Month: February 2014

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In case any of you doubted

20140219-170538.jpgMy claims of playing in swamps as a kid.

Here’s proof. This is the swamp that enters into a lake directly behind my parents home.

20140219-170600.jpgWhile this is not the actual swamp I grew up around its a good facsimile. Hopefully, I’ll get over toward my swamp and take some pictures of it.

20140219-170609.jpgWhile I was snapping these photos, I noticed I was being watched by a critter, at first I thought it was an small alligator. Then when it dove I saw the edge of its shell.

There are also some really large fish in the swamp and also in the lake beyond.

It’s humid and in the 80s here. I’m comfortable and enjoying it.

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Eastern side of Pensacola

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I dawned on me that I’d driven across the country and managed to avoid stopping in a bunch of states.

I blew through New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Damn! I knew there were “Fly-Over” states but who’d have thought there were “Drive-Over” States?

Another good nights sleep.

Last leg of the trip, will be at Moms by late afternoon.

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Praise Jeebus Houston is in my rear view mirror

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I have never in my life been through such a screwed up city. I thought LA freeways were screwed up.

Houston takes the prize!

Part of the freeway instruction is painted on the roadway. OK I can deal with that. So you start following the indicators on the freeway, picture this you’re in a new town with crazy traffic and you’re being led through the absolute middle of the city. Then the markings stop and there’s no signage that says anything convenient or useful like I-10 This way!

Needless to say, I ended up lost. The navigation system was confused and having a hard time locking on satellites due to the overpasses. After a while I just turned the nav off then looked at the city map and chose a direction. I figured if I could just get the hell out of the madness of the city I could correct and get back to the I-10. That technique worked but I ended up in Pasadena and had to pay a 2.00 toll to get back to the 10, on the eastern side of the city

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I was taking the I-10 you know, the freeway that connects the West Coast to the East Coast? A main thoroughfare…

Those people really need to make some signage that directs travelers around their insanity it would probably help their traffic woes just by keeping travelers out of the city.

But wait, there was an accident too, that plus the Texans propensity to never, ever, break the speed limit, even to avoid an accident or let someone change lanes meant that I lost 2.5 hours to the craziness.

While a Texan won’t break the speed limit, they’ll roll through a stop sign or a red light without any thought. They’ll cut 18 wheelers off with less than 1/2 a car length and expect the 18 wheeler to be able to stop.

By the time I got to Beaumont I’d finally calmed down.

Had another unique experience in Louisiana. There was an accident or something and I was stuck on a bridge over a swamp for about an hour. I watched the wildlife in the cypresses and actually didn’t mind the delay too much.

 

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Day 2 of the Cross Country odyssey

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I blasted through New Mexico without stopping. Then I entered Texas. GOD what a long drive.

Nothing much to report. I stopped at a neat rest station and took a couple of photos.

One bright spot was that the Speed Limit was 80, which meant most people were doing 90 or 100. I finally packed it in in San Antonio. Got my first good nights sleep in four days.

Now on to Houston.

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In other Insurance news…

UnknownWow!

Spent hours on the phone again with the insurance company.

This time it’s not about getting my insurance back on-line. It was about figuring out what policy would be best for me to migrate to.

Got that all sorted out, I think. The new lemon scented Obamafresh plan will take effect March 1.

But here’s the really interesting thing I found out.

Obamacare hasn’t really helped anybody.

Oooops! Big surprise! Yeah, I’m behind the times.

Here’s the thing that rebooted my brain.

I’m not making any income. So when I get ahold of an insurance rep I point this out and ask what can be done to lower my insurance rate.

Unknown-1Medi-Cal is the answer.

But Medi-Cal I point out, severely limits my choices of Doctors, Hospitals, Drugs, and provides far less care than I, or anyone should consider acceptable. I thought Obamacare was supposed to make that better. I thought that’s what the whole subsidies thing was about.

I thought the subsidies were designed to allow people at the lowest end of the income bracket to purchase decent coverage and look forward to not waiting for care.

Obviously, I’m some kind of moron.

If, on the other hand I was making 90K I’m eligible for a subsidy? WTF?

First and foremost, I’m a capitalist pig. Even I think that’s obscene!

That being said, as a general rule I have no problem helping out those folks that are less fortunate than I am.

I believe that we should help the folks in our own country before we start sending bloody fortunes to 3rd world cesspools where hatred of America is taught in the damn schools. That however, is another topic.

I believe today and have believed for the majority of my life that NO CHILD in this country should ever go wanting for food, clothing, medical, or dental care. It’s an obscenity that so many children do go without such things.

This is not to say everyone should have a free ride either. Eventually, everyone should be employed.

However, children that don’t get enough to eat, who are sick, whose teeth are rotting out of their heads typically don’t do well in school. Without basic education we doom those kids as adults to be forever poverty stricken.

This must change. I don’t believe in grand sweeping changes which our politicians love to engage in for political purposes. I believe in evaluating the problem then solving that  problem. Often the correct answer is the simplest, arrived at by the straightest path.

Obamacare had potential. It could have fixed a problem by simply making sure the people most at risk, had care available to them.

So what the hell is Obamacare doing aside from throwing the medical care system into chaos?

If anyone should have subsidized care it’s those at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder. That’s just simple common sense. What are the politicians smoking?

I stuck with paying for my policy. I’d rather deprecate my 401K than put up with shitty medical care. But what of those less fortunate?

Where do they turn? Who is their advocate?