Mexico Puerto

I just returned from the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico (near Cancun) as you may have guessed from my previous post.  Many thanks to my cousins for inviting me to tag along on their vacation.  We were gone for almost a week, and it was a great time.  Some of the highlights (they don't all involve food):

1.  The great thing about vacationing with family is many of them are often fellow nerds, which was the case here.  We enjoyed many nerdy discussions.
2. Spiritual fellowship with family.
3. This is one of the few vacations where I was voluntarily waking up by 6:30 almost every morning and going to bed by 10:00 PM most evenings.  Quite strange, yet sort of a good thing to maximize the daylight experiences.
4. Awesome snorkeling.  There was a reef within swimming distance from the beach, so most mornings by 10 or 11 AM we had already been snorkeling.
5. Things seen while snorkeling:  a sea turtle, a couple rays, five foot long barracuda everywhere, angel fish, lion fish, very cool looking coral in reds, greens, pinks, purples, etc., irridescent blue fish, puffer fish, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff that I don't know the names of.
6. One scuba diving excursion.  We went to the same reef we had been snorkeling around, but it was still lots of fun to see more stuff up close and not have to come up for air like we did when we were snorkeling.
7. Boogie boarding.
8. Seeing the Mayan ruins of Tulum on the first day of the new Mayan calendar.  Did you know the Mayans invented the concept of the number zero?
9. Reading books.
10. Volleyball on the beach.
11. Fresh and homemade food:  limeade, guacamole, and salsa.  I think most of my lunches consisted of these three things plus chips.  Surprisingly, I lost 3-4 pounds while on this vacation despite consuming large quantities of guacamole.
12. Playing card games.
13. Sunshine - getting some Vitamin D.
14. Getting those dreadlocks braid things.  It took them about an hour to do them (they said I had baby hair).  It took me a little more than 2.5 hours to take them all out after the trip was over.  I'm not sure if I'll do them again or not.
15. Jokes about forgetting your passport (because one of the travelers nearly did).

On that note, let's move on to the trip in pictures.

Post-snorkeling fun.

Fresh from the hair stylist.

A frequent pastime on the trip.

Buried by his brother.

A small sampling of the coral and fish we saw.

Sea turtle!

Ray!

Scenery at Tulum.

The structure on the right is where the sun shines directly through on December 21.  We missed it by a day, but we would have missed it regardless since you'd need to be there at 6:30 AM to see it.  Plus, it would have been a zoo that day.

Loving the wildlife at Tulum.

A different kind of wild life at Tulum.

Friendly volleyball competition.

Fun while waiting for our food to come at a restaurant.

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #51

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Friends Who Care

2.  Cousins

3.  Travel

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #50

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  A Brother

2.  Childlike Excitement - I need to keep some of that whether it's about chocolate chips and cool whip on my pancakes, holding Lenny the Lamb, or throwing a stuffed caterpillar back and forth.

 

3.  Making progress - For first time in 2 or 3 years, I can kinda-sorta see the surface of my home office desk.

Current Affairs

Has anybody else noticed that a lot of the ads on the radio recently seem different than they used to be?  It seems like at least a third of the ads are from government agencies.  For example, on my drive Friday evening I heard an ad telling me to go to the official government website called www.usa.gov.  Really?  Is that necessary for my tax money to be spent advertising for the government website?  How about they spend that money to make social security viable again or to fund the military?

Let's see....what are some other ones I've heard recently......a government agency telling me to clean as I go and make sure I handle my meats correctly when I cook.....some government agency telling me how easy it is to get health insurance....the benefits of breast feeding.....all kinds of stuff.  What is sparking this trend I wonder?

Speaking of interesting ads on the radio, I heard one this evening.  Landmark legislation was signed into law today to make my state a "right to work" state.  The ad was one of those "scare tactic" ads with the scary music and the deep voiced, angry guy speaking slowly.  He was saying how our state is going to purgatory in a handbasket because big companies can now "own" us without the great power of the unions to stick up for us.  What really cracked me up was that the guy said we can blame ourselves.  I was thinking these guys finally saw the light and realized how unreasonable some of the union bargaining is and they promise to be more reasonable in the future.  Not at all.  Apparently we can blame ourselves for putting all those Republicans into the state legislature and into the governor's office.  That totally cracked me up, especially when the ad ended with the guy saying "God help us."  A little dramatic, no?

Is "right to work" that bad?  I don't think so.  As I may have said before, I believe in the power of choice.  Sure, it may seem more convenient to keep working for "the man" and let corporate America "own" you.  However, if you really don't like working for corporate America, then make a choice to do something different.  They're not obligated to employ you for your lifetime, and you're not obligated to stay there for your life.  God never promised that we'd be able to live and work in the same place our whole life.  Start your own business.  Go work for someone else.  Companies are always looking for good people and are willing to pay for those good people.  If you're not a desirable employee, then improve your skills to become desirable.  If you're not willing to go through some hardships to not work for corporate America, then don't complain about it.  By staying where you are you've chosen the "evil" you know over the uncertainty of going to a different company or starting your own business.  Like my boss at work says, don't have that "victim mentality."  If you don't like it, work to change it or leave.  Don't just sit there and complain.

Probably the thorniest issue related to this is teacher unions.  I know a lot of teachers, and I know a lot of them are in favor of the teacher union because they do help negotiate benefits for teachers.  So I'm still waffling on this one.  Is a public school that much different than a corporation?  One thing I've heard that's different is that in some states all teachers' salaries are publicly published, which could make a difference.  In corporations there are people who don't get paid as much as others because their skills aren't as good.  Is it bad for teachers to be held to a performance standard?  I guess the problem is figuring out what the performance standard should be, which is complicated by government bureaucracy.  It seems like schools without teacher unions would have the same incentives as corporations.  They would want to have good administration so you can attract good teachers and thus attract students.  I'm sure word will get out quickly if school districts don't treat their teachers right.  The key would be to have open enrollment / school of choice in tandem with that to keep the "good school" incentive going.  Just some food for thought.  I'm sure I'll hear from some of my teacher readers on this.

Enough pontificating for today folks!  I guess it's been too quiet around here, so I'm stirring the pot a little.

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #49

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Living In a Land of Plenty

2.  Sunrises and Sunsets

3.  Nieces

Contemplation

It seems like I have so many things to talk about, but some of the trips I haven't summarized are so far in the past now I'm not sure it's worth it or if I'll remember much of them.  But speaking of traveling, my favorite face wash brand finally got the message, and you can now buy travel sizes (less than 3 oz) of their product at Target.  A simple thing like that has made me happy the last 3 or 4 times I've traveled.

While I contemplate my upcoming posts, check out this little ditty that Kadmium showed me the other day about ways to die.  Also of recent interest at work is a series of prints done by artist Megan Lee.  They're prints commemorating scientists as part of a Rock Star Scientists series.  For a preview, go here.  See if you know your famous scientists!

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #48

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Discounts At Work

2.  Leisurely Saturday Morning

3.  An Evening With Friends

New Shoe Time Again

Remember 5 or 6 months ago when I left my black shoes in Brazil?  I've been on a sporadic quest ever since for a pair of shoes to replace them with very little success.  I'd been dressing unfashionably in the interim by wearing brown shoes with my black belt. *gasp*  Finally I was getting desperate where I really needed to buy a replacement pair.  Fall was here, so I figured the stores would have something besides sandals again.  To Tradehome Shoes I went for one last desperate attempt.  I tried on pretty much every black pair they had in my size.  I had almost given up hope in finding a style I liked that also felt good.  I agreed to try one last pair that I wasn't crazy about but that I would probably accept since I was desperate.  It turns out that pair felt really good.  So I gave up on fashion and purchased them.  See the picture below.  They're not quite combat boots, so that's something I guess.

It turns out I gave up on fashion more than I thought.  I swear that the display shoe was in the women's section and the salesman didn't tell me differently.  But, when I got them home and took a closer look, I saw the box said they were a men's shoe.  Oh well.  It's too late now.  I prefer more of a smooth leather look, but I'll settle for this slightly nubby leather for a couple years.

Oh, and here's the obituary on the old shoes.  I'm kind of disappointed in their short life.  Even the expensive shoe companies aren't making them like they used to.

Age:  2.5 years
Use:  Medium - worn about 3 times a week
Replaced by:  Keen all purpose shoe
Travel:  All over the U.S. and Brazil.  Possibly to Jamaica, Canada, and Mexico - I can't really remember.

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #47

Things I'm thankful for this week:


1.  New Hymn CD

2.  Cooking Lessons (from Mom when I was a kid and even now)

3.  Leisure Time

I would have said I was thankful for time with family and friends too, but I forgot to take pictures of them.  :-)

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #46

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Good Food  (all weekend)

2.  Beautiful Weather

3.  Goofiness with Friends

Interview Advice

Dear parents,
I'm probably preaching to the choir here because I think most of you (if you have young children) are doing a good job at raising your children.  However, just in case, here is my advice.  This advice is free of charge and is the result of some recent recruiting experience.

Please teach your children what is appropriate to wear not only at school or work, but especially when going to a career fair or job interview.  A tight pink mini skirt with a slit up the front is not considered professional attire unless you're interviewing to be a stripper.  Neither is a see-through black shirt with only a black bra underneath.  If you're trying to get an engineering job, then stick with the traditional suit or other conservative attire.  If your children are so poor they can't afford a suit, then buy them one so they can get a job and support themselves in the future.

Even if they roll their eyes when you tell them this stuff about what is appropriate to wear, stick to your guns and reinforce the lesson when possible.  Remind them that the people hiring very frequently have the same views as parents even if those views are old fashioned to the young whippersnappers.  Hopefully some of your advice will get through to their brain by the time they're old enough to be going on interviews.  While gaudy tattoos and piercings in obvious spots like your tongue, eyebrows, etc. will not automatically disqualify you from a job, they may contribute to lack of a job because all the interviewer might be seeing is those gaudy things when you really want them to be concentrating on what you're saying and trying to highlight your professional skills.

Please love and teach your children in a way that instills humility while also giving them confidence in themselves.  Too much of one or the other is a big personality derailer in the professional business world.  If the interviewee in the space of a 30 minute interview calls herself a dork twice and says every day at her current job is a "struggle bus", that sends off big warning bells about lack of confidence.  On the flip side, an interviewee that over-exaggerates their skills and/or gives the impression that they don't listen, don't need help, or that they're not willing to accept or ask for help is also a big red flag.

Finally, if you're going to claim to have a skill on your resume, don't over exaggerate.  Very often the people who will interview you will be experts at that skill already, and most of them can spot a phony pretty easily in the space of 2 or 3 questions.  Pay attention in school, know your stuff, and don't think you can get by on personality or bluffing alone.  Maybe the HR person can be bluffed with personality, but you will crash and burn on the second round of interviews when the technical experts grill you if you truly don't have those technical skills.

Best regards,
MelBMarvis

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #45

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Suffrage
 

2.  Comfort  (from Ecclesiastes 7)

3.  Hospitable Fellow Nerds

And many more!

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #44

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Visitors - I didn't take any pictures while they were here, so you get this grainy picture of a picture taken on my cell phone camera.

2.  Electricity - because some people didn't have it this week after Hurricane Sandy.

3. Sunny Saturday Morning - perfect for raking leaves

Bureaucracy Complaint

Our health care system is ridiculous.  It might be more correct to say our health care billing system is ridiculous.  I don't have all the answers on how to fix it, but I'm pretty sure that adding more government bureaucracy to the system is not the answer.  Let me tell you my health care story for the week.

The other day I sorted through my "junk" mail and found a very plain envelope that ended up being a bill from a firm that bills for doctors and PAs and apparently NPs.  From this point on I will refer to it as The Billing Firm.  This was for my emergency room visit at the end of July.  The bill was dated September 26 or something like that.  Not being very familiar with the health care system, my first thought was that the bill might be bogus/insurance fraud.  Why would it be coming months later?  The bill said they had billed my insurance company, but then they sent me this bill too.  Why is it that the hospitals bills you for stuff, then you get billed to read the X-rays, and then the doctor bills you?  Aren't they all employed by the hospital?  Can't the hospital do the work of consolidating those fees?

I check my online insurance account, and they don't show any record of The Billing Firm ever sending this bill.  I'm still suspecting fraud, although they do have the treatment date and time correct.  So I call The Billing Firm.  The tell me they've sent the bill to my insurance company twice with no response from them either time, so they sent the bill to me now.  I tell them I don't see any record of that from my insurance company, and I ask them what insurance company they're sending the bill to.  They say they can't tell me (I think because of security reasons).  They ask me to tell them who my insurance company is.  I say I can't tell them because I don't even know if this bill is legitimate.  How do I know they're for real?  They say of course they're for real because they have the correct treatment date and doctor's name.  Yeah....I don't think that proves anything.  They could probably get that info from lots of places, particularly if they're professional scammers.  So, I say that I will call my insurance company to see what the deal is.

I call the insurance company (waiting on hold is standard practice - for all of these calls including to the The Billing Firm).  They say they don't have any record of this billing.  Yah, I know - I already checked online.  Where is The Billing Firm sending the bill?  I have no idea because they won't tell me.  Well, they shouldn't be billing Insurance Company Name, they should be billing Other Insurance Name.  OK.......and what's the address for that?  Just tell them to bill Other Insurance Name.  OK....can I tell them to call you?  Yes, I can.  Great.  What number should I have them call?  They give me the number.  Is this normal that the doctor sends a bill separate from the hospital?  Yes.  Okey dokey, it's likely legitimate then.  I close the call.

Back to The Billing Firm.  After a shorter time on hold this time, I talk to another customer service person.  I tell them they need to bill Other Insurance Name.  Do I know the address?  No I don't, but I can tell you what number to call to get the correct address.  Oh, they're sorry, they can't call that number because they're only an incoming call center, and they can't make outgoing calls.  WHAT?!?!  Seriously?!  Yes, seriously.  Huh.  I suggest (tongue in cheek) that maybe that's why my insurance company hasn't responded to The Billing Firm because maybe my insurance company can't make outgoing calls either.  :-)  Oh no, they assure me they talk to insurance companies all the time.   OK.....so there's absolutely NO ONE one at your business that can make ANY outgoing calls?  Not even one person?  Well, there is, but she has like a hundred cases on her desk and yada yada yada.......you know, she's busy.  Huh.  At that point I don't know what to say, so I sit in silence while thinking that they really don't want their money very badly if they're not willing to make any outgoing calls to get it.

After several seconds of heavy silence, the customer service person offers to verify my insurance information.  Good idea.  No, the previous time I called we didn't get that far even though the note in my file says we did.  I give her some details from my insurance card that she needs.  It's all different from what they have on file.  How do they get wrong information like that?  Supposedly the hospital gives them the information, so the hospital must have sent the wrong information to the billers.  Huh.  So how can I even trust that they are billing for the correct procedures/care that was provided?  I'm quickly assured that's for sure correct.  Right......that does not provide any comfort.  The description of what they're billing me for is fairly close, so it probably is correct, but personally I only give it a 50/50 chance.  The hospital seems to be billing my insurance company just fine, so who knows what the real deal is.  The Billing Firm says they'll try to re-submit with this new information, and I can disregard the bill at this time.  OK, great.  Thanks.  Good luck with your billing.  Bye.

How did it ever get this bad?  What are the root causes of so much bureaucracy surrounding our health care system?  Is it insurance companies?  Is it because of medicare and medicaid where the hospitals have to document for the government every little tiny thing they did?  More research must be done in order to know the root cause.  All I know is that the 10 minutes the nurse practitioner spent with me was more than half the cost (maybe even two thirds the cost) of that three hour emergency room visit.  I went to the Occupational Therapist ten times for a total of 5 or 6 hours for less than it cost me to see the NP for 10 minutes in the ER.  My heart goes out to all of you who have to frequently deal with our health care system and its billing methods.  It is ridiculous.  It almost tempts me to get rid of my insurance plan all together.  Oh wait, if I do that, the government is going to tax me......so either I deal with insurance bureaucracy, or I deal with IRS bureaucracy.  Such a hard choice!

P.S.  Who knew I was so much into challenging authority?  First the police, and now this.

Career Path

In the past couple months at work, we have "imported" (pretty much permanently) into the U.S. at least three of the company's top electrical engineers from our company locations in other regions.  One from Poland, one from Mexico, and one from China.  One of the other groups has imported an electrical engineer from Brazil recently.  I suspect this is due to a combination of things.  First of all, I think the laws have become more friendly to import engineering talent.  Plus, the number of available electrical engineers in this country is decreasing, so we need to procure them somehow.

Parents, if your kids show a knack for math or science, make sure you encourage that and let them know what kinds of careers are available related to it.  Even if they don't become engineers, in this world we still need chemists, physicists, material scientists, nurses, and all kinds of people that are trained in science and math.  Plus, you can get a really good job as an engineer for a reasonable amount of higher education.

In other news, I found this on the ground underneath one of my big pine trees the other day.  Is this a dog skull?  Maybe a possum?  I'm not sure how it got there - I just happened to notice it one day.

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #43

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Immediate Family

 

2.  Extended Family

3.  Special Fellowship and Chats - sort of reminiscent of the "honesty sessions" from college

P.S.  My list was already full before the end of the day Sunday (the first day of the week).....lots to be thankful for!

Docs and Stuff

I haven't given you guys the finger (update) in many weeks.  The doctor said on Monday I was cleared for all activities with no buddy straps, no splints, etc.  He said at three months the finger is about as strong as it's ever going to be.  It may take a year for all of the swelling to go away, but the joint will always be a little bit bigger because of the damage done to it.  If some activity makes the finger hurt or something, the buddy strap is optional at my discretion.  So I played volleyball that night sans protection - it was the start of the indoor season.  It did pretty well.  I'm still a little bit leery about it taking any big hits though.  Hand exercises have ceased except when the joint feels kind of stiff and I do a few quick claws or fists.  The doctor was pleased with my full range of motion and, just like the OT, said that he had not expected my results to be quite that good.  They must not get many patients that follow directions.  Either that or I'm one of the lucky ones.

To answer Eva's question, I'm not sure why it was the OT that I saw instead of the PT.  Maybe because your hand muscles are involved in fine motor skills that are needed to do most everyday tasks?  And since an OT's goal is to help you live your life in as independent of a state as possible, I guess that kind of makes sense.  Maybe my expert readers can provide more guidance on why I was seeing an OT for my hand instead of a PT.

You guys lucked out that I only partially watched the last presidential debate.  I was too tired from the weekend to get real excited about it.  Plus, I figure when it comes to international policy that everything is so unpredictable and complicated that there's really no reason to get too uptight about it.  I think the CIA and those kinds of agencies are the ones that really know what is going on, and nobody knows what they know until they become president, and then you can't tell everybody.  So I'll vote in the ballot box based on domestic policy and vote on international policy using my prayers.

All for now folks.

I Won't Back Down

Let me tell you an entertaining little story.  On Sunday I was driving home in the late evening across the debatably-great state of Illinois.  I was west of Joliet maybe 10 or 15 miles.  I had just stopped to fuel up a few miles back and was getting back into the driving groove and thinking about the good weekend that was coming to a close.  I actually didn't have any music playing in the car, and I believe I was doing minimal bee-bopping to any music that was in my head.

Suddenly I hear my cell phone start to ring in the center console.  At almost the same time, I see a cop in the median.  I started to reach for my phone, but then thought better of it because I couldn't remember what the law is in Illinois for talking on your cell phone.  I also tapped the brakes a little bit at this time because I was doing maybe 70 or 71 mph.  At this time I also racked my brain trying to remember if the speed limit was 65 or 55 and was 80% sure the speed limit was 65 mph.  All of this happened in the space of seconds as I drove by.  There was no immediate movement of the cop car and he didn't turn his lights on, so I was hoping I was home free.  After I disappeared from the cop's view over a rise, I answered my cell phone and made sure I was only going 67 mph or so just in case.

It was Mom on the phone checking my travel progress.  We talked for a few minutes, and then a car comes up behind me and starts riding my tail pretty closely.  I've had a cop do that one other time to me, so I resisted the urge to speed up to try to get his lights from being so bright in my rear view mirror.  I didn't know if it was a cop or not at that point, but I was starting to get a bad feeling about it.  I maintained my slow speed for a while longer, and then the cop turned on the red and blue lights.  "Gotta go Mom, the cops are pulling me over."  The phone goes back in the center console as I pull over just in case it's illegal to talk on the phone while driving.

As I wait for the cop to walk up to my window, I reach into the glove box and get my car registration.  I also get my wallet out of my pocket so I'm fully prepared.  The cop introduces himself and asks for my license and registration.  As I get my license out of my wallet, he says, "I pulled you over partly because you were doing 69 in a 65 zone, but more so because I thought it looked like you weren't wearing your seat belt."  I told him that I had been wearing my seat belt and that I always wear my seat belt.  This was a true statement.  He kind of asks again in a different way if I was wearing my seat belt.  "Yes, I was wearing my seat belt.  I always do."

He asks me where I'm going, so I tell him home and what state I live in.  Then he asks where I'm coming from.  I tell him.  He asks me to come back to his car while he runs the paperwork and that he'll probably just give me a warning.  He says I can stand outside his car's passenger window (people like to stretch their legs) or have a seat in the car if I want.  I choose to stand outside.

Back at his car he tells me that they watch for people carrying drugs from west to east across Illinois because of my state's law that allows the sale of medicinal marijuana.  Does my state still have the legal marijuana law?  I tell him I'm not sure.  "I know for a while we had a place in town that sold it, but it closed for some reason, and I haven't heard much about the law recently, so I really don't know."  I'm not involved in narcotics, am I?  "No, I'm not involved in that stuff."  So you wouldn't mind if I search your car?

"Yes, I do mind."  The cop asks why.  "Just on basic principle."  And what principle is that?  I tell him, "The principle that you're not allowed to illegally search or seize my car."  I could hear my ex-boyfriend's voice in my head telling me to never let them search my car because even though you aren't intentionally doing anything illegal, sometimes you don't know what may have accidentally been left in your car by a passenger or someone you loaned your car to.  I don't know if maybe Bex accidentally left some of her drug paraphernalia in the car.  Or maybe Dad forgot his concealed carry weapon in there or something.  Maybe it was Bex's homemade granola bar wrapped in plastic wrap on the passenger seat that made him suspect drugs (it could be some really special granola).  Plus, I didn't want to deal with them tearing apart my car when I just wanted to drive home.  They can tear your whole car apart and then leave you to deal with the mess when they're done.

So I stand there outside the window for several minutes while the cop does his thing with his computer and radio and asks me the occasional question.  So where was I coming from again?  Is that where I'm from?  What is my current address?  What do I do in the state where I live?  What kind of engineer am I?  He didn't ask these all at once.  They were spaced out with maybe a question every couple minutes.  I was starting to suspect he had Googled me or had a background check pulled up on his computer screen that he was comparing my answers to.  He also seemed to be intentionally getting things mixed up about where I had come from and where I was going - almost as if he was trying to intentionally get me to say conflicting information.

After a while of this, I see a cop car going in the opposite direction on the interstate with his lights flashing.  I'm beginning to wonder if I got caught in some speed trap or something.  Soon I see that cop car turn around and pull up behind the first cop.  Hmmm.....interesting.  I must look pretty threatening in my denim skirt and cable knit sweater.  The second cop gets out of his vehicle and goes around to the passenger side of it.  He opens the door and gets his German shepherd out of his vehicle.  The second cop and the dog go past us up to my car.  As they start circling my car, the first cop gives me the paperwork to sign.  He's only giving me a warning for the speeding and the seat belt.  He thought he saw me reach for the seat belt, but I say I was wearing my seat belt, so he can't be sure.  Therefore I'm just getting a warning.  Nice.  I sign the paper, and eventually he gives me my copy of the paper after the dog is done sniffing.  I'm free to go.

As I'm walking back to the car and waiting for the traffic to be clear so I can get into my car, I see a third cop car with his lights on pull up behind the second car.  Sorry buddy, false alarm.  Better luck next time.  I drive away and keep the speed reasonable and my seat belt on until I'm out of that state.

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #42

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1. New Wipers.  It sure makes driving easier.

2.  Hikes.

3.  Munchkins

Benefits and Economics Lesson

Benefits enrollment at work for 2013 began this week and ends sometime in November.  Being a big procrastinator, you might think I would wait until the last minute to enroll, but that is almost never the case.  I'm very serious about making my benefits elections, so I usually do it the first day.  There were a few things of interest that I observed.

First of all, my company's plan is "grandfathered" into Obamacare.  I'm speculating this means we have good lawyers and lobbyists and don't have to follow as many of the Obamacare rules in an effort to try to save money.

Our drug coverage plan for 2013 will have some "Tier 0" drugs where employees don't have to pay any part of these maintenance drugs like blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, diabetes medications, etc.  I don't know this for a fact, but I'm guessing this might be mandated by the government and the company is choosing to "spin" it like it's some really nice feature they're providing.  Either that or the drugs are cheap enough that it's not a big deal to cover them.

The total amount spent on healthcare benefits between the company and its employees is close to $200 million annually.  This averages out to $5000 - $17,000 per employee / family per year depending on the type of healthcare services they need.

The total cost of healthcare benefits for my company in 2013 will increase well over $15 million.  The corporation will be paying for 85% - 90% of the $15 million increase.  They are requiring their employees to pay for 10% - 15% of the increase, which is why our contributions will increase by 7.5%.  When a publicly held corporation says they will pay for something, guess who really gets to pay for the $15 million?  Stockholders (reduced dividends), customers who buy our products (higher prices), and employees (fewer benefits/perks and lower salaries).

I will pay $71 more this year on medical premiums.  The year before that, the premiums increased by $45 for the year.  The year before that, it was $60.  At first it seems like $71 spread over a year isn't such a big deal.  However, if every year the premiums continue to increase at that rate, after several years you will be paying hundreds more than you were five years before that.  In the space of three years, I'm already paying an additional $176 per year.  To summarize, our premiums have increased.  Not as much as Romney said they would, but they didn't decrease like Obama said they would.  The good news is my deductible gets to stay the same at a lovely $2,000 with an additional $2,000 employee responsibility maximum per year.  I suppose that's better than some, worse than others.  Maybe next week I'll dig through all my statements and make a graph of my insurance contributions for the last 5 or 10 years.

I am documenting this for future reference and to try to get the "real" facts on the state of health care in our nation.

Presidential Debate: Part 2

I'll try to keep this short.  I did watch the whole debate tonight.  Overall, I would say it was mostly same old, same old from both sides.  Both Obama and Romney brought good "energy" to the debate this time.  I thought both Obama and Romney were on the hairy edge of being unacceptably rude a couple times.  Romney more so at the beginning, and Obama more so at the end.

Once again the biggest laughs I had were from watching the twitter feed across the bottom and seeing some people's witty observations.  This debate raised a few questions in my mind.  Some things the candidates said that were stated like fact but may be more opinion or just made-up.  Here's a few thoughts on that.

Both candidates were in favor of increasing Pell grants, etc. - basically increasing government loans to students.  I'm not convinced this is the full answer as it seems like it could open the door to schools charging as much tuition as they think they can get by forcing students to take out more government loans just because they are available.  It also promotes more government dependence.  This article on Wikipedia puts forth several different theories.  I'm not expert enough on these to give an opinion yet.  More research would be needed.

Obama said a bad economy was a reason for low gas prices when he took office.  Is that really true?  Somehow I doubt the price of oil is really that simple.  Is the corollary true - does that mean that we have a great economy now because gas prices are so high?  I sure hope that the current economy has not become the new "great" economy.

I like how Obama said he promised to find the Benghazi attack perpetrators and hunt them down.  It's ironic that it sounded almost like George W. Bush after 9/11.  So much for all the money he's planning to save by ending wars and making military cuts.  It sounds to me like he just signed up for a new war.

I thought Romney made a couple good points - one was highlighting the fact that Obama doubled the deficit when he said he would cut it in half.  He also did pretty well on explaining his tax plan - at least I feel like I understand it better.

When did Republicans and Democrats both become proponents of the "all of the above" energy strategies?  They sounded like they were reading from the same playbook on that topic.  There were a few differences, but both claimed to be huge promoters for oil and natural gas.  Huh.

That's it - I'm off to bed.  Good thing it's only a couple more weeks until the election.

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #41

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Beautiful Drive to Work

2.  Special Dinner Guests

3.  Fall Color

More Debate Thoughts

I actually watched the entire Vice Presidential debate tonight.  I'm not as fired up as the other night, but I do have a few observations.  As some of the analysts are saying, Joe Biden did bring some passion to the debate that made it interesting.  I also agree with some analysts that Joe Biden was somewhat rude with the amount of interrupting he did.  He overdid the whining/pouting about getting equal time to speak.  Half the fun was in watching the Twitter comments scrolling across the bottom of the screen on the Yahoo! News video stream I was watching.

Overall, I would say Paul Ryan did well.  I wasn't blown out of the water by him, but his performance was solid.  There were one or two times when I thought he was a little bit vague on some of the specific plans or didn't explain his numbers clearly enough.  Also, I don't think I really learned much about either party's plan for how to reduce the deficit or increase/decrease taxes on the middle class.  I didn't learn anything additional about what the Democrat plan is to save Social Security and Medicare, but I didn't understand what the real plan is from the Romney/Ryan side either.  They both disputed the other person's numbers, and there wasn't really a way to discern the truth by watching this.  You'd still need to dig into the details and numbers to get the real story.

I don't get how people say that the rich paying at a 14% tax rate is not as much as most other people.  Really?  I would say I pay at a fairly high rate considering I don't have any dependents and have a decent paying job, etc.  I went back and looked at my tax post for the year, and it turns out that my effective tax rate is about the same as Romney's (within 1%).  Who exactly is paying at a tax rate greater than 14%?  I'm assuming we're talking effective tax rate after you've accounted for all your deductions, etc.  And is this only federal income tax?  What about all the other taxes Romney is paying for state income tax, social security tax, etc.?  If you pay more than 14% for your effective federal income tax rate, please comment with what your life situation is that causes this to happen.  Don't give me the whole story about theoretically what someone making $50,000 would pay without deductions and tax breaks, etc.  I want an example from real life of someone who pays more than a 14% effective federal income tax rate and how this occurs.  Also, how is 14% of many millions of dollars (which means the taxes he pays are in the millions of dollars) something to belittle when most people are paying taxes in the amounts of thousands of dollars (if they are paying taxes at all)?  It's all in how you look at the numbers.  You can make the data say whatever you want it to say.

Now on to some cases of hypocrisy that I detected.

Joe Biden said several times very directly that it's the responsibility of the Afghans to take over from our U.S. troops and be responsible for securing their own country.  I find his adamant stance on responsibility ironic, considering how the Democrat party encourages many to not take responsibility for their own destiny and actions by increasing social programs and dependency on the government in our own country.  Why is responsibility required of the Afghans but not of individual U.S. citizens?  Why did we bail out GM and the banks?  Shouldn't corporations take responsibility for their own actions?

Another thing he said that was laughable was that Obama's Supreme Court appointees didn't have an agenda.  Everybody has an agenda.  Everybody.  Sometimes the agenda is noble, sometimes not.  But everybody has an agenda.  It's a natural law - your agenda is whatever your motivation is.

Towards the end, the candidates expressed their views on abortion, and Biden said he disagrees with abortion, but he doesn't think he should impose his view on other people by legislating to ban abortion.  Hmmmm......but it's OK to impose your lack-of-view on churches and companies that they have to pay for contraceptives that they may morally disagree with......and it's OK to use taxpayer money to pay for abortions that many taxpayers find objectionable....how is that not imposing a religious view on someone through legislation?  How is that not stepping on the constitutional right of people to have freedom of religion?  Having basic laws like murder being a crime is based fundamentally in religion (one of the ten commandments and the belief that life is sacred).  Get real.  You can't completely separate religion from everything.

I don't want to be one-sided and say Ryan didn't make any statements that were without hypocrisy, but I didn't notice as many.  Biden did call him out a little bit on how Ryan requested some funding for Wisconsin in the bailout legislation.  That was probably the biggest thing I saw.

I'm sure you think that's enough for the night.  You better hope I don't watch the upcoming presidential debates if you don't like these political rants.

Thirstary

You know how sometimes something reminds you of a certain person, place, or moment in time?  This is especially true of songs.  But, the other day I was reminded in the grocery store in the juice aisle.  They have a small shelf of specialty juices at my favorite grocery store.  It's the same area where you can find the strong "Just Cranberry" juice.  A couple weeks ago they had the juice-in-a-small-box on sale.  I'm not talking about juice boxes like when you were a kid with the bendy straw - that's a different memory.  I'm talking about the coated cardboard boxes that are about a quart size (or should I say exactly one liter) and have delicious juice in them.

You know what that reminds me of?  Europe.  More specifically, of Hungary.  When Ananias and I went to visit Weeds there one time, I very clearly remember going to a little neighborhood store and buying some of those juice-in-a-boxes.  They're kind of fun except their pour opening is really small and they don't have any vent holes, so it always splashes when you pour.  You know what else reminds me of Weeds and Hungary?  Enya's "A Day Without Rain" album.  Seeing my bright yellow rain jacket that I was told totally screamed "foreigner."  The airline losing my luggage.  Cold sleeper car trains.  My funky winter hat.  I'm sure there are others, but that's enough for now.

Gratitude Photojournal 2012, Week #40

Things I'm thankful for this week:

1.  Things Coming to Remembrance

2.  Improved Range of Motion

3.  Kayaking With Friends

Debate Thought

I try not to comment too much on politics here, but I can't help myself today.  I watched the last few minutes of the presidential debate this evening.  I didn't watch the whole thing, so I can't say who "won" or anything.  But.....in the few minutes I watched, Obama criticized Romney for not having a more specific plan on something.  Really?!?!  Isn't that the height of hypocrisy to tell someone they need a more detailed plan when it's your party that hasn't passed a budget in Congress for more than three years?  How can people take you seriously when you say your opponent needs a plan and it's a member of your party that said you had to pass the Obamacare bill before you could know what's in it?  Or when all your other "plans" that Congress passed are driving the nation into debt at an astronomical rate?  People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.  Just sayin'.

Graduated or Expelled, One of the Two

I saw the OT for my finger again today, and she said I don't need any more appointments with her.  When making a fist, my MP and PIP joints were at 95 degrees, and my DIP joint was at 75 degrees.  That's almost a full fist!  I'm still supposed to do my current hand exercises three times a day for the next three weeks and then after that on an "as needed" basis whenever the finger is feeling stiff because of cold weather or things like that.  She recommended I wear the buddy strap for sports for many more months to come.  When testing my grip strength, my left hand was at 70 pounds, and my right hand at 80 pounds.  That's in the normal range for your dominant hand to be 10-15 pounds stronger.  The finger is still a little sensitive to certain motions and there is some swelling, but it's definitely getting better.

She told me today that I beat the odds by achieving nearly full range of motion.  She said she had thought I probably wasn't going to be able to get full range of motion in my DIP joint.  Good thing she didn't tell me her expectations before.  I suppose part of it is due to being very diligent in following doctor's orders, following the exercise regimen, and being willing to experience a level 3 or 4 pain while exercising.  Six times a day for hand exercises was quite a few, but it paid off in the end.

I forgot to ask her about this today, but I wonder how much of being a therapist involves playing psychological games with your patients.  Do you tell them to do the exercises 6-8 times a day figuring that many people will disobey orders and only do them 4 or 5 times a day?  Should you give the patient the doom and gloom prediction hoping that it will motivate the patient to work hard and disprove it and so that they're mentally prepared if things don't go well?  Or, do you give them possibly false hope by painting a rosy picture of what the treatment can result in if they are diligent?  Do you do a combination of both things at different times in the treatment?  Do you try not to set any expectations at all?  While wearing the splint do they tell you not to bend the finger at all just hoping that you'll keep the bending to a minimum?  I think they were actually very serious about the not bending.  They stressed that multiple times.  Maybe they try to assess your personality and then proceed accordingly.

It's kind of a strange relationship.  After seeing the OT almost weekly for ten weeks straight and having her touching my hands and taking personal data on my finger and how it's affecting my life, suddenly you're done, good-bye, and that's that.  It was sort of inconvenient to leave work and go to the therapy sessions, but at the same time she did make the sessions fun.  The therapist also had a big impact on my life because without therapy, my finger definitely would have been crippled for life.  I enjoyed having Shelly as my OT.  I will recommend her to all my friends around here with dislocated fingers.  They give away graduation T-shirts.  When she told me that, I was picturing a T-shirt that said something witty like "I survived the torture at the Such-and-Such Hand Clinic".  Although they didn't really torture me much, they just taught me how to torture myself.  It turns out it's just a standard white T-shirt with the hospital's name and logo on it.  It's a free T-shirt though - what's not to like?  Paying that big deductible really paid off in the end, huh?

Not A Robot Questioning

I have noticed it is becoming more and more difficult to prove that you're not a robot if you would like to leave a comment.  I have that feature enabled to prevent spam comments.  So this question of for all you anonymous (and non-anonymous) commenters out there.  Would you like to continue to prove you're not a robot, or would you prefer that you be forced to be signed into some kind of account to be able to comment?

In other blog news, it's nice to see my readership extends all the way to Russia and the Ukraine.  Greetings to my cousins' cousins (and maybe my cousin).  I even get the occasional hit from Belgium or Ireland.  If we're not shirt tail relatives and you're checking my blog from Europe, I send greetings to you too.  Keep the faith.