:lol: You guys are a riot. Yes, the ruler was put there to "prove how long they are" and yes, that was part of the hilarity at dinner last night. We had those 3 large fish and more than a dozen smaller ones. The women got all the big ones... It was a guy thing. I'm just glad we didn't bring the ruler with us.

Love that joke, Bagz. Reminds me of the video of the girl who goes to wait for her date in the car and lets out a few nice loud farts, not realizing there are people in the back seat...

I'm updating my diaryland journal for the 2nd time this week. Reading the NY Times always gets me going.

Kiwi

email us the link to dairyland { i still see it that way like it's a cow thing}i bought stuff to make cow earrings and i haven't sent them to anyone yet---if you want a pair ,you have to state whether or not you have pierced ears,and if you are allergic to silver---AND you must state that you really really want the cow-rings because i am lazy and will need some cattle prodding to git going.

Here's my dairy. Public access, y'know.

Wow, I would love cowrings. Can you really make those? Cool. I have silver catrings and zebrings and pewter mooserings and copper bearrings but no cowrings. Sounds mootiful.

It is a gorgeous day here -- breezy enough to blow away the awful bugs, cool but sunny. I like.

DD is waitressing tonight. I hope she does as well as last time she waitressed on a Saturday. She's accustomed to being happy with $7 or $8 an hour. A person could get really spoiled bringing home $100 in their pocket for 5 or 6 hours of work though. The moosey place is kind of pricey (for our area), so tips aren't bad.

Must go beat up some steak.

Kiwi

i have been waiting fow cow earrings for months. Yessss, I want them.

ds is supposed to be back in the US by now and hasn't called. Worry worry worry. Since he lost his cell phone I can only call lcp and it's not the same. She said they wouldn't call while in Canada anyway which was ok but they should be back.

Now, you know I had insurance for one short month. During that time, I had a couple of tests. A CT scan was billed to the insurance company for $7,720. The allowed $566 and paid $416. I had to pay the rest up front. The rest of it will not be paid by anybody. Isn't that sick?????? People without insurance will be expected to .... it is so disturbing.

Bagz, drive over to Niagara Falls and look for DS. Is it far?

wait a minute----you had to pay six thousand plus dollars UP FRONT???? ARE YOU SERIOUS???? did you really mean the test cost SEVEN THOUSAND,SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS!!! I NEED YOU TO CLARIFY YOUR NUMBERS BEFORE I HAVE A HEART ATTACK----how the **** could anyone pay that amount of money UP FRONT???? I WOULD BE DEAD BY NOW!!!!

I haven't seen SICKO and i will admit we have slow service up here in canada,but it really is looked after by the government-we do have high taxes but i still think it's worth it to pay it and not have to worry about whether or not you can afford a test to see if you have a serious problem.If all you do is elect a president who figures out a way to deliver universal health care,that will be doing a lot----i am sure the insurance companies would be shaking in their boots if they thought they were in any danger--they probably aren't concerned at all---jerks.

Oh, I was so unclear. I paid $150. The rest was not paid and will never be paid. However, if I were uninsured, I would be expected to pay the whole seven thousand whatever. Yes, Canada is much more fabulous in this area . And in others. They have Bagz and Sugar.

Phew! My jaw almost dropped to the floor when I read about the thousands!! But you do wonder where the money comes from to pay the rest when they'd make uninsured people pay it. Makes it seem like the horrendous price is totally fake. I don't know nothin' about the Canadian health system any more. I think you get good enough care , but you have to wait for mooooooonths to see a specialist or have an operation, right Bagziee?? My mother has spinal stenosis where the nerves in the lower back are being squeezed together causing excruciating pain and she has no idea when she'll be getting relief except for a couple of cortisone shots.

:moo: earrings???? Oooooooh, yes please! I have pierced ears and am allergic to silver and nickel (and cats, bunnies and horses). Ear size: petite.

We had an almost kid free weekend: ds11 went to Oma's to stay over night and watch the "Schützenfest" (guys in green suits and hats with guns and beer steins) parade and ds14 went to a year end party at someone's farm and got to sleep in the barn. So we did what any old married couple would do when they're all alone - we went shopping! I got new shoes, dh got a new patio table, lawn fertilizer and a t-bone steak. Wheeee.


And....HAPPY CANADA DAY! to all the fabulous Canadians out there. I almost forgot until yesterday and then I had a friend coming over today and I amost forgot again but then she cancelled so I still have time to make CHERRY PIE!

I just saw Michael Moore being interviewed on tv in front of idiots who were on cell phones and waving to Shirley back home. He said that 24 of the top 25 industrialized nations have national health insurance. The interviewer said she didn't want to get sick in those countries because America has the best doctors. Yes, he agreed, if you work for CNBC, America has the best doctors.

Then he said we should take the thing that Canada does right, France does right, England does right and make our own plan instead of arguing about the things they do wrong.

Sugar, my friend has a Canadian friend who got sick and has a push kind of personality. He insisted they send him to the U.S. Mayo Clinic and they did.

DS is on his way home. Bagzie, you can quit looking for him.

Niagara Falls? How romantic... She is smart not to use the phone out of the US. DD went to Montreal in January and didn't make calls while out of the country, but people called her (including me). She has free incoming calls, so we thought it would be pretty cheap (or maybe free). We couldn't find ANY information on US Cellular's website about it, so we just had to wait until the bill came to find out. We were wronggggggggggggg -- it was really expensive for her just to receive a few calls. She complained and they took the charge off her bill. :lol:

True, we MUST do something about health care.

I can't understand how your insurance co, Peachie, can get away with paying so little for that test while the hospital apparently charges so much.
But----------
And the uninsured wouldn't be able to pay and the hospital would write it off as a loss. I think possibly this is a profit center somehow :eek: --- I mean I don't know much about finance and accounting, but what other reason would there be for them to charge so much for something that no one will be paying that much for?

I was entirely in favor of single payer health care (government) until recently, when we had the experience of being under a state subsidized insurance program. Since DH is still unemployed we are paying a sliding fee on a program that ensures the unemployed in Maine and I've never seen anything so convoluted and apparently utterly incompetent in my life. Every month or two they make another mistake on our account and change the account number or cancel our insurance or undercharge us or overcharge us or take money back from a provider that they then have to charge here and then there and then give the money back. You don't have one person handling your account, so every time you have a problem (which is pretty much constantly) you talk to a different person and get a different answer. It's unbelievable. So I no longer think government is capable of doing less than making a big mess of health care. I don't know what the answer is. I have heard that one answer is to require everyone to have health insurance in the same way we are required to have car insurance, which would drive rates down. :dunno:

So anyway Happy Canada Day!!!

Kiwi

First, Hillary Clinton TRIED to fix the health care problem when Bill was in office. Electing the right person does not guarantee the congress will care.

Also, and on a different subject, I don't think every state requires automobile insurance. Not sure but don't think Alabama does. Also, we don't have a sliding fee health plan available here. My friend who moved from California paid $300+ a quarter for health insurance for her and hubby there. Moved here and it was more than that PER MONTH. Why is every state different? Insurance is a crime anyway. Home owners insurance is Florida is way too high because of all the rich idiots who build on the sand. We, who live on dirt inland, have high insurance rates to subsidize them. I could go on.

I had to sit at the dinner table with a bunch of inlaws this afternoon and listen while they called Al Gore a hypocrite for having a huge energy bill at his residence, for which he pays carbon credits, or whatever it's called. I feel so alone in the world sometimes. Is it hypocritical to be willing to do what you can to be responsible, or perhaps he should stop trying and live like 98% of the American people; maybe that would satisfy them.

I am angry

Can you tell?

Not about Al Gore, but I became angry today, also. I am borderlining out of depression and into anger about .. not being fired but ... the reason they gave for firing me. That I Don't GET ALONG WITH YOUNG CHILDREN!! I would love to go get into their faces right now and explore this. But I don't even know whose face to get into.

This woman who was supposed to be MY mentor and who almost never came into the room heard me tell a child to get away from me. This was because she was knocking over others and trying to sit on my feet and hold my book and touch my leg and NOT show any interest in the learning activity at all. The director, herself, in my presence called a child "a little demon" and grabbed her by the arm. Another woman hit children on the butt and head with her hand and on the butt with a pointer. Another shoved one away and told him to go play ... he stumbled with the shove. I know that the children I had became better prepared for kindergarten and while there are better ways to express oneself than I did on that occasion, it is minor compared to calling someone a DEMON. I am suddenly insensed that they would have the nerve to suggest that I did anything wrong with those children in comparison to them.

And I really don't feel the need for George Bush to be in the same state as I am either. I put up with George Sr., but GW needs to leave. PootyPootPoot can hang around if he wants, just to soak up the New England atmosphere.

I know there are picketers but do they agree with you? Bush out; Putin in?