January 2007

Health insurance back on the table

Now that we have a Democratic majority in Congress again, I’m glad to see that the issue of health care is back in the news. President Bush has decided to propose addressing the unequal health care in this country via the tax code: his proposal would provide a tax deduction for people who buy individual health insurance, and tax ‘high end’ corporate health coverage. It’s that second part that is controversial.
I’ve long held that it would not be possible to bring everyone in the U.S. up to the high standard of health care that some enjoy thanks to generous corporate benefits. But nobody wants to reduce their current level of health care.
Though I’m not sure what I think about the means he’s chosen, I do think Bush’s intention with his tax on high end benefits is to help the recipients of those benefits realize how good they have it, and, in some small way, to get them to reduce their level of health care.
Or, it could just be an excuse for big companies to lower the amount they spend on employee health insurance.

By Stan, ago

Like Father, Like Son

For years, my favorite movie ever was Howard the Duck. Based on its lack of success, it’s safe to say that I was in small minority of the movie-going public. Last week, I noticed that it was coming on cable, so I set my DVR to record it. Katie, Samuel and I watched it last night. This was my first viewing in probably fifteen years, and I have to say, I didn’t find it nearly as funny as before. But Samuel loved it! He watched it again this morning and has declared it his favorite movie.
If you’ve never seen HtD, I recommend you give it a try–if nothing else, for the 1980s big hair.

By Stan, ago

Boggles the mind

Today I read this headline and was confused. Here’s the history, I think:

  1. AT&T spins off AT&T Wireless
  2. AT&T Wireless is bought by Cingular, who gets rid of the AT&T Wireless name
  3. Cingular is bought by BellSouth
  4. Meanwhile, AT&T is bought by SBC (Southwestern Bell) which promptly renames itself AT&T
  5. AT&T (formerly SBC) buys BellSouth, thereby acquiring Cingular
  6. AT&T gets rid of the Cingular brand name, renaming its wireless service AT&T Wireless.

My head hurts

By Stan, ago

My iPod annoyance–the intended solution

Back in October, I blogged about one feature of iTunes/iPod that I didn’t like, in regard to podcasts. And then, a month later, I blogged about a solution, which was really a workaround.
Today I received an email from a new iPod owner who had run up against the same problem. He found my original post in his search for a solution. After he ran across the intended, solution, he emailed it to me:
On the iPod’s ‘Podcast’ panel in iTunes, I had totally overlooked the options in the “Sync … episodes of” dropdown. The solution to my problem would be to select on of the “X most recent” options. Since this is one setting for all podcasts, it might result in more podcast episodes being synched than I need for some podcasts, but at least it avoids the issue of an episode being removed from my iPod as soon as I’ve listened to any part of it.

By Stan, ago

Restoring my faith in humanity

I’m a creature of habit. Almost every morning, I get one breakfast taco at Taco Cabana on my way to work. One taco costs $1.07, and I try to give exact change whenever possible (my OCD). Yesterday, I followed my routine.
On the way home from work, I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a medication. When I got to the register, I was surprised to find that I had no cash–I remembered that I’d gotten a $20 bill the day before. While staring blankly at the pharmacy cashier, I quickly went through my routine. Suddenly, it hit me: yesterday morning, I’d given the Taco Cabana drive-through cashier $20.07, but because I was so accustomed to giving exact change, I didn’t think about my change. Apparently, the cashier is also a creature of habit.
I figured the money was lost, but this morning I mentioned it to the Taco Cabana drive-through cashier. She immediately called over the manager on duty who said that the register was indeed about $20 over yesterday. He took my name, address and phone number (in case the corporate office checked it out, he said) and instructed the cashier to give me my $19 change. I drove off with my missing cash and today’s taco (eggs and cheese, if you’re wondering).

By Stan, ago