I wanted to give you all an update about what’s been going on my life for the past seven months and at the same time tout the benefits of Barack Obama’s stimulus plan which is so often reviled by the GOP and their mob (aka the Tea Party). As many of you know in the last half of 2010 my free lance IT business went into the toilet. Long standing clients of mine were closing their doors due to the economic downturn and finding replacements was proving impossible. Faced with the prospect of losing my home I decided to look for a job, sadly I was unable to find a job in time to save my home but luckily was able to find (with the help of friends) more modest digs and avoided becoming homeless.

As you can well imagine, being 52 and having long been out of the job market the prospect of looking for a job was quite terrifying. Months slipped by, I sent out countless resumes, and went to more than a few interviews, no one was offering me a job. Then I came across an ad on Craigslist “Your Big Break into IT Healthcare” that had been posted by Mt. Sinai Medical Center here NYC. Having no idea what the job was I replied to the ad and received an email back telling me to show up that Marriot Marquee on a certain date to be interviewed. 1,200 people showed up for the interview, Sinai was looking to hire 103 people. Luckily I was one of the 1,200 hired and on Jan. 3^rd I went to work at Sinai. Here was the deal, Sinai was going to pay us crap but they would get us credentialed as Epic trainers (Epic is the leading electronic medical records software, they control approx. 40% of the market). After starting my new job I quickly learned that the reason the hospital was switching to an all electronic charting system is because under the president’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 hospitals will reap huge financial rewards for becoming with compliant with the “Meaningful Use” aspects of the law, hospitals who are not compliant after 2014 will have Medicare funds withheld.

Tomorrow is my last day at Sinai, I was originally contracted to work till May 28^th but have been repeatedly extended, in fact I am the last member of the team still at the hospital. On the 21^st of this month I will be going up to Rochester, NY to start working at Rochester General Hospital for a 9 – 12 month contract with a strong likely hood for permanent employment for more money that I could have ever imagined earning! Not only will I be making more money than I ever have in my life, I love the work I am doing, all in all a pretty damn good deal! So the next time someone tells you the stimulus plan is working tell em “bullshit” it is working, the problem is it isn’t going far enough.

These are my favorite pictures of Tucker, he was just a good sweet dog and I think that comes through in these pics.  There are few things harder in life than saying goodbye to your best friend but sometimes that’s what we have to do.  13 years is a long time to have someone in your life and then in a moment they are gone.  It tugs hard at the body and it hurts. 

When he was first diagnosed with lymphoma in April I made a vow that I would try to do right by him and see him through this.  I can say with confidence that except for his last night he didn’t suffer much.  My head is still spinning a bit from just how quickly everything happened.  Last weekend was actually a very good one for him, he ate robustly and rolled around in the snow when we were in the park,  on Monday things started turning for the worse.  By Tuesday night he was unable to lie down, the tumor would push up into his lungs and he couldn’t breath so he would remain on his feet till he fell asleep and fall over.  My biggest concern when Tucker was diagnosed was how would I know when it was time to put him down (frankly my hope all along was that he would die in his sleep and save me from having to decide).  I’m still amazed at how obvious it was that I needed to take him to the vet.  I knew he couldn’t be left alone and I knew there was no more comfort I was able to offer him, what was happening to his body from the repeated falls was just too much for either of us. 

At 1:00 AM I decided to bring him to the vet first thing in the morning,  at 8:00 we were there.  At 9:15 with his head in my lap he was gone, it was the hardest moment of my life. 

Well I don’t mind saying how good it feels for me to once again have  a Cuomo presiding in Albany again.  Now don’t misunderstand me, I for one think David Paterson was a better governor than people give him credit for.  That being said I can’t help but feel a little giddy that Mario’s son now occupies the office that made his father a national figure and brought him very close becoming one our presidents.  Gov. Cuomo comes to the governorship at a very difficult time for the state, like most states NY has been severely effected by the Great Recession.  Now it’s easy to be a conservative governor in hard time, you just say no to everything and slash funding for every safety net program the people of your state will let you get away with.  Now being a liberal governor in a state like NY during tough economic times is a real challenge. 

We New Yorkers expect a lot from our government and the governor is going to have figure out where the money is to come from, all the while dealing with one of the most contentious state legislative bodies in the country.  Not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination but a great way to prove one’s readiness for even higher elected office!  Good luck Governor Andrew Cuomo, we the people of NY expect great things from you!   

I’ve been absent from this blog for quiet a while, so many things have been going on with my life, not to mention a real bout of depression,  it was hard to come here and write much.  On the upside I do have a new job which  I will be starting next month (assuming all goes well with the background screening and drug test, don’t get me started!)

As most of you know by now my beloved Tucker is terminally ill. For the last few months (he was diagnosed in April) he’s been doing remarkably well, in fact both me and the vet are  amazed he’s not only doing so well but in fact is still alive.   Sadly it appears the disease is starting to get the better of him.  Despite a healthy appetite his weight is starting to drop again and his belly has exploded with tumors, also his need for pain medication is on the rise.  I don’t want to give the impression things are dire, they aren’t yet, he still enjoys a high quality of life, but the hand writing is on the all and I need to come to terms with that. 

This is hard, it feels like the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in me entire life.  With some pretty rare exceptions Tucker has been my constant companion for these last 13 years.  His passing will leave a very big hole in my life and that scares me. 

Lets make no mistake about it, this man is a terrorist.  There is no difference in the  mindset between this idiot Terry Jones and the people who drove those planes into the World Trade Center.  They like him , trade in lies, fear, and hate, they crave the world’s attention to spread their lies and use god to rationalize their hatred.   Like Bin Laden this man thinks the world should live by his views of what is “good and holy”, anyone who disagrees with them is an object of contempt.   The only difference between a Terry Jones and a Bin Laden is the means they use, to date Mr. Jones is limiting his activities to “symbolic deaths” but who knows what  acts of violence and rage he will inspire in both the Christian community and the Islamic community.  Certainly if Mr. Jones goes through with his disgusting attempt at spreading hate blood will be spilled and the responsibility for that will lie squarely on Mr. Jone’s shoulders, after all that’s what terrorist do. 

Fast forward to about the 6 minute mark. 

Seriously, WTF?  Beck spends the first 15 minutes of show hyping gold and Fox lets him get away with this?  If he were a stock broker he’d be in jail for doing this! 

With Lisa Murkowski’s concession to Joe Miller in Alaska’s GOP senate primary race much is being made of the role played by former half governor Sarah Palin.  Frequently we have heard the term “king maker” linked with her name in the over hyped atmosphere of cable news networks.  Lets get real folks, in the first place the success of Palin backed candidates in primary races is mixed at best.  Also lets keep in mind none of these candidates has gone on to win a general election yet.  From where I sit Ms. Palin has done more to ensure the Dems hold both the House and Senate come election day then to help see a GOP victory come November.