An online journal is an opportunity to see what someone is thinking about at a given point in time. As such, welcome to my mind. This is my life - the world as seen through my eyes, and interpreted with my mind. There's always something going on in my life. It doesn't matter where I am - at home, in Washington DC, otherwise out and about, or at work. Something's happening. And I can share my thoughts and feelings about it with you. After all, what's the point of life if you can't share it with someone?
Yes, the car is free. I can now leave the house and explore. I got loose by going forward into an empty parking space and slotting myself in that empty space. Of course, it's not like anyone can use the space I vacated. It's still blocked in, since I didn't bother to clear behind the car. I'm out, and I'm just looking out for number one here, since I don't have the tools to remove it. But this will give Lester, the maintenance man at my apartment complex, a fighting chance of nailing it with the snow plow on his truck:
After all, now there's no car to damage by making a close pass, and I'm now in a space that's already clear. And then my car shed a big chunk of that snow hat that it was sporting yesterday. I was maneuvering the car to get it out of the spot, and then, POW - everything that was on the roof ahead of the forward bar on the roof rack broke free and fell forward. So we went from 100% visibility to zero in five seconds. That was too much to use the windshield wipers on, so I got out and removed it with the broom. But at least it did that now, in the parking lot, rather than while I was out in traffic or something. That could have been really dangerous if it had done that in traffic.
Meanwhile, on Capital Weather Gang's map, I am right on the line between 5-10 inches and 8-16 inches. At this point, I don't care which I get, but I'm just hoping it's the light, fluffy kind of snow like we got in December. That way I can just brush it off and get on with things. The wet, heavy variety is a real pain to move.
Quote: Meanwhile, I'm guessing we have work tomorrow, though no call has been made as of yet. The snow day today was nice, but I have stuff I need to do tomorrow.
Well, I got the windows cleared. That's probably enough for now, since the maintenance folks are going to need to do some more plowing before I can even think about moving the car. There's more than six feet of two-foot-deep snow (some of which can support my weight) behind the car that I can't move with the tools that I have.
But just to show you the epicness of this snowfall, here are pix:
The snow next to the car is up to my knees.
The top of what's dug out in this picture is the roofline of the car. Everything above that is just snow. Wet, heavy snow, no less.
I'm finding a car under all this. Again note the sheer amount of snow piled on top of the car. I doubt I'll be moving that pile on top any time soon. I'm hoping to like shed all that while driving, and hope that it falls backwards when it does.
So there you go. I've cleared all the side windows, the back window, and part of the windshield. Hopefully that will be enough to at least allow the sun to reach the inside of the car and warm it up a little. If the interior is warmer, that will hopefully melt the bottom layer of snow on the windshield and make it easier to remove later.
All I have to say is, this snow is ridiculous. Being the wet, heavy variety rather than the light, fluffy stuff we got in December, it holds a shape quite well, and doesn't take well to being moved. Clearing the windows was enough, thank you.
And still no call on work tomorrow. Needless to say, if we're having work, I'm taking the Metro to get there. And wearing my boots.
Yes, another gutter bit the dust, this time on the other side of me:
Looks like my apartment complex is going to be installing some new gutters soon...
Meanwhile, here's another view of the snow over my balcony:
Yes, it's extending beyond the end of the roof by more than a foot. Yikes. Then meanwhile, the balcony itself should be high and dry before too long, since I swept it of all the snow last night. All the stuff I couldn't sweep off has melted or is almost there, and it should evaporate off soon.
And then here's the car after the snow ended:
I'm going to guesstimate about two feet on the top of that. I'll be coming around with the scraper and the broom to take care of that pretty soon.
Then for this snowstorm, I rediscovered TrafficLand.com, where one can watch the various DOT cameras. My father's used the VDOT cameras to watch me as I'm coming home on I-66, but this time, I'm using it to check road conditions. Looks like Virginia's done the best work in clearing its roads, as a check on the Interstates in Virginia plus some local roads in Arlington shows a lot of blacktop visible, and cars moving at just about normal speeds. Maryland and DC have some areas that are good to go, but a good bit of Georgia Avenue and 16th Street are still white. Then my street is of course completely white, and I don't expect it to change. What did we do before we could visually check road conditions on the Internet?
By the way, in regards to the traffic cameras, I don't mind them, since everyone can view them and see the same thing. It's when the feed from government surveillance cameras is not open to all - that's when I take issue. But as long as everyone can see it, then I consider it fairly benign.
Meanwhile, here's the situation in the parking lot:
People are once again digging their cars out. I'm just glad that I don't have to actually drive to get to work. I can take the 51 to the Red Line and then go.
Of course, this assumes that Metro is actually running. Metro is still running underground-only service. New this time is that they're running Red Line service between Forest Glen and Glenmont. The question becomes, why? That tunnel section is so far from the rest of the underground stations, and you're not connecting up with downtown Silver Spring. Who knows. The Yellow Line section in Virginia that's running between Pentagon and Crystal City is one I can justify, because of the Pentagon and all the defense contractors out there. But the section up by me is running, yet Metro won't even send full service up to there when running a regular schedule.
Speaking of the Red Line short turns, here's what someone should do: Introduce a resolution or something that says that one cannot call regularly scheduled service on the A and B routes "Red Line" unless it goes all the way to both Glenmont and Shady Grove. Anything else would need to be designated as another color (I would suggest pink, to underline the not-quite-Red-Line element of it). None of this "Red Line to Silver Spring" and "Red Line to Grosvenor" nonsense. That's not Red Line service. Force Metro to either spend a significant amount of money to re-sign the entire system for a new color for the short-turn trains, or run all regularly-scheduled Red Line trains to both Shady Grove and Glenmont. I'll bet they'd pick the latter. This would, of course, need to exempt special services like snow routes and short-turns for track work. But that would nip the regularly-scheduled short turns in the bud.
And before anyone complains about this idea, I want to see you have to sit out trains of the color you need on a daily basis because they don't go where you need them to go.
Yes, the wet, heavy snow (compared to the light, powdery stuff in December) caused a gutter on my apartment building to collapse. And I happened to get before-and-after photos. Take a look:
Note that the snow extended beyond the end of the roof by more than a foot.
It kind of doesn't surprise me where the collapse occurred, though - that area over my neighbor's balcony had been something of a weak spot for a while. Now they'll have to fix it, though, since that gutter certainly isn't pretty as it is right now.
Meanwhile, my balcony was covered, too:
The snow sticking to the verticals like it did kind of surprised me, but I legitimately did not think that much snow could pile on top of a balcony railing that's only an inch and a half wide. And in the second picture, notice again more than a foot of snow out beyond the end of the roof. But unlike over my neighbor's balcony, nothing has collapsed over here. And that snow up there is remarkably resilient. A minor strike caused all the snow on the balcony rails to fall off when I went to sweep the snow off my balcony, but I prodded that snow with the broom a number of times, and poked it with the broom handle, and got nowhere. All I did was leave well-defined holes where I'd poked it with the broom handle. That snow wasn't going anywhere on account of me.
Then there's the car:
Covered. And buried up to the hubcaps. This time, though, I thought ahead, and brought my scraper inside before the snow started falling. That saves me the trouble of having to get into the snow-covered car to retrieve the snow-removal device before clearing the snow. I figure I'll dig myself out some time tomorrow, or at least clear the upperworks like I did last time.
And an overview of the snow in my apartment complex:
Song:Dupont Circle snowball fight! This is when I curse the fact that I live in the suburbs, because I can't get to these things when it snows this bad because I can't reach an open Metro station...
Quote: So "Snowmageddon" seems to have made its presence known...
I am ready to be snowed in this weekend. The Sable is safely parked, and the cabinets are full. I am set. My castle is stocked up. Bring it on, nature.
Otherwise, today I discovered that adults can be just as bad as children when it comes to getting revved up about a potential snow day. All I heard today was, "Do you think we're going to get tomorrow off?" I was all, noooooooo, since I think that the Feds have already decided on their course of action. They're operating under an unscheduled leave policy for Friday, which for us basically means show up. Now whether they close early once the snow starts coming down is another story.
Meanwhile, speaking of snow days, when I was in school, I always just wanted to strangle those teachers that acted like it was our fault for missing school due to bad winter weather when we grumbled about having to go to school on Memorial Day for make-up days. These teachers that would say, "You had your Memorial Day back in January!" Big help. Like it's my fault that it snowed. I remember my seventh grade year was hell for that kind of thing. We had something like 16 snow days that year. Thus we had no days off of any kind except for weekends from the last snow day in March through to like June 16 plus one Saturday (yes, we had one make-up day on a Saturday). And when you couple that with the fact that my homeroom teacher was a real d-----bag, it made for a very rough year. This particular teacher even made fun of me (in a mean way) in front of the whole class when he presented me my perfect attendance certificate at the end of the year. I had better attendance than he did that year, and he made fun of me...
Then this evening, I went grocery shopping. That place was remarkably busy for 9:30 at night. But when people are planning on getting snowed in, it makes sense. Lines were snaking way back towards the frozen section, and many areas were picked clean. But I am now snowstorm-resistant. I have food, and I have beverages. I am set. I commented on the phone to Katie that you'd think the world was coming to an end or something the way people were cleaning out the store.
And finally, on my way home from work today, I spotted this little gem on the northbound yard platform at Brentwood:
It's on the back wall of that little platform structure, right where the riders can see it. Presumably, the banner is cheaper than training, and makes them look like they're doing something to the public. Some of Metro's recent safety gaffes are just plain inexcusable, and a little banner is not going to help anything, even if it is in a conspicuous place where riders can see it. The whole banner thing kind of reminds me of the "Safety Department of the Month" thing that they used to do at Wal-Mart. Rather than actually promote safety in the store, they just hung a banner from the ceiling to make it look like they're doing something. As someone who was part of the safety team at Wal-Mart, I can tell you that safety is a joke over there.
Yep... it's snowing again. And of course, I'm still hitting the workahol, staying tonight until 7:30. When I stay late, I drive, and when I drove through, the roads got progressively worse the further north I went. P Street NW in DC was fine. Then 16th Street NW in DC was also fine. Crossing into Maryland, 16th Street was good. Then Georgia Avenue inside the beltway was all right, but once I cleared Wheaton, I started having to guess about where the lanes were. I really had to slow down in the last two miles home, once I cleared Glenmont station. Then my street was white except for tire tracks. But I made it, and I am once again in my nice, warm apartment.
Meanwhile, they're calling for a good bit of frozen precipitation this weekend. Capital Weather Gang gives a 20% chance of more than eight inches. However, the reality is that they don't know. They gave a 25% chance of less than an inch, a 25% chance of 1-4 inches, a 30% chance of 4-8 inches, and then the aforementioned 20% chance of more than eight. But instead of saying "I don't know", professional weather forecasters just guess. After all, giving something like that looks a lot smarter than "dunno".
Otherwise, I've been meaning to show an old family photo for about a month now. Take a look:
I'm going to guesstimate 1982 or 1983 on this. That's going based on this photo of me on Santa's lap. Welcome to the early 1980s, boys and girls. This is before my sister was born. Then my parents look so young! And look at Dad's hair. I have vague memories of that hairdo. I kind of remember when Dad got rid of that 'do. Meanwhile, I don't really remember Mom's hairstyle changing as I grew up, but it's noticeably different from today's "Mom style". I think she changed it so gradually that it was easy to sneak it through.
Meanwhile, Mom is multitasking in this photo. See, when I was a child, I couldn't sit still. For that matter, I still can't sit still, but that's another story. Thus Mom was holding me down long enough for the photographer to take the photo. No idea what happened after that. But the photo looks good, so presumably it worked.
I, meanwhile, have no memory of this photo being taken. Too young, I suppose. I remember the photos we had made at KIS Photo in Rogers, Arkansas in the late 80s, but not this one. Then I also vaguely remember a portrait attempt at an Olan Mills in New Jersey. There, we had to wait so long that my parents finally just left. As mentioned, I couldn't sit still, and I had been up and around enough to the point that I was no longer as photogenic as I should have been. I remember the outfit I had on, but yeah, no photos. And I looked sharp, too. That failed experience eventually led to this photo:
Basically, my parents dressed me up and took some photos of me in the house. I looked awesome, if I do say so myself.
And then outside, the snow continues to fall. Are we getting off of work? Not a chance. It has to snow enough to cripple Metro before the Feds will declare a snow day. Meanwhile, Augusta County, where Mom teaches, declared a snow day by 7:00. They really can't handle snow. The president needs to come down there some time and teach them about that "flinty Chicago toughness".
Song:Caitlin's Favorite Ways To Be Bad. It's really funny. Meanwhile, her office is more of a mess than mine is. My office is about ready for its monthly straightening-up, but I don't see it happening this week...
Quote: Interesting bit of music trivia for you: I can get from the parking garage at Whole Foods to the parking garage in my office building in the time it takes to play "Can't Turn You Loose". I got into my office building's garage just as the last note played. Every time I hear that song, I'm reminded of Elwood Blues, when he said, "Lots of space in this mall!"
Let me tell you, I had a really good time on Saturday...
I had a really good time on Saturday. I went to the Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge, aka "Plungapalooza", and while it was really, really, really cold and snowing, I had a blast.
The event was held at Sandy Point State Park, near Annapolis. The idea is simple: put on a swimsuit, and run into a body of ice-cold water in the middle of winter. The proceeds from the event went to support Special Olympics, and of course, all involved had a great time.
As I mentioned before, I didn't jump in. Nuh-uh. Too cold. And when you consider all the cold-weather gear I was wearing, I was determined to stay toasty warm, too. And for the most part, I did.
Getting there involved taking the Beltway to Route 50, and then a short distance on local roads to the parking area. Parking involved leaving the car at a satellite location and then taking a shuttle bus to the site. I parked at the Naval Academy Stadium, and took a bus from there. That was like jumping into a time-warp. The bus appeared to be of more recent mint than I would have ridden, but the interior was light green, and the seats were dark green. I thought they got rid of that when they started using the brown interiors in the late 80s. I guess I was wrong. Ugly green on uglier green is obviously alive and well in the 2010s.
Arriving, they had several tents set up. One was the sponsors' tent, which contained a giant sand sculpture of the various sponsoring organizations' logos, and then there were things for sale, live music, and carnival games. Then there were the registration tents, the beer tent where those over 21 could enjoy beer and wine, and the sweatshirt tent, which sold commemorative sweatshirts. And all the large tents were heated, thank goodness. Then down further was the plunge zone, where the participants would actually run into the water.
The weather was perhaps the biggest challenge of the day. The forecast had called for snow, but the event was still on. Heading down to the event, it was starting to snow, and then at the event itself, the snow was really coming down. So not only was it cold as hell, but it was snowing on top of it. Good thing I wore my boots. Because of the weather, I used Duckie for photos and such rather than the Canon, because I swear I am never losing another camera to the weather again. One is enough.
At 12:00, the plunge zone closed to spectators, and people started getting ready for the 1:00 plunge into the Chesapeake Bay. I got a good spot for shooting, and got some pictures of the festivities:
A group from the Bowie, Maryland police department takes the plunge.
A girl wearing nothing but a bikini stands in the water.
Lots of people in the water! Notice the red color on the chest of the man getting out of the water. I can imagine he was really cold right then.
A man strikes a victory pose in some very cold water.
A man comes out of the water wearing a speedo. Honestly, this is probably the best way for the menfolk to plunge. A little something to cover the necessary areas, and thus no big, baggy suit to cling to your body and be cold against your skin. That way, the warm, dry towel afterwards feels that much warmer since there's no big pair of wet shorts to get in the way.
A woman shivers after taking the plunge.
And then I also got video:
As you can see, this was a happy crowd.
In between the 1:00 plunge and the planned 3:00 plunge, I found my way to the sweatshirt tent. There, they had a large heater set up in the center of the tent. Time to warm up some cold hands. I left my gloves on, which warmed the gloves and my hands inside, plus dried off the water. You could actually see steam coming off the gloves! It was SO warm.
However, the event ended slightly early. Due to extreme conditions, the 3:00 plunge was cancelled entirely. A shame, but it happens, I suppose.
Two participants who didn't get to plunge at 3:00 were a man in a green zentai and another in a rainbow tie-dye jumpsuit. Such awesome outfits, but too bad they never got to plunge...
So everyone headed back to the buses to go back to the satellite locations. There were three lines - one for the Naval Academy Stadium, one for Anne Arundel Community College, and one for Kent Island High School. I quickly found my line for the stadium, and got in it. It was like waiting for a theme park ride, as "ferbling" (as my parents refer to it) was the name of the game. The line for the buses was four rows deep, and moved in spurts as about 40 people at a time were sent to buses as they arrived.
Waiting for buses in the snow.
Once we got a bus, the ride went smoothly, and was a lot of fun. But upon arrival, I had to actually find my car. Less fun. I kind of remembered where it was, but not really, and realized that finding it would be somewhat difficult since it would be wearing a white overcoat of snow. I eventually zeroed in on it by pressing the alarm button on my remote. I found my way in, and started it up so it could warm up while I scraped the windows.
The drive home was hell. The roads were passable, but they weren't clear. The drive home was slow, and the quality of the roads was inconsistent. There were some areas where it was clear, some where you could kind of make out the lanes, and others where you just had to guess. SHA was hard at work clearing roads (I passed a few snowplows), but it's admittedly hard to keep up when it's coming down hard. I saw a lot of accidents on Route 50, and that just added to the stress of the drive back. I ended up stopping in College Park for dinner, because I finally got to that point where I absolutely had to stop and take some time off of driving or I would scream. I ended up going to IKEA (yes, that IKEA) for dinner, and ate at their in-store restaurant. All in all, it wasn't a bad meal for a furniture store. The Swedes know how to do it. And then from there, home.
So all in all, I enjoyed myself. Look for a Photography set about the event, and I'm definitely coming back next year.
I just released the UNITE HERE Picket Photography set. This was a long time in coming. When I attended this event on June 20, I originally planned to just do a Journal entry about the event. I was going to write about it on the night of Monday, June 22. But then the Metro accident happened that evening, and I ended up writing about that instead. Thus the UNITE HERE event got bumped. It was the Photo Feature that week, but nothing else was said about it.
Now, it's part of Photography, and is one of two planned 2009 sets (the other being the teabagger march). I suppose it worked out well for the event. Rather than getting some discussion in the Journal and moving on, it got a full-page spread, with 35 pictures rather than a select few. And I got a chance to experiment again with Photography set layout. This time, I went for staggered rows. I'm still deciding how the format will look, and this one looks good, but the photos seem a little too close together.
And the weird thing about this group of photos is that every time I've published a photo from this event on the site, Metro has had an accident involving their rolling stock. I posted a photo as the Photo Feature on June 21, and the next day, Metro had a major collision on the Red Line. Then I ran a different photo during the week of Thanksgiving, and while that one was up, the yard collision at Falls Church happened. Very weird coincidence, if you ask me. I'm almost afraid with posting 35 photos from this event that an elevated structure will collapse or something. Let's hope not.
So with another Photography set published, I want to know once again what you think. I'm trying something out, and so let me know!
There's a reason I haven't written a Journal entry in a week... it's because I've been working myself ragged at the office. These 12-hour days have caused me to question my own sanity. But I've got a really big project I'm working on, and am somehow managing to do that plus all the usual stuff I do all the time. It's been leaving me physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the day. I barely even have the energy to do Wikipedia, let alone actually write an original thought.
So yeah, I've been a little workaholic this last week or so. I'm planning to go to Plungapalooza this weekend, and I'm seriously questioning whether I'll be able to actually drag myself out of bed to go out there on Saturday. If I do manage to get up to go, though, Plungapalooza ought to be fun. I'm not going to be donning a speedo and jumping in, though. Nuh-uh. I'm bringing my camera along and joining whatever other bloggers happen to be there, in order to write about the event in this space, as well as potentially make a Photography set out of the event. And I've been looking forward to going for about a year. I wrote about it last year, and noted that I should save the date. Well, I did. If I can muster up the strength to go, I'm going. And bringing a hat, coat, and gloves.
It's interesting, though. This is the third January in a row where I've let workaholism rob me of having a life. When I start coming into work on Saturday and work until 10 PM or so, that's a problem. When I start sending work Emails from home way too late in the evening, that's a problem. The whole idea is to have a nice balance between work, home, and social life. I haven't seen the Metro since Monday, since if I know going in that I'm going to stay really late, I drive to work. And people have noticed. One of my coworkers said "Shame on you!" to me about sending a work Email so late. Another person said, "What the hell are you doing sending work Email at 10 PM on a Saturday?" Of course, I had a quick response to that one, when that person said that he read the message at the same late hour that I sent it. I said, "Well, that begs the question... what the hell are you doing reading work Email at 10 PM on a Saturday?" We all got a good laugh from that.
Meanwhile, this probably underlines the fact that I need like a girlfriend or something. See, then I'd have more inspiration to get out of the office while the getting is good. Then I'd say, "I have to go because I need to head over to [girlfriend]'s house, because if I stay late at work one more night, [girlfriend] will kill me!" I haven't had a girlfriend for eleven years (November 1998 was the last time I was in a relationship), and so it's probably past time to get another one.
Then have you ever noticed that people who are tired and people who are drunk exhibit some of the same behaviors? People who have had way too many beers in one night start losing their coordination, see things, start stumbling over their own feet, and say off-the-wall things that they probably would never say when they're sober. Likewise, tired people start seeing things, start stumbling over their own feet (I'll bet I would probably fail a field sobriety test despite being stone sober right now), and say oddball things that they wouldn't say when fully alert. And neither should be allowed behind the wheel of an automobile.
Anyways, I'm getting some sleep now... see you tomorrow.
Song:Funny Game Show Moments. Favorite one was from a clip from The Joker's Wild at seven minutes and thirty seconds in:
Jack Barry: "Peacock" refers to the male of the species. What do you call a female peafowl?
Contestant: A female who?
(laughter)
Jack Barry: What... what... uh, I don't know, you may call it something else, what do you call a female peafowl? P-E-A-F-O-W-L.
Contestant: [bleeped] "Pecockess"?
(more laughter)
Jack Barry: Which is somewhere in New Jersey. "Pecaucus", New Jersey.
Quote: Wow... this entry is all over the place. I already have a rule that I don't work on the Web site when I'm upset (see what happens when I do Journal entries while upset), or after having had a drink (I've never drunk-blogged before). Considering how all over the place I was tonight, I might want to add "tired" to that list of prohibited states of mind.
Sometimes I don't know why I bother. I try to get a little discourse going on a political issue with a known hostile crowd on Facebook, and their arguments become so nonsensical that it finally becomes pointless to continue. But then again, it's also kinda fun. Most recently, it started with this as someone's status message:
[Name] is lifting up prayers that this healthcare bill DOES NOT PASS
Okay, so we've got an opinion. They want to see the healthcare bill fail. So let's dig in:
Ben Schumin Why don't you want to see it pass?
So I've started the discussion. Why don't they want to see it pass? Personally, I've resigned myself to the fact that I won't get what I really want out of this health care thing (single-payer for all), but it's still better than nothing, as it outlaws a number of the health insurance industry's dirty tricks, like denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions and recission of coverage. We can then build on this later to ultimately end up where we really ought to be down the road.
So the answer I got was less than stellar:
[Name] I just dont think its a good thing
Big help. Let's prod further:
Ben Schumin Why?
Dammit, I am going to squeeze a real answer out of these people. And I got one:
[Name 2] just read it it explains its self.
[Name 3] I dont even know what its about but if it came out of the mind of our pussyfootin president I dont wanna see it pass either, it cant be good
Ah, so the tone has been set. It doesn't matter what the content of any health care reform bill is. Because the president is a Democrat, they don't like it. It doesn't matter that the president has been basically cheering Congress on and giving the occasional nudge while Congress has devised the various bills on their own. Plus you've just got to love those "read the bill" types. I'd come over and pat them on the head condescendingly, but knowing the type, they'd probably shoot me. So I came back with a counter:
Ben Schumin Realize that as of now, there still is no one bill to read. So as of right now, based on the comments I've seen, you all have no real objections to any proposed health care legislation (which I admit is probably not going to contain all the provisions that I want on this go-round), but rather you all are just echoing the Republican "party of no" talking points.
The gauntlet has been thrown. "I challenge you, sir, to a duel! Pistols at noon!" So this is what that comment brought in:
[Name 4] Ben, I would be glad to see it pass if it was the same plan as the government workers get, or if it was disscussed in the open as the president said it was gonna be! I have read what is out there--most of it--anyway and being a nurse, I find it appalling. [...]
Let's not forget that this whole thing has been hashed out in public for the better part of a year, and the pundits on all sides have been having a field day over it. This is sausage being made, folks. Just take the so-called "public option". First it's a go, then it's supposedly dead, then it's back, etc. Coverage of the various House and Senate bills in progress has been all over C-SPAN, plus it's been all over the news.
Nonetheless, I responded:
Ben Schumin As I understand it, you will get the same thing that the government uses. They have an exchange, and you get to "go shopping".
Congress gets the same health care plan as all other federal employees. Federal employees go shopping on an exchange, where they can pick from a multitude of different insurance providers and plans, and insurers cannot deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. And federal employees pay part of the cost of their plans, with the employer (i.e. the feds) kicking in a portion as well.
As I understand it, the proposed reform will create this same kind of exchange for the masses. And instead of an employer contribution, the government will subsidize part of the cost of the plan. Thus you would still be paying premiums, but you're getting some assistance with the cost, potentially going from paying the whole premium to something like if you had employer-provided health insurance.
And I got this back:
[Name 4] Wrong, Ben! Do you have any idea what the congressmen and women get for healthcare?! If you want to know what the people are being offered, try looking at the Indian Health Service! That is more like what they are offering the public!
As I mentioned, members of Congress go shopping like everyone else on the federal government's payroll. The Indian Health Service, meanwhile, is a socialized health care delivery system. The doctors and nurses work for the federal government. It has been considered unsuccessful because of lack of funding to meet all of its obligations. Of course, our government has had this way of sticking it to Native Americans throughout our country's history.
Still, let me make a point for a moment - the Indian Health Service is a socialized health care delivery system. No one is proposing that for this reform work. At this point, we're just reining in the insurance companies who are putting profit over the people they're supposed to be serving.
Now, however, comes the fun part...
[Name 5] Becuase we nedd LESS government control! the more our government is in control the less we are. youth in asia comes in to play when this happens and quality of life totally goes out the window. with governmet health care if it looks like a trans plant or cancer treatment going to work you are left in a bed to die! Does that help explain government health care for you???
[Name 3] I agree [names], last I read in the Dec. of independence, it says WE THE PEOPLE not WE THE CONGRESS...and ben get some common sense and look behind the scenes instead of the book sense...its goes farther
Actually, the Declaration of Independence does basically say, "We the Congress". So I let them have it with the next one:
Ben Schumin Actually, the Declaration of Independence begins as such:
In Congress, July 4, 1776.
A Declaration
By the Representatives of the
United states of America,
In general Congress assembled.
Additionally, the Declaration of Independence is not the law of the land. You do not take a case to the Supreme Court because there is an ambiguity in how a law is applied to the Declaration of Independence. You take a case to the Supreme Court when there are questions about how a law is applied to the Constitution.
Our government is a republican (with a small "r") system. In a republican system, the people elect representatives to run the government on their behalf. Thus the government exists by the consent of the people, because the people elect their representatives, and if the people choose to withdraw that consent, they do so by "throwing the bums out" in the next election. If you don't like what your representatives are doing, vote against them the next time they're up for reelection.
Additionally, in the health care reform currently proposed, the health care delivery system will be unchanged. Doctors, hospitals, etc. will keep doing what they're doing. The reform is better described as health insurance reform, and the vast majority of health insurance will still be privately run. It will still be Blue Cross, Aetna, Cigna, etc. The rules of the game, however, will change, as companies will no longer be able to deny people insurance for pre-existing conditions, and will no longer be able to rescind coverage if a person gets sick. The private insurers already leave people for dead when they get sick. Health insurance reform will ensure that they won't do that.
The idea of a public option (which may or may not be part of the final bill) is a government-run health insurance program similar to Medicare to compete with these insurance companies in order to help keep these companies honest. The public option would not be a free-for-all, but would be supported by insurance premiums, just like the private insurers. The public option will likely not be available to everyone, but only to those who meet certain conditions (and I can't recall offhand what those are).
Please, folks - do your homework first before you try and argue.
Why does it not surprise me that at least half of that response was just in laying out the basic ground rules of how the government functions. The Declaration of Independence can basically be summed up as such: "King George III, go screw yourself." It was a statement, and the founding fathers' putting their necks on the line for a cause, in which they ultimately succeeded. However, the Declaration of Independence, as I understand it, is not law. The Constitution is the law of the land, and not the declaration.
And I think I took the wind out of their sails:
[Name] Ben Read Revelation chapter 12 from the Bible King James Version
[Name 6] I am going to pray for you Ben.
[Name 2] he is going to need it when he is dying of cancer and his government healthcare lets him lay in bed and die because it cost to much to help him survive it.
Once they start tossing the Bible around, I know I've nailed 'em. Once they pledge to pray for me, that's an admission of defeat without actually saying it in my book (akin to "don't argue with me" as a counter-point). I read exactly what they suggested: Revelation, Chapter 12, King James Bible. Looks like someone's been taking Rush Limbaugh a bit too seriously, as one of Limbaugh's terms for President Obama is "man-child". But what any of what's in Revelation 12 has to do with health care reform, however, is beyond me. I think they're just trying to tread water after I threw a cinderblock on their arguments.
Now, of course, I'd just like to see a final bill end up on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office so we can all know what the game plan is going to be like, and if it then is worth having.
So I am now the proud father of a Motorola Droid...
So I got my Droid today. I now have what I describe as the iPhone for people who don't want an iPhone. This thing has the touch screen, it has Wi-Fi, it has downloadable apps and games, and it has a five-megapixel camera.
Yes, five megapixels. That's right - my cell phone just out-megapixeled the late Big Mavica (which was four-megapixel). That's obscene. My cell phone still slots below my real cameras, though. Duckie has six, and the Canon does ten. And take a look at a sample of its work:
You would think that I took this with a real camera. But it's a cell phone.
Meanwhile, what you're looking at there is the center court at Staunton Mall. I'm told that they're putting in a new sewer line, and it apparently requires digging up the floor. That's a pile of dirt inside the mall. Pretty serious, if you ask me. And for all that work, when it's all said and done, the mall will look exactly the same, with the same crummy linoleum where a fountain used to be. When we first moved to the area in 1992, there was a modern-looking fountain in the center of the mall, in front of what was then Woolworth's. Then with a bunch of renovations to the mall in 1997 (or so), the fountain was removed. They didn't bother to put in tile where the fountain used to be, though. They just laid linoleum over the spot. I don't know who they think they're fooling. It even feels cheap when you walk on it.
Otherwise, though, I'm slowly but surely figuring out my Droid. I've got my bells back, and the Power Rangers chime is also on there again. And then having a phone with a decent speaker now, I need to figure out a new ringtone. I don't believe I'm up to Rickrolling myself whenever I get a call, but this does require some thought. I've had "Sakura Saku" as my ringtone on two different phones in the past, so I think it's time to retire that one. So we'll see what I come up with, I suppose. I'll skim my MP3s once I get back home tomorrow and put something on there.
Then I've also figured out how to change my background, and for that, I chose a photo of Metro Center station. I've had the Metro as my background for a long time, and so this is just a continuation of that trend. Then I still have to get my work Email configured to speak to my Droid. I think I'm the first one at work to have a Droid. I believe the most popular phone at the office is the iPhone, and it's nice and all, but you have to have AT&T service (which I don't want), and I believe Apple keeps too tight of control over the device. So now we must document how to hook up the work Email for this particular smartphone.
Then probably the coolest new tool is the barcode scanner. Now I can scan barcodes using the camera, and instantly go comp-shopping. I can see this being really handy around the office. If I need to reorder something, I could just go in, zap the bar code, and then place an order. Done and done.
And of course, this thing also has a real keyboard. Though interestingly enough, I've been finding myself using the on-screen keyboard more often thus far. But it's there. Thus if I get fed up with the on-screen keyboard or what have you, I just slide out a real keyboard, with real keys. Pretty groovy.
This phone is still a bit of a challenge, but I think I'm going to tackle it in the end. There's a lot of stuff I don't know about yet, and I need to play around with it a bit more, but I think this will be a winner. Now I just need some games for it. I like my Scrabble and my Tetris, but couldn't find them on the new phone.
Quote: And now the next challenge is to figure out how the Droid mashed up my old Google, phone, and Facebook contacts, and make it all into one powerhouse contact list (that I can edit online!).
How appropriate that I am writing this from my parents' house in Virginia where, in traveling to get here, I passed three shuttered rest areas. While my sister was out getting married (more on that later), Republican Bob McDonnell was being sworn in as the 71st Governor of Virginia.
The reason I mention this is because during the gubernatorial campaign, McDonnell made a promise to reopen the rest areas that were closed last summer. I certainly could have used one or two of those on the way down here. It is very convenient to exit the highway into a rest area, get out of the car, go in, do one's business, and then hop back in the car and go. Compare that to the alternative. That involves taking an exit to a local road and finding a place, and you're never sure what you're going to get, plus having to battle local traffic. I got off at Woodstock to use the restroom on the way down, and battling local traffic was not exactly a walk in the park. And if you're stopping just to take a potty break with no intention of buying food or gas or otherwise, that's what rest areas are for. Otherwise, you're just clogging up local roads and such and eating up parking spaces for a non-revenue (for the private operator) visit. If you are also buying food or gas or what have you, then by all means, take the exit and use the restroom while you're at it. But otherwise, that's what rest areas are for. Get off, use the restrooms, stretch your legs, and then get going again.
So Mr. McDonnell has 90 days - until April 16th - to hang out the welcome sign on the rest areas that were closed. It appears that he intends to honor that promise (he'd better).
Either way, the clock is now ticking. McDonnell had better get cracking.
Song: Definitely the bell sound I use for text messages on my phone. I'm going to get my bi-annual upgrade tomorrow, and it's probably going to be a Droid, which I've been describing as, "The iPhone for people who don't want to switch to AT&T." In preparation for switching phones, I found the files for my ringtone and my text message chime, and got them ready for transfer onto the new phone.
Quote: Meanwhile, Virginia governors are kind of unaccountable once elected. They are constitutionally barred from serving multiple consecutive terms in office, and so if McDonnell doesn't follow through, it's not like Virginia voters can hold him accountable by voting him out in 2013. There will be two new candidates in 2013, and he's gone in January 2014 regardless of what he does. There needs to be a state constitutional amendment in Virginia to allow the governor to serve at least two consecutive terms so that governors have to answer more directly to the public by asking them if they may serve another term.
So the question is, is this a legal move in Maryland, or is it not? Take a look:
This is a situation I've encountered on more than a few occasions on those days when I have to drive to work. The yellow box on the roadway is a school bus with the stop lights on, loading a whole bunch of children onto the bus. The box at the bottom of the image is me in my car, with the right turn signal on, waiting to turn out of my driveway and onto the roadway. The pink arrow is the move I intend to make.
The school bus is stopped at the edge of the driveway, but not in front of it. I am entirely in front of the school bus, and making a turn that takes me away from the school bus. So the question is, is it legal to make that right turn while the bus has its red lights on, or am I legally obligated to wait for the bus to finish its transaction and turn off the red lights before I can make my turn? See, if this were a left turn, it would be a no-brainer. Obviously, if I were going left, I would have to wait. But for a right turn, I'm not sure where things stand. I'm not trying to pass the school bus per se, but I am kinda sorta wanting to make some moves very close to a stopped school bus with its red lights on.
This is a bit of a minor dilemma for me, because offenses regarding school buses cost a lot of money. And I don't like not knowing, because if I err on the side of caution, it causes a lot of resentment from me towards the school bus, plus knowing that I don't know if it's legal or not (i.e. a "known unknown") makes me want to test those waters and run the rapids, but I don't want to be wrong and have points on my license and a hefty fine.
Of course, if jurisdictions would just eliminate school bus traffic stop laws, then we wouldn't have this problem, would we?
Yes, as soon as the laundry is finished (see, Mom, I am capable of taking clean clothes down when I visit), I'm heading out to Stuarts Draft. I can't believe that this weekend is almost here. My sister's getting married this Saturday! She's going to become Mrs. Chris Lysy on Saturday.
Of course, now I'm going to have to get used to seeing "Ann Lysy" on Facebook and such. That's just going to be strange to see, but I'm sure she'll be happy as can be.
Then meanwhile, I am going to get to Stuarts Draft under my own power, despite that the wheel of automotive misfortune has been spinning in my direction as of late. Recall that I've not had a good time with the car lately. First the car spazzed out on me on Christmas Eve as I was leaving for work. Then when I was in Roanoke on the 30th with Mom, the car didn't want to start up. After a trip to the Firestone place in Wheaton when I got back, though, the car was running fine again. However, (automotive) misfortune apparently comes in threes, and on Tuesday, when I went to get into the car to go to work (if I know I'm going to be working late, I drive), I discovered that the right front tire was flat. Greeeeeeeeeat. So I had to call AAA and get the spare put on. Then I was on my way. Then yesterday, another trip to Firestone got my brand-new tire fixed up. The comment was, 20-some thousand miles is what this thing is supposed to last, and it didn't even make it to 100. But they fixed it, and determined it was probably a bad seal.
Of course, with my most recent automotive misfortune, it's caused me to plan for what happens if the car is disabled en route between Stuarts Draft and DC. See, I get a tow to my destination of choice within 100 miles of where the car should die. And on my route, Woodstock is roughly the midpoint. If I'm south of Woodstock, then a breakdown will go to Stuarts Draft, at Eavers Tire. North of Woodstock, it goes to Wheaton. Then for when I take US 29, substitute Culpeper for Woodstock. Hopefully, though, I'll never have to put my plan into effect. But at least now I have an idea about what to do should the unthinkable occur.
But we're not going to think about that now. I have a wedding to photograph! I'm nervous as hell, but I think in the end, I'll do just fine. This wedding is actually the main reason I bought the Canon in the first place. I couldn't have used the Kodak for the wedding, because it was not sophisticated enough for my needs - and too lightweight. The Canon has some more weight to it, and is a bit more serious about what it's trying to do. And in the ten-and-some months I've been using it, it's treated me well. I can do this. Plus should the unthinkable happen to the Canon, and it goes down on me, Dad will have his own Canon digital camera at the ready for me to jump over to. Since we're not doing the wedding underwater or in hazardous conditions, Duckie will likely be left out of the action.
Now, though, I need to check on laundry and then get packed and out of here. I have to get a haircut on the way out and give the car a quick wash to get a bunch of salt residue off the car before I arrive.
Quote: Meanwhile, Sis and Chris are going to Disney World for their honeymoon. I'm jealous. You know, I never did get to see the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom when we went in 1989. If memory serves me correctly, I wasn't feeling well, and so I spent the entirety of the fireworks display... in the bathroom. No fun.
Go stand in a walk-in freezer for about three hours and then report back to me.
Yeah. Go stand in a walk-in freezer for about three hours and then report back to me about how it was. That's pretty much what it felt like out there while we raided Scientology on Saturday, January 9. But add some wind. It was pretty bloody cold, if I do say so myself (and I do).
But we raided. We had a small but dedicated group out there for this one. You had HT, Sparrow, MaidofWin, Purple Hair Anon, and myself out there giving Scientology hell. MaidofWin and Purple worked the corner, and HT and I took the entrance to the Ideal Org. And Sparrow did his usual thing, confronting the Scientologists on camera. And it was cold. Very cold. Everyone was wrapped up for the cold, and I wore the setup that I wore last year at the January flash raid. It may look like I came straight out of the haz-mat unit, but it's warm, and I had every square inch of skin covered.
And here we are:
MaidofWin carries the "Scientology only wants your $$$" sign that we first made for Richmond.
HT raids maskless, with a "Fair wages for Sea Org" sign.
Meanwhile, HT and I pose with our signs. Mine says, "End human trafficking in Scientology!" while the other side of HT's sign says, "I can communicate with anyone on any subject. Can you?" Her sign refers to the fact that the Scientologists can't talk to us since we're all suppressive and such.
However, the public going in and out of the Ideal Org was actually quite friendly this time around. They made some small talk with us, and smiled and such. The staff, now, gave us the cold shoulder, as expected.
This raid also demonstrated why it's good to have signs on heavy stock. Purple's sign, which had the standard "HONK if you think Scientology is a cult!" message, moved in the wind and got away from her, tumbling around as it made its way to the bus stop across 16th Street. Thankfully, despite getting run over by a car, the sign survived unscathed, and was picked up by a person waiting for the bus, which Purple then retrieved:
Then otherwise, not many people stopped to talk with us, and I can't blame them. It was below freezing, and that means really cold. The only one who stopped to talk with us for any appreciable length of time was a former coworker of mine. We talked about Scientology, and such. Meanwhile, you know your disguise is complete when people who know you quite well don't even recognize you. The only way he could tell it was me was when I spoke, and even then he had to ask.
Then Sparrow chalked a note on the sidewalk:
So there you go. I froze my fanny off in 20 degree weather along with the most dedicated of Anons in our "Freese your tits off" raid (I didn't come up with that name), and got the word out. Scientology has learned once again that cold can't keep us away. We are everywhere...
