Sebelius

Supposedly, HHS Director Kathleen Sebelius might have misspoke. I wondered,

hmm, why would people want to give up medicare? Why try to find better coverage that would probably cost more without employer match?

— marty salo (@martysalo) October 30, 2013

But supposedly, the fine folks at Buzzfeed and the Washington post may have implied that she could voluntarily give up medicare, and forgo employer contributions in order to choose a plan.

Who knows?

The process of extensive dental work

Something is probably to be said about the process of extensive dental work. It is expensive. Yes, but it is also interesting how some prosthedontists' offices are trying to make more use of technology. When I first got the news about the need to do 6 or so crowns for my front teeth, I was discouraged, and mostly supposing that the dentist was mostly seeing dollar signs. Then I went to a second dentist for a second opinion, he took a look inside of my mouth, and quickly concluded that it was too complicated of a case for him to get involved with. He did refer me to a friend of his, who is a prosthedontist. I went to this fellow, and he was not part of the dental insurance plan, at the time, so I asked about some other prosthedontists, and he said that this other guy is good, and he has a dental lab as part of the practice (another guy wasn't as good, as his practice was based out of a strip mall, or whatever). So, in trying to get the best fit for the future crowns digital scans and 3D computer images were taken. I guess the system is new to the prosthedontist, so they want to see me again. Teeth are important. I see that the temporary crowns look nice. Maybe the ability of people to pay for major dental work may be less for some people, maybe the plans most people have (if they have) cover less.

I mentioned to a co-worker about going to a prosthedontist, and that drew a sharp inhale, followed by "Well, I think prosthedontist is a couple of specialties above dentist, periodontist, orthodontist, whatever else." There might have been mention made about possibly needing to take out a construction loan, to finance it. I am fortunate in that my credit score is good, and we do a pretty good job of making payments on debts.

I like my job. Technology is pretty neat.

Which brings me back around to observing all of the processes which go on at a prosthedontist's office. There appear to be multiple practitioners, assisting with a variety of tasks, and that doesn't even really look back in the dental lab area. It is interesting how people contribute to operations which help the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round.

Lou Reed RIP

Legendary rock musician Lou Reed has died at 71 from complications following a liver transplant Sun, 27 Oct 2013 19:21:11 GMT - This is a developing story and we expect to have more information soon. Go to NBCNews.com for further developments. I guess some people live hard and party hard, and then try to prolong life. I wonder when Lou had his liver Transplant. (Hmm, wikipedia) OK, April 2013 he had the liver transplant.

Cake Boss cake from BJ's Warehouse Club

I was going back and forth about value for the purchase of the cake. After all, the Duff's ice cream with cake pieces sells in the neighborhood of one fifth to one sixth of the price. Granted, we aren't talking about the same thing. Ice cream is inherently different from cake. Cake is different from Cheesecake. My wife wanted me to get the cake because this has been a recurring theme where I'd be excited, and back away when trying to compare the value proposition of getting the cake. I did get the Va-Va-Va Velvet cake, and the small piece I had told me that it was worth it. The Cake Boss had different types of cake, but when we were at the store, the red velvet was the only one available. There is a seven layer carrot cake available from Mitchell's Fish Market which is ablsolutely awesome. And that cake is also very expensive, but I guess the ingredients to some cakes are more than others. And the market will bare what the market will bare.

What happens when the *S* hits the fan?

Imagine that the self-inflicted shutdown furlough stretches on for awhile, and then the *S* hits the fan. Who is to blame? What really happened? Why didn't we know more about what was happening? It doesn't have to be something as big as a Mumbai style attack, nor something similar to a Westgate mall in Nairobi. It doesn't have to be a zero-day exploit taking advantage of some network vulnerability. Who will own the problem? Will our ability to deal with what happens next be impacted by reduced staffing levels? I'm not an expert, and people say I worry too much, but I would not like for stuff to start to go wrong while the nation is at a reduced staffing level. Many people will probably be ready to return when needed, barring mass casualties. We don't need to engage in this self-immolation.
Technology is good. Having dominance is good, but to have half of the team sitting on the sidelines doesn't really make much sense.
Criminal behaviors are one thing, international disputes could be another area. I'm not going to think about things that could go wrong with having aircraft inspectors, food safety inspectors, and epidemiologists on the sidelines. Most likely nothing will happen during this short time frame where our vision and hearing is reduced.
If you see something, say something.