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Dub, think of the concept. Only have what you can keep in the house you already have.

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Miss Moneybags Facing the worst economy since the Great Depression, one woman decides her bank account needs a bailout. The Solution: Save $100,000 by the end of the year. The Problem: That's more than her yearly salary.

Hey! MSN Money Picked Up My Article! By Miss Moneybags Self-storage is not a savvy solution After $48,000 in rent, she's finally selling her stuff. Posted by Karen Datko on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 9:32 AM This post comes from Max Wong at partner blog Wise Bread. Recently I did an intervention on Sarah, one of my dearest friends. It wasn't the first time. Over the last few years I have unsuccessfully attempted to get her to seek help for a problem that has cost her conservatively $48,000 and put financial and emotional stress on her family. Recently, after more than five years of trying to manage her problem, she finally hit rock bottom. She once again had to borrow money from her family -- this time to pay for her daughter's health care. Sarah had $800 of the $900 doctor bill in the bank, but she'd already earmarked that money for the horrible monkey on her back. Sarah has a substance abuse problem -- but not with drugs. Sarah has a problem with self-storage. Bing:How to find self-storage auctions Sarah used to have financial stability. But five years ago she made a major life change when she decided, at age 40, to adopt a child and become a single parent. Sarah sold her beautiful 3,000-square-foot home so she could afford to quit her high-powered job and be a stay-at-home mom until her daughter could start preschool. She moved into a 1,200-square-foot apartment in a good school district. This was all part of a good, long-term plan. Unfortunately, she then made what became possibly the worst financial of her entire life: She put the 1,800 square feet worth of possessions that didn't fit into the apartment into self-storage. Similar to a technique drug dealers use to reel in future customers, the storage company offered Sarah, a first-time user, free product to ensure her loyalty. Convinced that she would be able to sell, donate or otherwise dispose of her extra stuff during the "first 30 days free rent" period that her storage company offers to all new customers, Sarah moved her designer guest-room furniture, her Christmas decorations, her art collection, etc., into four of the cheapest storage units available. "I'm just going to use this as a staging area to get organized," she told me at that point in time. "That way, I'll have four weeks to figure stuff out and won't have to make any financial decisions about what to get rid of under duress." She never moved out. Although she has plenty of very valuable things in storage, as we surveyed the contents of one of Sarah's units earlier this week she finally did the math. Even if she pulled everything out of the unit and set it on fire in the parking lot, it would still be a better financial decision than keeping it in storage for another month. Five years x $200 a month per unit x four units = $48,000. And that total doesn't even account for the money spent on gasoline to get her to and from her storage or all the late fees she's paid on other bills because she chose to pay her storage bill on time so her stuff wouldn't be seized for nonpayment. The phone company can turn off your service, but the storage company can auction off your dream diary, fake IDs, and herpes medication to the highest bidder. Although Sarah's situation may be the worst that I know of personally, she's hardly alone. According to the Self Storage Association, 50% of storage unit renters are storing what won't fit into their homes. One out of every 11 Americans rents storage. Watching Sarah's horrible journey has made me realize that although self-storage (like easy credit) can be beneficial to a percentage of the population, it's a pact with Satan for many folks who don't have an iron fist over their finances or excellent time-management skills. Quite simply, it's bad on several fronts. Self-storage is a bad investment. I called four different storage companies with units in my area of Los Angeles. The cheapest price for the smallest storage space, a 5-by-5-foot unit, in my neighborhood is $67 per month. The first month costs just a mere $1, but that's not counting the one-time-only $22 "administration fee" that they'll also tack on to the first 30 days. Although all those numbers sound doable financially, if I rented this space, I'd be out a whopping $760 in the first 12 months, all to rent a space that's the size of my laundry room. In other words, stuff that isn't functional enough to put in my house and use every day would become more and more expensive with each passing year. (On a side note, I had to hang up on three out of the four storage sales reps because I was getting such a hard sell. They continued to demand my personal information even after I'd told them that their rental prices were beyond my budget.) Self-storage can lead to overconsumption. Self-storage is like diet food. It fools the mind by fooling the eye. If your clutter isn't visible in your house, do you really have a spending problem? The first self-storage facilities were built in Texas in the late 1960s. It took 25 years to build the first 1 billion square feet of storage. But it took just eight years (1998-2005) to add the second billion. According to theNational Association of Home , the average 1960s home was 1,200 square feet. In 2004 the average home had ballooned to almost twice that size to 2,330 square feet. Bigger houses are harder to fill up, which may explain why Americans buy twice the number of consumer goods than the citizens of any other First World nation. (OK, so we're a geographically huge country, but if we've got such big homes, why do we need an additional billion square feet of storage space?) The environmental cost of creating, transporting and finally housing 2 billion square feet of unused possessions is mindboggling. Self-storage can waste time as well as money. Self-storage companies count on the basic physics of human laziness, that is: Objects at rest remain at rest ... in storage. After all, who wants to spend their precious free time digging through boxes looking for stuff? Sarah, in her efforts to deal with her storage problems, has spent hundreds of hours "organizing" her stuff in storage, attempting to repack it more efficiently so she can scale down to smaller, cheaper units. Self-storage is urban blight. In all fairness, one of the storage companies in my area is housed in the hollowed-out facade of an Art Deco office building, so that's quite pretty. But for the most part, self-storage facilities are architectural monsters. In addition to being ugly as sin, they bring in few jobs or sales tax benefits to the community, compared with other structures of similarly huge proportions. Self-storage can keep you from living in the moment. There are certain groups of people -- like those who live on sail boats or the newly moved -- who can follow their dreams because they can temporarily stash their possessions in storage. Storage gives them the wiggle room to experience life without being connected to personal belongings. For more than half the storage renters, however, this is simply not the case. Once a month, one of the storage companies in my neighborhood holds an "estate sale" where the owner of the company sells off the contents of units that were seized for nonpayment of rent. What odd, desperate or lazy story is behind this lapse of judgment? Why the renters failed to move their possessions out of storage before the rent was due is always a mystery. What tales of woe are behind the abandoned photograph albums, bronzed baby shoe ashtrays or the hand-embroidered vintage napkins? Why weren't these items, so obviously full of sentimental value, kept in the home where they could be used and admired? A clearer narrative about why items were acquired is visible from a lot of the sale merchandise, however. You can almost hear the nagging spouses behind the half dozen exercise bikes and ThighMasters for sale each month or the siren call of Martha Stewart behind the hundreds of half-finished craft items. Whether they are nostalgic artifacts from the past or wishful self-help tools for the future, none of these objects relate to the present-day lives of their former owners, which is probably why they were put in storage to begin with. These monthly sales are sad museums, a collection of failed ventures and unfulfilled dreams of what could be. As with every successful product, self-storage provides a powerful storyline for the consumer to buy into: that preserving memories of the past or the potential of the future through material goods is valuable. For the past five years, Sarah has denied the chaos that keeping so much stuff in storage brings to her daily life. Her dream of returning to her former standard of in the future has cost her the very security she wants for her daughter and their quality of life today. That $48,000 could have gone toward her daughter's college fund. It could have paid for a lifetime of vacations. It could have been a down payment on a house. Up until she hit rock bottom, I think Sarah actually believed that she would one day find her way back into a big house in the hills, even though she's a self-employed single parent facing a global financial downturn. As I photographed her possessions to list on Craigslist, she fretted about selling her formal dining room set, because she wanted to pass it on to her daughter as a family heirloom. That her daughter, who is in kindergarten, might not like the style of the set as an adult and would have no emotional connection to an object that she'd only ever seen in storage, never crossed her mind.

New job, out sick

I started my new job in the ER on the 28th, and it was like coming home. It took me a while to gain some proficiency on the computer software, but the patient interviewing skills were still there, and the whole ER atmosphere is the same. I always loved it and I love it still. The job is much more varied in some ways than it was in the old West Valley ER, and less so in other ways. After all there, are 7 different zones in this ER, each mostly with its own registrar at any particular time, and you mostly just do what is wanted in that zone. In some you only do bedside registration, in a couple the nurses bring the patient to you to register before they are discharged. There is even one zone called Quick Reg that I haven't worked yet where you only put in demographics and what the reason is for coming to the ER, and not allowed to ask anything else. Other zones then follow up on the info you got AFTER the patient is seen by a doctor.

After 2 full weeks, I was finally beginning to feel like I was actually contributing instead of just lowering other peoples' productivity, and then boom, Sunday morning I woke up so sick I could barely raise my head. Cough, fever, congested lungs, etc. I had worked a 12 hours shift on Saturday with what I thought was a steadily worsening cold, but this is much worse than a cold. Chances are pretty good that I am now recovering from the swine flu, since I got a seasonal flu shot the second day after I started. I wasn't scheduled to work Sunday, but I WAS supposed to work Mon, Tues, and today, and I have had to call in sick every day. You can't go back until your temp has been normal for 24 hours or 7 days have passed since your first symptoms, whichever comes later. I am not scheduled to work tomorrow either, but will have to go to Occ Health at work before I can go back to the ER on Friday at 4 PM.

It has been a truly miserable 4 days so far, but I really am on the mend. I even climbed the hill and watched DH feed the chickens tonight, after not leaving the house since Saturday. I bet I have slept 3/4 of the entire hours since I first got sick.

DH is becoming a little sick, but his immune system is much better than mine, and he should be fine. I expected to get sick about 2 weeks into the ER; everybody does, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. Oh well, I'm alive.

Look at the good side; now I don't have to worry about lining up to get one of the precious vaccinations when they finally become available.

Consciously Frugal: Product Human

Consciously Frugal: Product Human

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EPA Admits Chemical Law Inadequate for Protecting Americans from Harmful Exposure

EPA Admits Chemical Law Inadequate for Protecting Americans from Harmful Exposure

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10 Easy Recipes for DIY Natural Beauty Products

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Breakfast with my friend

Yesterday morning I met my friend at JB's and we had breakfast together. We started talking as as soon as we met, and were still talking when we left well over an hour later. The poor waitress had to come back twice before we ever looked at our menus, and all I remember about my food is that it was good. It was great seeing my firend, and doubly good because she filled me in on a lot of corporate culture details about my new place of work that would have taken me weeks or months to find out for myself. I hope to see her a lot more, although it will be mostly just in passing, as she works full-time at night, and I will be mostly working evenings, after the first 2 weeks of training.

My last two days at PetSmart are Saturday and Sunday, only a few hours each day, so it won't hurt to go straight into a solid week of work at my new job.

Getting even more excited

I sure do wish it was tomorrow that I start my new job instead of a week from tomorrow. PetSmart only has me scheduled for 15 hours the whole week, so lots of time to be nervous and not nearly enough money to do anything with. Of course this happens when the car insurance AND the property taxes come due. We will fine of course; DH saves ahead for everything. I am lucky to have him. If it was just me, I'd be a bag lady. Money just slips through my fingers and is GONE when I need it.

AARP.org Article from ajw1981@live.com

 AJ thought you would enjoy this article: Retail Clinics Provide Low-Cost, Quality Care - AARP Bulletin Today.  This is what they said about it: This sounds like the way to go once I have lost my health insurance. 

Laptop died

OK, I am back on the net, thank goodness. My laptop died Wednesday and all I was able to keep was a CSV file of my address book on a stick. At least I have that. I haven't been able to backup or update anything that required a CD drive for months, so everything is a shambles. It will take a while to catch up, if ever.
I bought my first ever desktop computer, having only had laptops in the past. It has twice as much memory for half the cost of a comparable laptop, so this time it was a no-brainer. If I haven't been taking my laptop to school with me this semester, and I haven't, I don't need a laptop.
So I am setting everything up today. Gee, I wish I had kept a paper file somewhere of all my passwords, but I didn't. Grrrrrr!

Bright sunshiny day

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Getting nervous

As the time to do paperwork and get shots, etc. for my new job approaches, I am getting more and more nervous.  Dh asks what I have to be nervous about, since I already got hired, but he just doesn't understand.  To a worrier like me, the very lack of having something to worry about is worth worrying about.  Either you the reader get it, or you don't.  Obviously he doesn't.

At the same time, I just can't wait to get back to doing a real job for real reasons, not just urging people to buy more and more of whatever they need and even whatever they don't need.  I mean, there is no way I'm going to try and talk an ER patient into getting 2 casts on his legs, when he only broke one of them and only needs 1 cast.  That is a labored analogy, but you get it.

I wish I could start tomorrow.

 

Walgreens vs. Target

I just switched pharmacies, since I have been to the doctor and obtained new scripts for my medications. I also had to switch migraine meds, since the Maxalt I have been taking for years is sooo bloody expensive, and isn't even covered under my insurance (which I only have for 2 more weeks anyway).  The Maxalt doesn't have a generic yet, and it has been costing over $275 for 9 pills.  NINE PILLS!!! 

And I have had nothing but trouble with Walgreens since I lost my good insurance in April.  They delay and delay filling my scripts, even when I call and email and tell them to fill them right now.  Then 3 days later, they call again to make sure I really want the refill because they haven't bothered to fill it yet.

No more.

I went to the Target near my PetSmart and gave them my new scripts.  The tramadol I have been paying $43.99 for at Walgreens cost me $8, and Target apologized because it isn't covered under the $4 discount program.  The trazodone IS on the $4 program, and my new migraine meds, generic Imitrex, was $35.40.  Target said they ran it through a different discount card in order to give it to me at a reasonable price.  I was so shocked and happy.  I asked if I had to buy into the discount program or something, and they said oh no, and I will continue to get these meds at these prices.

They have definitely made a Target Pharmacy customer out of me.

 

I got the job!!!!

I was on my way to the doctor a couple of hours ago, just for my B-12 and to get new prescriptions, when my cell phone rang. I pulled over so I could write stuff down, because it was BANNER ESTRELLA HR!!!!!!! She offered me the pool ED registration position and said most of my shifts would be evenings. This is fine; anything to get hired. And my starting pay is almost exactly twice what I am making at PetSmart.

I start September 28, a Monday, but have to go to the hospital next Tuesday morning for the pee test, TB test, Hepatitis B titer, occupations health questionairre, etc. I can do that.

I went straight to PetSmart on my way home to give my notice. Both Don and David were there, so I am sure it will not be forgotten when it comes to schedule time. I am so happy I could burst. I always LOVED the ER, and I know I will like it even better now that there are others to spread the work around, and you don't have to sit there in front of all the people waiting to be seen without being able to do anything about it.

Gotta go. I have to do some other things.

Obama as Mr. Rogers: What the Christian Right Really Fears -- Politics Daily

Obama as Mr. Rogers: What the Christian Right Really Fears -- Politics Daily

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Job interview

I had an interview for an ER registration pool position at my chosen hospital yesterday, and I feel very good about the interview.  I was there for 1.5 hours and was given a tour of the ER toward the end of the interview.  I really liked the manager who interviewed me, and there was also a supervisor who sat in on the interview but didn't say much.  At one point I asked the supervisor if she had any questions for me, but she said no she was just a listener.  We turned out to have many mutual acquaintances among my former co-workers who now work at this hospital.  A couple of them in PFS and others in nursing, with one of my previous managers running the OB department.  So there are plenty of references if this interviewer wants to check up on my work ethic.  I am not worried about that part of my presentation at all. She even told me about the pay scale and the on-call pay and how the assignment of shifts for pool people works, and showed me people wearing the new uniform.  I was savvy enough, thanks to my instructor at school NOT to ask about any of that, so the information was volunteered.  She told me about the changes that have happened since I last worked in the ER.

I have to wait a week for her decision and fully expect to have a lot of trouble sleeping until then.  I know I barely slept at all last night.  Luckily I have the day off from PetSmart today.

Love,

AJ

 

Nastiness and resentment at home

Its always hard to believe when my DH acts in a nasty unreasonable way about something. Even after nearly 30 years of marriage, I persist in thinking he's at heart a nicer person than he actually is, I guess. I'm the eternal optimist; he is the pessimist.
Anyway, I took the day off today; gave my 8.5 hours shift to another cashier who really needs the hours, a single mother whose laid off ex isn't sending child support anymore. It is my ONLY day off this week, as I went to school both of my originally scheduled days off.
Now why does my DH react to this with such meanness and resentment? Since he hasn't worked in nearly 2 years, did he forget that a person needs a day to regroup once in a while? Or does he just not care about that, because he thinks going to school IS avoiding work? Is he worried about money? HE could get a job, duh?
OK, I think that is probably it. He would never admit it, but I bet he is afraid that I will not earn enough to carry on and he will have to get some kind of part-time work himself. That would really cut into his time with his girlfriend, which he actually says is a job, but never seems to produce any income.
It has obviously not occurred to him that I am really incapable of working as a cashier ON MY FEET for more than 8 hours a day, physically I mean. Being so totally friendly and wonderful for that long is hard enough but to maintain it while your whole body is screaming in pain gets harder and harder as the hours slowly pass. Perhaps I should share that fact with him, but I doubt if it will make any difference in his attitude.
s

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7 Myths About Global Warming and Carbon Cap-and-Trade Regulation Will the U.S. lose jobs? Will Energy bills skyrocket? Can the South really produce enough renewable energy to meet proposed federal mandates?

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Home > Blog for Rural America > A Faithful Perspective on Health Care: Part II

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A Faithful Perspective on Health Care: Part II

By Steph Larsen

Created 08/26/2009 - 16:04

By Sabrina Miller
Sabrina Miller is a Young Adult Intern with the Rural Response Committee of the Nebraska United Methodist Conference.  Her first in this series of blog posts is here [1].

My primary goal in speaking with people about health care is to create a space of respect, love, and open conversation, and let differing opinions exist while having exhilarating discussion.  As I talked with folks in local churches about health care reform, similar topics continued to arise, and fear that reform would leave them without care.   

Many were retired and comfortable with their Medicare insurance, and appreciated the personal relationship they were able to have with their health care providers.  Some people were disconnected from the realities in their communities.  One town in North Central Nebraska receives 70% of its hospital income from Medicaid alone, and many patients with Medicare or no insurance. 

I encouraged participants to see a bigger picture: If you are Christian as I am, we must look beyond our personal needs and fear, and see how care can be provided for every person, each a temple of God. 

Issue 1: Health Care is working for me, therefore it does not need to be reformed.  I talked to people with employer provided insurance that paid well over $10,000 a year, and up to $18,000 including co-pays.  While they receive the care they need, they pay very high amounts for it. 

This system may be working for those who have good benefits and steady jobs, but the self-employed and individuals who work at small businesses which are the heart and savior of small communities suffer.  They often cannot afford insurance, or if they do purchase it, pay higher costs and receive less reimbursement.  This leads to medical debt [2], and neglect of preventive care. 

And of course, I hope we will consider the needs of the 47 million Americans with no insurance [3]at all, no longer a marginal number, but overwhelming in scope.

Issue 2: Uninsured individuals don’t want insurance, or could afford it if they lived more frugally.  This argument is invalid firstly to the Christian who wants to provide care for every person.  Secondly, uninsured people are often families with full-time employment, some poor, but more and more frequently people who are simply not offered health care by their employer and feel they can’t afford insurance which itself costs more than the poverty line income. 

If you have to choose between health insurance and food or utilities, immediate needs must be met.  Other people without insurance do not have it because of pre-existing conditions, like diabetes or a mental health issue.  The people that need good health insurance are those least likely to have access to it.

In my next post, I'll explore other issues on this topic.

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Source URL: http://www.cfra.org/blog/2009/08/26/faithful-perspective-health-care-part-ii

Links:
[1] http://www.cfra.org/blog/2009/08/21/faithful-perspective-health-care-part-i-0
[2] http://www.cfra.org/blog/2009/08/25/428-rears-its-head-again
[3] http://www.cfra.org/weeklycolumn/2009/05/11/uninsured-and-underinsured

Starting school again

I started classes in the health core curriculum at Estrella Mountain Community College yesterday. I'll be going Tuesday and Thursday afternoons this semester, then if I still have no job at Banner, I'll transfer to Gateway to get the Health Unit Coordinator certificate to keep trying for a job. I do plan to try and finish this semester even if I get the Banner job, as it will update my medical terminology. I took the class in the late 80s at Phoenix College, but lost my book somewhere and it never hurts to do it again anyway.

Still waiting for interview

Its been up and down while waiting for a call from HR to interview me for the job I want. The website actually said I was no longer being considered 24 hours after I applied, but I sent a note to the manager who will be interviewing me, and she told HR that she WANTS to interview me. Now the website says pending review, and the job posting is no longer listed on the open jobs page. I THINK this is encouraging. Anyway, I am as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs waiting for a call from HR. AND I start school this afternoon, on Tues and Thurs afternoons through December, so I am doubly nervous. I'll be fine as soon as I actually get there, but anxious about change is how I am. I handle it fine; I'm just always nervous about it beforehand.

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Home > Blog for Rural America > Questions on Health Care Legislation? Me too.

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Questions on Health Care Legislation? Me too.

By Steph Larsen

Created 08/24/2009 - 17:38

In my last blog post [1], I said that I'd post some links to summaries on the various health care bills floating in Congressional limbo. It's taken me a week, and while I'm still not satisfied with the results of my searches, here is what I came up with.

First, let's look at bill summaries. These reference various proposals - the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the House Tri-Committee (a fancy way of combining the Education and Labor, the Ways and Means, and the Energy and Commerce Committees), and President Obama's Principles for Health Reform - but don't actually make you read the legislation. Trust me when I say that is a blessing.

• My favorite is this summary by the Kaiser Family Foundation [2]. More on it below, but if you only look at one of these links, this should be it.
  
  
• Families USA [3], a non-partisan non-profit health care advocacy organization, has put together numerous topic-specific reports on health reform:
  • Coverage for America: We All Stand to Gain [4] discusses how the House bill will make health insurance affordable for all Americans
  • Don't be fooled by the title, 10 Reasons to Support the Health Care Reform Bills [5]is no fluff piece. It cuts through the legal-ese and is full of references on what the bills contain and why these changes are needed
  • Setting the Record Straight on Medicare [6] briefly discusses what health reform would do for Medicare
  • A short piece explains Why Employers Should Share the Responsibility of Paying for Health Care [7]
  • They have lots of other reports and summaries here
    
    [8]
• The Kaiser Family Foundation has a great online comparison tool to view the various health care reform proposals. While longer (and more technical), Kaiser still tries to use understandable language.
  • This link takes you to a side by side comparison [2] of all 4 proposals. I refer to this frequently, and it has a good search function.
    
  • This link [9] allows you to pick any number of the various proposals to compare side by side, and includes a wider variety than the one above. Also very helpful.
  • This link [10] compares only the proposals that have passed out of their respective committees (the Senate HELP Committee and the House Tri-Committee)
     
• Ezra Klein had a blog post about the House Tri-Committee bill [11] that I thought did a good job of outlining what is in the bill

Then the various committees also have their own summaries. They make for very dry reading, but if you can get through them they can also tell you what's in their proposal. I did not find one on the Senate Finance Committee page, probably because they haven't finalized their bill yet.

• House Education and Labor bill summary [12], and there is also a whole page with links on this bill here [13]
• House Ways and Means page with links to the bill [14]
• House Energy and Commerce Committee press release and brief summary [15] of the bill
• Senate HELP Committee press release with Section by Section Narrative [16]
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation side by side of Senate Finance Committee Options, Senate HELP, House Tri-committee bill, President Obama's Principles [2]

Finally, if you're a glutton for punishment, the entire House bill (called HR 3200) is online, accurate to July 14, 2009. I found it through this Congress.org link [17], but you can also access a very large PDF of it here [18].

I hope that through these links you can answer for yourself some of the concerns and questions you have about the bill.

Democracy works best when we can be presented with the legislation and make up our own minds instead of having someone suggest to us what to think with a clever sound byte.

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Source URL: http://www.cfra.org/blog/2009/08/24/questions-health-care-legislation-me-too

Links:
[1] http://www.cfra.org/../../../../../../blog/2009/08/16/more-reasons-health-care-reform
[2] http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/healthreform_sbs_full.pdf
[3] http://www.familiesusa.org/about/
[4] http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/health-reform/coverage-for-america.pdf
[5] http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/health-reform/10-reasons-to-support-reform.pdf
[6] http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/health-reform/medicare-setting-the-record-straight.pdf
[7] http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/health-reform/employer-responsibility.pdf
[8] http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/by-date/publications-by-date-2009.html
[9] http://www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm
[10] http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/healthreform_tri_full.pdf
[11] http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/07/the_house_releases_its_health-.html
[12] http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BILLSUMMARY-071409.pdf
[13] http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/07/americas-affordable-health-choices-act.shtml
[14] http://waysandmeans.house.gov/MoreInfo.asp?section=52
[15] http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1723:energy-and-commerce-committee-passes-historic-health-care-reform-legislation&catid=122:media-advisories&Itemid=55
[16] http://help.senate.gov/Maj_press/2009_07_15_b.pdf
[17] http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/bills/?billtype=H.R.&billnumb=3200&congress=111
[18] http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3200ih.txt.pdf

JOb finally posted

Finally, the job I have been waiting to apply for, at Banner Estrella, has been posted externally, and I was able to apply online. My hair is colored and short, and my new glasses look modern and snazzy, so I am ready to be interviewed, just as soon as I get a call from the HR there. The boss does know I applied, as I emailed her and said so, so hopefully she will ask HR for my app if they don't get right on the stick. I just want to go, and get this job, and go back to my real life in health care. PetSmart has been fun, but I am a grownup and need to do a grownup job.

Whining

I finally got a birthday card from my mother, although I suspect that another relative probably reminded her after reading my whiny posts about it. I agree my demented and semi-crippled dad keeps her busy, so I forgive her. What are the choices, anyway? ANd why is my bloody birthday so very important? Cause its mine, thats why. ANd my whining did produce notes from several other people that I haven't heard from in a long time, so there was a net gain for me.

New hope

An email from my friend says that her boss IS cognizant of the delay in posting the pool position I want, and thanks me for being patient. She will do something to ramp it up if the position is not posted pretty soon. This reassures me somewhat; I was getting pretty discouraged.
I finally heard from the corporate center that they don't want me and wanted to let me know without delay. Duh, it has been at least a month since the website said I was no longer being considered. Better late than never I guess.
A visit to Target Optical yesterday for a new glasses prescription and ordered new glasses. I am getting a narrow rectangular frame the color of my new hair, sorta auburn with progressive lenses. Can't wait; I will look much more modern. I guess my present huge roundish lenses look very 70s.
ANd the bifocal line will be gone. I couldn't afford progressive lenses last time, and just hate them. No mid-range vision, which makes computer work, cash register work, most things difficult to see well. ANd lately I haven't been able to see far or close either one as my eyes have changed. It will take 10 days or so to get the new glasses and I can't wait.

Underwear Protest - Underwear Bayer Endosulfan Pesticide Protest - thedailygreen.com

Underwear Protest - Underwear Bayer Endosulfan Pesticide Protest - thedailygreen.com

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Abrazo

I think maybe it really DOES automatically disqualify you to work at Abrazo if you have worked for them before.  I was joking when I said that before, but they have already rejected my application for Financial Counselor at West Valley, and the position is still posted. No hi, shit, or boo about it.  I guess I will have to give up on them, close or not, and concentrate on trying to get back to Banner.  There my excellent record and undoubted skills will count FOR me, if only I can get somebody to look at my record.

AJ

 

My nieces

Waiting, again

So I have filled out a few more online applications to my preferred work places and am back to waiting to see if they deem me worthy of an interview. I just wish there were some way to show prospective employers what I can really do and what I am really like. I have never had an employer yet that didn't want to clone me, but that just doesn't seem to get through a job application, and often not through an interview either. I think if it weren't so difficult for big employers to actually let people go once hired, they would be more willing to give (what they consider) imperfect applicants a chance. A reinstatement of the old 30-60-90 reviews with possible termination at each step would make them much more willing. I know that that applies theoretically in many places, but its only theory. They should put it into actual practice.
My not so humble opinion. I have no fear of being judged by my work. I welcome it. I just need the chance to actually do some.

Where did my family go?

On another subject, I wonder why I never hear from my family members anymore. Not my mother or sister or SIL, or MIL, or DIL. Not that I ever heard much from MIL or DIL, but I used to get the occasional email from my sister, and my mom has always been a regular writer, either by mail, or more recently by email. Now I don't believe I have heard anything from her since before my dad's birthday in early May. And I have sent at least 4 snail mail cards in that time, plus at least that many emails. I know somebody would phone if something bad had happened, so I guess its just that nobody cares to communicate with me. It hurts.
I believe my sister has actually moved across 2 states since her last email, and I only know about that because she sent out a group email to our aunts and uncle and included me. I wrote to her several times when my niece's husband died, so its not like I am the one who disappeared.
The most faithful writer has been my brother's wife, but I am not even hearing from her anymore. Maybe people don't even think of writing to somebody who doesn't want to use Facebook and doesn't twitter. Heck, I think I am advanced enough by writing this blog. Oh well, my birthday is pretty quick and surely I will hear from at least my mother then.

Feast or Famine

Of course, since I decided to go to school, signed up, and paid for the Fall semester, a possible job has cropped up again, at Banner Estrella. My friend gave my resume to her boss and talked me up, and I have been invited to apply for an ED registration position. That job is what I did for 6.5 years ending in 2000, and is what I trained my friend for long long ago. It will be at least a week before the boss can do anything about interviewing me as she has a major project in the works, but at least I have hope again.
I would still go to school this semester, as my classes are all Tuesd and Thursd afternoons, but if I could count on 2 shifts a week after training, I would earn more than I earn working ALL week at PetSmart. And it would get me in line for a full-time position. I could still go to Gateway for the certificate in the spring if I still want to be an HUC, or I could stay in the ER with the health core curriculum classes from Estrella to my credit. Either is a good scenario. Now to be nervous and anxious for at least another week. until I hear or don't hear from my friend's boss.

Going to school

So, since nobody seems willing to hire me with my old skills, I have decided to go to school and get a certificate for Health Unit Coordinator. This is actually a step down, or used to be, from PFS Rep, but I think it would be a better fit for me. Trying to even apply for such a position at a hospital seems to be impossible at this point, as the first question is whether you have an HUC certificate. OK, so fine, I'll get a certificate.
Gateway is the only only local school that offers one, and I can't get in to the program until Spring cause the Fall classes are already full, but I am going to take the Health Core Curriculum at Estrella Mtn this semester and then do the HUC classes at Gateway in the spring. Good plan, and the health core applies to other specialties if I should happen to change my mind.
I won't, though. I used to periodically try to get an HUC position even back when I was at RMC, many long years ago, but things just never came together right.
My friend Jaime is taking the health core curriculum online this semester, for a billing and coding certificate, but I think I will do the in-person classes. I might have better networking later on if I have a personal relationship with local staff, and I think I will enjoy it too.

NO job

I was never notified, but the website says I am no longer being considered for the jobs in Mesa, so I guess thats what they meant by notify. Hmmmf!
Another friend, that works at DelWebb is showing my resume to her boss and other managers, so perhaps something will come of that. ANd my friend at Banner Estrella will be showing it to her manager on Monday. Hope springs eternal.
And I did the dirty dyeing deed this AM. I was aiming for a light golden brown but it has turned out to be a light auburn over my gray. It suits me; several of my aunts and my mother had this color naturally as young women, but it just seems like a bigger change than light brown would have been. DH likes it, maybe more than I do. I'll have to see if it lasts at all. I bought a gentler formula but if it goes away too quickly I will have to get something harsher.
Or maybe I will get another job right away and I won't have to do it again at all. I wish.
But it could be habit-forming to look younger, so I just hope it looks decent for a while.

Didn't get the job

When I was interviewed, 3 times, for PFS Rep jobs last Wednesday, the HR people promised to notify one way or the other within a week. Its been a week, and of course they didn't bother to notify. All the website says is that I have submitted an application for the jobs. I have somehow known from the beginning that they weren't going to hire me. I thought the interviews went well, but I'm sure at least half of the 1000 people there thought the same thing.
And I do think that my age is definitely counting against me. I Do have gray hair; I have had it for over 10 years and I think it looks good on me. But I am thinking seriously about dyeing it and having professional makeup before my next interview. Its not too much to ask to get a real job, I guess. It will just be a hassle to grow out again. Keeping it very short will help.
Now to save up enough money to have an actual salon do the job. I am scared to go to the beauty college because I need advice on color, etc., even though it is ever so much more affordable.
I am so disappointed. I was very good at a corporate PFS Rep job and would have been again, with a short learning cycle.
A friend at Banner Estrella is going to show my resume to her boss and her boss's boss for a pool position. I already talked to my store manager at PetSmart and he says they will work with me on what hours I need to work so that I can keep the job there while working the pool job. I need to keep the limited health insurance at PetSmart until I get a full-time job elsewhere, with benefits. I AM good at the PetSmart job, so its not like I would be using them. More like us using each other, since I will earn more than twice as much per hour at any hospital job. Heck, one shift a week would practically double my income.

from The Daily Green

Arguing that the chemical commonly used to give antibacterial soap its bite "poses imminent threats to human health and the environment," two groups are petitioning the Food and Drug Administration to have triclosan banned.

The Daily Green has consistently recommended against using antibacterial soap (yes, even for parents with young children), primarily because it doesn't achieve its stated purpose (sanitizing your hands) any better than a thorough washing with regular-old soap and hot water ... but it does create conditions that allow for the evolution of antibiotic-resistance among bacteria. More recently, evidence has emerged that tricolsan may be an endocrine-disrupting chemical, messing with our hormones. It's found in our blood, and because we dump so much down the drain with each washing, it even contaminates dolphins, according to one recent study.

Though antibacterial products have saturated the market, there are alternatives to antibacterial soap. Triclosan isn't found only in soaps; it's also used in toothpastes, deodorants, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, facial tissues, antiseptics, fabrics, toys and medical devices.

The petition (pdf) filed by Beyond Pesticides and Food and Water Watch (with support from dozens of other groups, including the Sierra Club, the American Bird Conservancy and the Breast Cancer Fund), argues that tricolsan should not be approved for use in consumer products.

"Numerous scientific studies and reports clearly indicate that in addition to its human health and environmental dangers, triclosan is not effective for many of its intended benefits and may actually be doing consumers more harm than good," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. "Even worse, is that current regulations on triclosan haven't been updated since 1994 and much of the science used by the FDA to regulate the pesticide dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. The agency's inconsideration of new scientific research on triclosan represents an egregious failure to properly protect the public against this dangerous pesticide."

The petitioners make six basic claims:

1. Triclosan doesn't work in consumer products
2. Tricolsan's widespread use increases the chances of harmful bacteria becoming resistant to the drug
3. Triclosan builds up in the body
4. Tricolsan may disrupt human hormones
5. Triclosan can react with other chemicals to form dioxin and chloroform, which are known to be toxic
6. Triclosan contaminates water, affecting marine wildlife and ecosystems

It's useful to remember that triclosan, like other pesticides, is a poison. It's poisonous to bacteria. We may be far removed from bacteria, way up in the evolutionary branches of life, but the common chemistry of living things means that chemicals that affect one form of life often affect others too.

Why is Triclosan used so widely? People buy it. And marketers sell it. The market's worth is estimated at $1 billion, so someone is pocketing some serious cash.

from Enviroblog

Chloramine + Lead Pipes + Fluoride = Contaminated tap water

By Lisa Frack

July 13, 2009

By Olga Naidenko, EWG Senior Scientist

The lead pollution crisis of the Washington, D.C. water supply - and the culprit that caused it, the water disinfection chemical chloramine - is a powerful example of how things can go terribly wrong when water quality problems are considered and tackled in isolation.

Earlier this year, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) scientists reported the shockingly high lead levels in the blood of young Washington, D.C. children tested between 2001 and 2004, when the District of Columbia's drinking water was being contaminated with lead from aging pipes.

Unfortunately, this situation is not unique: similar results have been reported in Greenville, North Carolina, according to studies by the Duke University researchers.

Chloramines and lead pipes: Not so good together
American water utilities are increasingly switching to chloramines, a mixture of chlorine and ammonia, for final disinfection of drinking water. Chloramine was supposed to be a "safer" water disinfectant than chlorine because it reduces formation of toxic chlorination byproducts. A 2005 survey by the American Water Works Association found that approximately a third of all utilities now use chloramines.

Water disinfection byproducts are associated with increased risk of cancer and possibly adverse effects on the development of the fetus, so minimizing their levels in drinking water is a good thing. Yet, chloramines drastically increase the leaching of lead from pipes. And here is a real challenge: there are tens of thousands of lead service lines in the water system administered by the DC Water and Sewer Authority. Add to these lines the lead based solder used to join copper pipe, brass and chrome plated faucets, and water fixtures, and the opportunities for lead to leach into the drinking water multiply.

What's key, of course, is that chloramine is not unacceptable in and of itself - after all, water disinfection is a public health necessity. But we need to thoroughly consider the full impact of any chemical added to drinking water given the current water distribution infrastructure in place, not in some theoretical vacuum.

And now add some fluoride to the mix
In addition to disinfection chemicals, other additives are commonly mixed with the finished drinking water before it leaves the water treatment plant. Of them, fluoride is possibly the most known. Two thirds of the U.S. municipal water supply is artificially fluoridated in an effort to prevent tooth decay. But fluoridation additives in tap water are not the same form of fluoride as found in toothpaste. Typically, water is fluoridated with fluorosilicic acid (FSA) or its salt, sodium fluosilicate, collectively referred to as fluorosilicates.

Here comes a second unpleasant "surprise" for those in lead-piped locations: fluorosilicates have a unique affinity for lead. In fact, lead fluorosilicate is one of the most water-soluble forms of lead. In fact, fluorosilicic acid has been used as a solvent for lead and other heavy metals in metallurgy. In industrial applications, chemical engineers rely on this acid to remove surface lead from leaded-brass machine parts.

Research shows what happens when we mix it all up
What happens when fluorosilicates in water pass through lead-containing pipes and metal fixtures? Not surprisingly, the fluorosilicates extract high levels of soluble lead from leaded-brass metal parts (researchers from the Environmental Quality Institute of the University of North Carolina-Asheville performed this actual experiment).

In research published in the scientific journal Neurotoxicology, researchers found that the mixture of the two chemicals: disinfectant (whether chlorine or chloramine) with fluorosilicic acid has a drastically increased potency, leaching amazingly high quantities of lead.

Where does this lead go? Into our drinking water and right on into our bodies, where they wreak havoc by poisoning poison our heart, kidneys and blood, causing irreversible neurological damage and impairing reproductive function.

North Carolina researchers concluded that the supposedly innocuous - and purportedly beneficial - quantities of fluoride added to drinking water may, in fact, precipitate a cascade of serious health problems, especially when chloramines and lead pipes are added into the mix.

Do we even need fluoride in tap water?
The mixture of chloramine and fluorosilicates in drinking water causes extensive leaching of lead. We cannot dispense with water disinfection - everybody acknowledges this. Thus, chlorine and chloramine are probably here to stay for some time. On the other hand, fluoride, or, specifically, water fluoridation with fluorosilicates, is quite dispensable.

But wait - isn't fluoride the miracle chemical that improves dental health?

Well, yes and no. Much of what is publicized today in caries prevention programs worldwide is derived from the theories generated in the 1950s and '60s, when water fluoridation was actively promoted. As we now know, the main benefits of fluoride for dental health are derived from surface application on the teeth, not from ingestion.

In fact, ingestion of fluoride causes dental fluorosis, a range of adverse health effects that includes mottling, pitting, and weakening of the teeth. These risks are especially significant for infants and young children. In the U.S. and worldwide, about 30 percent of children who drink fluoridated water experience dental fluorosis. In 2006, the American Dental Association (ADA) issued an "Interim Guidance on Fluoride Intake for Infants and Young Children." ADA recommended that in areas where fluoride is added to tap water, parents should consider using fluoride-free bottled water to reconstitute concentrated or powdered infant formula to avoid excess fluoride.

According to the latest research, the anti-caries activity of fluoride is due to topical effects, which supports the value of fluoride-containing toothpaste to dental health. There is clear evidence that fluoride dental products significantly reduce the incidence of cavities. In contrast, a substantial and growing body of peer-reviewed science suggests that ingesting fluoride in tap water does not provide any additional dental benefits other than those offered by fluoride toothpaste and may present serious health risks.

To learn more about fluoride health effects, read the recent report by EWG.

The message: Don't assess chemicals in isolation
The lesson here is straightforward: it is completely unscientific to simply toss any chemical into the drinking water on the premises that this chemical might provide some benefits. The real question is: what would be the effect of this chemical given what else is going on with the water system? In case of fluoridation and chloramines, what emerges comes at the end of the pipe (your faucets!) is a potentially highly hazardous mixture of fluorosilicates, lead, and residual levels of disinfectants.

To protect the health of my family today, I can buy a water filter to remove heavy metals and disinfection byproducts from my drinking water both with a simple pitcher filter. But to protect the health of the entire nation, we really need to consider if our current methods of water treatment can withstand scientific scrutiny, or whether they should be re-assessed so as to provide safe, healthy tap water to all Americans.

from Blog for Rural America

Priorities, Priorities, Priorities

Fri, 07/10/2009 - 15:50 — Steph Larsen

By Jon Bailey

Some of the policymakers determining health care reform need to get their priorities straight.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has apparently decided his perceived view of the non-competitive nature of college football is the most egregious violation of the nation’s antitrust laws and deserves the immediate attention of both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice. At a Senate hearing on July 7 convened to investigate college football’s Bowl Championship Series (BCS), an article from Fox Sports had this to say:

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch urged the Justice Department on Tuesday to investigate college football's Bowl Championship Series for what he views as violations of antitrust laws. Hatch made the comment after conducting a standing-room-only hearing in the Senate subcommittee with antitrust oversight, where he serves as the top Republican. "Frankly, there's an arrogance about the BCS that just drives me nuts," he told reporters. "Hopefully this hearing will open the door to have some people reconsider their positions. And if nothing else, the Justice Department ought to be looking at this." He said that it's clear to him that the BCS is in violation of antitrust laws. The Justice Department had no immediate comment Tuesday. Hatch said that the BCS is exploiting a position of power, "and it's just not right."

Hatch is still upset that an undefeated University of Utah team was denied an opportunity to play in the 2009 BCS national championship game because they do not happen to fortunate enough to belong to one of the six BCS football conferences.

A little perspective here - my wife and children will tell you that I’m as big a college football fan as there is, always have been, always will. But really, is college football deserving of this Congressional attention and antitrust prosecution threats when there are so many important issues that affect the nation and its residents?

Like, for example, health care.

According to the report Premiums Soaring in Consolidated Health Insurance Market, 94 percent of statewide health insurance markets are deemed “highly concentrated” under Department of Justice guidelines. The DOJ considers a market highly concentrated if one company holds more than a 42 percent share of the market. Thirty-two states in the nation meet this threshold. The result of a concentrated health insurance market is less affordable insurance, more uninsured and less choice for everyone – precisely the issues that Congress must address in health care reform legislation.

Utah is one of the 32 states with a highly concentrated health insurance market – 68 percent of the market is controlled by the top two insurers (with Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield controlling 47 percent of the market). The result has been that health insurance premiums in Utah rose 87 percent between 2000 and 2007, while individual income increased only 17 percent during the same period.

Since Hatch happens to a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, one of the Congressional committees now working on health care reform legislation, just for fun let’s substitute some of Senator Hatch’s criticism about the BCS with hypothetical criticism for health insurance companies:

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch urged the Justice Department on Tuesday to investigate the nation’s health insurance companies for what he views as violations of antitrust laws. Hatch made the comment after conducting a standing-room-only hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where he serves as a former chairman and a top Republican. "Frankly, there's an arrogance about the health insurance companies that just drives me nuts," he told reporters. "Hopefully this hearing will open the door to have some people reconsider their positions. And if nothing else, the Justice Department ought to be looking at this." He said that it's clear to him that health insurance companies are in violation of antitrust laws. The Justice Department had no immediate comment Tuesday. Hatch said that health insurance companies are exploiting a position of power, "and it’s just not right."

Sound like something that should be said? Yes.

Sound like something that will be said? I'm not holding my breath.

No matter how necessary health care reform is, no matter the situation many American individuals, families, and businesses (especially those in rural America) find themselves due to the lack of affordable, quality health insurance, no matter the importance of creating a high-quality system that takes up 18 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, let’s by all means spend more time on developing a fair and competitive college football system that makes fans, boosters, college administrators and U.S. Senators proud. (insert heavy amounts of sarcasm here)

For a real request for antitrust examination of health insurance companies see this report.

»

from High Country News Goat Blog

Brewer's budget battle

Ariana Brocious | Jul 10, 2009 04:51 PM

A week into the 2010 fiscal year in Arizona, the state's budget is $2.1 billion in the red, worrying Tucson officials and others about committing money and jobs. In the past six months since Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer stepped up to fill former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano’s post, the state has been embroiled in what the LA Times calls the “nastiest fiscal fight in Arizona history.”

It has been a surprisingly vicious conflict, given that the state legislature is predominately Republican. After years of going head-to-head with Napolitano, lawmakers were anticipating an easier relationship with Brewer, who took over after Napolitano was called to head Obama's Department of Homeland Security. Yet Brewer hasn’t toed the party line —instead, she’s supported tax increases and defended spending on health care and public safety. And she has refused to budge, resulting in months of battling over education allocations, spending cuts to rein in the rampant state deficit and Brewer’s big issue: increasing the state sales tax (to be voted on in a November election) which would raise around $1 billion to offset cuts to social programs.

Recent highlights include Brewer suing the Legislature for allegedly violating the state constitution, Senate President Bob Burns walking out on a meeting and later harshly criticizing the governor, and Brewer vetoing every budget proposal that cut money for state services.

Last Wednesday lawmakers ended the fourth-longest legislative session in modern times by approving a budget in the early hours of the 2010 fiscal year that included $600 million in cuts but not Brewer’s proposed sales-tax hike.

Brewer line-vetoed major parts of the budget, particularly education spending which she viewed as insufficient, and called the legislature back for a special session this week. On Monday state lawmakers finally approved the education funding, restoring $220 million in cuts.

Interview today

I just can't write it all down right now; I'm afraid I will jinx myself.  Give it a couple of days to see if I hear from them and then I will tell the whole story.  Sorry, but its just too important to put down right now.

Blue horses: riding on moonlight

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Blue horses: riding on moonlight

A dimly lit moment throws a bright light on the past.

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New Doubts About Roundup
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Poison is poison

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4 Simple Tips for Decluttering Your Home - thedailygreen.com

4 Simple Tips for Decluttering Your Home - thedailygreen.com

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Maybe its an omen

Yesterday a friend I haven't seen since I left West Valley ER 9 years ago came into my place of work and we were able to visit for just a little bit. I did tell her about my impending interview, and since she is now working at Banner Estrella, she gave me her stats and said to please use her as a character and work reference. She also reports to a manager that used to be at Maryvale, and we both reported to her when we were at West Valley. The particular manager didn't like me much personally but surely couldn't fault my work, so I don't know whether to use her as a reference too, or not.
I will email Erin and have her scope out Joan before my interview and see whether to use her or not. It is true, writing stuff down does help you figure out what to do as you go along.
I do hope it works out, as I trained Erin originally to work in ER Registration and she has a high opinion of my intelligence and character. And she IS a Banner employee again, after 7 years at John C Lincoln.

Carbon Cap and Trade Bill - Good Bad and Ugly in Cap and Trade - thedailygreen.com

Carbon Cap and Trade Bill - Good Bad and Ugly in Cap and Trade - thedailygreen.com

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Toxic Dog Food - Fluoride in Dog Food May Be Toxic - thedailygreen.com

Toxic Dog Food - Fluoride in Dog Food May Be Toxic - thedailygreen.com

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News Clip from Environmental Working Group

No byproducts!!!!

Daily Green: Some Dog Foods May Deliver Toxic Doses of Fluoride

Study raises questions about use of bone meal, animal by-products and other
cheap ingredients Daily Green » Read more... | Published June 30, 2009

Fluoride in dog food - Pets' health at risk? | Environmental Working Group

 

http://www.ewg.org/pethealth/report/fluoride-in-dog-food

Pepperoni Batter Bread

Yum, and no kneading.

Pepperoni Batter Bread

Recipe # 778

Yield: 1 loaf

Bake Time: 35 to 40 Min

Proof Time: 45 to 60 Min

Ingredients:

1 envelope Fleischmann’s® Active Dry Yeast

1-1/4 cups warm water (100° to 110°F)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Leaf Oregano

1 tablespoon butter OR margarine, melted

2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup finely chopped pepperoni

1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Add sugar, salt, oregano, butter and 2 cups flour.  Beat 2 minutes on medium speed. 

Stir in remaining 3/4 cup flour, pepperoni and cheese to make a stiff batter.  Spoon into greased 1-1/2 to 2-quart round casserole.  Cover and let rise 45 to 60 minutes or until doubled. 

Bake at 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes or until done.  Remove from casserole and cool on wire rack. 

Recipe Note:  Cut into cubes and serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Let's get Secretary Sebelius to get rid of rBGH!

 

Dear Friend,

We recently had a great victory when Kathleen Sebelius, then Governor of Kansas, vetoed a bill that would have restricted rBGH-free labeling on dairy products.  She's since become the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, which gives us a great opportunity for her to take even bigger action on protecting consumers from rBGH. 

Can you thank Sebelius for her leadership on this issue and ask her to re-examine the approval of rBGH?



http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/741/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1170

AARP.org Article from aj.wischmeyer@gmail.com

 luvkuku thought you would enjoy this article: Insured but Unprotected, and Driven Bankrupt by Health Crises.  This is what they said about it: I have a limited benefit policy from Aetna too. 

Hoping for a new job

I have an interview on July 8 to try and go back to a healthcare job, although the commute would be an hour. The pay and benefits would be enough to justify it, and the completed freeways make it much easier than it was when I commuted that long before.
The job is the same one I used to hold at Samaritan PFS, only now it is Banner PFS. I do hope they want somebody with good experience, even though it has been a while.
My retail job is fun, but I don't make any money and it has turned out to be much harder on me physically that I thought it would be. And I don't get to use my brain much at all. The PFS job would allow me to use my brain all the time and sit in front of a computer while I was doing it. I sure hope I can be hired for it

Neighborly

Our old lady neighbor just called and said she has a flat tire, so DH has headed over there to change it for her and see about fixing the flat. He pretends to be a bad guy but is always willing to help her and she thinks he (actually we) are the nicest neighbors ever. It is a nice change, since our neighbors on the other side despise us for some reason, and we don't care enough about it to try and change their minds.
We have always had problems with our neighbors, so it is probably more our fault than theirs. We just want to be left alone, without their dogs killing our chickens, or attacking us in our own yard, or barking all day and night. Our dogs are not allowed to do any of those things; why should others?
Anyway, see what I mean?
Jan thinks we are wonderful, and it feels good to have her think it. And DH does like to help, although he is very selective as to who he helps. She is so sweet that anybody would like to help her; she just gets to pick who she wants. I doubt if I can be that kind of old lady, but it is nice to contemplate.

Spend less than you earn

I bought an Aqueon Water Changer at PetSmart on Friday to make cleaning my pond much easier, as I have been watching it in use for months now, and can see how well it works. Pricey, but worth it.
However, Saturday my Viking Sapphire went on the blink and I have to take it to be serviced this week, SOOOO, the Aqueon has to go back for my money back. Good thing I didn't get around to using it right away. It hasn't even been opened. People do bring things back that have been opened and even used and expect their money back, but I am not one of those people. It is against my outdated and unwelcome moral/ethical code and that's that.
Damn, I sure liked the days when I had enough money to do both at the same time. Course, I guess I didn't really. I just used to use the credit card for one of them. No longer an option. Those days are gone forever.
We finally paid off my foolish credit card balances and I have learned my lesson. Sure, I remember an item here and there that I bought on credit, but guess what. We are mostly not living any worse without my credit card purchases than we were with them, and now we don't owe anybody anything.
DH has been harping on this for years; that is why they were MY credit card purchases and I can only feel lucky that he did participate in helping me pay them off after he lost his job and I had to start paying for living expenses as well as whatever I please.

June entry Totally Useless SAL

A completed eyeglass case. Yay for me. I have another in progress and several other kits never started. Where did I get them and when? I have NO idea. I have also been quilting and knitting but this is the only completed needlepoint for this month.

---------------------------------------------

I tried to publish all the comments but managed to lose several of them. =
Who has thyroid? I think I am going to seek out a new doctor, maybe =
somebody closer to where I work so I can make it to appointments before =
or after work easier.

Life is just a little weird right now. I was passed over for a lateral =
move at work because I am unwilling to work an entire shift without any =
breaks and then lie about it on my time sheet and that has been =
bothering me. I don't even want the job under those conditions, but it =
is scary that they didn't even bother to make up a legal reason why I =
didn't get the job. It keeps me awake at night, and probably will until =
I at least get up the nerve to talk to the manager about it.
Later.

--

Yikes

ANd not only that, but I seem to have lost most of the comments I WAS trying to respond to. WHat happened to the anonymous post saying that 3 of my nieces have thyroid? WHere are you? I didn't know this.

Responding to comments

I just wanted to apologize to everyone who has left comments on this blog and then wondered why this rude person never replied. I used to get comments in my email inbox but somehow that doesn't seem to be happening anymore, and I can't figure out how to get it back. I promise to try and check for comments more regularly, although I often don't even turn the computer on anymore except on my days off.

A great photo, wish it was mine.

Melamine Pet Food - Lead Toys - Penalties for Tainted Pet Food and Toys - thedailygreen.com

Melamine Pet Food - Lead Toys - Penalties for Tainted Pet Food and Toys - thedailygreen.com

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Hormone Free Milk - Organic Trade Association Challenges Ohio - thedailygreen.com

Hormone Free Milk - Organic Trade Association Challenges Ohio - thedailygreen.com

Posted using ShareThis

May-December

I just finished watching a DVD called "Elegy" that I got from the Goodyear Library.  Its about an older professor that falls in love with a student.  One of the oldest stories in the book, right?  But this one was much better than most I've seen.  It also got me to thinking, about things in general.  My marriage, I mean.

Why does my DH refuse to see movies about this subject?  I suspect because they hit entirely too close to home at this point in his life.  He has always spent time with other women besides me, but the last two women ( the previous one  Pat, and the present one Diana) have been a LOT younger than him.  I mean, I'm 7 years younger than him, and Pat is at least that much younger than me, and Diana is young enough to be MY daughter, much less his daughter.  Are these fatherly relationships, as he says they are?  I guess I'll never know for sure.  And if they are not, the truth would make me even more unhappy with the situation than I am now. So I guess I hope I never find out.

Needlepoint canvas in progress

Totally Useless SAL

I just joined a stitchalong at a blog called Dragon My Needle. THe idea is to put all your thread scraps and worn-out needles, etc., in a jar and then take a picture every new moon to post on your blog. Sounds like a neat way to see if you are actually accomplishing anything, AND doesn't require starting any NEW projects. I can put in both needlepoint and knitting thread snips. Quilting scraps would be too big, Im pretty sure.

Guess I'm going to live

Day before yesterday, on my third day off in a row, Igot so nauseous and nervy and jangly I felt like I was having a low-level anxiety attack, or, if in 1972, was in the 2nd day of doing speed with no sleep. It was awful, and stayed that way.
So yesterday, instead of going to work, I was on my doctor's office doorstep at 8 AM wanting to find out what was wrong with me. The doctor I saw wasn't my regular, but he seemed competent. Except that he didn't have the faintest idea what was wrong with me. From looking at my file, he wanted it to have something to do with Crohn's Disease, but I don't think so.
You know, he didn't even listen to my heart. ANd wasn't interested in any kind of lab work, blood or urine. This bothers me. Are my standards artificially high? It seems like something was called for rather than a script for nausea and to be told to come back or go to the ER if I start to vomit.
Anyway, I have been taking the meds, and I have been drinking a lot (he also said I was dehydrated) and I feel much better, except for headaches which go with the cloudy weather.
So I'll be going back to work in the morning. I hope my bosses understand sickness, but I do have a doctor's excuse to give them for my file anyway.

Robin's graduation day

The silly is sticking her tongue out!

Nobody hears

So, what do you do when there is nobody left who wants to hear you? Nobody who will listen just because they love you, even if they have heard the stories before. Nobody who thinks you are interesting, and worth hearing. Nobody.