Feb 29!

February 29 "is a date that occurs in most years that are evenly divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016." (Wikipedia) So I guess 2008 was the last time.....

I managed to keep my job for two months now. I will definitely be asking for a raise soon. My goal is to make it through the end of June. Then, I will be done, unless they double my pay or something.  I think the underlying problem is that I am not that fond of people in general. I would have been much better at dog training than this people-oriented work. In fact, if I ever win the Powerball, I will be a complete hermit in a hilltop mansion somewhere, with a yard full of animals and pets.

I tend to avoid crowds and social situations, given a choice. I believe they call it, "communication apprehension", which is actually defined in Wikpedia, you know, like "ADD".  Yes, another doctor-defined syndrome to explain a formerly normal variant of human behavior that gives them an excuse to create and prescribe pharmaceutical drugs.

I'm sure my desire to avoid human interaction is a result of being raised an only child. Regardless, in this case, I am also forced to endure the company of people that I have absolutely nothing in common with, so I have to be an actor all day on the job. I am learning to deal with different people quite naturally though, after being forced into these situations constantly since graduating with a healthcare degree.

It's actually a much nicer crowd than some of the wealthier neighborhoods I've worked in. Wealthy people really suck - actually the inheritors and children and husbands or wives of the wealthy are the ones that suck - it seems they just can't be pleased - so at least this is bearable in comparison.

I now know that the worst people to deal with on a daily basis - if you have to - are the ones that have had everything handed to them. That is why you will never catch me trying to work in a wealthy neighborhood. Oh sure, I'll move to a wealthy neighborhood if I am ever so fortunate to be able to afford it, but I'd rather work with the worst ghetto killers all day than 10 minutes with a bunch of wealthy pricks for clients.

So the pay is okay for now. I can last, even though the town is packed with "geezers and rednecks"- the geezers are soon leaving for the Northerly climate. Although I am approaching geezer status, I'm in no rush to fit in.

I'm amazed how "country" it is around here. It is a complete change from the coastal areas, which are mainly filled with wealthy pricks and the poor minimum wage people that have to service them.

In fact, the town reminds me of the town in the movie, "Road House".


It is interesting that the main industries here - fruit growing and personal injury lawsuits - are booming in this down economy. Real estate was the big moneymaker here for decades, but that's been stalled since 2008.

Orange you amazed by all this fruit?

Personal Injury is Big Business Here

Work is a zoo. The space is only about 900 square feet. There's no private office so I can't get any privacy the entire day unless I sneak out the back door into the 90 degree heat. The only desk is in the waiting room where the marketing/insurance guy sits there doing paperwork and yelling at insurance people on the phone all day. Ah but that's work. It could be worse I guess.

They want to open another office in another town. I think a better move would be to double the size of this office and add another chiropractor. It certainly has the patient volume.

People are so large nowadays too. Some patients can't even turn themselves over on the table to get treated because of their weight. What's with all the extra pounds? I guess they just can't help it. They make me want to open a weight loss clinic, but I don't think anyone would show up.

Today the dry whirlpool bed sprung a leak after a 380 lb patient laid down on it. I guess there were one too many heavy patients that used it. The equipment needs to be about 20% stronger these days.

The Whirlpool-Therapy Bed is Now Out of Service

I can't believe the chiropractic table has held up. It's a Leader 950. All I have to say about these tables is, "tested tough and highly recommended".

Leader 950

Without decent housing most people are going to be unhappy no matter where they live, so I think that's been an ongoing problem with my stay here. I've been living at the Hotel for two months now, but I imagine there will be some okay places to live once the "snowbirds" go back up north.

Here are some recent pictures from my hotel:

Cormorant

Moth-Type Critter

Storks

Landshark Beer

Baby 'Gator

Custom Truck

Groundhog Day

Despite my best efforts I finally ended up back working in a personal-injury chiropractic office in Florida for at least the first quarter of 2012. I think the last 4 months being out of the profession have been the most enjoyable times for me since college graduation in 1998.

I can't believe I sacrificed 4 years of my life to go to college to do this. I think it was easily the most hare-brained idea I've ever had, a horrible mistake-due to the student loan debt incurred.

It's not chiropractic itself that's a bad profession. It's just that the profession has whored itself out to the insurance companies and become just like all the others in the health-care field. It demeans the profession and makes me look like a joke.

The personal-injury racket is basically just an extension of the welfare system, disguised as healthcare. Unfortunately, as is often the case, all the money seems to be in the sleaziest part of the game. Regardless, I think they will change the law soon anyway, due to the blatant fraud going on-staged accidents and the like. I figured out this was a racket about 4 years ago when I worked for a clinic in Orlando, and it was owned by a bunch of Russians who weren't even doctors, so it was the "Russian Mob" maybe, I can't say for sure. It was unusual.

These "patients" don't even care about their health. They seem to care mostly about remaining grossly overweight and never exercising, obtaining and getting addicted to a variety of prescription drugs, getting all their hips and knees surgically replaced with titanium joints and never paying a dime out-of pocket for any of it.

It hasn't helped that the economy is still in the doldrums with no spark whatsoever-this has been going on since about mid-2008. Did our parents go through this? I don't think so. When they wanted to do something, they just did it. The opportunity was there if they wanted to work hard. It didn't take that long either. Now it seems like it takes most of a lifetime to save up $10,000, which is what I will need to take another swipe at doing something else.

Florida's never been a particularly good fit for me. I guess there's worse places I could have been called to. I'm more of a Colorado guy. I think my best place I ever lived was the Bay area around San Francisco. At least Okeechobee's got character. It's the "Old Florida". They even have a parade and a few fair's on a regular basis, like "small town America". In fact, I think it's my favorite place I've lived in Florida in the past decade.

My office in Okeechobee, FL

At least they have a primo jogging/bike trail around Lake Okeechobee

There comes a time when you need a change in life and I was ready to change careers after my last chiropractic position in Tallahassee ended in August. Mentally I quit about 5 years ago, but the economy forces me to keep going.

It's not that it's difficult, it's just extremely boring. The problem is, the American dream is dead, or at least on hold until they can get rid of the current administration. Even then, I think it will take our country years to recover. Plus, it's not every day you get a job offer out of the blue at my age, especially in this shit-economy, so here I am again, just like Groundhog Day. Regardless,

Career Changer

It looks like my latest attempt to change careers has stalled, at least temporarily while I go back to my old business to replenish my bank account before I starve to death. I had been doing radon mitigation for the last three years, but I think I picked the wrong area for my little venture, as the work has been few and far between in Central Tennessee.

The profession I have been trying to escape-chiropractic personal injury in Florida, has been dependable job security at least, even if I do dislike it. Hopefully I can stomach it for a year and try again in 2013 to change careers. I think it's going to be depressing though, to be back down there.

I will keep you posted.

Personal-Injury Chiropractic

Jan 7, '09

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