Often times, I have to wait while a client attends a meeting or has dinner or goes to the theater or some such thing. This wait can be for a couple of hours or a full day. This evening one of my clients is having dinner in The City. I dropped her off at 6:45 PM and have to pick her up at 10:30 or later. Finding some place to wait is usually a problem. In suburbia it is easier to do. I usually find a Marriott or a Courtyard
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Observations on life as my 7th decade draws to a close and my 8th begins.
I don't know if anyone else has noticed that on many applications and other forms, we are no longer asked "Race." Instead we are now asked "Ethnicity."This is an improvement since there are only 3 races and the only one still in common practice is Caucasian. The other two are Mongoloid and Negroid. So now we have more difficult tasks. Are we Caucasian or are we Hispanic? Are we African American or are we Native American? Are we Asian or South Pacific Islanders? Some of these choices posed a problem for me. Is an Egyptian an African American or an Asian? Is a white South African a Caucasian or an African American? But the hardest of all for me is "am I a Caucasian or a Native American?" I know that I am white, I just had my DNA tested. But, I was born here. That makes me a Native American. So, even though "they" have changed the answers and the category, "they" haven't really solved the problem. The reason being that if you chose the answer that you think denotes your ethnicity, the people asking the questions, have answers with completely different connotations. "They" are implying one thing and I am inferring something else.
A question that I hope someone can answer is the following. As you drive in the passing lane on a highway, how many cars have to pass you on the right (on the left for your people who drive on the wrong side of the road) before you move over to lane where you belong? Highways all over this country have signs posted that say things like "Stay right, Pass left." But, there seems to be ignorant people who maybe can't read and stay in the left lane and not the right. It is really infuriating when they don't even do the speed limit while hogging the left lane. And when you do pass them, they give you the finger or shake a fist or some other totally inappropriate signal.
This leads me to another question that I ponder, if you are not willing to drive the speed limit, why are you driving? If you are afraid, take public transportation. If your equipment is faulty, get it fixed be for you venture onto the roads. Stupidity and ignorance are not an excuse. There are days when I wish I had an Abrams and could just rollover some of the people on the road.
In the really stupid category are all the people who still talk on their cell phones while driving. I mean the ones that don't use a hands free option. The worst of these are the ones who hold the phone in one hand against the ear on the opposite side of their head. I haven't gotten a new phone in the last 3 or so years, but I think that new phones still come with ear pieces. It is a hell of a lot easier to talk on your cell phone when you are using an ear piece than when you are holding the phone in your hand. I personally don't have a problem since my car has built in blue tooth technology. Both the car and the phone remember each other and reconnect whenever I turn on the car.
My final observation has to do with names and religion. When one is a member of a religion that is the religion of the majority, it seems to me that one has a problem relating to people of other religions. Sometimes people of minority religions can be a little too sensitive, also. I grew up where I was one three or four kids in my grade and one of maybe fifteen kids in the entire school system who were Jewish. Now every morning we stood at attention and pledged allegiance to the flag and we then said the Lord's Prayer - actually I didn't say it and there were a number of different ending depending upon which denomination of Christianity you observed. By the way it wasn't until I was in the fourth grade that Congress decided we would be mistaken for Communists if we didn't add "under G-D" to the Lord's Prayer. Did that mean that for the first 178 years of our nation, we were not "under G-D?" Currently I am reading a book which actually delves into the circumstances behind all of this official religious sayings. The author shows how all of this official religious stuff was actually started by evangelicals and big business to battle Roosevelt's socialism. It bore fruit when D. D. Eisenhower became president. As a Republican and a war hero, he was able to get the changes made.
Now many of the same types of people who inserted phrases into our pledge and our money, are claiming that we are a "Christian nation." Ironically, I'll bet that most of these people are strict adherents to the Second Amendment. But when it comes to the First Amendment, they change their color (stripes if you like). Additionally, they chose to ignore the writings of our founding fathers. We know that our founding fathers were very devout religious people. But, they also believed that there was no place for religion in government. Most our founding fathers had come to this land to escape religious intolerance. They came here to be free to worship as they wanted. And they were willing to let others worship or not as they saw fit. The fact that our Constitution is based upon Judeo Christian ethics still does not make us a country with an official religion. The ethics are not dogma. The ethics are the basis of our legal system which goes way back to the time of Moses. Our legal system is based on these ethics and the Socratic method.
I guess it is time I stop babbling and post this. I would really hope that someone will comment on any of this.
A question that I hope someone can answer is the following. As you drive in the passing lane on a highway, how many cars have to pass you on the right (on the left for your people who drive on the wrong side of the road) before you move over to lane where you belong? Highways all over this country have signs posted that say things like "Stay right, Pass left." But, there seems to be ignorant people who maybe can't read and stay in the left lane and not the right. It is really infuriating when they don't even do the speed limit while hogging the left lane. And when you do pass them, they give you the finger or shake a fist or some other totally inappropriate signal.
This leads me to another question that I ponder, if you are not willing to drive the speed limit, why are you driving? If you are afraid, take public transportation. If your equipment is faulty, get it fixed be for you venture onto the roads. Stupidity and ignorance are not an excuse. There are days when I wish I had an Abrams and could just rollover some of the people on the road.
In the really stupid category are all the people who still talk on their cell phones while driving. I mean the ones that don't use a hands free option. The worst of these are the ones who hold the phone in one hand against the ear on the opposite side of their head. I haven't gotten a new phone in the last 3 or so years, but I think that new phones still come with ear pieces. It is a hell of a lot easier to talk on your cell phone when you are using an ear piece than when you are holding the phone in your hand. I personally don't have a problem since my car has built in blue tooth technology. Both the car and the phone remember each other and reconnect whenever I turn on the car.
My final observation has to do with names and religion. When one is a member of a religion that is the religion of the majority, it seems to me that one has a problem relating to people of other religions. Sometimes people of minority religions can be a little too sensitive, also. I grew up where I was one three or four kids in my grade and one of maybe fifteen kids in the entire school system who were Jewish. Now every morning we stood at attention and pledged allegiance to the flag and we then said the Lord's Prayer - actually I didn't say it and there were a number of different ending depending upon which denomination of Christianity you observed. By the way it wasn't until I was in the fourth grade that Congress decided we would be mistaken for Communists if we didn't add "under G-D" to the Lord's Prayer. Did that mean that for the first 178 years of our nation, we were not "under G-D?" Currently I am reading a book which actually delves into the circumstances behind all of this official religious sayings. The author shows how all of this official religious stuff was actually started by evangelicals and big business to battle Roosevelt's socialism. It bore fruit when D. D. Eisenhower became president. As a Republican and a war hero, he was able to get the changes made.
Now many of the same types of people who inserted phrases into our pledge and our money, are claiming that we are a "Christian nation." Ironically, I'll bet that most of these people are strict adherents to the Second Amendment. But when it comes to the First Amendment, they change their color (stripes if you like). Additionally, they chose to ignore the writings of our founding fathers. We know that our founding fathers were very devout religious people. But, they also believed that there was no place for religion in government. Most our founding fathers had come to this land to escape religious intolerance. They came here to be free to worship as they wanted. And they were willing to let others worship or not as they saw fit. The fact that our Constitution is based upon Judeo Christian ethics still does not make us a country with an official religion. The ethics are not dogma. The ethics are the basis of our legal system which goes way back to the time of Moses. Our legal system is based on these ethics and the Socratic method.
I guess it is time I stop babbling and post this. I would really hope that someone will comment on any of this.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Doctors and other villians
Major gripe for the day. I need a nuclear stress test for the NJ DMV so I am scheduled for 07:40 AM today. I arrive at the Dr.'s office on time. At 8:30 the shave my chest for the leads and then inform me to expect to be here for at least 5 hours. The nurse to start the pick and do the IV did not arrive until 09:00 It is now 09:53 and I still have not had my scan let alone done my treadmill. Of course the real question is why did I have to be here so early. Why do we as a society give doctors so much sway over our lives? When all is said and done, they are the mechanics to whom we take our bodies. They highly are trained technicians not gods. They deserve our respect, but they should respect us and not abuse us. Can you think of another service provider that can be so mismanaged and still survive in the business environment?
The week before Xmas, I received a call from my internist, the doctor himself, not an assistant or a clerk. He informs me that I owe him $91 and if I don't pay him before the end of the year, I should find another doctor. He further explains that because of Obamacare he will no longer accept Medicare. If I didn't like that I should find another doctor. Finally I had my chance to speak. I informed him that according to my records he owed me $78. He did not care to hear that and repeated that he wanted his $91.
Needless to say, I was pissed. However, I had been his Px for over 10 years so I thought I would send him a note suggesting we meet to discuss this and I would show him the accounting and five him an explanation of where his billing service had messed up. I go no response. 10 days after sending this handwritten note, I sent him a detailed accounting with annotations showing where his practice owed me money. This got me a demand notice and threat of collection from the billing service.
The week before Xmas, I received a call from my internist, the doctor himself, not an assistant or a clerk. He informs me that I owe him $91 and if I don't pay him before the end of the year, I should find another doctor. He further explains that because of Obamacare he will no longer accept Medicare. If I didn't like that I should find another doctor. Finally I had my chance to speak. I informed him that according to my records he owed me $78. He did not care to hear that and repeated that he wanted his $91.
Needless to say, I was pissed. However, I had been his Px for over 10 years so I thought I would send him a note suggesting we meet to discuss this and I would show him the accounting and five him an explanation of where his billing service had messed up. I go no response. 10 days after sending this handwritten note, I sent him a detailed accounting with annotations showing where his practice owed me money. This got me a demand notice and threat of collection from the billing service.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Latest Annoyances and Things that make no sense.
It makes no sense to me that the people who voted in the Republicans last Tuesday must be mainly from the people who stand to lose the most money under the Republicans. The statistics show that the gap between the haves and the have nots has widened with more of the countries economic wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer people. I still believe in the American Dream, but it seems that the cards are stacked against us. There are certain maxims in American politics that are as basic as mother and apple pie. I forgot which op ed writer said words to the effect that everyone is against taxes, yet we have taxes. Everyone is against a deficit, yet we not only have a deficit but it keeps getting bigger.
How is it that when we going into the voting booth, we leave our brains at the curtain? We should be the person behind the curtain, and yet we listen to people who make their livings out of being controversial, revise history so as not to be burdened with the facts. Doesn't anybody wonder, how much is enough? When talking about capitalism as an economic model and talking about Adam Smith and Wealth of Nations, how many have read the book. Smith does talk about societies responsibilities to the "less fortunate." It seems logical that when society fails to voluntarily meet its obligations to all its members, then government steps in to fill the void.
What is wrong with universal health care? What should we do with the people who can't afford it? One of the most stupid ideas I hear against the health care bill is that the government would form death panels to decide who would live and who would die. Isn't that what we have now by default? If we only provide for ourselves with no thought of others, aren't we deciding that the poor should not live as well or as long as we do? Would it not be more to say, that the reason we are against universal health care is that it reduces our chances of getting the best available care? Since we determine who has the money to pay for the care, we are the "death panel." Believe me, I am selfish enough to want the best for me and am only concerned about you after my needs are met.
Another of the things that I don't understand is property taxes. Everyone wants to pay as little as possible. But when you live in a town without rateables, you shouldn't complain about your taxes being higher than a town that has rateables. The higher taxes are the cost of keeping out the riff raff associated with things like industry, apartment building, malls, etc. So, if your town keeps out rateables to maintain the elite status, you should not expect me to supplement your tax rate. By living in Plainsboro and not in Princeton, the money I saved in taxes enabled me to buy a Mercedes. Now I made a decision that a nice car was more important than a nice address. The utility of my home is no different from an identical home in Princeton. The replacement cost of my home is no different from the replacement cost of an identical home in Princeton. However, the plot of land upon which my home is built is worth about 15 or 20 percent of an identical lot in Princeton. So, my property taxes are lower than someone elses.
So here I am rambling and I haven't begun to ramble. I'll have to write more another time.
How is it that when we going into the voting booth, we leave our brains at the curtain? We should be the person behind the curtain, and yet we listen to people who make their livings out of being controversial, revise history so as not to be burdened with the facts. Doesn't anybody wonder, how much is enough? When talking about capitalism as an economic model and talking about Adam Smith and Wealth of Nations, how many have read the book. Smith does talk about societies responsibilities to the "less fortunate." It seems logical that when society fails to voluntarily meet its obligations to all its members, then government steps in to fill the void.
What is wrong with universal health care? What should we do with the people who can't afford it? One of the most stupid ideas I hear against the health care bill is that the government would form death panels to decide who would live and who would die. Isn't that what we have now by default? If we only provide for ourselves with no thought of others, aren't we deciding that the poor should not live as well or as long as we do? Would it not be more to say, that the reason we are against universal health care is that it reduces our chances of getting the best available care? Since we determine who has the money to pay for the care, we are the "death panel." Believe me, I am selfish enough to want the best for me and am only concerned about you after my needs are met.
Another of the things that I don't understand is property taxes. Everyone wants to pay as little as possible. But when you live in a town without rateables, you shouldn't complain about your taxes being higher than a town that has rateables. The higher taxes are the cost of keeping out the riff raff associated with things like industry, apartment building, malls, etc. So, if your town keeps out rateables to maintain the elite status, you should not expect me to supplement your tax rate. By living in Plainsboro and not in Princeton, the money I saved in taxes enabled me to buy a Mercedes. Now I made a decision that a nice car was more important than a nice address. The utility of my home is no different from an identical home in Princeton. The replacement cost of my home is no different from the replacement cost of an identical home in Princeton. However, the plot of land upon which my home is built is worth about 15 or 20 percent of an identical lot in Princeton. So, my property taxes are lower than someone elses.
So here I am rambling and I haven't begun to ramble. I'll have to write more another time.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
At the Jersey Shore
After a couple of weeks at the shore, I have to return to reality but only for a little while. Hopefully, I will be back in Margate by Friday morning.
I have spent my time contemplating many things about my life. I wonder why we can't be honest with each other. I find that I have trouble know the gratuitous from the genuine. Since I would never invite someone for something unless I meant it, I project and think that everyone is like that. I still don't know why people make insincere comments.
I enjoy good debates and have never understood the aphorism about religon and politics. If we are not suppose to discuss them, what are we suppose to do with our thoughts? How are we suppose to either strengthen our opinion or realize the errors of our thoughts?
I love to read my books and sit on the beach. This is something I have not been able to do until recently. I do like to get up to walk.
I love to ride my bike all over. I am trying to get myself into decent shape so I can start to ride over the big bridges that go Somers Point and the steepest to Ocean City. Hopefully, by the end of the summer or early fall.
Well time to clean the house so I can leave and return without grief.
I have spent my time contemplating many things about my life. I wonder why we can't be honest with each other. I find that I have trouble know the gratuitous from the genuine. Since I would never invite someone for something unless I meant it, I project and think that everyone is like that. I still don't know why people make insincere comments.
I enjoy good debates and have never understood the aphorism about religon and politics. If we are not suppose to discuss them, what are we suppose to do with our thoughts? How are we suppose to either strengthen our opinion or realize the errors of our thoughts?
I love to read my books and sit on the beach. This is something I have not been able to do until recently. I do like to get up to walk.
I love to ride my bike all over. I am trying to get myself into decent shape so I can start to ride over the big bridges that go Somers Point and the steepest to Ocean City. Hopefully, by the end of the summer or early fall.
Well time to clean the house so I can leave and return without grief.
Monday, April 27, 2009
More random thoughts
Sitting here today trying to keep cool. Seems that we go from winter to summer with no spring. The other day we had record cold and now we have record heat. Tried to do some outdoor activities today but very rapidly became weak from the sun. Drank some water and relaxed and now feel like sleeping.
Am still intrigued by all that can be found on the web. Never ceases to amaze me that a lot of people do not explore more if for no other reason than to satisfy their curiosity. Does it really matter what you look at? I believe that our actions are much more important than whether or not we explore sex sites or political sites or anything else. Why should I care what you look at? I do care if you infringe upon my right to explore. I do care if you hurt someone else.
Getting close to the point where I have to make my decision about Medicare. Still not sure what to do.
Oh, well. I think that I am going to take a little rest now. Will write some more another day.
Am still intrigued by all that can be found on the web. Never ceases to amaze me that a lot of people do not explore more if for no other reason than to satisfy their curiosity. Does it really matter what you look at? I believe that our actions are much more important than whether or not we explore sex sites or political sites or anything else. Why should I care what you look at? I do care if you infringe upon my right to explore. I do care if you hurt someone else.
Getting close to the point where I have to make my decision about Medicare. Still not sure what to do.
Oh, well. I think that I am going to take a little rest now. Will write some more another day.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
I have been playing around with FaceBook and on FaceBook to see what it is all about. I was wondering about people with hundreds and even thousands of friends and how they got so many. Well the answer is that it is easy. I was clicking on 20 to 30 people a night and almost all of them accepted me as a friend. They didn't seem to check me or anything about me. They just added me. After I was accepted, I would then check their "info" to see what they were all about. Well most of the females seemed to be interested in partying and meeting people of similar lifestyles - read either gay or bi. Most of the men must have derived some kind of vicarious thrill from leaving stupid messages on the peoples pictures.
To be continued.
To be continued.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)