Thunder

We made it to 80° here, with clouds but no rain. Then just as Obama was answering questions about health care, the sky opened up a dropped a huge amount of rain. It got dark and the thunder and lightning was rampant. I sure hope that was just monsoon weather and not some forecast of a better health plan.

Every president since Truman has tried to reform health care. Medicare was the only real change. I sure hope Obama can do something. I still have a few years before Medicare kicks in. While my Government Plan is good, it ain’t cheap, and this year all the deductibles went way up. So it costs more to do routine things and to get meds. I know I am one of the lucky ones. My PCP charges $120 for a routine visit, and I only have to pay $20 while last year it was $15 and he was charging #120. If I didn’t have this insurance, I would be going into debt. I don’t have a lot of friends who were not Federal employees or Natives. The few I have are paying a whole lot more than I do each month, they pay a whole lot more for meds. I was picking up my blood pressure meds the other day, and the person in front of me, probably 45 years old, got one prescription. The total he had to pay was $345. My blood pressure medicine is $1.17 every month. I also take two allergy meds that cost me $25/month each. I think that is outrageous until I see what others are paying. I’m all for paying my fair share, but I don’t like watching all the expensive ads that the pharmaceutical industry is making, and I really don’t like the bottom line profit that the insurance companies are making. There has to be a better way.

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Random Fact

A thousand bytes make a kilobyte.

July is…

…Air Conditioning Appreciation Month…Blueberries Month…Cell Phone Courtesy Month…Family Reunion Month…Herbal/Prescription Awareness Month…Nat’l Doghouse Repair Month…Nat’l Grilling, Nat’l Hot Dog, Nat’l Horseradish, and Nat’l Ice Cream Month…Smart Irrigation Month…Social Wellness Month…Tour de France Month…Women’s Motorcycle Month…

Week of July 23
Lumberjack Week—for the real ones, not the NAU ones

July 23—204 days so far this year…161 days remain in 2009
All American Soap Box Derby Day
Gorgeous Grandma Day
Hot Enough for You Day
*Egypt: Revolution Day [1952]


BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1892
Haile Selassie emperor of Ethiopia
1894
Arthur Treacher Brighton England, announcer
1914
Charles S. Frazier Jr., Brunswick, Maine Great father and husband
1915
Vincent Sardi, Jr. restaurateur: Sardi’s Restaurant, New York, NY
1919
Pee Wee Reese Hall of Fame shortstop (Dodgers)
1925
Gloria De Haven LA, actress
1936
-Anthony M Kennedy Calif, supreme court justice
-Don Drysdale Van Nuys Calif, pitcher (LA Dodgers-Cy Young 1962)
1947
-Don Imus radio personality
-Spencer Christian weatherman
1961
Woody Harrelson Midland Tx, actor
1972
Marlon Wayans writer, actor: The Wayans Bros

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
636
Arabs gain control of most of Palestine from the Byzantine Empire
1298
Jews are massacred at Wurzburg Germany
1548
Mary, Queen of Scots, at the age of 6, leaves Scotland for her arranged future marriage to the French dauphin Francis
1715
The first lighthouse in America was authorized for construction at Little Brewster Island, Massachusetts.
1798
Napoleon captures Alexandria, Egypt
1803
Robert Emmett's insurrected in Dublin
1904
Ice cream cone created by Charles E Menches during La Purchase Expo
1940
"Blitz" begins, all-night raid on London
1958
1st 4 women named to peerage in House of Lords
1967
Pirate Radio Swinging Scotland closes down for financial reasons
1976
4,000 delegates from the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Legion met at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia for a four-day gathering. Several days after the event ended, many attendees became sick. By August 2, 22 people were dead and hundreds connected to the gathering were experiencing pneumonia-like symptoms.
1980
River of No Return Wilderness Area designated by Jimmy Carter
2000
Tiger Woods today became the youngest player to win a career Grand Slam

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Every sentence below contains two blanks. The word that goes in the first blank has a long A sound [like in BAKE] somewhere in it. Change that long A to an /oi/ sound [like in boy] to get a new word that goes in the second blank to complete the sentence.

EX: No Plain _____ was allowed to _____ the top sorority.
Answers: Jane / join

1. The teenager downtown said “See you _____!”…but continued to _____ on the street corner.
2. In the debater’s _____ to make a clever reply, he is _____ by his own petard.
3. The apprentice house _____ needed a helpful _____ on how to hold a brush.
4. The blind chef read a recipe in _____ on how to _____ a chicken.
5. The riot police _____ the demonstrators, which immediately made their eyes _____.
6. At the Victorian-style restaurant, there was a _____ change of the _____ underneath each place setting.
7. In the Miss America Pageant, self-composure is very important, so it _____ to have _____.
8. The psychoanalyst’s nerves were _____ from studying too much _____
9. The chemistry building at _____ University is installing a new furnace in its _____ room
10. A film thriller that ends with a _____ scene would not be my first _____ tonight.
• Bonus: ???

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Answers:
1. Later / loiter
2. Haste / hoist
3. Painter/ pointer
4. Braille / broil
5. Maced / moist
6. Daily / doily
7. Pays / poise
8. Frayed / Freud
9. Baylor / boiler
10. Chase / choice
* Bonus: ???
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