08:07 – Happy Anniversary to us. Barbara and I were married 30 years ago today. I’m surprised that she’s managed to put up with me. It can’t have been easy.
10:54 – Colin is lying at the front door, keeping a close eye on the tree trimmers, who come out every eight or ten years to trim back trees that are growing into the power lines. Sometimes they just trim back branches; other times, they take out whole trees. Colin is outraged when the garbage, recycling, and yard waste carts are picked up because he regards it as stealing our stuff. Same thing when the brush truck comes by, or the leaf vacuum. So far, though, he hasn’t said a word. He’s just lying there watching. Of course, the tree guys are in our next-door neighbors’ yard cutting down a tree right now. We’re next, so it’ll be interesting to see if Colin is outraged when they start to steal trees or branches from our yard.
Wow. Congratulations! Have you passed the point where you have lived together longer than you each were single?
Btw, for those with interests in audio, I have finally switched to the new version of Audacity: v2.0.4. I had shunned their totally new beginnings at v1.36 for many years (since about 2005) as it was not even a remote competitor to the old version. I periodically experimented with the new offering, and just did again. Since my last trial—which must have been a couple years ago—it has matured to equal the old version, and has now improved on many of the old version’s capabilities. My sole complaint with the new version is that the “selection length” indicator only shows to 3 decimal places; the old version went to 10 or more decimal places. That has been important to me in the past, when trying to substitute something with precise timing. We will soon see if 3 decimal places is accurate enough. Since the old and new versions are completely incompatible in terms of file formats, I have abandoned the older version completely.
Sheesh, reinventing the wheel took a good 8 years.
Thanks.
Barbara was 28 when we married, so she’s passed that milestone. I was 30 years and three months, so it’ll be the end of the year before I pass it.
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary Bob and Barbara.
Steve in El Paso County, Colorado
Women are tough. Birthing babies is tough, living with a man for decades is tougher. I congratulate Barbara.
Since we are giving our stats, Pam and I have been married for 31 years. I was a mere babe of 21 years when she made me marry her. She was a mature woman of 23. I am still working on the maturity thing.
Congratulations on 30 years!
Elizabeth is celebrating her 64th birthday today. We will be married 33 years this December. I was 28 when we got married and she was 31. Three kids later, we’re still going strong. She still puts up with me, which continually amazes me.
Rick in Portland
I passed 38 years this July.
Never once thought of divorce. Murder yes, divorce no.
Congrats on 30 years of domestic bliss…
When the tree cutters got to your place did Colin start baking from a distance or did he ambush them from point blank range? If the latter tell him I sentence him o watching this:
http://www.amazon.com/Hovind-s-Creation-Seminar-International-Subtitles/dp/1584680598/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Colin never barks until whatever he’s barking at is close enough to be fanged if he deems it necessary. He’s nearly given more than one delivery person a heart attack. It’s bad enough when they see him sitting there inside the glass storm door, looking docile until he turns into Cujo. What’s worse is when they don’t notice him until he cuts loose. And he has a very deep bark even for a 75 pound dog.
There’s no way I could get Colin to watch Hovind even if I wanted to. Colin is considerably smarter than “Dr.” Hovind.
Congrats, Bob and Barbara; that’s a pretty good accomplishment in these times. Or any times, for that matter.
Mrs. OFD and I just had our 15th; we’d both been married before. This anniversary dates to when we had the JP marry us in Ye Old Round Church in Richmond, VT.
http://www.oldroundchurch.com/
But our 15th anniversary of having our marriage blessed by Holy Mother Church will be in May of 2015; a process which itself took us two years and had to have the personal signature of Pope John Paul II. Long story.
Our mutt barks really well but once someone broke into the house and was here he wouldn’t be any threat.
68 here today and overcast; looks like rain is coming our way, which will be good.
I don’t know if Colin would actually attack a real intruder, unless he thought Barbara was being threatened. In that case, I have no doubt he’d rip the guy to shreds.
Congrats, Mr. Bob and Mrs. Barbara. Only 22 years for Me and MrsAtoz.
The east neighbor’s daughter has a Samoyed dog named Bear which is 6 months old and probably weighs 80 lbs. Last weekend we were going for a walk and Brittany, the 90 lb neighbor girl, was walking Bear past our house. Our dog, a 35 lb british cocker spaniel named Lady, took off since this was her driveway and managed to get free. Lady ran down the 100 ft driveway barking like mad. By the time Lady got to Bear, whom Brittany was frantically trying to drag away, she stopped barking and rolled over almost underneath him. Bear thought this was great fun and just sniffed her thank goodness. Lady just laid there and cowered.
I doubt that Lady learned her lesson on running at other dogs and barking fiercely at them. And can I say that Houston is just about the last place a Samoyed should be? Bear has so much hair that he could probably be comfortable in a 50 mph wind at zero F. And, they are expecting him to add another 40+ lbs on.
Good grief. Wikipedia says Samoyed males run 51 to 66 pounds. That must be a monster.
Congratulations to Bob and Barbara on 30 years of marriage.
Having only been married six years, Mrs. B and I are almost newlyweds in comparison.
I do not think that Bear is pure Samoyed since he has large brown patches on his white fur. He is about 4 ft long (not including tail) and about 3.5 ft high. His body is 3 ft thick of which 2 ft appears to be hair. He does have the curly tail. Oh wait, he may be a cross between a Samoyed and a St. Bernard!
He drags poor Brittany around like a kite since after all, he is a puppy. We have a bumper crop of squirrels this year which is driving all the dogs crazy. I do not think that she expected him to be this big. And when he gets bigger it may get interesting as she is 26 and only 5 ft tall.
Nope, I got it totally wrong. Bear is an American Akita where the male is commonly 100 to 145 lbs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akita_Inu
And he looks just like this dog if the dog had a real long coat:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American-akita.jpg
Oh, my. I hope she’s *very* experienced in handling large, powerful, aggressive dogs. An Akita, particularly a male, is not to be trifled with. Although it was decades ago, I’ve had a bit of experience with two of them owned by a friend. His dogs would accept other people being around them, as long as their master approved, but other dogs, particularly males, were a different story. If I were you, I’d be very careful of your dog once that Akita isn’t a puppy any more.
For those of us who may be considering, or may consider at a future point:
“Fortunately, many physicians here are sympathetic and willing to play along. They understand how much people in ‘rich’ countries can get screwed on medical care, both in terms of price and quality.”
http://www.sovereignman.com/lifestyle-design/local-doctor-im-not-a-slave-to-insurance-companies-or-regulations-12683/
Yes, Bear is aggressive but still somewhat compliant. But, Brittany takes him running 3 to 4 miles per day, every day. The problem is that he will outweigh her very soon, maybe next month.
And I do not let my dog go to any other dog (or person) without grabbing her. At 35 lbs she is a handful but I can still lift and carry her quite a ways (even squirming).
So I wasn’t surprised this time around when I had to purchase an extra bag just to carry everyone’s medication.
Um, Mr. Sovereign Man sounds like a drug runner with buying another bag to carry drugs across the border. Will the US Customs service allow one to carry multitudinous prescriptions for others across the border?
And yes, he is very correct. Medical care in the USA is excellent. Paying for it is a complete disaster and getting worse by the day.
Somehow I feel like the old man here. The wife and I hit 41 on Sunday but as I told a group of our friends at dinner Saturday, “It doesn’t feel a day over 60”.
Bummer. My old employer back in the 1980s, TU Electric now TXU, is going belly up:
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/09/10/moodys-bankruptcy-of-txu-energys-parent-company-is-imminent/
We supplied half of the electricity to the Great State of Texas. Dallas, Fort Worth, Midland, Odessa, Wichita Falls, Texarkana, Tyler, … I left in 1989 to get back into programming. There was 16,000 people working there when I left. Then the wall street guys showed up in the 2000s.
I will get a pension from them in 2025 when I turn 65. $265/month. I am hoping that McDonalds will take the check in exchange for a burger.
Or if you live close to the Canadian border, you can make a quick trip, apparently a favourite senior’s pastime. You have to get a prescription from a doctor in the province but it seems that isn’t much of a problem. As with all things health care, it varies from province to province (all health care delivery is a provincial responsibility.)
In Ontario, all prescription drugs are dispensed at cost, the pharmacies add a dispensing fee to cover their costs and profit. This is complicated by the various provincial drug plans in effect. Some of my medications are cover by the province since I am a senior, in this case the fee is $8.62. If the drugs are not covered by a provincial plan, the fee is $11.49
As an example, atorvastatin (Lipitor) costs $10.16 for 30, 10mg tablets. Adding the dispensing fee of $8.62 brings the total that I would pay (if I wasn’t covered by my wife’s drug plan) to $18.78.
On the other hand, there are many drugs, common antibiotics in particular, where the dispensing fee is several times the cost of the drug.
But our wonderful “free” health care system is crumbling. Too many people are living too long, and there isn’t enough money in the known universe to give everyone the health care that they think that they are entitled to. What the government really needs to do to bring down health costs is to make cigarettes almost free and rescind the helmet and seatbelt legislation. Gotta cut down that life expectancy, best make it voluntary.
I shudder to think of how Obamacare is going to deal the boomers as they become seniors. I think it will be very, very ugly.
‘There’s no way I could get Colin to watch Hovind even if I wanted to. Colin is considerably smarter than “Dr.” Hovind.’
And he’s not a jail bird either.
It’s ironic, in a way: when younger, I never had any health problems—zero. Then while we were in Germany, they instituted mandatory health insurance. That insurance requires physicals and that you take any prescribed medication or you lose the insurance, and presumably go to jail or something. Of course, they found stuff that needed to be treated. So, on the one hand everyone on both sides of the fence complains about health costs, but mandatory treatment for even the slightest problem comes into effect, prolonging life and increasing health costs further. Catch 22.
And I guess I have to take exception that health care in the US is excellent. In my experience of 2 countries, US healthcare is acceptable—not great. It certainly does not provide the life expectancy or overall wellness by many measures that western Europe does. Moreover, I never had a doctor distracted in Germany. When they were in the room with me, they were all mine. Here, they are preoccupied, sometimes are called from the room during our time together, and generally do not seem fully oriented to me and my concerns/problems. And without a doubt, my US doctors handle at least triple the daily load the German docs did. And to resolve that? Why they want to push as much doctor work off onto nurses as possible. In Germany, nurses are secretaries. Doctors assist doctors in the surgery.
“I don’t know if Colin would actually attack a real intruder, unless he thought Barbara was being threatened. In that case, I have no doubt he’d rip the guy to shreds.”
Does Colin distinguish between your and Barbara’s protection needs? Would he figure you could take care of yourself?
Excellent. More states should follow this example. If you don’t follow the will of the people you lose your job regardless of the issue.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/10/20421919-two-colorado-lawmakers-who-backed-strict-gun-control-laws-ousted-in-recall?lite
Like most males, Colin is very protective of females, less so of males. But I’m one of Colin’s pack members so, yes, he’d attack someone he thought was trying to hurt me.
That’s the thing about pack animals like dogs and people, versus herd animals. When a predator attacks a herd animal, the rest of the herd runs for their lives and abandons the victim without a second thought. But a predator that attacks any member of a pack is attacking all members of the pack, and they all turn on it and attack it. That’s why most large carnivores avoid humans. The ones who thought humans looked like easy meals got bred out of the gene pool long ago. The ones who are left understand that humans may look like tasty snacks but there are a lot of us and we’re vicious.
Colin is outraged when the garbage, recycling, and yard waste carts are picked up because he regards it as stealing our stuff. Same thing when the brush truck comes by, or the leaf vacuum.
You forgot squirrels stealing the nuts and such from the grounds. We have a bumper crop of squirrels this year and they are driving my dog nuts.
I haven’t seen a squirrel around here in a long time. Word spreads.
“I am still working on the maturity thing.”
Aren’t we all… Actually, no, we’re not.
Meanwhile, we continue (with futility) to train our larger mutt not to bark when someone comes to the house. Seeing as we have a business downstairs. Oddly, when the whisky club room is open, and their are lots of people about, it’s not a problem. It’s when people come in ones and twos that he thinks he has to protect us…
Health care is such a mess everywhere, and the solution seems so obvious: give people an interest in saving costs, just like they have in every other aspect of their lives. Switzerland recently forced down the deductibles on policies. Now, a silly case that hit the news: youth that goes out “coma drinking” (i.e., drinking until they pass out in pubic) often get hauled into the emergency room. Their emergency room visit is covered by their health insurance, and people are incensed. So, fine, please let us go back to having high deductibles? Oh, no, can’t do that or middle-aged folk would have to pay for their own homeopathy (yes, alternative “medicine” is also covered). And people wonder why health insurance is so expensive…
“I haven’t seen a squirrel around here in a long time. Word spreads.”
Does he sometimes/always kill them or just play?
Colin wouldn’t hurt a squirrel. Border Collies have all the kill instinct bred out of them. Over the years, our BCs have caught probably a dozen or more squirrels, but there’s been only one fatality. That was the one that reared up and bit Duncan in the snout. Duncan struck faster than a rattlesnake, grabbed the offender and shook him to death.
Of all the health insurance plans I’ve had, the one I liked most was the one with the highest deductible, $2500. Why did I like it? Because it came with a Health Savings Account that my employer contributed $150 per month. So my maximum out of pocket expense for medical care was $700 the first year I had the plan. Four years after the employer ceased to exist, my HSA still has over $2000 in it. At the time I thought my insurance sucked because I didn’t have vision or dental coverage. Then I realized there was nothing stopping my from using my HSA for whatever valid medical expenses I wanted to use it for.
Four years after the employer ceased to exist, my HSA still has over $2000 in it
You may have been taxed on that money even though the contributions are tax free. Why you ask?
I also have a high deductible plan that really sucks. My deductible is $4K and 80% insurance paid until I reach $8K in out of pocket at which time insurance pays 100% of covered charges. The insurance company finds lots of reasons that a charge is not covered. But I am getting off track.
My company contributes $50.00 a month to my account while I contribute $600. That keeps my yearly contributions slightly under the maximum allowed contributions per year of $7200. However I found out while doing my taxes is that the IRS will tax excess contributions. Say I contribute $6000 during the tax year but only have $4000 in medical expenses. The IRS will then tax the remaining $2000 at my normal tax rate.
Saving the money in an HSA from year to year does not serve any purpose as any money left in the account will get taxed. Their is no way to save any money for a couple of years for any upcoming expensive medical procedures. Since my maximum out of pocket is $8K and the maximum I can contribute to a HSA account is $7.2K, I will not be able to deduct the remaining $800 on my income taxes as that $800 is below the 6% of income threshold for allowable medical expenses.
Congress passes the tax laws and they snuck this through I am sure. The cretins that run this country are idiots with self appointed king obummer being the worst of the bunch.
The system has been rigged six ways from Sunday to screw most of us and take care of those doing the screwing. ObummerCare will exacerbate this mess by an order of magnitude and also put a huge hurt on the economy and business, which is its intent. Just wait until they set up the death panels, which they now admit publicly are “necessary,” and they start whacking the Boomers. Who needs concentration camps when you can do it all legally under the guise of medicine and public health? Another page torn from the Bolshevik playbook, where they began sending their dissidents to psychiatric facilities instead of prisons.
Taxes will have to be raised to support all this, plus the endless wars, of course.
And our grandchildren in third grade will be taught how to masturbate.