nurselani's Blog

So I just have to rant about something. I went to the grocery store today, which was a pretty bad idea to begin with because half the state also went to the same grocery store at the exact moment I did. This of course meant that whatever checkout line I went to it would take 20 minutes to get through. So I wait in line behind the lady with $500 worth of groceries while my ice cream melts, and when the cashier had finally finished ringing up all the groceries, the lady pulls out A CHECKBOOK.

Who uses checks these days???? I mean, it's fine for paying bills, but why would anybody use a check at the store anymore? Seriously!! Get a freaking debit card! The money comes out of the exact same place, it clears faster, it's safer and more secure with less chance of fraud, and it makes everyone's lives more convenient. You know those Visa commercials where everything is chugging along like clockwork until someone pulls out a checkbook to pay for something, and then everything screeches to a halt? It really is like that!

My proposal: if you have a checking account you WILL be sent a debit card. (I don't know why people don't all get debit cards anyway, it doesn't cost anything.) Once you have said debit card, you are required to use it at stores. Checks can only be used to pay for things such as bills that go through the mail. Anybody can print off fake checks on their computer and anybody can steal a box of checks out of your mailbox. If those arguments don't work - use debit cards because it's more environmentally friendly. No more paper being wasted. 

Your thoughts on using checks to pay at stores?

This seems to be par for the course in Utah... Construction was started on a street near my home a few weeks ago. Something to do with the pipes under the street or something. So in come the construction workers and all their machines and equipment and they tear up the street to do their thing. It turned the street into a one-lane, instead of two. So now it's harder to travel on that street but whatever, they should be done soon, right?

Well, after a couple of weeks of doing something to that stretch of road (I couldn't tell that they were making any progress except to tear everything up some more), it appears that the job has been finished, halfway done. No construction workers, bulldozers, or what-have-you in over a week, and the road is still missing asphalt on one side for several blocks, with huge potholes on the other side.

WHAT'S THE FREAKING DEAL???? UDOT comes in and tears up a road that's perfectly functional, makes it almost impassible for some reason, and then once the road is sufficiently ruined they just go on to the next project before finishing the first one?? This is absolutely ridiculous!! Bravo, UDOT, for being completely disorganized and dysfunctional. Did they just forget they have a job to finish or what?

And I know this isn't the worst of it. Apparently UDOT has also decided to demolish every major road in North Salt Lake ... ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Um, who's in charge of planning these projects? Because this is definitely not the most efficient way to get a job done. You see a bunch of workers in the same spot every day for weeks, making no progress except to diddle around and make our lives inconvenient, and then they leave the road torn up and I'm darned if I can figure out what they were trying to fix in the first place! Or if they were actually trying to fix anything at all. Or if anything actually got fixed. You know the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Apparently UDOT hasn't heard that bit of wisdom - I think their motto might be "If it ain't broke, break it."

Suggestion to the powers-that-be at UDOT: do one project at a time. Put all the workers and equipment on one site, get it done in a few days (and put the asphalt back where you found it), and then we can actually drive on the road you fixed while you fix the next ONE. Seems like common sense to me, but what do I know? :-)

Okay, so I was driving home this evening along a residential street, speed limit 30 mph, and this Jeep comes flying up behind me and is completely tailgating me for several blocks. It was a two-lane road so he couldn't go around me, but I was going almost 10 over the speed limit and I swear there couldn't have been more than a foot between my back bumper and this jerk's rear bumper. I was scared this guy was going to rear end me on purpose! (Although I guess that would have been okay because legally it would definitely have been his fault...) I slowed down to going the speed limit before making a turn and I honestly thought I was going to be run over by this Jeep!

People who drive - please please PLEASE don't tailgate other vehicles like that! I'm as guilty as the next person of following too closely, but I only do it if someone's going 10 UNDER the speed limit, not 10 OVER. And, even if I do follow too closely, I still leave enough room between myself and the other vehicle so that I can make evasive maneuvers if I need to (eg at least one car length). Please, be considerate, even if you are impatient! Tailgate if the person's going under the speed limit and see if I care, but if the person in front of you is going 10 over the speed limit - and you're still riding their bumper - WHY ARE YOU DRIVING?????

I just read the story from Wisconsin about an 11-year-old girl who died from diabetic ketoacidosis because the parents decided to pray instead of seeking medical attention. This is a tricky one. On the one hand, I believe you do have the right to not go to a doctor if you don't want to - however, how did the child feel about this? Would she have preferred to have her parents pray for her, or would she have preferred to go to a hospital? Especially knowing that if she'd just had medical attention she would very likely still be alive? What's more important, the wishes of the child, or the wishes of the parents who are the legal guardians and can make decisions about care? We know what to do for the parents if they ever fall ill, obviously. This makes me angry because this girl could very easily have been saved if the parents had ever considered that, hmm, maybe this is a serious condition that needs medical attention. Dare I go so far as to say that this is child neglect? I tremble to think of what would happen if anyone in that family suddenly has crushing chest pain. At least friends and other family members tried to intervene...too bad it didn't work. What a pointless waste of a life.