Rants Tagged with “Personal”
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For those of you who do not know by much better half, Tricia is a sculptor that has just started doing shows and exhibitions. To go with that new step, we have created a new site to show off some of her pieces. Right now there are only a couple of her pieces there and a way to send her comments, but it should grow in the coming months. If you are interested in art, please visit her new site at http://www.sculpturesbytricia.com.
I've been having trouble with my laptop shutting down unexpectedly. After some searching online, I found out that this is a common problem with my laptop (HP ZD8000) that the fins that cool down my desktop CPU get dirty. So I got a can of air and screwdriver and went to work. OMFG!
Here's what was lurking in my laptop:
Lesson learned, clean your laptop (especially if it is a desktop-replacement). Since I have a desktop hyperthreaded CPU plus a X600 with 256 Megs of Video memory. When I run World of Warcraft, this bad boy heats my house in the winter. Dirt == hot == shutdown.
Shawn
I am leaving tomorrow morning to go to Redmond for the MVP Summit. It will be a good time to catch up with some of my favorite MS'ers, as well as MVP's. I have to say, after the long summer we seem to be having here in Atlanta, I am looking forward to 50 degree nights. If you are going to be in Redmond this week and you read this, kick me an e-mail as i'll see what I can do to connect up during the week!
For the past few years, I have been the editor of O'Reilly's .NET site (ONDotnet.com). It has been a great few years and I have meet some great authors and have had a great time working with O'Reilly's production staff. Doing a website that has new editorial content weekly was a challenge at times, but on the whole is was a spectactular experience.
O'Reilly has decided to merge their Windows DevCenter and .NET websites together which does not leave room for me. It's a great decision on their side and it does free up some of my time to get back to writing instead of editing. I leave O'Reilly with only good memories and wish them the best of luck with all their properties.
Trish and I decided to move into an old stomping grounds of mine inside Atlanta proper. I always forget the nasty little things that can make a move feel like hell. In this case, the AC in the new apartment was(is) broken. I thought we could tough it out, but once the cats started to pant...I had to do something.
I usually say nasty, mean things about WalMart and how they've destroyed much of middle america's small business...but in this case, there was no one else open. So I left for an 1 1/2 trek to a 24-hour WalMart to buy an air conditioner. They were surprisingly helpful, if not completely unknowledgable about their own products. Two hours later (2:30am in my time zone) the bedroom is an ice box (like I like it) and the cats have been saved.
For someone who hates it so much, I seem to do it much more than necessary. I really hope to stay in this new apartment for the next five years!
Currently my healthcare plan is cash. The quality me the care is adequate but the cost is crazy. I went to emergency room today. They offer a 40% discount to people with no insurance, if they pay within the first thirty days. I understand this is a policy to encourage users to pay their bill fast, but it seems to me that if they can afford a 40% discount, then that is nearer their costs. If you need to spread the cost past thirty days, no discount. So the people least able to afford healthcare are paying full fare. In fact, I would bet that the full price care is being paid by no-one with insurance. I would expect that the Blue-Cross's and Medicares out there have rate plans for what they pay for what. This seems regressive to me.
I think the majority of the un-insured in this country are the lower middle-class. I can afford to pay for care and would prefer medical insurance and will likely have insurance pretty soon. Its the lower middle class that seems to really get chewed up in this deal.
Another oddity I noticed tonight...my hospital has a McDonald's in the Cafeteria. That seems a bit disingenuous when most healthcare workers are encouraging their patients to lower their saturated fats and calorie intake.
Tricia and I have been looking at houses today when we heard sirens and a car hit the car in front of us (thankfully everyone was ok). But when the car stopped that hit the car in front of us, the sirens were right behind them. They both jumped out and one of them ran off. The officers arrested the one that didn't run and 3 more patrol cars went after the one on foot. I never did find out if they caught him, but it was all a bit too exciting.
I have to admit, my first thought was whether there was going to be gunfire and that we were trapped in the middle of it (car in front of us and a car behind). Luckily there wasn't.
I kept looking for the COPS! cameraman, but there wasn't one to be found. Shucks ;)
They have quite a scam going on for individual people for coverage. Tricia and I recently applied for individual coverage and they happily took our application and the first month's premium. Before they even looked at the application, they charged our credit card. Then they dragged their feet on approving the application so we have to cancel the application and get coverage elsewhere. So the deal is that if you are not approved or cancel the application, they take 30 days to keep your money and issue an out of state check for the refund. So they are keeping our money floating in their accounts for two months while they mess around with us. While money isn't extravagant (~$600), I wonder how many other individuals are caught up in this mess too. I knew BCBS was a crooked organization (they are an insurance carrier afterall), but this just seems mean to do this to individuals that can scarcely deal with it, people trying to get individual insurance coverage. Just evil...
I am just glad we don't have anything like universal health care in this country :|
Tricia and I just got back from a great weekend out of town and out of reach of our computers. I definitely recommend finding somewhere isolated with a big jacuzzi. We stayed in Helen, GA at the fabulous Alpine Hilltop Bed and Breakfast. I highly recommend it.
