read again on Sunday,...I'm taking on the 70's,...1970 and 1977 to be exact. Both the birth years of two of my children. (1968 was the 3rd one.)
In the mean time Q: Name one of the "top ten" songs for the year 1977.
Clue: "Soar like an......."
closest to the right answer get's a personal e-mail from Mr. Guinness. (Savor them kid's,...it'll be a collectors item in ten years. :)
-30-
Friday, November 30, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
"It's OOOOOOOOOver,...It's OOOOOOver."
...and thus sang Roy Orbison back in the sixties. Yup It's over. Here I am on a Sunday afternoon at 1 pm. getting ready to have a bite to eat, head for the Pub and watch some football, and otherwiseget ready for going back to work tomorrow, (sigh!).
Well it was a four day weekend with Thanksgivig and all, but it also means I go into stress mode because Christmas is only 30 days away. But I got plenty of reast, I'm going back to work with just about 90% of the stuff I brought home from work completed, (five hours this morning and I whacked it all out! Wasn't as bad as I thought.)
Getting down to the "nubbins" (old slang term for the stub of a pencil back in grammar school when you had run it through the pencil sharpener such that there was not even a millimeter to hold onto and sharpen it again. Another "old fart history lesson for all you boys and girls out there.)
The other day, well if the truth be known probably about four months ago, the wife and I went out to breakfast at a place called Cracker Barrel. (National chain, big tacky little gift shop where you are forced to wait twenty minutes until your table is ready and you always find a "gotta havit",....well anyway I picked up a few of those "remember when?" sort of greeting cards that were particular to the year on the cover. I bought one for each of my kids, (children, not goats!) and the year they were born. When we got home they got laid on the dining room table, buried under incoming mail for a month or two, moved to the fourth stair (Which is my wife's signal to "get it the hell out of here or I'll dump it in the trash" for everything that reaches critical mass on the dining room table and nothing more can be piled on top lest the entire thing just start cascading crap on the floor. (It's not a pretty picture, but being a guy, who cares? I know where every single thing we've gotten in the mail for the past three months is,...exactly,...well within a couple of feet of table top anyway.
I was going to send them out to the kids with a few "pithy" comments from the "Father Unit', aand then I got to reading them. Talk about something to make you feel older than dirt!! Try a few of these things;
1. The Boeing 737 makes it's first flight. (Shit that means they are some planes out there, I'm putting my body into that are older than my kids, almost 40 years old, crap, how can anything over forty years old still work?)
2. The Monkeys perform at Forest Hills, NY BUT Jimi Hendricks is thier opening act!
3. The Beatles turn down a $1,000,000 conttract offer for a concet in New York City
4. The Arab Isreali "Six day War" is waged. (I thought it was still going on, just a bigger field of battle
5. Che Guevara is captured and killed by the Bolivians
6. The FIRST heart transplants are attempted in South Africa and New York; the patients survived for 18 days and 2 hours respectively. (And today it's like getting an oil and lube for your car almost, plus they've invented an "artificial heart!).
7. Amana introduces the FIRST Microwave oven for consumers. (Shit that's scary. What the hell did you do before throw the food on a fire like and then when it smoked take it off?)
8. The average Life expectancy was 70.2 years
9. There was no Nobel peace prize awarded. (Schocked, why? Vietnam was in full tilt, the Arabs and Isrealies were kicking the shit out of each other, and who knows how many little skirmishes were going on!)
10. and some other interesting tidbits.
New house cost $14,425
Average Income was $7,305 per year (sounds like my bar bill this year!)
New car was $2,724 (I almost bought a brand new Volvo in '67 but
thought $2700 was too high!!
Average Movie ticket $1.25
Gasoline was $0.33 a gallon (We should have just taken out the middle
east then and the gas and oil "crisis" would be over by now!)
Eggs were $0.38 a dozen, Fresh baked Bread was $0.22 a loaf
Julia Roberts AND Pamela Anderson were both born as was "Normie" from
Cheers, John Ratzenberger!
The MOvies that were hits were;
Bonnie & Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, The Graduate
The hit "tunes" were
"All you need is love" - The Beatles, "Light my
Fire" - Jim Morrison and the Doors, "Penny Lane"- The
Beatles, and a Cyborg(used to be all human, now
mostly mechanical) group called "The Rolling Stones
with Mick Jaggar and "Ruby Tuesday"
I'd go on, but I can't stand the "squeaking" of my joints and bones nor do these brain cells think they can continue without a trip to the Pub for my elixir of Guinness to be able to wake up again tomorrow.
Think about what has come into this world since 1967. And then realize that I your favorite blogger was standing at the Alter getting married June 10th of that year, during the "Six day War" and hoping I was not called back before the honeymoon, as I was a Gob, a sailor, a swabby, and guess what? Still got the same wife! Now that's scary when you realize the Boeing 737 you fly is as old as your wife!! (Damn, guess I better get new sneakers, cause if the plane has the same aches and pains she says she does,....welll you do the math, and figure the odds.
-30-
Well it was a four day weekend with Thanksgivig and all, but it also means I go into stress mode because Christmas is only 30 days away. But I got plenty of reast, I'm going back to work with just about 90% of the stuff I brought home from work completed, (five hours this morning and I whacked it all out! Wasn't as bad as I thought.)
Getting down to the "nubbins" (old slang term for the stub of a pencil back in grammar school when you had run it through the pencil sharpener such that there was not even a millimeter to hold onto and sharpen it again. Another "old fart history lesson for all you boys and girls out there.)
The other day, well if the truth be known probably about four months ago, the wife and I went out to breakfast at a place called Cracker Barrel. (National chain, big tacky little gift shop where you are forced to wait twenty minutes until your table is ready and you always find a "gotta havit",....well anyway I picked up a few of those "remember when?" sort of greeting cards that were particular to the year on the cover. I bought one for each of my kids, (children, not goats!) and the year they were born. When we got home they got laid on the dining room table, buried under incoming mail for a month or two, moved to the fourth stair (Which is my wife's signal to "get it the hell out of here or I'll dump it in the trash" for everything that reaches critical mass on the dining room table and nothing more can be piled on top lest the entire thing just start cascading crap on the floor. (It's not a pretty picture, but being a guy, who cares? I know where every single thing we've gotten in the mail for the past three months is,...exactly,...well within a couple of feet of table top anyway.
I was going to send them out to the kids with a few "pithy" comments from the "Father Unit', aand then I got to reading them. Talk about something to make you feel older than dirt!! Try a few of these things;
1. The Boeing 737 makes it's first flight. (Shit that means they are some planes out there, I'm putting my body into that are older than my kids, almost 40 years old, crap, how can anything over forty years old still work?)
2. The Monkeys perform at Forest Hills, NY BUT Jimi Hendricks is thier opening act!
3. The Beatles turn down a $1,000,000 conttract offer for a concet in New York City
4. The Arab Isreali "Six day War" is waged. (I thought it was still going on, just a bigger field of battle
5. Che Guevara is captured and killed by the Bolivians
6. The FIRST heart transplants are attempted in South Africa and New York; the patients survived for 18 days and 2 hours respectively. (And today it's like getting an oil and lube for your car almost, plus they've invented an "artificial heart!).
7. Amana introduces the FIRST Microwave oven for consumers. (Shit that's scary. What the hell did you do before throw the food on a fire like and then when it smoked take it off?)
8. The average Life expectancy was 70.2 years
9. There was no Nobel peace prize awarded. (Schocked, why? Vietnam was in full tilt, the Arabs and Isrealies were kicking the shit out of each other, and who knows how many little skirmishes were going on!)
10. and some other interesting tidbits.
New house cost $14,425
Average Income was $7,305 per year (sounds like my bar bill this year!)
New car was $2,724 (I almost bought a brand new Volvo in '67 but
thought $2700 was too high!!
Average Movie ticket $1.25
Gasoline was $0.33 a gallon (We should have just taken out the middle
east then and the gas and oil "crisis" would be over by now!)
Eggs were $0.38 a dozen, Fresh baked Bread was $0.22 a loaf
Julia Roberts AND Pamela Anderson were both born as was "Normie" from
Cheers, John Ratzenberger!
The MOvies that were hits were;
Bonnie & Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, The Graduate
The hit "tunes" were
"All you need is love" - The Beatles, "Light my
Fire" - Jim Morrison and the Doors, "Penny Lane"- The
Beatles, and a Cyborg(used to be all human, now
mostly mechanical) group called "The Rolling Stones
with Mick Jaggar and "Ruby Tuesday"
I'd go on, but I can't stand the "squeaking" of my joints and bones nor do these brain cells think they can continue without a trip to the Pub for my elixir of Guinness to be able to wake up again tomorrow.
Think about what has come into this world since 1967. And then realize that I your favorite blogger was standing at the Alter getting married June 10th of that year, during the "Six day War" and hoping I was not called back before the honeymoon, as I was a Gob, a sailor, a swabby, and guess what? Still got the same wife! Now that's scary when you realize the Boeing 737 you fly is as old as your wife!! (Damn, guess I better get new sneakers, cause if the plane has the same aches and pains she says she does,....welll you do the math, and figure the odds.
-30-
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Rage is a powerful pile of shit!!
Dumb title, but you're reading on aren't you? Ok so what's it about? Like the theme song from the old Gilligan's Island said, "Sit right back and I'll tell a tale, a tale of a mighty,..." (whatever the hell it was!)
Sitting back, got your coffee, Guinness, bottled water, or other baverage of choice? Buckle up kids, here we go!
It's Sunday morning, I just got home from church, poured a cup of coffee and decided to give Blue Cross/Blue Sheild, the health care provider I applied to for insurance back in September a call and see what was up, since all I have now is a 30 day, renewable policy month to month until they "decided" whether to issue my wife and I a plan. "They're not open on Sunday." says the wife, but good old me says, "people get sick on weekend too, someone's got to be there!" so I call. After the obligatory "push 1 for english", press 48 for human beings", press 37 for human beings with a brain", and finally after 27 of those buttin pushing exercises the final one, "press zero for an operator". (Shit I could have done that on button number one if I knew that's where we are going with this!)
"Hello, this is Tamara, may I help you?"
"Yes Tamara, thank you for answering so quickly, this is Mr. Guinness and I would like to check on my application for the health insurance plan I applied for for myself and my wife. Can you help me with that?"
"Certainly sir, when did you apply ffor it?"
"September 24th"
"And the last four digits of your social security number?"
"1234"
"...and your zip code?"
"..32459."
"and your full street address?"
" 3245 Happy Camper Lane."
"...and lastly your date of birth?"
"...February 22, 1945."
"One moment sir I'm pulling that information up on my screen"
"No problem Tamara."
"Ok sir I have it up on my screen now."
"...And?"
"You and your wife have been permanently declined."
"That sounds a little onerous Tamara,...what does "permanently declined" mean?
"Well, it means we aren't going to provide you with the health insurance permanently, for any reason, at any time in the future."
"Ok,...but why are we being "permanently declined?"
"Based on your Doctors medical records."
"Wait a minute he told me I'm fine, and has been every year for the past six or so. He asks me to quit this, change that, lose a few pounds, but other than that that's it. What is so bad about that?
"Well sir in October of '05 he said you had "impaired fasting glucose", that right there is a permanent decline by our rules. And at the same time he said you had an "abnormal echo cardiogram", and then in February of '06 he indicated in the records that you had evidence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease."
"He never told me any of that shit!"
"Sorry sir, that's what's in the records."
"Ok, so what about my wife, can we at least get her on an individual plan?"
"No sir, she's under a permanent decline classification as well."
"For what?"
"Well in April of '04 she was diagnosed with "Rheumatoid Arthritis in both hands", that's a permanent decline all by itself, but in September of '06 she also had an "Abnormal Echo Cardiogram", and then in April of this year her "lipids were inconsistent with her height and weight", all of those are permanent decline criteria."
"Wonderful, so what are my options here?"
"None sir."
"What do you mean none, that's sort of final, end of the road, "tout finis"."
"Yes sir that's correct."
"So you mean we can't get health insurance,...period!"
"Yes sir."
"But the Doctor never, ever, told me any of that stuff."
"Sorry sir, is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Yeah,...what do I do now, there is only six days left on the temporary policy you guys offered me while you went through the application process."
"Your only option is to get on a group plan with your company sir."
"Thank you Tamara, you've been nice, helpful, but the answers were all wrong."
"Sorry sir, have a nice day. Goodbye."
"yeah, you too."
The phone is hung up, my mind is swirling, and "rage" is bubbling up,...big time!
If I can't get health insurance I'm screwed. Not only will a simple Doctor's visit wipe out a week's pay, but then how do you pay your bills, the spiral gets deeper, darker, and scarier after that. The options narrow until you have to wind up handing out carriages at Walmart and saying "Welcome to Walmart" just to get health insurance,....now that is scarrier than shit,...BIG TIME!"
So I guess I've got a "quest" for the week. Now where the hell did my old side-kick, Pancho go? I hate fighting windmills without him.
Oh, by the way tell me this isn't forcing a "socialized medicine" structure down our throats? Only healthy people get health insurance, and then I'll bet the bastards disqualify you on stuff that showed up twenty years ago.
I told my wife, I think it's pure horse shit. I think the folks in the Doc's office who put the little "codes" on the bill they send to the Insurance company manipulate the shit out of things to get the higher of the "fees allowed". While the Doctor tells me the echo-cariogram was simply a "test" to "give us a baseline for the future, if you ever do have a problem", and the "evidence of COPD (that's the folks you see carrying the little green oxygen tanks and tubes runninng from them up thier nose at the mall)covers his ass if I get lung cancer from smoking, which I stopped a few years ago when he suggested it. So far as "impaired fasting glucose" you can bet your sweet ass that I'm the first call of the day tomorrow and the opening lines are going to go like this:
"Dr. P***** Office, may we help you?"
"Yes please I really need to talk to the Doctor, it's a mattter of life and death!"
"What is the nature of this call?"
"Apparently my fasting glucose is totally shit-faced, my heart is bopping along in time with a Grateful Dead tune, and since I have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease I'm not breathing. Don't put me on hold because from the scary sounds of all that shit, the Insurance company telling me I'm "permanently declined", There is probably a very good possibility I may become irrational, psychotic, and may even have to be put into a prison for grevious bodily harm to other human beings in order to get health insurance, ...or I'm just going to sit in your waiting room until I die. Just tell the Doc, we gotta talk! This is pure bullshit! If I'm in this bad a shape why don't I get follow up tests, appointments, second visits to moniter this shit? Why is it every year I get a "well you're fine, a few minor adjustments to eating habits, maybe try some exercise, and we'll see you at your next annual physical"
Someone is shoveling vast quantities of animal waste, and I just want to be able to put someof it where "the sun don't shine".
You are fuckin' with me , and I take a dim view of that!
-30-
Sitting back, got your coffee, Guinness, bottled water, or other baverage of choice? Buckle up kids, here we go!
It's Sunday morning, I just got home from church, poured a cup of coffee and decided to give Blue Cross/Blue Sheild, the health care provider I applied to for insurance back in September a call and see what was up, since all I have now is a 30 day, renewable policy month to month until they "decided" whether to issue my wife and I a plan. "They're not open on Sunday." says the wife, but good old me says, "people get sick on weekend too, someone's got to be there!" so I call. After the obligatory "push 1 for english", press 48 for human beings", press 37 for human beings with a brain", and finally after 27 of those buttin pushing exercises the final one, "press zero for an operator". (Shit I could have done that on button number one if I knew that's where we are going with this!)
"Hello, this is Tamara, may I help you?"
"Yes Tamara, thank you for answering so quickly, this is Mr. Guinness and I would like to check on my application for the health insurance plan I applied for for myself and my wife. Can you help me with that?"
"Certainly sir, when did you apply ffor it?"
"September 24th"
"And the last four digits of your social security number?"
"1234"
"...and your zip code?"
"..32459."
"and your full street address?"
" 3245 Happy Camper Lane."
"...and lastly your date of birth?"
"...February 22, 1945."
"One moment sir I'm pulling that information up on my screen"
"No problem Tamara."
"Ok sir I have it up on my screen now."
"...And?"
"You and your wife have been permanently declined."
"That sounds a little onerous Tamara,...what does "permanently declined" mean?
"Well, it means we aren't going to provide you with the health insurance permanently, for any reason, at any time in the future."
"Ok,...but why are we being "permanently declined?"
"Based on your Doctors medical records."
"Wait a minute he told me I'm fine, and has been every year for the past six or so. He asks me to quit this, change that, lose a few pounds, but other than that that's it. What is so bad about that?
"Well sir in October of '05 he said you had "impaired fasting glucose", that right there is a permanent decline by our rules. And at the same time he said you had an "abnormal echo cardiogram", and then in February of '06 he indicated in the records that you had evidence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease."
"He never told me any of that shit!"
"Sorry sir, that's what's in the records."
"Ok, so what about my wife, can we at least get her on an individual plan?"
"No sir, she's under a permanent decline classification as well."
"For what?"
"Well in April of '04 she was diagnosed with "Rheumatoid Arthritis in both hands", that's a permanent decline all by itself, but in September of '06 she also had an "Abnormal Echo Cardiogram", and then in April of this year her "lipids were inconsistent with her height and weight", all of those are permanent decline criteria."
"Wonderful, so what are my options here?"
"None sir."
"What do you mean none, that's sort of final, end of the road, "tout finis"."
"Yes sir that's correct."
"So you mean we can't get health insurance,...period!"
"Yes sir."
"But the Doctor never, ever, told me any of that stuff."
"Sorry sir, is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Yeah,...what do I do now, there is only six days left on the temporary policy you guys offered me while you went through the application process."
"Your only option is to get on a group plan with your company sir."
"Thank you Tamara, you've been nice, helpful, but the answers were all wrong."
"Sorry sir, have a nice day. Goodbye."
"yeah, you too."
The phone is hung up, my mind is swirling, and "rage" is bubbling up,...big time!
If I can't get health insurance I'm screwed. Not only will a simple Doctor's visit wipe out a week's pay, but then how do you pay your bills, the spiral gets deeper, darker, and scarier after that. The options narrow until you have to wind up handing out carriages at Walmart and saying "Welcome to Walmart" just to get health insurance,....now that is scarrier than shit,...BIG TIME!"
So I guess I've got a "quest" for the week. Now where the hell did my old side-kick, Pancho go? I hate fighting windmills without him.
Oh, by the way tell me this isn't forcing a "socialized medicine" structure down our throats? Only healthy people get health insurance, and then I'll bet the bastards disqualify you on stuff that showed up twenty years ago.
I told my wife, I think it's pure horse shit. I think the folks in the Doc's office who put the little "codes" on the bill they send to the Insurance company manipulate the shit out of things to get the higher of the "fees allowed". While the Doctor tells me the echo-cariogram was simply a "test" to "give us a baseline for the future, if you ever do have a problem", and the "evidence of COPD (that's the folks you see carrying the little green oxygen tanks and tubes runninng from them up thier nose at the mall)covers his ass if I get lung cancer from smoking, which I stopped a few years ago when he suggested it. So far as "impaired fasting glucose" you can bet your sweet ass that I'm the first call of the day tomorrow and the opening lines are going to go like this:
"Dr. P***** Office, may we help you?"
"Yes please I really need to talk to the Doctor, it's a mattter of life and death!"
"What is the nature of this call?"
"Apparently my fasting glucose is totally shit-faced, my heart is bopping along in time with a Grateful Dead tune, and since I have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease I'm not breathing. Don't put me on hold because from the scary sounds of all that shit, the Insurance company telling me I'm "permanently declined", There is probably a very good possibility I may become irrational, psychotic, and may even have to be put into a prison for grevious bodily harm to other human beings in order to get health insurance, ...or I'm just going to sit in your waiting room until I die. Just tell the Doc, we gotta talk! This is pure bullshit! If I'm in this bad a shape why don't I get follow up tests, appointments, second visits to moniter this shit? Why is it every year I get a "well you're fine, a few minor adjustments to eating habits, maybe try some exercise, and we'll see you at your next annual physical"
Someone is shoveling vast quantities of animal waste, and I just want to be able to put someof it where "the sun don't shine".
You are fuckin' with me , and I take a dim view of that!
-30-
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Bit of bad news.
My little sister, (two years younger than me) had a mild heart attack at work yesterrday. Fortunately she works as an X-ray tech at a pretty big hospital. Woke up with a pain in the arm, thought she slept on it, went to work anyway, had a co-worker take her Blood Pressure, called a cardiologist upstairs, he told her come on up,...poof off to the Emergency Room, one full stint, heavy blockage in another artery but tratable with medication, and she's resting comfortably. More info as I get it, but if you've a second today or tomorrow a little prayer in her direction would be greatly appreciated. Her name is Judy. Thanks
It set me to thinking. Judy was always the "worry wort" in the family. We all have a tendancy toward it, but she had it the worst. She took everything seriously, 24/7. At one point I did as well, but sometime back when I adopted the attitude that most of the world is completely out of my span of control, number one, and the only thing I can really control is myself, number two.
I saw a funny quote this morning as I was "surfin", it was a tag line on someones e-mail it said "Don't be so serious,...no one gets out of this life alive!!" Guess that's a bit prophetic today.
I learned a lonf time ago that a couple of pints at the end of the day, on neutral territory, like a Pub, with "bar buddies" as my wife calls them, and you know what,...I really let my worries go away!
I suppose the real "religious" say that contemplating the "Prayer of St. Francis", you know the "Lord help me to change the things I can, bear the things I can't and grant me the wisdom to know the difference" would do the same thing. But that's a "private thing" Having a few pints is a public clearing of the mind, and can act as a "support system" for those aroiund you having a pint themselves. Like the tag line I quoted earlier, "none of us are getting out alive,...so get used to it and make the best of things!
Besides that I really don't know how I'd react in a hospital. When someone came over and said something stupid to me like, "Don't worry, just lie back and get plenty of rest." Shit, that would scare the shit out of me! Like I don't really want to be here, the surroundings are strange and alien, the food sucks, and for the most part it's just me, this dumb "bent bed", folks "schuttling by" going about whatever it is they are doing that's beyond my regular world,....and you are telling ME to lie back and get some rest? Get serious!
I guess that means I'll be a bad patient, huh? And will my "real friends" bring me a couple of pints? Or cards and flowers (I DO NOT WANT THEM!!) Just a few pints of Draught Guinness for later when I'm watching "stupid" TV the likes of Oprah, etc.
Well, I'm due at work in 30 minutes so I guess I'll sign off for now and move my butt into worker drone mode.
-30-
It set me to thinking. Judy was always the "worry wort" in the family. We all have a tendancy toward it, but she had it the worst. She took everything seriously, 24/7. At one point I did as well, but sometime back when I adopted the attitude that most of the world is completely out of my span of control, number one, and the only thing I can really control is myself, number two.
I saw a funny quote this morning as I was "surfin", it was a tag line on someones e-mail it said "Don't be so serious,...no one gets out of this life alive!!" Guess that's a bit prophetic today.
I learned a lonf time ago that a couple of pints at the end of the day, on neutral territory, like a Pub, with "bar buddies" as my wife calls them, and you know what,...I really let my worries go away!
I suppose the real "religious" say that contemplating the "Prayer of St. Francis", you know the "Lord help me to change the things I can, bear the things I can't and grant me the wisdom to know the difference" would do the same thing. But that's a "private thing" Having a few pints is a public clearing of the mind, and can act as a "support system" for those aroiund you having a pint themselves. Like the tag line I quoted earlier, "none of us are getting out alive,...so get used to it and make the best of things!
Besides that I really don't know how I'd react in a hospital. When someone came over and said something stupid to me like, "Don't worry, just lie back and get plenty of rest." Shit, that would scare the shit out of me! Like I don't really want to be here, the surroundings are strange and alien, the food sucks, and for the most part it's just me, this dumb "bent bed", folks "schuttling by" going about whatever it is they are doing that's beyond my regular world,....and you are telling ME to lie back and get some rest? Get serious!
I guess that means I'll be a bad patient, huh? And will my "real friends" bring me a couple of pints? Or cards and flowers (I DO NOT WANT THEM!!) Just a few pints of Draught Guinness for later when I'm watching "stupid" TV the likes of Oprah, etc.
Well, I'm due at work in 30 minutes so I guess I'll sign off for now and move my butt into worker drone mode.
-30-
Monday, November 12, 2007
"In God we still trust"
Ok so I'm an idiot idealist. But that's what makes our country great, and when that's gone,...well what's left?
Now I plead guilty to owning a Country Western Bar & Dance Club, I even plead guilty to "walkin' the walk' 'n talking the talk" but in all truth there is a reeality, and a foundation to what made America great,...back then!
As a lot of you already know from reading my previous blogs, I am a Veteran of the united State Navy for almost five years, during the "cold war", both of my sons served thier country in the U.S. Air Force, and at the very worst, trust me, I am a patriot. I will defend your right to say what you want, regardless of my opinion, I will preservre that, right or "whacko" to uphold your rights to express it, regardless of the "leniency" of the courts and the liberals that infiltrate our country. But what of the reality of life?
We are a "Christian country". Does that mean we are elitists? NO! Does that mean we "under-value" your personal religious beliefs to ours? NO! Does that mean we would "blame" you for your fellow religious "zealots", any more than we would our own "right wing zealots"? NO!!
Give me a break here!!! If you want to strap 50 lbs of explosive to your body and "push the button",...well,...tough shit Charley,...you're dead, you took 20 or 30 wit you, but you know what? WE ARE GOING TO EAT YOU ALIVE,....BELIEVE IT!!! NOt because we are self-rightous, not because we "hate " muslims, but simply because you fuckers are NUTS!!!!
Killing innoent people is dumb in any language! So like my old grammar school techer used to say , "get along,...there is no one else coming to play!"
Sorry , another damn rant!!
Maybe the older you get the more "self-rightoeus" you get! But shit!!!!!,...What is the F***in' problem? We are all born, we all expect to live, and we all expect to form our own conclusions as to whether there is a God,...or not, As to whether violence and mayhem is "acceptable" in terms of human suffering, and whether "WHACKO'S" should simply be "offed".
Sorry frinds, I get a lttle "un-glued" when "whacko's" have a higher level of "rights" than those no longer with us, because it "furthered "he cause".
Am I a bigit,...I guess so, I love my country, spent four and a half years of my life defendng it, and sure as hell will burn any liberal spouting the "can't we all get along" philosophy.
As a Veteran of the United States Navy I have the right to claim my solidarity to having protected your rights. Are you so willing to give them away? The my sacrifice for you was a waste!!
Thank you for your support!!
Tom Corcoran, U.S.N. (United States Navy)
"I covered your ass and yet you would give it away like a cheap hooker? We need to talk. Write me if you dare!
Now I plead guilty to owning a Country Western Bar & Dance Club, I even plead guilty to "walkin' the walk' 'n talking the talk" but in all truth there is a reeality, and a foundation to what made America great,...back then!
As a lot of you already know from reading my previous blogs, I am a Veteran of the united State Navy for almost five years, during the "cold war", both of my sons served thier country in the U.S. Air Force, and at the very worst, trust me, I am a patriot. I will defend your right to say what you want, regardless of my opinion, I will preservre that, right or "whacko" to uphold your rights to express it, regardless of the "leniency" of the courts and the liberals that infiltrate our country. But what of the reality of life?
We are a "Christian country". Does that mean we are elitists? NO! Does that mean we "under-value" your personal religious beliefs to ours? NO! Does that mean we would "blame" you for your fellow religious "zealots", any more than we would our own "right wing zealots"? NO!!
Give me a break here!!! If you want to strap 50 lbs of explosive to your body and "push the button",...well,...tough shit Charley,...you're dead, you took 20 or 30 wit you, but you know what? WE ARE GOING TO EAT YOU ALIVE,....BELIEVE IT!!! NOt because we are self-rightous, not because we "hate " muslims, but simply because you fuckers are NUTS!!!!
Killing innoent people is dumb in any language! So like my old grammar school techer used to say , "get along,...there is no one else coming to play!"
Sorry , another damn rant!!
Maybe the older you get the more "self-rightoeus" you get! But shit!!!!!,...What is the F***in' problem? We are all born, we all expect to live, and we all expect to form our own conclusions as to whether there is a God,...or not, As to whether violence and mayhem is "acceptable" in terms of human suffering, and whether "WHACKO'S" should simply be "offed".
Sorry frinds, I get a lttle "un-glued" when "whacko's" have a higher level of "rights" than those no longer with us, because it "furthered "he cause".
Am I a bigit,...I guess so, I love my country, spent four and a half years of my life defendng it, and sure as hell will burn any liberal spouting the "can't we all get along" philosophy.
As a Veteran of the United States Navy I have the right to claim my solidarity to having protected your rights. Are you so willing to give them away? The my sacrifice for you was a waste!!
Thank you for your support!!
Tom Corcoran, U.S.N. (United States Navy)
"I covered your ass and yet you would give it away like a cheap hooker? We need to talk. Write me if you dare!
Crunch time is over,...YEA!!
In my business the Annual Meetings are all in October and Novemeber. That's when everything for the entire year gets crushed into a two or three hour annual meeting, which takes literally a month or so to put together,...each. Multiply that by eight or none and ,...well,..I survived, again.
So let's see, other than work, what's been going on? Ok, first a rant on the American "conundrum",..health Insurance.
I know I've ranted before, but bear with me here. I am beginning to wonder what part about common sense I am missing?
Usually you get what we call "Group" insurance, from your employer, and "in the old days" if you left that employer you still had coverage until the end of that particular month. Then you either got another job, a new group health insurance plan, or you just muddled through and handled things "out of pocket" until you did get a new job. Very few folks had "thier own" health insurance plan then.
Then , God love the government, they stepped in and screwed it up to "assist us", and "protect us". They initiated an animal so aptly nicknamed "COBRA" as part of thier "help". So after the end of the month, if you didn't have another job yet, you could opt to continue your old health insurance at the cost you're company paid for up to 18 months. (Ok, let me see, just lost my job, no income coming in, ...so tell me where I am supposed to get the "cost you're company paid"? Oh sure I could tap my savings, the mythical thing most Americans have little or none of,...and if I did that who would pay the mortgage payment on the house at the end of the month? Oh yeah, and that funny little habit the kids have of wanting to eat three meals a day,...forgot that one. Moral to the story don't quit or get fired unless you have another job "in the bag".
As soon as the insurance companies saw the government "help us out" they immediately jumped on the "more for me" bandwagon and started raising prices and other "nasties" (co-pays go up, negociated COBRA pricing, i.e. first two months at the employers rate then a 200% increase to be sure they "dump" any potential for having to payout anything.
Being a "thinker" whenever I hit a "dilemma" I research, investigate, and sort of "get my head around" the entire situation. Besides headaches, this also leads to seeing exactly how much we are getting screwed!
Recently I was terminated from a job (anacronym for "Just Over Broke") the COBRA bill came and it was $750 a month, good news you have 90 days to decide to pay it, no medical coverage if you don't but you can go back and file claims during that period later after you've paid for it. So I opt to wait and see, second months bill comes in, now another $750 is added, so now I have to pony up $1500 to be covered for the past 60 days, so I opt to wait til the end, the 90 days and see. I've got a couple job offers working, I'm just not sure which one I want to accept. So I wait. Third month comes and the bill for the third month is $1369! So I call to see if there is a mistake, nope,.. "it was a negociated increase with the employer"!! Where the hell do you come up with that kind of money a month if you are a working class stiff? If you divide that $1,370 by $5 an hour you have to work 274 at $5 an hour to cover it. Or let's say you make a whooping $10 per hour at your job, you have to deduct the first $1,370 to pay for your health care! So if my math still works, you GROSS $400 a week, take out 20%, or $80 in taxes, no you have $320 left, go ahead and pay a quarter of your health insurance, let's see, $1370 divided by 4 equals, let's see, $342.50, so if I'm correct you are already in the hole by $22.50 for the week and dead broke!!
That sucks!!
But what can the common man do? Not a damn thing, just keep saying "yes suh Masta'" and keep your mouth shut. Exploitation is so much fun!
I tried to get a private health plan, we're going on month four now. I was "allowed" a temporary 30 day plan" for $276, but only for three monthes. There are now only 13 days left on that, and the carrier Blue Cross, Blue Sheild, has still not made up thier mind in "underwriting" as to whether I will be able to get insured with them!
Oh yeah, got to remember these things are "opportunites", not "problems" they should not interfere with my performance of my job at all. "My mind is clear and focused boss", "I'm all over the job like white on rice". "No worries here boss already told the wife and kids a one meal a day diet would be good for all of us, and hell the exercise of running to work every day, all twelve miles, well that should help me live longer and work even harder".
Damn ain't life great!
-30-
So let's see, other than work, what's been going on? Ok, first a rant on the American "conundrum",..health Insurance.
I know I've ranted before, but bear with me here. I am beginning to wonder what part about common sense I am missing?
Usually you get what we call "Group" insurance, from your employer, and "in the old days" if you left that employer you still had coverage until the end of that particular month. Then you either got another job, a new group health insurance plan, or you just muddled through and handled things "out of pocket" until you did get a new job. Very few folks had "thier own" health insurance plan then.
Then , God love the government, they stepped in and screwed it up to "assist us", and "protect us". They initiated an animal so aptly nicknamed "COBRA" as part of thier "help". So after the end of the month, if you didn't have another job yet, you could opt to continue your old health insurance at the cost you're company paid for up to 18 months. (Ok, let me see, just lost my job, no income coming in, ...so tell me where I am supposed to get the "cost you're company paid"? Oh sure I could tap my savings, the mythical thing most Americans have little or none of,...and if I did that who would pay the mortgage payment on the house at the end of the month? Oh yeah, and that funny little habit the kids have of wanting to eat three meals a day,...forgot that one. Moral to the story don't quit or get fired unless you have another job "in the bag".
As soon as the insurance companies saw the government "help us out" they immediately jumped on the "more for me" bandwagon and started raising prices and other "nasties" (co-pays go up, negociated COBRA pricing, i.e. first two months at the employers rate then a 200% increase to be sure they "dump" any potential for having to payout anything.
Being a "thinker" whenever I hit a "dilemma" I research, investigate, and sort of "get my head around" the entire situation. Besides headaches, this also leads to seeing exactly how much we are getting screwed!
Recently I was terminated from a job (anacronym for "Just Over Broke") the COBRA bill came and it was $750 a month, good news you have 90 days to decide to pay it, no medical coverage if you don't but you can go back and file claims during that period later after you've paid for it. So I opt to wait and see, second months bill comes in, now another $750 is added, so now I have to pony up $1500 to be covered for the past 60 days, so I opt to wait til the end, the 90 days and see. I've got a couple job offers working, I'm just not sure which one I want to accept. So I wait. Third month comes and the bill for the third month is $1369! So I call to see if there is a mistake, nope,.. "it was a negociated increase with the employer"!! Where the hell do you come up with that kind of money a month if you are a working class stiff? If you divide that $1,370 by $5 an hour you have to work 274 at $5 an hour to cover it. Or let's say you make a whooping $10 per hour at your job, you have to deduct the first $1,370 to pay for your health care! So if my math still works, you GROSS $400 a week, take out 20%, or $80 in taxes, no you have $320 left, go ahead and pay a quarter of your health insurance, let's see, $1370 divided by 4 equals, let's see, $342.50, so if I'm correct you are already in the hole by $22.50 for the week and dead broke!!
That sucks!!
But what can the common man do? Not a damn thing, just keep saying "yes suh Masta'" and keep your mouth shut. Exploitation is so much fun!
I tried to get a private health plan, we're going on month four now. I was "allowed" a temporary 30 day plan" for $276, but only for three monthes. There are now only 13 days left on that, and the carrier Blue Cross, Blue Sheild, has still not made up thier mind in "underwriting" as to whether I will be able to get insured with them!
Oh yeah, got to remember these things are "opportunites", not "problems" they should not interfere with my performance of my job at all. "My mind is clear and focused boss", "I'm all over the job like white on rice". "No worries here boss already told the wife and kids a one meal a day diet would be good for all of us, and hell the exercise of running to work every day, all twelve miles, well that should help me live longer and work even harder".
Damn ain't life great!
-30-
Saturday, November 03, 2007
It's Saturday, I'm sick,and theres a lot happening!
It's Saturday. How do I know that, you ask. Because I'm home not at work and I slept until 10am!!(It's been at least 50 years since I did that,seriously!) I'm sick. With what? "Creeping Crud or something. My head is completely stuffed up, I'm coughing like a five pack a day smoker, a smile or a kind word in my direction is met with a gurgling snarl and stuffy growl with the word "Shit!" But other than that life is ok.
It's got to be stress, one more Annual Meeting to conduct next Saturday and that's it until the end of January, just normal "day to day" shit to deal with. These "Annual Meetings" are an immense pain. By state law they must be done according to a specific ritual, starting 60 days before the meeting, mailing out specific documents to every owner, soliciting candidates to run for open seats on the Board of Directors, submitting "candidacy sheets" (brief one page bio's) I had one noted Surgeon who submitted his "Curriculum Vitae", all 27 pages of it! He may be well educated and well credentialed, but when the hell did he ever find time to even see a patient,...let alone operate on them!
Then 45 days before the meeting the nominations for candidates closes and ballots and candidacy sheets must be mailed to every owner, along with this animal called a "proxy" by which they can designate someone else to vote for them, or vote on a specific non-critical generality themselves. "Should the Association take any excess income over the expenses for last year and apply it against this years monthly fees?" Like "DUH!" Oh yeah, none of these meetings can even occur if thee is not a "quorum" of owners, and a "proxy" counts as an owner voting toward that. Now a quorum can be just about anything. I've seen some that are "50% plus 1" some 15%, some 30%, they are all over the place. So these "proxies" and candidacy sheets and ballots start flowing back at you by snail mail from the day you send them out. But guess what? For the most part , unless there is going to be a HUGE special assessment levied on each owner for something, no one gives a shit about any of it. BUT the State says you have to have a meeting. So from that point until the day of the meeting you are combing the mail every day for executed proxies, mailing out additional letters with proxies encouraging the owners to at least sign the damn thing and send it back, and otherwise seeing how high you can raise your blood pressure without that vein in your neck "popping" and ruining a perfectly good shirt!
Oh then there is the "Noticeing" phase. You have to post notices in conspicuous places on the property at 60, 30 and 14 days before the meeting. (Oh yeaah one more pain in the ass thing to remember!)
And on top of all that "someone" has to develop a budget for next year. Now I have some associations who spend monthes agonizing over it, meeting after meeting, analysis afteer analysis, tons of "what if" scenarioing, and the rest of the machinations. I love breaking thier bubble a week before the meeting and tewlling them it's time, I have to publish it, no more playing, put down your pencils and close your spreadsheet programs. Then I have the complete opposite, the Associations that simply look at you and say, "...ah, just go ahead and make one up for us, it's fine with us what ever you come up with."
About two weeks before the meeting you are frantically counting proxies to be sure you have a quorum, (no quorum, no meeting! State Statute, and God help your skinny butt if that happens cause we got to go through this whole exercise again, and again, until we get a quorum, and have the damn meeting! It always comes down to the last day in most cases, and then the "how many folks are actually coming to this meeting?" Well I did one a week ago and out of 120 owner/members, the entire head count at the meeting was ten! And to make matters worse only 27 people sent back proxies! By ONE, count it 1, proxiy I made the 30% requirement and we had the meeting. The day beofre I had another meeting and there were only two people who attended, besides half the Board of Directors, but we had enough proxies and agfain just "snuck it out".
There are only two questions anyone really wants an answer to, "Are our monthly fees going up next year and by how much?" and "Are our monthly fees going down next year, and by how much?" It cracks me up because the total apathy is astounding. And I'm talking properties that are for the most part "vacation" homes or "second" homes that are worth $2,000,000 to $5,000,000.
One more week and I can kick back and go back to the 1. "Why did't the landscapers trim my Azeala bush correctly?" and of course THE single most common comment, 2. "Can't these people understand English?" (Answers: #1 "So which horticultural school dod you go to and if you don't like it why don't you do it yourself!", and #2 "No none of them either speak, nor understand English because they are all illegal immigrants doing jobs that no American would be caught dead doing for less than five times what we pay them,....but they smile and nod very well and are very polite answering "Si, Si Senor" to every question or thing you say to them."
Don't get me wrong I love the job, but some major streamlineing has got to happen. This is 2007, not 1907. We have computers, high speed internet access, give me a break!! (I hate it when I have to consider running for Office in order to facilitate change. I have no patience for "concensus". In fact I've decided that "concensus" is the "smoking gun" that has killed leadership in this world.
(Oh, Oh, I feel a small rant coming!) Do I really care if Brittany is a "bad mom"? Do I want to "help her with parenting classes",...hell no. Just take away her kids, give them to some folks who would really love them, and fine the bitch $259,000,000 Million dollars. Treat her the way she would and has treated her kids,...as throw-a-ways.
Well better sign off for today, more tomorrow when (hopefully) I feel better.
Oh Yeah, number two son from Utah called and the Wife and I are going to be grandparents again for the second time. (All I could think of is that our other grandchild, a girl, will be 30 when this new one is 14. See,.." gaps in the synapses", why does the mind think wierd thought like that.
-30-
It's got to be stress, one more Annual Meeting to conduct next Saturday and that's it until the end of January, just normal "day to day" shit to deal with. These "Annual Meetings" are an immense pain. By state law they must be done according to a specific ritual, starting 60 days before the meeting, mailing out specific documents to every owner, soliciting candidates to run for open seats on the Board of Directors, submitting "candidacy sheets" (brief one page bio's) I had one noted Surgeon who submitted his "Curriculum Vitae", all 27 pages of it! He may be well educated and well credentialed, but when the hell did he ever find time to even see a patient,...let alone operate on them!
Then 45 days before the meeting the nominations for candidates closes and ballots and candidacy sheets must be mailed to every owner, along with this animal called a "proxy" by which they can designate someone else to vote for them, or vote on a specific non-critical generality themselves. "Should the Association take any excess income over the expenses for last year and apply it against this years monthly fees?" Like "DUH!" Oh yeah, none of these meetings can even occur if thee is not a "quorum" of owners, and a "proxy" counts as an owner voting toward that. Now a quorum can be just about anything. I've seen some that are "50% plus 1" some 15%, some 30%, they are all over the place. So these "proxies" and candidacy sheets and ballots start flowing back at you by snail mail from the day you send them out. But guess what? For the most part , unless there is going to be a HUGE special assessment levied on each owner for something, no one gives a shit about any of it. BUT the State says you have to have a meeting. So from that point until the day of the meeting you are combing the mail every day for executed proxies, mailing out additional letters with proxies encouraging the owners to at least sign the damn thing and send it back, and otherwise seeing how high you can raise your blood pressure without that vein in your neck "popping" and ruining a perfectly good shirt!
Oh then there is the "Noticeing" phase. You have to post notices in conspicuous places on the property at 60, 30 and 14 days before the meeting. (Oh yeaah one more pain in the ass thing to remember!)
And on top of all that "someone" has to develop a budget for next year. Now I have some associations who spend monthes agonizing over it, meeting after meeting, analysis afteer analysis, tons of "what if" scenarioing, and the rest of the machinations. I love breaking thier bubble a week before the meeting and tewlling them it's time, I have to publish it, no more playing, put down your pencils and close your spreadsheet programs. Then I have the complete opposite, the Associations that simply look at you and say, "...ah, just go ahead and make one up for us, it's fine with us what ever you come up with."
About two weeks before the meeting you are frantically counting proxies to be sure you have a quorum, (no quorum, no meeting! State Statute, and God help your skinny butt if that happens cause we got to go through this whole exercise again, and again, until we get a quorum, and have the damn meeting! It always comes down to the last day in most cases, and then the "how many folks are actually coming to this meeting?" Well I did one a week ago and out of 120 owner/members, the entire head count at the meeting was ten! And to make matters worse only 27 people sent back proxies! By ONE, count it 1, proxiy I made the 30% requirement and we had the meeting. The day beofre I had another meeting and there were only two people who attended, besides half the Board of Directors, but we had enough proxies and agfain just "snuck it out".
There are only two questions anyone really wants an answer to, "Are our monthly fees going up next year and by how much?" and "Are our monthly fees going down next year, and by how much?" It cracks me up because the total apathy is astounding. And I'm talking properties that are for the most part "vacation" homes or "second" homes that are worth $2,000,000 to $5,000,000.
One more week and I can kick back and go back to the 1. "Why did't the landscapers trim my Azeala bush correctly?" and of course THE single most common comment, 2. "Can't these people understand English?" (Answers: #1 "So which horticultural school dod you go to and if you don't like it why don't you do it yourself!", and #2 "No none of them either speak, nor understand English because they are all illegal immigrants doing jobs that no American would be caught dead doing for less than five times what we pay them,....but they smile and nod very well and are very polite answering "Si, Si Senor" to every question or thing you say to them."
Don't get me wrong I love the job, but some major streamlineing has got to happen. This is 2007, not 1907. We have computers, high speed internet access, give me a break!! (I hate it when I have to consider running for Office in order to facilitate change. I have no patience for "concensus". In fact I've decided that "concensus" is the "smoking gun" that has killed leadership in this world.
(Oh, Oh, I feel a small rant coming!) Do I really care if Brittany is a "bad mom"? Do I want to "help her with parenting classes",...hell no. Just take away her kids, give them to some folks who would really love them, and fine the bitch $259,000,000 Million dollars. Treat her the way she would and has treated her kids,...as throw-a-ways.
Well better sign off for today, more tomorrow when (hopefully) I feel better.
Oh Yeah, number two son from Utah called and the Wife and I are going to be grandparents again for the second time. (All I could think of is that our other grandchild, a girl, will be 30 when this new one is 14. See,.." gaps in the synapses", why does the mind think wierd thought like that.
-30-
Friday, November 02, 2007
The first leg of "The Triumphant Triangle" is complete!
Yes, that's right. "The Triumphant Triangle" is a pseudo-mythical, pseudo-egotistical, otherwise crazy concept that if it happens maybe I can make a million on tee shirts, hats and banners. (Still working on the logo/image, all help accepted and graciously cut in for a piece of the action if the powers trianglate properly.)
So what is "The Triumphant Triangle"? It is a convergence of Sports "Championships" in one single point on the big blue marble,.....BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA.
First leg complete, The Boston Red Sox won the World Series (still an oxymoron so far as I can tell because the "world" extends beyond the United States,...oh well we'll take it.)
Second will be the Boston (oops! "New England") Patriots taking the "Super Bowl" in February, and finally either Boston College becoming the NCAA Football champion at the Rose Bowl, OR the Boston Celtics becoming the Wrold's Champion Basketball Champions.
(ok, so I may be delusional, but you gotta believe.
AND congrats to Joe Torre for landing in LA, go show Georgie boy how badly he screwed up!!
-30-
So what is "The Triumphant Triangle"? It is a convergence of Sports "Championships" in one single point on the big blue marble,.....BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA.
First leg complete, The Boston Red Sox won the World Series (still an oxymoron so far as I can tell because the "world" extends beyond the United States,...oh well we'll take it.)
Second will be the Boston (oops! "New England") Patriots taking the "Super Bowl" in February, and finally either Boston College becoming the NCAA Football champion at the Rose Bowl, OR the Boston Celtics becoming the Wrold's Champion Basketball Champions.
(ok, so I may be delusional, but you gotta believe.
AND congrats to Joe Torre for landing in LA, go show Georgie boy how badly he screwed up!!
-30-
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