Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Weather Men

Yes, this is how sad my life has become. I'm blogging about the weather.

Or, well, about weather men.

See, I checked Yahoo US this morning, as I do. And my "Local News" is set to Ft. Lauderdale, since that's where I lived for a dozen years before we came here.

And Bryan Norcross is retiring from TV.

Now, if you've never lived in South Florida, ths means nothing to you. But if you did...especially if you lived there in August 1992, as I did...this is like God retiring.

When Hurricane Andrew hovered around in the Atlantic, just a baby storm--category 2, I think--all the other forecasters told us not to worry. Andrew wouldn't hit us, they said. Just forget about him.

All of them except Bryan Norcross, anyway. Which is why, when we woke up that morning and discovered Andrew had not taken the turn all the other forecasters said he would and was in fact heading straight for us, Bryan Norcross became a hero in South Florida. And stayed that way. He stayed with us on TV through the whole thing, and we watched. (Okay, sort of. Channel 7's news coverage during the storm was much more entertaining, because Channel 7 has Rick Sanchez, who was one of the biggest buffoons on the planet. He and hi co-anchor--I want to say Jessica Aguirre--were down in 7's bunker, and Sanchez was sprawled out in a lawn chair like he should have a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and several times the camera actually caught him trying to look down Aguirre's blouse. That, coupled with the dumb things he said, made 7's coverage highly amusing.)

Anyway, we all watched Bryan. And kept watching him. Every time a hurricane threatened, you heard his name invoked all over the place: random strangers at Publix or the gas station or wherever asking "what does Bryan say?"

So it's sad. And it's made me think of the other weather man I used to watch all the time, Bob Richards (St. Louis), whose story is told in the link by AA blogger Byron Crawford (with particular emphasis on the racial aspects of the case). Bob killed himself by flying his small plane into the ground, after his obsessive threatening phone calls to an ex were leaked.

So I guess I don't have much luck with weathermen. Or rather, they don't have much luck after I leave their cities--although to be fair, Bryan is the head of his own company and is in fact moving up in the world. So I guess it's a mixed bag.

It's funny how anchormen and news personalities, even local ones, have such an impact, isn't it?

Oh, and here's a little rant for the day. Is it too much to ask that a doctor actually pay attention when you tell him the problem? Faerie has had what I think is a reaction to the immunizations she got last week, in the form of blisters on her sweet little bottom (things always start on her bottom, poor baby. You should have seen when she had chicken pox, it was awful. And one day she will want to kill me for posting this. Anyway. So I took her to the doctor, because I called and they said I should bring her in.

The doc barely glanced at her poor little wounds. Ignored me when I told him what I thought it was. Interrupted me when I tried to explain my she-has-a-very-reactive-butt theory. At one point he actually said, "If it was a reacton it would look like little blisters!" To which I repled, "Well, it did, before they popped." He ignored that, too.

In the end I don't think it matters much; he gave me some ointment and that's probably what would have happened either way. But I hate being ignored when it comes to my baby's health. I'm her mother; I know her. I mentioned she had a slight fever today, he said, "Kids get fevers." Wow, really, you freaking NHS hack?

Bottom (heh) line? "Give it a few days, we'll see what happens." Just like when the doc famously told the severe-bronchitis-inflicted hubs, "Give it a few days, and come back if you start coughing up blood." Or one of hubs's co-worker's boyfriend, who broke his foot and was sent home without even an x-ray and instructions to come back in a few days if the foot didn't feel better, and they'd do an x-ray then. Meanwhile he got to walk around for a week with a broken foot and the equivalent of Tylenol for the pain.

Weather, hurricanes, suicide, butts, feet, and the crappy NHS. We're covering all the bases today.

17 comments:

kirsten saell said...

My ten year old daughter, crying from ear pain, puking her guts out every fifteen minutes, fever of 40C. The doctor (IN EMERG, ffs, it was serious!) can't see her eardrum because she has lots of wax.

I asked him to flush the ear and look. He said, "Nah, it's a classic viral ear infection." His freaking resident gave me this look that said "Yeah, right," but doc just said "Give her some chicken soup, she'll be fine in a day or two."

Next day, I check on her, she says her ear feels fine. That's because she's got pus and blood running all down the side of her neck from where her eardrum burst. Having been through it myself, it's quite the relief when that thing finally ruptures.

I took her back to emerg (it was Sunday) and a different doctor asked me why I'd left it so long.

Fuck, they wonder why people hate them.

Charles Gramlich said...

A couple of horror stories. It's a freaking shame how bad the doctor's education is these days, but I see students who want it for all the wrong reasons, not to serve but to make money and get home as soon as possible.

Stacia said...

I hope you told him you didn't actually leave it that long, kis. Did you?

Anonymous said...

I sympathize. We took my son in years ago because he had a rash. His autism had triggered a few months before and we had no clue that anything other than behavior-issues were a problem. The doctor barely even glanced at him she just turns to me as says "Your son is autistic. I'm going to draw up papers to have him officially tested and diagnosed, but I know he is."

WTF about the rash???? My whole life came crashing down right then We went in, worried about a rash and walked out being told our child would never function normally, wouldn't be able to love us and might never be verbal save for repeating what he hears elsewhere. Of course he turned out to be much more high functioning, but the doctor wouldn't listen at all, she just went on and on about the things he wouldn't ever be able to do. BTW, most of them he can do now.

kirsten saell said...

Oh, I did, D. I told her I'd been in just yesterday and was advised to give her chicken soup.

The second doctor looked nonplused for a moment, then came back with, "Well, 80% of ear infections are caused by viruses." I was WTF? I told her I didn't think my kid's health should be treated like a numbers game, especially when a proper diagnosis could have been made simply by flushing her ear and looking at her eardrum. The same resident was there, looking after another patient. When she heard me, she gave me a look of approval, but I wish she'd had the guts to stand up to the male doctor the day before. Wish I had, too.

I'll tell you this, though. I won't be letting him talk me out of my concerns again. Asshole.

And Michelle, I'm so sick of hearing how my daughter will never be normal, will not do this, not do that, not fit in. She's going into grade 8 with a A- average, has totally proved them wrong, and makes me proud every day.

Robyn said...

My daughter is Wonder Woman when she uses her powers for good. But when she was six, she had a very tough BM that hurt to pass. The child decided she wasn't going to pass another one, and she didn't. I made her drink oil in her juice and eat metamucil crackers and all that stuff. No luck. I used adult strength laxatives and enemas. She even managed to hold it in then, only going when all this crap finally forced her. I was so afraid of an intestinal blockage, and she was starting to refuse to eat.

I told four different doctors, who laughed at me and said, "Feed her more fiber. She won't be able to hold it." Um, hello? She has been holding it for 3 months now! There is no worse feeling in the world than knowing your child has something wrong and no one will listen.

Kerry Allen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

In the US, medicine has become increasingly corporatized. Practices are owned by businessmen and physicians are employees with quotas of "units" to process each day (guess who the "units" are). It's a money-making business, not a humanitarian effort.

And don't even get me started on insurance.

I worked with one doctor who actually made housecalls to elderly shut-ins, and he got fired because the owner was afraid of getting sued. It just doesn't pay to be a GOOD doctor anymore.

Bernita said...

These stories make me want to run out and hug my doctor - though I've run into one or two like these.

BernardL said...

I've read articles about them loading the immunization shots instead of how they did it in the old days: spacing the shots, and having them cover only one factor at a time. That 'kids have fevers' remark would worry me too.

Whirlochre said...

My local weathergirl is called Sara Blizzard.

I believe everything she says.

laughingwolf said...

dee, get rid of that twit who calls itself a 'doctor', just ensure you have a good one before you do

i got a referral from an acquaintance to an excellent family practitioner when i first came here, some 11 years ago, and brought the kids to him once i saw the jerk they were seeing, kids are as happy with him as i am....

Anonymous said...

The Weather Channel is tanking too since they've been firing all the meterologists that do not buy into the global warming crapola.

Hope the little one gets better. I fear we're headed for that crappy medical care system in this country soon. -V95

kirsten saell said...

The Weather Channel is tanking too since they've been firing all the meterologists that do not buy into the global warming crapola.

V95, will you marry me?

Stacia said...

It is awful, isn't it Charles? What was once a noble profession...sigh.

OMG Michele, that is awful. And you know I know how that feels, too. We took Princess to a neurologist (after tons of evaluations and blah blah blah) and his exact words were "Maybe she's autistic, maybe not. We'll throw a hell of a lot of therapy at her and see what happens." Um...you're a neurologist, man. Aren't you supposed to have a freaking answer for us?

Good for you, kis, and thanks for the story about your daughter. It gives us all hope.


OMG Robyn! That is one strong-willed kid! I'm glad she got over it and yeah, wtf is that "Oh she won't be able to hold it." It's like they think you're lying to them.



No, Kerry, maybe it doesn't, but I'd still rather have an American doctor than an NHS one whose only priority is saving money. The rate of MRSAs in hospitals here is 1 in 5 because the NHS is so focused on saving money they don't even encourage docs to wash their hands as often as they should and they only provide air dryers for hands which are proven to spread germs. It's disgusting. My MIL waited almost a year for her surgery.


Oh, Bernita, I miss my US docs. They were great.



Yep, Bernard, they shove it all in at once and then ignore any side effects that may come up. Makes me sick.


Lol Whirlochre! What an awesome name for a weatherperson!


Oh, Laughingwolf, he was the duty doctor, not our regular gp. Our gp is still fairly impatient and get-em-out, no-tests-get-em-out, but not as bad.


V95, I hope every day that does not happen. Yes, something needs to be done to provide medical care--other than emergency care--for everyone (since emergency care is available as is treatment for lifethreatening diseases), but nationalized medicine is SO NOT the answer.

Anonymous said...

"V95, will you marry me?"

:~)> -V95

laughingwolf said...

rats... you need to find one who cares for patients, not just the bank account

our doc puts in 60 - 70 hour weeks, a lot of the time