Towards the end of the year, all the healthcare providers attempt to get my business as it's the season for Open Enrollment. TV advertisements, mailers, emails, Billboards and radio ads are everywhere and they claim they are the best.
I used to be with a large company 'Florida Blue' that had a huge network. Four years ago, when I moved 40 miles north into a retirement community, I was approached by a woman who was an agent for a smaller company that offered lots of benefits... most of them I didn't use. The 'out of pocket' expenses were less, so as long as I'm healthy... they had better pricing. Do you see the humor in that? Cheaper than the others as long as you don't to go to the hospital.
My insurance plan is an HMO and years ago, I did a comparison to a PPO that some claim is better, but at that point in time, I stayed with the HMO. I need to do the research again.
More important than the plan, is the provider and the size of their network. What I don't like about my current provider is the limited network. Primary care is 6 miles away. That's okay, but one cardiologist in 200 miles. One pulmonologist in 50 miles. X-ray, MRI and blood work lab 2 miles away and they service all the major providers. Recently, I found a neurologist for back pain that's 10 miles away.
I'm in a large city, so It's all doable. I would hate to think of a rural environment where the closest sign of life is an hour drive!
In the mean time, it's HMO or PPO... but, I don't know which way to go!
No, not Ron DeSantis. We're talking about a different prick here. It's Ron Jeremy of adult film fame. As the story goes, he was up on charges for more than 30 counts of s*xual assault and held without bond awaiting a trial.
Along the way, his mental status declined and the court declared him mentally incompetent because of symptoms of severe dementia and he was ordered to be held in the medical wing of a correctional facility located in downtown Los Angeles.
This allowed him to escape trial.
Despite the abuse allegations made against Jeremy, he has not been convicted of a crime. He is unlikely to recover from his dementia and be restored to competency, according to court records, meaning he cannot be housed in a state hospital. It appears Ron will be moved to a different facility, possibly a private residence, one that may not have security. This news has angered some of his victims, although Jeremy has denied all wrongdoing.
Days of alleged abuses on movie sets and at industry parties dating back nearly 30 years are long gone. Is he capable of doing it again is now the question...
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I used to think that William Shatner's cover of Rocket Man by Elton John had to be one of the worst song covers to date. Times have changed and I found one that beats it by 1.6 kilometers or roughly one mile.
The original is: She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby.
Hyperchicken did a cover...
I get the feeling some high-school kids conjured this up to show off their newly learned video editing techniques.
In the news last week were stories about the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who died at the age of 96. The tribute service was packed with friends, relatives and former presidents with their wives. In one of the headlines was a guy I didn't recognize, so I clicked the link and it hit me. Jimmy Carter, now 99 years old was wheeled in to the service.
It won't be long before they are reunited.
Many stores have extended Black Friday to Cyber Saturday. Cyber Monday sales are extended to Cyber Tuesday. We're on a roll and I see special sales that should be extended all through the month of December.
Black Friday extended... extended... extended...
13 years ago, drummer Mike Portnoy at the top of his career, decided to leave the group Dream Theater. After dozens of exhaustive auditions, the band selected Mike Mangini to replace him who played on an impressive one-third of their studio albums.
A year ago some negotiations took place and Portnoy decided to return to the band he helped form.
That's a bitter shock to Mangini and he took the change diplomatically stating:
“I understand Dream Theater’s decision to get Mike Portnoy back at this time. As was said from day one, my place was not to fill all the roles that Mike held in the band. I was to play the drums in order to help the band carry on," Mangini humbly states, "My main role of keeping our live show working tightly on a nightly basis was an intense and rewarding experience."
Deeply appreciative of his time in the band, he continues, "Thankfully, I got to experience playing music with these iconic musicians, as well as some fun times laced with humor. I also really enjoyed spending lots of time with the crew. And then there’s the Grammy win, which was amazingly satisfying."
Bidding farewell, he concludes, "To the fans: thank you so much for being amazing to me. I cherish the pictures I have of you all losing your minds and having fun. Finally, I really love the band, crew and management and wish them and the entire organization all the best.”
Mike Mangini performed well, going far more than he would have without his 13 years with Dream Theater. His new worth is reported $10 million and that in itself is an amazing accomplishment for a musician.
Having heard and seen videos of both drummers, I have to admit Portnoy has the edge on him for technique and assertive style. I'm sure Mangini will soon continue his musical success with another supergroup. He deserves it.
I blogged about the Canadian band RUSH having lost their drummer to cancer, had no plans to reunite. I thought Portnoy would fit that role, but it's too late. Mangini would be next in line for the gig!
Goodbye my friend. It's been great. We had some good times together. Those sunsets that seemed to last forever. I'll see you next year on the 10th of March. I wish you could be here all year round... but It's out of my hands. I wait for your return.
For years I've been using an ad blocker while I surf YouTube.
Recently, I've seen a pop-up message stating:
Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube
-It looks like you may be using an ad blocker.
-Ads allow YouTube to be used by billions worldwide.
-You can go ad-free with YouTube Premium, and creators can still get paid from your subscription.
For now, I'm clicking the X in the top right, closing the warning/message and watching the video.
I realize supporting ads means money changes hands and ultimately someone benefits.
I suppose there will be a time when YouTube will refuse to play videos without membership... hopefully not anytime soon.
The internet is filling up with repetitive never-ending webpages. The example is Pinterest. Someone posts a page and links 30 other pages who in turn are linked to another 30 pages. Over and over again, so one photo appears on the internet several hundred times.
The same thing with X (Formerly Twitter that will always be Twitter) when someone says something stupid, 400 people copy it and it gets regurgitated no less than 2,000 times.
Something simple like a (wannabe) fashion model re-posting the same 10 photos on their Facebook page. Wasn't one standing by that expensive sports car enough? You think you're scrolling to the bottom of their page only to find you haven't... there's more and more. Go ahead, scroll down... there's lots more. It's never-ending.
This blog isn't a rant... instead it's a statement of fact. Saturation is everywhere and where we are headed doesn't look pretty.
Programmers have created programs that will scan your hard drive and let you know if a photo appears more than once so you have the opportunity of deleting the duplicates. The internet needs to apply the same thought.
Scrolling to the bottom of someone's page will then be possible.
When I was a kid, it was peanut butter & jelly on white bread, coffee with cream, wine with cheese and crackers, rednecks and Confederate flags. Sure there were variances to those selections, but mostly they could be found together.
A generation ago, I predicted that tattoos being a fad would go out of fashion and no one would want one. How wrong was that observation?
Walk through the mall and you will both young and old with tattoos AND body piercings. I'm not sure of the connection. Maybe they were all reading National Geographic magazines when growing up.
Today at a red light was truck with lots of bumper stickers. Two of the largest stickers were Trump and guns.
Some things that go together...
Judge Aileen Mercedes Cannon was selected to hear the case of Trump v. United States in August 2022. Since then, she's been in the news almost on a daily basis. With so much coverage, I'm surprised there is only ONE photo the news media uses of this woman. One.
I say, "What's up with that?"
Seriously, aren't there any selfies with her and Donald at a Mar-a-Lago dinner party after he appointed her to the position?
The other day, I read in music news that Daryl Hall has filed a lawsuit against his former musical partner John Oates and has asked the judge to issue a temporary restraining order. Documents were sealed and information was sketchy. This morning, more details came forward.
Why Daryl Hall obtained a restraining order against John Oates has been (partly) solved.
It’s now been revealed that Hall is attempting to block his longtime musical partner from selling his share in their joint venture to Primary Wave Music.
Hall is arguing that Oates' plan to sell off his share of a joint venture would violate the terms of a business agreement that Hall & Oates duo had forged.
The judge temporarily blocked the sale while legal proceedings and a previously initiated arbitration continue.
Primary Wave has already owned “significant interest” in Hall and Oates’ song catalog for more than 15 years. In a 2021 interview with Sky News, Hall alluded to disappointment with the sale of his back catalog.
Daryl's statement:
“Oh, in the early days, it got sold off for me and I didn’t get the money,” he said. In the same interview, he advised artists to retain their publishing rights, saying “all you have is that.”
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