Wednesday, October 29, 2003
A friend's testament to a fallen comrade
Ruth-a faithful care of 8 years and 1 month and 16 days with
194,002 miles. She was put to rest at Pick & Pull on August 1
2003. Her demise was unfortunate, but expected. Her final trip
was to Livermore, California and final glorious victory was
storming up Altamont Pass at 70 MPH despite a screaming
transmission that said defiantly "I hate 5th gear, I love
neutral (as said by Jon Lovitz). The rest of the trip it was
held in 5th gear despite its screaming and resistance. It still
made it back to Citrus Heights where it was parked. Than it was
moved to a different parking lot to avoid being towed where the
tires were promptly slashed and it was, well, towed away. So
with a failing transmission and in need of 4 new tires, and
having to pay for towing, and not wanting to have to pay for it
again to take it to a tire place, buy 4 new ones, and replace
the trany on a car whose blue book value was $215, it was with
much grief and agony that Ruth was signed over to the vehicle
graveyard, but being a good and responsible carizen, donated its
usable parts, too many of which I can list. And worst of all
was not able to go through a more spectacular death by being hit
with a sledgehammer to raise money for the youth ministry. But
to compensate, Ruth was kicked in the fender and jumped on for
the fun on it to see what one, Tim, could do for the fun and
curiosity on it. His response was one of surprise wondering how
in the world he did not dent the car in his time as driver when
it was sooooo easy. Ruth is survived by her much younger sister
Alice. Ruth will be remembered for her dedicated, consistent
service and her overall ecomony. In her time with Tim she
covered 134,590 miles and 16 states.
The Carnary,
Tim Spain
194,002 miles. She was put to rest at Pick & Pull on August 1
2003. Her demise was unfortunate, but expected. Her final trip
was to Livermore, California and final glorious victory was
storming up Altamont Pass at 70 MPH despite a screaming
transmission that said defiantly "I hate 5th gear, I love
neutral (as said by Jon Lovitz). The rest of the trip it was
held in 5th gear despite its screaming and resistance. It still
made it back to Citrus Heights where it was parked. Than it was
moved to a different parking lot to avoid being towed where the
tires were promptly slashed and it was, well, towed away. So
with a failing transmission and in need of 4 new tires, and
having to pay for towing, and not wanting to have to pay for it
again to take it to a tire place, buy 4 new ones, and replace
the trany on a car whose blue book value was $215, it was with
much grief and agony that Ruth was signed over to the vehicle
graveyard, but being a good and responsible carizen, donated its
usable parts, too many of which I can list. And worst of all
was not able to go through a more spectacular death by being hit
with a sledgehammer to raise money for the youth ministry. But
to compensate, Ruth was kicked in the fender and jumped on for
the fun on it to see what one, Tim, could do for the fun and
curiosity on it. His response was one of surprise wondering how
in the world he did not dent the car in his time as driver when
it was sooooo easy. Ruth is survived by her much younger sister
Alice. Ruth will be remembered for her dedicated, consistent
service and her overall ecomony. In her time with Tim she
covered 134,590 miles and 16 states.
The Carnary,
Tim Spain
Links to me at Amazon
Two quick links to stuff of mine at Amazon.
My wish list.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/registry/21362FHCO6JFY/ref=cm_aya_wl_wl/104-2345145-3606348
My reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/cm/member-reviews/-/A2RLLC0EGSXPPR/ref=cm_aya_rev_all/104-2345145-3606348
My wish list.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/registry/21362FHCO6JFY/ref=cm_aya_wl_wl/104-2345145-3606348
My reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/cm/member-reviews/-/A2RLLC0EGSXPPR/ref=cm_aya_rev_all/104-2345145-3606348
Wind is the New Oil
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2173953
White blades turning endlessly in a silent revolution. Freeing us from the political bondage that comes with oil.
Now the state of Texas has stepped in and started a program to lease state land for wind power development. Texas may have the first offshore wind in the United States.
White blades turning endlessly in a silent revolution. Freeing us from the political bondage that comes with oil.
Now the state of Texas has stepped in and started a program to lease state land for wind power development. Texas may have the first offshore wind in the United States.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Health care
http://www.oregonrx.org
It is widely known that drug companies spend more money on marketing than on research and development. At the same time we wonder why the cost of prescription drugs is rising so fast. Those marketing dollars come from our wallets, and what do they buy us? Television ads with dancing people smiling. Yet when it comes to deciding which drug actually works best doctors just don't know, because marketing dollars are not objective.
Let me give you an example. For chronic pain, joint stiffness, arthritis, etc doctors often prescribe Celebrex. 30 days of Celebrex will cost $104. Part of that goes to the nice television ad I saw for a 65ish woman doing tie-chi in a park. Naproxin which is also prescribed for the same symptoms is $31 for 30 days. In other words Celebrex costs about 300% more. So you would expect Celebrex to be more effective, right. Wrong. Celebrex and Naproxin work about the same, with the same level of side effects. If you buy Celebrex you got scammed.
Or Prilosec, which is over the counter, working as well as Nexium (marketed as the new purple pill). Similar price disparity. This list goes on and on.
Oregon RX is an attempt by the state of Oregon to compare the different drugs and shed some light on the issue of how well they work. Go visit the site, the reports are great.
I bring this up because the house and Senate are finalizing a bill to cover prescription drug benefits with my tax dollars. I'm very annoyed that it has no provision like the Oregon RX plan to help us tax pays not get ripped off buy marketing.
It is widely known that drug companies spend more money on marketing than on research and development. At the same time we wonder why the cost of prescription drugs is rising so fast. Those marketing dollars come from our wallets, and what do they buy us? Television ads with dancing people smiling. Yet when it comes to deciding which drug actually works best doctors just don't know, because marketing dollars are not objective.
Let me give you an example. For chronic pain, joint stiffness, arthritis, etc doctors often prescribe Celebrex. 30 days of Celebrex will cost $104. Part of that goes to the nice television ad I saw for a 65ish woman doing tie-chi in a park. Naproxin which is also prescribed for the same symptoms is $31 for 30 days. In other words Celebrex costs about 300% more. So you would expect Celebrex to be more effective, right. Wrong. Celebrex and Naproxin work about the same, with the same level of side effects. If you buy Celebrex you got scammed.
Or Prilosec, which is over the counter, working as well as Nexium (marketed as the new purple pill). Similar price disparity. This list goes on and on.
Oregon RX is an attempt by the state of Oregon to compare the different drugs and shed some light on the issue of how well they work. Go visit the site, the reports are great.
I bring this up because the house and Senate are finalizing a bill to cover prescription drug benefits with my tax dollars. I'm very annoyed that it has no provision like the Oregon RX plan to help us tax pays not get ripped off buy marketing.
Maybe I'll start writing this more.
