The author (artist & writer) slept over at my house after being paid to attend my son's comicbook convention. We couldn't rouse him to get there on time. He finally made it 1 hour late.

Wow...now that's goin back a ways...

Whatever happened to old Howard (the duck)?

Just duct-ie!!

Our alternatives were eliminated years ago when the Executive branch of our government decided they new better, than the Founding fathers, the concept of the constitution. The presidential oath of office has been ignored for at least 150 years (with a few exceptions) and, when the Cuisinart was invented, they just tossed in the constitution and hit the puree button.

Sound like my plight. I have never had health insurance, I don't like pharmaceuticals and my family doctor is a chiropractor. What does medicare do for me? Nothing!

AND it inflates the cost of the service with all that money available such that competion for it being non-existent with the intrusion of tax monies. Did I forgt that it really PISSES me off to be thought of as a tool by crony capitalists and their representative stooges who will sell out what is righteous economics for a bone by which to by a couple cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon or a tablet for a grade school girl to help her with spelling and math drills for school. Fuck those assholes, throw the bums out.

Yep...

So I figure the eye center got more than double, easily, than what I was paying. What do they do with the windfall? I can only imagine they pocket half which is more than I gave 'em the previous years and the other half? Hey, that goes to the campaign of the politicians that made taxpayer largesse a fact for the provider.

Come to think about it, that was odd.

You got that right...

And that's typical of the problem with the system and how crony government has increased the cost of health care.

Interesting...would be better if the free market got that price down to less than half.

"I guess the idea of privatizing the VA"
This is the correct way of saying it, but it's odd that it was not always private. Suppose we wanted to make sure vets never went without food, transportation, and shelter. We wouldn't create a gov't network grocery agency, taxi agency, and home agency. It's hard for me to imagine why they just didn't go to existing providers, give them money that could only spent on insurance policies that didn't take war injuries into account in underwriting, or something. It's odd that they built hospitals. That would not occur to me.

"One of the "charges" that Ayn Rand's current crop of enemies"
It seems so bogus. They should say exactly what they think she should have done and why. Are they saying they pay all taxes and fees they're legally required to pay but think it's wrong to take payment or tax deduction/credit they don't believe in.

I pay every tax I'm required to. I never buy personal things though the business. I never lie on the Workers' Comp audit about which employees touched a soldering iron - it doubles the cost compared to if they just did software. If there's some way to get money that's worthwhile I take it, even if I think it's dumb that I send them money and have to ask for it back. This year I'm getting a tax credit for home improvements b/c my house is registered as historic. There's critics would say I should not take these credits if I don't believe in them. But they expect me to pay all legally required taxes even though I don't agree with the drug war or a global network of military bases.

This is us such a lame argument. Since almost everyone pays taxes and gets some benefits from the gov't, they could use this argument on anyone.

Sarah was right. -- j
.

It is long gone. Just like that house which is now owned by a doctor in Dothan, Alabama.
My deceased mother played the piano, the organ and was the choir leader at the local Catholic church.

For 16 years I paid for an annual eye checkup $93. Was required by Lasik if my eyes needed some "tuning" after the intial burning. This year they staff noted I was 65 and said they could save me some money. I paid $35 and a $12 co-pay and so I did save some money. Great program I thought.

Then the other shoe dropped two months later when I got an EOB (Explanation of Benefits from the carrier of medicare in this state. The eye center had charged $336 and after my part they get paid by government $276. SOOOO

I figure I got a bone and the eye center got the meat. And the taxpayer got bred. Corruption and graft follows the intrusion of government monies into an enterprise.

You will be interested to know my prostate doctor doesn't take Medicare. I and many other prostate patients from near and far pay him $700 cash per visit for his services and his knowledge about effective treatment. It's as close to free market medical care as I have ever gotten ! I fly from Las Vegas to Charlottesville VA once or twice a year to see him

That's a shame, you would of liked playing.
Do you still have it...has to be a collectors item?

Put a sheet over it and take it to a collector.

Painting Cowboy Rope-A-Dope over did not occur to me. I eventually hid that guitar in the attic so I would not have to look at it in my room. I've no further memories of it.

Good to hear and good to know we'll continue to hear from you... in these blogs.

Prostate problem diagnosed in 2004. In remission now so I am happy and appreciative

Laughing...eyes watering...breathing normally now...I would of painted over the cowboy thingy! still snickering...

My first guitar was my grandfathers stringless "Tennor" guitar (4 strings), that I put old piano strings on till my paper route made enough to by a 6 string and 3.00 for lessons each week.

I may have been a musician like my mother was but~
~BUT!~
When I was half grown my mother walked into my bedroom. There I was in front of a large mirror pretending I was playing a guitar along with the music a 45RPM rock n' roll song on my little dinky record player thingie.
Might have been Elvis. That part I do not remember.
Anyway come Christmas I was surprised to receive what had to be a gift-wrapped guitar.
"Oh, hot golly!" little dino thought as he unwrapped his guitar looking present. "Future rock-n'- rolling cool baby me just got me a guitar!"
I got a guitar all right. Printed on it was a cowboy on a horse spinning a lasso.
It also came with an instruction book and I kinda started to learn how to play chords but there was always that way uncool cowboy on a horse spinning that freaking lasso.
Think little dino would be caught dead playing that guitar in front of any of my friends with a way uncool cowboy on a horse spinning that freaking lasso? Not me-ee!
Who knows? With enough practice, I may have eventually learned to play the guitar like Jimmy Hendrix or Slash. But no-oo!
Instead, my folks just had to give me a guitar with a way uncool cowboy on a horse spinning that freaking lasso.
You Gulchers with kids, listen up! You want to advance your child's musical education or performing arts advancement of freaking anything?
Don't buy him or her anything that in any way resembles, parallels or is as psychologically mind-warping as a way uncool cowboy on a horse spinning a freaking lasso!
I'll say it once and I'll say it again and again.
It's been years and years and years, but to this very day, old dino really hates that WAY UNCOOL COWBOY ON A HORSE SPINNING THAT FREAKING LASSO! AURGH!