On Tuesday, April 22nd, my wife died. She hadn’t eaten anything in six days and was living on a few juice popsicles in the days prior to that. The last few days were a blur due to my lack of sleep, but I will recount what I can.
As always, this blog is more for me than for anyone else.
My father-in-law arrived in Idaho on the same date as my last update, Sunday April 13th so I will pick up the story from there.
He was here about an hour and then pulled me aside and said I don’t think she will make it to the end of the week. I told him that I would call the children. I sent out the “Bat signal.” Those who have seen the vintage 1960’s television show will get the reference. The eldest and her husband arrived the following day (Monday) and the middle child on Tuesday. Junior didn’t arrive until Sunday (Easter).
Monday, my wife (on oxygen at the time) got out of bed and refused offers of help to go from the bedroom to the couch in the living room. This was a distance of about 25 feet. As she neared the couch, she did a face-plant on the floor. The O2 line in her nose ripped open both nostrils. Blood was gushing from both sides of her nose. We stopped the bleeding by rolling up tissue and shoving it into both sides of her nose. Later she developed bruising around her right eye and nose. She looked like she had been in an MMA fight. Had she not quit taking blood thinners a week before, this would have been a disaster.
As I said, food consumption was about zero from this point forward. Once the daughter and spouse arrived, the son-in-law did make a food run. They bought mom sugar free popsicles! My wife took about one bite, and she was done. Yuck. That was the last solid food or food of any kind that she ever ate. Why in the hell anyone would think of buying sugar-free popsicles when you know these were the only calories she was getting is beyond stupid.
Anyway, the daughter and hubby did rent a car, so they went the next day to the airport to pick up the middle child.
After her fall, the wife was using a mask for oxygen. My wife has very labored breathing. She could say only a word or two and then would have to pause before trying to say another word. As the week went on, she began using hand signals to communicate.
Her SPO2 (blood oxygen saturation) began dropping. Normal readings are 95 to 99 percent. Hers was in the 80’s for a few days and then fell to the 70’s. Just for reference, a blood oxygen reading of 75 is the same as basecamp at Mt Everest (~17,500 ft above sea level). In her last few days, all readings without O2 were between 72 and 77.
Per the Internet, you should call 911 if you have a reading below 90. Readings like my wife’s begin to cause organ and brain failure after five minutes. On Friday or Saturday, she decided to refuse any more O2.
On Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights, I stayed up with her. Saturday night she was up from about 1 AM until just after 4. That night, I distinctly remember her saying, “Do all you do”
And me responding, “to the glory of God.”
This is something we said to our son every day before he went to school; up until we knew of his open rebellion against God in his last year of high school.
It was her heartfelt belief and one she tried to instill in our son. I know I cried when she said it. As it turned out, for the final time.
On Sunday night she was up from 1:30 AM until about 3. On Monday night I was up with her all night.
Her last night went something like this: She wanted to move from the hospital bed to the wheelchair about 11:30 PM. She said that she wanted to go outside. I wheeled her to the sliding glass door and then opened it. Per our weather station, it was 34 degrees outside. I told her it was too difficult for me to move the wheelchair outside. We looked out for a few minutes, and I remember closing the sliding door. Together we looked at the view. I said to her:
“There is our swing.”
“There is our deck.”
“There is our apple tree. “
“There is our yard.”
“There is our levee.”
“There is our town.”
“There are the stars.”
In her weak voice she said, “I am ready to die.”
I cried.
We then moved to the couch. I had to help her from the wheelchair to the couch. This was not too difficult since she had lost over 160 pounds during the course of this four-year cancer ordeal. I stayed with her. Sometimes I tried to give her medicine, sometimes I rubbed her back (the cancer in her bones and muscles caused her much pain; especially in her lower back), sometimes I was just her pillow. That was her favorite thing, just resting in my arms. Her breathing was labored. You could hear junk in her lungs that she was unable to cough it up. About 5:30 AM, her dad came into the house. I gave him a brief turnover and then went to bed.
The next thing I knew, he was frantically calling for me. I went into the Livingroom, and he said she is dying now. She would take a breath and then nothing would happen for about twenty seconds and then she would gasp again, followed by another long pause. After a few minutes of this process being repeated. She was very still. Tears welled up in my eyes. I told her that I loved her. She gasped again and then was still. A huge tear came from the corner of her eye and dripped down the side of her nose. Upon seeing the tear, I knew two things with certainty, first, that she loved me, and second, that she was dead. As this was happening, I glanced at my watch. It was 6:46 AM on April 22nd.
Later I was looking through her phone and noticed that she had sung at Carnegie Hall in New York City on April 22nd 2024. Yep, one year to the day from singing at Carnegie Hall she had died. Her death was three weeks to the day from entering hospice. At the time it didn’t seem so, but her death was rather quick.
Sheryl in Carnegie Hall April 22, 2024
Below are quotes from things that Sheryl had written about her cancer journey.
The first is an excerpt from a text thread with ladies at our church that were praying for her.
“Reading through all this, it struck me that suffering can lead to contentment and grace. Bill will sometimes sit down beside me as I am coughing or “suffering.” He will rub my back and say, “Poor Sheryl! My poor wife…! I stop him and say, “Honey, I’m am NOT poor! I’m so blessed! I have God, You, and so much support. It is amazing to feel His love in my life.”
“Suffering brings us to an acknowledgment of the wonderful blessings of His grace.”
Sheryl and Bill Tolson celebrate Valentine’s Day 2025
The next is a dream that she had back in February. In our 21 years of marriage, she only wrote down two dreams. This was the second.
My Dream 02/25/25.
I was standing with Bill and Dad and several other family members under a wooden gazebo surrounded by huge oak trees. It reminded me of the area around the Orinda house. I had my Jeep keys in my hand, and I got in the car and drove away to go to a Women’s clothing store tucked up in a heavily wooded fern-filled garden canyon. I had to park in a strange spot that was up a large branch of a tree.
The store was filled with many dresses and I picked a pretty floral one easily and put it on. I walked out the other side of the store. The door opened up on to a huge grassy, wildflower speckled lawn. Across the lawn were spread many tables with people all sitting around visiting and talking together. Behind them was some sort of large one story building. My thought immediately went to Grammie and Grandad’s backyard.
I walked onto a clear area of lawn and heard music beginning to play. I realized it was the opening notes of Climb Every Mountain, and I began to sing. My voice was full and perfect. I could feel the notes floating up into a sparkling blue sky as I sang. I knew I was singing to His glory! I knew this was His garden, His house! I hit the high note at the end with such perfect brilliance that it seemed to shimmer. When I finished, I could hear murmurs from the crowd, “That’s Sheryl! She’s here! That’s Nancy’s daughter! She’s Amy and Alvin’s granddaughter!”
I turned and headed further across the lawn where I saw my mom. She gave me a huge hug and said, “That was beautiful! I love you!” I said, “Mom! I can sing again!” She laughed and said, “Of course you can!” We walked over together to a gazebo area similar to the one I left earlier. I could see Bill standing there. I walked up, handed him the keys to the Jeep and said, “You will have to go get the Jeep. I parked it in a strange tree. I love you!”
And I woke up crying happy tears!
In Bonners Ferry, Idaho, we had a public viewing of Sheryl on April 25th and a funeral on April 26th. She was transported to Sacramento California on April 29th and was buried on May 2nd next to her mother in Elk Grove.
At her funeral service, I read her dream just as it appears above and then read the following.
Sheryl Tolson public viewing April 25, 2025
Remembering Sheryl
By Bill
I used to tell my wife that I married the richest girl that I ever dated. Having all of you here is proof that I was right.
Whenever my wife would complain about something I would reply, “When I get to be your age honey, I’ll find out.” Since I was a year older, this often got her upset, but I really had fun saying it just to get a rise out of her.
Last night we had our final date night. It was called a “public viewing”, but it really wasn’t. It was my last time to see her in the flesh. I wanted to spend one last evening with my bride of almost 22 years. It was bittersweet but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
She didn’t have much to say but that was OK. We remembered the excitement of meeting for the first time, our first kiss, the first time she let me meet her kids, of course this only happened after I had been vetted by a group of her most trusted friends. Then there was the night we went to dinner with Tommy and Kendall, and I proposed to her. It was December 7th, always a memorable date for us veterans of the US Navy.
We were married on Friday the thirteenth in a little church in Vacaville California. It was a hot June night in two thousand three and everyone was sweating. We took our wedding vows using the Church of England’s 1662 Book of Common Prayer where Sheryl was glad to say that she would “honor and obey until death do us part”. It’s no surprise that Sheryl kept her word. In turn, I promised to love her as Christ loved His Church.
Early on, we had a few rough patches along the way, especially the two miscarriages which were balanced with the joy of her giving birth to our son, James.
It might surprise you to know that I rarely ever called Sheryl by name. She was called by her titles “wife of my youth”, “my bride”, “mommy”, “honey”, “bride of love”, and things like that. In fairness, James was often called “the boy of love” and Bob the dog was our “love dog”. Love was just part of what we did. Oh, behind her back, Sheryl did get called “management” on select occasions, but I think that is allowed by the description of the Proverbs 31 woman.
During our marriage, there were many road trips that we took. Some were just for fun, but many were to find a new place to live outside of California. Our road trips were sometimes over five thousand miles in two weeks. We saw lots of country, but in the end, it came down to Bonners Ferry where we bought two acres of land in 2020. This part of Sheryl’s story most of you know, at least in part.
Last April, Sheryl went with a group from Bonners Ferry and sang at New York’s Carnegie Hall. It was a dream for anyone that loved music as much as she did. A month later she lost her voice and knew something was very wrong. It was then that she learned that the cancer was back with a vengeance. In the next months, Sheryl experienced many rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, but treatment was unsuccessful. Sheryl was placed in hospice care on April first and died three weeks later, ironically her death was on the one-year anniversary of singing at Carnegie Hall.
At the end, just a few short days ago … or was it a lifetime …she was gasping for air. It was clear that each breath might be her last. Crying, I told her that I loved her. She then struggled for one last breath and then the biggest single tear, that I ever saw, came from the corner of her eye and dripped down the side of her nose. When I saw this, I immediately knew two things, she loved me, and she was most certainly gone. It was 6:46 AM.
So, there I was last night, mulling over these and other thoughts. Mostly, I was just missing her. Trust me, I kissed her several times when I thought no one was looking; after all, it was our last date.
In the last few days, everywhere I look and everywhere I go, I see her or some memory of her. In marriage two become one but in death, the opposite happens. The oneness is violently ripped apart.
Today we send my beloved Sheryl off on her final journey, a journey that ends with her body buried next to her mother where she will await the reunion of her soul and body at the end of history. Farewell my bride. It was my great privilege to be married to you and I’d gladly do it over again in a heartbeat.
Sheryl’s Grave in Elk Grove, CA
Only a memorial service remains as part of the farewell tour of my wife and our marriage. What is next is beyond my ability to see. Yes, I have ideas and aspirations of how I might move-on in my life but… I’m old enough to know that what I want and what God has in store for me might be different ideas. Other than organizing the house, I’m not sure what follows. God is good and has a plan. Funny how these words sound familiar. Kinda reminds me of someone I knew.
Just for those who are doubting my political allegiance I do support President Trump’s attempt but he is doing it all wrong. Sadly, this isn’t totally on him, it’s his generation and they are out of step with today’s Americans.
His “all or nothing” day of liberation approach backfired tremendously. It’s been said to me, “it’s not hard to herd a couple cats, but herding 10 is challenging, herding 300 is impossible”. Trump went after literally every country in his bizarre press conference. The best approach would have been to get our closest allies on board first, then work out from there. South Korea, Japan, and Mexico would have been my starting point. South Korea needs our military backing, ditto for Japan (tourism as well), Mexico is a little different but if they don’t want to negotiate add a 3% transaction fee to every US Citizen sending money via wire to Mexico and believe me, they would come to the table quickly.
I left Canada off that list as relations with them are low, he stupidly keeps saying he is going to annex Canada and is calling them the 51st state. Saying Wayne Gretsky should be their next governor is equally stupid. Canada, as a result, has been reaching out to other countries and offering to help make up the difference if the US stops trading with them.
I would have gone after Vietnam, Philippines, Malayasia, and other southeast Asian countries next. These countries have a low skilled workforce (for the most part), are typically poor, and like China, rely on slave labor to manufacture goods on the cheap. I wouldn’t threaten a tariff, I would say we want to invest American dollars in modernization of your production, warehouses, supply chain etc. with the goal being China seeing this and reacting. China does not want to lose its monopoly on most manufacturing of things, and their close proximity to China, and USA support causes a threat. Instead, Trump got into a d**k measuring contest and now China is lobbying those countries not to listen to us. Again, it’s the way he did it, not why he is doing it.
The European Union should have been the second easiest sell, it backfired as well. Some of this is due to his picking fights with NATO as most countries in the EU double as NATO countries. The EU has also turned to Canada and China to help fill the void. In this case I do heavily blame Trump, the EU is very similar to the US in that it has a very aging population not interested in working in factories, this should have been an easy deal to close.
In closing Trump may think he is the greatest deal maker of all time, his problem is his bullying persona rubs people the wrong way. He showed his hand in his first term and now other countries are prepared for it. The bully does his best work picking on the smallest and most vulnerable and moving on from there, it creates fear and apprehension. When you try to pick on everyone at once, if someone(s) stands up to you, most of the rest will follow suit and then you are stuck. His tit for tat with Canada looks really foolish now, and while warranted, his comments regarding NATO and the Ukraine/Russia war are doing him no favors. He has been reduced to begging Xi Jinping to call him to get a deal done just to save face.
He got played because he never realized he didn’t have a card hand to bluff with. Other countries know America is a deeply divided nation we tend to go back and forth between which party controls the White House/Congress nothing is forever here. In the current climate of Executive Orders, if the other party takes the White House, the predecessor’s orders are erased before lunch is served on Inauguration Day! Most politicians only desire to be re-elected, not pass legislation, company executives only care about cutting expenses and stock prices, and no one in America wants to work in a factory! Also, our employment/wage laws are arcane compared to other countries. Look at CA alone, $20-hour minimum wage in fast food, mandatory overtime after 8 hours in a day, double time after 12, anything over 40 hours a week is overtime, mandatory breaks and lunchtime. Compared to slave wages and labor in other countries, the input price won’t get lower here. Also check out our environmental laws compared to most countries we are trying to barter with? It’s a lose/lose proposition.
I hope this works, but even if he negotiates a better deal, I just don’t think we will see the benefits.
Sadly, NAFTA and environmental/labor laws killed any chance of the jobs coming back.
Sheryl Tolson passed away peacefully from cancer in Bonners Ferry on April 22, 2025, surrounded by her loving family. Viewing will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, April 25, at Bonners Ferry Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at Providence Bible Presbyterian Church, 6530 Washington Street, Bonners Ferry.
She leaves behind her husband, Bill, of 21 years, her children Kendall Costello, Thomas Connolly, James Tolson, her sister Lori Douglass and her father Gordon Douglass.
Sheryl was born in San Francisco, and grew up in Orinda, California. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of California Davis and eventually graduated from Sacramento State with degrees in voice and business. Sheryl settled in Elk Grove, California, with her second husband Bill Tolson, where she taught elementary school for many years in the Elk Grove Unified School District. She loved singing and continued singing for various groups, including the popular Elk Grove Strauss Festival, Veteran’s and Memorial Day celebrations, and her local church choir. She was involved in the Chamber of Commerce, Old Town Merchants Association, and Rotary.
In 2020 Sheryl and Bill bought property in Bonners Ferry, where they retired in 2023. At their new home, Sheryl and Bill quickly made new friends. In retirement she used her artistic talents for singing and crafting gifts for fellow church members, family, and friends.
As a member of a choral group in Bonners Ferry, Sheryl was able to sing at Carnegie Hall in 2024. A month later she was stricken with a recurrence of cancer and lost her ability to sing. Her struggle with disease ended on April 22. When asked, Sheryl would often reply that, “I know God has a plan, I may not like it, but I trust Him.”
We, as a society, can all admit one thing, we have a massive growing crisis in homelessness, specifically folks with major mental health issues. When I reference mental health issues here, I’m not talking about the folks who begged a doctor to be put on a pill, I’m talking specifically about the ones you see in bigger cities. More specifically the ones on the streets with no family/friends/support system in place.
A couple disclaimers here for the brainwashed on both the left and right.
I think we can all agree that the sanitariums were filled with horror and abuse while still recognizing the need for proper mental healthcare. Closing these hospitals to send folks to the streets was not humane or compassionate. I will add Reagan was likely not at his best when it came to this, but after seeing the photos, I do not blame him for shutting them down. (See also O’Connor v. Donaldson 1975—Editor)
In addition, when I suggest bringing back these sanitariums, they are not for the child with autism, or the guy with a Trump bumper sticker. I’m talking about the person who is an obvious threat to themselves or others.
To understand this problem fully, you must grasp what actually causes it. Mental health and drug/alcohol addiction are two of the biggest causes, understandable they are not mutually exclusive. The next two are exiting both the foster care system and prisons. Again, those are not mutually exclusive.
The mental health part is some people need real help, and their parents/family are tired of trying. They turn 18 and leave the house. The person does not seek treatment or keep with treatment leading to life on the streets. Drugs and alcohol, specifically dependance on both, are another leading cause. There is a reason marijuana was called a gateway drug by law enforcement, it leads to cocaine, meth, or other harder drug use. How many times have you been witness to a homeless person coked out of their mind on hard drugs/booze stumbling back and forth between the sidewalk and oncoming traffic or “acting the fool” as the kids say? They vandalize, defecate, urinate, destroy, and take over public areas and become a nuisance. Sadly, none of the above are enforceable/jailable offenses because we have decriminalized so much in this country. Prison is not the answer anyway, treatment is, but in states like California, unless it’s ordered by a judge, you can simply sign yourself out and away you go. Exiting prison and the foster care system again likely leads someone to unsavory things such as drugs and alcohol abuse. At 18, you are no longer a foster kid, and the government money quits coming in. For the incarcerated, they likely do not have family that want them around so to the streets you go. In both cases finding a roof over your head or employment will be hard. Again, you take up unsavory things and get hooked. Alcohol and drugs make you dependent, you lose the ability to function without them, then you seek out higher doses or newer, stronger euphoria’s.
Do not get me wrong, city leadership is also a massive contributor to the mental health/homeless crisis. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento to name a few in California, have embraced these types and allowed them to destroy the once proud cities they were. Try going to Golden Gate Park or Civic Center in San Francisco, you will find the world’s largest open air drug market stuffed with addicts hunched over on the sidewalk. Try coming to Sacramento and walking down K or L Streets just beyond the new basketball arena, and several blocks from the State Capital. You are taking your life into your hands at all hours of the day or night. It’s scary and not safe. Last week I was there, a mentally ill homeless person had a switchblade in his hands, crisscrossing between traffic threatening folks. Yup.
So how do we fix this you ask?
I think every hospital should be required to have a mental health and wellness floor. The Methodist (Dignity Health) hospital in south Sacramento does. I understand fully this would be funded by taxpayer dollars, in no way do I want to see government grow in size but realize this is the private sector with a small bit of government oversight. The hospital already has people capable of caring for these folks and they want to see the treatment through then discharge the person AT THE APPROPRIETE TIME! Take two and call me in the morning, or we held you for the 48 hours needed to satisfy the judge, hasn’t worked and doesn’t work. Time to try something else. I understand some people likely will never walk out, that is not necessarily a bad thing.
No more Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) in this issue. This is nothing more than a grift for the local elected, their families, or relatives. Setting up tiny home communities seems like a good idea, but it is only giving the crackheads more blow. Ditto for “needle exchanges” and the like. These people just profited on the backs of those in the most need.
Put aside your political, religious and pre-existing beliefs about this issue. Trust me republican readers, there are folks with these issues in rural areas, they just get swept up and sent to the bigger cities since they “have the infrastructure to help them.” Trust me democrats you know the big cities are buying Grey Hound bus tickets to “pass them along” to other cities as well. Both sides get over yourselves. One can also be a compassionate Christian/religious while also agreeing some people are far too gone to be allowed to live in civilized society. What did you do for your aging parents/grandparents? When they could not drive anymore you became their ride, when unable to take care of themselves, they transitioned from their home to a senior living system. It’s not cruel, it’s a matter of life. At some point someone else may need to carry the proverbial cross. Just because this didn’t work 50 years ago doesn’t mean it cannot work now. Let’s try something slightly different, rather than a sanitarium, make it a floor in an actual hospital! That means oversight from hospital administrators and actual doctors, not a medieval dungeon type of place in a secluded, blighted part of town. Let’s try something out… maybe my idea is not adequate but at least it’s a plan.
The status quo is failing, and getting worse, some areas are becoming flat out not visitable in this country.
The Chief
PS: One last time for the folks on the far left/right who possess an IQ slightly above room temperature, this does not apply to the homeless person living in their car, the family of 4 living in a tiny home, the person with autism, or the guy with a MAGA hat on. It’s for the folks way too far gone for conventional treatment.
Halfway through April my wife’s health is continuing to decline. She is in pain much of the time. In addition, breathing is becoming more difficult. Morphine and oxygen are now regular parts of her care. She grows weaker by the day. Food consumption continues to decline. When you vomit part of whatever you eat, you decide to eat less just to avoid the futility of a meal. While she liked the promise of what the esophageal stint would do, the truth is it has had the opposite effect that was promised; namely, she is eating less than before. Meals are poached eggs, popsicles, oatmeal, and an occasional yogurt.
Cancer continues to spread. She is developing lumps of cancer just under her skin on her back and chest. One area that bothers her a lot is a lump of bone sticking out of her right side near where she had an incision to open her chest cavity and pull her stomach into her chest. This surgery was done 3 ½ years ago.
While she likes the relief that comes from taking a bath, her days of climbing the stairs to get to the tub are over. Last time she took a bath she had to rest multiple times to get up the stairs. She then had to rest before getting in the tub. The handrail that I installed is helpful but presupposes that a person has the strength to hold on while traversing the stairs.
Her dad is arriving in a few short days to help. Sadly, he knows how this will end but chooses to be here anyway. I’m glad he is coming.
I was hoping that she would make it until mid-June, our 22nd anniversary, but at this point I think it’s all over before then. I generally know her last wishes, but we have yet to work out the details of the memorial service that she wants in Elk Grove. We are doing three activities/services: Funeral in Bonners Ferry, Graveside service in Elk Grove, and a memorial service.
My parents are flabbergasted that my wife wants a proper Christian burial and then a memorial service. They think the body is trash to be burned and tossed away (or scattered). It’s just one of many disconnects that modern Christians believe even though the Bible teaches the opposite. My problem with them is that they don’t care what the Bible says on the issue and no amount of contrary evidence is allowed into their world. Oh, then they start hitting me with the cost angle. I’m like, so what. Even if nobody helps pay for this, I can use the insurance money to cover the expenses.
When the kids do make it here one last time, I hope she divides or distributes the bulk of her possessions. After things are settled, I would like to load the pickup and start delivering mom’s stuff to the kids. I don’t want to have all that stuff warehoused here until I too am planted in the grave. It’s not fair to put that on someone else later.
The truth is that much of what my wife has collected isn’t worth a plug nickel. For her everything is about sentimental value and nobody shares her sentiment. Today’s generation doesn’t care about real silverware, or fine China dish sets, or Depression era glassware, or mass marketed children’s books from the 1960’s. The Bible says that you should leave an inheritance to your children’s children but how can you when they aren’t getting married and making babies. The oldest is trying to check this box but the two boys are stuck in Andrew Isker’s Trashworld as happy as pigs in slop, just playing video games and passing the time away.
People keep trying to relate to me and say they are praying for me. I’m just the passenger on this trip through the valley of the shadow of death. The big blank for me is what happens after all the above is over? Frankly, I don’t need much help until that time at which I’ll be a lost puppy.
Minor update: given the trajectory of my wife’s condition, I think the end is much nearer than I had supposed, barring some intervention, I think she has days remaining and not weeks. I’m curious what my father-in-law will think once he gets to see the situation firsthand.
You will have to put the Kool-Aid down for a few minutes for this blog. For the most part I agree with everything President Trump has done, foreign policy issues notwithstanding. While I agree tariffs are necessary to even the playing field globally, I think Trump is going about it wrong.
A little history here first. Every president has punted on the idea of tariffs on foreign nation’s goods except maybe Eisenhower, I as a student of history, think he was going to attempt to try it. Point being it’s a very hard thing to accomplish. Politically if it doesn’t work, you will be a one term President (no bother to Trump here) and your party will lose massive seats in the next election.
Here are the issues facing Trump in this uphill climb on tariffs.
His own party:
Let’s face it, the GOP is good at one thing, claiming a principled stance then reversing course a year later. Check out each government shutdown they created… what did they ever extract? Yeah, my point exactly. These coconuts are more concerned with getting re-elected, not the health of the nation. Their pocketbook, not yours is the goal here.,
NAFTA/CAFTA and other free trade agreements:
These agreements made it, so the manufacturing phase was sent outside the US solely to save money on cheap foreign labor. The premise here was to keep the input costs down and as a result the trinkets we love to buy are dirt-cheap. If labor costs rise in say China, close the factory and move to Bangladesh, Vietnam etc. etc. These trade agreements, unlike most legislative moves today, came through Congress so they likely will need to be reformed/circumvented/repealed.
Cheap foreign labor:
See above, but the point stands, the American worker will cost substantially more, then throw in mandatory benefits (these manufacturing centers will have far more than the minimum to avoid benefits/union forming) suddenly the foreign workers seem better. The cost of your favorite t-shirt to wear won’t be $20, trust me.
CEO/C-Suite/90-day calendar folks:
These folks do not care about the price of the goods you pay for, they could care less about your livelihood or employment status, they are bean counters. The reason the above 2 reasons exist is due to these people. They care only about earnings per share/costs and stock price. That’s all that matters. They get a bonus (except 90 day guys) due to performance. They moved the jobs out of the US to save labor/benefit costs, then they moved them again due to the ability to save $.01 a share. It’s the bottom-line only to these losers. Bringing the jobs back, or the effects of a tariff scare these folks. Again, a falling stock price leads to “how can we fix this?”
American Consumers:
Let’s face it, we love buying cheap crap. We do not care where it is made. Let’s again be honest here, we only care when we hear about product recalls and lead contamination etc. We love buying cheap stuff! It’s a hard sell to say you are going to pay more but it’s better in the long run. Older generations grew up with Blue Light Specials (RIP K-Mart), dollar stores, and everyday low prices. It’s a tough sell.
Foreign Customers:
They are a tough sell; it’s a foreign brand to them when we try to sell our products overseas. They know the names: GM, Ford, Kellogg’s etc. So, we try to buy foreign brands and hide the fact it’s an American company, but I digress. Most foreign countries are fiercely loyal to their domestic products, and they do not trust foreign ones. When people argue when they go to Japan its nothing but Toyota, or BMW/Volkswagen in Germany it’s a national pride thing as opposed to a cheapest price thing. They tariff us to not let us undercut them as well. Canada and parts of the European Union right now are labeling/removing American goods and putting “buy _______ support local” signs on their goods.
Product Quality:
As stated above we outsource everything to the point quality doesn’t matter. The Craftsman brand comes to mind, rather than stand for a quality product, its cheaply made crap that will break on you during the first job use. This is what happens when the idea that costs must always come down. Foreign and even domestic companies know our products are inferior to theirs.
Globalists:
These folks were the loudest during the Bush years, now they are changing their tune. The issue for people like me is that it’s hard to take someone like Rick Santelli of CNBC seriously when he is outright flip-flopping on this issue. Suddenly he cares about the Chinese/foreign cheap labor? Santelli and his ilk remind me of the older generation, they sent the jobs overseas and were thrilled with cheap costs but now want to do a re-mix because it’s cool. They saw the jobs leave and now are concerned about the future? Yeah, sure! It will be hard to sell this to the folks. Santelli’s final word in an article I read was “Americans will be fine with higher prices on goods” that’s a tough sell to folks when Trump said he would lower the cost of eggs.
Trump is going to have a very hard time closing this deal. While I am rooting for him, I think he went about it all wrong. I would have microtargeted a couple countries and gone from there, take a few victories, and move onward and upward. His problem is that he is going to try for the jugular. While a few countries have potentially given in, most are announcing reciprocal tariffs on our goods. In other parts of the world China is likely moving in, willing to dump their products and fill the consumption gap. This could cause a long-term headache, as we do not want China being a massive superpower.
Additionally, American’s do not have much resolve anything. Turn the clock back a couple generations and buy American was a thing. In the modern day, “Made in USA” means the stickers were put on it here, but not much production is done stateside. Production here is even more outsourced. Right now, during high inflation/low wage growth/raising prices times, American’s do not have the stomach for higher prices. At what point do we as a people say, “put it back to how it was!”
Lastly and my biggest point, when your 401k becomes a 104k in the span of about a week, you tend to not like the guy/party in the White House. It’s one thing to have high prices, it’s another to see your retirement account go away. Again, I hope this works. It’s nice to have a president who doesn’t do politically correct things, but this is going to be a tough sell. How long do we watch chaos unfold in the market before we cave?
Major credit to Trump for trying though!
The Chief
Editor’s Notes:
It doesn’t help that the financial markets, run mostly buy Democrats, don’t understand what Trump is trying to do.
In addition, none in the workforce are old enough to remember when tariffs were used to protect American jobs.
NAFTA was the death null of domestic manufacturing and the triumph of globalism.
Lastly, when you abort 1/3 of all children in your nation for over 50 years, outsourcing is your only viable option to maintain your lifestyle.
In this installment I will lay out a solution to our mental health crisis in the country. I again want to inform folks this part of my series is satirical in nature for one reason; none of these options are likely to ever become law. In addition, some will likely think I am being overly mean in my commentary. My point of this series is not to attack those with actual mental illness, it’s the cheating scum who doctor shop so they too can ride the crazy train.
No weapons allowed: This applies to the entire household. Junior gets a diagnosis, it doesn’t matter who owns the guns, they must be turned over to authorities. Any knife that isn’t a serrated blade as well. Too many crazies in the world right now. We have had enough shootings/killings. Can’t take any more chances. Nope you cannot keep it in a safe or at a relative’s house. If you’re on a pill or someone in your household is… it’s gone. This will be made easier when the Sith Lord gets his way and the government maintains a national database for firearm ownership.
Mandatory mental health checkups: once every other week, by a trained, licensed professional. Again, we cannot take chances here. We never know who the next person will be to open fire on a school/business/church etc.
TV viewing capped at one hour a day. Again, this is obvious. With the average person watching north of 8 hours a day, we cannot have you being brainwashed. There is reality, and fantasy land, TV is mostly fantasy land. The news makes people depressed and distressed. Depressed people are the ones who typically go on these rampages.
No more internet privacy: A copy of your browser history will be sent daily to your psychiatric caseworker for review. Anything flagged will have you remanded to the psycho ward. The dark web and other rabbit holes create a massive problem in this world. Remember, you are on a pill. You are not normal. Internet time is also capped at 1 hour daily. Again, like tv, too much brainwashing going on.
NO alcohol or drugs: legal or illegal. You will be wearing a monitor. You are on a pill. We need to ensure that nothing interferes with the chemical balance of the body’s systems which the pill is trying to maintain.
Mandatory driving tests twice a year: Behind the wheel. Unlike being innocent until proven guilty, here you need to prove you can drive safely twice a year. Heck, have you seen the size/speed of some of these cars lately? Yikes.
No voting: Again, if you are less of a citizen or crazy… no vote for you.
Mandatory inpatient care: Military style, one weekend a month, two weeks a year. You are under evaluation, not simply going to a doctor and trying to get out of it.
Obviously the above will never be allowed to happen. Truthfully, I do not even believe these would ever be voted in. The premise of this series is not to demean the folks who actually do have disabilities as they are actively seeking help. I am going after the losers in the game of life you see from time-to-time that use the mental health card as a sympathy card. My opinion is if you want the “benefits” of this condition, you must deal with the reality of our situation. In the last few mass shootings in the US, it’s been done by a person with mental illness. In many cases, the FBI has been “right on the tail” of the shooter to no avail. It was too late. We can no longer take a chance. This conservative has heard/seen enough of these. If you want to play the card, you must deal with the consequences. No more shootings.
If these were to pass, watch the number of people with “mental health issues” plummet quickly. The number of folks popping a “pill” will drop drastically. Again, be healthy, be well. Put the tv remote down, stop scanning the internet, none of the news is good. Touch some grass. No, not that kind! Go outside. Be barefoot. Enjoy the world that God made for us and quit being so self-focused and quit sheltering in place to avoid life.
The best thing about March was a four-day visit by the stepdaughter and her husband. The next best thing was the baby show that was supposed to happen months ago. It was put on hold because the mom decided to have her baby a week before the shower. What nerve!
The rest of the cancer story for March was one of decline.
My wife is no longer cooking. The meal tasks have fallen on me. I’m getting really proficient doing poached eggs, but please don’t ask me to eat one. Yuck!
Bathing is another task which has become more complicated. My wife has been experiencing pain in her body; especially, her back. The best temporary relief she can get is from taking a bath. The tub is upstairs. For the last two weeks, she has had to climb up the stairs on her hands and knees. She claims that she is unsure of her balance going up the steps. Afterwards I must help her down the stairs.
She sleeps for much each day and her energy is very low.
Eating is from a limited menu. The last few days have been poached eggs for breakfast and dinner. Juice popsicles, cheese sticks, and yogurt are occasionally consumed as well. Contrary to what we hoped, the esophageal stint has not increased her menu options, only her ability to vomit has improved.
Last Friday, was the PET Scan that would show if her chemotherapy and immunotherapy was working. The results arrived yesterday. The results were even more dire than I could imagine.
Despite treatment, the cancer has spread significantly. My wife has cancer in her saliva glands, her neck, chest cavity, spine and lower back, and pelvic region. She also has cancer in both the left and right lobes of her liver. There are so many places with cancer that they are not listed by occurrence any longer.
I’m not a doctor, I just play one on this blog, but it seems that she has little time left. I think she has two to four months remaining.
Between the cancer and the starving game that she is enduring, it seems just a matter of time before something breaks. I’m trying to persevere and not dwell too much on what’s happening. I can mourn later or at least that is what I’m telling myself. How long until we have to rent a hospital bed and park that in the bedroom?
Update just prior to publishing: Physician’s Assistant says that the doctor told her that treatment is ineffective and is therefore ended. Chemotherapy was cancelled today and forevermore. Also, my wife’s white cell count was too low, and she couldn’t get treatment with that kind of result anyway. We are now on hospice. Clearly a new chapter in this cancer saga.
Also, I contacted the middle child and told him that it’s time for FMLA. He needs to make arrangements to see his mom towards the end of April or first of May.
One disturbing trend occurring lately is the number of older people getting diagnosed with mental health issues. I work with someone who squealed like a piglet to his urgent care… yes, urgent care doctor, and got put on a pill. At first, he couldn’t be prouder of himself. He got what he wanted… unfortunately for him, he has no idea that if you mention mental health issues to your doctor he/she/they (for you CA republicans out there) is required to put you on something. It’s a “cover your butt” for the physician in case you go postal. I found out later that he told the doctor he picked out the knife to kill himself with.
Welp, that’s one way to get on a pill. I think they should have held him for several days for a psych evaluation, but oh well. He then found out he had to see a psychiatrist a handful of times, and obviously this angered him as his healthcare plan didn’t fully cover this. My suspicions for this center around his likely sighting what he “saw on tv or read somewhere online” as his reasoning to be diagnosed. If it sounds fishy to you, it likely sounded fishy to his provider, thus he was going to pay for part of it. I overheard a couple phone calls regarding upcoming appointments and him trying to weasel his way out of them. Again, he probably read about it or saw it on a fictional tv show but hey, it worked so why not try it right?
Like anything else that generation has become famous for, they want their cake, want to eat it too, then when the bill comes, claim there wasn’t enough frosting, and they shouldn’t have to pay. It’s pathetic, but here we are.
I do not really get it. When I was young, you didn’t want to be labeled as being mentally unstable, but now it is like a badge of honor or some weird sympathy card. It’s the latter. They want to play that card when things do not go their way. It’s wild watching him play the card whenever there is trauma in his life, or he feels like avoiding something, but when things are well, he never mentions it. The number of people in general claiming to have mental health issues is staggering. As I mentioned in part 1, its literally the go to… like a get out of trouble-free card.
My favorite part in the saga was when he magically declared himself totally fine and healed and was going to go to this urgent care doctor and get off the pill. I keep labeling the doctor because, in my humble opinion, the urgent care doctor seems to be a “take this and call your primary care physician if this continues” doctor, not someone who should be prescribing things. Especially not prescribing/diagnosing mental health issues. So, I feel this whole thing was an act to begin with. He went there armed with plenty of internet articles and knowledge gained from various tv series episodes. His plan likely would have worked, except for the detail about how he had planned on killing himself. They don’t speak about this in fantasy TV land… no doctor will let you stop taking the pills when you admit that. Risk is too high in this litigious society we live in. Imagine the look on his face upon hearing that. I have a feeling he went doctor shopping after that looking for a yes, but unlike on the latest tv episode, he found no one willing to play ball.
In closing this part, I will say this, how the mighty have fallen! The same generation that called mine; crockpot kids, dumb, stupid, addicted to their phones, social media whores etc. is now going to be known for trying to get on mental health pills. It’s bad. I didn’t think they would go out like this but here we are. The generation that was all about self-individualism, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, make something out of nothing, is now trying to get free government pills. What the heck happened?
Disclaimer: This blog is targeting people who “doctor shop” to get diagnosed with a mental health issue, not the good people who actually have a mental health issue. If you have a real issue, I hope you are able to find affordable help or services for your condition. I wish only the best for you… to the folks who shopped around for a diagnosis, you are the worst type of people.
I remember as a child growing up, there would be maybe one student/child at school with a learning (mental health) disability. Again, one whole child at the entire school! I was always enrolled in private school, which tends to attract more special needs kids because class sizes are smaller, and they usually have a program specifically for them to tailor to their needs.
As I grew older (High School & College years), suddenly more and more students were taking a pill. It was typically Adderall which is prescribed to people who have a hard time focusing. While this could be true, I always thought it was tied to being declared a “mental health issue.” See, in High School and College, if you had any type of learning disability/mental health issue, you got added benefits other students didn’t enjoy. Typically, the rules didn’t apply to you anymore. If you were late for class, acted out, etc., you were excused because you were considered a special needs student. You also got unlimited time on tests/quizzes and got extended deadlines on reports. It birthed the idea of an IEP (individual learning plan) and lowered an already low bar for education even lower. Now having a special need is not seen as a liability, it’s seen as having benefits. The number of “special needs” kids at my high school went from a couple to classrooms full when it came to final exam time. At first, I thought it was just my generation trying to work the system… boy was I REALLY WRONG!
In my years since graduating, the special needs fraud has gotten far worse. If you are accused of a crime, it’s now a priority to be declared special needs. Not only does it guarantee leniency, but it also likely results in dropped or dismissed charges. If you want a medical marijuana card? Just go doctor shopping, hell my sister got a doctor 3 counties over to issue her a diagnosis for a medical marijuana prescription for her monthly visitor. NO one in this county or the surrounding ones would issue it, but head to Modesto, swipe your insurance information, and viola here you are. Smoke and toke like Cheech and Chong, you’re good to go.
Lastly, in the last 10 years, I have no idea what happened. The people old enough to be my parents started getting in on this. They see it as the new “race card” that needs to be played when they are cornered. Suddenly people in their 60s are claiming mental health or “brain fog.” They shop for a doctor and get put on a pill.
In the next installment I’ll speak about the older generation and “mental health.”
