Posts from — September 2014

Updated at the Bottom

For the past few years, I have written extensively about the Affordable Care Act.  Like here.  And here.  I’ve interviewed Secretary Sebelius about the act.  I’ve served as the press pooler in the Oval Office in a meeting about the act.

When I wrote all those posts, I was laughably lucky.  Living a pretty comfortable middle class life with cushy insurance.

And now I’m on Obamacare.

Thank G-d.

I mean, really, thank G-d.  If it didn’t exist, we wouldn’t have insurance at all.  Not with the astronomical cost of insurance for the unemployed.

Back when I wrote those posts and mentioned how you never know when you will run into a catastrophic health event, I didn’t even think about how much this health care law would also become meaningful when you’re out of work.  I mean, who expects to be jobless in the future when they have a nice, stable job?  But that’s the point: you support these things, even when you don’t personally need it because there are people out there who do.  And then it is there for you when the tables turn and now you are the person in need.  Acts of government that protect vulnerable citizens: it’s a good thing.

When I see people whining about their tax dollars going to help others or their government making laws that ensure that all Americans have access to basic necessities like health care, all I think is, “I really hope your life doesn’t change at all.  I hope no random event forces you out of your comfortable bubble.”  Or maybe it would be a good thing if all people were forced to live out the decisions they make for others.  I have a feeling that a lot more people would support social welfare programs if they ever had to utilize social welfare programs.

And lest you think you will never utilize social welfare programs… well… I just laugh.  Because no one knows where life will take them.  Even those who have planned carefully for rainy days.

So that’s the point of all of this: when you vote, you should do so not looking at what your life looks like now, but what your life may possibly look like if things changed.  Because I guarantee you, there is someone living out that reality in the here and now, and they would be eternally grateful if you thought of them as well as yourself.

I never thought I would need Obamacare.

But now I do.  And you know what, I am really really really glad it exists.

Thank you, President Obama.

Update:

I placed this in the comment section, but didn’t want the point to get lost (and wanted to add a link).

One thing I think we also need to be careful about is when to blame the system, when to blame the new laws, and when to blame the insurance companies. A lot of the complaints I hear are not actually the fault of the law but a problem with the insurance companies trying to make as much money as possible off of someone else’s health issues. That’s the biggest problem with our system: that the goal of the insurance company is to make money, not actually provide coverage for health care.

And yet, we need to have insurance.

If any insurance plan was not compliant with the new law, that insurance company had a choice to become compliant and work in the best interest of their clients while still providing a salary for everyone in the company. And yet many insurance companies have not chosen to work in the best interest of their clients. Which I think says more about insurance companies than it does about the law which is simply there to make sure that people don’t burden the system and that all have access to basic health care.

Just to get a sense of the CEOs salaries for major insurers in America, you can look at stats from 2012.  Cigna paid their CEO $19.1 million.  One person.  $19.1 million dollars.  UnitedHealth: $13.4 million.  Aetna is a bargain at $10.6 million.  Do CEOs deserve a big salary for taking on the burden of responsibility for the company.  Absolutely.  But does any human on earth truly need a salary of $19.1 million dollars in order to live?  Especially while their company is making access to health care prohibitively expensive for average, middle class citizens?

I just want to make sure that we’re directing our frustration in the correct direction.  I don’t think the problem is really the law.  I think the problem is an insurance system that takes advantage of its clients.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

Gizmodo had an article about an Occulus-Rift-like contraption created by Marriott that turned virtuality into a 4D experience.  It’s not just seeing images in front of you: you’re inside a teleporter-like device that pipes in smells, wind, vibrations, etc.  The one-minute trip currently takes you to a beach and then London.

Of course I love to go to actual, physical spaces and explore them on my own, but there are many places that I know I will never get to in this lifetime, mostly due to physical limitations, fear, or fantasy: top of Everest, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica, Hogwarts, the Shire.  A machine like this would be perfect to simulate being there without actually having to go there or when you can’t actually go there.

Can you imagine a library-like space in the future where you could go and strap a machine on your head and order up any place you wish?  I’d go to places I’ve never been to and revisit places I’ve been.  It would be like being inside Google street view.  But anywhere.  And feel as if you’re there.

Where would you want to virtually go?

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored posts.

So a guy goes to a few countries and asks people on the street what they would wish for if they were to come across a magic-granting genie.  Once you get past the first 42 seconds of wishes for money, it becomes very moving.  And yes, your heart will get a little mushy and you may even tear up.  Okay, I started bawling by the time the woman gleefully said, “long time joy!”

The point, of course, is that no matter where you live in the world, we all want the same sort of things.  But it also made me sit for a long time and wonder if I’d use my three wishes for the main themes that popped up in that list (going under the assumption that I go into wishing with all the things I already have now) or if I’d go off-the-beaten path.  And then, do I go in a direction for overall good or personal gain?

It’s so hard to know what to wish for, especially if wishing for unlimited wishes is off the table. It seemed that way… or else why wouldn’t any of the people in the film wish for that?

So I guess I would go for…

1. Good health for everyone.  Even the bad guys.  They get good health.
2. To have all the superpowers, and I’d use them to take down the healthy bad guys.  See, because the bad guys won’t get cancer now, so something has to be done to bring them down.  So I will get the ability to fly, become invisible, have superhuman strength AND I will be able to grant those powers to other people.
3. Peace of heart for everyone.  Not happiness.  Not buffering from sadness.  Just the ability to refind balance after you’ve been swept into grief or joy.  To be able to cope with our emotions.

I am counting on you guys to wish for other things and sweep up all the wishes that I couldn’t get to.

So what would you wish for if you ran into a 3-wish-granting genie?

P.S. Look, I didn’t even do something stupid with my wish like wish that lots of people particpate tomorrow in #MicroblogMondays because using up a wish as a reminder would be a very silly and wasteful thing to do.

…Actually, I’m not sure why.  Afterward, I came up with a reason: I could finally be present for the nascent stage of a site.  But that hadn’t occurred to me when I logged in the first time.

For those who don’t know, Ello is a new social media site.  It’s simple; maybe too simple.  It’s difficult to find anyone.  But it’s ad-free and tracking-free, and you can use whatever name you choose.  In fact, there are very few rules to the site and many problems will exist when the not-so-nice people show up to the party, since they always do.  There is no way to block someone from interacting with you.  No way to maintain any privacy.

But right now, it’s a very nice site, and I’m enjoying speaking with people over there.  I wish there were more conversations and fewer declarations, but I assume that will happen in time.  Right now, I’m just watching the site learn to crawl.

If you want to find me, my profile is here: https://ello.co/stirrupqueen.

Are you on it?

Welcome back to IComLeavWe. It stands for International Comment Leaving Week, but if you say it aloud, doesn’t it sounds like “I come; [but] leave [as a] we”? And that’s sort of the point. Blogging is a conversation and comments should be honoured and encouraged. I like to say that comments are the new hug–a way of saying hello, giving comfort, leaving congratulations. Here is the vital information, pure and simple (a more detailed set of rules follows below the list):

• The list opens the 1st of every month. It remains open until the 21st. You can add yourself at any point. The list is open to everyone in the blogosphere–blog writers and/or blog readers.
• Add yourself to the list by filling out this form after adding the icon below: The October list is now closed.  The November list will open on 10/27.
  
• Click here to cut-and-paste this bit of code to add to your sidebar (if you have the old code from another month, remove it and replace it with this one). You need to add the icon or a link to the current list on your blog (see below) and will not be added until it’s up.
• Commenting kicks off every month on the 21st. Please mark it somewhere (calendar, post-it note taped to your computer…), though I will be sending out an email reminder on the 20th. Commenting week runs from the 21st to the 28th. Every day, leave 5 comments and return 1 comment for a total of 6 comments. You are highly encouraged to choose the blogs you comment on from the participants list below, but this is not required.
• I will send a second email on the 28th to remind you to remove the icon from your blog.
• Read below if you want to find out about Iron Commenters.
• The commenting ends on the 28th. We catch our breath and the whole thing starts again the next month on the 1st. Drop in and out according to what is happening in your life between the 21st and the 28th.

The October 2014 List

1. Stirrup Queens (twins, books, writing)
2. Comatised (adventures, life, love)
3. Stellar (love, life, recovery)
4. Breathe Gently (IVF, miscarriage, toddler-mum)
5. Climbing the Pomegranate Tree (MFI, FET, post-transfer)
6. Muddy Boots and Diamonds (life, PPMD, children)
7. At least I still have humor (pcos, law school, infertility)
8. One Tough Egg (infertility, weight loss, PCOS)
9. Four Years Later… (secondary infertility, IVF)
10. River Run Dry (zen, running, parenting)
11. How to be Infertile (infertility, pcos, uncategorized)
12. Life and its experiments (real, genuine, love)
13. Experimental Socks (writing love letters)
14. Joyfully Infertile (infertility, loss, faith)
15. Amateur Nester (infertility, faith, encouragement)
16. Seeing Thestrals (perinatal loss, hope)
17. Dubliner in Deutschland (travel, expat, life)
18. IUI, RnY, and My Journey to Baby #2 (rainbow pregnancy, CAH)
19. Life and its experiments (real, genuine, love)
20. In Due Time (faith, waiting, health)
21. The Quest for a Tiny Human (IF, IVF, fur babies)
22. A Little Bit More (infertility, life, TTC)
23. What a Day for a Daydream (IVF, parenting twins)
24. The Poetic Philosopher (poem, life, India)
25. A Virtual Hobby Store and Coffee Haus (life, news, books)
26. Just Another Infertility Blog (fet, infertility, life)
27. The October list is now closed.  The November list will open on 10/27.
    

Q: What if I miss a day?

A: Catch up the next day by doubling your comments–12 comments instead of 6.

Q: What if I have two blogs? Can I sign up twice, listing both blogs?

A: Yes, but you also need to double your comments. If you have two blogs listed, you should be leaving 12 comments per day.

Q: What is an Iron Commenter?

A: Not for the faint-of-heart. People who wish to be an Iron Commenter and be entered on the Iron Commenter honour roll need to leave a comment on every blog on the participants list (exceptions are blogs that require you to have a special log-in, such as some LiveJournal accounts or other similar situations). You can spread out this commenting any way you wish over the whole week, but the final comment needs to be left by midnight on the 28th (EST). Reaching Iron Commenter status is done on an honour system. Please email me if you earn Iron Commenter status so I can add you to the wall of honour.

Q: Why do I have to add that bit of code to my sidebar?

A: The code is the latest icon (the icon changes colour every month so you know that you’re on the right list). This month, the icon is orange, the next month it will be dark blue, etc. The reason is two-fold: (1) it enables more people to find out about IComLeavWe and (2) it gives you easy access to the current list once the commenting week actually begins and better ensures that you’ll use it. Too many times, people sign up and forget to actually do IComLeavWe and this icon gives you a daily reminder (with the dates on it) every time you open your own blog. The icon is linked back to the current list. On the 28th, remove the icon from your blog. A new one will be created for the next month.

Q: It’s the 23rd and I just saw this for the first time on my friend’s blog! I want to join the list–why can’t I?

A: Because IComLeavWe happens every month, once the list is closed, it’s closed. If you’re finding out about this on the 23rd, you can’t join the current month. But leave yourself a note to check back in a week on the 1st and you can sign up for the next month.

Q: You said the list closes on the 21st. Well, it’s still the 21st where I am. Why aren’t you moving my information onto the list?

A: All dates and times are U.S. Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours). The list closes around 11 p.m. EST on the 21st.

Q: What if no one comments on my blog and I have no comments to return?

A: Well, that really doesn’t happen for the most part, but in that case, simply choose another blog and add an additional comment. The goal is to hit 6 comments daily as a minimum. Going over that is fantastic and encouraged.

Q: Mel, my question wasn’t covered at all. What do I do?

A: Email me; I’m quite friendly. It helps to place “IComLeavWe” in the subject line. You could also check this post which contains the history of IComLeavWe and see if you can glean anything there.

Looking for the comment section? It has been closed on this post. Use the form in the directions to add yourself to the list.