Medical Insurance and You

I have been hearing lots about a push again for Federal Medical Insurance, you know kind of like the ones they have in Europe and Canada. Please, Please do not be fooled into believing this is even close to a good idea. Does the insurance industry in the U.S. need to be revamped? It sure does, but not by letting the Feds control what does and doesn't get paid for. The best way to insure that you the American citizen gets qaulity medical care and benefits is by keeping competition in the insurance industry. Competition fuels qaulity. No competition means people can care even less.

I think the first rule is for people to understand the role medical insurance plays in our life. There is prevailing attitude out there that 1. If I have insurance, I shouldn't have to pay for anything and 2. Doctors and the insurance companies are out to screw me.

Lets look at # 1. For starters do you know of any insurance that pays completely for a service?
How about car insurance, you have to pay a deductible and then depending on your policy you may have other costs or you may not. Your deductible is totally dependent on how much you decide you want to pay monthly. Want to pay more, less deductible, want to pay less, higher deductible. Next, how about homeowners insurance? You pay a yearly fee, which covers or doesn;t cover everything from destruction by fire to flood, force of nature etc... You pay more, for more coverage. How about if you buy a house in January insure it for 250,000. By May property values have doubled and your house burns down. If you choose to rebuild your same house, it will now cost $500,000. Your insurance will only cover $250,000. Get the point.
Medical works much the same, they will cover the small things, but once big ticket items appear, you better make sure you were paying for that possiblity ahead of time, or it won't get covered.

Lets look at #2. The first thing you need to remember is YOU are the customer. The second is the doctor IS NOT in kahoots with the ins. co. The doctor is just someone the insurance company needs to send money to on your behalf. As far as the insurance company is concerned, the doctor is a thorn in their side. Without YOU (or your employer) the insurance company has no income. Ultimately the people have control (in the big picture) of how the insurance company acts. Too often, people don't understand that relationship.

How can YOU help change things. You could start by creating a group at work (co-workers) to really examine your companies policy. Often you are given the "summary of benefits" but that tells you sqaut. As an employee, by law, you have a right to a copy of the full nuts and bolts policy. What is covered what isn't, what's excluded etc. In big companies, most are self funded even though the administration is through a company like Blue Cross or Aetna. In those, its possible to craft your own actual policies, coverage vs. exclusions.

We do need to change things but not by letting the Feds control it. If they do, there will come a point in everyone's life where a loved one will be forced to suffer in some way because the government says so. Didn't think Big Brother could happen, think again. Digest this for a little, I'll have more in the near future.

Where Have The Good Sportscasters Gone?

Long before cable TV, each network used to have it's own colorful sportscaster. I believe the sports actually got more time than it does now. The days of ESPN and local team cable coverage have put an end to networks actually needing a good personality to give us the sports coverage we both need and desire. Even when ESPN started, and up to a few years ago, those guys had personalities, they all seemed unique in their own way. Now, you can't tell the ESPN guys apart. They all seem like clones of each other spewing out the same jokes, nothing unique about a single one of them. Its too bad.

Gone are the days of seeing Warner Wolf cover "Wrestling at the Garden last night" or hearing him say, "And Tom, if you took Pitt +10 1/2..... you lost!!!"

I guess, if I ever want to see a sportscaster like that anymore I'll need to do this... "Let's go to the videotape!"

I assume women will not understand this post.

Awesome Video Found

So, I have been trying to partially clean up all the crap in my house I don't need. Find all the stuff that has been pack-ratted away for years, never to see the light of day again.... AND GET RID OF IT. So, i'm going thorugh stuff and I find this old concert video I forgot I had. D.R.I. Live at the Ritz in NYC. I popped it in and couldn't believe it. The concert was from June of 87, I was 20 years old and in the prime of my Metal/ Hardcore faze. D.R.I. was one of first bands to create what was considered crossover music. The sound and style that attracted both Metal heads and Skin heads. It was a great time in Hardcore music. They created a sound that brought together to different "cliques" of kids. There was one thing they never took into consideration. What happens when those two get together? Two words, fist fights. I was at a bunch of these shows and even as big as I was, you spent about half the show looking over your shoulder to make sure no one was taking aim at you. I was a metal guy with my mullet look, and those skins never did anything alone, if you fought one, you fought 20. You always kept you friends by your side. All that said, it never took away from the excitement and craziness of any of these shows, the D.R.I. video showed it all. Mosh Pits, tons of stage diving, and tons of fists being thrown!!! They had an interview with the band in video and I laughed at how young they looked. The singer was definitely the oldest, he looked about 25, the guitar and bass player both looked around 20 and the drummer looked like he was no older than 17 or 18. I figure after this, I'll see if they have a website and see what they are up to today.

Oh, and Tom, in the video there is a roadie at the side of the stage moshing around, wearing a Token Entry shirt!!!

What's Bugging Me Now?

Maybe the question should be, What isn't bugging me now? How the Human Race has gotten as far as it has is beyond me. Look, I am by far a perfect person, but I do like to think that I have a lot of good traits about me that make me an overall nice guy. I try to live by the philosphy of treat someone how you would like to be treated. Again, I'm not perfect, but I do have manners, I hold doors for people, I say Hi to people when eye contact is made, If I make mistake like bumping into someone or blocking their way in a store aisle, I apologize. Not sure how all that actually leads into the next paragraph, but here goes.

Why is it so damn hard for people for follow the rules? Any rules. Our "me" society has decided that most of the the the rules do not apply to them. For example, the other morning I was driving by a school near our house. There is a HUGE flasing light saying 25MPH when lights are flashing, there is also a Radar there that blinks when you are over the limit. I drop my speed to 25MPH, and in the total distance of about 70 yards in which you need to maintain this speed I had three cars pass me in the adjacent lane. Do you know how many should have passed me? Try ZERO, those assholes should have been doing 25MPH as well. The other one that gets me are the impatient assholes that fume when they actually have to stop because a school bus is either letting kids on or off. You know, these are the same ones that will be screaming lawsuit if their child ever gets turned into road kill. For those people that passed me, probably doing about 30 -35 MPH. Did you actually get any farther that much sooner? Did those extra 10MPH's have that big of an impact on your day. I'm guessing no.

This bitch can basically be appplied anywhere there is a sign or a rule asking that someone do something out of respect for others. Lets see there are Stop signs which people fail to actually come to full Stop for. Turn off your phone in theatre or stop talking for others trying to watch the movie, this one is always violated.

Oh, I just remember another bitch about people. How about those dumb asses in Costco, Sams, or whichever bulk store you shop at. You know, they put out those free samples to try on every aisle. Most people will, in general, run right over you to get a free swab of cheese on a half a cracker!!!!! Holy Shit, don't you have food at your house, It's unreal. Tara was at more than one booth with Mary, she couldn't even get a chance to move Mary's wheelchair out of the way and people are smacking into them, it looked like the classic film Soylent Green. Could you imagine if they were actually starving.

In conclusion, many people are so nasty now, and we have everything we could ever want. My advice to all nice people. If any bombs ever go off (Like in that show Jericho) you had better run right out and buy a gun, you'll need it to protect all the canned goods you'll retrieve next!!

Have a nice day :)

Get Rid of College !!!!

Recently, I have been in a lot of situations where I am around young working "professionals". I am amazed at how clueless these kids are. ( I know, 40 years probably said the same thing about me out of college). Here's what's bugging me. For some reason most graduates feel that a piece of paper ie... masters, doctrate, etc, entitle them to some large salary when they have absolutely no experience. Just recently I heard two young women speaking. The first mentioned an Uncle of hers who was an electrician who made around $60 per hour. The response from the second was, " Yeah, and I have a Masters" She definitely implied that 1. She should make more $$$ because she has a masters and that 2. Because he was ONLY an electrician he should not make that kind of money. This dimwitted broad never took into account that 1. This guy has probably been in the working world for about 20 more years than her. 2. He provides a much needed service, without guys like him she would have no lights, stereo, tv, ac, heat, the list goes on and on. 3. He gets paid a good amount because he has a skill that not many do (even though he didn't go to college to get it)

I have decided that not insurance, but college is the biggest scam in America. Americans pay exhorbanent amounts of money to get a degree. Kids come out of college with a whole bunch of book theory and large amounts of debt. You need to spend the next year or two knocking book theory out of their heads until they realize how the real world works. Take any job, even a doctor, figure out how much schooling it takes to receive the degree(s) needed. Now take the prospective student and have them apprentice those amount of years instead of "going to school" Our course it would need to be more detailed than that. There would be tests that need to be passed, both to start and finish an apprenticeship. It would save Americans tons of $$$ and get all those lazy ass professors who make tons of dough back into real world to see if they can really hack it or not.

I am convinced, their is not a single job that can't be learned on the job. This would help to begin the elimination of the seperation of classes. The rich kid is no longer gauranteed a high end spot somewhere just because they have a degree from Havard. Connections will always be important, but it would be a start to leveling the playing field and getting only the best Americans doing the jobs they actually want to work hard for. This is not a socialist attitude, this is more of true "American" view in that hard work will always pay off, and the slackers can take a back seat!!!!

Another note for TC

If you watched yesterdays game, I am sure you were cursing me 1 minute into the second half.
Ah but ye of little faith, UGA came through and covered. Today, take those winning pretzels and think about Cinn/ATL over 44 1/2. Supposed to be sunny and 60 with 11mph winds. Perfect day for scoring. See Ya in Aruba !!!!

Lock of the week for you TC

While perusing the odds this week, I came across this dandy. Georgia (I know not much offense) getting 13 1/2 vs Florida. Thats big points for an SEC showdown regardless of UGA being ranked or not. Their D is pretty good. Take UGA and the points. If your worried, tease it and take UGA + 19 1/2 and the over at 35 1/2.

I Think Its Time To Move

AHHHHH my lovely state of New Jersey. We now deem that same sex "couples" have the same rights as married couples, I guess we are just waiting to see if they will allow same sex marriage. I guess I get confused. Lets try to break this whole thing down a bit. I will be honest, I have not heard many of the reasons that gay couples want 1. the same rights as married couples and 2. the right to marry. Being a guy and always thinking fiscally, one of my guesses may be to be able to be afforded the same benefits that an opposite sex married couple receives. For instance, any tax breaks, filing joint returns, medical benefits or the ability to purchase those for your "partner". From a total outside view, it make sense to me. If I was in love with another guy, we made some sort of commitment to each other, I would want us to the ability to provide for each other the same way my neighbor does, I get it. Here is where it gets dicey. Where does it end?

I have my best friend, his name is also Jim, we have been friends 39 years of our lives. We live in two different states, but still speak on the phone 3 to 4 times a week. I can honestly say I love him. If we both didn't have families, we could easily live under the same roof and get along great. We would always care about each others well being. The only thing that would make us different from a gay couple is we wouldn't be having sex. Heck, you couldn't even say you need to sleep in the same bed, because when we were in our early 20's, we did that on a summer vacation because it was the only room in the hotel that the AC worked!!!! My point being, shouldn't we be eligible then for all benefits? My same friend has two older Aunts that live together, and have for years, they never married. Shouldn't they be given those rights as well? Shoot, probably would have saved them a ton of dough over the years.

Do you want to stop all the debate, I do. The first step is to get rid of common-law marriage, either you make a fuckin commitment or you don't. If you aren't married, then you aren't married. Once that is gone, you have an easier way to define marriage. Prior to "gay activism" the dictionary definition of a marriage was this : the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law. Now there is second line stating person of the same sex as well. Anyway, the question would be going all the wayyyyyyyy back in time, why did people marry? I don't have the exact reason why, but my guess is that it had something to do with pro-creation more than it did wanting to spend your life with someone. The continuation of a blood line, the continuation of mankind. Here's a newsflash, put three gay male couples on an island, come back in 60 years and let me know how well the civilization is thriving. Shoot, go ahead and make it 100 couples, maybe that will give mankind a better chance to thrive.

This is not an anti-gay post. I may not agree with the lifestyle, but I have no right to tell someone how to live. At some point though, the U.S. has to draw the line on issues, not just this one. Hate to break the news to ya, but our founding fathers would be spinning in their graves if they knew how bastardized their original model for this country has become. Have we made a lot of changes for the better? We sure have, but don't fall into the mistake of thinking that all change is good.

OOOHHHH the Pain Part II

OH the agony.... of defeat. What a depressing, dissappointing, disheartening way to lose a game. When Endy Chavez caught that ball in the top of sixth and then doubled off Edmonds at first... I thought it was destiny. We start the bottom of the sixth and Scott Rolen hands us two base runners in scoring position with one out. All we need is a F&*&*in fly ball. Suppan, who the Mets made look like Clemens then K's Valentin. UUUUUGGGGHHHHHH. I don't even want to talk about the 9th. As far as Willie Randolph, awesome coach, all the right moves in my book. He can only only put the players in place, he can't execute for them. I say this, it was one looooonnnnnggggg commute home.

This type of situation would make an interesting psychological experiment. Let me explain. After Molina hit the homer in the top of the 9th you could hear all the air get let out of the stadium. We had a little boy sitting behind us, about 6 years old with his glove and Mets hat on. I think it took him until the end of the top of 9th to really realize what had happened. He began to cry and sob saying, "But I wanted them to win". It almost kinda broke my heart, his Dad was great, told him to stop crying, the game wasn't over yet, and sometimes those things happen. I looked at my friend I was with, John and said "I've been there".

Whne the game ended, it was weird to observe all the different reactions, most people were just deflated. I did see one woman maybe early 20's wiping tears but not full out crying. The guys in their older teens, maybe early 20's were all yelling how the Cardinals suck and cursing their heads off. When they came upon the random Cards fan yelling at them so then that fan has to worry about getting out of the stadium alive. And the older guys like myself all basically take the stand, if you didn't win, you didn't deserve to. I guess it would be kind of interesting to see if age, gender, social status, previous life experiences etc.. can determine how a person will react to win or loss in a game of this magnitude.

One last word, I do have to say, I really hate the home team fans (if you can call them that) that taunt fans of the opposing team. We had a few Cardinal fans a little bit behind us, they wore their colors. There were a few guys behind them that spent a ton of time trying to get other fans to taunt them, pointing at them yelling Cardinals suck, stupid shit like that. The bottom line was that these kids seemed to need the backing of a crowd to have the balls to say anything. These are same kind of people that if you git them alone would quiver and say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it" Those fuckin people are a jinx. I did yell a couple times saying shut the fuck up, you'll jinx us, and damnit thats just what they did. I looked at those Cards fans through the game with end of each nail biting inning, and you know what, they were real fans. You could see it in their face, as the Cards sqaundered opportunities they were waiting to lose this game. Don't get me wrong, there is a etiquette to cheering for your team in a vistors park, you can cheer, but you must keep to yourself, no in your face stuff. If you start yelling about how your team rules or is so great, then I say, "Let the lions have you." If you cheer amongst yourselves you should be given nothing but free passage and a safe feeling that you can back to your car without getting something thrown at you.

Enough of this, I have tons of shows backed up on the Tivo that need watching.