3,181 Comments Posted by Lynne

Andy - fantastic link - thanks!

What an absolutely fantastic way to start a gallery - can't wait to see the rest! :-)

Not "crematories" - positive.

[Sigh . . . . . . ]

It's scarier that all the "normal" people refused to vote for money for these places and didn't care what happened to these people until it hit the paper over and over and over again and the courts and families and advocacy agencies finally did something about it. Don't throw stones at the people who worked here who kept these folks alive - throw stones at the voters who didn't fund these places or the community people who ran scared from these places as if plague-carrying rats lived here and people who still invent scary ghost stories about places like this because it's the only way they can face the fact that 99.9% of the country didn't give 2 cents about the people who lived here.

You're part of the problem or you're part of the solution.

Now, where is that exit from my soap box? :-)

Durn barbarian medical professionals. ;-)

No, we are a civilized people. We went and cut all the funding for people with disabilities of any sort so now they are free from the horrible yellow-tiled buildings - free to sleep on the streets and in jails and prisons and homeless shelters - free with their rights intact and no services.

So get rid of all the decorations and just suffer in starkness? Nah, try to cheer things up a bit. Maybe you don't magically cure the body and/or mind with attempts to brighten up the place, but why throw in the towel and act like life sucks just because you have a disability and live in a residential facility? Most disabilities are actually in the eyes of the beholder. The people with whom I work may have a lot of physical handicaps but they are not "suffering." They don't have the time or energy to pity themselves - they just live life one day at a time and don't worry about what other people think about them. They appreciate the time and effort people give to them and are appreciative of the little extras - much more so than "normal" people. Most taxpayers don't care enough about them to vote for sufficient funding, so generally the poorly paid direct care staff take money out of their own pockets and buy brightly colored curtains or bathtub stickers like these or anything to try to make the place a little more homey. Maybe they aren't the best decorators but I give them an A for effort.

People with handicaps also get broken bones sometimes, just like "normal" people, and need diagnosis. They also get sick and need medical testing, just like "normal" people. I would be irritated if there were NO facilities for medical care in a large residential facility - THAT would be barbarous. Given how bad the budgets have always been since "normal" taxpayers never vote for any money for these places it is frankly impressive that they had any medical equipment at all.

As a point of reference, it is rather difficult to go to a regular hospital ER with someone who has a handicap of any sort. People always treat you like you are diseased and stare and talk about you like you can't hear them somehow. And if the person you are with has a very short attention span and is in a lot of pain and does not have much in the way of self-control, it is always a jolly good time in the public emergency room. I have spent many hours in ERs and frankly much prefer medical facilities that are on-grounds. The physicians and nurses there get you in a lot faster, they treat you like you know what you are talking about and actually ask for your input on what might be wrong, and they don't act as if the person you are taking for help is carrying the plague. :-)

Sure, if warm temps are OK with you - 250F to 375F (121C to 190C). :-)

Yet another one for wallpaper!

This has been one of the nicest galleries you have done yet. I am just blown away by the variety and depth - thank you!

Everything is just so right in this pic!

Fab colors. I can't get enough of this gallery!

Wallpaper!

Holy mother of sweet potatoes! What a shot!