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Hi. Maybe I can weigh in. I used to work in healthcare and have recently been scarce here on the board as I seriously injured my left forearm near the wrist. This required surgery and a permanent titanium plate and screws to repair my shattered radius. I am also currently going through physical therapy and still require some meds. In other words, I have used my insurance to most of its extremes lately.
As Todash eloquently explained, the services for the uninsured are not the best here. Medicare is for those over 65, or in some cases those determined disabled. My mom qualifies for this as she is 60 but suffers from a disease that has kept her from being able to work. In most of those cases, however, this coverage is provided via Medicaid. Medicaid is funded via the Medicare fund, but is a disbursement given to each state. The state then funds a portion too and it is provided to low income persons, people like my mom and for some services such as nursing homes. To qualify for it, however, you have to be almost destitute or completely helpless.
If you have nothing, which often happens to those who are in the area that isn't poor enough, but too poor to afford private insurance, illegal immigrants, etc., the you can go the emergency room for serious injuries or go to the "free clinic" or "DHS" that counties (or parishes) provide via state and Medicaid funding. You can get immunizations there, women's checks (PAP, etc.) and some basic services. It is mostly free, but sometimes involves a small charge of a few dollars. A newer thing for basic cold, flu, sinus infections, etc., are "Minute Clinics" in large chain drug stores. They will diagnose basic illnesses for free via nurse practitioner and write you a prescription for basic antibiotics. Beyond that, if you are seriously injured (as I was) the options pretty much suck. You are in the hands of charity at that point.
So my recent experience: I have employer insurance, and comparatively good insurance. I have my whole family on it and pay about $200/week for health, dental and vision. It has a deductible of $500 per person and $1500 for the family. That means that for covered procedures I have to pay the first $500 out of pocket and then 20%. The coinsurance (the 20%) and the copays (like the $25 Todash mentioned, mine is $20 for regular docs, $40 for specialists) each count toward the out of pocket max, which is $2500 per calendar year for everything. That basically means that if I was to have a major illness or injury, the most I am supposed to pay for the services, etc (that are COVERED) out of my pocket is $2500 for everyone covered for the year. This does NOT include the weekly premiums I pay for the insurance in the first place. So in reality, for a major thing, with premiums, around $10K a year would come out of my pocket, but none of that includes meds on most plans. Confused yet? Therein lies the problem and the debate.
Before the health care law that was so maligned by the neocon windbags, there was almost no way to know how much something would actually wind up costing you and also very hard to determine what was covered at times.
My surgery had a retail price tag of around $35000. since my surgeon was "in network" they write off a huge portion of the cost and for everything it has wound up costing me around $1500 out of pocket. The other jacked up thing about this is the surgeon,m facility and even the surgical staff and anesthesiologist all bill separately and may or may not be "in network"!! I actually got a bill fro the anesth for $9000 for putting me out. This is because the insurance said his fee was too high and decided he was not in network, even though he works for the surgical facility that is!! HUH?!?!?!??? This can be remedied by making some calls, etc and many hours of dealing with these jokers, but imagine when you're recovering and not well trying to deal with all that crap. And this is WITH good private insurance. It's a joke frankly.
When you lay it out with a real world scenario like this, you can see why many of us are effin' sick of this sh!t and demand national health care. As a matter of fact, the simple reason that I never actually know how much it will wind up costing me in the end to see a doctor, has made me avoid the doctor for many years now. I go in for a yearly check, but if I get sick, I just tough it out typically. This is because insurance companies will do everything they can to deny anything they can. Because it's all for profit. No one has ever been able to explain how a for profit company who does better if you pay in and they don't pay out, could ever have my best interest at heart if it is less profitable for them to pay for the treatment needed. Beyond that, the only argument those opposed to "Medicare for all" essentially boils down to the providers are greedy and don't want to control their fees because that is "anti-american" somehow to do so.
In short it's all a confusing expensive mess, driven by greed first and with a low emphasis on the best thing for the consumer.
U-S-A!! U-S-A!!! U-S-A!! :unclesam:


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Photographer's book zooms in on Rolling Stone careerWritten by Vicki L. Kroll | | email@example.com
Miles Davis fired up his Ferrari and took him for a drive. He roamed the stage at Woodstock in 1969. And Janis Joplin performed a private concert just for him.
He is Baron Wolman. As Rolling Stone's first chief photographer, he chronicled the music scene for the publication from 1967 to 1970.
"For the most part, it was just working. It was a fun job," he said. "At the time, there was no context, you know, like this was really cool; it was just that's what we're doing today.
"The thing with Janis, I knew at the time that was very special."
Wolman shares special memories, classic photos and the stories behind them in "The Rolling Stone Years." Released by Omnibus Press in August, the 176-page book features icons from Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead to George Harrison, Carlos Santana, Bob Dylan, and Ike & Tina Turner.
"I knew I was documenting a very important part of American history; the changes that were taking place were phenomenal and very visual," he said during a call from his home in Santa Fe, N.M. "I was another guy with a camera working hard to take pictures of an important time in San Francisco."
He was 30 years old and living in Haight-Ashbury in 1967, the year Rolling Stone began publishing.
"So many of the people that I photographed lived in the Haight also; it wasn't as though you were seeing rock stars, you were just seeing neighbors. See Janis walking down the street, see The Dead walking, Jefferson Airplane hanging out," Wolman said.
What was his strangest job?
"The most crazy situation had to be with Frank Zappa at his house because I was a little concerned about getting along with Frank because he was so smart and, musically, he's a creative eccentric, and I didn't know what I was going to get when I got there," Wolman recalled. "It turned out he was in some kind of Frank Zappa mood to play around with me and the camera."
Who was the shyest subject?
"Tiny Tim was reluctant to be photographed or interviewed, so [the writer and I] brought him a bouquet of daisies and, for some reason, that touched his heart," Wolman said.
The most photogenic musician?
"Jimi Hendrix was always moving. Not only was he a phenomenal guitarist, he was a great performer," the 74-year-old said. "Being on stage with Jimi Hendrix was phenomenal; I couldn't stop taking pictures."
The Ohio native started shooting during high school in Columbus.
"The moment I picked up a camera and looked through the viewfinder and could isolate moments that meant something to me, the camera became my friend," he said. "I couldn't believe how easy it was for me to take pictures. It was so meaningful, so wonderful, so special."
Wolman was known for his photojournalistic style: "Maybe it was more honest; this is the world I saw in front of me at the moment and that is the world I wanted to reflect. I didn't want to create a world. Annie Leibovitz went on — to her credit — and did very well at creating reality.
"I was more interested in, who are these people? How do they behave? I wanted them to give me, as the Native Americans say, a little piece of their soul when I photographed them.
"A good photo should cause you to pause for a moment to look at it for some reason or there's something there you want to take a second look at," Wolman said. "It should, in that moment, give you a little bit more information about what it means to be alive."
Tags: Annie Leibovitz, Baron Wolman, Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, Frank Zappa, George Harrison, Grateful Dead, Ike & Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Rolling Stone, Tiny Tim

subset: commoncrawl


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Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Anti-Chafe Stainless Steel Pads to the Rescue!
If you check out the reviews online, you'll see how many boaters out there love Yew Enterprises Ltd.'s "WearAndTear" Anti-Chafe Pads. APS is excited to add these techy-looking new things to our product offering.
It's true there are various marine tapes out there designed to solve the same problem. However, with a special fade-into-fantasy effect, imagine the like concept made of a Marine grade 301 stainless steel that's a miniscule 0.002″ (0.05mm) thick. This is the kind of product that proves its merit over time. Note - you'll have to pay a little more for these than you would the tape, but the nicer look makes it worth it.
Not only do the WearAndTear pads protect chafe- vulnerable areas on your gelcoat or varnished areas, they also work to cover up damage.
Measuring 2" wide and 6" long for Type A - 9" (225mm) long for Type B – these extremely thin pads provide a long lasting solution to that unsightly damage caused by chafe and ropeburn.
A special double-sided tape adheres the pads to flat or curved gelcoat/varnished surfaces. The WearAndTear stainless steel pads are flexible to a point, but are unable to stretch to accommodate complex shapes. This means your best bet is to use them on straight sections of cabin houses and cockpit sides. You can also pre-form these pads before removing backing tape for applications involving radii of less than 1".
Don't worry, the adhesive WearAndTear pads don't come off as a result of warm weather or direct sunlight. You'd need a hairdryer for that…
4 comments:
- AnonymousMarch 2, 2011 at 3:16 PM
RE: Anti Chaffe Steel Pads.ReplyDelete
Love this idea and/or product, but would be more inclined to purchase if it came in longer sections that just nine inches. I'd like to protect the underside of a boom on a large asym where the spinny sheets and shackle's rub - and also on the fore side of the mast at the base where the jib clue rig beats the mast during tacks in big pressure. The damage occurs over a much greater space, and putting two or more together wouldn't be right, or look right. Am also concerned they won't bend around a soft 90 corner - which would be ironic as in my experience chaffing rarely occurs on flat surfaces.
If this product isn't available in longer and/or wider sizes, is there something else you'd recommend? I'm getting the boom powder coated as we speak and would like to protect it - and the mast asap.
Much appreciated and thanks again as I'd look forward to your response and suggestions.
T. Allard
Walnut Creek, CA
The manufacturer has longer lengths available. We can get custom length 2 inch wide strips up to a meter long.ReplyDelete
The wear and tear strips are designed to bend around a soft 90 degree corner like the back of many cabin tops. I have one attached over a soft 90 degree bend on a computer next to my desk (it was the closest soft 90 degree bend handy) and it has worked just fine.
As far as alternative options. For the mast, many boats have a custom padded sleeve fabricated to protect the mast, particularly those with carbon rigs. For the boom, you can have a similar sleeve made by a sailmaker if you have a loose footed boom. Both of these would obviously have some expense since they are custom.
An alternative option would be to use UHMW tape found here. If you are sailing in a windy area some of the other options we have like Teflon tape would likely not be durable enough. Warren here in customer service has used the UHMW on his J22 boom and found it works very well. The tape might not have the clean and classic look of the stainless pad but it should hold up well.
Thanks for your interest and please let me know if you have any other questions.
Still sell these?ReplyDelete
Yes we do! We apologize for the lack of links. Wear and tear pads can be found hereReplyDelete


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The Erie BayHawks are scheduled to play two preseason games in a six-team jamboree hosted by the Texas Legends this weekend.
A week away from their Nov. 23 season opener at Fort Wayne, the BayHawks play Tulsa today and defending D-League champion Austin on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to start at 5 p.m. EST.
The BayHawks have 13 players on their training camp roster. The D-League affiliate of the New York Knicks must get its roster down to 10 by Nov. 21.


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Heal's specialises in well-priced, high quality furniture including designer shelving, storage, bookcases, sideboards, cupboards and av units with a modern and contemporary style. The different ranges of contemporary bookshelves and storage furniture available at Heal's combine easily to create a bespoke storage solution for all your storage needs.
Create an entire library wall with large contemporary bookshelves, a modern bookcase as a room divider or use low bookshelves in isolation. Our contemporary bookshelves and shelving units are available in a wide selection of designs, materials and finishes including solid oak, walnut and lacquer. Many of our bookshelves and storage furniture items are made and designed in Britain. Designer bookshelves are also available in store and online by leading brands including Kartell, Vitra, and Ligne Roset .
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Sunrise Calendar: Interesting idea, deal-breaker implementation
Sunrise Calendar launched in the App Store this week to mixed buzz. It looks interesting but it only works with Google Calendar and requires -- requires -- you to login with Facebook before it will let you start using the app. That's an absolute show stopper for me. I don't need or want to login to a calendar app, and if I did, while Facebook would be a welcome option among many, I won't use any third-party app, not ever, where it's the only option. But that's not all...
I also use more than Google Calendar. My work stuff is on there, but my personal calendars are all on iCloud. Unless/until Apple's calendar is supported on Apple's platform, I lose a unified calendar, which is another deal-breaker for me. Same likely holds true for Exchange users.
I'm also confused as to why Sunrise Calendar is free. Yes, I do look gift-horses in the mouth, especially when there's a chance they'll bite me. Free sounds great, but nothing is ever really free. If I'm not paying, someone else is paying. And if I'm not being sold a product, odds are I'm either being sold as a product, or the product I'm being given for free won't long survive, at least not in the form it's being given me. I've had too many "free" services I've grown to like and depend on shut down, or get sold to Google or someone similar and effectively shut down. Not again.
Also, my calendars contains not just my personal information, but that of my friends, family, co-workers, and other associates. That's extremely valuable, and I'm extremely careful about how and with what I access it. "Free" is never enough to buy that access. Only "trust".
So this is where my Sunrise Calendar "review" ends for now. Get rid of the forced Facebook login, expand beyond Google Calendar, explain a business model I can trust with my data and trust will be around for a while, and I'll happily give it a full on trial, and who knows, maybe I'll like it and switch to it?
For now, I can't even use it.
If you don't mind Facebook logins, Google-only calendars, or free-as-in-??? apps, check out the video below, and if you like what you see, check out Sunrise Calendar and let me know how it works for you.
- Free - Download now
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
Sunrise Calendar: Interesting idea, deal-breaker implementation
I don't have a problem using Facebook or Twitter as a login mechanism, it saves keep creating new accounts all the time, but support for google calendar only is a deal breaker!
Exactly the same as the promising mailbox app, looks nice but spoilt by only supporting google services, what's the point in spending all that time developing a promising app to only support google services, especially on iOS!?!?!?!!?
I too deleted this app. The only way to use it is use Facebook. I don't use Facebook. I deleted the app.
The question is why did the app activate Call Forwarding on my iPhone5 - when I didn't even use the app, only opened it to see Facebook login and deleted.? I haven't used Call Forwarding on one of my cell phones since 2001.
I wonder what this app accessed on my iPhone just by opening? Don't use this folks.
An aside - I wonder if the author sees the irony of this site won't allow one to post a comment unless they login with Facebook. Or Google, twitter.
You can open an account on here without linking Facebook, etc. accounts. I don't have anything linked to my profile here other than an email address.
- I didn't object to Facebook login at all, I objected to it being the only option.
- This site offers multiple options for login, including Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, or an account with our own system.
- You can use iMore without logging in at all, albeit without write rights.
I'd be fine with any app that offered the same choice.
Bingo. Excellent article. Installed it today and knew within minutes that no matter how great the design was/is, it wouldn't make the cut. Will be interesting to watch and see if it grows or fixes its issues. Until then, just too many deal breakers.
Seems like a great idea. I am using it simply to keep the user base up. For now I require Exchange if this is something that I will continue to use (Mailbox app may change that). I would pay for the app as well ($.99 to start and $3.99 or so for a premium version). As for how the company will monetize Sunrise - hope for a 7+ figure buyout, ads, or premium services. If anyone uses FB or Google and will not use it for a log-in, well, consider yourself a modern day Luddite (or wearer of tin foil hats). I expect more log-in and email options if Sunrise makes it to v1.5+.
We've pushed an update to Apple to include login with Google. Sorry for this bad first experience, we are committed to fix that in our next (which I hope would be out later this week).
Pierre, co-founder @ Sunrise.
The update with Google Login is now live: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sunrise-calendar./id599114150?mt=8&at=10...
Thanks for your feedback!
Pierre, co-founder @ Sunrise.
Really like this concept but without the ability to integrate with Exchange-based calendars is a non-starter for me. I use Google Calendar for personal items but Exchange is used for company activities.
As noted above, with the new update I DID NOT have to login to Facebook to use this app. I chose to login with Google. I do not like sites that require Facebook either, but this is not the case with this app (at least not anymore). The app looks great and is much better than the IOS 7 calendar. I do wish that it had support for Enterprise calendars, or was more integrated with the IOS calendar, but there is a workaround. I created a Google account and installed Google Sync, and am syncing my enterprise calendar with this Google account. I then added the calendar to Sunrise, and now have full access to all of my appointments. I should also mention that I use a different Google Calendar for all of my personal appointments as well. As a matter of fact, my whole family shares this calendar and we all use it on our phones. This way we can all see things like when my daughter is working, when my daughters' practices are, dance recitals, school football games, doctors appointments, and other things of interest to the entire family. Yes, integration with IOS or Enterprise calendars would be preferable, but that doesn't mean you have to trash or completely dismiss an otherwise beautiful app.
This article is more opinion than fact. No real critiques of the applications abilities. How do these people get jobs as tech journalists?