Sunday Morning Coming Down

Last Wednesday, I'm listening to NPR and there was a collection of recordings from Story Corp as part of their fund raising efforts for WLRN.  I've heard the interviews that become stories on the radio many times and it is regular part of the Morning Edition on Fridays. There was a story about a call a lady got shortly after 9:00 am on 9/11 from the 103 floor of the WTC.  The caller was pretty much doomed and I guess he felt it was time to call his ex-wife and say good bye and that he loved her.  Even though divorced, the couple still cared for each other.  I have a hard time thinking about a situation like that.  Oh shit my life is over, but I still have a few moments, what should I do.  He did the right thing. My Mom died the evening of 9/9/2001.  Forty days in a hospice facility is a long time.  She got good care and kind of slipped away.  Very little drama at about 6:00 pm, my sister and I decided to go home for something to eat ...

Going to an emergency room for medical care is way too expensive a way to provide care.  Expanding some form of insurance that encourages folks to go to the doctor in a more rational way would be cheaper.  What you get charged for anything in an ER if you are uninsured makes a nights stay at an expensive hotel on Miami Beach seem like a bargain. Defunding Obamacare would make the situation worse for folks without coverage and without making the cost of healthcare more affordable for everyone, default on even Medicare coverage will be happening sooner rather than later. The cost of health insurance provided by your employer is going up and if you buy insurance on your own it is expensive.  Lots of retired folks are worried about the cost of stuff rising faster than their income and the cost of government programs which in their point of view stifles incentives to go out and work.  Folks that don't qualify for Food Stamps are probably suspicious of the program, fol...

The Miami Marlins won a game last night 4-0.  Pitching was great, hitting not so great until the bottom of the 8th when they finally put a few hits together to score some runs.  The Phillies seemed to be running out the season and the Marlins may have a season with 100 losses.  I went to the game with a retired friend and I doubt if the tickets could have been cheaper.  2@$6.00 and it might as well have been a free seating night, we ended up sitting in left field hoping to catch a home run ball.  This is not the first time that a beer and parking far exceeded the cost of a seat.  Beer $8.00 and parking in the garage was $15.00.  Entertainment isn't cheap, but the owner of the Marlins needs to spend some money for some position players. After the game I got home in time to watch the late news.  A police shooting in neighborhood I drive by regularly lead as breaking news.  The weather lady says we are going to have a rainy week as a cold fro...

I'm not a fan of paycheck games that small schools schedule with big name schools.  The small schools may need the money and the players may think it is cool to play in front of bigger crowds, at storied venues, and see how they stand up against the best. UM vs. Savannah State 77-7.  The radio announcers were discussing Forrest Gump and Midnight In Garden of Good and Evil that were filmed in Savannah throughout the 2nd Half.  More than a few walk overs last Saturday.  FIU, the other local school got clocked by Louisville and that game was just as ugly as the UM game.  In the 1970's Miami was the Little Sister of The Poor for Notre Dame, Texas, and Penn State's of the world until they made a concerted effort to recruit some better players and make sure their facilities were more up to date.  Investigations by the NCAA and sanctions soon followed but it just seems to be part of the cost of doing business. I don't think the Christians v...

Caught something on the radio about the value of parenting.  It was somebody pushing a book he had written and I never caught his name or the name of the book.  I'm not even sure of the context of a statistic he mentioned about the value of child brought up with good parenting who went on to be a success, but he sure did contrast it with the cost of some bad parenting, that lead to a life with a lot of problems like substance abuse, criminal behavior, and hard time in prison. Couldn't help but think about Dr. Laura, Dr. Phil, and the Dog Whisperer.  They guy had a point if your parents were good, you probably benefited because of their parenting skill.  Another piece of conventional wisdom registered: apples don't fall far from the tree. And the opposite probably applied as well.  Absent parents, drug abuse by parents, violence by parents, and general disorganization by parents can cause kids to spiral into other bad behaviors. At some point the situa...

This is one I never thought of: you may be libel for damage to the rental car if there is a weather related incident and the car is parked and not being driven, a form of coverage that is an extra charge. If I was tourist in Iceland last week and the weather was so bad that your rental car was damaged by the weather and I didn't have the right coverage, that would be a bummer times two. I can imagine how much fun it would be to be stuck in a hotel room if you had other plans. According to the Icelandic Review ten cars were severely damaged and one tourist rang up a bill for about $8,000 for weather only related damage.  One car was sandblasted during a sandstorm.  That would be an ass froster for sure.

I would have understood if the President had cancelled his speech regarding the economy yesterday.  I'm sure many thought it was insensitive to speak so politically with what was happening at the Naval Yard. The guy is the President and could said sorry, let's do this another day.  I doubt many would have complained. There were other things he could have done at that moment.  Compromise on some level if anything is going to get done and throwing bombs by both sides isn't helpful.