Ok! Now you have my interest. With my health issues I can only be an on and off volunteer, but I have a lot of time on my hands and a head full of info that seems to ooze out during the middle of the night. I’d like to think I have value beyond donating my body to science. C A

I moved to Scottsdale AZ half a lifetime ago from Chicago IL. At that time we really were in a small Western town. Times have changed. We are over populated and I long for our small town days. What I miss about the city…the food, and only the food. CA

I have been following the CDC guidelines especially since I returned from a trip to Mexico at the end of April with flu-like symptoms. I went to the Dr the day after I came home and didn’t have Swine Flu, but did have an infection that I needed medication for. QM, whom I traveled with, had to take even more agressive steps because she has COPD, and while not sick, she did consult her Pulmonary Doc and is using a mask when going out of the house and will be around large groups of people. We are going on another trip in a few weeks and she plans to wear a mask while on our 3+ hour flight…or that’s her current story. I will probably wear one too, just to be on the safe side to prevent an additional sinus infection so soon after coming off of medication. I would rather have QM and I be safe rather than sorry because both of us are normally immuno-suppressed. CA

When I was younger (and married) I relocated for my husband’s job. That was fun then and wore off even faster than it took to unpack. Now that I am older, single, and living with QM who needs my help…I would never leave her alone. My goal is to outlive her. I can handle being alone better than she can, even though I can’t bear the thought of being all alone in the world without a single remaining family member. She’s strong, but I believe I am stronger. CA

I currently live with and care for my mother who I adoringly call QM (Queen Mum). She suffeers from COPD and severe Essential Tremors (Familial Tremors). I am fortunate that she only suffers from normal memory dysfunction at age 79. What this means is that she still has her wits about her and the spunk to argue with me if I question her. It makes for an interesting household of two disabled women and an aging female mini doxie. QM’s maiden name was ‘Wright,’ and it’s hard as the very devil to co-exist with someone who has been ‘Wright’ from birth. ;-) CA

Thanks to the President’s Stimulus Plan, I now receive about $25 more a month in Food Stamps. I now receive $124 per month as a single person. I’m not being sarcastic. I REALLY AM thrilled to get the increase…I was afraid they were going to cut me back more than they did when I got a cost of living increase in my SSDI at the first of the year. CA

Live with three other women!?!? I live with one woman, my mother, and I can hardly live in peace with her. CA

I agree Maizie. I like the fact that he has attempted to keep his campaign promises under the most challenging times our Nation has faced in decades. Talk about ‘grace under fire.’ I like what he said during tonight’s ‘100 Days News Conference.’ The only sticking point for me was when he reportedly changed his message regarding the investigation/prosecution of those decision makers who took it upon themselves to approve the manipulation of the law, and abuse of power, to use of torture (it was in violation of the Geneva Convention). But, I don’t approve of the ‘Patriot Act’ either. That’s just me. CA

As a follow-up to my earlier comments, I spent today filing formal complaints against the TSA worker and her supervisor for how poorly they handled my medicine situation. I also contacted the airline qm and and I were flying that day because one of their employees repeatedly asked my why ‘I wasn’t pushing my mother’s wheel chair,’ and ‘Why I couldn’t pull her rollaboard along with mine,’ then dumping us at the Gate with no assistance to get us to our luggage or to our shuttle home. Much to my surprise I was given a free round trip ticket voucher, and good instructions on how to make sure that I don’t have to give my medical history in order to get the help qm and I need while traveling. Oh! Lastly, I spoke with the CDC who advised me that I should throw out the jug of magic powder that had been manhandled because its integrity had been compromised. I’m glad it was a cheap script covered by my insurance so no great loss. I now feel less ‘STRESSED.’ Sometimes the squeaky wheel really does get the attention it needs. CA  

I love your attitude! I just got back yesterday from a week long cruise down the west coast of Mexico. There weren’t any major warnings on board ship before going on shore excursions except those on CNN International, FOX, etc. I was more concerned about the TSA at LAX when they actually opened one of my medications and tested it for explosives when it clearly said what it was on the script label. It seems the TSA staff have all been trained to say the same statement to you first, while getting up in your face…’YOU appear EXTREMELY stressed…just CALM DOWN…NOTHING you say is going to stop me from doing MY job.’ I don’t know about the rest of you, but that is about the most irritating thing they could say to me while manhandling my medication with the same gloves they had on touching everyone else’s luggage. Back on point, QM and I didn’t notice symptoms of swine flu on board a ship with 3,000 passengers, and we both feel fine. CA

Work? What Work? CA

I have been in a tornado and an oil field fire in IN, one flood in the SE, and only a couple temblors in CA. The flood scared me the most because for as far as I could see there was water and it was leaking into the car as we tried to drive out. I will never forget seeing the water come in under the car doors and thinking that any minute we would float away. CA

Josie, I remember back in the late ‘70’s when Governor Reagan signed a law releasing all the marginally mentally ill from all the mental hospitals in the state of CA. I was working for the Contra Costa County Dept of Mental Health in a residential substance abuse halfway house. We went from underserving the drug community to an influx of every form of mentally disturbed person they found on the street who had gone off their meds. We weren’t set up to treat them properly and there was no place else for them to go. I was so fearful when I had to pull night duty that I carried a hand gun in my car when I went to work. I finally left because I feared for my life - 30 in-patients to 1 Staff person ‘ME.’ I am concerned that it will be ‘deja vu’ all over again with all the budget cuts in our State of AZ and all the others that believe mental health treatment is a privilege not a human right. It is a shame…CA