I just woke up...
...from the longest continuous sleep that I've had in recent memory. It feels as though I've slept through a huge chunck of my life. I woke up with a start...thinking that I must have missed something really important but since I have nothing to do, that's an impossibility. It took a minute to realize that the past few weeks wasn't something that I dreamt about. I really did just go to jail...didn't I? Yikes.
One of the things that I had to agree to in order to get out of jail (the first time I wne to court...the time that I DIDN'T get out) was a drug and alcohol evaluation. I have to have that done before Wednesday and I've been calling everyone that I could think of to get an appointment. All of the free places charge $75 for the initial screen. If I were to require treatment, THAT'S on a sliding scale but the initial screen isn't free now is it based upon income. I have insurance but check this out...if the treatment is court ordered, they don't cover it. So, I'm screwed again. I'm screwed from so many directions that I feel like I'm at a giant orgy, being fucked by everyone in the room. Ironically, I'm pretty much abstinent from the real thing.
If I were one to drink, this would be a good time to do so. But, I don't like to drink and I never did do drugs (except for the marijuana thing) so I'm happy to be evaluated for that stuff. At one time, I worked in drug and alcohol rehab, just long enough to figure out that it was nothing but a scam. I worked nights and the night nurse was the one who answered the help hotline. They trained us to ask questions in a way that would elicit answers that would let us know if the person had enough money or insurance to see if they were even "worth" talking to. This is an example, say the wife called about her husband's drinking:
"Has he lost his job?"
"No."
"Is it a good job, one with benefits?"
"Yes."
OK then, we want this one, we would keep speaking. If she had said that he didn't have a job or at least a good job with benefits, we would refer them to the City Detox Unit.
Another thing that made me feel as though I was part of the scam, every single patient required inpatient time that was exactly equal to the number of days that their insurance paid for. If it paid for 30 days, then they required 30 days of treatment. If it paid for 14 days, then they were good to go after 14 days.
This was back in the 80's and at that time, the total cost was $13,500 for 30 days. That's what they charged the insurance. Now, if they didn't have insurance, but were able to pay, the price was based upon how much they could pay. I remember one patient who's family could pay $5,000. That was good enough, he was admitted for 30 days at 5 grand. I never saw anyone pay less than that. Now, you tell me if that didn't sound like a scam to you. I went to nursing school to learn how to help people, not scam them. I couldn't, in good conscience, be a part of that "business".
I'm not saying that ALL drug rehab people are scammers, I'm sure that there are some who truly want to help people. But far too many of them weren't at all what I would call caring individuals. One way or another, I have to get this figured out. I thought that this would be an easy task to complete. It never occurred to me that I would have a problem with this one.
When I first started this blog, I was almost as broke as I am now. I had seen another blogger put up a "tip jar" which could be used for people who wanted to toss him a few bucks. I did that myself for a while. When I didn't need anything, I took it down. I put it back up at one point when I was broke again and then, took it down again when I didn't need anything. I'm not sure if I can remember how to do it but if I can, I'm going to stick it back up there because Lord know that I am in some serious need of help right now. This may be a moot point if I can't figure it out, but if I can, and it's up there, please feel welcome to toss a couple bucks in there if you can. I don't have a bank account so I have to use an old account of my father's that he never uses anymore. His name is William Broderick so if you see that name, don't think that it's the wrong one. My dad is one of those parents who doesn't believe in helping his kids unless they're doing so well that they don't need really need help. Personally, I would help my kids under most any circumstances so I don't understand his way of doing things.
Oh, that reminds me...I've heard many people say that if their kid found themself locked up that they would just let them sit there for a while to teach them a lesson. I never argued with that because a parent has the right to raise their kids in whatever way they see fit. But, I've changed my mind. If anything should ever happen to one of your kids and they end up locked up, please, please, don't leave them there. Come up with some other way to make them pay for their mistakes...jail is far too harsh for all but the most rotten of people. I know that jail is not supposed to be fun and that it SHOULD be a punishment, but you have no idea whether or not your kid is in some decent jail run by professional jailers or if they're in some hideous place run by psycho devils from hell.
While I was locked up, I thought about the movie Resevior Dogs. Have you seen that movie? I figure that there's two types of people, one type who watches Michael Madsen torturing the cop and thinks, "Oh my God, that poor cop." The other type watches that scene and thinks, "Cut off the other ear!"
Before I was in jail, I pitied the cop and hoped that someone would help him. After all, when I was a kid, Officer Friendly would come to our school and tell us how the police were there to help us and that we should always come to them if we had a problem. After everything that I've seen over the past couple of weeks, Officer Friendly had better bring Officer Back Up when he comes to my house because it will be a very long time before I can regain the trust that I had in law enforcement.
If I could afford it, I would go rent Resevior Dogs and watch it again. But, I don't. I don't even have enough money to rent the movies off of the "Nobody wants these so we're only charging a quarter" wall. So, I'm going to see if I can find the information to put up that button that lets you "donate to the cause". In case you'd like to know the "cause", it's one of the following: groceries, rent, the gas bill, my medications and if there's anything left over, fines to keep me out of jail.
Oh, to offer full disclosure...the fines to keep me out of jail may, at some time, be pushed to the top of the list if necessary. When I had that thing up there in the past, I never asked anyone to use it, I just put it there in case someone wanted to. I had too much pride to come right out and ASK for help. But, my pride left somehwere about the second day of my incarceration. I'm sure it'll be back someday, but for now...it's gone. So, if there's anything that you can do to help me, I humbly ask you to do so.
OK, now I'm going to see if I can figure out how to put that thing up there. After I do it, I'll see if I can come up with something entertaining to write for you.
Have a good day and I'll be back soon!
Meg
...from the longest continuous sleep that I've had in recent memory. It feels as though I've slept through a huge chunck of my life. I woke up with a start...thinking that I must have missed something really important but since I have nothing to do, that's an impossibility. It took a minute to realize that the past few weeks wasn't something that I dreamt about. I really did just go to jail...didn't I? Yikes.
One of the things that I had to agree to in order to get out of jail (the first time I wne to court...the time that I DIDN'T get out) was a drug and alcohol evaluation. I have to have that done before Wednesday and I've been calling everyone that I could think of to get an appointment. All of the free places charge $75 for the initial screen. If I were to require treatment, THAT'S on a sliding scale but the initial screen isn't free now is it based upon income. I have insurance but check this out...if the treatment is court ordered, they don't cover it. So, I'm screwed again. I'm screwed from so many directions that I feel like I'm at a giant orgy, being fucked by everyone in the room. Ironically, I'm pretty much abstinent from the real thing.
If I were one to drink, this would be a good time to do so. But, I don't like to drink and I never did do drugs (except for the marijuana thing) so I'm happy to be evaluated for that stuff. At one time, I worked in drug and alcohol rehab, just long enough to figure out that it was nothing but a scam. I worked nights and the night nurse was the one who answered the help hotline. They trained us to ask questions in a way that would elicit answers that would let us know if the person had enough money or insurance to see if they were even "worth" talking to. This is an example, say the wife called about her husband's drinking:
"Has he lost his job?"
"No."
"Is it a good job, one with benefits?"
"Yes."
OK then, we want this one, we would keep speaking. If she had said that he didn't have a job or at least a good job with benefits, we would refer them to the City Detox Unit.
Another thing that made me feel as though I was part of the scam, every single patient required inpatient time that was exactly equal to the number of days that their insurance paid for. If it paid for 30 days, then they required 30 days of treatment. If it paid for 14 days, then they were good to go after 14 days.
This was back in the 80's and at that time, the total cost was $13,500 for 30 days. That's what they charged the insurance. Now, if they didn't have insurance, but were able to pay, the price was based upon how much they could pay. I remember one patient who's family could pay $5,000. That was good enough, he was admitted for 30 days at 5 grand. I never saw anyone pay less than that. Now, you tell me if that didn't sound like a scam to you. I went to nursing school to learn how to help people, not scam them. I couldn't, in good conscience, be a part of that "business".
I'm not saying that ALL drug rehab people are scammers, I'm sure that there are some who truly want to help people. But far too many of them weren't at all what I would call caring individuals. One way or another, I have to get this figured out. I thought that this would be an easy task to complete. It never occurred to me that I would have a problem with this one.
When I first started this blog, I was almost as broke as I am now. I had seen another blogger put up a "tip jar" which could be used for people who wanted to toss him a few bucks. I did that myself for a while. When I didn't need anything, I took it down. I put it back up at one point when I was broke again and then, took it down again when I didn't need anything. I'm not sure if I can remember how to do it but if I can, I'm going to stick it back up there because Lord know that I am in some serious need of help right now. This may be a moot point if I can't figure it out, but if I can, and it's up there, please feel welcome to toss a couple bucks in there if you can. I don't have a bank account so I have to use an old account of my father's that he never uses anymore. His name is William Broderick so if you see that name, don't think that it's the wrong one. My dad is one of those parents who doesn't believe in helping his kids unless they're doing so well that they don't need really need help. Personally, I would help my kids under most any circumstances so I don't understand his way of doing things.
Oh, that reminds me...I've heard many people say that if their kid found themself locked up that they would just let them sit there for a while to teach them a lesson. I never argued with that because a parent has the right to raise their kids in whatever way they see fit. But, I've changed my mind. If anything should ever happen to one of your kids and they end up locked up, please, please, don't leave them there. Come up with some other way to make them pay for their mistakes...jail is far too harsh for all but the most rotten of people. I know that jail is not supposed to be fun and that it SHOULD be a punishment, but you have no idea whether or not your kid is in some decent jail run by professional jailers or if they're in some hideous place run by psycho devils from hell.
While I was locked up, I thought about the movie Resevior Dogs. Have you seen that movie? I figure that there's two types of people, one type who watches Michael Madsen torturing the cop and thinks, "Oh my God, that poor cop." The other type watches that scene and thinks, "Cut off the other ear!"
Before I was in jail, I pitied the cop and hoped that someone would help him. After all, when I was a kid, Officer Friendly would come to our school and tell us how the police were there to help us and that we should always come to them if we had a problem. After everything that I've seen over the past couple of weeks, Officer Friendly had better bring Officer Back Up when he comes to my house because it will be a very long time before I can regain the trust that I had in law enforcement.
If I could afford it, I would go rent Resevior Dogs and watch it again. But, I don't. I don't even have enough money to rent the movies off of the "Nobody wants these so we're only charging a quarter" wall. So, I'm going to see if I can find the information to put up that button that lets you "donate to the cause". In case you'd like to know the "cause", it's one of the following: groceries, rent, the gas bill, my medications and if there's anything left over, fines to keep me out of jail.
Oh, to offer full disclosure...the fines to keep me out of jail may, at some time, be pushed to the top of the list if necessary. When I had that thing up there in the past, I never asked anyone to use it, I just put it there in case someone wanted to. I had too much pride to come right out and ASK for help. But, my pride left somehwere about the second day of my incarceration. I'm sure it'll be back someday, but for now...it's gone. So, if there's anything that you can do to help me, I humbly ask you to do so.
OK, now I'm going to see if I can figure out how to put that thing up there. After I do it, I'll see if I can come up with something entertaining to write for you.
Have a good day and I'll be back soon!
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 7:34 AM
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