Down the rabbit hole

Gad I felt like Alice in Wonderland there for a while. Trying to tweak the sizing after some brainiac switched the fonts was no easy task but I think I've managed to get back to were we once belong. They just can't leave well enough alone. Maybe I'll feel confident enough to try and send them another venomous expression of my displeasure. Now which pill did I take was it the blue one?

Now what else to gripe about? We have our 5th straight day of liquid sunshine here. Tried to get out yesterday to get some much needed errands and repairs done. I thought oh good the sun is out I'll pop out and fix the fence on the back 40 (that's feet here). Popped into the bathroom for quick drain the lizard moment only to come out to find it hailing and coming down in buckets. Back to fiddle farting on the web because after all there's only so many times you can clean the kitchen. Nothing's really that important that it can't wait till tomorrow or maybe the next day. But here it could be the day after that or the day after that or infinitum. I did find a new source for my Friday beaver pics. Hope they won't mind if I borrow a few.

Oops did I forget bank fails again this week? Only one in Michigan. This is coming close the the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s. I believe there were a little over 500 S&Ls that bit the dust then and we're around 400 now. It's not over yet either. Back then it was "junk bonds" that tanked things. Today? Just slap another name on the paper and you get the same results. Now it's "hedge funds" or as Warren Buffet calls them financial weapons of mass destruction. And what did I see on the TV just last night?
"Retirees looking for high return for your retirement portfolio?" blathered the announcer. "Municipal bonds are the way to go." he continued. Oh yeah I'm sure Alabama would just love to sell you their bad debt that they'll be defaulting on here soon. I wouldn't touch that with a 39 and a half foot pole. Unless you have superfocus vision and three or four contract lawyers backing you up. And the game goes on only the players and the names are changed to protect the guilty.

A Friday extra - no no extra charge just a rant

How I'd really like to bitch slap some young nerd turd who just has to keep messing things up. Just when you get your preferences to that nice and comfy state they just have to come along and pee in your coffee. You know what I'm talking about. Things worked just fine until they had to step in. It worked just fine until they get their grubby paws on the process. So what was once something streamlined and fast turns into an excruciating experience. They think they're doing us a favor and giving added "functionality" to the experience. Far from it Ram head! Let's change things to an ugly font and make sure it's in microscopic size so that only a old watchmaker with high powered loop can read.

Well sparky whatcha gonna do when your customers leave ya in droves because they can't use your product? Didn't think about that when you got that bright idea at 3 am to torture the masses. Sounded so great at the time didn't it? No Bunkey I don't want to try your new and improved updated version because it isn't any better than the last. It's worse. It always makes things more difficult and usually has some bug you haven't quite worked out that will need an update or security fix down the road.

Word verify. Now there's a real waste of time and the most aggravating concept on the planet. What do you get maybe one or two chinese spammers a month posting their latest cure for ED. Don't be lazy hit the trash can button and they will soon disappear. But just try and send some tech head your two cents worth on their latest monkey wrench that they just hit you with and just try and guess the new and improved word verify. Must be the nerds' defense system. "We have no complaints from the customers boss!" (mainly because they can't get to you to verbally wring your neck).

Keep it simple stupid because I don't have the rest of my life trying to learn another software program. I got along quite nicely before you stepped in and screwed things up. Is it a d or a c l? Hell I don't know and I don't have all day to try and figure it out. Then there's what I call the Chinese fire drill torture. That's were when trying to find out a simple answer to a simple question you are taken through the maze of links that somehow magically revert themselves back to each other so the user is left going in circles. If answer A is wrong please see answer B. Answer B.= Please see answer A. You know the routine we've all been there.

Oh you'll get yours nerds. Some day you'll not be able to read the fine mouse print and become as frustrated with the rest of us when the requirement to access a program requires some new puzzle or gimmick. And I'm sure they'll make the keyboards smaller just about the time your arthritis kicks in because it'll save the company a bunch of dough. And the brianiacs that come after you will be your nemesis. But I can laugh now knowing that I'll be long gone.

Friday beaver time

And this lucky beaver gets to paddle across his beaver pond having avoided the trappers cage.

It's lucky beaver time. Which fool will part with their hard earned bucks at a shot at 1/2 billion? Okay well after taxes it'll be half that much but I think I could have a good time. Actually you have better odds of getting hit by lightening and being eaten by both a black and a polar bear in the same day. Don't get me wrong I do play the odds but never for that reason. In fact I'd say I've beaten the odds more than once over the years. Just wonder who gets to take a dirt nap next. My friends are dropping like flies.

Not much in the news of late that hasn't bee hashed and rehashed. You know it's bad when articles like what to do with cumquats to lose weight start appearing in yahoo news. Don't forget to save your Canadian pennies folks they could be collectors' items. Now let me just pump $9.99 worth of gas and demand my penny when I give the clerk a ten spot. I'm like that ya know.

Too much to do and crappy weather. Somebody want to turn off the spigot? Oh well this is Western Washington after all. Can't remember when the last time I used an umbrella. That's what hats were made for. What kills me is seeing people in shorts with socks and sandals. What a fashion statement. And you see that all winter around here even when it snows.

Bank fails later if I think about it.

This is just sick

(And kitty's coverage isn't any cheaper either)

I won't bore you with more details of the Affordable Health Care Act for now but I caught the clip of Mint Raw Money on Jay Leno the other night and had to comment. Here's a guy with over $200 million in cash in the banks and he has the nerve to say if somebody doesn't have insurance they can just drop dead to put it bluntly. What Mittens doesn't seem to realize is that there are a bunch of us out here who would like nothing better than to be covered and would be more than willing to pay for it but as the price of premiums has shot through the roof in just the last few years a person has the choice between food on the table and a roof overhead or medical coverage. Those plans by the way are the cheapest offered covering only catastrophic events. You may be able to pay the premium but you'd better not use the coverage lest you find yourself bankrupt. At 150% or even 200% of minimum wage it would take nearly all the income just to pay for the coverage. That's not even taking into account deductibles and co- pays.
The average basic plan the last time I checked was over $1300 per month for the premiums. Let's see somebody try and live with that when rents for the cheapest apartment around here is $750. Tack on another $400 for food and the math just won't cut it even for a family of 3.

The other issue Mitt doesn't seem to get is that the system isn't going to somehow magically cure itself if this bill is defeated. In fact, as I pointed out earlier, it will remove many people from the system who had no coverage before. Think about a person who was finally able to get their cancer treatment only to be told "you're on your own now". As Alan Grayson on the floor of the senate so aptly pointed out, the republican plan was: "If you get sick - die quickly!" Then this brings up another issue that I'm sure isn't being reported. What is the insurers response to all this? On the one hand they won't be forced to cover pre existing conditions if the bill goes down but on the other they won't be getting that nice new pool of fresh money from people who never had coverage before because they were healthy. I'm sure they have run the numbers but we're not hearing anything from their side of the issue.

And let me point out the psychotic thinking of Mitt. He'd like nothing better to shut down Planned Parenthood while at the same time telling everyone they can just get their treatment elsewhere. That'll fly well in small town America where the only place to get low income help is from Planned Parenthood. And the free clinics are few and far between. Good luck getting on their waiting list for help.

I repeat, if something isn't stabilized soon the system will melt down by the weight of an aging population and 55 million without coverage. We have seen the extent of the problem that's getting worse with the free clinic expos on 60 minutes and the Ed Shultz show. Hundreds being turned away after a few thousand were treated. And this was last year. This problem is second only to the housing melt down and may be worse if you look closer at the numbers.

news you can't use and could probably care less about

What's a guy got to do to get some attention around here?
(Okay I know tres sick) This is a Tibetan exile protesting in India when Chinese leader Jin Tao was scheduled to visit. But in todays' uncaring world will it get much attention?

Speaking of which Bashar Assad leader of Syria had just signed an agreement with UN secretary Kofi Anan to bring an end to the fighting in the country. And what did he do after that you might ask? He set about to destroy Homs sending in his troops, 50 tanks and local supporters to try and finish off the town that has been bombed for the last several weeks.

Report: Hundreds of abused Afghan women jailed for 'moral crimes'
Nothing like punishing the victim. They sure have some strange customs over there.

Airline fun and mayhem
Forget the unruly passengers anymore watch out for the pilots. A three martini lunch was bad enough now one wonders which asylum they're getting these recruits. Think I'll take the train.

No winner in the Mega millions jackpot
Curses! there goes my retirement plan. And I had such great plans involving clowns prostitutes and rope.

Japans' nuclear reactor at Fukushima worse than first thought
Well Duh! Reported that the best of the worst is at 10 times the lethal level of radiation. If you thought Hanford nuclear reservation was going to be a difficult clean up you haven't seen anything. It's taken nearly 20 years to try and begin the solution to Hanford and it will take decades more to even contain this newest one. So let me see. We have Hanford, Three Mile Island, Chernoybl, and now Fukushima. (not to mention the lesser accidents that didn't make headline news and oh yes there were a few) You think we'll ever learn?

Madonna doing her MDNA tour
The old lady is now in her 50s. Sorry babe even a rose wilts after a certain time. What author said "you can't go home again"? Pick a period and there's at least one blonde bomb shell in the mix and they've run out of shock value too. I'll leave what they come up with next to your own imagination.

Supreme Court deciding health care act
Let me see. You have a group of highly educated well paid judges who are already covered by a plan that we the taxpayers pay for deciding if the rest of us will be able to afford even the basics. And even if they were not covered they could well afford a plan out of pocket. So what's it going to be "I got mine the hell with you"? Or will they be nice and let us peons have a few scraps?
I know I promised another post on the issue but I've only made it about a third of the way through the bill. No easy task to shake up a system that's been in place for so long. The something for nothing crowd fails to realize that the system has reached critical mass. Much like the housing and financial bubbles, health care will break any year now. Not a matter of if but when. Costs have risen over 30% in just the last three years. If this bill is defeated more will be without coverage just adding to the bubble. There is no free lunch but if we spread the risks the costs will come down to where we could all be covered.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

WHO?

Gut reaction. Never heard of him and probably couldn't care less. A genius you say? You'll have to convince me of that. If he's the guy responsible for all the square box glass and steel buildings that now grace our landscape then sorry he ever made it to the architectural forefront. Boxes? We have enough boxes. Just ask the box boy. Do markets still have them? Oops person, must be PC these days. Wouldn't want to offend the ladies. Aren't we supposed to think outside the box? Only greatfull that the style didn't last longer. Who wants to live in the early 60s again. Okay a mere technicality the ideas were earlier but the designs hit a peak in the 60s. Boxed buildings, boxed furniture it was all squaresville man. It was plain bland monochromatic and don't forget the turquoise lampshade. Like disco one of those fades you wish would go away quickly. But it didn't.

So the next time you drive past one of those office strip malls that look exactly like the last office strip mall you can thank or curse this guy. The choice is yours. Give me the 21st century any day. Pete Segar was right when he penned "Little Boxes" but he was referring to houses. Same difference.

And now for something completely diff..... Ta Da!


Now there's some architecture for ya Frank Lloyd.

(And a little inside info. it was a bitch to assemble)

Too lazy to blog.

The affordable health care act

Don't you just love people who spout opinions and try and circulate them without first checking the facts? I admit I had a few when the legislation was finally past but not having read the entire bill kept quiet. The problem with our system is that it leaves a large number of people with no health care. That would be unconscionable in any other industrialized country. What people fail to realize is that there is no easy quick fix. A simple matter of a few thousand dollar voucher and cutting funding to the less fortunate will only make matters worse. I recall when I first started writing about this most nations were spending around $3600 per person per year while the U.S. was spending $6200. At that time there were 45 million without care. Those figure have changed. For no apparent reason costs went up in just the last few years as did the number of uninsured (the latter due to unemployment). Nothing dramatically changed in the last few years other than the fear from insurance companies that their profits would be cut.

What I note in the Affordable Health Care Act is an attempt to fix many problems with the system.

Sec. 101. National high-risk pool program.
Sec. 102. Ensuring value and lower premiums.
Sec. 103. Ending health insurance rescission abuse.
Sec. 104. Sunshine on price gouging by health insurance issuers.
Sec. 105. Requiring the option of extension of dependent coverage for unin-
sured young adults.
Sec. 106. Limitations on preexisting condition exclusions in group health plans
in advance of applicability of new prohibition of preexisting
condition exclusions.
Sec. 107. Prohibiting acts of domestic violence from being treated as pre-
existing conditions.
Sec. 108. Ending health insurance denials and delays of necessary treatment
for children with deformities.
Sec. 109. Elimination of lifetime limits.
Sec. 110. Prohibition against postretirement reductions of retiree health bene-
fits by group health plans.
Sec. 111. Reinsurance program for retirees.
Sec. 112. Wellness program grants.
Sec. 113. Extension of COBRA continuation coverage.
Sec. 114. State Health Access Program grants.
Sec. 115. Administrative simplification.

I've read a fair amount of this bill. To try and return to our former system would be foolish. First off those that had been denied are now covered. Many, like young adults, who are out of college but haven't found a job with benefits are getting coverage on their parents plans. People who may have retired early and are too young for Medicare but too well off for Medicaid can get affordable coverage. Even people at the poverty level can get subsidized coverage for just $20 per month. And the requirements for basic coverage are good as well. A plan must include medical, dental vision and hearing as well as any other services offered by the medical establishment. There are no lifetime maximum limits as were once imposed. And the plans already in place will have to cover the additional requirements.

If all of this sounds like some evil government take over as some would have you believe then I say bring it on because it's far better than any plan I've ever had. For about the past ten years I've had to fight for the coverage I was due constantly calling writing and many trips in person just to prove what I was entitled to according to their own documents.

More on this later - having blogger posting issues.