There are cases where someone else really can't take over a task for me, either because I'm frightfully clever, or because I'm deeply involved in the task. However, I must learn how to not to let them blur that line, and end up overworking simply because we're understaffed. Helping solve understaffing is way above my pay grade. I have a bad habit of gathering tasks around me and growling at anyone who tries to take them off me. Task-hoarding, is what it is. I don't need tasks. You can't eat them.
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03:32:23 PM,
Wednesday 25 January 2006
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The executive always has the option to break the law, it is up to the congress whether to enforce the law. This isn't a constitutional right, however. There can be no right to break the law. So, in a ticking bomb case, then the president should break the law without waiting for a permission slip, then confess, explain, and ask Congress whether it would like to impeach. And people should be nice to each other, and someone should bring me a cup of tea.
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(2)
08:01:57 PM,
Tuesday 24 January 2006
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2 more horrifying things about part D: What will do to the budget, and the fact that once it kicks in, we'll never ever get rid of it. Plenty of horror stories from the poor who have had to switch programs without any overlap, and (inevitably without any change) some of whom are getting fewer benefits... but once the elderly middle class adjusts to the new system, well, you can imagine the screams whenever anyone tries to take it away.
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06:34:26 PM,
Monday 23 January 2006
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It's monday. It doesn't feel like monday, but that's because it's my 9th straight day working.
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01:12:00 PM,
Monday 23 January 2006
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Oh lord. Now whenever anyone proposes any reform to health care, everyone with a stake or in opposition is going to point to Medicare Part D and sing 'Change is Bad!' in 3 part harmony.
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(2)
12:31:18 PM,
Monday 23 January 2006
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A mandatory purpose field for personal meals on the expense report? Putting SUSTENANCE probably gets me put on a list of malcontents. It's a hard life.
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(2)
11:24:41 AM,
Monday 23 January 2006
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An attempt to claim Souter's house by eminent domain. Stupid, but also interesting. I have a strong desire to kick these people, but is a beautiful example of a bad faith use of the law. What do you do when democratically elected governments* intentionally abuse their powers in order to have those powers taken away from them? The real trouble with the law is it's extremely difficult to codify 'Don't be so daft'. Here's the Dahlia report on the oral argument.
I should probably read the opinions, but I hate reading O'Connor, Kennedy and Thomas. 4 opinions, I mean, sheesh.
*though referring to local government as democratically elected is a stretch, as recently shown in Dover, PA. It takes a lot to get people's attention.
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10:16:16 AM,
Monday 23 January 2006
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Lyrics to Rick Moranis's SOS.
SOS CIA FBI NSA CBS NBC CNN ABC
update: Whose idea was it to condense double spaces into a single space in html? Does it make any sense at all? Moss, maybe I should switch to that fancy not-html entry form you cooked up.
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SOS GNP CPI IMF GOP DNC CNN CNBC
SOS SEC CEO IRS CPR ICU RID FTD
SOS NFL MVP SUV APB ATF NRA ESPN
SOS DMZ MIA DOD ICBM NSA WMD BBC
SOS GPA SAT PTA OCD ATD PHD LLB
SOS DEA THC PCP INS NSA NPR ACLU
SOS MSN ISP IBM AOL FCC SEC CNBC
SOS NBA NHL MLB RBI FDA CDC FBI
SOS SOS SOS SOS SOS SOS SOS SOS
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(1)
02:28:27 PM,
Sunday 22 January 2006
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That's it. I give up. It's still running. If I leave really quickly, I won't see it fail, and I can escape. I'll just have to work tomorrow as well. And then lots more to do before wednesday. And then I've got an entirely seperate thing I have to get done by friday. And a trip tuesday next. Columbia MD of all the godforsaken places. I think I'm getting sicker, but it's probably just lack of sleep and stress. Maybe I should get a humidifier for work. Shouldn't have played Civ last night. Absolutely can't throw my back out next week, or I'll have missed the same in-person meeting twice for it, and that wouldn't look good. So no sitting on my feet. Not going to even think about the thrice-damned HR forms I haven't handed in (my deadline virtue at work most definitely doesn't extend to HR).
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(2)
09:27:47 PM,
Saturday 21 January 2006
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Pratchett's Wee Free Men rumoured to be made, by Sam Raimi. I'm not surprised. There were several points reading it where I thought that he had a screenplay in mind when he wrote it; fairyland is clearly rotoscoped as in that A-ha video. It's also less crowded than his regular books. I'm not particularly excited, though, since presumably it will be Shrekish. The great thing about the book is that it turns the regular alternate reality childrens story on it's head; instead of Narnia being more important than the real world, fairy-land is a dangerous, megalomaniacal delusion. The Tiffany Aching books seem as though they simply must be about mental illness, though perhaps childhood is similar enough to mental illness to confound me.
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(4)
02:40:43 PM,
Saturday 21 January 2006
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This is precisely why 'doughnut hole' insurance programs are sensible. I have a $500 dollar annual deductable and 100% coverage after that. If I think I can stay under that by a significant amount for the year, I have a strong incentive not to go to the doctor. However, once I know I'm going to hit that, I may as well consume as much as possible. So, I wait until I'm really sick to go to the doctor. This is isn't good for anyone; on average I'm going to cost more (It's generally accepted that preventive medicine saves money), I'm more likely to spread disease, and I get sicker. By moving the deductable up, say, $750 dollars starting at $250; covering the first doctors visit or two, I still have the incentive to stay under a barrier, but it's a higher barrier, so I won't just to go the doctor out of pique once I know I'm going to get over $500, but I will go when I need to. The only convincing argument I've seen against them is that they're too difficult to understand. People don't respond to incentives they don't comprehend.
The pharmacy charged me $60 dollars for the Rhinocort: it isn't on the formulary. Grah. Bad doctor. I suppose I forgot to ask. Flonase instead would have saved me $30. Too late now, I stuck it up my nose already. In retaliation I'll check the Statement of Benefits when it shows up in 2 months to see if they upcoded the visit. Upcoding - billing for a longer visit than actually happened. Nearly unenforcable unless completely blatant. I suspect minor upcoding is pretty standard. I'd be curious what happens if a patient complains about it.
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10:30:15 AM,
Saturday 21 January 2006
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I need to try drinking tea from the saucer.
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11:56:29 AM,
Friday 20 January 2006
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site & script courtesy of Moss
