So computer #1 just arrived in the mail today. It is a Dell m1330 laptop. It is awesome. Almost all the parts have arrived for the second computer, so that should be ready for assembly over the weekend.
Awesomeness is currently ruling my house!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Since I never got around to it...
I am going to post a "Happy Birday!" to Lauren on my blog. Hopefully the sunshine is treating her well down in Mexico. TEQUILA!!!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Congrats...
You've done it again, Michael Moore: absolutely nothing. I watch Sicko last night and it was everything I thought it would be. Let me start off by stating that my wife is a healthcare Actuary and I am pretty well educated in these sort of things, so we have some insight into the subject. Let's start off with some key points beside the point that his movie is not more a documentary than I am a Martian living on the dark side of the moon. Please note, this is a really long post, but insightful:
1) Cost: Moore manages to go through the entire movie mentioning the word "free" approximately 100 times (might be an exaggeration, but not by much). He never talks about marginal tax rate differences amongst the countries in his movie. The US has a marginal tax rate around 33%. Canadians pay about 47% and the French pay about 53%. The British pay a reasonable looking 40% until you find that they have a payroll tax in addition to their income taxes of 11% which pays for national healthcare. This means that these countries pay between 11-20% of their income to healthcare. This is hardly free. As for Cuba, I am assuming that they have a 100% marginal tax rate and the government redistributes these amounts as they see fit.
As a side note, all the Cubans in the movie were living sub-standard homes and playing dominos to pass the time. I really can't think of much of a reason to work if you will get food, shelter, and healthcare without having to work.
As for prescription drugs, in cuba they cost a few pesos which translates to a few cents. That is a very reasonable cost for prescription drugs. Of course this assumes that someone else (US drug companies) are taking the R&D hit. If you want to stick with the same drugs that have already been invented, yes, a few cents for a bottle of pills is reasonable. I can get a bottle of 100 Ibuprofen for $5 or 5 cents a pill. No research was necessary (or amortization of the development cost) because that drug has been around since 1961. Most drugs, especially HIV and cancer drugs, are very expensive to develop. Many years elapse, many formulas fail, many trials and testing must take place before a drug is ready to be sold. Profits aside (we'll get to this later), someone has to pay for that.
2) Sob stories: The first tells about a union machinist and his wife. The machinist had 3 heart attacks and then after that, his wife got cancer. As a result, they had to move into the basement storage room of their daughter's house.
First, just from looking at the guy, you know that he ate bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast, sat on a stool at his job, came home and plopped in his easy chair after work watching TV and drinking a beer before he headed to the dinner table for a bratwurst and fried okra. Here is a suggestion: don't eat crap and do some physical, heart pumping exercise. It is really easy to sit around and mope about how you don't have enough savings to pay for a heart attach you brought on yourself and now you have to live with your kids.
As for the wife, I genuinely feel bad. If they husband wasn't a mopey douche, I would feel bad about this situation.
On a totally unrelated note, the son-in-law they are moving in with has to go and do plumbing work in Iraq to pay the bills. Tough shit. Sometimes when the economy gets a little shaky, you have to do something to keep yourself afloat. I am sure if he really wanted to he could have done something locally, but he chose to take the fat paycheck. Those contractors in Iraq make good money, but in true Michael Moore fashion, that is beside the point.
Another story was about a lady who was an ER nurse and her husband, who may or may not have been employed. This story immediately followed a segment about the ridiculous profits that health insurance companies make by denying claims, so I figured he would talk about how this family got screwed over by the "big company" by having their claim denied. Turns out she was fully covered through her hospital and he claim was denied by the board of trustees. Big health insurance companies are bad, so we are going to prove this point by showing that her employer denied the claims. Nice work. Again, I feel genuinely bad because the guy died because of something that could have been fixed, but his wife's employer was to blame, not "big health."
Another favorite was the lady telling that doctors had to deny claims or the company would be hit with what is called in the industry a "medical loss." She said all ominously, like it was called a customer raping or savage beating. The fact is it is a loss related to a medical claim. A moment later they introduce the "hitman" who goes out and looks for a reason to deny your claim. He looks for false and concealed info in your health history and finds out if you really are sick by following you around. Moore never calls this guy by his real name which is "fraud investigator." "You withheld info on your app? Its ok, we aren't in the business of making money, so that is fine with us." Not likely that you will hear this from a health insurance provider.
Now for the hottest of topics: the 9-11 rescue works. These people were courageous. They went far beyond the call of duty during probably the most turbulent and tragic time on US soil since Pearl Harbor. However, there is a fine line between heroism and reckless behavior.
An illustration: if I am walking by a construction site and I see an injured construction worker, I will undoubtedly run to his aid. I am not going to deny him help simply because I am not wearing standard construction site apparel: goggles, steel-toed boots, and a hard hat. If I were run and help him and in the process suffer an injury, I would expect the company's insurance to cover my injury. Let's say that the company will allow me, because of my good nature to work for free in place of the worker that was injured, that is terrific. But if I refused to wear the appropriate safety equipment as part of that employment, the company would probably tell me to take a hike or they would not cover any injuries that I sustained while on the job without appropriate equipment.
In the same fashion, on the 11th, people jumped in to help the injured, the sick, the ones who had barely survived that traumatic ordeal. However, some of those people kept showing up a week or even weeks later (long after any survivors might be found in the rubble), still without appropriate breathing apparatuses and without other appropriate safety equipment. Initially, there is an adrenaline rush, but eventually your head has to get involved and realize that burning metal and black dust are bad for your lungs and a flimsy cloth dust mask just isn't enough. Realistically, there should have been people on the scene only letting those past who had appropriate attire. Again, I feel awful that these people are being left out in the cold as far as health care is concerned, but there is a certain level of responsibility that goes along with the heroism they provided.
3) Lack of a solution: What was Michael Moore's final solution to this mess? Copy Canada, Britain, France or Cuba? Canada's population 10% of the US, while Britain and France are about 20%, and Cuba is 3%. It is much easier to care for a large number of people when they are more centrally located (London and Paris contain 25% of their country's population, Havana and Toronto contain nearly 20%, while New York City only contains 5% of the US population). Managing that large of a bureaucracy would be extremely difficult, however, it probably could be done.
A far better solution would be a US Postal Service-type of setup. The US Postal Service, while a government entity, has been partial privatized. It actually turns a profit. The first step for the health care system, would be to remove public health insurance companies. Public companies function for one reason only: to make money for and look after the interests of stockholders. The main goal of health insurance should be to look after the interests of the insureds. Currently, in public companies, this is not done. All companies should be made mutual. All of the current profits that the public companies make could fund an underlying layer of healthcare that is available to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. For those working and making money, there would be an option to purchase a more comprehensive coverage that would allow one to visit the doctor of their choosing, get priority in waiting lines, and have the facilities of their choosing.
The bottom line is that public ownership leads to far too much streamlining at the cost of the insured. Full government control has shown time and again (DMV, passport services, IRS) that it just bogs down and gets taken advantage of.
In true Michael Moore fashion, this movie really leaves something to be desired. No solution, one sided arguments, lack of realistic facts. I really could go on, but I won't.
1) Cost: Moore manages to go through the entire movie mentioning the word "free" approximately 100 times (might be an exaggeration, but not by much). He never talks about marginal tax rate differences amongst the countries in his movie. The US has a marginal tax rate around 33%. Canadians pay about 47% and the French pay about 53%. The British pay a reasonable looking 40% until you find that they have a payroll tax in addition to their income taxes of 11% which pays for national healthcare. This means that these countries pay between 11-20% of their income to healthcare. This is hardly free. As for Cuba, I am assuming that they have a 100% marginal tax rate and the government redistributes these amounts as they see fit.
As a side note, all the Cubans in the movie were living sub-standard homes and playing dominos to pass the time. I really can't think of much of a reason to work if you will get food, shelter, and healthcare without having to work.
As for prescription drugs, in cuba they cost a few pesos which translates to a few cents. That is a very reasonable cost for prescription drugs. Of course this assumes that someone else (US drug companies) are taking the R&D hit. If you want to stick with the same drugs that have already been invented, yes, a few cents for a bottle of pills is reasonable. I can get a bottle of 100 Ibuprofen for $5 or 5 cents a pill. No research was necessary (or amortization of the development cost) because that drug has been around since 1961. Most drugs, especially HIV and cancer drugs, are very expensive to develop. Many years elapse, many formulas fail, many trials and testing must take place before a drug is ready to be sold. Profits aside (we'll get to this later), someone has to pay for that.
2) Sob stories: The first tells about a union machinist and his wife. The machinist had 3 heart attacks and then after that, his wife got cancer. As a result, they had to move into the basement storage room of their daughter's house.
First, just from looking at the guy, you know that he ate bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast, sat on a stool at his job, came home and plopped in his easy chair after work watching TV and drinking a beer before he headed to the dinner table for a bratwurst and fried okra. Here is a suggestion: don't eat crap and do some physical, heart pumping exercise. It is really easy to sit around and mope about how you don't have enough savings to pay for a heart attach you brought on yourself and now you have to live with your kids.
As for the wife, I genuinely feel bad. If they husband wasn't a mopey douche, I would feel bad about this situation.
On a totally unrelated note, the son-in-law they are moving in with has to go and do plumbing work in Iraq to pay the bills. Tough shit. Sometimes when the economy gets a little shaky, you have to do something to keep yourself afloat. I am sure if he really wanted to he could have done something locally, but he chose to take the fat paycheck. Those contractors in Iraq make good money, but in true Michael Moore fashion, that is beside the point.
Another story was about a lady who was an ER nurse and her husband, who may or may not have been employed. This story immediately followed a segment about the ridiculous profits that health insurance companies make by denying claims, so I figured he would talk about how this family got screwed over by the "big company" by having their claim denied. Turns out she was fully covered through her hospital and he claim was denied by the board of trustees. Big health insurance companies are bad, so we are going to prove this point by showing that her employer denied the claims. Nice work. Again, I feel genuinely bad because the guy died because of something that could have been fixed, but his wife's employer was to blame, not "big health."
Another favorite was the lady telling that doctors had to deny claims or the company would be hit with what is called in the industry a "medical loss." She said all ominously, like it was called a customer raping or savage beating. The fact is it is a loss related to a medical claim. A moment later they introduce the "hitman" who goes out and looks for a reason to deny your claim. He looks for false and concealed info in your health history and finds out if you really are sick by following you around. Moore never calls this guy by his real name which is "fraud investigator." "You withheld info on your app? Its ok, we aren't in the business of making money, so that is fine with us." Not likely that you will hear this from a health insurance provider.
Now for the hottest of topics: the 9-11 rescue works. These people were courageous. They went far beyond the call of duty during probably the most turbulent and tragic time on US soil since Pearl Harbor. However, there is a fine line between heroism and reckless behavior.
An illustration: if I am walking by a construction site and I see an injured construction worker, I will undoubtedly run to his aid. I am not going to deny him help simply because I am not wearing standard construction site apparel: goggles, steel-toed boots, and a hard hat. If I were run and help him and in the process suffer an injury, I would expect the company's insurance to cover my injury. Let's say that the company will allow me, because of my good nature to work for free in place of the worker that was injured, that is terrific. But if I refused to wear the appropriate safety equipment as part of that employment, the company would probably tell me to take a hike or they would not cover any injuries that I sustained while on the job without appropriate equipment.
In the same fashion, on the 11th, people jumped in to help the injured, the sick, the ones who had barely survived that traumatic ordeal. However, some of those people kept showing up a week or even weeks later (long after any survivors might be found in the rubble), still without appropriate breathing apparatuses and without other appropriate safety equipment. Initially, there is an adrenaline rush, but eventually your head has to get involved and realize that burning metal and black dust are bad for your lungs and a flimsy cloth dust mask just isn't enough. Realistically, there should have been people on the scene only letting those past who had appropriate attire. Again, I feel awful that these people are being left out in the cold as far as health care is concerned, but there is a certain level of responsibility that goes along with the heroism they provided.
3) Lack of a solution: What was Michael Moore's final solution to this mess? Copy Canada, Britain, France or Cuba? Canada's population 10% of the US, while Britain and France are about 20%, and Cuba is 3%. It is much easier to care for a large number of people when they are more centrally located (London and Paris contain 25% of their country's population, Havana and Toronto contain nearly 20%, while New York City only contains 5% of the US population). Managing that large of a bureaucracy would be extremely difficult, however, it probably could be done.
A far better solution would be a US Postal Service-type of setup. The US Postal Service, while a government entity, has been partial privatized. It actually turns a profit. The first step for the health care system, would be to remove public health insurance companies. Public companies function for one reason only: to make money for and look after the interests of stockholders. The main goal of health insurance should be to look after the interests of the insureds. Currently, in public companies, this is not done. All companies should be made mutual. All of the current profits that the public companies make could fund an underlying layer of healthcare that is available to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. For those working and making money, there would be an option to purchase a more comprehensive coverage that would allow one to visit the doctor of their choosing, get priority in waiting lines, and have the facilities of their choosing.
The bottom line is that public ownership leads to far too much streamlining at the cost of the insured. Full government control has shown time and again (DMV, passport services, IRS) that it just bogs down and gets taken advantage of.
In true Michael Moore fashion, this movie really leaves something to be desired. No solution, one sided arguments, lack of realistic facts. I really could go on, but I won't.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Blinded by the light...
For the longest time, I would have followed up that line with "wrapped up like a douche, another roamer in the night." Today, come to find out that the actual lyrics, originally by Bruce Springsteen, are "cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night." It refers to a '32 Ford which was known as the Deuce Coupe. When Manfred Mann remade it, they changed up the lyrics to be "revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night." Shocking.
Lauren always loved to misquote songs. My favorite was Better Than Ezra's "Disparately Wanting" which somehow translated to "Desperately Horny." My mom always enjoyed laughing at Credence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon on the Rise" by singing "Oh, the bathroom's on the right."
As a child (before I could read and write) I would sing church songs phonetically. The one that still stands out in my mind was "Jesus loves me, this I know." In my dimwitted mind, it translated to "Jesus loves me, the Sino." I thought for a long time that I was a Sino which was related to a sinner or a non-deity human. What a little douche I was...
Lauren always loved to misquote songs. My favorite was Better Than Ezra's "Disparately Wanting" which somehow translated to "Desperately Horny." My mom always enjoyed laughing at Credence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon on the Rise" by singing "Oh, the bathroom's on the right."
As a child (before I could read and write) I would sing church songs phonetically. The one that still stands out in my mind was "Jesus loves me, this I know." In my dimwitted mind, it translated to "Jesus loves me, the Sino." I thought for a long time that I was a Sino which was related to a sinner or a non-deity human. What a little douche I was...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
She gave me a pen...
So I hadn't watched Say Anything in a long time and the wife hadn't watched it ever, so I decided it was time to pull the trigger. Imagine my surprise when I almost immediately find out it takes place in Seattle! Last time I watched it, Seattle was less than a twinkle in my eye.
This movie features some standouts before you knew they were going to be standouts: Jeremy Piven (prior to PCU even!), Eric Stoltz (the adrenaline syringe stabber from Pulp Fiction), Dan Castellaneta (aka Homer), Lili Taylor (hippy Lisa from Six Feet Under), John Mahoney (Frazier's dad), and of course Ione Skye (Egg's mom from Arrested Development). I was quite shocked to see all these people under one proverbial roof.
Recently, we also started watching Heroes on Netflix Watch Instantly. They got rid of the time limit, so now we are blazing our way through Heroes at a feverish pace. I've seen some interesting appearances there as well: Richard Roundtree (Shaft!), Hayden Panettiere (the daughter with the winning football play in Remember the Titans), Jimmy Jean-Louis (Dhalsim from Streetfighter... just kidding, but he could be), Stephen Tobolowsky (the creepy boss from Single, White Female), and George Takei (Mr Sulu from Star Trek).
Incidentally, the guy who plays Sylar in Heroes (Zachary Quinto) is set to play Spock in the upcoming Star Trek movie and Leonard Nimoy is going to reprise his Spock role, I would assume as a flash forward to when Spock is old or maybe as a narrator. Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) is set to play Scotty, so I thought Lauren might enjoy that tidbit.
Upcoming watchings consist of Alpha Dog (on HD DVD), Terminator 3 (on HD DVD), and Singles. Coincidentally, I had Singles and Say Anything on my queue in a row and didn't even realize they were both Seattle movies. I had watched Singles before I moved here, so hopefully I'll see a bunch of crap that I know where it is now. Plus there is an Eddie Vedder cameo!
This movie features some standouts before you knew they were going to be standouts: Jeremy Piven (prior to PCU even!), Eric Stoltz (the adrenaline syringe stabber from Pulp Fiction), Dan Castellaneta (aka Homer), Lili Taylor (hippy Lisa from Six Feet Under), John Mahoney (Frazier's dad), and of course Ione Skye (Egg's mom from Arrested Development). I was quite shocked to see all these people under one proverbial roof.
Recently, we also started watching Heroes on Netflix Watch Instantly. They got rid of the time limit, so now we are blazing our way through Heroes at a feverish pace. I've seen some interesting appearances there as well: Richard Roundtree (Shaft!), Hayden Panettiere (the daughter with the winning football play in Remember the Titans), Jimmy Jean-Louis (Dhalsim from Streetfighter... just kidding, but he could be), Stephen Tobolowsky (the creepy boss from Single, White Female), and George Takei (Mr Sulu from Star Trek).
Incidentally, the guy who plays Sylar in Heroes (Zachary Quinto) is set to play Spock in the upcoming Star Trek movie and Leonard Nimoy is going to reprise his Spock role, I would assume as a flash forward to when Spock is old or maybe as a narrator. Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) is set to play Scotty, so I thought Lauren might enjoy that tidbit.
Upcoming watchings consist of Alpha Dog (on HD DVD), Terminator 3 (on HD DVD), and Singles. Coincidentally, I had Singles and Say Anything on my queue in a row and didn't even realize they were both Seattle movies. I had watched Singles before I moved here, so hopefully I'll see a bunch of crap that I know where it is now. Plus there is an Eddie Vedder cameo!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
If you all look out the right side of the plane... we'll all crash...
On the right side of my blog you will notice a new section. I am going to begin chronicling my running. The wife and I signed up for a half-marathon. In all honesty, we kept talking about running every month or so, but never got around to it. I figured we needed a concrete goal to work toward. I thought about signing up for a 5k or a 10k, but then I figured if I signed up for a 5k, I would train like I was running for a 5k, aka not very hard. I thought about signing up for a 10k, but that was kind of a "I want to work hard, but not THAT hard." Finally, I decided that I wanted to work hard, get in shape, and do something that I could be proud of -- 13.1 miles.
Between now and the week of February 16th, the wife and I have to get to the point where we can handle a 4 mile run. At that point, we will begin our half-marathon training, the first week of which involves 12 miles of running, 30 minutes of crosstraining, and an unspecified amount of strength training. In addition, I have been doing lots of situps. I want to do pushups, but I am having troubles with my sternum. I think I fractured it skiing, so I'll have to see about that.
Joining us in our endeavor is my buddy Gov. Should be a good time.
Between now and the week of February 16th, the wife and I have to get to the point where we can handle a 4 mile run. At that point, we will begin our half-marathon training, the first week of which involves 12 miles of running, 30 minutes of crosstraining, and an unspecified amount of strength training. In addition, I have been doing lots of situps. I want to do pushups, but I am having troubles with my sternum. I think I fractured it skiing, so I'll have to see about that.
Joining us in our endeavor is my buddy Gov. Should be a good time.
You're killin' me, Smalls...
The stupid writers need to grow a pair and accept that the economy is going through a downturn, ad revenue is down, and everyone is losing interest in the crappy sitcoms they write anyway. I understand that you want money for online shows. I understand that your artistic talent is priceless. But that being said, take it like a man and write some TV shows.
Enough of the rant.
American Gladiators? Knight Rider? Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles? Its like I have stepped back to the golden age of television. All I need now is Air Wolf, Dukes of Hazzard, and Today's Special.
American Gladiators is terrific and I love it, but it could use a few tweaks:
- Drop the interview portion of the show. They seem to think we enjoy the pre-rehersed one-liners. The bullriding lady is going to charge through to the end? Really? The preacher better pray the gladiators don't break him in half? Enough already. We get it.
- Add another event or lengthen the current events. If you take out the "add nothing" interviews, you would leave room for an awesome past event such as the Atlas Balls (the giant hamster balls) or the ceiling race (I don't remember the name but they hang from a harness and run on the ceiling).
- Bring back Larry Thompson, the former referee. I looked him up on IMDB. He is still alive. I can't stand Smirky McSmirkerson who is calling the shots these days.
I haven't seen much about Knight Rider, but I have seen the new KITT. Holy crap! What a car! I want one. I would easily give up the G35 for it.
I started watching a little of the Terminator show, but I found it dry and boring, so I turned it off. If it gets good, I'll rent it from Netflix in a year. However, it did inspire me to watch T1 and T2 with the wife. She had never seen them and currently we are engrossed, but had to quit half way through 2 because it is over 2.5 hours long. I don't remember it being that long. T3 is in the mail and should be here for the weekend. I've heard not as good of things, but we'll see.
Lastly, I've started watching Biggest Loser. I know C-Funk is a big fan. I am hooked. I didn't watch in the past but this couples thing is awesome. I can't believe how big of a pussy Neill is. I want to kick that guy in the nuts, but I know he doesn't have any. Grow a pair! And grow an extra pair for the writers that are on strike! The best part about the show is the motivation factor. We have started running, eating better, and recently signed up for a half-marathon on May 11th (more on this later).
Enough of the rant.
American Gladiators? Knight Rider? Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles? Its like I have stepped back to the golden age of television. All I need now is Air Wolf, Dukes of Hazzard, and Today's Special.
American Gladiators is terrific and I love it, but it could use a few tweaks:
- Drop the interview portion of the show. They seem to think we enjoy the pre-rehersed one-liners. The bullriding lady is going to charge through to the end? Really? The preacher better pray the gladiators don't break him in half? Enough already. We get it.
- Add another event or lengthen the current events. If you take out the "add nothing" interviews, you would leave room for an awesome past event such as the Atlas Balls (the giant hamster balls) or the ceiling race (I don't remember the name but they hang from a harness and run on the ceiling).
- Bring back Larry Thompson, the former referee. I looked him up on IMDB. He is still alive. I can't stand Smirky McSmirkerson who is calling the shots these days.
I haven't seen much about Knight Rider, but I have seen the new KITT. Holy crap! What a car! I want one. I would easily give up the G35 for it.
I started watching a little of the Terminator show, but I found it dry and boring, so I turned it off. If it gets good, I'll rent it from Netflix in a year. However, it did inspire me to watch T1 and T2 with the wife. She had never seen them and currently we are engrossed, but had to quit half way through 2 because it is over 2.5 hours long. I don't remember it being that long. T3 is in the mail and should be here for the weekend. I've heard not as good of things, but we'll see.
Lastly, I've started watching Biggest Loser. I know C-Funk is a big fan. I am hooked. I didn't watch in the past but this couples thing is awesome. I can't believe how big of a pussy Neill is. I want to kick that guy in the nuts, but I know he doesn't have any. Grow a pair! And grow an extra pair for the writers that are on strike! The best part about the show is the motivation factor. We have started running, eating better, and recently signed up for a half-marathon on May 11th (more on this later).
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
My top accomplishment thus far for 2008...
Today I finished a 1 pound bag of sunflower seeds. It usually takes me 3 months to finish a 2 ounce bag, yet I persevered and cracked my way through 16 ounces of crunchy, salty goodness.
I would just like to thank all those that helped make this accomplishment possible: my lovely wife, David - the fine fellow who made grew and salted the sunflower seeds, and most of all, the cleaning crew who emptied my spit cup nightly. My thanks goes out to all of you...
I would just like to thank all those that helped make this accomplishment possible: my lovely wife, David - the fine fellow who made grew and salted the sunflower seeds, and most of all, the cleaning crew who emptied my spit cup nightly. My thanks goes out to all of you...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
