Okay there are clouds all around me, but I still do not know if it will rain here today. Weatherman says there is a 50% chance. It always seems to rain all around us but not here. Wish I could reach way up and squeeze one of those clouds like a sponge. This ground is thirsty! The earth is so parched that some patches of ground in my back yard have cracks in them like overly dry skin. All I can do is keep praying for rain I guess. There actually was some rain that fell a few nights ago and since it has stayed below the 100 degree mark the last several days, flowers are blooming! It is more like Spring than late summer. I'll take a picture of some of the flowers around our shed later.
So Ellen is going to be the 4th judge on American Idol. Simon must think the show is getting too serious and needs a comedic angle. I like Ellen a lot but that must be it, because she does not have a huge singing/musical background - other than the shower singing she does on her shows. ;-) I was going to watch American Idol again this season with or without Paula Abdul since I just love to sing and I find it to be entertaining. Oh, I actually pulled out my guitar and played/sang for a break yesterday. It was great but my fingers need to build up strength again. I forgot how sore they get holding down the notes on the frets. That is okay though it was worth it! I vow to start playing more again! I really missed it!
I cannot end this post today without saying a few words about the situation with the Health care and Obama. First I do have to admit I did NOT watch him last night as I am also a huge fan of So You Think you can Dance since I have two dancers in the family. I am no expert as to what the health care solution is but I will say that I am totally for some sort of better health care system and one that does not penalize for pre-existing conditions.
We had a horrible experience with crappy health insurance a few years ago when my husband suddenly went blind in one eye. Totally blind, black, nada. But his sight did come back within 5-10 minutes. I called the general physician the next day who recommended he contact an eye doctor. We were able to get a hold of an eye doctor who after explaining what happened told him to come in RIGHT AWAY. He examined my husband's vision, etc., and told him he was way too young to experience this sort of thing. He pretty much put the fear of God in us that he really needed to get a full work up, and MRIs to check for any blockages. He went to the local hospital (as that was the fastest way to get checked) for the work up and tests, and then within a few days got a series of MRIs done. Luckily there was nothing found. The only conclusion was that it was a fluke. While we were very grateful that he got a clean bill of health, the only explanation for what happened was that a platelet blocked the vein at his optic nerve that supplies blood and therefore ability to see (I don't know all the terms that were used) in that one eye.
That was that until the bills started coming in. Keep in mind there was no hospital stay (although in hindsight I think more would have been covered if he was admitted), no day long exams, nothing like that. The total bills for the MRIs, hospital, tests, eye doctor were over $10,000 !! Yes that is 4 zeros. Our coverage?.. $300 that is it! $300 for each occurrence was how they worded it. All these bills were from one occurrence and it was not considered an emergency. I was so angry!! The worst bill was the MRI tests and I pleaded with them and explained the lousy coverage we had and that the eye doctor stressed to get that done immediately. I got them to lower that bill but still....it was a horrible experience with health care insurance that is sorely lacking! Those bills took close to 2 years to pay off. Now we have Blue Cross and Blue Shield but I am not convinced there wouldn't be some loop hole when we ever need to use it in again.
So I agree, something has to be done to improve the health care system at least for us self-employed people. Okay...off my soapbox, for now.
Do you still sing "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"? You were always good at that one (amongst others). I have a cassette of you singing(somewhere). If I can find it, I'll make you a copy
ReplyDeleteDon't hold your breath for health care reform. I'm afraid it's going to be anemic at best. The insurance industry is a powerful force in DC and Max Baucus is a woos. Great Matt Taibbi article in Rolling Stone about it.
We've been through it, too. Between surgeries for me (at $20K per surgery (and that's outpatient!)) and my kamikaze sons breaking bones and getting concussions, I just recently got all our med bills paid off for the first time since 2006 - and I have pretty good insurance.
All the best