One Morning in Barack Obama's Utopian America

December 12, 2015 - Nashua, New Hampshire 6:00 AM - Woke up to the solar-powered alarm clock. Very cold in the house, so I checked the thermostat. Looks like the city energy regulator's office remotely lowered it to 62 degrees. I'd call and ask them to turn it up, but it's such a pain tangling with those Greenie bureaucrats, even over minor adjustments. It's just as well, I suppose. Energy costs have more than doubled since Cap-and-Trade passed in 2010. Can barely afford keeping the house above freezing as it is. Where's Global Warming when you need it? 7:00 AM - Took out the trash before going to work. Left an itemized list with the pay-as-you-go city bin that was issued to me, which has spy sensors. I heard some people got arrested for burying trash in their backyards. Don't they know the Greenies monitor that stuff, and can search through their property anytime they like under the new laws? Or that the city wouldn't notice the radical change in their trash weight from week to week? Anyway. Put the trash out. Hoping there are no problems with it. Got enough problems as it is. 7:30 AM - Stopped to get gas. $7 a gallon now. Notice I didn't say fill up? Who besides Bill Gates can afford that now? In case you're wondering, no, there wasn't a war in the Middle East. The government jacked the taxes up on gas to that level to discourage people from driving. Of course, the price of everything else has skyrocketed because of that, too. Food, you name it. I guess they're trying to discourage us from eating, too. Or didn't you know that was what the itemized list on my trash bin was for? See, if I eat any junk food, not only do I pay more for it with the new sin taxes (and even more to dispose of junk food waste), it goes in my government health record, too. I wonder when they'll get around to checking my stool. 8:00 AM - Have an appointment at the local Health Office to see if they can squeeze me in at the hospital next month to have my right shoulder checked. It's not fatal. I can still move my arm, Just some shooting pains. But I know a lot of basic stuff like that isn't covered anymore under prioritizing, at least not until it's a real problem. Anyway, told my boss I probably won't be in before noon. He understands. We all do now. 11:30 AM - Sitting in a very crowded waiting room. Three and a half hours now, Reminds me of the DMV. Who was the genius who thought this system up again? I finally get called in to see a government health specialist, a woman. First I get my weight monitored. Then I get chewed out for eating so much junk food. Looks like they got the sensor read on my trash bins this morning after all. The specialist checked off my most recent junk du jour item by item, even down to the pound bag of Doritos. Somehow I get the feeling the woman enjoys this process like a sadist. Must be nice having complete power over people's lives. The Health Office worker asks me if my arm trouble is job-related, or if I filed an injury report with workmen's comp. I heard you get quicker appointments that way, because they can squeeze even more money out of it by charging employers. Unfortunately for me I strained it at home, so I go on the regular waiting list. I can see a doctor about it in sixty to ninety days. Not bad at all. They'll let me know when. 12:00 PM - Stop for a quick lunch at Appleby's. Order a chicken fettucine with a milk and a slice of apple pie. I hand the waitress my credit and health cards so she can ring me up. I'm sure I'll hear about the apple pie when I finally get my doctor's appointment. From thermostats to Appleby's, I'm covered like a blanket. 1:00 PM - I finally get to work. My paycheck, or what little there is left of it by the time the government is through, is waiting for me. Looks like the health care and "energy transition" deductions have jumped up considerably. I heard on the news that might happen. Word is, the government way underestimated the costs of both the health care and energy bills and had to hit the public ATM again. Since when did I become a bank machine for the government? Oh yeah, when they tied in to all my accounts. Never mind. 1:10 PM - Got an emergency call from the city Green cops. Seems one of them noticed a heat leak in my house while I was gone. Have to take care of it right away. Told my boss I had to leave for the day. He doesn't like it, but he understands. It's the government. What can you do? 1:15 PM - Heading home now. I hope the leak isn't bad. The city's union Green contractors charge you out the yang to fix this stuff. A lot of extra charges and fees. I only hope I have enough in the bank to cover the fix, or I could be in real trouble. If they fix it as they have to by law and I can't pay, I'll be looking at a lien. As I'm driving home for my rendezvous with destiny and the city Green cops, I wonder: How did we get to this place? The America I remember was a far different country. No good thing lasts forever, I guess. I only wish I'd have done something about all this indentured-servitude-to-government crap when I had the chance. Why didn't I?