I finally received a bill for my open heart surgery in April. See I’m back!
The bill for the initial surgeon’s visit and the operation is $20,280.50. The five days of hospital stay are not included. My bill for three-plus hours of surgery after Medicare and supplemental insurance: $50.50!!
What I pay monthly for insurance is $178.90 for Medicare and supplemental insurance plus $83.70 for prescription drugs. This is deducted from my Social Security. My wife pays the same amount.
According to https://resources.ehealthinsurance.com/affordable-care-act/much-health-insurance-cost-without-subsidy, individual coverage averaged $321 per month and family plans averaged $833. The annual deductibles were $4,358 and $7,983.
To pay the individual deductible, a person would have save about $84/week or two dollars an hour. For the premiums, a person would have to save about $74/week. Together that is $158/week or $3.95/hour. At a minimum wage of $9/hour, that doesn’t leave much for food and rent. Without insurance, a year’s wage of $9/hour would not even cover the above bill.
And lots of politicians and millionaires think these individuals should be happy with what they get. I don’t wish Marie Antoinette’s fate on these “let them eat cake” thinkers, but someday there will be a widespread realization that the people at the bottom of the economic are being taken advantage of. Let’s hope they find better “champions” than Donald Trump and his ilk.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Sunday, November 03, 2013
I love taxes and regulations!
Printed in the Reader Weekly, 2013-10-31 and found at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2013/10/31/2364_party_of_one-3.
I submitted it as follows; I did remove from this copy the missing section in last week's Reader Weekly.
Well, not all that much. What I like is all the benefits that taxes and regulations bring me and many other people.
Like many, I find paying taxes a chore. I have to set aside money twice a year for property taxes. I have to keep lots of records and fill out detailed forms to calculate how much federal and state income tax I owe. And because I don’t have withholding on all of my income, I have to estimate these taxes quarterly and pay a portion of the presumed shortfall.
A few years ago I had a sore chest, extreme sweating, and nausea. Was this a heart attack? Don’t hesitate; call 9-1-1! Within five minutes a fire truck with four fire fighters/emergency medical technicians arrived. Without going into all the details, I was hospitalized but it was determined that I did not have a heart attack. My taxes, your taxes, and the taxes of many others paid for this quick response.
Was this an entitlement?
One of the ER doctors I saw lived in our house a few years before we bought it. He was a graduate of the UMD medical school. State taxes paid some of the cost of operating UMD. Would there be as many doctors and nurses if they or their parents had to pay the full cost of their education, starting with elementary school?
Is this an entitlement?
Keep in mind George Washington’s farewell address, which contained among much other ignored advice:
“[I]t is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant…”
Most of us drive regularly on streets and our commerce depends on the roads. They cost a lot more than the streets of George Washington’s time. And city streets like George Washington rode his horse on still existed in my lifetime. See “11 Traveled Dirt Streets to Be Hard Surfaced at No Cost to Property”, Kansas City Star, 1944-04-06.
Are hard-surfaced streets an entitlement?
Red lights are a bothersome regulation. Why should I wait while somebody comes by on the cross street? Well, when I’m driving on the cross street, I appreciate that the other traffic will stop periodically so that I may drive into the intersection safely.
Requiring auto insurance is a bothersome regulation. But it sure is nice when another person is at fault for banging my car that their insurance will pay for the damage. I think it was in Michigan that a driver came out from a parking lot and put a dent in the side of our car. He didn’t stop, and so I made a U-turn and followed him a block or two before he stopped. We pleasantly exchanged information and we went on our way. But after a few blocks we saw his insurance agency. We stopped in and related the incident. Oh, but he buys the insurance and cancels within a week or so. Off we went to the police station and told our story again. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everybody followed these “burdensome” regulations?
Among my allergies is quaternium-15, an ingredient in many lotions. Imagine my surprise when a hypoallergenic lotion contained quaternium-15. If regulations didn’t require a list of ingredients, would I wind up having an allergic reaction and not know why?
My wife has to stay away from soy lecithin. Dark chocolate is a healthy treat. Many dark chocolate bars contain soy lecithin. If regulations didn’t require the labeling of ingredients, what would happen to her if she ingested soy lecithin unknowingly?
When all the nutrition information was mandated on foods, I pooh poohed it. Come on, you know a candy bar has lots of calories; so stay away from candy bars if you have a weight problem. I recently had a colonoscopy and was told not to take iron before the procedure. Chocolate was one of the OK foods. But, dark chocolate contains 6 to 35 percent of the daily value of iron. If I had that much iron would it have changed the diagnosis? I stayed away from chocolate and I had a negative result. Without the regulated nutritional information I might have had a false positive result.
Many corporations regard regulations against air and water pollution as burdensome and anti-free market. Many studies have shown that many of the chemicals in our environment are causing brain impairment in children and that they don’t perform well in school. Oh, poor school performance is not caused by pollution, it’s the “greedy teachers’ unions”!
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. supposedly said he liked taxes, “They buy civilization.” I would add without regulation, we would not have civilization.
I submitted it as follows; I did remove from this copy the missing section in last week's Reader Weekly.
Well, not all that much. What I like is all the benefits that taxes and regulations bring me and many other people.
Like many, I find paying taxes a chore. I have to set aside money twice a year for property taxes. I have to keep lots of records and fill out detailed forms to calculate how much federal and state income tax I owe. And because I don’t have withholding on all of my income, I have to estimate these taxes quarterly and pay a portion of the presumed shortfall.
A few years ago I had a sore chest, extreme sweating, and nausea. Was this a heart attack? Don’t hesitate; call 9-1-1! Within five minutes a fire truck with four fire fighters/emergency medical technicians arrived. Without going into all the details, I was hospitalized but it was determined that I did not have a heart attack. My taxes, your taxes, and the taxes of many others paid for this quick response.
Was this an entitlement?
One of the ER doctors I saw lived in our house a few years before we bought it. He was a graduate of the UMD medical school. State taxes paid some of the cost of operating UMD. Would there be as many doctors and nurses if they or their parents had to pay the full cost of their education, starting with elementary school?
Is this an entitlement?
Keep in mind George Washington’s farewell address, which contained among much other ignored advice:
“[I]t is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant…”
Most of us drive regularly on streets and our commerce depends on the roads. They cost a lot more than the streets of George Washington’s time. And city streets like George Washington rode his horse on still existed in my lifetime. See “11 Traveled Dirt Streets to Be Hard Surfaced at No Cost to Property”, Kansas City Star, 1944-04-06.
Are hard-surfaced streets an entitlement?
Red lights are a bothersome regulation. Why should I wait while somebody comes by on the cross street? Well, when I’m driving on the cross street, I appreciate that the other traffic will stop periodically so that I may drive into the intersection safely.
Requiring auto insurance is a bothersome regulation. But it sure is nice when another person is at fault for banging my car that their insurance will pay for the damage. I think it was in Michigan that a driver came out from a parking lot and put a dent in the side of our car. He didn’t stop, and so I made a U-turn and followed him a block or two before he stopped. We pleasantly exchanged information and we went on our way. But after a few blocks we saw his insurance agency. We stopped in and related the incident. Oh, but he buys the insurance and cancels within a week or so. Off we went to the police station and told our story again. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everybody followed these “burdensome” regulations?
Among my allergies is quaternium-15, an ingredient in many lotions. Imagine my surprise when a hypoallergenic lotion contained quaternium-15. If regulations didn’t require a list of ingredients, would I wind up having an allergic reaction and not know why?
My wife has to stay away from soy lecithin. Dark chocolate is a healthy treat. Many dark chocolate bars contain soy lecithin. If regulations didn’t require the labeling of ingredients, what would happen to her if she ingested soy lecithin unknowingly?
When all the nutrition information was mandated on foods, I pooh poohed it. Come on, you know a candy bar has lots of calories; so stay away from candy bars if you have a weight problem. I recently had a colonoscopy and was told not to take iron before the procedure. Chocolate was one of the OK foods. But, dark chocolate contains 6 to 35 percent of the daily value of iron. If I had that much iron would it have changed the diagnosis? I stayed away from chocolate and I had a negative result. Without the regulated nutritional information I might have had a false positive result.
Many corporations regard regulations against air and water pollution as burdensome and anti-free market. Many studies have shown that many of the chemicals in our environment are causing brain impairment in children and that they don’t perform well in school. Oh, poor school performance is not caused by pollution, it’s the “greedy teachers’ unions”!
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. supposedly said he liked taxes, “They buy civilization.” I would add without regulation, we would not have civilization.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Letter about the safety of GMO foods
Brandon Ferdig submitted an opinion piece to the Star Tribune about science and political belief, writing that both conservatives and liberals are selective about the science they accept and reject. See "How Deep Have You Dug in Your Heels?", Star Tribune, 2012-10-16.
One of the items he wrote that liberals don't accept is "The science behind the safety of genetically modified foods."
I wrote a letter that was published today in response: "Food and Science, GMO opposition can be quite reasonable" (The Strib's title).
See also "Corporations hate free markets" and "GMO producers don't want free markets".
One of the items he wrote that liberals don't accept is "The science behind the safety of genetically modified foods."
I wrote a letter that was published today in response: "Food and Science, GMO opposition can be quite reasonable" (The Strib's title).
See also "Corporations hate free markets" and "GMO producers don't want free markets".
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Solidarity: An Overused Word
How many times have you heard some people talk of their solidarity with some distant group? A solidarity that they cannot act on because they really aren't in the distant group's circumstances.
The latest overuse I heard was in a speech in Pakistan by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. He expressed his sympathy for and solidarity with the victims of the flooding.
Excuse me, how can one have solidarity with people in a disaster area when one can easily fly in and then easily fly out again? Maybe he would be in solidarity with the victims if he waded through waist-deep water with supplies on his head.
Of course, we do need the people who can fly in and fly out so they can let the rest of us know how desperate the situation is, especially photographers.
The rest of us may not act in solidarity with the victims but we can be more than just sympathetic. We can donate to aid agencies who are trying to bring supplies to the victims. One agency to consider is the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Visit http://www.unhcr.org to learn some of the problems and to donate what you can.
The latest overuse I heard was in a speech in Pakistan by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. He expressed his sympathy for and solidarity with the victims of the flooding.
Excuse me, how can one have solidarity with people in a disaster area when one can easily fly in and then easily fly out again? Maybe he would be in solidarity with the victims if he waded through waist-deep water with supplies on his head.
Of course, we do need the people who can fly in and fly out so they can let the rest of us know how desperate the situation is, especially photographers.
The rest of us may not act in solidarity with the victims but we can be more than just sympathetic. We can donate to aid agencies who are trying to bring supplies to the victims. One agency to consider is the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Visit http://www.unhcr.org to learn some of the problems and to donate what you can.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Food, A Personal Essay
I was cleaning my desk and came across the printout of the following essay. At first I couldn't find it on my computer, but then I did as a WriteNow document. I was able to get a scrambled version with Word and edited it to its original form. I originally wrote it 2000-08-03 for a Split Rock class at UMD, “Personal Essay Seminar” with Bill Holm.
What is it you remember of “memorable” meals: the food, the place, the guests, or the conversation? I find that I remember the place and where I sat more than anything else. I may remember the guests, especially family members. Sometimes I remember the food. Rarely do I remember the conversation.
I can remember sitting with my wife and children on the terrace of a restaurant on the road between Rome and Naples eating a fish of some sort. I don’t remember the name of the fish, only that it was a small, whole fish that I ate without a bit of squeamishness, an achievement that I felt proud of. But I remember better the terrace above the road and the road above the sea which was about a mile away, each being separated from the other by a bright, green band of trees which we looked down on.
I can remember sitting in another outdoor restaurant near Pompei on the same trip. I remember that we sat in the ell of the building with a trellis overhead. I don’t remember the food but I remember that we drank Lacrima Christi (Tears of Christ), a pleasant white wine.
I can remember eating Wiener Schnitzel, pommes frites, und gemichste salat at a restaurant in Basel, Switzerland. I should remember as I ate there frequently and selected that food most of the time. I was alone and sat at one of many sanded tables. I may have had the table to myself or if the restaurant was crowded I would share it with strangers.
I can remember eating lutefisk for the first and only time in an office building in Sweden. I didn’t like the lutefisk. My Swedish colleagues chose something else from the menu.
If I remember the food, I remember little of its texture and taste. The place is much more memorable. My position at the table, the position of the table in the room, the decor of the room, the neighborhood of the restaurant. Why is this?
Do we remember more by sight than taste because we spend so much time navigating with our eyes? How rare is it that we move toward a smell? We may turn into a restaurant because of the good smells coming from it, but we didn’t criss-cross a neighborhood like a predator sniffing the air for prey. We first went through the neighborhood using our eyes to find our way. I remember loving to walk or drive by a commercial bakery, feasting with my nose on the invigorating smell of fresh-baked bread. But I got to the area using my eyes, not my nose. I wouldn’t be able to smell the bakery three blocks away.
Great chefs and good cooks understand the importance of sight in appreciating food.
Bör dock ögonen ha sin spis och födo till fyllnad.
Yet must the eyes have their nourishment and feed until filled.
A Swedish chef lays out a smörgåsbord as a series of platters and dishes in a pattern suggesting the appropriate order to select groups of dishes. Silver herring, golden cheese, and dark hard bread. Red salmon, green parsley, and yellow lemon. White chicken, brown paté, and red tomatoes. Golden flounder, pink sausage, and green beans. Red berries, yellow melon, and ginger cookies.
The staff of a Japanese ryokan serves dinner and breakfast in a dozen lacquered dishes for each person. Most of the items have bright colors and they lay out the dishes in a specific pattern. A clear soup with red snapper and green onions. A slice of golden rolled omelet with green daikon. Chilled white tofu with black sesame seeds. White and green cabbage with dark shitake mushrooms. They hide the workaday electric rice cooker and airpot of tea on the floor at the end of the table.
A German cook piles a plate from edge to edge with meat, potatoes, and vegetables. The large servings suggest abundance and encourage Guten Appetit!
A French chef places a few ingredients on each plate of a many course dinner. The chef balances the flavors and the appearance. The small servings suggest that the dish is to be savored slowly.
On the negative side, one of our friends turned our stomachs off just with how the food looked on the plate - burnt chicken with mushy canned peas and lumpy potatoes.
We also remember the service we receive.
At a Holiday Inn we ordered lunch at a busy time. We placed our order and soon after a waitress served my wife’s food, our kid’s food, and my bottle of beer. A couple came to a nearby table. They ordered. A waitress served their food. The couple ate, paid, and left. My wife and kids finished their food. For forty-five minutes I tapped my foot and twiddled my thumbs, but nobody brought my sandwich. I said we were leaving. As we stood up, a waitress pushed a cart with sandwich came through the door but I ignored her. I told the hostess that I would pay for my family’s food and my beer but not my sandwich. I felt an immense power when I noticed that her hand shook more than my voice.
At a restaurant outside Rome eight of us had had a reasonably pleasant meal and good conversation. When we were ready to leave we asked the waiter, “Il conto, prego” (the bill, please). He replied, “Subito” (right away). Five minutes later, we asked, “Il conto, prego.” He replied, “Subito.” And again, “Il conto, prego.” “Subito.” And yet again, and again. After about twenty minutes, we all stood up and started to leave. The waiter wrote the bill subito!
At a restaurant near the Houston space center, the service was impeccable. As soon as I finished a course, the waiter would appear, remove the dish, and bring the next course.
This little exercise is bringing back so many memories of memorable meals. I do remember many tastes but almost all of them are associated with place.
I remember eating kielbasa in the train station in Budapest but neither the flavor or the texture. But I can still taste the Polish sausage from the Twin Ports Brewing Co. in Superior, Wisconsin.
I can remember the melted ice cream sandwich that still held its shape but not where I contemplated eating it. I can remember sitting in our dining room savoring every spoonful of Ben & Jerry’s The World’s Best Vanilla Ice Cream, the only ice cream worthy of the name “ice cream”.
I can remember the calamari at a long-gone Thai restaurant on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis; it was so hot that it made my eyes and nose run. I can remember picking jalapeño peppers from our garden in Plymouth and nibbling them as I took them to the house; “Ooh, that’s hot! Mmm, that’s good! I’ll have another bite.”
This is making me too hungry to continue. My wife just came back from the deli with supper. I’m going to check out what she bought.
Postscript: The deli food was so-so veggie stuff but she also bought a fresh, locally-grown, organic beefsteak tomato, picked fresh raspberries from a co-worker’s yard, and bought Ben & Jerry’s The World’s Best Vanilla Ice Cream!
What is it you remember of “memorable” meals: the food, the place, the guests, or the conversation? I find that I remember the place and where I sat more than anything else. I may remember the guests, especially family members. Sometimes I remember the food. Rarely do I remember the conversation.
I can remember sitting with my wife and children on the terrace of a restaurant on the road between Rome and Naples eating a fish of some sort. I don’t remember the name of the fish, only that it was a small, whole fish that I ate without a bit of squeamishness, an achievement that I felt proud of. But I remember better the terrace above the road and the road above the sea which was about a mile away, each being separated from the other by a bright, green band of trees which we looked down on.
I can remember sitting in another outdoor restaurant near Pompei on the same trip. I remember that we sat in the ell of the building with a trellis overhead. I don’t remember the food but I remember that we drank Lacrima Christi (Tears of Christ), a pleasant white wine.
I can remember eating Wiener Schnitzel, pommes frites, und gemichste salat at a restaurant in Basel, Switzerland. I should remember as I ate there frequently and selected that food most of the time. I was alone and sat at one of many sanded tables. I may have had the table to myself or if the restaurant was crowded I would share it with strangers.
I can remember eating lutefisk for the first and only time in an office building in Sweden. I didn’t like the lutefisk. My Swedish colleagues chose something else from the menu.
If I remember the food, I remember little of its texture and taste. The place is much more memorable. My position at the table, the position of the table in the room, the decor of the room, the neighborhood of the restaurant. Why is this?
Do we remember more by sight than taste because we spend so much time navigating with our eyes? How rare is it that we move toward a smell? We may turn into a restaurant because of the good smells coming from it, but we didn’t criss-cross a neighborhood like a predator sniffing the air for prey. We first went through the neighborhood using our eyes to find our way. I remember loving to walk or drive by a commercial bakery, feasting with my nose on the invigorating smell of fresh-baked bread. But I got to the area using my eyes, not my nose. I wouldn’t be able to smell the bakery three blocks away.
Great chefs and good cooks understand the importance of sight in appreciating food.
Bör dock ögonen ha sin spis och födo till fyllnad.
Yet must the eyes have their nourishment and feed until filled.
A Swedish chef lays out a smörgåsbord as a series of platters and dishes in a pattern suggesting the appropriate order to select groups of dishes. Silver herring, golden cheese, and dark hard bread. Red salmon, green parsley, and yellow lemon. White chicken, brown paté, and red tomatoes. Golden flounder, pink sausage, and green beans. Red berries, yellow melon, and ginger cookies.
The staff of a Japanese ryokan serves dinner and breakfast in a dozen lacquered dishes for each person. Most of the items have bright colors and they lay out the dishes in a specific pattern. A clear soup with red snapper and green onions. A slice of golden rolled omelet with green daikon. Chilled white tofu with black sesame seeds. White and green cabbage with dark shitake mushrooms. They hide the workaday electric rice cooker and airpot of tea on the floor at the end of the table.
A German cook piles a plate from edge to edge with meat, potatoes, and vegetables. The large servings suggest abundance and encourage Guten Appetit!
A French chef places a few ingredients on each plate of a many course dinner. The chef balances the flavors and the appearance. The small servings suggest that the dish is to be savored slowly.
On the negative side, one of our friends turned our stomachs off just with how the food looked on the plate - burnt chicken with mushy canned peas and lumpy potatoes.
We also remember the service we receive.
At a Holiday Inn we ordered lunch at a busy time. We placed our order and soon after a waitress served my wife’s food, our kid’s food, and my bottle of beer. A couple came to a nearby table. They ordered. A waitress served their food. The couple ate, paid, and left. My wife and kids finished their food. For forty-five minutes I tapped my foot and twiddled my thumbs, but nobody brought my sandwich. I said we were leaving. As we stood up, a waitress pushed a cart with sandwich came through the door but I ignored her. I told the hostess that I would pay for my family’s food and my beer but not my sandwich. I felt an immense power when I noticed that her hand shook more than my voice.
At a restaurant outside Rome eight of us had had a reasonably pleasant meal and good conversation. When we were ready to leave we asked the waiter, “Il conto, prego” (the bill, please). He replied, “Subito” (right away). Five minutes later, we asked, “Il conto, prego.” He replied, “Subito.” And again, “Il conto, prego.” “Subito.” And yet again, and again. After about twenty minutes, we all stood up and started to leave. The waiter wrote the bill subito!
At a restaurant near the Houston space center, the service was impeccable. As soon as I finished a course, the waiter would appear, remove the dish, and bring the next course.
This little exercise is bringing back so many memories of memorable meals. I do remember many tastes but almost all of them are associated with place.
I remember eating kielbasa in the train station in Budapest but neither the flavor or the texture. But I can still taste the Polish sausage from the Twin Ports Brewing Co. in Superior, Wisconsin.
I can remember the melted ice cream sandwich that still held its shape but not where I contemplated eating it. I can remember sitting in our dining room savoring every spoonful of Ben & Jerry’s The World’s Best Vanilla Ice Cream, the only ice cream worthy of the name “ice cream”.
I can remember the calamari at a long-gone Thai restaurant on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis; it was so hot that it made my eyes and nose run. I can remember picking jalapeño peppers from our garden in Plymouth and nibbling them as I took them to the house; “Ooh, that’s hot! Mmm, that’s good! I’ll have another bite.”
This is making me too hungry to continue. My wife just came back from the deli with supper. I’m going to check out what she bought.
Postscript: The deli food was so-so veggie stuff but she also bought a fresh, locally-grown, organic beefsteak tomato, picked fresh raspberries from a co-worker’s yard, and bought Ben & Jerry’s The World’s Best Vanilla Ice Cream!
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