Rants on healthcare

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in doubt...... uh..... well..... do as the doubters do I guess. I really don't know what this post is about yet. I got myself a drink, signed into blogger, then decided that I feel prosaic. I'm just going to talk and let my words come as they will. No big deal, this post won't change the world, but maybe I will sleep better. Ok here we go. Health care! I'm not a political person. I usually hate politicians and politics in general, ( I see them as a viable solution to our energy crisis, hot air can turn windmills!) but I want to speak of health care and what I think the problem is. I have no idea if Obama's plan will work. I think not but thats just me. The problem/problems with our health care system is/are this: Lets start at the bottom and work our way down. Ambulance chasing lawyers; They beg us and plead with us on tv commercials, newspapers, and however else they can think of, to file lawsuits against drug companies, doctors, our dogs manicurist, and anyone else who will be still long enough to get sued. Of course a lot of these lawsuits are successful or the lawyers couldn't afford the commercials. Someone has to pay for all of that,,,,,,, I'm waiting for your best guess.......... Thats right! Its you and me that pay. How do we pay? Ok lets again start at the bottom and work down. Think of the companies that manufacture machines for medical care and tests, such as MRI scanners, heart lung machines, EKG machines etc. Those machines would be expensive enough even if the research and workmanship was all thats involved. Maybe its not all thats involved though. Do lawsuits reach that far? I think they probably do, so built into the cost of those machines is probably very high dollar insurance to protect the manufacturers. Hospitals and doctors are also required to have insurance to protect them from the acl (ambulance chasing lawyers, and notice that I didn't capitalize it). We are not talking about $150 per month with a small deductible, we are talking about thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars spent to protect everyone down the line from frivolous lawsuits. We all pay for that, we have too or there are no more doctors or hospitals. A few get rich but the rest of us pay. To compound the problem, doctors get rich doing nothing but "recommending" patients for a test, such as an MRI scan. Years ago I saw a documentary on tv that discussed this, and they interviewed a doctor that had made more than $200,000 that year recommending patients for one single test. I forget what it was but he was getting a kick back from every person he sent for that test. He did nothing to help the patient, he just said "Hey you need an MRI scan" or whatever it was, and dollars fell into his lap. Once again, the rest of us pay! Whats the solution? Its easy but it won't happen. People need to "discover" that there are other people in this world, besides themselves. We need to stop thinking that money is worth any means we have to resort/ fall/ succumb/stoop too to get it. People, we only have a few short years here. Money won't go with you when you leave. Neither will fame but I'm not cursing at that in this post. Think of your fellow man and stop this foolishness of trying to get rich, no matter what it takes. We begin as dirt and we will end as dirt, so will money. What we do while we are here is what counts. Love, make love, live, eat, sleep, dream, weep, plan, but don't rob your neighbor of his life to make yours easier. People die every day because they can't afford proper medical care. Have a heart and consider that the lawsuit you win today may cost someones life tomorrow...... Ok time for bed,,, enjoy and g'nite!

Control or be a spectator?

I realized today that sometimes I try too hard, and sometimes I don't know when to quit! It started me thinking back about my past life and all of the mistakes I have made. You know what? I had to make those mistakes so I could learn about life and love. You know what else? I don't have the right to keep someone else from making mistakes too because they also have to learn. Why is that? Why can't we learn and pass it on down to our children and they to their children so we don't all go through the same stupid pain over and over? I don't know the answer to that but if I had listened to my father my life might have been much easier. If I have a son someday, his life might be easier if he listens to me, but I know he won't. He will mess up and be knocked down over and over just like I have been. He will learn and grow, or he will stay down and give up. My wife is new here in this country and of course things are much different here. I try too hard sometimes to protect her from our culture, and teach her. I think sometimes I offend her because I don't know when to step back and let her do it her way. Sometimes I think too much and I see too many ways to make mistakes, then I try to step between her and all of those mistakes so she doesn't make any of them. To me its common sense, but I think to her its controlling. I have to learn not to do that, no matter how much I love her and desire to protect her. I have to let her live and make mistakes and learn. It'll be hard to watch her fall when I know its going to happen and I don't know if I am strong enough to do that. What an awkward place I find myself in sometimes. If I don't speak up she may fall, and if I do speak up she may hate me someday for being in the way of her learning and experiencing life. She is young and I am not. I have had time to make more mistakes........ What to do. Anyone got a comment about this?

Cooking on an open fire

My wife and I have discovered something. We have been cooking outside using wood instead of charcoal. I was surprised at how easy it is to cook like that and how tasty the food is. So much better than using charcoal. Today we cooked a pork roast that we had highly seasoned, and also we cooked some veggies outside. We had corn on the cob and also rice with it and wow, so yummy! We built a firepit from rocks and put a grill on top. We made this high so the fire can burn freely without burning up the food. Then after placing food on the grill, we put the dome shaped top of our charcoal grill over it. That holds in the heat and smoke. We live in the country so this is easy, but maybe not so easy for people who live in town as there may be bans on having an open fire. Anyway you could use this technique while camping. The food comes out well cooked and soooooooo good! Try it if you can....

Perversion versus Decency

A lot of people, including myself, have been wondering why so many people are attracted to perversion. Its not funny anymore. My brother and I have been sitting here discussing why our government had a moment of silence for Michael Jackson and why so many people attended his memorial. How about soldiers that gave their lives willingly so we have the freedom to worship perverts like Michael? Where is their moment of silence and where are all the thousands that didn't come to their memorials? MJ provided entertainment. He made millions and he spent millions, mostly on himself for his own amusement. I'm going to say it right out and if it makes people mad then maybe it will also make them think. MJ was a perverted little man that intentionally made himself look like a freak. He probably played with little boys. There, I said it, big deal! If someone like that lived next door to you, you wouldn't let your children go outside. Just because someone is famous and/or rich doesn't give them the right to be perverts. Even if they bleach their skin and talk like a sissy. It worries me sometimes when I see what is respected in our country, but it worries me even more when I see what is dis-respected. Wake up people!

Live today, not yesterday or tomorrow

Today is the first day of the rest of my life! An old saying that I hadn't thought of in years, but its true. We need to only remember the past for the lessons it taught us, and for the good things that we had. I believe that life is a learning process and if we accept the lessons humbly and move on we can have a wonderful life. If we spend our lives dwelling on a few "horrible" happenings in our lives, then we can expect nothing more in the future. My wife and I have a saying, "whats past is past". I have observed in my life that we don't usually get what we want in life, but we do usually get what we expect. A person that sees things in a bad way seems to be a magnet for more bad things. I can't explain it but I have seen it too many times. Lets all live our lives from this day forward, and let our past go. Learn the lessons that come every day. Apply them today, but forget the pain that came with some of the lessons. No pain no gain! Everyone have a nice week...

My trip to the Philippines

I recently made a trip to the Philippines to bring back my wife. I married a lady there and I attended her visa interview in Manila. All in all my stay there was very interesting. It was my second trip there in 2 years. The thing that was most bothersome to me was the heat and humidity. It was winter and cold here when I left but when I arrived in Manila the heat was oppressive! I intended to stay at least 1 night with my wife's family but their home doesn't have air conditioning and by 8:00pm I was so hot that they asked me if I wanted to get a hotel room instead. I accepted gratefully lol. A cool shower and ac never felt so good. Anyway, the flight is sooooooo long! Usually they last from 13 to 15 hours time drags. If you go on a flight this long take my advice and try to get an aisle seat on the planes. Then when you need to stretch your legs or go to the bathroom, its easy.

China to build scaled down Neverland

Chinese developers are commemorating the late Michael Jackson by building a scaled-down replica of Neverland on an island off Shanghai. It will cost about 100 million yuan to build, which is equal to $15 million of our money. One of the investors said they want to build Neverland as a tribute to Michael and also to give people a way to express their love for him. Jackson abandoned Neverland in 2005 after his child molestation trial. The new scaled down Neverland will have some Chinese characteristics and not all people think its a good idea but investors plan to go ahead. It will be interesting to watch this and see how it developes.

I found our lost mattress!

I have been trying to find out what happened to our mattress that we ordered a few weeks ago. After calling several places and speaking to untold numbers of "representatives", I finally found our mattress. One truck line had given it to another truck line, which sent it to the wrong place. Now I am waiting for them to call me to schedule the delivery. I hope our new mattress isn't worn out from so many miles lol. Anyway today has been a pretty good day. We had a productive day at work so all is well there. I just want to say here that I love my wife very very much and I appreciate you and all you do Bebie. You are my life and thank you for understanding me when I am tired and moody. To everyone else, thank you for reading my blog and hopefully I can find interesting things to talk about. May God bless you all and happy week to everyone!

Check out my wifes blog!

Here is a text link to my wifes blog. I think you will enjoy it. She writes all about our lives here and many other things. She is a Filipina, recently here from the Philippines and we have a lot of fun sharing our cultures and learning. She is a very lovely lady and the owner of my heart. Hope you will enjoy her posts as well as my own here. Have a great weekend!