Thursday Thirteen

This is probably a bad thing to confess, but I like video games. I have been playing them ever since Atari came out with the first home consoles.

I have an older Xbox and a Wii but I have generally played games on the P.C.

Here are 13 of the games I have enjoyed over the years:



1. Oblivion. This is an RPG game put out by Bethesda as part of the Elder Scrolls series. I still see this game occasionally in the bargain bins, so I think it is available. This is likely the last RPG I will ever play, as I am not a fan of online gaming nor will I pay a subscription to play a video game. This game was initially released in 2006. The game has a main storyline that involves restoring the heir to the throne.

2. Morrowind. Also an RPG game put out by Bethesda, released in 2002. This is the only RPG I ever played on the Xbox.  Actually this game was the reason I even bought an Xbox. Yes, it was worth it. In this game the hero saves the land from annihilation.

3. King's Quest series. These are old games that involved puzzles. They were touted as "good for girls" because they weren't shoot 'em ups. The series chronicled a royal family and their trials and tribulations. Mostly the hero roamed around picking up items with which to solve puzzles. This was a DOS game.

4. Rise of the Triad. I daresay few people have heard of this game, but I enjoyed it. The game was released in 1994 by Apogee Software, a company that invented some of the best games of that time period. In this game, the hero was a member of a team of operatives who needed to get inside a secluded monastery in order to stop a plot to destroy a California city.

5. Wolfenstein. I'm not talking about the most recent release of this, but the earlier versions. This last version of the game, Wolfenstein 3D, was released in 1992, again by Apogee Software. In this game, the hero must make his way from a prison camp and outside, taking down as many Nazis as possible along the way.

6. Might and Magic series. These RPGs were released by New World Computing, which eventually became The 3DO Company. There were 10 games in this series, but I only played the last five. The games were mostly fantasy but sometimes a little science fiction crept in and suddenly you had not a wand available to you but also a laser blaster of some kind. These games were also released in the early to middle 1990s.

7. Heroes of Might and Magic series. This was a spin-off from the Might and Magic series, as you might guess. The first games were released in 1995. In these games the hero undertook various quests to save something or the other, and there was lots of magic involved.



8. Myst. This was an adventure game that, like King's Quest, required you to solve puzzles in order to progress through the game. It was released about 1993. In this game the hero is whisked away to a magical island and must unlock the clues to obtain his release.

9. Duke Nukem series. Another Apogee Software series that I enjoyed. The first Duke Nukem came about in 1991 and there were numerous games that followed.  Duke had to stop some bad guy and save the world.

10. Commander Keen series. Developed by Id Software and released by Apogee Software in the early 1990s, this series featured little Billy Blaze, an 8-year-old kid who travels through space and becomes Commander Keen. He saves the world a lot.



11.  The Sims series. I feel in love with The Sims from the very first time I saw a commercial for the game. The game, a strategic life simulator, was developed by Maxis and put out by Electronic Arts (EA) initially in 2000. This is the best-selling video game series in history. In this game the player has to keep the simulated people happy by giving them shelter, things to play with, a job, a family, and other items. The only real goal was to keep the sim happy; otherwise you could make up your own stories about the little simulated sims. It was like bringing a book to life. The later games were more goal-oriented and a bit more linear, which I did not like as well. You also had to make sure there was a bathroom around in Sims 3, the little beings had to pee a lot.

12. Area 51. This is the only arcade game on my list today, but this was one of my favorites. It was released by Midway in 1995 and later it was released for PC as well. In this game, you are a squadron leader shooting down aliens from another planet. I spent a lot of quarters on this game, mostly when we were on vacation.



13. Wii Fit. The only game that is not really a game, and the only one that might actually have some health benefits. It requires a balance board and a Wii Console. The games include yoga, strengthening, running, balancing, and other activities that burn a few calories. The game was initially released in 2007 and as far as I know there has only been one update to it. It weighs you and tells you your "wii fit" age if you want to know it. It generally told me I was fat and old, though not in those words. I spent hours and hours on this hoping it would do me some good. I should probably have taken up badminton or horseshoes instead.

What video games have you enjoyed, if any?

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 306th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Zucchini Casserole

Our zucchini started coming in and the next thing I knew I had them everywhere.

Usually the only thing I do with zucchini is a stir fry or make bread. Sometimes I dip them in batter and fry them, but since I've had my gallbladder out I have not had any fried foods.

I searched the internet and came up with a recipe at cooks.com that I have now made twice. However, I don't always follow recipes and on both occasions have made changes.

Here is what you need:

4 pounds zucchini (about 3-4 medium ones)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
1 cup Bisquick
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted

Heat the oven to 350 degree. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish. You might also want to go ahead and melt the butter.

The original recipe called for salt, pepper, and garlic salt, but the first time I made it I used Mrs. Dash, original, and the second time I used a mix of Mrs. Dash and Emeril's Original Essence. My husband liked the second dish better. I think I preferred the first.

The first thing I did was chop up the zucchini. I used my food processor, which is actually a blender with an attachment.

It does the job. (I used to have a food processor but I burned it up using it for a creative paper-making project about 15 years ago and I never replaced it.)

Then I added cheese:

 

I used to use the pre-shredded kind but then I learned that it has cellulose in it to keep the cheese bits from sticking. So now I shred my own cheese.

 

 

 

I rather enjoyed the shredding part.









Then I added Bisquick. Then the eggs.

 

My mother always told me to never add eggs directly to a recipe. Always break them in a bowl first. That way if an egg is bad, you don't ruin all the ingredients.

 

That probably really only matters if you raise your own chickens these days.

Anyway, after you add the eggs, add the melted butter and seasonings (whatever you prefer). 

 
 



I topped my casserole with shredded cheese, though if you do this I suggest you might wait until about 1/2 way into the cooking process.

I didn't do that and I came very close to burning the cheese.
 

 
Put the casserole in the oven, preheated to 350 degrees, and cook for one hour.

I served this casserole at a cookout we had over the weekend to send the nephew back off to college. The family ate about half of it, which isn't too bad considering the young men generally do not like green and healthy foods.

This turned out to be 5 points in Weight Watchers if you figure 10 servings.


 

Beautiful Days

The forecast here is for rain, once again. From today (Tuesday) until next Sunday!

So I wanted to remind myself what a beautiful day looks like.

Our area averages something like 40 inches of precipitation annually, and this year we have had that already, I think. The long-range forecasts that I have seen indicate continued rain, cooler days, and an early Autumn.

The wet summer has caused problems for farmers, construction workers, and anyone else who does outside work. It is the first year I can remember never having to water the garden, which has been nice, but I am afraid that we will pay for it this winter with higher food prices eventually.

Farmers all up and down the east coast have been unable to make hay, and if there is not enough hay to feed cattle, that will affect the price of beef. I'm sure the wet weather has not been the best for some vegetables, and those may be in short supply.

We are so dependent upon the weather for everything, yet we act like it doesn't matter. Long ago our ancestors paid homage to the clouds, and all we do now is use "the cloud" for storage.

Enjoy the rain. It's good weather for reading, anyway.

More Bunny Pictures

I took my camera on a tripod outside to take photos. I walked out the door with the big tripod and stood it up while I turned around to shut the door. This rabbit came scurrying around the corner of the house and stopped. I turned the camera on it.

This last picture shows how far away I was. About the length of a single-car garage door. My feet are just at the edge of the bottom of the photo. It took the rabbit a while to figure out that maybe I shouldn't be there.

A Self-fulfilling Prophecy: Meme Questions

From Sunday Stealing

Massive Alphabet Meme, part two

The Letter N
1. Do you have a nickname?
   I have lots of nicknames, depending upon who is addressing me.

2. What is your favorite number?
   I don't know that I have a favorite.

3. Do you prefer night or day?
   Prevening. (Big Bang Theory fans will recognize that. It's the time between afternoon and evening. Prevening.)

The Letter O
1. What is your one wish?
   To be satisfied and content.

2. Are you an only child?
   No. I have a brother.

3. Do you wish this year was over?
   No. I am too old to wish my life away.


The Letter P
1. What is one fear that you are most paranoid about?
   Having to live in a box under a bridge.

2. What personality trait would you look for in someone you wanted to date?
   Intelligence. And loyalty.


The Letter Q
1. Are you quick to judge people?
   More so than I used to be.

The Letter R
1. Do you think you are always right?
   I don't always think I am right, but I usually am.

2. Do you watch reality T.V.?
   I have watched Survivor from its inception. I also watch Deadliest Catch. My husband watches Swamp People. We also watch Pawn Stars and American Pickers sometimes. We don't watch anything else that I would classify as reality T.V. and I'm not sure if all of those qualify.

3. What is a good reason to cry?
   The state of the nation. Stubbing your toe. Breaking your heart, which covers everything from losing your career to losing your loved ones. Pure joy. I think if you want or need to cry, you should cry, regardless of reason.

The Letter S
1. Do you prefer sun or rain?
   Sun. My preference is 70 degrees with a slight breeze.

2. Do you like snow?
   Yes, but the kind that falls, covers the ground, and leaves in a day.

3. What is your favorite season?
   Autumn, Spring, Summer, Winter, in that order.

The Letter T
1. What time is it?
   Morning.

2. What time did you wake up?
   6:19 a.m.

3. When was the last time you slept in a tent?
   Probably when I was about 8 years old.


The Letter U
1. Are you wearing underwear?
   Of course.

2. Do you open your eyes when under water?
   Depends on the water.

 
The Letter V
1. What is the worst veggie?
   I am not overly fond of root vegetables, but there is no vegetable that I refuse to eat.

2. Where do you want to go on vacation?
   I would like to visit the Grand Canyon again. I last saw it when I was 12. I would also like to go to Niagra Falls, New York, Chicago,

3. What was your last family vacation together?
   My husband and I went to Myrtle Beach last year. About 20 years ago we were at Myrtle Beach as the same time as my parents.


The Letter W
1. What is your worst habit?
   Chewing my fingernails.

2. Where do you live?
   On a farm.


The Letter X
1. Have you ever had an X-ray?
   Many, many times.

2. Have you ever seen the X-Games?
   I don't even know what that is.

3. Do you own or have you ever played a xylophone?
   I had a toy one as a child, does that count?

The Letter Y
1. Do you like the color yellow?
   Yes. In Feng Shui it is supposed to help bring about change and enlightenment and stuff like that.

2. What year were you born in?
   One in the last century.

3. What do you yearn for most?
   The sister I never had.


The Letter Z
1. What is your Zodiac Sign?
   Third sign of the Zodiac.

2. Do you believe in the Zodiac?
   It is fun to read but I don't "believe" in it. I think it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy if you take it seriously.

3. What is your favorite zoo animal?
   I haven't been to a zoo in about 35 years, but I would have to say a panda bear.

Put Your Best Self Forward

These are cucumber blossoms. My garden only has three things in it this year: tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers. All three veggies apparently have enjoyed the wet weather, for their are growing wonderfully.

Is the blossom of the plant the prettiest, or is it the veggie? Can we even compare the two? The blossom is lovely to the eye, the veggie lovely to the taste buds. 

When we look at something or someone, what are we really seeing?

When I was very young, my mother used to dress me up in frilly girly skirts and dresses. I looked like a cucumber blossom. When I was 12, I discovered blue jeans and there was no turning back. This was the middle of the 1970s, baby, and I was right there with those who loved denim.

My mother hated my blue jeans and t-shirts. She thought I looked trashy. I was a cucumber then, covered with little prickles and thin skin.

To try to coax me into dressing better, she told me a story about my grandparents.

One day they went to buy a refrigerator, she said, after my grandfather got off from work. He was in his work clothes and my grandmother was in her house dress. They wandered the aisles looking at appliances. No one came to help them. They were too shabbily dressed.

Finally my grandfather hunted up a salesman and asked a few questions about the refrigerator they were looking at. The man did not answer them, but instead told them they could not afford what they wanted to purchase.

My grandfather flicked open his wallet and pulled out the cash he had intended to use to pay for the refrigerator. "I have money," he growled at the man as he fanned the bills, "but I am not spending it here."

So my grandparents left that store and went elsewhere for their refrigerator.

Perhaps I might have been impressed with that story if my grandparents did not have a nice refrigerator, but they did, so the moral of my mother's story, which I think was that the flower outshines the vegetable, did not sink in.

Or perhaps the message was lost to me because I knew the vegetable could not live without the flower. You kind of need them both.

Anyway, I continued to wear my jeans and I never really focused on things like my clothes or how I looked. I built up my insides instead, focusing on knowledge and morality, empathy and love. My insides became the flower.

To this day, though I am neat and clean and presentable, I still look like a cucumber.

Sometimes though, I do wish I looked like a flower.

Double Trouble

Thursday Thirteen #305

Things you should know about your food (but probably don't want to know) . . .


1. Shredded cheese, so easy for salads and soups (and definitely quicker than hauling out a block of cheese and a grater) is coated in something called cellulose to keep the shreds from sticking together. Cellulose is made from wood pulp. Yep. Your shredded cheese is covered with sawdust from a giant redwood or something.

2. Cellulose is also used in many low-fat items, including ice cream. Check the labels. My Weight Watchers one-point low fat ice cream is really a branch of a tree.

3. Aspartame is said to be perfectly safe, but I think it is akin to rat poison. Here is a pro-aspartame website. It will tell you how wonderful it is. Here is a website that tells you how terrible this drug is. It lists 92 different problems that aspartame can cause, including MS, lupus, cancer, vision problems, and death. Personally, I think this is a loathsome chemical, foisted on the public, oddly enough, by Donald Rumsfield (check this FDA site for some interesting comments about this). Call me a biased liberal, but I feel sure that anything Rumsfield had a hand in simply cannot be good for me.


4. Saccharin is a sweetener drug that has been around well over 100 years, but it has only been on the market since 1977. That's when Congress overrode the FDA and forced it to approve it. Check it out at this FDA website. Trust those folks on Capital Hill, yes? Saccharin is believed to cause cancer.


5. MSG can be found in these ingredients: yeast extract, torula yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and autolyzed yeast. You'll find those ingredients listed in thousands of foods, but they won't mention MSG. That includes soups, etc. that claim to be MSG free. They aren't.

6. Splenda is sucralose, and it leaves a taste like chlorine in my mouth. I couldn't figure this out until I looked up stuff about it, and discovered it is sugar turned into a chemical that is, guess what, chlorine. Go to http://splenda.com for the corporate smiley site about it if you want the Disney spiel. This sweetener also supposedly causes thymus problems and possibly cancer and other health issues. It has become quite popular at a very alarming rate. At least it is alarming to me.


7. Aside from sugar, Stevia the sweetener that I think is the best to use. Stevia is about 300 times sweeter than sugar. It supposedly has been used for 1000 years in Paraguay. The FDA cracked down on it in 1995, apparently at the behest of the sugar industry, and Monsanto (Monsanto is a giant food company that apparently exists to make money from foods, regardless of the potential for poison, for anyone who doesn't know that, which I suspect is many Americans).
Stevia is now widely available in the U.S. Information on side effects is conflicting and it depends on who sponsored the research, of course. Research by the aspartame companies shows it is bad; stevia sellers say it is good. I would not use Truvia, which is a sweetener derivative of stevia. I found one site that says that stevia makes your body process sugar a lot quicker. At http://sweetleaf.com there is some information, but it is a corporate site and doesn't say much. It does say there have been 1000 tests and it's found to be safe. Japan apparently has banned most sweeteners except for stevia and sugar.

8. Plastic food packaging seep chemicals into your food, particularly bisphenol A. When you cook in plastic containers, the exposure to the chemical is increased. Bisphenol is a hormone disruptor and can cause breast formation in men and severe hormonal imbalances in women. It may also encourage hormone-related cancers such as prostate cancer and breast cancer. See Plastics chemical bisphenol A found to promote prostate cancer in animal studies.

9. Love your Greek yogurt? During production, companies create a whey product that no one knows how to get rid of. It's toxic and has caused fish kills by the thousands when illegally dumped in streams and lakes.

10. That expensive extra virgin olive oil you're using because it's supposed to be so healthy for you - probably isn't. It probably isn't even olive oil. Many of these oils are cut with cheaper seed and nut oils.

11. That lovely red color of your favorite ketchup, including m husband's favorite, Heinz, comes from crushed bugs. Red- and pink-colored products are often dyed with cochineal extract, also known as the bodies of crushed-up little insects. Cochineal extract is also listed as carminic acid or carmine. The bugs come from Mexico.

12. No cream in coffee creamer. Those non-dairy coffee creamers have lots of sugar, a little kelp carrageenan), and some other stuff.

13. Carrageenan, which is a seaweed, is often used in ice cream.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 305th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday

Big Ears

Two Toms

 

Hayin' Time

 

 

Last week, before the rains came again Friday night, my husband managed to cut and bale a few of our fields of hay.

I took this photo from the side yard; he is a good distance away, about five football fields or more. I used my Nikon Coolpix P500 to take the shots. It was late in the day and I was shooting into the sun.

Beyond My Grasp: Meme Questions

From Sunday Stealing

Massive Alphabet Meme, part one


The Letter A
1. Are you agnostic?
   Truths are unknowable, life is good.

2. What is your age?
   Old enough to know better, young enough to care.

3. What annoys you?
   People with brains who don't use them.


The Letter B
1. Do you like bacon?
   Bacon bacon bacon! Yum!

2. When is your birthday?
   It is now in the past but still in my future. It is not in July.

3. Who is your best friend?
   The man asleep in the living room.


The Letter C
1. What is your favorite candy?
   Chocolate

2. Who is your crush?
   That same guy in the living room.

3. When was the last time you cried?
   When I learned I would have to have surgery.


The Letter D
1. Do you daydream?
   To be awake and stare out the window and think of things beyond my grasp is one of the finer ways to spend an hour.

2. What is your favorite kind of dog?
   Poodle.

3. What day of the week is it?
   Saturday as I write this.


The Letter E
1. How do you like your eggs?
   Scrambled or hard boiled.

2. Have you ever been in the emergency room?
   Unfortunately, many times.

3. What’s the easiest thing to ever do?
   Open your eyes.


The Letter F
1. Have you ever flown in a plane?
   Yes.

2. Do you use fly swatters?
   Yes. I've also had fly swatters used on me.

3. Have you ever used a foghorn?
   No.


The Letter G
1. Do you chew gum?
   Yes. And I'm a snapper and a bubble blower.

2. Ever tried gazpacho?
   No.

3. Are you a giver or taker?
   Both, I hope.


The Letter H
1. How are you?
   Can't complain, no one listens anyway.

2. What’s your height?
   Five feet two, eyes of blue, and she's only ... not 22.

3. What color is your hair?
   Brown with soft white highlights.


The Letter I
1. What is your favorite ice-cream?
   I don't eat ice cream. But if I did my favorite would be a hot fudge sundae.

2. Have you ever ice-skated?
   Yes, a very long time ago.

3. Do you play an instrument?
   At various times in my life I have played the piano, the flute, the guitar, the saxophone, the accordion, the harmonica, the banjo, the mandolin, the ukulele, the tambourine, the organ, and the piccolo.


The Letter J
1. What is your favorite jelly bean?
   Yuck. I really dislike jelly beans.

2. Do you wear jewelry?
   Yes. A wedding band, a watch, earrings, and sometimes a necklace.

3. Have you heard a really hilarious joke?
   White horse fell in a mudhole. Oh wait, that's a dirty joke.


The Letter K
1. Whom do you want to kill?
   Nobody.

2. Do you want kids?
   I did but they were not in the cards.

3. Where did you go to kindergarten?
   In a classroom.


The Letter L
1. Are you laid-back?
   No, I'm tighter than Nat's hat band.

2. Do you lie?
   I try not to, but when someone looks like crap in those clothes, who am I to burst their bubble?

3. Do you love anyone?
   I love lots of people.


The Letter M
1. What is your favorite movie?
   The Lord of the Rings, all three parts and all 9+ hours of it

2. Do you still watch Disney movies?
   Sometimes. Secretariat was a good movie.

3. Do you like mangoes?
   I don't know that I've ever had one.

On My Mind

Maybe I never loved you ... quite as often as I should have.

 

Little things I should have said and done . . .

 

I just never took the time.

 

But you were always on my mind.

 

You were always on my mind.

 

 

 

I learned this morning that one of my husband's cousins passed away. I did not know her as well as I might have liked. You always think there is enough time to do that, to get to know someone better.

 

But time is ephemeral and it slips through our clasped hands so quickly that we don't realize it. We don't love enough, really. We're all so busy.

 

Tell your friends and family that you love them. You may not get a second chance.

 



Thursday Thirteen

I have always been fascinated by the weather, though never enough to do anything about it (like learn to be the weather girl).

Humanity has always been interested in the weather because it impacts us tremendously. Not enough rain, we have drought and no food. Too much rain and we drown. It's kind of important.

Here are some ways to forecast the weather that you won't necessarily hear about from your local weather person.

1. The number of fogs in August indicate the number of snows you will have in the next winter.

2. Woolly bear caterpillars indicate the severity of winter, too. If it has a heavy coat, is fat and furry, and has a small brown band in the middle (as opposed to a wide one), look out. Better put snow tires on the car!

3. If you see squirrels gathering lots of nuts, expect a bad winter.

4. If the oak trees have a lot of acorns, expect a bad winter.

5. If you see spiders spinning huge webs or crawling into your house, expect a bad winter.

6. If you eat a persimmon (they're not good until the first frost), cut open the seed. If it's shaped like a knife, it will be bitter cold. If it is shaped like a fork, expect mild weather. If it looks like a spoon, there will be deep snow.

7.  Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.

8. Whatever the weather us on St. Swithin's Day (July 15), that weather will continue for forty days.

9. Take the breastbone of a goose and let it dry. As it dries it will change color. If the dried bone is white, expect a mild winter. If the tips turn purple, expect a cold spring. If the bone turns black, blue, or purple, expect a cold winter.

10. A ring around the moon is a sure sign of rain.

11. If it smells like rain, the barometric pressure is probably falling. Grab your umbrella!

12. Bees will not swarm before a storm.

13. When the sun sets bright and clear, an easterly wind you need not fear.

Some extras:

Count the chirps of a cricket in 14 seconds, add 40, and you will have the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.

When birds like swallows or rooks hang around, fly up and down or low, expect rain and/or wind.

If smoke from chimneys does not go straight up in calm weather, expect an unfavorable change in the weather.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 304th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday

The Treefrog

Yesterday afternoon, after my husband had been in and I'd fed him lunch and sent him back out to play in the dirt, I headed down the hall to my office.

My carpet is a whitish brown-speckled sort of color, and in the middle of the hall, dark from storm clouds blocking the sun and my desire not to turn on the lights, sat what I thought was a leaf.

"Good grief, how did he track that in?" I thought, blaming my husband, of course.

I bent down to scoop up the offending debris. I touched it.

It jumped.

I screamed.

I stared at it. Then I started dancing around. "I touched a frog, ohmygod I touched a frog." I left the thing sitting there and I raced for the kitchen sink and the Dawn dish washing soap. I scrubbed my hands. "I touched a frog. I can't believe it. Ohmygod there's a frog in my house!"

I went back to look. Sure enough, there it sat. A tiny little tree frog. It was about as big as a quarter.

What to do? I had to get it outside. First I picked up a broom and the dustpan. I cajoled the amphibian onto the dustpan, but it kept jumping off.

"I need a jar," I muttered.

I couldn't find a jar. Where is an old mayo jar when you need it? Finally, I found a paper cup. I used the broom again and urged the creature into the container.

Then I placed the broom over top of the cup so the frog couldn't jump out.

I let it go outside.

The frog did not look very happy.

I went and found my camera and took a picture. I suppose I should have taken a photo of it in my house, but I was too disturbed.

Cute froggie when it's out where it belongs. It doesn't belong in my house!

The Shame of U.S. Healthcare

The lie of healthcare in the United States needs to come to an end. All of my life I have heard how we have the best healthcare in the world. How anybody who wants healthcare can have it, and if you don't get the care you need, it's nobody's fault but your own.

I call bullshit. Actually I call double-deep bullshit, bullshit up to the wazoo.

In today's Roanoke Times, there is a story about the free clinic in Wise County. Thousands of people - yes, THOUSANDS - venture to this weekend event to have their teeth pulled, their eyes checked, warts removed, or have other ills, some quite serious, taken care of.

Most of these people are uninsured or underinsured. They have lost jobs. In the most devastating turn of events, they once worked but had an accident or illness and lost their job, and thus their healthcare, right when they needed it most.

I find this completely unacceptable in a country as wealthy as the United States. This is the kind of stuff you expect to see and hear about in some unknown small nation in some forgotten third-world country. But this is here, in Virginia, in the USA. Right down the road.

But even if you have insurance, you're not home free. It is estimated that at least 60 percent of all bankruptcies filed in the U.S. are due to exorbitant health care bills. That is over a million people a year who become ill and need care, but can't pay for the help they need.

Plus the insurance companies (not the government, now, the private insurance companies) have allowances - you're allowed so many visits to the chiropractor, so many visits to the eye doctor, so many visits for this or that. If you're someone who needs more visits than the policy allows, you either don't go or you pay for it yourself. In that case, you're underinsured.

On top of this, the insurance companies and the medical communities have this interesting con game going on wherein the medical facility or doctor bills at one rate, but will accept a lower rate from the insurance agency. Some doctors require the patients to make up the difference, but many do not. Why is there not one rate? Why does it cost the insurance company one amount but the person who pays cash another? How is this even considered to be anything other than dishonest and some kind of scam?

I have a high copay for doctors who are "specialists" - which is every doctor but my family doctor. To my mind, that high copay is enough for a visit, but the doctors charge more and more on top of that. For example, in May I went to see a specialist about pain in my foot, and the bill sent to the insurance company was for $684.00. The insurance company actually paid $480.00, I had already paid my copay of $40.00, and later I received a bill for an additional $28.00 for something that the insurance company said was "allowable" but they didn't pay. I have no idea what happens to the difference in there. Or why one thing is "allowable" and something else is not.

Not only that, but the charges for health care are nothing short of obscene. Take a look at this:

$12,913 - hospital (pre-op, operating room, post-op, a room for about 16 hours)
$ 2,182 - surgeon charge
$ 1,045 - anesthesia charge
$ 2,760 - initial emergency room visit
$   882 - emergency room doctor
$   138 - visit with my family doctor (as instructed by ER)
$   100 - radiology
$    85 - pathology
$   200 - what the urgent care facility charged to tell me they couldn't help me and I should go to the ER

Total (so far): $20,305.00

These are the charges for my gallbladder removal, starting with my initial visit to the urgent care (because I didn't want to go to the ER and the urgent care is supposed to be cheaper for everyone; I didn't know I would end up needing surgery). If we didn't have insurance, we'd be declaring bankruptcy along with the other 1.5 million people who will do that this year, I imagine, as we simply don't have that kind of money under the mattress. But we are fortunate - I am fortunate - and have health insurance, which we pay for to the tune of about $8,000 annually - just for me. His employer pays most of his share.

The health insurance company will not pay out $20,305, though that apparently is the amount a person with no insurance would be expected to cough up.

No, the health insurance didn't "allow" all of those charges and instead will pay out less than half of that amount. My share will end up being around $1,000, I think. I'm still waiting on all the bills to come in and I'm basing that on the "allowable" charges. It could be more.

The reason I am so fortunate to have health insurance is because my husband has a decent job, the kind that are becoming scarce. I made a good choice in a mate and he has taken care of me. I have had multiple health issues over the years and while I have always worked, at times I have had to leave jobs or change jobs to accommodate health care concerns. I have been lucky that I had a husband who could work a job that offered decent healthcare. But not everyone has this opportunity, and not everyone can work and keep their healthcare.

You shouldn't be punished and lose everything simply because you're sick. I see people in our area who have to have fundraisers for cancer treatment - they hold square dances or bake sales or something. Who thinks that this is okay? It is not okay with me. I think it is about the saddest thing I have ever seen, and it should be a major condemnation of what is going on in this country. Every time I hear about one of these events I cry.

I personally am glad we have made changes in the healthcare law because the system is incredibly broken, but I don't think the changes implemented under President Obama go far enough. They do not fix the issue but instead were a gift to the insurance companies. I don't know that prices will decrease, or that quality of care will be improved.

A true change in healthcare would involve building hospitals, training people, and ensuring that we have the infrastructure we need to take care of people. Without that in place we have no foundation upon which to build. Stimulus money should have gone to those types of projects immediately, but of course it did not.

It looks to me like everything needs to be changed, from the way medical charges are billed to payouts to claims. A complete overhaul.

I want a New Deal, one that helps everyone. People should stop bitching and moaning about the upcoming Affordable Health Care Act and instead try to make the damn thing work.

A Pretty Sharp Cookie

From Sunday Stealing

Q. Have you ever clicked on an ad on the side of your screen by accident?

A. I imagine so. It's easy enough to do. Generally I don't click on ads, though.

Q. When was the last time you were disappointed?

A.  I was pretty disappointed when I found out I would have to have my gallbladder removed at the end of June. I was hoping to keep it around longer, you know, like the rest of my life.

Q. Do you like the smell of rain?

A. Yes.

Q. What was the last thing you took a picture of?

A. My husband's dirty laundry hanging on the back deck.

Q. When you go to McDonald's, what drink do you usually get?

A. I don't eat at McDonald's.

Q. What were you doing today at 2:15 in the afternoon?

A. I am answering this at 8 a.m., that time hasn't happened yet. But yesterday at that time I was working on my lesson plan for the college course in creative writing that I am currently teaching.

Q. What's the nickname of your home state?

A. Virginia is for lovers. But we're the Old Dominion.

Q. What's the worst type of weather in your opinion?

A. Zero degrees and bitter wind.

Q. Do you have a Kindle, Nook, iPad or none?

A. I have a Nook.

Q. Would you rather read or write?

A. I would rather do both. Such things should never be either/or.

Q. When was the last time someone took a picture of you?

A. I guess about two years ago, if you don't count the self-portraits I've attempted in hopes of getting something decent for Facebook.

Q. Do you own a pair of slippers?

A. Yes 

Q. Name something negative that you hate about yourself.

A. I'm fat.

Q. Is your house currently hot, cold or just right?

A. Just right. I'm like Goldie Locks, I always have to have everything just right.

Q. Is there a Dead End road near where you live?

A. Yes

Q. Do you roll your eyes often?

A. I'm afraid so. There is a lot going to on that is eye-roll worthy.

Q. Growing up, did you see your cousins often?

A. No, but I spent a lot of time with other relatives.

Q. Where was your first job at?

A. My father's farm, then babysitting, then I worked summers at my father's business.

Q. When's your birthday?

A. June. I just hit the big 5-0.

Q. Is life a party to you?

A. No.

Q. Who are you tired of seeing in the news a lot?

A. Pretty much any celebrity who is doing nothing.

Q. When was the last time you flew a kite?

A. Probably 20 years ago.

Q. How long have you had a blog?

A. This blog has been in existence for seven years. But I have been blogging since 2003.

Q.  Have you ever had to call and complain about a product you bought?

A. Yes.

Q. Name something positive you love about yourself.

A. I'm a pretty sharp cookie.

Hillbilly Laundry

One of the things that my husband uses on our farm that I really despise is weed killer. He goes through weed killer by the gallons and has set up a spray kit on his utility vehicle so he can drive around and spray this toxic mess on the weeds growing under the electric fence.

I understand the need for it because the weeds will ground out the fence and the cows will wander, but the weed killers scare me. He also uses pesticides on the hay fields. Those stink, too.

His clothes reek of chemicals on the days he does these chores. He uses a mask so he doesn't breathe in the chemicals but the spray gets all over him and the vehicle. And yes, I worry about his health because of exposure to these things. I worry about mine, too.

At first I attempted to wash his clothes when he got out of them, but I worried about the chemicals in the washing machine. I also needed to wash them about three times straight to get the smell out. And then I would disinfect the washing machine several times before I felt like I could wash anything else in it.

I tried everything I could think of, including vinegars, different detergents, etc., to clean his clothes. Nothing short of a lot of washing - which used a great deal of water - helped.

Finally, though, I figured out what would take care of the problem.

Time. Sun. Rain.

Now when he uses chemicals, I have him strip in the garage. His clothes then go outside where I leave them literally for a week to 10 days. Preferably they have been rained on at least once. I don't have a clothes line (I have too many allergies to use one) so I hang them over the deck furniture (which we never use).

When I do finally bring them in to wash, they no longer smell like chemicals and I can run through a single long wash cycle with an extra rinse. I still disinfect the washing machine afterwards but it is no longer an all-day job.

Just thought I'd pass this along to any other wives who may have husbands who use chemicals of some kind. The elements can be our friend.


(The zucchini in the picture, by the way, came from the garden but are too big for me to use. They will be tossed over the fence. I would never put food I plan to eat next to those chemical-filled clothes.)

All Hail Liz

My husband watches a show on the History Channel called Swamp People. This means that I watch the show, too, because our nightly routine is that I sit beside him and read while he flips channels. I generally read through the episodes but I still know what is going on.

Swamp People is about alligator hunting. But as with all of these reality shows, it is the personalities that give the show any semblance of interest.

One of the characters is Liz Cavalier. She turned up in the second season to help King-of-the-Swamp Troy Landry when his other hired hand had something else to do. Landry's "Choot 'em Elitabeth" became one of those lines that you say around the house sometimes, just for a laugh.

In Season 3, Liz went out on her own, and she's the Queen of the Swamp. Last year she took on a young woman named Kristi as a helper, but this year when the show started, Liz, who is in her early 40s, was working with her daughter, Jessica. This was because Kristi was busy taking care of her farm and daughter Jessica didn't want her mom out on the bayou alone.

The reason Mom shouldn't have been alone? Liz had just had her gallbladder removed but she was out there wrestling 800-pound alligators even though the doctor said she shouldn't do that.

Since I just had my gallbladder removed, I know how Liz might have been feeling, and I simply have to salute a woman who could have her belly cut open and then go out and wrestle an alligator.

I'm much too wimpy to do something like that. Heck, I haven't even picked up a full bag of groceries yet.

There were a few times on the show when Liz grabbed her side and howled in pain. I have to wonder if she ripped a stitch or two. I mean, damn, woman.

So anyway, 50-year-old me is no alligator queen. I ain't even a queen of the grocery.