Leaving North Dakota To Get Medical Treatment

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On about January 25, 2018 I noticed that I had a new mole on my right shoulder.  I was very concerned that this might be a melanoma because it had an irregular shape, color, and surface.

I knew that I should try to get this mole looked at and removed by doctor right away.  A week later I began trying to find a dermatologist in Dickinson, North Dakota where I have lived and worked for the past five years, a town of about 25,000 people.

I found out that there were no dermatologists in Dickinson, but there was a dermatology clinic in Bismarck, the state capitol, 100 miles away.  When I telephoned this clinic, the Mid Dakota Dermatology Clinic, I was told that the soonest available appointment was 6 months away.

Six months wait to see a dermatologist is way too long if you think that you have melanoma, the most fatal form of skin cancer if left untreated.  I tried telephoning other dermatology clinics in Bismarck, but these other clinics had a similarly long wait.

I then telephoned a dermatologist that I had seen eight years ago in Idaho, and his office had appointments available each week in February.  I made an appointment for February 21, in order to be able to plan being away from my job in Dickinson.

I knew that this was more than a 12 hour drive back to Idaho, and more than $300 in fuel for the round trip.  Due to the snow and ice covered roads, it took me 16 hours to get to where I was going in Idaho.

At the dermatologist’s office in Idaho, the check-in patient paperwork took me 4 minutes to complete.  The medical assistant then took me to an examination room and spent about 3 minutes talking to me and photographing my mole.  Then the dermatologist came in.

The dermatologist looked at the mole on my shoulder for less than one minute, he then said that this is either a mole or a squamous cell, neither of these have the ability to spread cancer throughout your body, so if I were you, I would just get this frozen off, and this whole visit will cost you less than $100.

It took this dermatologist less than two minutes to freeze this mole, and then I was done.  It took two minutes to pay the $99 bill using my debit card.

This whole dermatologist office visit from when I arrived there to when I left, took less than 20 minutes.  It was no big deal.

I have had the experience many times in North Dakota, that what are normal ordinary things to do in other states, can hardly be accomplished in North Dakota.  If anyone has ever seen me sometimes characterize North Dakota as being backwards and primitive, this is why.

Re-Evaluating What The Police And The Dickinson Mafia Are Doing

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I am now re-considering and re-evaluating what the City of Dickinson Police and the Dickinson Mafia are doing.  Rather than continuing to complain, I may have to acknowledge that some of their practices, are necessary in Dickinson, North Dakota.

I have written several blog posts in the past complaining about the City of Dickinson Police always being so eager to follow everyone and pull them over.  I know that they were stopping people in order to check driver’s licenses and vehicles, to see if anyone had warrants, were driving under the influence, had illegal weapons or drugs, stolen property, or anything else illegal.  But I was sick and tired of being surveilled and stalked by the Police, when I wasn’t doing anything illegal.

On Thursday night of this past week, when a vehicle ran up over the curb, across the grass strip, and through a chain link fence where I usually park my vehicle, for the third time in the past six months, I wished that the Police in Dickinson could round up all the White Trash in Dickinson.

It’s not just that a vehicle crashed over the curb and through a chain link fence in this 25 mph zone for the third time in six months, or that another vehicle crashed into my equipment trailer in this spot, or that one of my vehicles got stolen during this time, or that my neighbors’ vehicles have had property stolen from them, it’s that this is happening all throughout Dickinson.

I don’t know if things were ever this bad in Dickinson before, or if this happened following the second oil boom in 1983, but Dickinson now is just full of White Trash and hoodlums.  I think that 50% of this is poor White Trash from out-of-state, and 50% of this is locally born White Trash.  I do think that poor drug addict people from out-of-state have had a negative effect on poor locally born people, making them much worse.

What I hated was the Dickinson Police following, surveilling, and stalking everyone in Dickinson, but I guess they have to.  Apparently, if the Dickinson Police let up for one minute, the White Trash take this opportunity to crash a vehicle, steal a vehicle, or steal property out of a vehicle, garage, or business.

I had written blog posts in the past complaining about the Dickinson Mafia.  For those of you who don’t know, the Dickinson Mafia are a group of business owners, property owners, and leadership in the City, that have tried to control what goes in Dickinson in the past:  Development, ordinances, hiring, firing, wage rates, promotions, marriage, who succeeds, and who fails.

I felt that it was wrong for a group of prominent and successful men to try to determine and control so much, what happens to other people.  Now, at this time in Dickinson, when I see so many people running amock, the White Trash problem, the misbehavior, theft, and drug problems, I wish that the Dickinson Mafia would get Dickinson back under control.

Here is how the Dickinson Mafia used to work:  If someone got arrested in Dickinson for DUI, illegal drugs, assault, domestic violence, burglary, or theft, within a day or two, they would no longer have a job in Dickinson, nor would they be able to get another job.  Their spouse may also lose their job within a day or two.  Not being able to pay rent within a month or two, they would be evicted, and would be unable to find replacement housing.  They would have no place to work or live in Dickinson.  They would have to leave Dickinson.

I wish that the Dickinson Press newspaper would begin again to publish the names of people in Dickinson who are arrested for DUI, illegal drugs, assault, domestic violence, burglary, and theft, and publish this in the Dickinson Press Police Blotter every week.

The owners and the managers of every business in Dickinson would read the Police Blotter every week, to see if anyone working for them had been arrested.  And if they didn’t read it for themselves, one of their friends, relatives, or customers would telephone them and let them know.  Once these people’s names were made public, the Dickinson Mafia, the public, customers, friends, and relatives would be saying to them, “Why do let criminals work for you?  Why are you helping criminals?”

Back when the Dickinson Mafia was more active and involved, they did not tolerate or allow White Trash in Dickinson.  I would like to see the Dickinson Mafia, the City of Dickinson Police, and everyone else begin to force the White Trash, hoodlums, drug dealers, and drug addicts out of Dickinson.

Appropriate Wife Reaction Riding In Car

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In the blog post before my last one titled, “What Is Wrong With This Girl In The Mustang GT?”, I included a video clip of a young woman riding in her husband’s 900 hp Mustang GT.

This video was funny, because the whole point of her husband’s video, the whole point of his entire YouTube channel, is to promote and show off how fast his Mustang is, and his own wife is not impressed.  Instead of viewers being impressed and appreciating his car, they are laughing at him and his car.

Below, I have included a video clip where a professional race car driver takes his wife for a ride in his personal daily driver vehicle on a race track:

There Are White Trash In Dickinson, North Dakota

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I have lived in Dickinson, North Dakota for a little over five years now.  Financially, sometimes I have had a shortfall of money, most of the time I was just keeping up with bills, and only a few times did it appear as though I was going to get a little bit ahead.

For the past three years, I have often felt that all I ever do is just pay bills.  Even though I was tired of doing nothing but paying bills, I came to look forward to being able to pay for everything, as if this was a fun and enjoyable thing to do.

Without fail during the past five years, I would unexpectedly have to spend money for visits to a dentist, visits to a doctor, have a vehicle repaired, or have a high income tax bill due to an $800 Obamacare penalty or something.

One more unexpected thing that got me down, was when one of my vehicles was stolen this past summer in Dickinson.  This was partly due to me moving to a poorer neighborhood in downtown Dickinson.  Although my stolen vehicle was found several weeks later, I was missing $2,000 in tools and property from this vehicle.

In this downtown neighborhood in Dickinson, my neighbors had things stolen out of their vehicles and had attempted break-ins into their vehicles this summer, fall, and winter.  There were stoned and high people in this neighborhood, sitting out on their balconies, passed out in the stairwell, resisting arrest with the police, and crashing into things with their vehicles.

Yesterday evening, when I was working out of town, where I normally park my vehicle when I am home, someone crashed into and took out about 150 feet of chain link fence.  This is the third time that this has happened in this neighborhood in the last six months, plus one vehicle that crashed into my equipment trailer.

The street beside where I live, is a straight residential two-lane road where the speed limit is 25 mph.  I don’t see how people manage to get up over the curb, onto a ten foot wide grass strip, and then take out the chain link fence along the canal.  On Thursday evening, someone did this, the chain link fence got attached to their vehicle bumper when they drove through it, they kept going, towing the fence behind them, turning back onto the street, crossing over the street, and onto people’s front yards on the other side of the street.

I am unhappy and upset about this.  Downtown Dickinson is so chock-full of White Trash, that it is a regular thing to have your vehicle stolen, broken into, or crashed into.  I am already upset that I have to drive to Idaho next week to have melanoma mole removed because they can’t do this in North Dakota.   I am not looking forward to the 12 hour drive one way, plus the cost of everything.  I would have been much more upset if the vehicle that I needed to use to get to Idaho in three days was destroyed last night where it is normally parked.

The point that I want to make is this, there are so many White Trash in Dickinson, that you can expect to have your property stolen, your vehicle stolen, your vehicle broken into, your home broken into, your vehicle crashed into, to where any gains that you make in obtaining a good vehicle, paying for vehicle repairs, buying tools or equipment that you need, or furnishing your home will be wiped out by the drug addicts and White Trash in Dickinson, North Dakota.

What Is Wrong With This Girl In The Mustang GT?

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Last night, I watched about ten YouTube videos, where guys with very fast cars, took their wives or girlfriends for a ride.

For the 1,000 horsepower twin turbo Lamborghinis and modified Corvettes, that could accelerate from 0 to 100 mph in about 8 seconds, the women were screaming, “Oh my God!, oh my God!, oh my God!…and then they would try to regain their composure, but couldn’t help smiling and laughing.”

For the professional race car drivers with a Porsche or BMW on a race track, the girlfriends or wives were yelling, “Slow down, slow down!  Not so fast!  You said you wouldn’t go fast!  I’m never letting you do this to me again!”

The funniest YouTube video of all, was this guy who had a 900 horsepower Mustang GT, and he took his young red-haired wife for a ride in it.  The whole point of this video, the whole point of all these videos, was to show off these very fast cars, and show how their wives or girlfriends reacted.

But this girl, Laura, did not react, she was not impressed, and now everyone on the internet is just laughing at this video.  Everyone thought, “Man, you are trying to make this video showing how fast your car is, and your own girlfriend is not impressed, this makes your car look slow.”

She did kind of ruin his video, because everyone is more entertained by his girlfriend, who is actually his wife, than his car.  You should read the comments after this video:

I Was Going To Show The 1997 Film “Lolita”, But This Is North Dakota

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I was going to show the 1997 film “Lolita” in this blog post, but because this is North Dakota, I realized that I had better not do this.

The reason why I was going to do this, was to make the police in Dickinson, Heidi Heitkamp, and all the complainer women about my blog posts, angry.  I was going to suggest that they arrest the writer of the novel, Vladimir Nabokov, who is dead, the director Adrian Lyne, and the actors Jeremy Irons and Melanie Griffith.

The reason why I am being so bitter and sarcastic about this subject is this:  The novel titled “Lolita” was written by Vladimir Nabokov and published in 1955, it was made into a movie by director Stanley Kubrick which premiered in the U.S. in 1962, this 1962 film was re-released on VHS and DVD, then director Adrian Lyne re-made this movie which premiered in the U.S. in 1997, and this 1997 film is available on DVD, and even on YouTube for free, which is why I was going to copy this from YouTube to this blog post.

However, even though this book and this movie have been available in the U.S. for the past 50 years without censorship, I bet that the police in Dickinson, Heidi Heitkamp, and the women complainers would go absolutely berserk if they read this book or saw this movie.  I honestly believe that the police in Dickinson would try to arrest me if I showed this 1997 “Lolita” movie in a blog post, even though it was shown on the Showtime channel, is available on Amazon.com, and can be seen for free on YouTube.

Since its publication, the novel “Lolita” has become included on many lists of the top 100 novels of the 20th century.  This novel has been adapted to create several plays, two operas, two ballets, and one musical.

The 1962 film “Lolita” received the following nominations for awards:

  • Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay – Vladimir Nabokov
  • British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Actor – James Mason
  • Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures – Stanley Kubrick
  • Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor – James Mason
  • Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress – Shelley Winters
  • Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture Director – Stanley Kubrick
  • Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Peter Sellers
  • Venice Film Festival Award for Best Director – Stanley Kubrick

The point that I am trying to make with this blog post, is this, people in the United States and countries throughout the World, have appreciated and contemplated the ideas, scenarios, events, thoughts, emotions, feelings, and subject matter contained in the novel and the movie, yet in North Dakota, this literature or art would be considered to be illegal, forbidden, offensive, and off limits, because people in North Dakota should not be permitted to think or feel beyond the boundaries that other people set for them.

I liked this 1997 film “Lolita”, which I watched for the first time today on YouTube.  One of the reasons why I liked this film, is because like the novel, it truthfully addresses what actually happens in life, situations, scenarios, and feelings, which do occur and happen, even though society is very uncomfortable acknowledging these things.

One of the other things that I liked about the 1997 movie, which reviewers say is the case for the novel, the 1962 movie, and the 1997 movie, is that the readers or viewers end up feeling sorry for and sympathizing with the 45 year old professor, rather than the very young teenage girl that he is infatuated with.  I suppose that the real uniqueness of this story, is that the very young teenage girl is portrayed as the primary instigator, manipulator, and controller of virtually everything that happens.

Rarely, rarely does anyone ever admit, that this is often the way things are.  I found two quotations from other reviewers, who saw things even more harshly than I did:

In 1958, Dorothy Parker described the novel as “the engrossing, anguished story of a man, a man of taste and culture, who can love only little girls” and Lolita as “a dreadful little creature, selfish, hard, vulgar, and foul-tempered”.

In 1959, novelist Robertson Davies excused the narrator entirely, writing that the theme of Lolita is “not the corruption of an innocent child by a cunning adult, but the exploitation of a weak adult by a corrupt child. This is no pretty theme, but it is one with which social workers, magistrates and psychiatrists are familiar.”

Here are the North Dakota laws that I could have been arrested for, if I had posted the movie “Lolita” on my blog website:

North Dakota Code 12.1-27.2-04.1  Possession of certain material prohibited:

A person is guilty of a class C felony if, knowing of its character and content, that person knowingly possesses any motion picture, photograph, or other visual representation that includes sexual conduct by a minor.

North Dakota Code 12.1-27.2-03  Promoting or directing an obscene sexual performance by a minor:

A person is guilty of a class A felony if, knowing the character and content of a performance, that person produces, directs, or promotes any obscene performance which includes sexual conduct by a person who was a minor at the time of the performance.

The movie “Lolita” does include “sexual conduct by a minor”, which is covered by the first North Dakota Code cited up above.  It is not immediately clear whether this sexual conduct in this movie would be considered as “an obscene sexual performance by a minor”, which is covered by the second North Dakota Code cited above.

Important Note:

The way that North Dakota Code 12.1-27.2-04.1 is written, roughly 20% of all the movies that have ever been made, would be illegal to posses in North Dakota.  This would include movies showing the marriage of Mary and Joseph from the Bible, Romeo and Juliet, the Westside Story, Gigi, Little House On The Prairie, The Waltons, Happy Days, Dirty Dancing, Blue Lagoon, Sixteen Candles, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Cape Fear, Dazed And Confused, Titanic, Manhattan, The World According To Garp, American Beauty, Cruel Intentions, The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo, and thousands more because they “include sexual conduct by a minor”.

How Cold Is It In North Dakota?

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After having lived and worked in North Dakota since 2011, this Winter of 2017-2018 feels like the coldest to me.

On January 1, 2018 I had to drive past the town of Hettinger, North Dakota on my way to work in the very early morning, my job site was not far from there.  The National Weather Service reported that at this time, Hettinger was the absolute coldest place on Earth, at -41 degrees Fahrenheit.  Yes, the coldest place on Earth, go look it up, here is one link http://cool987fm.com/a-city-in-north-dakota-reached-the-coldest-temperature-on-earth-for-jan-1-2018/

When I got out of my truck that morning, it did not feel that bad, because it was absolutely still.  However, you could tell that it was very cold.

Through December and January, we keep having these -17 degree Fahrenheit days, with some amount of wind, and it is just miserable.  I don’t want to go to any store, I don’t want to go to the gym, I don’t want to go anywhere, for any reason.  I just sit inside my apartment.

One of the reasons that I don’t want to go anywhere, is because of a lifetime of experience.  I have had to work on a broken down vehicle in the snow, ice, and wind more than several times in the past, and I don’t want to ever have to do this again.

I have one extra vehicle at the apartment where I live, and in order not to take up a parking space in front of the building, I park it on the street.  The rule in the City of Dickinson, is that you can’t leave a vehicle parked on the street for more than 48 hours.  So every two days, I have to start and move my extra vehicle.  When it is above 0 degrees, it starts fine.  When it is below 0 degrees, I have to get my battery jump start box, and connect it to the vehicle battery to start it.

Walking out to my vehicle with thermal underwear on under my pants, a hoodie under my heavy winter jacket, and gloves on, wiping the snow off the windows and hood, trying to start it, opening the hood, picking up the battery jump box, making the battery cable connections, and getting back inside my vehicle, my fingers were too numb to feel the ignition key and hold on to it to turn the ignition.

From experience, like the one that I just described above about jump starting my vehicle, I know that this cold weather in North Dakota can be very, very dangerous.  When you are outside in this weather, it does not take long, just a matter of minutes, before you can begin to have severe pain and numbness in your feet and hands.  Even with gloves on, I began to have pain and numbness in my fingers, to where I could not feel or hold onto a car key.

Some North Dakotans would want to call “bullshit” on this.  Let me tell you about this.  A company that I have worked for in the past in North Dakota, called me at the beginning of February to ask if I could work for them 36 hours per week.  I asked on what days, and I said no that I couldn’t, though I would like to.  I said that a friend of mine, who has also worked for them in the past, needed a job, so I would call him, and try to get him to do it.

This friend of mine, who is older than me and has lived in Dickinson for his entire life, had just had a conversation with me where he was telling me, “It never bothered me to work out in the cold.  I mean, you have to dress for it, but it never bothered me any.”

On his first or second day of work at this job that I told him about, where he had to spend 85% of his time in either the vehicle or a building, and only 15% of the time outside, he called me and talked to me for several minutes about how cold it was, how unbelievably cold it was, how horribly cold it was.

I want to conclude this blog post with a strong warning about some things that you need to do in North Dakota during the Winter.  Everyone needs to dress for what the weather is outside, not what you expect it to be like in the vehicle you are riding in, or the building that you are going to.  You may be involved in a vehicle accident or a vehicle break-down before you arrive at your destination, and may not have a warm or running vehicle to stay in.

Women, teenagers, and children in North Dakota have the bad habit of dressing for where they are going, like a warm building, business, or house, and they are very under-dressed for being outside.  It is exactly the case, that they are expecting someone else to drive by and rescue them, or come and get them if they have an emergency.  This is a bad idea.

If you own a vehicle, I recommend buying a good quality hand-carry battery jump box, one that is rated at least for 800 peak amps, to keep in your vehicle.  These cost about $80, and they often have a built-in air compressor and emergency light.  I have jump started other people’s vehicles and trucks about five times with mine, and about twenty times on my own vehicles and lawn mower.

Probably the most important thing to keep in your vehicle in the winter in North Dakota is a heavy sleeping bag.  If your vehicle does break down in the winter in North Dakota, and you think that you might have to walk more than 1/8 mile in below 0 degree Fahrenheit weather, you should probably try to stay in your vehicle.  Even if you were wearing thermal underwear, a heavy winter jacket, winter shoes, and winter gloves, you would become extremely cold after walking 1/8 of a mile.

A Fair Resolution To A Case Of Prostitution In Dickinson, North Dakota

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On November 7th and November 8th of 2017, I wrote three blog posts about “Police Corruption” and “Legal Entrapment” in North Dakota.

I was very, very angry about two specific cases of Legal Entrapment in North Dakota, one in Fargo and one in Dickinson, where police placed a fake advertisement on the internet for a woman offering sex.  When men responded to the fake advertisement in order to arrange to meet the woman, at a later point in time, the police then made up the statement, that the fake woman was under 18 years of age.

Two men were arrested and charged with Patronizing a Minor for Commercial Sex Activity, a Class A felony punishable by 20 years in prison.  Neither of the men who were charged, ever sought to contact an underage woman for sex to begin with, the police made the statement that the woman was under 18, at a later point in time, at which point both men then tried to break off contact.

For the case in Fargo, when it went to trial, the Cass County District Court Judge Susan Bailey, was asked by the defense attorney to allow the jury to consider not just the felony charge, but also the misdemeanor charge, and she allowed the jury to consider both charges.  This resulted in the jury deciding on a verdict of guilty for a misdemeanor charge.  This defendant was very fortunate that both the judge and the jury had a clear understanding of what had happened, and realized that a 20 year prison sentence was not warranted.

For the case in Dickinson which began in September of 2017, it began proceeding towards a felony jury trial, but by the end of January 2018, it was resolved by a plea agreement to a misdemeanor charge.  The defendant was very fortunate that he did not receive the possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, which was a possibility.

I am writing this blog post, to again discuss prostitution in Dickinson, North Dakota, and to warn everyone about the police approach to prostitution in Dickinson, North Dakota.  Just because the two defendants in the cases that I described above ended up with misdemeanors, does not mean that this is what anyone else should expect to happen.

The defendant in Dickinson, hired the attorney Robert Bolinske in Bismarck, the state capitol 100 miles to the east of Dickinson.  Robert Bolinske may have been the best possible criminal defense attorney for this type of case in Dickinson, because he has one of the best reputations as a trial lawyer and defense attorney in the state.

An attorney like this, probably charges $250 per hour more or less, so for every 10 hours, that’s $2,500.  To resolve this case after four months by reaching a plea agreement without going to trial, probably cost at least $5,000 in legal fees.  If this case would have gone to trial, the legal fees probably would have been at least $10,000.

I am explaining this as a warning, with the way that the police in Dickinson place fake advertisements for prostitutes, and attempt to create enhanced charges when men try to meet the fake prostitute, you can expect to pay $5,000 to $10,000 to have any hope of not going to prison for 20 years.

Dermatologist Shortage In North Dakota

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There is a shortage of Dermatologists in North Dakota.  To get an appointment with a Dermatologist in the state capitol of Bismarck, there is a five to six month wait.

On January 25, 2018 I noticed that I had a new mole on my right shoulder.  This mole was different than the other mole that I have had on my shoulder for the past thirty-two years, because this new mole appeared so suddenly, was dark in color, and it had a rough unhealthy looking surface.

From the television commercials that I have seen, and from reading about skin growths on the internet, I believed that this was very likely a melanoma.  A melanoma can be benign or malignant, meaning noncancerous or cancerous.  You need to have one checked right away, especially if it is dark in color, or has an irregular shape and appearance.

On February 2, I began searching for a Dermatologist in Dickinson, North Dakota and I found that there isn’t one.  This is kind of bad, because Dickinson has a population of about 25,000 people, and it is the largest town in southwest North Dakota.

I found that the nearest Dermatologists were in the state capitol of Bismarck, 100 miles to the east of Dickinson.  In Bismarck, there is the Mid Dakota Clinic of Dermatology with three Dermatologists, and two Nurse Practitioners.  I thought to myself, “Good, this is exactly what I was looking for.”

I telephoned the Mid Dakota Clinic of Dermatology, and I requested an appointment with Mark Ebertz, MD.  I was told, “Mark Ebertz is not accepting any new patients, you can choose to make an appointment with either of the two Nurse Practitioners, or one other MD, but their next available appointment is in August.”

I thought to myself, “February, March, April, May, June, July…that’s six months before I can even see a Dermatologist, and I need to get this melanoma mole looked at and removed right away!”

The administrative person at the Mid Dakota Clinic of Dermatology was not rude in any way, but I was very angry, and I ended the telephone call with her.  I could not believe the absurdity of having a melanoma, and a Dermatology clinic wanting you to wait six months for an appointment.  What kind of skin problem could a person have, that they could figure on waiting for six months to receive any kind of treatment?

I was very, very angry.  I write and write about this, but I don’t think that I ever truly convince people how backwards North Dakota is.  I thought about this for few minutes at the time, before continuing to try to find a Dermatologist in North Dakota.

I still want to give a big Fuck You!, to the Mid Dakota Clinic of Dermatology.  I hope that Dr. Mark Ebertz has some kind of life threatening emergency, where he needs the police, fire department, or paramedics to show up, and they tell him, “We are kind of busy, we aren’t accepting new calls at this time.”  Or anything that he needs done, everyone tells him, we can’t help you for six months.

I went on to telephone Sanford Health.  I telephoned the Sanford Health in Dickinson, and they told me that they did not have a Dermatologist in Dickinson, to call the Sanford Health in Bismarck.  I telephoned the Sanford Health in Bismarck, their Dermatology Clinic, and I was told that the earliest appointment that this particular clinic had was in April, but I could try calling their other Dermatology Clinic.  At the second Sanford Health Dermatology Clinic, the next available appointment was in September.

I called an older relative of mine who had had a skin growth surgically removed from his shoulder, to ask him about it, how much did this cost?  He said to me, “You can’t wait this long, you need to get this taken care of right away, it sounds like you are going to have to go to a different state to have this done.”

I looked up on the internet, a Dermatologist that I had seen in Idaho seven or eight years ago.  This Dermatologist surgically removed a small carcinoma from under my eye for about $140, which required stitches.  This was not a big deal for him, or difficult for him, and he did a very good job, not leaving any scar.

I telephoned his office in Idaho, and he had appointments available each week in February.  I explained that I was working in North Dakota, and I could not get this taken care of in North Dakota.  I explained that it was a twelve to fourteen hour drive one way to get there, I would have to drive there to get this melanoma removed, and then drive right back to North Dakota to return to work on time.

I e-mailed to the Dermatologist in Idaho, three photographs of my melanoma mole.  I followed up with a phone call to the Dermatologist administrator, saying that I didn’t want a biopsy, and that I was not looking for a preliminary visit prior to surgery, that I needed to get this melanoma mole surgically removed, and then drive right back to North Dakota.  The expected cost was $300 to $800, depending on how much they had to cut out.

I am not looking forward to this twelve to fourteen hour drive to Idaho, and the twelve to fourteen hour drive back to Dickinson, North Dakota.  The gasoline cost alone will be $350.  The weather this month has consistently been below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.  I know that the interstates will be snowy and icy the whole way.  If my vehicle breaks down, especially at night, I will be in a very dangerous situation, due to the extreme cold weather.

Attention Women In Dickinson, This Is How You Do It

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The above video shows Elena Lev, the Russian gymnast who performed in Alegria Cirque du Soleil from 1994 to 2000.  This is how you correctly begin with hula hoops.

Now, in addition to this, you will need to diet, stretch, and exercise as shown in the Elena Lev video below, taken from her Facebook page, “Elena Lev Fitness and Food”.  There are many more exercise videos where this one came from:

Finally, after all of your dieting, stretching, exercising, training, and practice, you’ll be ready for this:

Open Window Disaster In Dickinson, North Dakota

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Earlier this week, I woke up to the sound of drilling and sawing in a neighboring apartment.  I looked out my window, and I saw two commercial vacuum vans that respond to emergency flooding.  I thought, “Oh no, a pipe has burst somewhere in the building, and flooded someone’s apartment.”

Later that morning, I spoke to a workman who was removing drywall and carpet from a ground floor apartment, and I asked him what had happened.  He answered, “Last night, when the temperature was -17 degrees Fahrenheit, a resident on the second floor left a window open in a spare bedroom.  It got cold enough in that bedroom last night, for a water pipe to burst.  The water leak went all night, and the water flooded into this ground floor apartment.”

By the end of the day, I had seen that the apartment on the second floor where the water pipe had burst, had the commercial vacuum workers in and out throughout the day, but most of the damage and most of the work seemed to be taking place in the ground floor apartment.  The ground floor apartment appeared to have had carpet cut out and thrown in the dumpster, drywall cut out and thrown in the dumpster, and vacuuming done all day long.

Here are some things to consider:

  1. Who do you think will have to pay, for all of the building damage to the walls, ceilings, and flooring, the work that was performed during cleanup, and the work that will be performed to replace the walls, ceilings, and flooring?  How much do you think that this will cost, $2,000-$5,000?
  2. The resident of the ground floor apartment was away at work when all of this happened.  How would you like for 4 to 5 workmen strangers to enter your apartment while you are gone, to have to move your belongings and valuables around in order to vacuum up the water, cut out the carpet, cut out the drywall in the ceiling and walls?
  3. In the ground floor apartment, was there a television, stereo, computer, furniture, paintings, photographs, documents, that got soaked with water?  Who, if anyone, will pay for the destruction of this property?

On the one hand, if you are a person who has any chance to get ahead financially, with some savings, assets, and a good paying job, consider the consequences of being found negligent and liable in causing thousands of dollars in damage to a rental property and other residents’ property, through water damage, fire damage, or smoke damage.  This could be caused by leaving with a faucet running, leaving with a window open, leaving with the stove turned on, candles, or ashes dumped in a garbage can.

Or, if you are just beginning to accumulate personal property or have a substantial amount of personal property, how would you feel about coming home to find all of your personal property soaked with water or burned up by a fire, caused by one of your neighbors?

A Few Comments About Black Workers In Dickinson, North Dakota

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I am seeing more and more Black workers in Dickinson, North Dakota.  Some of these Black workers are from other areas in the United States, and some of them are from foreign countries.

What I, and other people have noticed, is that these Black workers appear to do pretty well working at WalMart, CashWise, and the fast food restaurants in Dickinson.  I am not saying that is all they can do, or that is all they are good at, I am saying that they appear to be doing well at their jobs.

It appears that they are showing up on time, doing their job, not making mistakes, trying to do a good job, maintaining a good attitude, appreciating their job, and allowing the businesses that they work for to operate.

I admire how most of these Black workers are doing in Dickinson.  They take a job, try to make the best of it, do their work, appreciate their job, take their pay, and make a life for themselves and their families in Dickinson.

Now that I think about this, whether these Black workers are from someplace else in the United States, or a foreign country, they act like first generation immigrants, that are appreciative for the new and better opportunity that they have, and they try to make the best of this opportunity.

What I hope doesn’t happen, is that the 2nd generation of these Black families that have moved to Dickinson, the children that are raised here and go to school here, don’t act like many of the people that we have in the United States.

I was going to write that many of the local people in Dickinson would refuse to work at WalMart, CashWise, or fast food restaurants, because they feel that it is beneath them, or that this work is undesirable.  However, many people in the United States feel this way.

Here is what I have seen with many workers in the United States.  They don’t want to show up to work on time, or they do not want to show up to work at all.  You can give them clear, detailed instructions, and they will still fail to accomplish simple tasks.  Left on their own, there is no telling what some people will decide to do or figure to do on their own.

For instance, I worked at ship yard.  There was a fuel tanker ship that was docked, with some of its cargo tanks open, and being drained of fuel.  Even when the tanks were drained and cleaned, there was still a constant tremendous amount of ignitable fuel vapor.  On the warf, before the gang plank to the ship, “No Smoking, No Open Flame” signs were posted.  The crew foremen would go over with all of his workers, no lighters, no cell phones, no cameras, no battery operated anything, on this fuel tanker ship that was being worked on.

Sure enough, about two or three times a year, there would be a Great American, standing there on the deck of a fuel tanker lighting up a cigarette, not understanding that he was about to ignite the entire ship and the hundreds of people working on it.

In my lifetime of work, I have seen workers that are so stupid, there is almost no way to foresee what they will do, so it is better to not even have them if you can’t watch them the entire time.

I have seen workers that will mess up any assignment that you give them, both intentionally and unintentionally.  I have read military training manuals, that have names for all of the different ways that workers have for intentionally and unintentionally failing at work.  Some of these are, malingering, loitering, pilfering, spoiling the work, spoiling the material, destroying the work, and malicious compliance.

When I have seen the Black workers in Dickinson at WalMart, CashWise, and the fast food restaurants, I do not see them intentionally or unintentionally hindering, delaying, impeding, or destroying the work, like I often see other workers do.

Nightmares And Strange Dreams From Zyrtec AKA Cetirizine

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I never had allergies before in my life, until 2014 when I was living in Dickinson, North Dakota.  I have explained in several previous blog posts that my biggest problem when I have an allergy attack, is that my eyes swell shut to where I can not see.

After I tried most of the non-prescription allergy medications and they did not work, I went to Sanford Health and got two prescription medications, and they did not help either.

Two months ago, I discovered that if I take 50 mg of the non-prescription medication Zyrtec, all of my allergy symptoms cease.  The dosage of Zyrtec is supposed to be 10 mg for an adult, in a 24 hour period.

I have spent more than four hours reading about Zyrtec a.k.a. Cetirizine to find out what the consequences would be from taking 50 mg of Zyrtec.  I saw that other people are in the same situation as me, and they are also having to take more than 10 mg of Zyrtec.  I read about one other man who is the same age as me, who takes 50 mg per day.  Supposedly, there have been no clinical studies for using higher doses of Zyrtec, and there are no warnings of liver, kidney, heart, brain damage, etc.

One of the possible side effects of taking Zyrtec, is nightmares.  Yes, I do have very strange dreams when I take Zyrtec, which I kind of enjoyed and looked forward to, because it is so boring in Dickinson.  Out of the ordinary and unusual dreams.

Last night, I decided to take 30 mg of generic Zyrtec, Cetirizine, before I went to bed at midnight, so that I would not have allergy symptoms when I woke up in the morning.

For my first dream, I had to go out of town for a business conference, and stay at a hotel.  Like a movie, I was going through all of the steps, routine, and activities that would happen on this kind of a trip.  Later in the first day, I made an inappropriate physical contact with an attractive female co-worker, which she did not object to.

Later that night, I unpacked two pairs of new pants that still had the store tags on them.  I was going to wash them under the faucet in the bathtub of my hotel room, ring them out, and take them to the dryer later, after I took a shower.

I went to the door of the hotel room to put the safety chain or safety bar on the door, so that no one could come in my room while I was in the shower, and an unseen entity grabbed hold of me and pinned me to the wall very forcefully.

Just as in my dream, laying in my bed, I could not move, I was pinned.  This was unnerving and frightening.  I struggled to get free from this being, and managed to get the hotel room door open, though I could feel a hand strongly gripping my left forearm.

Though the entity did not let go, I pulled and pulled to get out onto the sidewalk, and then out onto the lawn, pulling its arm with me.  The entity’s arm had plasticity and elasticity to it, it stretched, and I pulled its arm away from it.

I had some satisfaction that I “fucked this entity up by taking its arm”, which I took with me to the hotel office to complain.  The hotel owners were an Indian couple from India, and I don’t know how this was resolved because I woke up.

I thought, “Man, I am glad that I only took three Zytrec.”  I was thinking that maybe I should not go back to sleep, I was feeling disoriented, and not right.

I fell back asleep, and within an hour, I was married to Codi Miller.  For those of you who do not know, Codi Miller was Miss North Dakota Teen in 2007, Miss Rodeo North Dakota in 2014, and a finalist several times in the Miss North Dakota USA pageant.

In my dream, I met Codi, and I suggested to her casually that perhaps we should get married.  To my surprise, she agreed, and for some reason, her parents and her sister were close by, and they did not object either, and within less than an hour, we were married.  It was troubling to me, that this all happened so quickly.

All of this happened very quickly, in a very matter of fact way, no nonsense way, as if it were no big deal.  I had quite a bit of anxiety and apprehension as I was laying there in bed, I was going along unmarried, and now all of a sudden, I am married.

I was trying to make sense of this.  I felt bad for Codi, because I had not given her an engagement ring or a wedding ring.  Come to think of it, I don’t know who married us, who performed the service, or where, it had all happened so quickly.

Then I thought, “This is our honeymoon day, I am supposed to have sex with her, I hadn’t even thought about this.”  I was not really in the mood at the moment, because I hadn’t known that I was going to get married.  I thought, “Well, I had better get in the mood.”

Then Codi said, “Do you want to go back to where you live, and get your things, and then come back?”  And I said, “No.”

We were at a shopping mall, and somehow Codi had fallen into the hands of a male acquaintance that she had known, who was handsome and her own age.  Though she was verbally saying that she did not want to be with him, she didn’t appear to have made much of an effort to get away from him, and I had to snatch her away from him, and inform him that we had just been married.

It troubled me further that Codi did not have an engagement ring, nor a wedding ring, and that I could not remember who married us, where we were married, or very much about the ceremony.  I woke up believing that Codi was going to seek an annulment to our marriage.

I was not in a good mood when I woke up this morning, because I was mad that Codi was going to seek an annulment to our marriage.

Hope That The New Life Pentecostal Church Will Have A Buffet

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Now that the New Life Pentecostal Church in Dickinson, North Dakota has taken over the upstairs of the Elks Lodge building, I hope that they will have a buffet style restaurant.

I don’t see having a sit down restaurant with a menu and waitresses being very efficient or practical, especially because the Elks Lodge restaurant just went through a period of not making money.  However, I do believe that the Pentecostal women are good cooks, and that they would very much get into the spirit of things, with having a buffet.

I miss the Bonanza restaurant buffet in Dickinson very much after it closed in approximately 2014.  I hope that the New Life Pentecostal Church buffet would be very similar to the Bonanza buffet.

There are three main elements of the buffet, that I would like to have:  Salad Bar, Side Dishes, and Meat Dishes:

Salad Bar:  The salad bar should have lettuce, spinach leaves, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, olives, celery, onions, mushrooms, grated cheese, cottage cheese, potato salad, cold pasta, croutons, and several different salad dressings.

Side Dishes:  The side dishes should be mashed potatoes, steak fries, tater tots, macaroni & cheese, white rice, fried rice, pasta noodles, casseroles, baked beans, Lima beans, butter beans, grits, egg rolls, garlic toast, and bread rolls.

Meat Dishes:  The meat dishes should include Salisbury steak, chicken fried steak, meat balls, meat loaf, roast beef, beef with Chinese vegetables, beefaroni, lasagna, fried chicken, chicken & rice, sweat & sour chicken, chicken l’orange, chicken nuggets, ham, pork chops, and roast pork.

The women would run the kitchen and the buffet, the men would have to stay out of the kitchen and be greeters, hosts, cashiers, and clear off the tables.

I could see Pastor Simons greeting the customers, and going from table to table to chat with the customers as they were dining.

Every half hour, it would be time for Pastor Simons to take the stage, and perform one song.  Pastor Simons could give a brief introduction to the song, which would give him the chance to impart some message.  It might go something like this:

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for dining with us here tonight.  Though you could have eaten at the King Buffet, we like to think of our place here, as the “King of kings buffet”.

In this song, that I am about to sing to you, feel free to join in with me and our musicians on stage.

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come he to justify
One man to overthrow.
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed up on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss.
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
Here is what this might look like:

Warning To Women About E85 Gasoline

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I am writing this blog post, “Warning To Women About E85 Gasoline”, because women probably need to be warned about this the most.  All of the women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan, Elle, Vanity Fair, and Vogue should periodically have articles on this subject, but they don’t.

Women, please don’t make the mistake of putting E85 gasoline in your car.  At a gas station, they will sometimes have E85 gasoline directly beside the regular gasoline that you normally put in your vehicle, but they shouldn’t, because it is too easy for there to be a mistake.

E85 is not exactly gasoline, it is about 15% gasoline, the other 85% is ethanol.  Ethanol is very corrosive and destructive to rubber fuel hoses, rubber seals, and engine parts made of aluminum and magnesium.  Putting E85 in your vehicle fuel tank, can cause a great amount of damage to your vehicle.

Whether you have an $80,000 Mercedes, a $40,000 Chevy Suburban, or an $8,000 Honda, you can ruin the engine in your vehicle by accidentally fueling it with E85 at a gas station.

Here are some important things to remember:

  1. Do not put E85 fuel in your vehicle.
  2. If you do begin putting E85 fuel in your vehicle, stop as soon as you realize it.
  3. If you have put E85 fuel in your vehicle, don’t start it.  Call your husband, boyfriend, father, or mechanic.

Some of the solutions to accidentally putting E85 in your vehicle:

  1. If there is any room left in your vehicle’s fuel tank, adding as much regular gasoline as possible to the tank to dilute the E85.  Then driving the vehicle immediately in order to be able to add 2 gallons of regular gasoline at a time, to dilute the E85 more and more.
  2. Siphoning all or most of the E85 fuel out of the tank, and adding regular gasoline.

The sooner that you get the E85 fuel out of your vehicle, the better.  The worst thing to do, would be to let this fuel stay in your vehicle for more than a week.

E85 fuel, which is 85% ethanol, is only supposed to be used in vehicles that have been manufactured and labelled as “Flex Fuel” vehicles.  These “Flex Fuel” vehicles, have special fuel hoses and engine components that can handle the ethanol without deteriorating.

Sometimes, even engineers and mechanics, have made the mistake of putting E85 in their vehicles because they weren’t paying attention, and it is right there with the regular gas at the pump.  They soon realized what they had done, were horrified, and quickly tried to correct this mistake, because it can be so damaging to an engine.

But the people who are even more susceptible to making this mistake are teenagers, inexperienced drivers, women, and the elderly, because they might not have any idea how damaging 85% ethanol can be to an engine.

If steps are taken immediately, to continuously dilute the E85 fuel by adding regular gasoline every time the fuel tank can hold another two gallons, this is probably the least expensive and adequate solution to fixing this problem.

Complete Video of Alegria Cirque Du Soleil

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In my previous blog post, I wrote about the Russian gymnast Elena Lev, who joined the Alegria Cirque du Soleil in 1994, when she was 13 years old.  The video of her performance, was the best, most difficult, and most perfect performance that I have ever seen, or will ever see.

I spent more that several hours reading about Elena, and her career.  It is just one of those things, the way that everything worked out, Alegria was created in 1994, by very gifted, talented, imaginative, and visionary artists, designers, choreographers, musicians, and performers.  Elena was in the perfect place for her, at just the right time.

Alegria was performed under a circus tent, just like a traditional circus, and it toured throughout the world, in more than 250 cities.  The performance is like an opera, ballet, and circus.  Its final show was in December of 2013.

Since reading about Elena, and Alegria, there are many people who say that they have never seen anything like this in their lifetime.  Here is a complete 1-1/2 hour video of Alegria.

Please Watch Elena Lev, The Most Amazing Girl I Have Ever Seen

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Elena Lev, was born in Moscow, Russia in 1981.  Her mother Elena Lev Sr., began training her to become a rhythmic gymnast at an early age.  She developed hula hoop performances incorporating gymnastics, ballet, and contortion.

When she was 13 years old, in 1994, she was invited to join the Alegria touring troupe of Cirque du Soleil.  She performed with this troupe until 2000.

I am not very interested in women’s gymnastics, but, I have always admired the discipline, strength, dedication, toughness, and fearlessness of the best women gymnasts and dancers.  It is such an illusion, that the most graceful women, are actually the most physically and mentally toughest and strongest.

In the video below, this is probably the best example of female physical perfection that you or I will ever see.  Elena may have only been 14 at the time of this video.

 

I was amazed by this video.  Elena was so incredible and enchanting, it is like she is otherworldly, which is the impression Cirque du Soleil wanted to create.

Some of the viewers wrote:

“I love her attitude and swagger.”

“Good music, good choreography, excellent performer, and brilliant technique, a very enjoyable piece of art!”

“I love the look in her face, she is so beautiful.”

“Elena is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Love you forever sweetie.”

“She is one of the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Man, God took some extra time on this one.”

I agree with these comments.  These commentors and myself, recognize that we will ever only see a performance like this once our lifetimes.

Ed’s Honey Company In Dickinson, North Dakota

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In Dickinson, North Dakota, there is a local producer of honey, Ed’s Honey Company, that has been in business for more than fifty years.  The easiest way to find and buy Ed’s Honey in Dickinson, is to go to one of the Family Fare grocery stores, and this local honey is there on the shelf with the other brands of non-local honey.

I am not interested in honey at all, I don’t care about honey, I only went looking for locally produced honey because it is supposed to contain small amounts of pollen from every plant growing in this area.  Hence, taking a spoon full of locally produced honey every day, was supposed to be the same as taking allergy shots.

When I was in the Family Fare grocery store about one month ago, there was only one 5 lb jug of Ed’s Honey left.  This was a lot of honey, but I didn’t care, I was glad to be able to find any at all.  This honey was darker in color than what most people are probably used to seeing, it is more towards brown, and not golden or light in color.

I was only supposed to take one teaspoon full of it for my allergies, but I ate about one cup of it on the first day.  This honey is very interesting and unique, to look at, pour, smell, and taste.  It is the best honey that I have ever tasted.  It is the most distinct, peculiar, unusual, and interesting thing that I have ever tasted.  It is very, very strong, and potent, but not in an unpleasant way.

One of the reasons why this honey tastes different, is because it is made from the nectar of every flower growing in western North Dakota.  These plants in western North Dakota, are probably different from the plants that grow in any other part of the world.

This honey probably tastes so strong, because it is 100% pure honey.  I don’t know if this is “raw” honey or not.  I don’t think that there is any processing done to it at all.

I would recommend to everyone living in western North Dakota, or passing through western North Dakota, to buy and try Ed’s Honey at least once.  This honey is different than anything that you have tasted before.

Liking And Hating The Police In Dickinson, North Dakota

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Sometimes I like, and sometimes I hate, the Police in Dickinson, North Dakota.  I don’t want to be completely ungrateful, sometimes the Police in Dickinson are decent and helpful.

On average, I have some type of interaction with the Police in Dickinson, about once per month.  In the five years that I have lived in Dickinson, I have never once had any trouble whatsoever or negative interaction with the Stark County Sheriff Deputies.

The only times that I have had to deal with the Stark County Sheriff Deputies, is when I have intentionally contacted them.  In these instances, the Sheriff Deputies have been very helpful and cooperative.  All the other times that I have been driving, working, and living in Dickinson, the Stark County Sheriff Deputies have seemed to completely ignore me, and leave me alone.

The complete opposite happens with the City of Dickinson Police.  For the five years that I have lived in Dickinson, whenever I go anywhere, the Police watch me and follow me like I am a criminal involved in illegal activity.  I have been sick and tired of this for the past four years.

There is very little to do in Dickinson, and very few place to go.  One of the few things that you could do, would be to go out in the evening after work and have drinks with dinner at a restaurant or sports bar, but you can’t even do that because the Police in Dickinson are so eager and aggressive in stopping people for DUI.

I have totally given up on going to any bar in Dickinson, or any restaurant and having an alcohol drink, because the Police are determined that you are going to get a DUI.  I feel like I can’t even drive anywhere in Dickinson without the Police wanting to follow me, stop me, and try to arrest me for something.

For instance, about six months ago I was sitting in a restaurant on Villard Street in Dickinson, and my neighbor who is in his 40s, was sitting with his wife and another couple at the table across from me.  These two couples do not drink alcohol, use drugs, or act wild, they go to Church a couple of times each week, and they perform Church charity and volunteer work, which takes up much of their free time.  They are always very sober people, I see them and I talk to them every other day.

My neighbor and his wife exited the restaurant parking lot onto Villard Street in their fairly nice truck, about two minutes before I did.  When I pulled out onto Villard, I saw that my neighbor and his wife had been stopped by the Dickinson Police about four blocks away.

I stopped and asked my neighbor what was going on, and he said, “I have a headlight out on my truck, and the Police pulled me over for that, but they want to go through the whole have you been drinking routine, and run my driver’s license, check my insurance and registration,  I’ll be O.K.”

I hate driving anywhere in Dickinson, because it is so predictable, that the Police are going to be right on you, follow you, and try to stop you for something, to try to get you for a DUI, or some other criminal charge.  I got stopped by the Police in Dickinson on Villard Street last night, because I had a headlight out on my truck.  This was just a reason to pull me over, to try to discover something else to charge me with.

I have thought about this, and I began to believe that each of the Dickinson Police officers want to make an arrest so bad, in order to keep their job, advance in their job, or be able to transfer to a different police department elsewhere.  Unlike the Stark County Sheriff Deputies, who respond to calls or crimes that they witness, but otherwise leave people alone, the Dickinson Police are almost like they are stalking or hunting people just hoping to get them for something.

I am not going to re-write and re-tell the story from one of my previous blog posts, where the Drug Task Force in Dickinson had some undercover Police officers approach me in a bar and ask me again and again where they could buy drugs, so that they could arrest me for being a drug dealer.

Now having explained that I am tired of the Dickinson Police always acting like they want to get me for something when I am driving anywhere in Dickinson, I should probably also explain that I rely on and count on the Dickinson Police to show up when I call them.

Just off the top of my head, I can recall three different instances where a mentally disturbed criminal person went bezerk downtown in Dickinson and began attacking people, and I had to call 911.  As an aside, these three people weren’t from Dickinson, they were recently arrived people, who immediately got into trouble repeatedly, and eventually had to either leave town or stay in jail.

One time I witnessed someone committing a certain type of theft in Dickinson, not petty theft, I called 911, described the situation, got in my vehicle, followed the person until the Dickinson Police could catch up, and they caught the person with the stolen property in his vehicle, and he confessed to stealing it.

I have had to call the Police about three or four times to where I live in Dickinson, most recently last week.  A person that I did not recognize as a resident of my building, was passed out on the stairs at 3:00 a.m., not in a peaceful slumber, but as if he was too drugged or intoxicated to be able to get up or move.

When I have telephoned the Police in Dickinson, they usually arrive fairly quickly and handle the situation adequately, so I need to give the Police in Dickinson credit and show some appreciation.

I am facing a dilemma now, I have counted on the Dickinson Police to show up when I telephone them after witnessing a crime that has been committed or a crime that is still in progress, however I am sick of the Dickinson Police following me so that they can pull me over and try to arrest me for something.

I am starting to feel like Black people who live in inner cities, don’t trust the Police, don’t talk to the Police, don’t have anything to do with the Police, even if you see a crime being committed.

Cancel Your LifeLock Subscription Immediately

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I have had a subscription to LifeLock identity theft protection services for the past 10 to 15 years.  In the four or five times that I have spoken to LifeLock representatives in the past, they had always been very professional and helpful, until now.

During this past week, I had a near miss with unintentionally allowing access to my computer usernames, passwords, and accounts that I use on the internet, due to a fraudulent computer screen message from Microsoft, and a fraudulent Microsoft technical support person in India.  If you want to read the details of this scam, just scroll down past the blog post before this one.

I telephoned and complained to the computer remote access provider ConnectWise, for allowing their remote computer access service to be used by scammers to collect people’s online usernames, passwords, and account information.  I telephoned and complained to Microsoft about the fake Microsoft Warning Alert message that I received, and the fake Microsoft technical support person.  The legitimate Microsoft technical support, is also performed at a call center in India.

Today, Monday, I tried to telephone LifeLock identity theft protection services, which I pay for each month, in order to ask them if I had unintentionally allowed remote access to my computer, which scammers had tried to accomplish last week in order to collect my usernames, passwords, bank account, and credit card account information, does LifeLock provide any kind of assistance with fraudulent transactions on my accounts?

I dialed 1-800-543-3562, the LifeLock customer service number, and reached an automated answering service, which gave different number options to press in order to be connected to the appropriate department.  I tried repeatedly pressing option #2 for existing customers, but this input would not register, and I had to call the 1-800 number about five times, and to try to get the option #2 input to register.

Then, the automated LifeLock answering service prompted me to say and spell my first name, last name, and then my billing zip code.  Then the automated system prompted me for my security code, which I had no idea what they were talking about, I had never had to use a security code in the past.

After about the 8th call to the LifeLock customer service 1-800 number, and going through all of the prompts, and waiting for a representative to answer, I got an actual person, in the Philippines.  I was aghast that LifeLock has now offshored the handling of identity theft customer support to the Philippines.

The customer service representative in the Philippines was a very low-level, low-skilled person.  In order to verify my identity, he would read to me a series of questions with five possible answers to choose from, such as what town had I lived in, what phone number had I had, what were other people associated with this address.  When the town that I had lived in was the second choice that he read, Tampa, I said Tampa, but he would keep reading the third, fourth, and fifth choices.  When the first phone number that he read was my phone number, I said that’s it, but he kept reading a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th phone number, and didn’t have sense enough to accept my answer that I had given.

This guy was so inept, that I became so frustrated, that I cursed at him and hung up.  Why, why would I ever want to share or discuss my personal information with someone that just got hired off the street in the Philippines to work at a call center?  How would anyone like this be able to understand different kinds of bank fraud, or credit card scams, and give correct information?

I telephoned the 1-800 number LifeLock customer service, and I pressed option #1, new customer.  At this number, the call center was in the United States, and they were using competent personnel, in order to give new prospective customers the impression that LifeLock had professional level employees.  I was very angry, and I explained that I did not want to speak to anyone at a call center in the Philippines, could I please speak to someone in the fraud department in the United States.

I was transferred back to the call center in the Philippines, and I tried to go through the same bullshit again, but I couldn’t do it.  The call center employee that I got in the Philippines was again, not a professional level or knowledgeable person, he was going through his script just like inner-city kids do that try to sell magazine subscriptions door to door.  How in the world would someone like this know anything about financial transactions and bank fraud?

I called the 1-800 number again, pressed option #1 for new customers to get the call center in the United States, and asked to speak to a supervisor.  Eventually a supervisor got on the line, and I explained that I was very angry, LifeLock used to be a very good company, what happened, did the company get sold?  They said yes, to Symantec.

The only telephone number that this call center supervisor had to give to me, was the corporate office telephone phone number in Tempe, Arizona.  I called this telephone number all day to try to speak to someone, but all I ever got was the reception desk voice mail box, no one would answer the telephone.

Can you imagine actually having an identity theft crises, where your bank accounts had just been emptied, or your credit had been ruined, and you had to go through what I went through?  No one in the corporate office will even answer the telephone, you can’t get a hold of anyone.

As soon as I am able, I am going to cancel my LifeLock subscription,  How could anyone ever expect a company like this, to be of any help at all?