Healthcare bill explained and an encounter today with Dolly Parton (182)

I think every American should take the time to click on the two segments to the right side here that will bring up a excellent explaination of this Healthcare Bill being shoved at us by our president and his congress...His name is John C. Crawford, I admire his efforts for us all.....Please click on Part 1 and then Part 2 and listen what this man from Texas who has studied the bill has to say about it...He used his own money and represents no party but himself but he represents all of us very well with his video that he sent at his own expense to all the members of congress...

OK today is our last day in Branson MO.....we have had a great time...I tell you this it is a great place to come and enjoy the over 100 great shows that are offered and relax...It is a place of much talent, and a place honoring God and Country like no other....We like it here and now have also found that it is a great place to fish for trout and will be coming back here hopefully next march for a week of fishing, camping and yes more shows to watch...

But I must share that today we went to see a Dolly Parton impersonator....she was for real, and had it all, the blonde hair, "the girls", she called them, and the voice and the figure...Anyway we sat in the middle back behind most of the people...during her act she would come off the stage and set on some of the mens laps and mess with their hair and stuff and sing to them...was all fun..getting to the tail end of the act she moves back where we were and moved into our row which was empty except for Susan and I....Susan said "aw aw here she comes"....sure enough she came over to me and said I bet you being bashful and all, thought if you were to set all the way back here that you would be safe didn't you?...I said yeal I hoped so...she said I need you up on stage with me to help me out and I pleaded please no but she would not take that for an answer so away I went up on the stage...there was a stool and a cowboy hat...she sat me down messed with my hair, said it looked like kind of a birds nest, unbottoned my shirt and ran her hand around my chest...thought I would die yeal right,,, anyway then putting the hat on me setting on my lap and singing a song about me coming in here dressed like that or something like that...not sure of the title...she finished the song and I was "let go", thank God....it was scary but kind of fun and would you know it we left the camera in the motor home....so no pics, maybe best anyway left with only words...

Socialized Healthcare (181}

First thing I want you to do here before you read any of my ideas is to click on what Ronald Reagan had to say about this huge problem of today way back when he was just an actor in Hollywood...Please do it it will be worth the listen. Gosh is it any wonder this great man went on to be the good President that he was?

And take his advise here too, about contacting your congressman and senators...As much as we all like to gripe about government it is the only real mechanism that we have to change what is wrong with it all, and to make sure that what is right with it all happens.

It just seems like every so often this thing raises its ugly head and tries to make it across the goal line. We had it with Bill Clinton and his wife's grandstand play to bring in socialized medicine. We survived that one and now here it comes again with Mr. Obama...Can somebody say lets put this nonsense to bed and then say good night and leave it lay...

Yes there are things that could be improved about our system, but we sure don't want or need a total government in charge system like is being pushed by the democrats... We need to work on it but take our time and get it right.

I think people are getting the message out there and I think there is a glimmer of hope that we can again put this nonsense of rushing into socialism to bed, I hope so...

I am grateful for the reporting done on Fox News these days...They are all over exposing the things that need to be exposed. And so encouraged with the ratings they are getting the last few weeks of 5 times the next closest networks. That means people are tired of the "yes men" always bowing to and patting Obama's everyword on the back. It does get a little sickening at times...And so the ratings is it any wonder but I guess I had lost faith in the common man's common sense in some respects..But it seems people are starting to get it about what is going on these days...Why I see where Katie Curic an out of the closet Obama worshipper, is going to enterview Glenn Beck on CBS....I guess CBS is finally waking up to the fact that people are watching this guy so lets get him on and try and make him look bad...

On weekends I enjoy the Mike Huckabee show on Fox...it is light hearted but he is a man of wisdom I do believe and I hope he will make another run at the white house in 2012...

I am also getting encouraged with the ridiculous leadership being portrayed by the democrats in congress and the executive branch, that come next year we will replace a lot of them with people who can think about what is good long term for the nation as a whole and not just a bunch of hand out programs that make all of us "cripples" when we are not crippled and our nation then top heavy and in danger of sinking instead of being there to protect our position in the world today.

I am afraid some hard work lies ahead for us all...We have got to make stuff here and buy the stuff made here, its the only way we will survive long term...the buy it cheap chicken has come home to roost.....wipe your feet before coming in the house....

Taking the Reins for my own Healthcare (180)

You know I think one of the big problems with today's Healthcare cost is the fact that we just don't want to be bothered. I really do we want Big Brother or our Doctor or our Insurance Provider to do it all for us, and we are willing to pay a heavy amount upfront to rid ourselves of accounting and involvement into our own workings of our health care cost. The last 6 years I have been on Medicare I have seen my Supplement Insurance go from 1000 dollars the first year to last years premium of 2200 dollars. And a couple months ago when my new bill came it was for $2350 and it got me to thinking. Thinking is good, sometimes it pays off to think about and investigate where are money is going. So first I had to find out just how this Medicare/Supplement things even works, you know it kinda helps if you do that first. Well that did not take to long, you see first Medicare is billed and they are the ones that set the pay amount a doctor or other provider is to be paid for a service for our health care. And I learned that they then pay the provider/doctor/hospital 80% of the accepted amount and then my supplement paid the other 20% and with my PLAN F that I had purchased through Anthem Blue Cross 6 years ago I never ever saw a bill for my needs. That is good, I loved it, I just got what I needed and paid my yearly bill that went from 1000 to 2350 in those 6 years.

So armed with my quickly learned knowledge of the "system", I decided to see what I was getting for my 2,350 dollars per year. I had knee surgery a little over a year ago, I see a skin doctor twice a year and my GP I check in with about every 3 months for ongoing odds and ends but nothing major...My ticker and my other essentials are for the most part functioning well....So I called Anthem and ask for a print out of all they had paid in my behalf for the last 2 years. The results came in a few days and I saw that they had paid a total of 2000 dollars over that time but had collected from me about 4300 dollars. That kind of got my attention, but then I realized that part of this is having the coverage in case I get the big quadruple heart by pass or have to fight cancer or other really bad stuff ahead...But I just could not seem to let it just go away and I was told by a couple people that Bankers Life and Casualty was a good company. So I called them and set up and interview. I told the agent I was interested in what they had to offer but was hoping to lower my cost of protection. Turns out Bankers did have the plan that I believe will keep me a little busy writing small checks now and then but will save me some big bucks down the road.

You see I had "Plan F", with Anthem and never saw a bill but it does not cover any drug expense, and that I was OK with as I get my 6 drugs that keep me going at Wal-Mart using the generic stuff for 10 bucks for a 90 day supply...So for about 20 bucks a month I am purring like a kitten getting a back rub....as far as drugs are concerned and that has been my healthcare cost for the last 6 years, well except for me paying eye and dental expense although some of my eye doctoring is covered by Medicare also. And of course that big bill I have been paying to Anthem for my Supplement Plan F....

Well to make this long story not get to long Bankers Life offered me the same Plan F but with a 2000 dollar deductible for a fee of 326 dollars...I checked with Anthem and they did not offer a high deductible Plan F so I made the switch...Anthem and I parted ways I kept my 2350 dollars and gave 326 of it to Banker Life for the same plan but with a high deductible...So now I will see bills for the 20% that Medicare does not pay. I will still have them bill Bankers Life each and every time so as to keep them abreast of what I am paying...And if I should have the big stuff happen to me I will go through the deductible pretty quickly but then they will kick in and pay everything after I pay my 2000 dollars...So unless I have missed something here I think I have taken a good course. Instead of paying 2350 up front, I now will pay a maximum if I have bad stuff happen to me of 2326, but if I stay green side up the next few years and go along like I have been, I most likely will pay the average of 1000 per year in bills and I will keep that 1350 dollars a year in my pocket or somewhere inbetween, but regardless from my vantage point I can not loose....

Now I think this could also benefit the whole healthcare system, because while I am paying these little trivial bills now and then until I reach the 2000 deductible, I am also personally involved in the cost of my healthcare. Will I go without healthcare to save a little money? No I won't, but I may from time to time say do I really need that procedure done that the doctor says may help me, or will I be just as well off without it. I don't know for sure as I am just beginning this journey, but I think personally it will be good to be more involved in the cost of my care, and at the same time I like the idea of most likely saving some pretty big money each year. And at the same time having the same plan that I had before and knowing that my maximum payout will not be any more even if I have catastrophic things happen to me...

I think it is going to be fun....and others may want to think about the same and long term for healthcare cost in this country we may all benefit.

Persimmons Pecans and Paw Paw's (179)

This farmers rotation and blog title is Corn and Beans and Naples and the potential for all three of those is "good" at this juncture of time. But I think before that, during that and maybe even after all of it there will be mixed in from time to time some really fun and delicious goodness headed our way...God has been good this year as most years to Indiana...and I guess for the most part to the heartland of the nation...Was a wet spring, stayed wet and cool most of the early summer and has now turned off rather dry but coolness has prevailed for the most part...My electric bill this August was one half of last year and last year being about normal...Now this weather pattern has most likely produced a good corn crop, I walked through mine today and yes it is good, the soy bean crop is also good but the late dryness the last month has taken the top off the yeilds on beans...I am pretty sure the crop will still be fair but we have likely lost 10 bushels per acre with this late dryness which could have been much worst had we gotten heat with it...Coolness was good.

But as seen in the three pictures to the right side of story 179 here there are other exciting things grown here in Hoosierland, USA....Nothing quite like Persimmon Pudding...Now I am not sure if they are called differently but, I have enjoyed it two ways, one as a real pudding, and one baked into kind of a brownie type deal that also is excellent....both served warm and your in for a treat that is hard to beat. Comes with a price though as all good things. After the first good frost these persimmons get softer and sweeter, and kind of "mushy", before that they will make you pucker like alum for sure...But the frost kind of takes the pucker right out of them and into the colander you throw them...You know that cone shaped apparatus with holes in it...then you take that little wooden bat and around and around you go for quite some time, maybe a good time to enjoy a glass of nice wine even as you squeese the squeesens out of these now soft and goey little fruits...But soon all you have left in the colander is many seeds and some hulls and the good stuff has found its way through the many holes and fallen into a pan below...There in lies the makins for the many reciepe's you will find for Persimmon pulp on google maybe...or call your grandma maybe she has one...

Second pic is somewhat an odd crop for this far north, but Pecans can be grown here and this years crop looks interesting...The pecans are not as large as in Georgia or in your grocery store at Christmas time but the price is right and if I haul out enough for one pecan pie I will probably be happy with that, it's the novelty of it all I guess on this one...

Now last but surely not least are the Paw Paw's....Wow I have written about these baby's last year and this year they are as last, "gorgeous". And here again the first good hard frost ripens these Indiana Banana's real quickly. Last year Sweet Pea and I located a nice patch of paw paw trees in a 'woods' that will remain unnamed for sure. But this year as we hunted mushrooms there we noticed the patch drops down over a hill and is a lot larger than we originally thought it to be...So now Paw Paws are going to be something we will have fun with as we visit this area a time or two with a couple 5 gallon buckets and we bring out a lot of good eating....They are fabulous kind of a custard type inside after you pinch them in half...You develope a taste for them year after year, they just keep getting better..Also we have learned to freeze them easily by wrapping each in newspaper and dropping them into the freezer for a winter time "thaw and chaw", enjoy....

Well there you have my three P's for today, all good, all some work and all some fun....Have a great day...The grain markets surged today on early frost scares for the upper mid west the last of this month...if that comes true then maybe our first good frost will not be far behind and after that well you know what I will be doing...Persimmons, Pecans, and Paw Paw's

Socialistic Healthcare and Bagworms (178)

Looks can be very decieving. For years I looked at these objects in the picture to the right and thought they were some sort of pine cones...they look like a cone attached to the pine trees...One day Phil Burket stopped by my place and noticed them and said boy you got bag worms bad on this tree...I admitted I did not recognize I had a problem and thought they were some sort of pine cones...He said no the worms are pretty darn smart and they disguise themselves that way, but when your not watching a worm crawls out the top of these and proceeds to eat your tree...You better get after these if you like this tree...Well now I know and I pick these things off each year from my trees and the numbers are getting less but not much...But just last week I found a couple golden globe jupiters or what ever they are along my side walk about 6 feet tall that when pulling the outer foliage apart I found was just lousy with these terrorist bagworms....I got the chain saw and I cut them off at ground level..I put them on my burn pile and they burned very well...there had to be over a thousand of them, to many to pick off one at a time but not too many to fuel a really good cleansing fire.....I may have found the source of my problems, hope so...

It is amazing how nature can be that intelligent that a moth or whatever constructs this really tough home from material that makes it so decieving that it could fool an average bear like me...I admit it they did it, but I have also admitted in the past to slow learnership now and then...but man when I finally get it these guys are now on my terror level of red....

But now comes this Healthcare that seems to be on peoples minds so awful much these days. I just don't know, I admit it I don't know for sure, but I do feel we need something, but we don't need a blank check approach. I think we have to be very careful here as some of these adgenda's this administration has seem to me to be moving us dangerously close to a socialistic government....I think this wanting to be able to give everyone a lot of things just may be a Trojan Horse at our door or simpler terms, maybe a lot of "bagworms"....

This President scares me to death. He is so smooth in his delivery of all of these "ideas for change", but I have a pretty good sense of how salesmanship works, I was one for a period of time, and I just can read from it all that this guy really does not have answers just ideas and they are grandure idea's that very liberal factions in this nations absolutely love....But they do flirt with socialism and that does scare me, it is not what this nation was about at birth but it could be what puts us into a downward spiral that could then someday surprise us all when the worm comes out of the bag and eats our tree....

I hope Congress will take it slow and maybe do something very very basic as far as health insureance for those who are not able to afford it...But man I hope they keep it very basic as compared to making it a "right" to "equal" healthcare is just wrong and something this nation can not afford. I am sorry but you take the reward out of scratching and earning a living here in this nation and we will be in big and I mean big trouble....Our liberal factions have been flirting with this kind of stuff a long time, chipping away at peoples needs, and providing things that frankly put ambitions to work and be successful on hold somewhat. The Banking fiasco we just cleaned up with way to much tax money was caused by these liberal factions providing demands to provide way to much lending to people who just did not qualify and in way to large amounts...no way were they going to be able to return what was lent to them....and the stock fiasco was tied to the same liberal manueving that then sold these bad loans to people for investments...they were investements alright, investments in con games and dead end ideas of very liberal people...

I hope we can somehow turn this around and get back to basic government for the common good of all but allow us to help ourselves....It is a huge problem and it is good that people are finally taking notice of it, maybe we have turned a corner I hope so....but lots of work lies ahead for sure....Some how last night I just felt like I was being sold a car that may have been flood damaged, things just don't add up with the savings words and government being able to wave the magic wan and somehow we all live happily ever after....we need to proceed with much caution....

Some how it seems to me a more pressing thing is getting our people to work not healthcare....
And somehow getting people to instill patriotism in their daily lives and buying habits....How will we ever get people to work when everything we buy is imported from countries that do work and make the stuff? It is for this slow learner, seemingly a pretty simple thing...we make our socks, our cars, our food, our clothing, our hardwood flooring and floor tile, our lumber, all right here, that will put people to work..and if need be to be competitive we burn coal and firewood and we burn ethanol in our cars, we tell the liberals to go fly thier kites elsewhere..maybe its too late, I hope not....but real problems are being put aside for fluff of raising our society to a level that none of us can afford....

Museum of the U.S. Marines (177)

On my recent visit to DC with TogetherWeServed.com we were offered a very special time inside the Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico Virginia. On Friday after closing they reopened it just for our appoximately 160 some people for private viewing and banquet in the great hall in the center of the museum. It was a memorable time for all of us...Great open bar, great dinner and a few good speakers including our own Maj. Wes Prater the founder of our good web site and Gen Ron Christmas the man who has overseen the fund raising, construction and now operation of this hallowed place.

If ever you motor along I-95 on your way north or south try and take a couple hours out of your schedule to stop by and view what is offered free inside. You can not miss the place as it has a huge aluminum beam protuding into the Virginia sky. That encompassed with the architecture itself supposedly depicts the image of the flag raising moment of raising the flag over Iwo Jima in the Pacific during world war two...I guess that photo is no doubt not only the most published photo of the war but also the defining moment in time of the Marine Corps...But inside the museum you will find many many of these defining moments that make up the history of this great part of this nations defense forces. These forces and the people who served in them have made the USA unlike what we are told, but the most looked up to and envied nation ever to inhabit this God made world. We have without a doubt what it takes to be a solid citizen among nations of this world...We need appologize to no one, we have and still are the cop on the beat for this world and were we not there, well I think it would be a pretty scary world.

Inside this museum you will see life like displays that almost put you into the front lines with these events that they depict...My Picaso at the right is pictures from that night and if you click on it you will be able to make them larger or look at them individually... I hope you will take the time as the picaso is small and does not do them justice. The tatered flag on display there at this time has a very interesting story with it and lucky for me a volunteer from the museum was standing there and shared it with me.....During the early stages of the war the Japs were expanding their territory after the Pearl Harbor attack...We had Marine Corps forces protecting the Island of Wake in the Pacific. They wanted it and invaded and this flag was flying there that day. They killed every marine on that island that day, I remember seeing a movie when in high school about Wake Island...Anyway the commanding officer of the Jap forces claimed the flag as a personal souviner and took it home with him to Japan. No one knew of it until he recently died and his widow was very gracious and said, "this flag belongs to the Marines"...anyway the Marines of course treasure this flag and it is displayed in a rotation with other flags such as the Iwo Jima flags that were raised over that island during the war.

I joined the Marine Corps Association long ago because there was a dream of constructing this museum....And I have donated some funds from time to time to them for this purpose...I think the idea of building it completely with donated funds was a great idea....the work is still happening and more funds are needed so I hope any fellow marines that read this and maybe others who choose to will help out....They have bricks for sale to leave you mark there or to commemorate a loved one maybe. I did a brick in honor of my Boot Camp Platoon a few years back...It is along the sidewalk walking up the hill...I have another one still to be laid that I made in memory of my wife Linda who died a few months back of cancer....she was a trooper and accompanied me to the dedication of the museum on Nov. 10, 2006 just a few months before she died...If you go to the pictures on the right side of this blog and span all the way down, you will see one of my favorite photo's of her with a Marine Captain who honored us with his presents that day as we arrived at the ceremony....I will never forget him, he was a vet of both Iraq and Afganistan like my grandson Lucas. He met us at the Bus and told me I would need to clear security as the President was there that day, but that this fine lady would not have to because she was with him....he stayed with us for maybe 45 minutes showing us around before returning to his duties as a official greeter...Glad I am typing this as I still get a frog in the throat talking about it...But the placement of this brick leads to my final story for todays blog....

A Chapel overlooking the museum on a small hill was planned for the future...A former marine visiting from California toured the museum and learned of the proposed future chapel...I like this story about his generousity and the flexiblility that this museum exhibited after recieving it...
He of course is very successful in the food business there but does want to remain anonyomus but credits his success to his marine training and experiences. Anyway he and his wife upon departure from the museum gave a envelope with a check in side and simply stated that with this money they would like to see the chapel project accelerated....The check was for 5 million dollars....the museum started digging up on the hill before the end of that week....The Chapel is almost complete I looked it over and it will be dedicated next month. And Linda's Lahrman's brick will be there...

Semper Fi, one last story coming yet about the reunion that gunny Bill and I are setting up for next year...