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Uh-huh. And uh, one of the guys that was on the jury they were asking him if, if you could believe a lawyer or if a, lawyer's reputation was so tainted that he couldn't be believed Uh-huh. and one guy being selected snickered and couldn't keep his head up, you know, Uh-huh. and the guy said, Well, can you share it with us what you, what you find so funny? He says, Well, I already told you my sons a lawyer. He said that when he graduated, the day after his bar examine there in Houston. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. He told him, Dad, you know how to tell when a lawyers lying to you? His lips are moving. Oh, my gosh Oh. And ninety percent of all politicians, and lawyers, Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Have a lawyer background, yeah. Have a law background,
you're right. So by definition all lawyers and politicians are liars. The fact that they take our money and don't do what we think is right makes them thieves. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's true. So what's it going to cost us in the long run there in Saudi? Are we going to lose more lives there? See, and I don't know, I don't know I can't tell the future that's what scares me so much about it. I mean I thought the war was going to go on and on. I really was surprised when it ended so quickly and, Well, we hit them with more in one month than we used in three years, the last three years of Vietnam. I know. Yeah. And whenever you strike on open terrain with that sheer volume there's nothing they can do about it. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Right.
You know it's not like we threw eight aircraft over there all by ourselves and said this is wrong. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. We were there, the Brits were there. Right. The French were there. This is with U N backing Uh-huh. and to some level even Russia was behind. Uh-huh. Right, they were. So honestly if there is, was a well perceived war, world wide this was it. Oh, sure. Sure. But what I can't understand is then many of the Kuwaiti youth didn't fight, wouldn't fight. Uh-huh. It's okay for us to go extend our youth's lives like so much water in the desert. Yeah.
Yeah. And it's not their job to fight for their own land. Yeah, that is very it's very strange. Uh, and yet, you know, see that's another thing that, that's difficult for Americans, their culture is so much different than ours, you know, I've heard from many people that we could not even begin to understand how they feel about things because their values and their perceptions are so much different than ours and, um, they just don't think the same way we do. Their culture is completely different and almost opposite. And really from all I can from all indications the Iraqi beliefs, if you will, are more similar to our own. Uh-huh. that's true. And the Kuwaitis aren't even helping rebuild their own country. The Kuwaiti young won't rebuild anything. They won't work. Uh, I didn't realize that. Yeah, it was on the news last night. Oh, my word. The, uh, U S Army is doing it all.
Uh, yeah. See and that's another question you have to ask, is this our job? Is, are we, should we still be there even, you know? I don't know the answers to those questions. I think they're tough and I think, you know, it's, I don't know that anybody knows the answers. I think they know what they believe but I'm not sure they really are one hundred percent sure. Well, they talked to one Kuwaiti woman yesterday. Uh-huh. And her biggest concern in life was that she couldn't get a housekeeper. You're kidding. That's unreal. And, do you have a housekeeper? No No, and don't plan on having one either, ever. Well, I wouldn't mind having one. Oh, I'd love to have one
but, you know. But, you know, I'd like to make sure that I have a job tomorrow first. Sure. Sure. That's right. That's right. It, it astound, you realize that the Kuwaiti government gives every Kuwaiti man, woman, and child money. Uh, no. I wasn't, I didn't, wasn't aware of that, no. For nothing. For doing nothing, yeah. For for, for doing nothing. For sitting on there kiesters. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Oh, that ought to give their programming trouble shouldn't it? Uh, they do nothing.
They hand them money each year and they're part of, I'll let you go first. Well I think, I don't know how your schools work back there but we support our schools here with property taxes. Uh-huh. And the land owners or home owners are the ones that pay the school tax. So if you're renting a house or doing anything else, you're not actually contributing to the education of your children. And I think that's wrong, I think everybody should contribute to the education of their children even if they had to raise the sales tax by one percent then everybody going through the state would be supporting our education system. So, as it turns out, we don't really have a tremendous education system because they don't have the money they need to run it. Yeah, I, uh, I spent a couple, uh, years down in, uh, Plano, Texas. Uh-huh. And, uh, I was one of the home owners down there that got taxed to death, for the, uh, Plano, uh, school system. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, I, you know, I know that Texas doesn't have a state tax, No, huh-uh.
and so all the things come out of the, the property taxes, Yeah. and I was, uh, really shocked at the amount of taxes I ended up paying. I was, I was better off paying a state tax back in Maryland, where, Yeah, yeah you would be. than I was, uh, paying the, uh, property tax down there. Uh, what they did in Maryland to get around that is they, uh, they developed a renters tax solely for the purpose of paying for the services, that the renters were getting including the, uh, educational services. Oh. Yeah. And, uh, the tax was administered by, uh, the, uh, rental company that actually was managing the apartments so when, uh, long, long time ago, when I used to live in apartments, I would pay a rent payment every month and a tax payment every month. Oh. Gee. And the tax payment went to pay for the services that I was getting as a, a resident of that particular county. Yeah. And, uh, that's the way it worked. Here in Maryland we have, uh, a certain portion of your, your property taxes, uh, goes to education, Yeah.
but also a portion of the state tax that you pay goes back into the county that you live in, to pay for the educational system. Oh, well that's pretty good. And so it, it works out nice, it, it, it makes it so that the, uh, whole county now, I, I know the concept of counties in Texas is quite a bit different than it is here in Maryland, uh, like Collin County, uh, would only equal about maybe an eighth the size of Baltimore County, here in Maryland. Oh, yeah. I mean the, the counties are much larger. Yeah. You know, in the, the whole state of Maryland I believe there's only like, uh, fifteen counties. Gee whiz. And, so, uh, you know each county has their own school system an, and it works out real nice. Um, the, the flip side to this is, are we getting what we're paying for, Yeah. and I don't believe so, um. A lot of things have come to head recently and I heard a report because, of, uh, uh, the emphasis that the President was putting on education, you know, uh, him running as our education president and then finally a couple of years later getting around to doing something. Uh-huh. Yeah. Um, they said since they imposed the federal regulations on education,
in other words, they came up with this federalized system where everyone in the third grade would be taught basically the same thing. Yeah. And, then, at the end of, uh, school year they would be tested and then they go into the fourth grade and everybody in the fourth grade's basically taught the same thing. Yeah. So when they came up with these, this nationwide system of public schools, uh, they gave some figures out and since it's inception, uh, they've, the price has gone up per the prices paid by the federal government per student has been thirty-three percent. Yow. And so they're actually spending thirty-three percent, and that's real dollars, you know, adjusting it back to, to the days, you know, when it started, uh, probably, you know, seventy years ago. Yeah. And what they've said is that we haven't had a thirty-three percent improvement in education. No, huh-uh. We've actually gone backwards. Well they say that Texas schools are some of the lowest in the nation. That our high school graduates can't even match the national average. Yeah. So, you know, our school system down here is no where near perfect
but they keep complaining they don't have the money to do it. Yeah, well, they, they've been having some problems, uh, even here in, uh, like Baltimore City which is, a, a, pretty good good sized city. Yeah. Uh, they've been putting a lot of, uh, stress on it and of course, speaking of stress the teachers are all getting stressed out from trying to, you know, do everything they're supposed to do and of course they've, uh, been cutting the teachers salaries, because they say we don't have the money to do it Oh, yeah. and, all the services are costing more money and, and everything, uh, Yeah. but uh, a lot of now is being put on, you know, when children used to be taught, you know, like, uh, uh, each child is individual, Yeah. you know, they're not all the same and some students do horrible until like eighth grade, Yeah, they need to take things at their own speed. some do horrible, you know, until they get to like tenth grade, Yeah. and then all of a sudden everything clicks in, you know. And then there are some students that, you know, read well at five years old, and, you know, seem to excel.
Uh-huh. And so that, the, you know, one of the things I heard proposed on, uh, one of the public radio stations up here was that we should go back to teaching children at their own speed. Some Yeah, Yeah. they can't keep force feeding things to each other and, or, you know, at the kids. And, and, uh, and on top of that they, they make the child feel inferior, because he's not as good as another kid his same age. Uh-huh, because he can't do it. I mean, it's like, you know, that's ridiculous. And it's not that he can't do it, he just can't do it quite as fast, or, Yeah, and, uh, you know, I have, uh, I, I have five children total, Yeah. and I've got two out of the house already and I I have two that are in, uh, eighth grade this year. All right. And prior to their, um, when I, when they were in elementary school they were identified as being slow.
Yeah. And so they put them into special programs and then we actually held them back in fourth grade. Um. And it wasn't until the last two years, um, last year my, uh, they're they're a set of twins, um, a boy and a girl. Uh-huh. Last year the, the, uh, boy twin started doing real well. All right. And it, it, everything started to click in for him and he knew what he needed to do. Um, and this year it, it happened for, uh, for the daughter. Um, all right. She just has been, really doing great this year Jumped on out there. and she has the right attitude towards school and everything. That's good. And I think it's just a matter of everybody has to find their own path. I remember when I was in school, I did horrible up until about, yeah, about the seventh, eighth grade
Yeah, I did too, up until ninth or tenth grade. I, I, I started to, to come around and realize an, and basically I got interested in math, and, uh, never really did well in english Yeah. but, you know once you got interested in something and things started to click in place then after that you take off. Yeah, and see when I was a kid growing up and going to high school if I wanted to take a little electronics course, I had a electronics course I could take, but we lived out in the country, Uh-huh. and we didn't have all that fancy stuff to worry about, you know, we had our auto shop out there and our ag shop and, and, you know, we had just about every thing that we needed Yeah. but they don't have it anymore. There's a lot of things that they don't do in school anymore. our oldest boy goes to Lubbock High down here and they go to school four and half days a week, so. That's pretty weird. Gee.
Yeah it is, um, my children had a, uh, real culture shock, uh, when we lived in Plano, I guess, I don't know if you've heard about the Plano school district, but. they're uh, they really stress academics there. No. Uh-huh. And, uh, God, if your child is not an honor student, well then, you're, something wrong with you as a parent. Gee. And that's kind of the way they are there. Yeah. And, uh, when we moved back to Maryland, um, I moved to a, uh, a, Baltimore County which is a northern county in Maryland, Uh-huh. and it's basically a rural county, once you get above about the half way point. Yeah. And we lived, you know, in the northern part of the county. Uh, we went from a, uh, middle school in Texas that served fifty-five square blocks to a, uh, middle school in Maryland that served fifty-five square miles. Yeah. And it was just a complete culture shock, because I mean, they, they're riding on the bus in the morning with, uh, other kids that, you know, are a sleep because they got up at three o'clock and were doing chores I can imagine.
and, they you know, Yeah that would be quite a shock. it's, and they had, uh, ag, they had an ag course, uh, I forget what it was called, uh, but it goes along the, the lines of industrial arts, but it's, agricultural. Uh-huh. And where they had to raise a small animal. Oh, like, Four H then. Had to learn how to drive a tractor. All right. They actually had to take a driving test on the tractor, I mean, they just couldn't believe this and it was great. They loved it. All right. I mean they really enjoyed the courses, um,
and it, you know, it made school fun for them again because prior to that school was just a big pain, a drain. Yeah, just something you do everyday. Yeah, and it was, you know. It was like, kind of like the way we feel about going to work Yeah, yeah, just something I have to do everyday. But, uh, up here they seem to have made it, uh, a lot of fun for them and they, they seem to really enjoy it. That's good, our oldest boy went into school politics and made vice ... All right, uh, you have pets, I understand, a couple of them. I, I, Well I have, uh, these, What are they? well I don't know if they consider themselves animals anymore. They actually, you know, sort of take over the place an, and we're kind of their pets.
Pets get like that don't they, they think they own you Don't they really? They own the place and naturally these are cats, so. Okay, these are cats. I remember one time, uh, I used to get a chuckle out of, out of Pogo. That dates me quite a bit, you probably don't know Oh, Pogo, sure. Yeah, he, when Beauregard was talking he was the dog, remember. Uh-huh. and he used to say, pets can be most as much trouble as as kids, if they work at it a little bit, and even more when they work at it a little bit I agree, And I think that's true,
I, don't know, I, I, I think that, um, my husband and I are in such a situation that, uh, um, I'm kind of, um, not able to do a lot, I'm, I'm kind of in a wheelchair, I mean I kind of am, Oh, uh-huh. just good company, huh, that's neat. but, uh, yeah, I've got these two cats that hang around with me all day, and I don't what I'd do without them. It is and, You know it's funny how pets get to be so, uh, they really, you really do mourn them after, when things happen. Now we don't actually have a pet right now. okay. But, uh, but we have had some and, and I I it's always hard for me to believe how close I've gotten to them. We had a little, uh, uh, oh, dog,
it was a little, uh, I got it so it wouldn't, wouldn't shed, one of these, French Poodle, a little French Poodle. Oh my. Oh, really. Yeah, and, uh, he used to, I used to come down stairs in the morning to feed him, you know, and I'd let him up out of the basement where he was sleeping and he would just dance around the floor and I just got, and we only had him about three or four weeks before he was hit by a car, Oh! but I cannot believe the whole family just, he just got in to us so quickly, Oh! I could not believe it. That, yeah, that's, I, I have to tell you about our most interesting pet, though. Okay. Uh, we had an iguana living with us for about, uh, about two years, two and a half years I guess.
Oh, uh, by choice? It was about, uh, oh, three feet long, about three feet long. It was a beautiful animal, name was Clyde. Clyde the iguana. Clyde the iguana. And, uh, my son Dan went to, uh, to, uh, Hawaii for the summer and when he came home, uh, he didn't bring the iguana with him but for some reason or other he had a thing for them. I don't know whether he'd, I think there was one in the school, uh, zoology department, you know, or biology department, one or the other, anyway, uh, Uh-huh. and anyway, he just, he went and found this guy in, in Dallas somewhere who had picked up one in, I guess in in Mexico, I don't know where. But anyway he brought this home and I looked at him and I said you've got to be kidding, I'm not going to live with a lizard Yuck! But you know I visualize that animal racing about, and you know, like you think of lizards doing but they don't do that.
They're very much like, uh, well, the thing about them is that they hold so still you don't notice that they're there and then they move and about scares you to death sometimes. Did you have him in a cage? No, Oh no, he had full run of the house. Oh no, oh no. He just loved to sit on the back of my dryer where the air, the heat came up out of the dryer, you know. Uh-huh. It was, he was really a neat pet and though I, you know, he'd when we'd have family home evening and everybody would sit in the living room and the fire would be burning he'd walk across my feet sometimes Oh! And it, it was a long time before I could really pet him and, but I fed him and he, he knew how to get me to feed him. He'd come out to the kitchen, just kind of look at me until I went and got him something out of the refrigerator.
Uh. Oh no, I mean you don't argue with an iguana, do you. But he was really a neat animal. He, he'd lay in Dan's lap, you know, and just, uh, when he'd pet him, he'd just stretch and, you know, you could see him just enjoying it like a cat does. Oh no. It was kind of interesting. But he did a lot of interesting things and, uh, Dan carried him around and he liked to ride on the back of his, up on his head, you know, with his tail wrapped around his arm so he wouldn't fall off, an, and scare everybody to death and kids loved him, Oh, my goodness. kids just loved him. Kids just came from all over to come and see Clyde and visit with him and, and he tolerated them, you know. He'd even tolerate him petting though, he didn't like them too well at first, but he, he got tame, you know,
so that, uh, people could go in there. And Dan was a drummer, Uh-huh. and he didn't, he, the only thing he didn't like very well was the drumming. Was the drumming. When Dan would drum he'd sit there and scrunch up, you know like he was trying to protect himself, And cover his ears. and then he'd leave the room Isn't that funny the way we put, you know, um, human characteristics on an animal like that an, an, it's, Oh yeah, they really are, they're interesting, well they take on human characteristics like, uh, our other animal, I guess they do. the next year our, our son Ken went to Hawaii and well, while Dan was in Hawaii, Ken decided he wanted a dog and he, and he looked around a long while and he found a Norwegian elkhound and he just brought this Norwegian elkhound an, home
Oh. and he was so funny. Uh, for a while they built a, a run for him out to the side of the house, you know. He'd been on the patio but they put the run out there, and he didn't like this run because there were no people that came by and sometimes he would just make a racket until you came and got him. And one night we'd forgotten to put water out for him and, and Hal and I were in bed and all of a sudden there was all this noise out to the side the house and, and he'd pick up his dish and throw it in the air And then bark and march around, you know, He used a classic illusion . and then he'd pick up his dish again and throw it in the air until we came out and gave him some water. I forgot to ask you, did the iguana catch flies for you? Did what? Did the iguana catch flies for you? No, he didn't eat flies. He didn't eat flies. No,
they eat, uh, they eat greens. Oh. Uh, we fed him the outside leaves of lettuce, you know, I'd get lettuce at the store and he'd eat the outside leaves. Oh. And then in the summertime you could put him out and he'd eat outside except you had to keep him away from the garden because he liked to eat the little peas as fast as they came up, you know. I bet It was really it was s really a of things that were fresh sprigs, you know, he liked that. Well can we ask you whatever happened to Clyde? Well, yeah, when, uh, when Dan went up to college up at Ricksun , Idaho he took him with him, Oh. and, uh, everybody was used to him and they just loved him and what not and this his roommate put him out one day and Dan didn't know it and it got dark
and he didn't get him in again. And they searched and searched and searched for him but, uh, uh, it got too cold up there and he, he died in a tree. they found him the next day in a tree, but. Oh, oh my. So you you have to be pretty tender with them, we had a, he had his own heat lamp and, uh, and, uh, hot pad he laid on, you know. That was another funny thing, he had a hot pad and it, it burned up one time and boy, it was, that was funny too, watching him kind of burned up but anyway. Uh. An we got him a new one, he had a blue one before and when we got him a new one it was brown and he wouldn't lay on it until we changed the covers. Oh, really,
No, he wouldn't lay on it. because that was like what he was used to. so they really are, they really pick up things. He was, he was a clean animal, uh, we, he went to the bathroom in the bathroom. How did he do that? well we put some papers on the floor, underneath the john Okay. and he went there to go to the bathroom. You had to be sure you left the doors open, you know, he didn't like to go anywhere else, he'd, he'd scratch and do all kinds of things to get you to open the door, if you happened to close it on him or something, you know, but, but even when he went, when he had an accident or something, uh, Oh, no. if you just let it dry, it dries kind of like, uh, especially when he was inside and just eating lettuce, it dried up a little bit like ashes and you could just vacuum it up. Oh my goodness. In the winter time there was no smell at all, no odor at all to it.
And in the summertime when he was outside and eating outside the smell was a little bit like a cat, you know. Oh, yeah. But, uh. But that, that's incredible. It's a different little things, Yeah, he is, he was a really interesting animal. Oh, that's, I, I just, uh we just really and you know, to this day I still miss him and that's been years ago. Well see, I guess it's because you lived with, you know, him an, and overcame some fears to get used to him. Yeah, he was just, Yeah, yeah, I think, I guess so. But it's, it was interesting. Yeah Well, what do your cats do besides sitting and purring and letting you pet them
Oh, my goodness, these guys, they, well actually they're my husband's pets. Yeah, Oh, and you just kind of took them, over, huh. Well, well actually it's like he's the cat person you know, and I've, I was always kind of nondescript in that category because I always liked dogs. Uh-huh, uh-huh. And they've kind of taken over and, and, uh, you know. A little bit easier to have cats in this kind of country, though isn't it, uh. I think, Maybe it is, I, they're so independent, well I'm glad we have two of them, otherwise, I think they get neurotic if there just one of them. Yeah, that could be, could be. They get real crazy. But there, brother and sister from the same litter. They look totally different,
they are, they are, well they are Siamese cats, Oh, pretty ones. but one is, one is, uh, um, they're both registered, you know, one's a seal point, she's the little girl and then, uh, Newhart is the, uh, the, the, Newhart, he is something. He's like a dog, he really, he just he just wants his belly scratched and that's it, you know. And he's just the warmest thing in the wintertime, Yeah, he just sits on your lap, sits on your lap, but they're like seven ... Tell me what books you read. Oh, boy Well, um, I haven't been doing a whole lot of reading for enjoyment lately. I read, uh, one book a friend recommended to me.
I can't even remember the guy's name. It was a science fiction, Dean Cole, or something like that. And it was so frightening and it had so much violence in it I just could hardly stand it Um. I try to avoid the, Yeah I didn't think it was so great. She thought it was riveting, you know, but, I couldn't deal with that. But, um, mostly I read, I'm a marriage and family counselor and mostly I read things to do with raising kids, and now I have two little kids, Uh-huh. or co-dependency, or, you know, fifty thousand things like John Bradshaw's books on, uh, THE FAMILY and HOMECOMING and INNER CHILD, and so Uh-huh. I read usually that kind of stuff. If,
and right now I'm reading, um, Judith Viorst's book called NECESSARY LOSSES, where she talks about different losses that we've had in our lives that we have to get past if we're going to mature and so, Uh-huh. in in my spare time with a two and a half and a three and a half year old I, I read That does cut into your, reading time a lot. Yeah. That's really changed my reading habits, because I used to read so much, especially when I was in school. Yeah. You know, but, gosh it's, uh, it's getting pathetic now If, I get through a magazine, I've been, Well my, my kids are up, and out of the house now. So, you know, I will, uh, encourage you that you do get a little more time to yourself later on Yeah. I, won't say what. Later you're, probably looking for your kids so you can talk to them when they're out running around with friends Yeah. Yeah. What do you read? Oh, uh, well, I read for a living. Uh, I'm an editor.
You do? Who, Oh, well how interesting. And so, I, I'm at the What kind of books? Center for Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences and therefore, I read, uh, psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, philosophy, linguistics, history, uh, Um. Oh, my goodness. yeah, and you name it. I've read some of it. Yeah. Well that sounds like a fascinating job. It really is. It's, it's a great place to be Yeah. and the, uh, it's nice to work with people uh, who are not required to use your services, and so therefore, are grateful and not arguing with you about them. If they don't, want an editor, they don't come Yeah.
That's true. That's true. Well, you probably, I, I seem to remember that, uh, little byline on a lot of things I've read. Um. Um, is, is, is that, um, do they have a mail kind of campaign that they send to professionals in the, social, No. We, don't. No? Uh, normally we don't publish, uh, things under our own imprint. Um. Uh, we have books that are written here that are then published by all sorts of different, uh, commercial and academic publishers and university presses. That sounds so familiar. Uh-huh. So, uh, I end up sometimes reading the things that are written here all the way through, sometimes just a few chapters because that's as far as they get Yeah. But, I also get, of course, lots of references to neat stuff to read about. Yeah. So, I'm, uh, I was just thinking when they told me the topic, I should just, I should read the, uh, titles of the five books that are sitting on my desk right now that I'm in the middle of.
Yeah. Oh, that sounds interesting. Yeah. Oh it causes the, uh, uh Saint Anthony's Fire Disease, where, people fell into fits I thought that was going to be Oh. and, There is a, a theory, at least, that a lot of people who were accused of witchcraft were actually under the influence of erga. Oh, my goodness. Huh. And a book called JOB CUES, GENDER CUES, which explains, uh, how certain professions and vocations get, uh, flip flopped from one gender predominance to the other, like uh, nursing, started out all men and then in the nineteenth century, began to have women. Uh-huh. Nursing or, And now it's practically all women. Yeah. And that, uh , Secretaries. I bet that used to be mostly men who were secretaries of any type for business.
That's right. And the, thing that changed that was the manual typewriter. Yeah. It then it became, you see, just sort of a clerical task. Oh. Yeah. When you wrote it out in long hand you were a, Then you were important Yes. You were a confidential assistant to the, person. Yeah. Yeah. Like the scribes who did the old documents, you know, for churches and, Right. yeah And then, I've got a book called FASHIONS IN SCIENCE, which is a sociology that explains, uh, why certain theories get to be popular in, uh, sociology. And, uh, how difficult it is to swim against the tide if you have a different idea that isn't vatted by your peers Well, that's interesting. Uh-huh. And then I have one novel that's called FIRST LIGHT, that's about, uh, archaeology the British novel.
Um. So, it's really quite interesting. I haven't, got too, far into it yet. Gosh. Really. So, are you reading these in the form of just like printed manuscripts, that have not been Uh, those are, all books that are out, uh, published and bound now. But, they're just things, that, , pertain to various things I'm working on or were, uh, mentioned prominently and attracted my curiosity. Huh. So I got them out of the library and decided I'd read some more in them. Yeah. My goodness. Well, that's fascinating. Gosh. So, I read a lot of history and, uh, a few novels, occasional mystery stories, just, for fun. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah I never have gotten into any of the romantic novels or any of that kind of stuff. My husband reads a lot of the, um,
well, he did before we had kids the STAR TREK, and all those kind of sci-fi kinds of, things, you know Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But, he's got a, quite a collection of those. But, uh, my stuff uh, revolves around, uh, one one let's see, I've got one called ONE THOUSAND PRACTICAL PARENTING TIPS, which teaches you to put elastic instead of shoelaces, in your kid's shoes Oh, hey. That's, a nifty idea. Hey, I've done that to every pair my three year old has. Great. You know, really. Oh, I think the, the boom to parents and the, the shoelace department was those little Velcro tabs And, uh, Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think that's incredibly . but there's a surprising number that are still around that aren't, that don't have those, so that's an alternate means of dealing with
Uh-huh. but, um, I'm trying to think of what else I've got. Uh, since I'm, um, a therapist and all, I've done recently a lot of research into some of the twelve step groups. So, I've got all the different alcoholics, what they call the blue, the blue book, the big book, and all the O A literature and all the CODA literature, Yeah. so I'm trying to get more familiarized with that because I refer clients and different groups and, uh, well, let's see I'm trying to think of the, Uh-huh. What do you think is, the most promising, or practical book, uh, of that kind you've read recently? Um, Oh, I I have a love affair with John Bradshaw. I just have found everything I've read of his to be fabulous, um, Um. he started out with one called THE FAMILY, which does the family systems and people's roles in the family. And then he did, uh, HEALING THE SHAME THAT BINDS YOU, about how shame can just be so paralyzing and people isolate and withdraw. Uh-huh. And then the third one that he came out with is now called HOMECOMING Uh, and, uh, there's a subtitle to it, I never can remember what it is. It's something like, um, A JOURNEY IN, IN YOUR INNER, CHILD or something like that. Yeah.
I knew, his literary agent in Houston when she was just, uh, convincing him to write all this down. He was teaching, Oh, he's just great. And now he's had the, the first, the first one and the third one put into a ten session, uh, P B S series. Yeah. I I saw one of those episodes on P B S. Uh, from time to time out here, we have four different P B S channels that we can get on the cable Yeah. And, they'll have all ten of those shown back to back, in the middle of the night for people can video tape them. Oh. I know Yeah, so people can just tape them I guess, you know Yeah. But, I definitely have gotten a lot out of his lately He's just probably been one of the most, there's an author that's in, um, that's in, uh, Arizona, who used to be in Dallas. It seems like we have a lot of these that have been in Texas, called P M Melody, who does a lot of writing on co-dependency. Uh-huh. And she's got some fabulous workbooks out and a whole series of tapes and, uh, a workbook called BREAKING FREE, and just some real, uh, helpful, practical things for co-dependency.
Huh. Uh-huh. So that's been another one that I've thought was real helpful. But, other than that, uh, my reading centers on PADDINGTON BEAR, and WINNIE THE POOH, and DOCTOR SEUSS Oh, yes. Oh. But, I really have enjoyed exploring children's literature because there's so much more, uh, new things out that, you know, I, I'd pull out the classics once in a while for my kids, but there's such cute things, out for kids. Oh, there's some, absolutely wonderful illustrated, children's books. Oh, I know. And I just go to the library because I just, they're expensive, Yeah. I mean, it, and they go through them so fast, you know. Uh-huh. So I just, I really have been going to the library and getting my ten books out and they just love to sit and read. And now finally the littlest one is oldest to, to sit, you know, and watch the pictures instead of grabbing it and trying, to rip the pages out. right. Uh , well,
So, that, that has been fun to do do that you, know, go through the children's literature, and, uh uh, Yeah. I read, THE PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, uh, which lists all the upcoming books, forthcoming books, and, uh, there are so many that look like they would just be absolutely wonderful. Uh-huh. But I was tickled to see that some publisher is, uh, reprinting the, the James Thurber books for children. THE, WONDERFUL O and THE THIRTEEN CLOCKS, that have been out of print for about, oh, I think about twenty years. Oh, wonderful. Gosh. Really? Well, I'm going to have to, look for those. Well, I had those for my kids Yeah. and they really did, enjoy them. Oh. Oh, but they were, old copies then. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't buy them when my kids were little. And so, they probably were out of print all of, already when my kids were small. But, um, I, was really happy to see that,
Yeah. Yeah. yeah, I guess it's in honor of his hundredth, Okay, well, I I mean, what thoughts do you have on the subject? Uh, you know, we even lived there for a, a while when my husband was in the Navy. Oh, you did? In fact the first year we were married, he was already over there, had been there two years when we got married and so our, we had a one year honeymoon. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh, Uh, it was very nice, um. That's wonderful. Well do you have, you probably have a different sense than I have. I went to an inner city high school in Chicago. Uh-huh. Um, and that's not where I am originally from. It was a divorce situation of my parents.
Uh-huh. And it was a, a cultural shock to me. Uh, in terms of what I went through. I'm sure. The high school is now called, in fact, it was called Tulley High School and now it's called Roberto Clemente Roberto died while we were down there as a matter of fact. That, yeah, that's exactly, about twenty years now. Yeah. Uh, what was it like living there, I mean did you find that people appreciated having the privilege of being, It's like anywhere else. People are individuals and I find it really difficult an, and, frustrated trying to make stereotypes, you know. Right, I agree with that, yeah. And, uh, I can understand the, the frustration you must have gone through, uh, going to the, the school, uh. I didn't mean that in a totally negative sense. No, no,
it's just, if, if it's not part of your culture, and you come upon something that you're totally unprepared for, uh, the Right. Uh-huh. I had gone to a very, uh, uh, um, conservative, uh, college and when I started teaching school it was in an inner city situation, although it was not Puerto Rican, it was, uh, a Mexican American and black students. Uh-huh. They weren't like any of the Mexican American or black people I had gone to school with so it was, it was very, very, different. Right, that you had ever been. Right, I mean, I'll give you and idea that I had, um, and I would say, I would say the ones, the majority appreciated what they were having in this country. Yeah. Uh, but a lot of the ones that didn't even in the minority, not in the sense of the cultural world, word, they made it worse for the other kids in school. And, you know, Chicago, back then, even had bilingual classes. Oh, really. Yeah, and I mean, I had geometry,
the teacher was from Cypress Greece and, it was, Spanish and English, Huh. so if you can imagine how I even Oh, my. And, I mean, and I guess I look at is as an enlightening sense. Yeah. Um, but I think basically, I think they should leave things the way they are right now, I mean, I don't really have enough in terms of an argument, pro or con in terms of making any type of change. I'm not, so much against their making, uh, it a state. Uh-huh. But I would want a very, very, very clear majority, because if the minority can be so, vociferous, whether you're talking this group, or, or, any other group that, that has a stake in something. Uh-huh. Right, that's exactly. And they can make, as you said, uh, so well, the, a, a few can make it so miserable for everybody else. And that's exactly, I mean, I can remember instances that, uh, wasn't as, uh, you know, bad, Lord, I don't know how it would be today.
Well I know what it looks like, I've been back up for a reunion. That, that my give you a clue. It does, yeah, um, but its', but it's an experience I wouldn't change, I mean my husband, um, grew up in, um, a majority, uh, WASP, southern Ohio, you know. Uh-huh. So that, um, when he saw where I, you know, saw my later teenage years, he was just, I hate to say aghast, because that sounds so trite, but he was. And yet, how did I turn out the way I did turn out. Yeah, And I said that's really irrelevant. What you find is that, um, if you can talk to like, I mean, I learned a lot about the, um, Island of Puerto Rico from talking to these kids. You know, and you lived there so you know that parts of it are beautiful and parts of it are squalor. Same as, as any other part of the world, Like here, yeah, it's the same.
really. I, I don't, I don't think it's really to their best interests, to, uh, uh, attain statehood as it is right now, Uh-huh. they have the best of both worlds. They have, uh, representation, Uh-huh. but they don't have to pay all the taxes and so forth that we do. This is true. Uh, being that it's an island economy, um, everything is imported and yes, the cost of living is super high, but, but they're protected in so many ways without having to, to pay for the rights and privileges. Uh-huh, I know what you're saying, yeah, So, so you know, I, I would just as soon, an, an, and, if, if they voted to, for independence, I would back them a hundred percent. And that's, that's, because, I, I guess, because I'm not into territorialism or whatever, that we have been in the past. Uh-huh. Right,
right, I probably would say the something if I knew that intellectually that it was good and emotionally that the people there wanted it. Right. You know, it's just, um, I mean, right now they have the privilege of voting with the United States, don't they. Yeah, yeah. They count, yeah, as a principle, that's what I thought. Um, but I've also been down there. We traveled a lot to the B V I, the British Virgin Islands. Oh, yes, uh-huh. So you always pass through San Juan in going to places like or . Uh-huh. I, um, and it's just, it's, I think what they do need is an infusion of some of the United States, um, privileges, some of our resources. The educational, the teachers, the, um, academic opportunity, you know, Uh-huh. I don't think we do do enough of a resource transfer, if there is such a thing.
Part of that though has been, I think, uh, selected by, by them, in that, that whereas they want the benefits of some of, of what the continentals can offer, Uh-huh. they, they want to maintain that, um, culture of theirs, which, which I understand. Uh-huh. Uh, Uh-huh. And, and so often when you, when you bring in the advantages, the resources and so forth, there, there is a trade. They'll lose their ethnicity as they say, yeah. That's, Most of the people who that that I know about who really, uh, would, favor statehood, have pretty much assimilated into the, the continental states already. Uh-huh. See, Or they have family here and this way they can go back and forth and, and it's not that much of a strain, and, you know, they're kind of lackadaisical about it. At least at the present time. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. That's the way, the way the pendulum seems to be swinging, right now. It sounds like you probably know
I mean to this day are you still in touch with any native Puerto Ricans that you have made friends with, or, No, we really didn't keep that up, it's just, No, that's natural, I just thought I'd ask that because I wondered what you thought they might think. Um. Because I really don't have any, um, personal or professional or familial ties down there. I don't know, the the, the, the, that's just children, but the, the people that I went to high school with, um, I think the majority are in that, the, probably the generation, yours and mine and the one right after us, that, um, their parents did not want to acclimate to the United States. Um, in terms of retaining, um, Uh-huh. and my background's European heritage and their background it would be, you know, the, I guess I would say the Latin or Latino heritage. Uh-huh. Not speaking in English, um, having the children drive them everywhere, and these were not old people. These were like in their early forties. Um. Um, and I always, that always bothered me
and then there were some children that I noticed as soon as all the kids were out of high school, I mean they went back to Puerto Rico to live. You know, they had made enough money here. And so But on the other hand, I guess it's all about choice in everything. Yeah. Um, was it, I mean how were they toward, that's interesting the, the way, term you used continentals, which I'm sure is the proper term. How were they toward the United States in terms of just general, relationships, I mean, were they glad? There really were three major, um, camps, Uh-huh. and there were those who, who, uh, were very friendly, very open, any, anything we can do for you, uh, uh, either way, you know, was great. And then there were those at the other end of the spectrum and those that, ho hum, whatever, you know, Yeah. and, and, uh, it, it was interesting, the whole time we were there it was very, very political. There was always some, on Sunday afternoons, uh, going through the, all the little urbanizations, the little neighborhoods with, uh, blow horns, oh, Uh-huh.
I can't think of the term but, you know. I know what you're talking about yeah. And with banners and, and a parade of vehicles with their, with their colors of the, of a particular party. Uh-huh. So they were very, very, um, passionate, about their beliefs Uh-huh. but it, it, it kind of broke down that you couldn't really see, I couldn't see that there was a clear majority that, that stayed. It seemed to shift as, as, Yeah, I don't, I don't predict, what you're describing is actually a conflict, very hello, uh, you know what, I've got to go, because that's my cordless battery going. Oh, oh, I see, okay I'm sorry
Well I have enjoyed it. I enjoyed talking to you and, uh, thank you for your time. Uh-huh. Okay, bye-bye Bye-bye. Well, I think health care is real important, and dental coverage, but I guess medical insurance is probably what I consider the second most important. Yeah, I agree on that. And, you know, it seems compared to what we, our salary is versus what our health care is, our health care keeps increasing, increasing, increasing and not to the same rate as our pay Uh-huh. Right, right. I know no matter what you do about that, yeah, unless you're like a Senior V P or something which I am not Right. Me either
Yeah, I know. It's, um, I don't know. And then when you interview for a job or something sometimes people, um, expect the benefits to take the place of a certain salary level. Uh-huh. You know, they'll say maybe we'll pay you X amount annually, but then we, you know, ten percent to fifteen percent more are your benefits and if you're like, are you married? Yes. Um, like my husband works, and I do so I don't take some of, I have certain things that I take, and he has other things he takes. Right. So I mean in that kind of situation it's really almost, redundant, you know, Uh-huh, yeah.
You know that some of the benefits, I would rather have, um, money. Money instead. Yeah, more money, actually, um, Or flex time or something that was a little more personal, you know. Yeah. Right. I feel the same way, actually. Um, we don't use any of T I benefits other than I, I buy bonds and, and, um, that's it because, You don't use, you don't use the medical insurance? Not at all. You use your, your company's? My husband's, yes, we use my husband's. Where does he work if you don't mind me, He, he works for Bramalea Company, and they pay one hundred percent. Not one dime is deducted from his check. Oh, you're kidding.
What's the name of that company Bramalea. What do they do? It's a security company and, and building, they own a lot of buildings and lease buildings. Uh-huh. And, Are they a big Company or, Yeah, actually they're from Canada. They're Canada based. Uh-huh, that's, see, that's probably why cause Canada has the, the, um, government run health care systems, social medicine. Uh-huh. And you don't pay them. If you live there, it's like Europe. You don't pay a dime. Right. You know?
Right, yeah, it's all taken care, Yeah, but our prescriptions and everything, our visits to the doctor, our hospitalization, Sounds wonderful. the only thing we pay for is if if something happened, an emergency, and we had to have an ambulance, it's twenty-five dollars. I mean that's nothing. Yeah, if I were, him, I'd tell him make sure he stays there. Really, yeah, well, T I was getting, for the both of us, it was like seventy-five dollars a month. You know, deducted for an H M O, Oh, my goodness. Yeah, yeah, I don't work at T I. My husband works at T I, but, um, I work for E D S, but it's like, um, You know they're both
basically, E D S is a little bit better than T I but, Um, and we take my dental, my dental, his medical. Uh-huh. And the medical is just, I mean, I think it's terrible, you know? Uh-huh. twenty, but they're, then they're getting ready to change it again for Aetna. Okay. Um, I don't know. I just don't think companies, um, they want you to feel responsible and don't abuse the medical system and, you know, Um, T I just did the thing where, with the smoking premiums. Uh-huh. We don't smoke, but did you, do you know about the smoking premiums? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, do you guys smoke? We don't either. Oh, yeah.
Neither one of us do. But then, you know, like a lady in my office said, she said her husband works for T I, too. And she said what about the people that are walking around, and I hope, Uh-huh. Right. Yeah. You know, who's going to croak first? The people that smoke or, you know? Uh-huh. Seems like, an unnecessary penalty, Exactly. yeah. Yeah. I mean I'm not all for smoking at all, but I just, you know, I don't how they can do it. Uh-huh. Yeah. Carte blanket . *listen: probably closer to "carte blanche" Exactly. Yeah.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Or something. Yeah, it's like, stupid, but, That's why I'm not a boss, I guess I don't know. Yeah. I mean I don't know, um. What other, what other type of benefits do they have that, I mean, Canadian based companies . They have to be a little bit different than the American, um. Yeah, they are as far as their like pension plans , Uh-huh. they're vested a lot earlier. I think at T I, it took five years. Yeah, T I is at least, five years, yeah. Five to seven.
Yeah. And they're vested after their first year. totally vested. Oh, my goodness. And they have the four one K and the usual benefits like that, uh. Uh-huh. That's kind of nice. Yeah, T I has that, but that's a pretty standard thing anymore. Right, right. You know, um, um, your husband's company probably matches more than T I, though. No, they match the same amount. Oh, they do ? Yeah, well, they match four percent which is the same, You know, fifty percent or four percent. *listen; particularly nonsensical Yeah, it is. That's still pretty good, though. I mean the fact that your vested that quickly in the pension.
Uh-huh. Yeah, I know, um, E D S has eight years? I think E D S has seven to, to eight years. Uh-huh. So it's like T I in that respect, you know? Yeah. And, and, I mean, and I'm working for a company that's making money Yeah. You know, E D S has a cash flow problem as they say but, um, not E D S, T I, um, Yeah. Uh-huh. but I, I don't know. I think everywhere they just need to sit down and hire some people, the grunts, as I call them, like myself to tell them, Right. yeah. I mean, I don't know, It's, but if I were to rank them, I guess I would say next to income it's really just health benefits.
And then, um, for most people I know it would be day care like T I has, no day care. Right. Yeah, that, and I know that's a big issue because I, I belong to a women's forum group. Uh-huh. And some of the questions we're getting are, are on site day care and things like that. Uh-huh. That they consider a very serious benefit. And I can't tell you anybody right now at T I that's, uh, considering that. Oh, I don't, I would, think so, yeah because, They should be though. Yeah, they really should because they're big enough, um, and the other thing I think is really good is that E D S is much better than T I at, I think, right now than, that we have day care, um, they, uh, the health, the health program like T I has Texans? Uh-huh.
Right. But it, I don't think it, that it's developed as much as it could be for the size company as T I. Right. I mean if you ever walked into E D S health, corner court health clubs on site and you walk into Spring Creek, well, Spring Creek's better than the one on Dallas Parkway Uh-huh. but, I mean, yeah. Yeah, a lot better. E D S is is better than Spring Creek? Oh, it's really nice, yeah. Oh, man. You know, instead of like six, um, treadmills, you've got like twenty. Yeah. And E D S can't even compare in size. In terms of the number of employees. Oh, yeah. People, yeah. So I, don't know. I guess it's just where they, um, and like E D S reimburses you for adoption.
Oh, I see. And T I doesn't have anything like that. Right. You know, so I guess I, I wish the companies like T I and a lot of others were more progressive in that respect Yeah. so, That's good. That's a, that's a fortunate benefit, you know, that they're so active for their employees. Yeah. Yeah, and there's, I mean they have some strange things. I mean they have very strange like dress codes and, you know. Um, uh-huh. Um, you can't wear slacks at the corporate site and that kind of thing unless you're in a, you know, Right. but it doesn't, there aren't manufacturing environments because of the type of company it is. Uh-huh. Um, I don't know. I, I guess I also wish that, uh, companies would look more at cost of living increases instead of just merit reviews. Yeah,
Yeah. Me, too. Me, too, because, you know, with utilities and, and homes that are, uh, price of homes have went up drastically. Like an average house is now a hundred and thirty thousand. exactly. And that is unreal, because we've got people out here that are just poverty level. I know. But then we've got these million dollar homes so you know, where do you find a happy medium? I know. And how does your salary deal, with that? Uh-huh. It's not. Uh-huh, and I mean, I mean, I don't know how you and your husband are, too, It's just not doing it. but I mean we have friends that laugh at us and we, I clip coupons.
And I said, hey, I'll probably do this even if I'm a millionaire which I won't, ever be. Yeah Yeah But, I mean, it's like, because you just can't, I mean, it seems like every time you try to get ahead and take a vacation or something well, the car insurance is due Uh-huh. That's true. That is exactly where we are. I mean, yeah. It's so strange I know. I don't know what we're going to do about, Common problem. Yeah, you, want to rob a bank? No, I didn't say that. Yeah,
really. I didn't say that on this line. I don't know. What else about corporate benefits? I can't think. It's probably been too hot today for either of us to, Uh-huh. Um, kind of nice to talk to somebody in Dallas. Usually people are all over the country. Right, yeah, and I think Dallas, as far as, um, economic uncertainty, is better than what most of the country is. This is true. So somehow, we're better off than a lot of them. Uh-huh, and that doesn't definitely make it any better. It's, just something you have to keep telling yourself, you know, that, um, that's what I want, that, uh, you know, No people are lucky to have jobs, and people are lucky to have any kind of benefits.
Uh-huh. When you see people that don't have, um, anything but H M O or, you know, I mean really can't even afford to get in a job that costs, like, we had a guy fixing our air conditioner. And he said he didn't even make ten dollars an hour, and he has three kids. And I went, oh, you know, that has to be rough. Uh-huh. Um, but benefits, I don't know. I guess, I guess one thing I'd like to see, too, and I, I don't know how T I is about this, but I'd like to see, um, employees rank and file be able to contribute more to their, um, the execution of their job. Yeah. You know. Empowerment issues. Right yeah, that's a good word for it, um. Right. How is T I in that mode? Well, very well, um, it's slow, though. Uh-huh.
At least they're making the effort to put it out there and make it available and and, cultural change within the management first. Uh-huh. And now it's kind of filtering down to the peon level. But, uh, I think they're really trying. Uh-huh. It's going to take years, though. Yeah. I mean it's just, it's that mind-set, has to change, All part of a good old boy network, yeah. yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. E D S is, oh, they're better, but they're a little bit too, um, stiff collared in terms of, you know, what you want to do. They're pretty much put the, if that's where the widget goes, stick it in the hole, you know. Yeah. They're kind of formula oriented. Doesn't want to change. Yeah,
and, and you can't really argue with them because they've always been successful so, You know, what can you tell them Right. Yeah. Really. Yeah. Well, I guess that's what I know about benefits. Okay. Yeah, Okay me, too. good talking to you. Good talking to you and keep cool. Thanks. Okay. Bye-Bye. Okay. Bye-Bye. Uh, I guess my feelings are that, uh, we almost have a universal health care system, uh, to a great degree, except that now I read where we've left out about thirty-four million people. Oh.
And, uh, I don't know exactly how we're going to cover many of these people, because I'm sure that some of them don't, uh, don't have the wherewithal to do it themselves, so, uh, I, I have a feeling, since I have just about as good a health care coverage that anybody can get, that this, uh, then becomes an obligation of the government, because it's going to become an obligation of either state, local or federal government, anyway. Yeah, because when people can't pay, they end up going to clinics or, you know, to public hospitals, and that kind of thing, and, you know, Well, it seems to me that, that I'm paying anyway, because when I go, or my insurance carrier, anyway, when I pay something, the bills seem inordinately high. Oh, definitely. And the reason that they're inordinately high is because that has, to cover the costs for the indigent people who apparently don't have the money or the wherewithal to do that. Right. Yeah, yeah. It would seem to spread it out a little better if the employers who, uh, employ these people, and pay them, uh, you know, subminimum wages or whatever, were asked to share their fair burden of this too, just as my employer is. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And myself, I guess. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. My only concern is what happens when you turn things over to the government,
I don't know Well well, who, who else is going to do this, then? Do they wind up with more red tape, and more problems then? Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's worked successfully in Europe. Uh-huh. I've heard all these stories about, I travel extensively and spend, uh, maybe half a year in Europe every year, Oh. and I find that the health care programs there, uh, are administered with, uh, at least people I talk to, with, uh, a great deal of integrity, and, uh, people don't seem to be reluctant to use them to any degree. Yeah. As a matter of fact, if I'm injured or have an emergency when I'm, say in Germany or France, uh, that, I'm automatically taken care of, Wow. I mean I don't even have to pay. Yeah. Well, I think part of the, the tremendous benefit of that is that there's so many people who wait now because they don't have the money, until, you know, they have no preventative measures People, um, you know, just go on and on and on. I mean, so many people don't even get prenatal care
or, and it just extends with if it, what would be a minor problem to deal with if they had a help available early on becomes just this horrendous, you know, burden on the taxpayers. They're saying now that one out of every ten child born in public hospitals is addicted to crack. Well I, uh, uh, I know it. Well, you know I have a solution, you see. my solution, even though I'm rapidly approaching the, uh, the age when I'll qualify for Medicare and Medicaid, I, I, my mother and father both, uh, uh, well, my father's not living but my mother is, Uh-huh. and they are, um, of an advanced years, and when I see the money that's poured down the, down the drain on Medicare and Medicaid, I mean, the, absolute uncontrollable situation that we find ourselves in, Yeah. and the extraordinary amounts, I know that, because those people vote, I mean, they're the ones who get out and vote, that's what's robbing a poor mother of the prenatal care.
The young people aren't getting the proper care that they need, and nutrition, I think, Yeah, yeah. and we're spending on these useless, many times useless and inordinately complex unnecessary tests in hospitals for older people. Oh, it's unbelievable how much you go through. When I just had a problem with my neck and they ended up doing a seven hundred dollar CAT scan, and, I mean, a chiropractor got it in one time That's right, I mean, it does, seem like we're, it was just strange. now I noticed just the other day in the paper that, that Medicare will be based, payments will be based not, uh, just on cost, but on cost effectiveness. So I Oh, well, that should help. Well, I don't know, uh, we'll see how that goes. Yeah I think that was just a regulation that was up for comment, but we'll see what happens. Oh I see Oh, gosh. Well, listen, uh, I think I've, I've exhausted my, uh, self on,
at least I've blown off steam of the way I feel about it. Okay, well Okay? Okay, thank you. Bye-bye See you next time. Bye. Well, I know that, uh, I have only like two or three favorite television shows. Uh-huh. I think one of my favorite then is from the guy Stephen, is it Brochco, who does like L A LAW Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. uh-huh, and, uh, he also did HILLSTREET BLUES. Yeah, I like those type of shows. Yeah,
we really enjoy that too. Uh-huh. Uh, I don't get a lot, to watch a whole lot of T V. We have a couple of young children, and so we're usually outside, Uh-huh. and so it's usually the nine o'clock shows that if we get them in bed, we usually watch that, and L A LAW is one of my favorites. Oh, yeah, me, too. I know, they, uh, I think they're different than a lot of other shows of which they have like the re runs in the middle of the season Yeah. and then towards the end when everybody else is showing reruns, they start showing some of their newer stuff. Yeah So I thought that was really interesting the way that they did that. Oh, and so you must watch a lot of, uh, Disney or cartoons then? Well, we have on SESAME STREET and MISTER ROGERS, that kind of stuff, and I think those programs are really good for children. I know that both of mine have probably learned quite a bit from there.
Uh-huh. It's kind of nice to know that they're just going to be seeing, you know, not a lot of violence and that kind of stuff Right. and they usually, uh, show a lot of things that really teach them different things about the world. So. Uh-huh, uh-huh. My older son, he's going to be five, and he's more into watching the cartoons and that kind of stuff now. Oh, that's true, that's true. Well, I noticed that, my kids are, uh, older now, they're uh, getting close to the teenage years. Uh-huh. But they did, we watched all of MISTER ROGERS and everything, but even some of your, uh, cartoons can be very violent Yeah. and, you know, they talk about death, and, we were watching, uh, oh gosh, BUGS BUNNY just last night
Oh, yeah. and, um, I think it was on, I have to remember which channel, but anyway, uh, we were watching that and it was talking about opera, and they showed like what they thought an opera would be, and one of the things was to kill the rabbit, kill the rabbit Oh. and I thought, Oh, how violent, you know, to kill the rabbit. So he ended up killing the rabbit in the end, uh, but then of course, the rabbit comes back to life and says, well, see this is how an opera is supposed to be. And I thought, gee whiz, if a little kid was watching this, you know, that would be pretty violent even for a small child. Well, yeah, and you know, they, especially boys, I mean, they're always talking about shooting and killing and all that kind of stuff Uh-huh. and I don't think that they really realize that death is forever, you know. Right. And showing them something like that really doesn't teach them that it is. That's right. That's right. Well, I don't think cartoons portray that
but like, No, and to get them to feel like that that's just pretend, I think is the hardest part, you know. Yeah, Yeah. A cat has nine lives Yeah. but they don't, they just have one like we do Oh, so that's really funny but, uh we've gotten, uh-huh, go ahead. I was just going to say, I know that, at least before our kids were born, we used to always enjoy watching the COSBY SHOW, Thursday nights usually had pretty good, with that, and as far as very good comedy. Uh-huh. I like to watch DESIGNING WOMEN if the kids are in bed by then. Yes, Yes, yeah,
that's true, that's a good show. I used to watch, uh, DALLAS. We're, we're in Dallas. yeah. I used to watch DALLAS, years ago. And somewhere in the middle I got, uh, bored, and, uh, so I, in fact, I didn't even watch the finale. Uh, you know, that's about how disinterested I had become. Yes. Well, I did watch it just to see what it was Uh-huh. and it wasn't really that great. So. Well, I think, after a while, they just kind of, you know, there's no new stuff they can do, uh-huh. they've done everything dirty in the book you know, Yep. so,
Yep, I know, I know. Was it actually based on a book? Well, no, I imagine, Oh, but you were just talking about, okay, okay, Everything you could think of, you know had a hard time, Yeah, right. and I think maybe with DALLAS, as far as, they lost a lot of characters that had been around at the first. That's true, that's true. Where, I don't know, I never watched KNOTS LANDING, but I think they've had a lot of their characters stay around. Stay.
Uh-huh, uh-huh. You know, and if you notice on DALLAS, they lost all the women. Yeah. Yes. So the men mainly stayed but the women were the ones who left, and I thought that was very interesting and wondered, kind of wondered about that. Uh, well, anyway that's a whole new issue Yeah Oh. Oh, goodness so. Anyway. I don't know if our five minutes are over yet But we, uh, we also have the paid, uh, television channels. Uh, the only thing I don't like about it, especially with teenagers, is that all the violence, the sex, the nudity and the curse words you know. Uh-huh. And so, I know they didn't pick up these curse words from me. So, uh, they had to have picked them up from, uh, the T V. Yeah. One nice thing though about the cable company we use, they have, uh, they have that little parental, uh, uh, key,
Where you can lock up, the channel or whatever? Yeah. Yeah, uh-huh. So, I, I have that at home, and I keep the keys with me. Yeah. And that's about the only way that I can, that I can do it. Because their natural curiosity, you know, to go towards that way and want Yeah. yeah. And I don't know the way the generations are growing up now, I mean I just think they watch so much more T V. I try to limit what they watch. They aren't sitting in the house watching T V all day because I think it's good for them to have physical activity and that kind of stuff, too. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah. And especially in the summer time we aren't in the house very much in the evenings. It's the only cool time to be outside
That's true, well, and here lately it hasn't been that cool anyway with the humidity being so high. Well, true, Well, it was nice talking to you. Well, it was nice talking to you, too. Okay, talk with you later. Okay. Good-bye. Good-bye. Okay. Um, does, is this something that concerns you? or Well, I think it does, um, especially because I just moved to Massachusetts and, uh, they're having real problems because they have so many, uh, police layoffs. Uh-huh. And, uh, personally I don't live in a real bad section of town but, uh, just because of the general area I live in, the insurance rates are real high on your car and, there's a lot of crime within a few miles of me Right How about you? Yeah,
well, I live outside of Dallas and it's kind of in a little suburb. So, I feel pretty safe out here but I know the murder rate is going up every year in Dallas Yeah, I, uh. and that worries me. Yeah, I recently moved here and when I was looking for a job there was a lot of openings right in, the, in the worst areas of town and, uh, my husband, was, was, what he his concerns were well not that I think you'll get involved in anything but it just be an innocent bystander, just to be in that location and I thought how sad it was that just to be in a wrong location at the wrong time Yeah. and, and a lot of kids, you know, are caught that way. But, Yeah, there's a little boy just got shot and killed like last weekend down in what they call the projects, which is you know, sort of a bad area. Uh-huh.
But he was just out riding his Big Wheel and a couple of drug people got into a fight with a gun and he got hit and killed by a stray bullet. Yeah, that exactly what happened down here. That's really sad. I've, so you know it must be frustrating for the parents who can't get out of a situation like that. Uh-huh It'd be so scary. I know they asked in the topic for ideas on how to control crime and it doesn't seem like anything is working It really doesn't, it's kind of scary. I think that, uh, I think the laws have gotten so lenient, you know the court systems are too lenient. I think that's part of the problem. But, in, in, on the other hand they have to be because the jails are full. We can't, at least in this area, you know, they don't have any room to put anybody so a lot of people just get out, you know, back on the streets because there's no, they can't keep that many people in the buildings they have.
Yeah, they do that here, too. But I say, you know, they commit crimes let them be overcrowded, you know let them suffer a little bit. Uh-huh. I know it, they have all sorts of, of rights, that, you know, are questionable. Maybe they gave up that right when they committed the crimes. Yeah, I think so. I think if they knew it was going to be really horrible, wherever they were going, maybe they'd think twice about doing it. That's true, maybe the punishment should be more severe. Yeah. You know, the other thing that worries about it is, kids that are doing such bad crimes so young, you know, like eleven and twelve and thirteen year olds that just go out and kill people. I know it. They, I don't know if that's just a symptom of society and the breakdown of family and everything but that worries me, I wonder what the next generation will be like. Yeah.
exactly because they get involved in things so young that they don't really, realize what they're involved in. Yeah. And, uh, some people prey on that, you know, they'll take, uh, kids who don't really realize the seriousness even at fifteen. And, uh, get them involved in things because, uh, Yeah. well I don't know, I was watching on, a movie on T V, I don't know how true those can be, but you know, they, one guy got all sorts of kids under eighteen to do it by telling them, you know, you won't have a record because you're under eighteen. They'd steal cars and everything. Oh. So, I guess if they had, more of a deterrent, if they had more severe punishments it might be, but the courts are so backlogged right now it takes forever just to go to trial. Yeah. I think it would concern me even more if I had children, which I don't, but if I had children I wouldn't know where to raise them to protect them. yeah. Yeah, because it seems like now, even in the country, you hear about bad things happening.
Uh-huh. It's true, they, uh, and they, they talk about too, the gangs spreading, you know, like everybody thinks of them only in L A and New York but they spread out to cover more area and, I don't know, if, if gangs occur much down in Texas. Do they? Yeah, I think they have them in Dallas because I hear them talking about in the schools, different things happening, and they've had some drive-by shootings outside of the schools. Yeah, the same in some of the areas around here but I've never had any personal, you know, I never met anybody that I knew had anything to do with it. Or seen anybody, Me either but, uh, that's a scary thing too because at that age kids want so much to belong to a group. And, I think that a lot of people that sort of control them, control what they're doing are older, you know, business, you know, trying to control whatever. You know, Yeah, seemed like, like in the fifties when gangs were big it was just to be part of the gang but now they're so much into selling drugs and weapons and all that, Uh-huh.
it's pretty scary. It's true. And the weapons, my God, the weapons that people have are, some people are seemed to be armed better than the military or the same as the military. I don't know where they get them Really, yeah, those machine guns and all that. Uh-huh. Yeah, that's scary. It's a wonder there's anybody who's willing to be a policeman anymore. That's the other thing, uh, is it's hard to even, I can't even think of what the benefits of the job would really be. Especially if you're an inner city, you know, you can't really feel like you're putting much of a dent in what's going on. And, you're putting your life on your, on the line everyday. Yeah. Dallas, they were saying in Dallas that they can't hire anymore policemen but they keep losing them all the time
and that, uh, you know, eventually we're going to be way short on the number we need because they won't let them hire any new ones I, and they keep leaving. Uh, Yeah. I just read an article yesterday, um, where this, what used to be a nice town in this area, they had a lot of budget cutbacks. Massachusetts is broke right now and a lot of the towns are declaring bankruptcy and, they had to cut twenty guys from their forces and the crime wave rate went up almost instantly because it was so well publicized that everybody in the area knew that town wouldn't be patrolled as well. And so, it's like Yeah , they figure, what a heyday, huh This is a depressing conversation though It really is Well, there's someone at the door so I guess I'll have to go see what my dog is barking about. But it was nice talking to you Okay,
I hope things look up Well thanks same for you. Bye-bye. Bye. Where have you been on a wonderful vacation? Well normally when we go on vacation we go home, to Colorado. Oh, that's where we go home, too. Really. Yeah, Colorado Springs is where we're from. That's where we go. How funny. Yes, my husband's family lives just off of Academy Boulevard at Maize land. Really? Yes. We live up, up, uh, Lake, in the Broadmoor area Uh. that's where my my in-laws are.
Oh, we've been there. We haven't skied at Broadmoor. We went there last year at Christmas time and it was twenty-seven below. Oh. So we had to cancel our ski lessons Uh-huh, as of you can't even ski there anymore. Really? Yeah, they closed it down. Oh, just this year? Uh-huh Oh, my, they don't have enough money to keep it going, Uh. it doesn't, doesn't pay. So. So that wouldn't be a good spot to go on a vacation, now if you were a skier. Well you know, well, now I don't know.
Now Colorado Springs is real accessible to Lake Breckenridge Uh-huh. it's only a couple of hours away. And, uh, so, it's, it might not be too bad if you want to go skiing somewhere else. But, you can't, can't ski up there any more. No. Oh, I'd like to go on vacation. I my husband and I want to go to Florida to go to Disney World, Uh-huh. but we have two little ones that are under two right now, Yes. so we want to wait until they're a little bit older to do that, Oh. and, Well, we went on a family cruise last year, on the Premier Family Cruise Line and then we went to Disney. It was all part of the package. Oh. And on the cruise ship they had Mickey and Minnie and Chip and Dale and Goofy and Donald Duck, and it was really oriented toward little kids.
Well, how fun. So the kids could eat with Chip and Dale, you know, and, you know it was just a lot of fun. Oh yeah, Oh, I bet. So then we were on the cruise for three days in the Bahamas, and then landed at Cape Canaveral and then drove over to Orlando and spent four days at Disney. Wow, well that sounds pretty, Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Yes, that was the way to travel. Yes. And it was all a big package deal where you just pay one price and get everything? Yes. That's right. That's right, and kids are really cheaper, too. Really. We really lucked out because the ship we were supposed to be on developed engine trouble two days before our cruise, so they said we could either cancel, reschedule, or take whatever was available.
So we took whatever was available, and we left a day early, and they put us up at the Cocoa Beach Hilton, and the ship that was available, the only, uh, rooms that hadn't been booked were the suites. Wow. So we got the suites at the same price as a regular cabin. Oh what a deal. Yeah. So then our cruise was actually extended a day, and our Disney was extended a day, so we turned a seven day trip into ten Great, and they paid for everything. Well, that's great. Yes. Oh. So that was a wonderful vacation. Yeah, I bet. That sounds like the way I'd want to do it I think.
Yes. Well, what kind of things do you like to do when you go to Colorado? Oh, well, we like to ski, of course, so we spend so much time with our families uh, and seeing our friends, Yes. because we moved to Texas about two years ago. So when we go back we are just jam packed full of people to see and things to do Yeah. so we don't, we don't get a lot of time to just vacation. We did, um, last year, though, go to San Antonio for Memorial Day which was fun just to get to kind of walk around and see the sights down there and do that kind of thing. Oh. Uh-huh. Uh, but, you know, other, other than that, with, with both my kids being under two, it's real hard to do any, any kind of events that, uh don't, don't require as much, Right. That would be, Yes. I know, I think one of the places I always hit in Colorado, is that current outlet store. Yeah That's what, you should mention that,