A day in the life: Conni Landis to the rescue!

One of the nice things about working with a public health facility is working with nurses. In April, I jumped in a pickup with some colleagues and headed to the seaside town of Anse d'Hainault. On our return trip, we encountered someone who had gotten injured on their bike. So Nurse Conni jumped into action. She cleared out the flat bed, put on her gloves that she often carries with her and cleaned him up:



Despite her valiant effort, as we were leaving she said that she expected he'd still lose his toe. And on a lighter note, while we were stopped I snapped this shot of some locals transporting a bedframe:
And this was the view from where we stopped on the road: Tim White

A day in the life: Tet kale!

Tet kale! is a Haitian saying. It refers to somone working so hard, your hair falls out and you go bald.

It was made greatly popularized during the recent Haitian Presidential campaign. The follicle-challenged candidate, Michel "Sweet Mickey" Martelli, won the election with a mandate -- 67% of the vote -- and a well-suited campaign slogan: Tet kale!

So what does that have to do with me? Not much. But since the rainy season began a few weeks ago, the weather has become close to unbearable. The heat is still here and now it's accompanied by thick humidity. It's tough to stay cool.

But worse than the humidity is the bugs that have accompanied it. It's not just the flying termites, but there's flying ants now too. As I sit here writing this, I hear the first drop of rain falling on the corrugated tin roof. Pitter, patter. Pitter, patter. If it turns to a downpour, then two things will happen:

1) I won't be able to hear a thing. Talking on the phone, and even in person, can become futile.

2) The flying bugs will search out the light... and since we haven't had city power for a few days (I'm one of the few fortunate enough to have any sort of electricity... battery-powered) the bugs find me.

And it was a few days ago that I decided the bugs were overwhelming. As I sat I studying, I felt several land on my head. It was probably at that moment that I realized:

Tet kale!

I've been working so hard, I should have no hair!So I went to the barber today and got my already fairly short hair taken down a notch. Funny thing to me was that I asked to go bald, but he refused. I'm not entirely sure why. As usual, there was something lost in translation. But he seemed to indicate that my ghostly white scalp would get scorched in the Haitian sun.

I couldn't disagree. So I thanked him, paid him and went on my merry way... glad to have one aspect of personal hygiene requirements reduced in a place where I'm never sure if I'll have electricity or running water.
Tim White

Constructing a cholera outreach tent

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to help construct the first of ten cholera outreach (education & healthcare) tents. We located it in a small village, Carrefour Prince.

I got there with two fellow employees, Moise and Nixon. Nixon drove there.

Here are a few pix from when we arrived:Here the villagers tear down what appears to be the old "community building." It had no roof. And I'm uncertain if a "community building" is an appropriate description because my Creole is still that of a two-year old. But it certainly seemed to be some sort of structure -- without a roof -- on community property.Here Nixon and Moise begin breaking down the boxes with the tent materials:A Carrefour Prince resident:The locals were initially hesitant to help. I'm not sure why, but at least some waited for direction:Old meets new:More construction pix:This boy wasn't helping in the construction. But I asked him for a pic of him as he passed by riding his donkey and he obliged. Everyone was very helpful.The construction continued:And the job was done after several hours in the Haitian sun. I certainly got some color that day while working!I drove back to Jeremie down the dirt road using the 4WD and going very slowly. Parts of the road's shoulder are simply a cliff. And there's one switchback -- immediatately before fording a river -- that requires a multi-point K turn for even the best of drivers. Regardless, I got back to my place and was glad that I had finally had the opportunity to drive here. It is chaotic, but it gave me a bit more nerve to buy my bike...

Tim White

Having an impact

I was working late on Friday. Someone asked me if I'd be going home soon. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I was working on something.

It was an urgent grant request for outreach related to both cholera awareness and treatment. The grant request was going to be delivered on Friday night. I needed to get my part done. The weekend certainly wasn't on my mind.

The cases of cholera are increasing rapidly in Grande d'Anse Department* now. People are dying from an entirely avoidable disease.

Now it's Sunday and I'm uncertain of the status of the grant request. But I know one thing... having lived through malaria, lived down the road from a necklacing and lived with the knowledge of another impending earthquake... I had been wondering if this was for me.

I'm no longer wondering.

The opportunity to have a real impact reminded me why I'm here. As a CPA, I don't remember ever feeling as though I was having an impact. I do feel though that -- in a small way -- I am having a real impact for the first time as a CPA. And that's far more important to me than money or an American standard of living.

Tim White

* Grande d'Anse Department is the state of which Jeremie is the capitol.

Malaria or cholera? Decisions, decisions...

Although I didn’t fall asleep until around 3am last night, I did somehow feel fairly good when I awoke this morning around 6am. So I knew it was time to leave the clinic. No more livin’ the highlife with CNN and SyFy’s James Bond Thanksgiving Marathon. It was back to my own bed. Ugh. I was extremely grateful though for at least spending Turkey Day at the clinic. With CNN, I did not feel quite so lost and alone… especially when the few other Americans and native-English speakers I know were headed to a Thanksgiving dinner.

By 7am I had eaten a few scrambled eggs for breakfast – the first substantial meal I’d had in several days… unless you count my bowl of Berry Special K and a slice of bologna for Thanksgiving dinner “a meal.”

Finally ambled downstairs to speak with the Doc. My doc is great. He’s very personable and is extremely knowledgable. He gave me the skinny on why my malaria was worse than a typical case.

Warning: I'm more graphic than usual in this post. If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to continue reading.

He said I have more stomach acid than most people and that it triggered one of the side effects of Chloroquine: vomiting. Compounding that with the fact that I was quickly dehydrating, I now understood why my case of malaria seemed so much worse than how others had described it to me.

But my doctor said not to be too concerned. He explained that Zantac would fix my problem with Chloroquine… just reduce the stomach acid and those nasty side effects would be mitigated.

Great!

Then he continued.

There is a downside to Zantac and reduced stomach acid. When cholera enters your system, it heads straight to your stomach. And we do have a natural defense against cholera. It’s called... stomach acid!

So I’m offered a choice:

I get to decide if I’d prefer to be more susceptible to either malaria or cholera!

I’m sure you can tell just how excited I am about this decision. I feel so honored.

Tim White

Obama's healthcare: long-term costs to Cheshire

Here are some of the details provided to the Council on Tuesday night. This sheet provided some details on what healthcare legislation means to Cheshire in 2018:



BOE Chairman Gerry Brittingham asked if the 40% tax kicked in at $0 or was only on a plan above the "Cadillac" cost. The insurance rep wasn't sure. And I'm guessing that members of Congress don't know either.

Tim White

I'm going to volunteer in Haiti

We all know what happened in Haiti seven months ago. And regulars here probably know that I wanted to help when it happened... and still want to help. But figuring out a productive way of helping in either a crisis zone or post-crisis zone isn't particularly easy. Regardless, my MBTI is INFJ. And we are a determined lot. So where there's a will there's a way! And Port-au-Prince bound I am...

On August 29th, I'm headed to Haiti with a CT-based non-profit (the Haitian Health Foundation). I'm hoping to raise some money to defray the cost. Anyone care to help? $25? Or maybe $100 for you guys and gals who are rich? Or ten bucks from the not-so-wealthy folks like me?! I hope some of you can donate, if you have the means.

For those of you who follow this stuff, HHF is a top-rated charity* as it puts more than $0.90 on the dollar back into services... and that's a really good record of minimizing overhead and delivering for those in need. So please share this with your friends and click here to donate securely!** My goal is $1,000 by August 29th.

And if you're interested in their post-earthquake work, they're not helping exclusively with healthcare. Here's a photo of a Happy Home that they've erected to provide a number of benefits not afforded by the less sturdy house in the picture.Tim White

* Unless it's a small, local charity, I always look up an NGO on one of the Ratings Agencies for Charities before I donate.
** I logged on through Facebook. If you click on the website, I'm not sure how it'll work if you're not logged onto FB... though I'm confident you'll still be able to donate.

Negotiating with the teachers' union - OPEB

In an effort to minimize the impact of the current school budget gap, I suggest the following:

1) the teachers' union again offers the "promissory days" (valued at $491,000)

in exchange for:

2) OPEB funding

As I suggested in the linked post, OPEB funding is supposed to start next year. But as I understand it, there will not be any rigid enforcement. So although Cheshire is slated to begin funding the OPEB account in next year's budget to the tune of $2,000,000 annually... all bets are off because there is no requirement to do it.

Nonetheless, I'd like to begin paying down the Town's long-term liabilities. And since the lion's share of the OPEB fund will be spent on retired teachers, I'm thinking the town could exchange OPEB funding this year for the promissory days. In other words, this would not be a deferment. The teachers' union would exchange promissory days for guaranteed funding for their retirement healthcare benefits.

And since I've already passed along the idea, let's see if the union returns to the table now...

Tim White

Politifact: President Obama and his broken promise

Politifact concludes that President Transparency's call for transparency in healthcare negotiations is a broken promise. And ABCs Jake Tapper even gave Robert Gibbs one last chance to clarify... to no avail.

So I guess we'll never know who did what for which payoffs, such as the Louisiana Purchase, the Cornhusker Kickback and the Dodd Disbursement. Oh... wait... I guess we do know what happened in those particular situations... but we still have no idea who is going to bat for the various healthcare players... with the exception that it was the President himself who represented Big Phrma in the negotiations.

Tim White

McCain chides Obama on the lack of transparency in the healthcare debate

Though I'm not a big fan of John McCain - the Senator - the HuffPost's Sam Stein has highlighted an entirely necessary point being made by the GOPs former candidate for POTUS:

In a withering address on the Senate floor on Sunday, Sen. John McCain accused the president and Democratic leadership in the Senate of abandoning pledges of accountability and transparency during the reform process.

Pointing to the deals cut with the pharmaceutical industry, the American Medical Association and others, the Arizona Republican insisted that Democrats had "set up a tent out front and put Persian rugs out in front of it" - greeting special interests with specific gifts.

Recalling President Obama's campaign pledge to televise negotiations, McCain noted that "there has never been a C-SPAN camera" in the rooms where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) crafted the final version of legislation. Drawing attention to some of the sweeteners that were put in the bill to win the support of conservative Democrats, McCain scoffed that there were now "new words in our lexicon," including the "Cornhusker Kickback", in reference to Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and the newly recoined term "The Louisiana Purchase" in reference to concessions to that state's Sen. Mary Landrieu.

And now we've got the Dodd Disbursement!

Senator McCain is right to call out President Obama:Furthermore, Presidential-candidate Obama had only one legislative claim to fame as he began running for the highest office in the land:



And President Transparency sits silently on the sidelines while Senator Bernie Sanders (Populist - VT) and Congressman Ron Paul (Populist - TX) fight for transparency by Auditing the Fed. It seems that President Obama's definition of bipartisanship is wedding Washington with Wall Street, rather than making over Main Street in Michigan.

And with regard to the healthcare deal, I'm very fortunate to have health insurance, fairly good health and no dependents. But I do use some prescriptions. And Obama's secret deal with Big Phrma is really annoying to me for a number of reason, including reality! For example, my co-pay on my asthma inhaler is $25. But I can go to many countries around the world and buy the same inhaler for $10 over-the-counter. Why?

Tim White

Four inches taller...

MoveOn.org's version of Senator Joe Lieberman's views on healthcare:



Tim White

Rasmussen on the CT Senate

Rob Simmons: 48%
Chris Dodd: 35%

Linda McMahon: 44%
Chris Dodd: 38%

Peter Schiff: 40%
Chris Dodd: 39%

Even my guy, Peter Schiff, is beating Dodd. I just don't see how our senior Senator remains in this race past March.

You can find the Rasmussen polling data here, along with some other interesting CT bits on the President's healthcare plan:

voters are almost evenly divided: 48% favor the plan, while 51% oppose it.

Still, 60% of Connecticut voters say the plan will increase the deficit, and 80% say it’s likely to force an increase in middle-class taxes.

Forty-three percent (43%) of Connecticut voters favor the so-called “public option,” while 37% are opposed. But if that plan might cause employers to drop coverage and push their workers onto a government-run plan, the numbers change dramatically. Then 30% favor it, and 56% are opposed.

Tim White

Dodd's priorities are wrong, perhaps thinking he's TBTF

Senator Chris Dodd is on the front page of the HuffPost tonight.

Why?

Immediately below the current lead story regarding the minimal 48 hours it took the Obama Administration to flip flop on a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan... is a breaking story about Senate Dems caucusing on the public option. You'll find the story on The Hill. But what really irks me is the image on HuffPo.

Pictured left to right:

Tom Harkin - Chairman of HELP (Health, Employee, Labor, Pensions)
Chris Dodd - Chairman of Banking
Harry Reid - Senate Majority Leader

At a time when Senator Dodd is supposed to be dealing with the reappointment of The Comrade-in-Chief of Central Planning The Commander-in-Chief of Central Planning, Ben Bernanke... and supposed to be ending the era of Too Big To Fail...

He is once again stepping into the middle of the healthcare debate.

I guess Senator Harkin is incapable of leading?

Chris Dodd has his priorities wrong. He should be spending his time ending the days of bailouts for Wall Street.

But maybe he hasn't seen any of the polls this year? Apparently he thinks that he's TBTF.

Tim White

Parents concerned about CHS locker rooms and flu

From the NHRs Sean Barker:

A group of Cheshire parents said they have had enough with conditions at the Maclary Athletic Complex locker rooms and are considering starting a petition for the allocation of additional funds from the “rainy day fund” to have an overhaul of the facility completed by Sept. 1, 2010.

Tim White

Pool mold remediation project from Town Hall

From Town Hall:

Yesterday our staff met with the contractors who will be performing the roof, interior and exterior construction projects at the Pool. Also, in attendance were the consultants Lloyd Hamilton and Frank Gilroy. The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate the activities of the contractors to ensure that the project moves as efficiently as possible and does not compromise the effort to eliminate the mold and mildew, and to determine the most expedient way to get the work done.

There was no exact timeline determined at this meeting, since the roof work is a critical path for completion and is weather-dependent (as is the bubble installation, which is tentatively scheduled for mid October). However, we anticipate that it will be four to six weeks before the pool is operational for the winter season. The pool will continue to be open during most of this project, and should only be closed for the normal one to two week timeframe when the bubble installation prevents pool use. Sheila Adams and Bob Ceccolini are working with the swim teams (Cheshire High School and the YMCA) to accommodate them as best we can. Swim practices and meets will continue to be held outdoors (weather permitting) as will public use of the facility. We will distribute this information to the public through our website, Channel 14 and press releases.

We will continue to have weekly job meetings with all involved to closely monitor the progress being made.

Tim White

Anne Giddings (Council, at-large) on the 09/10 Capital Budget

Anne is well-spoken and comes prepared. You can't see it well on the video, but Anne's sign had two comments. One comment read "pool spending." This was on the top half, when the sign was partly "in the red." And I forget what the bottom half read... though she describes it in the video. Regardless, she made a great presentation. I'm expecting the same valuable thoughts and comments to continue when she joins the Council in December.



Also, if you watch the five minute video you'll hear her mention her bicycle. That reminded me of a comment made to me by my mom recently. My mom said that when she first met Anne, thirty years ago, Anne used to ride her bike from her home (next to Boulder Knoll) to Mixville everyday to act as a camp councilor. My point? She doesn't just talk about protecting the environment and living healthy and all these other good causes... her life has been a model for them.

And on a somewhat related note... Anne's brother-in-law, John Ashcroft, will be the honored guest at an evening event in Cheshire on September 17. If you'd like more details, please contact RTC Chair Marilyn Bartoli.

Tim White

A physician on the swine flu

Congress is filled with lawyers, but not many medical doctors. One member of Congress (who is also a physician) offers his comments here. One very important point is that it needs to be taken in perspective. For instance, how many people have contracted it so far?

Tim White

They must be running

Senator Chris Dodd appears to be gearing up for a 2010 Senate run. CTLPs Genghis Conn reports on Dodd's healthcare forum today in East Hartford:

Sen. Chris Dodd, accompanied by Rep. John Larson and a panel of health care experts, held a town-hall style forum today at Goodwin College’s beautiful new riverside campus in East Hartford. The forum was the first of several planned events on Dodd’s health care “listening tour,” which is an attempt to gauge public opinion and need before Congress and the administration undertake a major health care initiative.

Similarly, Senator Joe Lieberman appears to be gearing up for 2012 Senate run. The MRJs Andrew Perlot reports on Joe's "announcement" of grant money for a firetruck for Meriden:

U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman visited the Pratt Street fire house Friday morning to present the Fire Department with a $220,000 grant to purchase a new pumper truck.

Too bad for America. I think we'd be better off without either of them.

Repeat after me... Peter Schiff for Senate - 2010.

Tim White

Murphy, Esty get committee assignments

The Courant's On Background is reporting:

Rep. Chris Murphy, who just started his second term as the 5th District congressman, is finally where he wants to be -- on a subcommittee dealing with his No. 1 issue in his days as a state lawmaker: health.

Murphy's also on the Energy and Commerce Committe... a committee now chaired by the environmental advocate Henry Waxman.

I also understand that Elizabeth Esty has been appointed to the Legislature's Health and Appropriations Committees.

Good luck to you both!

Tim White

If you're pinching pennies and need antibiotics...

From the WRAs Dave Krechevsky:

Beginning Friday, Stop & Shop Supermarket pharmacies will offer free antibiotics to anyone with a doctor's prescription, a program the company says will help maintain the health of its customers in "a difficult economy."

For a full list of the 36 generic antibiotics offered for free by Stop & Shop, visit www.stopandshop.com/antibiotics.

But be sure to read the whole article. There's some health advice in there that should be considered

"Anything that encourages over-utilization of antibiotics is a bad idea," Simms said Wednesday.

Michael Simms is the director of infectious disease and infection control for Saint Mary's Health System in Waterbury.

Tim White