The Miscellaneous: Concerns about Healthcare

**Small warning... I get very emotional and angry about this topic. There is a lot of cussing below.

I have many concerns about the current and future state of health care. On the one hand, my grandfather is currently in a care home. I realize that my grandmother, uncle, or even my husband and myself working together cannot care for him properly at home. His legs are too weak to support him, and not long ago he couldn't even turn over in bed without assistance. And he's a big guy... over six feet, and pretty solid.

There are people in the same home who aren't paying a dime... and I don't begrudge them that. Some are veterans, some are clearly homeless or poor. WHAT I DO object to is the amount of money my grandmother and grandfather ARE being charged... over $6,000 dollars a MONTH. Yes folks, that's the price of a very nice used car... every month. Are you goddamn kidding me? AND he has to a) share a room, b) pay EXTRA for entertainment events and c) Pay for his own medications. For those prices, he should be sitting on satin sheets and have a blasted TV in his room. No, they don't even have that. And if you want a phone, you have to PAY EXTRA for that too. The big "F" word comes to mind.

Worst of all, they have given up on him getting better, even though he's getting a bit stronger every day. I'm sure with a bit of physical therapy, and some proper encouragement, he could be much stronger physically. But do they have any goddamn incentive to get him out of there? Hell no! Not until they suck his miner's pension dry... and what is he supposed to live on then?

These places DO need to be supervised. If I hear one more idiot call them "death panels" I will smack them. There's only one thing these places understand, and that's money. Supervise them, make sure that ALL rehabilitation and care is being provided, and if it is not CUT their funding. Make them still morally liable for providing care to those that need it, but make it come out of their pocket, not the patient. They can't discharge them if they still need care, but they certainly should NOT be allowed to prolong their need for it.

On the other hand, take a look at dental care too. If my insurance company says I'm only allowed $1500 worth of coverage every year, then WHY are they only paying about 40% of my bills? How many people (besides myself currently) need $3000 to $4000 worth of dental work in a year? Pay the whole damn bill. If I use up my $1500, I use it up. I'll pay the rest out of my own pocket if needed. As it stands now, I have to SAVE UP money to get something done, thus delaying the procedure and making it MORE EXPENSIVE by the time I can get it done. I have tiny cavities I've been ignoring for a damn long time, just because I'm saving up for a root canal and crown. My wet-behind-the-ears dentist suggested just pulling the teeth and putting in a bridge. What's another name for a bridge? Partial false teeth. No thanks, jackass... do your job and save my teeth, thank you. Don't just suggest yanking them because the insurance company doesn't pay for the physical part, the crown. I'm pretty sure mine won't pay for a freaking bridge either.

The dental insurance system is deeply flawed. I don't know if they're implementing my suggestion for aging care above, and cutting off funds for procedures they deem "unnecessary" or frivolous, or if they just KNOW that no one needs $1500 worth of care, and they're trying to prolong the spending of it as long as possible, so that they keep more of it when the year flips over.

I do know that when I needed an emergency gall bladder removal a few years ago, the only thing I was billed for was the anesthesiologist's fee. It was 1/60th of the whole bill. Now, I can't even go to the emergency room without having to pay %50 to see the doctor and have blood work done. (Can you believe I saw the doctor for five minutes and they want to charge me over $1000? Of course this hospital is attached to my grandfather's care center... it's a very small town)

Maybe it's just small-town medicine. Maybe it's because I have a young, inexperienced dentist. I do know I've started grinding my teeth in my sleep (and sometimes while awake if I'm not thinking about it) due to stress. Gee, I wonder what the F&CK I'm stressed about?!

TV: Premiere Season is here

The kids are back in school, so you know what that means... new TV season! A LOT of old favorites are back, some unexpectedly (like Dollhouse), some predictably (Fringe, Lie to Me, Supernatural), and some regrettably (what the HECK has happened to Smallville for pete's sake? Tom Welling is cute, but give me a break! Time Travel? Guh!)

There are also some new shows that caught my eye that I've been enjoying tremendously.

Warehouse 13: This was a summer-run show that recently had their season finale. I caught up with the early episodes through Amazon's Video on Demand service (now sent directly to my new TiVo, thank you very much!) and caught the last five or six episodes from "live" TV, or as live as TiVo gets. It's an interesting blend of "Friday the 13th: The series", steampunk, and "Eureka". I find both the lead agents appealing actors, and have always enjoyed Saul Rubinek's work, even though he doesn't often play a very appealing character.

Defying Gravity: Unfortunately on hiatus with a shaky status, this glimpse into the future of corporate space programs with a sci-fi alien twist was just starting to get good when it was unceremoniously dumped from the airing schedule.

The Vampire Diaries: I would have accused this show of trying to ride on the coattails of "Twilight" and its popularity, had the books not been published a good long while ago. It's a vampire tale set in High School, with mostly unknown actors, the exception being Ian Somerhalder (Boone on "LOST") as the vicious older brother to the main male character. It's very "CW" (ie lots of very pretty, very young people running around, full of angst) but I'm giving it a decent shot to mature. After all, my number one show "Supernatural" is also a CW show, and it's matured nicely into a very engaging show.

Now a short recap of the season premieres of old favorites, and my impressions.

Supernatural: The Brothers Winchester screwed up last season and broke the last seal heralding the start of Armageddon. Now we've got angels and demons running amok, and one renegade angel looking for where God might be on earth. When Castiel first showed up, and those wings unfurled, I was like "Heck yeah!" but now I'm to the point where I'd just rather get back to the Chupacabra-esque stories, and drop the whole "good vs. evil" stuff. And two brothers from the same family as vessels for the main players of light and dark? Don't really buy it. I don't believe someone is considered the ultimate evil because of something DONE to them. Sam's truly evil and started down that path because he was fed demon blood as an infant? Nuh-uh. Still, the line-by-line writing, production values, and acting on this show keep me coming back every week.

Fringe: I was a little confused by the premiere of Fringe this season. I didn't have time to re-watch the first season before the premiere, but from what I remembered and what happened in the premiere, it seemed that we were supposed to know or have seen things that I just don't recall happening.

Castle: Smart-alec Richard Castle (played by Nathan Fillion... YUM-o) is still with the precinct, following Beckett around. The whole flavor of the show, very liberally sprinkled with cheesey novel titles and grammatical nit-picking is a fun romp of a detective show with the right balance of realism and humor. Lord knows I'd watch Mr. Fillion read a phone book, but his impish behavior really makes the show.

Dollhouse: Joss Whedon. It seems the renewal of the show surprised him, along with the rest of us. I'm still not 100% behind Eliza Dushku as Echo, but at this point I suppose there's not much to be done about that. The rest of the cast has been top-notch, and the writing is stellar. The scene between Whisky/Dr. Saunders and Topher was especially poignant. I'm sad to see Amy Acker leave for another show, but there's always a chance for a return.

Store Stuff Update: Damn Hackers

So my Etsy shop has been shut down for a week or so... this is because at some point my bank account was compromised. From what the support people could tell us, it was unclear whether it was my debit card, my husband's debit card, or my PayPal card that was compromised. So we ended up cancelling them all.

And, without means to pay for shipping postage, I had to shut it down until my new card arrives and gets activated. You can tell the economy is bad when identity theft stoops to people with a credit score as low as mine.

The good news is all the charges were reversed, and the Yahoo account the slime bag used to siphon funds from me is under investigation. I have no idea if they were successful in getting them, but I hope so.

Knitting: Making it Work

I've always told myself that I would never knit for money. Knitting is my fun, relaxing hobby, and any time I have tried to take one of my hobbies and make money with it (with the exception of dyeing wool) instead of making it a fun and enjoyable career, it sucks all enjoyment out of my hobby. It turns it into work.

Then, my goofy husband accepted an order from one of his co-workers without asking me. An order for something knitted. Le Sigh.

So far, the project has not been going badly; I'm still enjoying my knitting time. However, had I been IN ON THE DECISION, I would have A) Charged way more money and B) Insisted on selecting my own color scheme rather than a stitch-by-stitch copy of what I made for my husband. I had appropriate yarn on hand, but it could have been made much more cheaply (and sooner) had I been able to make substitutions. I would have been knitting from stash and leftovers, so it would have been pure profit instead of having to order the yarn.

Plus, there was a problem with my yarn supplier's credit card processing system that day, so I had to make TWO phone calls and it took four extra days before everything was straightened out. GAH!

Also, this is putting me behind schedual for my own personal knitting. I had planned to be done with at least ONE of my blankets by now, so I could start my special Wicked Witch Halloween socks. It's just going to be a basic pair of socks, done in orange and black stripes (much like Dorothy's witch had red and white) but I was going to start at the toes and not stop until I ran out of yarn. And believe me, I always over-buy my yarn. Now I fear I may not have time.

I had also been planning to knit the sweater coat on the cover of the Fall 2009 Interweave Knits before the mornings at the bus stop got too much colder, but I either have to save $100 up to buy Noro Kureyon, $100 to buy the suggested yarn, or spin my damn own yarn, which frankly would save me money, but certainly not time. And then I'd still have to knit the damn thing.

So all in all, I guess the moral of this story is to educate your husband to just have him give the guy your email address and have him ask you himself. :P

Gaming: Another MMO

I really didn't go looking for another MMO. I was already having a Love/Hate relationship with "Lord of the Rings: Online" (hereafter known as Lotro) and really didn't want to add to my gaming experience in that fashion until Star Trek Online releases next spring. But then Cryptic offered Beta access to STO for anyone who bought a 6-month or lifetime subscription to Champions Online...

I didn't take advantage of that offer, but it was enough to intrigue me.

Those of you reading this blog through its hook into my Facebook page already know I've been playing... the game has a built-in sharing feature that puts noteworthy events as updates to your Facebook status. I suppose it would be interesting if all your friends played, but unfortunately while the game shares an event (Ice Princess has reached level 20!) it doesn't really explain where the heck this info came from. Shouldn't there be a big LINK added to it, extolling the virtues of the game and asking that you join up and add PlayerX as your buddy?? Well, I'm glad it doesn't, but now people think I'm weird.

All in all, it's a fun MMO with a Superhero flavor, much like City of Heroes/Villains, but I'm really digging the mission system a lot more. All I remember about COH was that A) I got stuck doing a mission in the park that was too advanced for me, and it was the only one I could take, and I kept dying before I could even get to the entrance, and B) After being inactive for 6 months, they *release your character names* This means that my strategic swooping-up of Jayne Cobb (Firefly character... it's a thing) got taken away from me, forcing me to rename my character. I was not well pleased.

Champions Online instead ties all character names to @accountusername. So there can be 5000 Wolverines, each one with a different @ tag at the end. Someone demonstrated this quite effectively on launch day, by creating a guild swarm consisting of the exact same wolf-shaped character, all named LOBO. It was sad, but I think it got the point across.

In other gaming news, I am still looking forward to my possible participation in the Star Trek Online beta. The game is really looking good, and so far Cryptic's Champions Online lets me know that their methodology for running an MMO is acceptable. There will always be complainers, but so far I have none.

Food: Time and Money Saver #1

One thing I always find handy to have in the freezer is pre-cooked meatballs and ground beef. If you have a microwave, they are quick to thaw and use. If you do not, they are pre-cooked and it's perfectly safe to let them thaw in a sauce as they're cooking. Otherwise (if you remember!) you can pull a bag from the freezer and put it in the fridge overnight.

What I do is watch for ground beef to go on sale. I watch for the 80/20 (meat/fat ratio) rather than 70/30... who wants to pay even sale prices for a wad of fat? Yuck. Then, I get at LEAST 10 pounds... 20 if I can swing it.

If you're going to follow my plan, you're also going to need a box of quart-size zipper FREEZER bags (not the storage type... they will give your meat freezer burn), a box of Gallon-size zipper freezer bags, a large stock-pot or dutch oven, and the ingredients which will follow. A tablespoon-size cookie scoop (looks like a miniature ice cream scoop) is VERY handy, but not 100% necessary.

For Freezer Meatballs:

3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup milk
3 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup onions, minced
2 teaspoons salt
3 pounds ground beef

In a large bowl combine eggs, milk, bread crumbs, onion, and salt. Add meat and mix well. Shape into 72 1-inch balls, using the cookie scoop if you have one. Place half of the meatballs on a cookie sheet lined with foil, and bake at 375° F. for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan and cool; repeat with remaining meatballs.

Place cooled meatballs on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm. Package 24 frozen meatballs per quart freezer bag, seal, label, and freeze.

You can double or triple this recipe as necessary. These can be used in a variety of dishes, and since they are home made, they are much healthier than the store-bought frozen variety. I will often save the heels of my multi-grain breads in the freezer till I have a bunch, then make my own bread crumbs in the blender or food processor.

For a ten pound chub of ground beef, I'll double my meatball recipe, then boil the remainder of the ground beef to make a pre-cooked loose meat, suitable for adding to spaghetti sauce, hamburger helpers, or other recipes calling for browned ground beef.

Some things to consider before boiling your hamburger:

I always start with my stockpot full of COLD water, then break apart the meat in the water before applying heat. A great deal of the fat will come off on my hands, which I consider better than skimming it off later, or worse, eating it with the meat. Breaking it apart in the water helps get a very fine consistency to the finished meat. I use my dutch oven for this, so I only do about three pounds at a time. Any more than that could be a fire hazard if greasy water overflows and hits the burner. ALWAYS watch the pot.

If it tastes too bland to you, I often drain the meat into a colander, then put it back in the pot for a little browning. I would not add salt, however, since you don't know what kind of recipe it will be used for yet. I have been known to stretch my ground beef by adding things to the meat as it's cooking, such as grated onion, grated carrot, or grated potato. It sneaks some veggies in for the kids, and helps stretch the meat out farther.

When it's done, and cooled a little bit after draining, measure into quart bags, two cups at a time. Cool in the fridge for a bit, then freeze flat. You can rearrange them after they're solid. Each quart bag with two cups of cooked meat is equal to ONE pound of uncooked hamburger. Use accordingly.

In subsequent weeks I'll suggest some recipes to use these items in, or meanwhile you can use your imagination! Spaghetti and meatballs, Salsbury Meatballs, Cheeseburger Macaroni, etc. are just a few off the top of my head.

Most of all, have fun with the time/money you save!

Blogs and Me

I've decided that since I like to blog about so many different things, I was going to set up a schedule, with a different topic for every day of the week. What this resulted in was a month of procrastination. Go figure.

So, starting next Monday will be the new deal. If I don't have anything to say on a particular day's topic, I simply won't post. I refuse to get mired down in the whole perfectionism-makes-me-put-things-off quagmire.

On the bright side, I may be posting more. Not sure yet, but here's hoping. :D