Archive for August, 2008

Storm named Fay really dumped on Florida, didn’t she?

I suppose it’s been a pretty good year for Orlando vacations, despite tropical storms and hurricane threats. I guess if you live in Florida or visit their much, you get accustomed to those things. (I live in southwest Missouri, and I guarantee you I’ve never gotten accustomed to tornadoes, but who knows?)

But looking around the Internet about damages to Orlando, Disney World, Universal Studios, and all those other resorts in the area — I was surprised that nothing much happened to the area that made prominent news, as a result of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay. There was a news brief from one of the Orlando area television station websites that said a 20 feet wide and 30 feet deep sinkhole had opened up in Apopka, Florida, due to rain from Fay. (Don’t know where Apopka is.) At the time Fay and her deluge were approaching all the resorts and entertainment parks were issuing warnings and getting prepared, but so far as I know nothing much happened.

So why am I writing this? Well, why not? I know I have readers in Florida and readers elsewhere who are interested in Florida. I’ve taken a couple of trips to the Orlando area some years ago, liked the area, but probably would never live there or anywhere else in Florida.

But I certainly understand the risks and tragedies associated with serious rainfall and flooding. My thoughts are with all you good people in Florida — Orlando and elsewhere! — who were hurt by all of Fay’s slow moving water.

Gotta love those insurance companies, don’t you? Maybe not so much

The world is full of sad stories about insurance and the way it often fails people when they need it most. I worked for a few years typing denial letters mostly about car insurance and homeowners insurance claims. I quickly learned that the REAL purpose for insurance companies is to 1) collect as many years of claims’ free premiums as possible, and, most importantly, 2) find ways to deny or pay the least possible amount on your claims.

That’s the reality of it, folks, and don’t every let an insurance agent convince you otherwise. I worked at this insurance company’s headquarters, transcribing letters from their adjusters to their customers and from the Litigation Department lawyers to their customers and other lawyers. It’s all a money game, and it’s biased as firmly in favor of the insurance company as any slot machine is biased in favor of the casino.

In our community just last week, there was a sad news story about a family with a teenage son in a coma as the result of being hit by a car. There was a particular breathing device, a vest of some sort, which made it easier for him to breathe. The parents were telling a TV reporter that the doctor things this device not only was keeping him healthier, but that it may actually have been helping him come out of the coma.

Problem: The family’s insurance was about used up and they were going to hold a fundraising event for family, friends, and the community at large to raise money so their son could continue to breathe well and maybe have a chance at getting well.

What, in the name of God and all that might be holy, is an insurance company doing depriving this family of the device because the policy limit was used up?? Sure, I know insurance companies are a business. I’m sure the company’s agent and employees felt really bad for the boy.

That still won’t help keep him alive.

Yeah, well. What’s the answer? I don’t know.

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Sign of the times? Some babies now developing ‘carrier syndrome’

I’d never heard of such a thing as “carrier syndrome” as a health issue for babies until I read an article online recently warning about it. “Carrier syndrome” is a case of babies who are developmentally delayed because their parents keep them secured in car seats, strollers, slings, and other baby carriers too much of the time.

The article didn’t suggest how much or how often a baby must be kept in such carriers before the problem develops. In other words, I can offer you no guidelines as to how many hours a day would be safe, how many risky.

I can personally understand how such an issue could be a problem: In my experience, being aged FAR beyond infancy, I have found that sitting in front of this blamed computer too many hours of the day without getting up and getting active actually leads to some extreme stiffness and soreness in 1) my chubby butt, and, 2) in my right arm and shoulder. The butt numbness/stiffness I can handle. The shoulder and arm pains I face if I don’t make myself get up and get active are pretty severe.

So, what’s the answer to all this if you have an infant or toddler? Obviously, don’t spend huge amounts of the day with the youngster strapped into a baby carrier, sling, stroller, car seat, or whatever. Just as you, mom and dad, need to be active to be healthy, your tot needs you to keep him or her active for his or her best health!

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I’m almost as weary about presidential candidates as I am about that little insurance lizard

When G**CO started using that goofy little animatron/animated/whatever lizard to advertise their car insurance, I thought it was a cute play on the type of lizard (gecko) and the company’s name. Not many months later, they came up with an angle that used a “caveman” to push their products. The makeup was done so well and the original couple of caveman ads were clever. Over all, the company, and the car insurance comparison service they offered seemed worthwhile.

But I am so sick of seeing ANYTHING to do with the lizard, the caveman, or the company that I normally turn off the television, or fast-forward through the commercials with my DVR, when either ad “icon” comes on. I would happily drop kick the lizard or poke the caveman’s eye out with a pointed stick! (No, not really, but you get my point.)

I’ve just about reached the same sort of limit to my patience in this year’s presidential race. I am sick and tired of hearing about John McCain and Barak Obama. I know who I’m voting for, and I know it has been MONTHS since either candidate has said anything new or original that might convince me otherwise.

I have a hunch that most folks who don’t yet have their minds up about presidential voting in November are 1) too stupid to ever figure it out, 2) saying they are undecided but really are lying, 3) simply like the attention “undecided” gets them, or 4) never will make up their minds and so they really won’t even vote.

Ah, well. It’s going to be a long two and a half or three months yet until Election Day.

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Credit cards boost economy while hurting some people economically

Credit cards, what you gonna do with ‘em??

Nothing like the current economic “hard times” to make us feel both the blessings and the bane of using credit cards. Personally, we’ve had to make purchases for your home, repair related things, in recent months that we could not have made without a credit card. At the same time, our income situation makes it tough to keep our credit card balances under control — tough but doable. And we realize we’re in the majority of people in America that way.

We are all living with the irony that same business world eager to give us credit cards is suffering from many hardships related to credit card overuse. I used a debit card (NOT credit card) to make a purchase at a grocery store this morning. When the cashier handed me my receipt she was delighted to show me on the printed receipt that I had been selected to apply for one of their premier Mastercards. I declined.

The only new credit card acquisitions these days would be cards that would offer a 0 balance transfer, so you can transfer high interest balances onto something that would save you some money. Those seem to be MUCH harder to find than all those pre-approved credit card offers that come in the mail, aren’t they?

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Why can’t otherwise smart people get it right regarding marriage?

I have been married for just over 41 years. My wonderful wife, Shirley, and I have had our shares of squabbles and ups and downs, but in truth I can say neither of us has even thought about divorcing, ending our relationship, “loving” or getting involved with someone else, etc. (I sometimes marvel that she’s not yet come to her senses and tossed me back for someone better, but I continue to be blessed by that lack of judgment on her part.)

I’ve thought about all this stuff today because I heard just this week about 1) one very prominent, nice-guy politician who admits he cheated on his wife, 2) one very good, very sharp actor whose wife just filed for divorce, and, 3) strong rumors that one seemingly intelligent, good man who’s a famous cable talk show host is about to divorce wife number SEVEN. (Seven marriages and divorces? I’ve heard the old phrase “trophy wife,” but someone that often married and divorced needs to understand that wives are not REALLY trophies to be collected, don’t you think??)

I honestly wonder why marriage is so difficult for seemingly sharp, intelligent people. I realize emotions often overcome rational thought and lead even good, smart people to make mistakes in their relationships. But I don’t think that’s really the problem. I think it’s more an issue of commitment, willingness to be open and honest, willingness to risk being vulnerable, and a real dose of needed selflessness.

I’m really not a marriage counselor. Although many years ago I did briefly pastor a church, I really don’t consider myself any sort of counselor or adviser. But if I WERE asked to give my one “secret” to a successful marriage it might be some restating of the paragraph directly above this one. And I might add the following paragraph to that:

Don’t just say you love someone and make a “commitment” that’s really no commitment at all. If you love someone enough to live with them and “commit” to them, you really need to make that commitment formal and legal; you need to get married with the commitment to give yourself to that person and that marriage unconditionally.

So, there you go. That’s my best shot. Now husbands, stop treating your wives as trophies. And women, start genuinely loving your husbands. Genuinely love one another.

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From politics to insurance, many problems lie in our use of language

I was reading some stuff online from a British website and what I read caused one of those little “sparks” in the old brain that make you jump from one subject/association to another with no apparent connection. (Is it just me, or does that happen to you, too? No??)

The phrase I was looking at was “car coverage” related to buying insurance — the British sites that came up in Google kept referring to this automobile coverage not as car COVERAGE, but simply as car cover — which to me has nothing to do with insurance, but with something to shelter or protect your car or at least the car’s finish from weather, vandalism, etc.

Suddenly, “SNAP”! My brain was no longer thinking about insurance, but politics. “Wow,” I thought, “here’s an entire country that misuses the word ‘cover’ to mean ‘coverage’ — hey, I’ll be a lot of the misunderstandings and messes we’re in politically in this country and worldwide, are related to simple verbal misunderstandings.” (No, I really didn’t think all that and think it that clearly at the time, but the beauty of writing is that you have the luxury of thinking and rewriting, unlike talking or preaching.)

So maybe if we all were very careful about words and how we use them, or maybe if we realize different people and cultures understand words differently than we do, the world would be a more harmonious, even safer place to live in. (And, yes, I realize the word “misuses” in the paragraph above is not really accurate — they simply use the word differently; “misuse” was my little bit of sarcasm, intended to be humorous.)

Or, maybe we are such victims of our own cultures that we simply CAN’T use words more carefully, more concisely, and make the world a better place that way. Nah, we can do it. We simply are too self-involved or outright lazy to try much, I think.

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Secret to ALL successful dieting: Eat fewer calories than your body uses

I watch probably far more television than I should, especially for a guy who reads the papers. But most of my work is done at home, and with no one to talk to but our old cat — so I often leave CNN or some other cable news program running in the background as I blog. Helps me find ideas for my writing sometimes.

One of the things I see far too much of, because of that, are TV commercials. And one type of TV ads that particularly intrigues me are those for diets or diet pills. I find them amusing, not because I doubt the work. After all, following a sensible diet and even using a diet pill can be a great first step toward improving one’s health.

What I find amusing is that special diet foods, prescription or nonprescription pills, all of them generally work (IF they work) because those who follow the diet or eat/swallow the food/pills, are consuming less calories and eating balanced meals or supplementing their food with quality nutrition.

In other words, any serious diet or diet pill works to some extent simply because of the fundamental success principle for dieting: fewer calories = loss of weight. That might be modified to include more activity. But fundamentally there is only one way to lose weight. You must consume fewer calories than your body uses. No matter what the diet plan, food, or food supplement you try — if you put more calories into your body than you “burn off” or use up, you will not lose weight successfully.

Back to the basics, would be a good way to explain the best diet plans or diet supplements. Consume fewer calories than you use each day. You’ll lose weight.

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Does it REALLY make sense to use food products for alternative fuels?

A year or two ago, everyone where I live was excited about the prospects of a plant opening nearby to produce ethanol fuel from corn. Ethanol, as I’m sure you know, is a type of alcohol created from “biomass” products (currently, most often corn and corn byproducts) then blended with gasoline. The theory is that such fuel will reduce consumption of crude oil by reducing the amount of actual gasoline in the fuel we use in our cars, mopeds, motorcycles, or whatever.

The theory, at least in the case of our still-not-started production plant, was a bad one. Builders trying to start the ethanol plant quickly ran into opposition. I don’t know all the details, but it had to do with the enormous drain on local communities’ water table and water supplies to run the plant.

It also had to do with cattle farmers, chicken farmers, and other animal farmers who didn’t like the way feed prices would skyrocket if corn and corn byproducts were diverted to the ethanol plant. Turns out there are lots of cattle supplies needed to raise a calf and bring it to market — and corn and other feed grains are high up on the list.

After all that fuss over the nearby ethanol plant, I had a couple of conversations with my son the engineer. (NOT a specialist in environmental sciences specifically, but very well informed nonetheless.) He explained that ethanol not only is very hard to produce in quantity, and hence expensive, but it really is a very poor-mileage fuel when used to power a gasoline engine in a car.

Having said all that, I would ask this: Does it REALLY make sense to use food products for alternative fuels? I would think finding ways to turn various weeds that flourish nationwide and threaten food crops makes more sense.

Or, better yet, maybe we could take practical steps to combat gasoline consumption like 1) driving less and walking more, 2) mass transit, and, 3) reviving our once glorious nationwide rail transport and passenger systems.

As I mentioned in a post last week, ultimately oil-based energy is doomed because ultimately oil will run out. We’d best be taking conservation AND research steps to deal with it. But corn??

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