MS Strength

Turn on blog mode. Turn it up real loud:

Having had copious amounts of time this summer to think and ponder, I’ve come up with a comprehensive list of favorites, starting with the topic of music. Just a little journey into Jen’s psyche (or psychosis.) I’m also envious that Blogspot has a place to list favorites and I, being of Wordpress persuasion, do not.

COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF MUSIC FAVORITES:

• current song: none. I’m out of touch with current releases. I feel that I’m in limboland because I can’t relate to a lot of current stuff. I’m a bit stuck in my prime time (the ’90’s) and truthfully I haven’t paid a lot of attention to current music since the year 2000.
• most current song: Incubus’s “Drive.”I think this sums up my overall feelings of dealing with the MonSter and life in general.
• most current band: Tool. I believe they still play on the radio. I know they do.
• current wackadoodle singer: Amy Winehouse. I love crazy people. The crazier, the better.
• past wackadoodle singer: Sinead O’Connor
• past wackadoodle’s best song: “Jerusalem”
• girl band: The Go-Go’s
• riot grrrllll band single: L7’s “Shitlist.” This is my favorite angry anthem. I think their name might stand for underwear sizing. Notice ladies’ pants range in size from S5 to XXL9? L7 is standard large. I think.
• boy band and song: Silverchair’s “Tomorrow.” I believe they are from the early ’90’s. One hit wonders. The singer was in his teens at the time and sounded a bit like a future Eddie Vedder.
• ’90’s female singer: Liz Phair
• ’90’s male singer: Jeff Buckley
• ’90’s grunge band: Alice in Chains
• ’90’s live concert: Jeff Buckley. My friend and I had the privilege of seeing him live and alive. It was a local club and we were really close, so we also got the privilege of his sweat landing on us.
• ’80’s band: Red Hot Chili Peppers. Now they suck. I wish they’d stop.
• ’80’s glam band: Duran Duran. I still have a crush on the drummer, Roger Taylor.
• ’80’s single: Men at Work’s “Overkill.” It’s great for insomnia and pretty much any other MS occasion. There is a standard version and an acoustic version from Colin Hay.
• ’80’s alternative music: The Smiths, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Cult
• ’80’s alternative music that is still playing in my car CD rotator: The Hoodoo Gurus. This Aussie band is one of my most favorites. Also saw them live at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. Love ‘em.
• all-around good album that I can’t get out of my car CD rotator: The Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty”
• local artist: Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen is a wonderful philanthropist. When I worked for Americorps in the mid-nineties, we did a high-end fundraiser for The Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Springsteen was the entertainment, and the tickets were $500/person. All the money went to this charity.
• country music: I am really not a fan
• closest thing to country music: KD Lang and her album Shadowland
• fossil curmudgeon: Neil Young
• fossil rock: Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young; Led Zeppelin; Van Morrison; Black Sabbath; Fleetwood Mac
  
• fossil rock song: Zeppelin’s “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do”
• fossil and funny reality show star: Gene Simmons
• instrumental music: Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas
• world music album: Jah Wobble’s Take Me to God. This album has a smokin’ hot song where they duet with my buddy Sinead: “The Sun Does Rise.” Very Celtic.
• hip-hop group and song: The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy’s “California Uber Alles”
• r&b group: Destiny’s Child
• jazz song: Dinah Washington’s “What a Diff’rence a Day Made”
• inspirational song: “Personal Jesus” sung by Johnny Cash
• song of all time: Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” (originally done by Leonard Cohen) Never before and probably never again will I hear such a beautiful, perfect, tragic, pure song. It is so exquisite that I can only bear listening to it about twice a year. I must be in that sort of tragic, beautiful mood. If I am in that sort of mood it will make me sob.
• fantasy instrument that I imagine playing in a symphony orchestra: the viola
• music teacher: Lisa Emrich, of course

The United Stated Department of Labor protects employed individuals who need to take a medical leave of absence for themselves or for immediate family members. This protection is referred to as the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA.) It is designed to grant workers an unpaid leave from their jobs for up to 12 weeks per year, and stipulates that a person can return to his or her original position or one similar/ with similar salary. For workers with multiple sclerosis, this can be good and bad news. Here’s why:

• The FMLA can keep a worker in the workforce, but he or she must have been working for at least 12 months with an employer prior to asking for a leave of absence. This is great for people who have been with the same company or organization for a year or more, but it does not protect individuals (especially MSers) who might be returning to the workforce in a new job after being home-bound. Those trying to test the waters might find themselves up a creek when they do not have 12 months of work invested and then they suffer a long relapse.

• The FMLA covers workers who are employed at a company or organization with 50+ employees. This works out well for employees of larger companies, but those who might work for small establishments are not protected. Many times people with MS hold part-time jobs with such places.

• The FMLA cannot guarantee the reinstatement of a high-level, high-salaried (key) employee. It will cover the leave, but the decision of whether to reinstate is determined by the employer. This is trouble for any executives (especially males, who tend to be in higher-level positions) who might fall ill with multiple sclerosis. Later MS onset also correlates with a higher likelihhod of disability, such as with primary progressive MS. Unfortunately, employees who tend to be key players usually fall in this over-40 age range.

• Probably the trickiest clause in the Family Medical Leave Act is the requirement of an employee to have put in a minimum of 1,250 hours in the year prior to the request for leave. This breaks down to roughly a 24 hour work week. Here lies a big problem. Many people with MS cannot physically handle a 40 hour work week, but maybe they can manage part-time, lower-stress employment. But can everyone work 24+ hours a week, and then manage to make it to the one year minimum requirement? This clause makes it so difficult for people with multiple sclerosis to get back on their feet and try to sustain a new, part-time job. It becomes very frustrating to keep trying to stay employed outside of the home, only to be a person who falls through the cracks in the FMLA’s base.

• The last problem is the fact that people with multiple sclerosis who suffer regular, long attacks might need to use the FMLA on a yearly basis. But they will be shorting themselves a minumum of 288 hours (the prior year’s 12-week hiatus) for the next work year period, thus making them need to increase their weekly minimum hours to almost 30, just to qualify for the FMLA again. Most people who use the FMLA use it once and don’t always use the entire 12 weeks. People with multiple sclerosis who are able to work outside of the home often need the entire 12 weeks on a yearly basis. But with all of its exceptions and restrictions, do many MSers even have a shot at sustaining this yearly Act? An inquiring mind would like to know..

*For more information about the Family Medical Leave Act, visit the US Department of Labor’s website.