean it's only Friday since the 'Clean-up'.  And not only were the leaves really showing, but Bill swore there were little buds appearing, flower buds, like the damn tree was going to bear some sort of fruit or somethin'.
 
He had stopped off at O'Malleys for one drink.
 
Well Wiley Billy, how in the f... are you doin' and what the f...are you doin' in here? 
 
Well I had a great day O'Malley, and I thought I would celebrate.
 
How long has it been Bill? Two..three years? Wow!!!!!
 
Four, four years O'Malley.
 
Say, Bill you got some of those medallions?
 
And with the transfer of the medallions, Bill had a good ole time. And the time just flew and he swears, he had just ordered his last drink.........
 
When he awoke in his basement all wet and sticky. Wet and sticky. Not much light down there you know and he struggled to get up...
 
Boy I aint never doin' THAT again.
 
How many times had he told himself that one?
 
My god, there was his wife standing in front of him in the basement in her night shirt singing, but she looked like a specter, a ghost of sorts:
 
Bill I miss you so
I always will
I look at you and see
Blood all over your shoes
Oh but am I ever gonna
See my funeral day (funeral day)
 
I was on your side Bill
When you were booooozin'
I never hit with no pan Bill
There's been no foolin'
But ovens and ashes won't carry me
Will you bury me, Bill
Will you bury me, Bill...

(To be continued....)
 
 

....how many of you would be willing and able and interested in doing a real, live meet-up in Chicago next summer?  Like at a hotel where we could all have a big dinner and party and stuff?  And maybe hang out for a weekend and split off into touring and sightseeing and/or discussions on topics of the day?

Just curious, cuz several of us already have it in mind and want to see how big a group would be interested.  All on board, please comment.  Thanks!