Category Archives: general

Just regular kinds of stuff that happened (that doesn’t fit in other categories).

Being Nice

So my philosophy in life is pretty much just to “be nice”.

Maybe ‘karma’ and ‘what comes around, goes around’ and ‘do unto others as you want to them to do unto you’ want you to do the same thing (“be nice”) but they try to make you fear what might happen if you don’t. Really, they’re just slightly nicer versions of ‘an eye for an eye’ (the way most people interpret it).

Douglas Adams pointed this out in in the beginning of two of his books,
“nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree
for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change”

So maybe the above is an appropriate quote for this weekend, but it’s stuck with me for the last 20 years since I read it. It’s a pretty simple concept, be nice. all that confusing dying for our sins and betrayal really can confuse the whole simple concept.

I’m not pushing religion or any deep philosophies. I’m not even trying to figure out why we decorate and eat hard boiled chicken embryos or chocolate shaped in their image. I’m just trying to get people to think about being a little nicer, if for no reason other than they can.

A character of Neil Gaiman (another British author) one said something like ‘It’s not any harder to be nice than it is to be mean and it’s not nearly as fun.’

Spring Forward – I hate changing the clocks

DST around the world (Picture from wikipedia)As usual, it’s that time of year when someone else thinks it’s better to (de)regulate my internal clock. It’s funny all the news stories this year that are commenting on the health issues, sleepy drivers and how much energy this is really wasting energy.

For those of you in other places in the world that don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s Daylight Savings Time (DST).

At least all my electronics seemed to adapt properly…

Still on the mend…

Haven’t blogged much, since not much has been happening around here. I’ve been sick for the last two weeks (missed a week of work) with bronchitis with a nasty couch and even nastier congestion. I feel like I’ve been eating lots, but I’m down about 15 pounds from where I’m usually at.

Life’s pretty good otherwise, Work hasn’t been too cRaZy so I’ve not fallen too far behind. And I’ve got my next Costa Rica trip to look forward too next month.

With the snow today it seems like an extra beautifully sunny day and that always has magical healing properties…

Why I hate Medco Health Mail-in prescriptions.

First of all, I love Medco for so many reasons, but the fact that all the annoying things they do basically annoy me sometimes makes me wonder if it’s worth it. I’ll list what I like:

  • I’ve been very fortunate and pay virtually nothing for my prescriptions, at a local store I pay $5 a month and with Medco I pay $2 (total) for 3 months. Now that’s my current insurance plan and not Medco so it’s not a plus just for them (and my co-pay is about to go way up).
  • I can call with a drug question at any time and they can get an answer for me (I’m not sure if they’re 24 hours, but I know I’ve called close to midnight on a holiday before).
  • I can renew on-line and see my history of everything they’ve mailed to me for a long while.
  • They give me postage paid envelopes to mail in prescriptions.

    So this is where my “What I hate about Medco” rant starts, it’s everything else they kind of make as annoying as possible and it’s got to cast them money and time (mine too!). It’s really strange considering they’ve got the normal part perfect from a customer service standpoint (see above). It’s the odd things that they handle strangely, for example: Continue reading

  • The snow is beautiful here…

    I’m home sick today, but the view is just gorgeous! And it’s still coming down…

    I’ve been lousy since last Tuesday and I’ve been home yesterday and today. Yesterday and Sunday were the worst, I’m way congested in my lungs which cuts into my sleep time, drugs help when I’m sick but sleep and Creamy Tomato Soup help the most. The doctor thinks it’s something viral but still kept me on the anti-biotics she game me last week..

    I wish health was more of a science (I’m serious) and we knew more about it. Like, if I had stayed home on Friday (when the cough had started getting really bad) would I have gotten better over the weekend? Or would that have been minor on my road to recovery? Or did I need to get worse to get better?

    Back to the snow: It’s really thick on trees and bushes and railings. It’s times like this the I wish I lived with a view and I could sit by the fireplace and watch the snow fall over the landscape (and not have the “Palace Liquor & Deli” be my landscape).

    TV Roundup!

    For much not being on television I’ve been highly entertained by the tube this week…

  • Deal or No Deal – I haven’t been watching the show lately but they’ve added a new twist so I’ve been catching it this week. Every time someone does not win a million dollars they’re removing one of the other “cases” and adding a million dollar case. Stupid people who think they can beat the odds have thrown away many many hundreds of thousands dollars who don’t think $250,000 is enough money and draw another case. So sad. The banker is also making low offers to get them to continue to play, he lo balled an offer and was actually boo-ed by the audience (he offered $98,000 when it should have been closer to $200,000). The latest woman got so excited and emotional when she found out 1/2 the cases (13 of 26) had $1,000,000 in it there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. TiVo makes it possible for me to zip through the slow parts or I’d never make it…
  • Torchwood – I was wrong when I thought an episode was on the other night. There were two! After “Adam” I saw “Reboot” which was the first of three episodes with Martha Jones! I had forgotten she was going to be on it. She was a little cocky but it was a good episode and all the other characters were a little jealous that she had an unknown connection with Jack. “Adam”, of course, was brilliant, much too confusing to explain but another great episode by Catherine Tregenna.
  • Stargate Atlantis – Teal’c meets Ronin. And as when all heroes meet the first time, they clash before saving the world. A very fun episode!!!

    Fortunately, I’ve barely caught any news coverage, it’s just embarrassing the way that the networks turn tragedy into entertainment. Or maybe it’s that fact that people watch it like it’s entertainment that makes me feel that way.

    My heart and prayers go out to anyone with any connections to the tragedy at Northern Illinois University.

  • Random Stuff…

  • Friday’s Mega Millions is up to $179 Million! So spend a buck and if you win, remember I only need a $1,000,000 tip for the suggestion. For a second million I’ll build a computer lab at an underprivileged school and teach (volunteer) their computer classes (this is in the vicinity of where I retire from the first million, probably Costa Rica). It’s only $110 million if you take the cash option, so take away the taxes and it’s a measly $70 million dollars…
  • Torchwood is on tonight and it’s by the same writer as last week’s “Meat” episode! More secrets of Captain Jack’s past…
  • I really need groceries, but I don’t feel like going shopping. Anyone want to run some errands for me?!?
  • One of my best friends, Melissa, landed in Costa Rica a few hours ago and I’m SO jealous!!
  • The Magic of The Internet

    The Internet is truly magical:

  • Thursday
  • 7:00 am – Stove catches on fire!!!
  • 7:05 am – It’s just the heating element for the oven (I was warming my plate for breakfast), as soon as I turned it off the heating element disintegrated.
  • 7:10 am – I’ve found the model number for my stove (I’ll need this).
  • 10:00 am – After 5 minutes on-line I’ve ordered the part from the GE.com web site.
  • Friday
  • 1:36 pm – Part arrives via FedEx.
  • 6:30 pm – I look for the right size socket (10 minutes later I find it).
  • 6:40 pm – Five minutes and two screws later, I’ve got my stove fixed!

    This is not my area of expertise in the least but this looked pretty simple so thought instead of waiting for a repair guy I could do it myself. I saw the part on-line cheaper, but I wasn’t sure they’d ship it fast, I knew GE would get it out and not have to order the part from somewhere else. Total $79.14 shipped overnight!

    I guess I could have looked local but I didn’t have to spend any time looking for this part or calling anywhere so this really worked out for me…