Raindrops on windshields...

...and snow on the ground. A view from the drivers seat of my car looking out on my side yard and dogwood tree. I told you this tree is only pretty for about three weeks out of the year.

Well, I am an amateur at saying "no". I agreed to three days of watching the girl. Then the grandmother called back and asked if the girl could stay here after school for the week of the 22nd through the 25th until her co-worker could pick her up after work. I agreed to that, too. I got out of the ten straight days, but somehow I am reeled back in to here and there. Oh, well. Oh, hell.

My brother got cut at work. Not the fireman. Another brother. This one lives about forty miles away. Where I spent New Year's eve. He works in a lumber yard. He has one of the most dangerous jobs, working with the stationary saws. This was a big blade that is attached to a big piece of equipment and you feed lumber into it. I am not sure if he cut his lower arm or upper arm, but he hit a vein. They had to call a paramedic to butterfly the cut. Then the assholes let him drive home by himself. His ex-wife (live-in) talked him into going to the hospital, where he got five stitches. I hate that he is so much at risk. These mills don't give a shit if an employee cuts himself. They probably give them a psych evaluation to determine who is least likely to sue their sorry asses if they get hurt.

My other brother (the fireman) works in a steel mill. When I lived with him he had so many stories to tell. Scary. The part that was most worrisome is when a bar flew out of the mill path and traveled loose through the mill where the men and women were working. You are talking a red hot piece of steel moving at I don't know what kind of speed and chasing you. Not to mention where it goes if it catches up to you. Luckily, I didn't have any close relatives in the coal mines. Talk about your big, greedy companies taking advantage of the honest, dirt poor, hill people.

Can someone be honest, generous and not broke? Are honest people destined to be poor? In today's society, can a person or family manage without cheating? If you are completely honest, can you survive in today's world? The average "lowest" salary for a professional baseball player is $300,000 with some making into the millions. And, the average teacher gets $60,000. Healthcare gets $45,000. Now, my figures are random lookups, but that is not the point. What does the average soldier make? The perks compared to the average professional baseball player. Supply and demand? Risk your life?