For the grown, sexy and intelligent

Let's All Take Some Blame

2011-02-11T16:02:00.000-08:00

The pivotal question hanging in the balance: How do we reduce healthcare costs? And to whom does the responsibility fall? Is it reigning in pharmaceutical companies? Is it improving and implementing state of the art health information technology (HIT)? Is it stopping insurance companies from gouging consumers? Is it encouraging physicians to stop practicing defensive medicine? Sure, all of these are reasonable ways to reduce costs and save the system some money. However, in this ongoing debate over healthcare reform, an important piece continually gets ignored. The less people get sick and have to visit a hospital or physicians office, the less it costs the entire system. Plain and simple. Decrease the demand with a stagnant supply and prices (or costs) will go down. Take any economics 101 class at a community college and you will learn this nugget of knowledge. The largest threat to decreasing healthcare costs is apathy and neglect from people towards their own health. PPACA offers no incentive (or disincentive) for that behavior to change. Reducing true healthcare costs begins with the patient. The rest is just healthcare financing, cost shifting and organizational development.

Creating an efficient and less wasteful healthcare model will undoubtedly help reduce spending.
Reducing unnecessary stays in the hospital and eliminating administrative errors, like billing fraud, will work to maximize efficiency. The continued proliferation of HIT will contribute to the effort by improving waiting times and increasing patient safety. But if the line of patients keeps growing, costs will continue to skyrocket and negate any savings seen by other efforts. Paying people less, a key government strategy in reducing costs, isn’t reducing a healthcare “cost”, it’s reducing a government expense. In some cases, it actually will punish a physician or provider who does their part, follows all the protocols, but a non-compliant patient keeps them from meeting certain “quality standards.”

What about the patient’s role in helping to reduce costs? In all the uproar over healthcare reform, the patient has been portrayed as the victim abused by greedy drug companies and forgotten by profit hungry insurance companies. A 10 year old with a rare genetic condition, a very unfortunate circumstance, is not bankrupting the system. What about attacking the high number of preventable illnesses and conditions that plagues and drain money from the healthcare system? The prevalence of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, joint injuries and other chronic conditions continue to increase and worsen because patients refuse to take care of themselves. Nothing in the PPACA bill will directly address and aggressively impact the near $147 billion in healthcare spending related to obesity other than the drugs might be cheaper. Giving more obese patients access to cheaper drugs will only serve to increase future spending. If we reduced the number of obese individuals, causing less demand for those drugs and other services, true costs would go down. Not to mention it may improve the quality of life for those individuals and their families.

Americans should want healthcare reform to address access to healthier foods, including fruits and vegetables, and promoting the LIFELONG benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Patients who don’t take care of themselves shouldn’t be treated like victims. If we continue down this path, the United States will have the most efficient, least wasteful healthcare system in the world with waiting rooms full of overweight patients with diabetes that smoke. Is that what we want?

Why Health Insurance is Doomed to Fail

2010-08-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

The health insurance market, currently in dire straits, has a forecast that isn’t very favorable. For starters, health insurance resembles traditional insurance only slightly, but all the holes, gaps and traps make it self-defeating. Health insurance is inherently adversely selective, full of moral hazard and pays for things that “insurance” isn’t designed to cover. All these characteristics lead to market failure and a host of other problems.

Traditional insurance is meant to protect individuals (or corporations) from catastrophic or severe financial disaster resulting from accidental or unforeseen losses. For a single individual to “insure” themselves, the cost of assuming that risk is so astronomical that only a few can afford it. The Law of Large Numbers, a mathematical and guiding principle of insurance, teaches us that a large pool of individuals is needed for an optimal market. However, when an individual can opt out of purchasing health insurance, the market suffers. In that scenario, the spread of risk becomes concentrated among fewer participants causing premiums to increase. Also, the participants who choose to stay frequently “utilize” the system because it’s cheaper than assuming the full cost themselves. That’s adverse selection. The new healthcare law aims to deter the free flow of market departure, but the effectiveness will depend on whether the constraints are strong enough.

In its current structure, health insurance, for those who have it, does provide for protections against catastrophic losses. Within that framework, it also provides coverage for catastrophic losses caused or mitigated by individual negligence. This contributes to market failure. When insurance covers losses resulting from individual negligence, and sometimes intentional behavior, with no apparent consequences, the insured (patient) will continue to incur these losses. This is regardless of whether they are aware of the behavior or not. Insurance should cover fortuitous or accidental losses. Trauma related losses such as car accident injuries and broken bones from sports can be considered more conventional catastrophic losses that health insurance should look to cover. Bariatric surgery or heart bypass surgery needed subsequent to a life full of poor eating habits and a lack of exercise are losses incurred due to negligence. Without a market mechanism to recognize these and other behaviors as high risk or uninsurable, the health insurance market will suffer. The new health care law may exacerbate this problem by removing lifetime coverage limits for individuals and setting a fixed range for premium for certain classes of individuals.

As stated before, insurance is traditionally for catastrophic issues. Health insurance routinely covers claims for services and “losses” that are not catastrophic. Should a yearly physical be considered a “loss.” Is there an over-utilization of these types of services because they are covered? And if individuals were to pay the true costs, would the utilization decrease? Would consumers see these costs as too high, driving demand down? Would suppliers (physicians) see this as a reason to lower prices? Without these preventive and maintenance services, would the risk of catastrophic losses then increase due to individual negligence? A look at the behavior of individuals with health savings accounts (HSA’s) or high deductible plans may offer some insight. With increased financial responsibility, would consumers become more aware of their own negligence or vice versa? Answering these questions proves difficult due to the volatility of public and political opinions regarding health insurance.

I am no healthcare economist, but the health insurance market has far to go before becoming pareto optimal.

The lack of medical liability tort reform ranks high

2008-11-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

The lack of consistent and effective medical liability tort reform throughout the country ranks as the largest issue affecting the healthcare system. Physicians and patients could benefit from improved tort reform in the United States. Medical liability tort reform impacts malpractice premiums, access to medical care and the quality of care delivered.

Medical liability tort reform can be split into two key components, pre-trial and post-trial. The pre-trial reform component concerns matters such as who can file a lawsuit and the worthiness of the case, with respects to the medical care rendered. In some jurisdictions family members file suits on behalf of an injured party. This is in addition to the injured party filing a lawsuit. In some instances, “pro se” lawsuits are filed. “Pro se” means that the plaintiff is not represented by an attorney. These caveats only serve to increase the number of suits. Some jurisdictions require a certified medical expert to sign off on a case prior to it being filed. Without this provision and others like it, court dockets fill up with frivolous and duplicate lawsuits.

Post trial reform includes limits and restrictions on what can be paid as damages and the amount of those damages. Damages are usually separated into economic and non-economic categories. Non-economic damages include restitution for pain and suffering, loss of consortium and punitive damages. Economic damages include lost wages and the patient’s medical bills. In medical malpractice lawsuits, the plaintiff can request as damages the full amount billed by the provider, as opposed to the amounts paid to the provider by a third party payor. Obviously a cap placed on either of these types of damages is beneficial to physicians in regards to the malpractice premium.

The majority of medical professional liability policies provide coverage on a first dollar basis with defense costs outside the limits of liability. The premium has an administrative and claim factor built into the rate for every specialty. The more that factor increases, the higher the premium. The cost of damages is also a factor built into the rate for the premium. Uncapped damages make it difficult for insurers to accurately calculate the indemnity factor. Jury verdicts are often unpredictable and inconsistent even in similar demographic jurisdictions. Plaintiffs understand this and often try to inflate the true “value” of their cases. This increases the severity factor of malpractice claims. Frivolous lawsuits combined with uncertainty in the courts drive up the overall cost of malpractice insurance, including the premium.

Increased malpractice premiums for a physician, or group practice, bring heightened focus to the bottom line and operating more efficiently. Usually operating more efficiently is desirable in any business setting, but for physicians, this has become an increasingly difficult task. Overhead costs are rising as the cost of providing medical care increases. But it is not only the cost of providing medical care, but the cost of doing business. A few expenses that drive up the cost of doing business include employee salaries and benefits, leased office space and utility costs. On the other hand, reimbursements to physicians have been falling in recent years as health insurers and the government programs try to curb their costs. The net overall effect appears in the form of a shrinking income, forcing many physicians to close their doors. For those that struggle to stay open, they attempt to offset this decrease in profit margin, or increase in deficit, by seeing more patients during the already full workday.

As physicians begin to see more patients per day, the quality of care begins to diminish. The reduced time spent with each patient increases the chance of a medical error occurring. As the likelihood for error increases, so does the physician’s potential for liability, thus creating a circular problem. There is a business need to see more patients, but by doing so, the physician increases the chance of an error, increasing his overall liability, which could raise the premium if litigation eventually results. A decrease in the quality of patient care is another tangential effect of liability reform driving up malpractice costs.

While the quality of care to patients suffers, access to medical care also decreases for patients. With shrinking, and sometimes disappearing, profit margins, many physicians find themselves in the position to either close their doors, relocate or retire. This holds especially true in rural areas and poorer neighborhoods where there just doesn’t exist the large number of patients to support the practice. While all types of physicians experience this economic crunch, including specialists like obstetricians, primary care physicians are most affected. In order to maintain a level of profit, or just break even, these physicians are forced to move closer to metropolitan areas where there is a larger patient base. This forces patients in rural and poorer neighborhoods to travel further distances for medical care or choose to go without.

In addition to impacting malpractice premiums and access to medical care, the lack of liability reform gives rise to the concept of defensive medicine. During training, physicians are taught primarily evidence-based medicine. But in the world of private practice, with every patient a potential plaintiff, defensive medicine reigns supreme. This phenomenon results in an increased overall cost of healthcare per patient. Physicians order scores of potentially unnecessary tests and labs mainly to better defend themselves in a potential suit. With the ever-increasing cost of medical technology, defensive medicine in some ways keeps inflating the true cost of healthcare.

Defensive medicine can also have a subtle effect on a physician’s confidence and judgment. If a physician lives in constant worry that their decision, not only could be, but also will be second-guessed, their confidence level may be adversely affected. Typically physicians are well educated, well trained individuals who want to do nothing more than help patients. That confidence level is deflated when, in a courtroom, the physician is accused of “killing their patient.” These accusations can damage the psyche and some physicians find it difficult to recover from this painful experience.

With improved tort reform, the practice of defensive medicine would diminish, malpractice premiums would decrease and the quality of, and access to, medical care would increase. Other aspects of the healthcare system deserve discussion, such as the uninsured and underinsured population. The inefficiencies of Medicare and Medicaid need attention as well. However, reform and modifications to any of those areas will only increase the cost of medical care and potentially reduce the quality of care provided to patients. Consistent and effective tort reform will help to lower healthcare costs and increase the quality of care to all patients.

Immigration, Part I - The Rant

2007-11-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

I don’t really know how to start this blog. I have SO many thoughts on this issue that it has been difficult to get them all into one coherent thought, so I am going to just start typing…

This is NOT racial discrimination. The protesters on television want to make it into racial discrimination, but it is not. Illegal immigration does not limit the discussion to illegal Mexicans or individuals of Latin or Hispanic origin. The last I checked though, I haven’t seen an uprising of illegal Polish immigrants or illegal Canadian immigrants. Why is that? Probably because about 80% of illegal immigrants fit into the former category.

Racial discrimination is about treating individuals a certain way or imposing a certain standard on them with no basis and unfairly and denying them rights they are afforded under the law. But that only applies to LEGAL citizens. Illegal immigrants are screaming they are being treated unfairly, but how can that be? If you are not in jail or being deported, you are getting off pretty easily. If you are not a citizen of the United States, or a legal immigrant, you are not afforded the rights as such.

What else?

The National Anthem should be sung in English. Period. End of discussion. I don’t go to Argentina and start protesting and creating my own “national” song because I didn’t bother learning the language. You know what they would say? Tough shit. If you want to be a part of this country, learn my song in my language.

And stop flying flags other than the one Betsy Ross designed when you decide to march and protest. If you want to be an AMERICAN citizen, why are you flying a Mexican (insert another country here) flag. If that is where you want to be, head south and don’t stop until you reach the border.

Random question? In what country or post Roman-empire jurisdiction of law can you just blatantly break the law and not be punished? I am looking at protesters on television and reading about them in the newspaper proudly chanting that they are here illegally and should not be sent home and how much they mean to this country. I am seeing at the same protest, police and other government officials “monitoring” the situation. Where is INS? People out in public, boldly breaking the law, and nothing happens. What the f*&%?

And what about the individuals who went through the proper channels to EARN the citizenship? To just grant amnesty to all or ANY illegal immigrants should be a slap in the face to those who chose to go about it the right way. Is that fair? Nowadays, fair and right hardly seem to matter compared to good business.

There will be more…

No, you may not be excused

2007-10-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

At Texas A&M, within the confines of Kyle Field, we have a name for those who leave football games early. We call them 2 percenters. If we expect (an we do) the football team (and any other athletic team) to give 100% for the entire game, as the 12th Man, we should give the same effort.

I left a game early ONCE. We were playing #19 Oklahoma State on November 1, 1997 in College Station and putting up a terrible effort. So, middle of the 4th quarter, I had seen enough. I had yelled my last yell. I was done. No sooner did I leave the stadium, before I heard the roar of 75,000 celebrating an Aggie touchdown. Long story short, we tied the game with 43 seconds on a 2-point conversion to send it into overtime. We won in overtime on a Tiki Hardeman touchdown run. Point: NEVER LEAVE A GAME EARLY!

This year in college football has been more of a reason to support that mantra than any year in recent memory. Irrespective of all the upsets, think about things you would have missed had you been the lousy fan who gave up on your team early.

#2 BC at Virginia Tech. BC scores 14 points in the last 2:30 minutes with an improbable onside recovery and an across your body heave into the end-zone by a QB who had been running for his life all game.

How about Boise State and Nevada? Final Score 69-67 with a bunch of overtimes jammed in there. You suck it up and deal with the cold weather and late hour. Call in sick to work the next day. Your boss should understand.

Arkansas versus Alabama. First Bama blows not one, but two 21 point leads. Then throws a fade to the corner with seconds left on the clock to pull out the home victory. I think 50% of Bama fans were in the ER after the game for near heart failure.

San Jose State found out the hard way what happens when you chant “overrated” too early. Bionic armed Colt Brennan gets fired up, ignores the 4 interceptions, RUNS in the game tying touchdown, then beats you in overtime.

If you had left the Coliseum early, you would’ve missed Stanford’s backup QB throw a touchdown pass with 1 second left to beat USC (a 40 point favorite).

Colorado beat OU on a time expiring career long field goal after being down 2 scores in the 4th quarter.

Michigan, after giving up the go-ahead score to Appalachian State, threw a 50 yard bomb at the end of regulation only to have Appalachian State block the game winning field goal attempt. Thrilling to watch it unfold (unless you wear maize and blue).

If I still have not proved my point, let me quote the Tennessee Volunteer fan seated next to me in Tuscaloosa at an earlier Alabama game. According to his father, “If you leave a game before the clock hits 0:00, well you ain’t shit.”

I have sat through a 77-0 drubbing, several 4 touchdown losses on national television, embarrassing lackluster efforts (@ Miami this year comes to mind) and heartbreaking touchdown catches by the opponent with little or no time left. However, watching your team pull off the improbable upset in the Big XII Championship game in overtime makes it all worth it (December 5, 1998). Or forcing a fumble in overtime in overtime (October 23, 2004) to seal the victory, after scoring 16 points in the 4th quarter to tie the game. So, here is hoping your team (unless they are playing the Texas A&M Aggies) catches the Hail Mary, recovers the onside kick and doesn’t miss wide left (or right).

God bless college football!

PS. Yesterday, the Aggies did not catch the Hail Mary pass or recover the onside kick. I know because I watched the entire game.

Pay You? Seriously?

2007-09-29T03:14:00.000-07:00

Seriously? A study was recently conducted about paying overweight and obese individuals money to entice and reward them for losing weight. Seriously?

Healthcare is already a problem in this country. And it isn’t just one aspect of it, it is embedded in all areas. It costs too much, there isn’t enough of it and too many are uninsured. The lists goes on and on.

But this dimension, we as individuals can personally improve. Depending on what study you read, anywhere between 1 in 3 and 3 in 5 Americans tip the scale as overweight or obese. Breakdown: Obese means 30 or more pounds above a healthy weight and overweight spans 1-29 pounds above a similar healthy weight. Granted, most body mass index calculators do not account for muscle mass (muscle weighs more than fat), but let’s not kid ourselves. All the obese and overweight folks in this country are not athletes masquerading as Dell customer service reps or doing your taxes. No, they are fast food addicted, lazy, healthy eating disregarding individuals who want to get paid to lose weight. Seriously?

Yes, obese/overweight individuals cost businesses, and in turn myself, money in the long run. The health risks are higher, including heart dieases and high blood pressure, which mean more trips to the doctor and/or hospital. It means more medication. More time at work missed, which someone has to make up for in their absence. It is the reason smokers pay more health and life insurance. You don’t see people paying them to quit smoking. Just the opposite, they keep raising the price of cigarettes and tobacco products to reduce the demand. Doesn’t seem to be working, but it’s an attempt.

Why don’t we charge more for obese/overweight individuals? Or at least make them assume more of the financial burden. More out of their check every 2 weeks? A higher co-pay? A higher deductible? Something that might make them take some accountability for the position they have gotten themselves into. I know positive reinforcement is said to work better at motivating people to action, but what could be more positive than an increased life expectancy and better health? The ability to walk a flight of stairs and not risk a trip to the emergency room. How about accepting some personal responsibility and stop draining the pockets of others? Seriously.

If the worst should happen, thou shalt be covered

2007-05-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

I figured it was time for a real discussion blog since the last one was awhile ago. I am still writing the immigration blog. I just have SO much to say that I cannot get it all down in a coherent, non-ranting, non-ruining my future Presidential campaign piece. And now with this new piece of legislation that some claim is not complete “amnesty”...well, don’t get me started.

So, I was at a happy hour with Melissa and her co-worker and her fiancé and a very interesting statement was made, as they usually are at happy hours. The statement was that religion might be the oldest form of insurance. Hmmm. That struck a cord within me, being that I am an insurance professional. Is religion the oldest form of insurance? At first, I didn’t think much of it, but it kept coming back to me with some thought provoking parallels (some weak, some strong).

So, before I get deep into this, I want to make a disclaimer that I am not trashing religion in general or any religion specifically. I just want to stimulate the mind with something different for a change. Here goes...

Most forms of insurance are sold through agents. Individuals who preach (hint) the advantages and disadvantages of coverage and what might happen to you if you don’t have it. Well, isn’t that similar to ministers, priests and rabbi’s or any similar figure in a different religion? Ever heard while sitting there in a congregation what would happen to your soul if you don’t believe or accept/believe certain teachings? Parallel? Possibly.

How about the actual insurance policy? The document that tells you what is covered, what can void coverage and what you have to do to secure coverage. Well, isn’t that what the Bible is? How about the Koran? Now, I have never read either from cover to cover, but my cursory knowledge of both lends me to believe that these books contain similar information concerning what you need to do to get, and keep, your soul protected from eternal damnation.

And last, why do people buy insurance? They want to know they are protected in the event of a catastrophe. That when the worst happens, they will be made whole. It makes them feel comfortable and sleep better at night. Why do some people practice religion? Well, in the event of the inevitable (yes, we all will die one day) they feel their soul will be in good hands for eternity. The theory is that you pay a premium (insurance) or buy into the teachings (religion) so that you benefit from the payoff in the end.

Yes, it sounds a bit crude and sarcastic about religion, but let’s be honest, not everyone in the same religion believes the same thing. And if you think they do, then you are sadly misleading yourself. Yes, I believe in God, but I don’t buy into the notion that I cannot ask questions or have an opinion other than one force fed to me. I was that kid in Sunday school that always had his hand raised. Religion and insurance contain complexities beyond the simple comparisons made here and differ on many levels, but you have to admit, some similarities do exist.

The drive to Nederland, TX gives a person a lot of time to think

2007-05-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in life there are things that make you go hmmmm…

What would maple cream gravy taste like?

“Please make sure your hands are clean and dry before use.” Why would you find this wording on a hand sanitizer machine?

The enjoyment of a job where you smell, and sometimes taste, milk to determine its quality.
FYI – from an expert (not myself), it is okay to drink milk, that has been refrigerated, up to 7 days after the date on the container. Now if you pour it and it lumps out, throw it out.

And my favorite…

The intelligence of an individual, or group of individuals, who willingly gives the keys to their car to a homeless person to park on a busy street.

I can see the conversation now…
Insurance agent/police officer – “When did you last see your vehicle?
Idiot – “When I gave the keys to the guy to park it on M street.”
IA/PO – “And which valet company was it?”
Idiot – “Oh, he wasn’t valet, it was the homeless guy.”

One More Candle to Blow Out

2007-05-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well, once again, the Lord blessed me with seeing another April 10 come and go. That makes 28 in all now. I cannot say I feel wiser as each passes by. I think I do some things better, and some things I seem to not ever be able to get right, and some things I just do the same over and over again. One thing I have learned is that I have a lot of friends and family that love me and care about me. It is something I try not to take for granted and want to always say thank you and recognize those that do things for me that they don’t have to do. So, at this time, in this particular blog, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude that made my 28th birthday a spectacular one.

Everyone does their own thing. Some people call, some people email, some drink, etc... The point is, no one HAD to do anything. No one email or phone is more important than another in a cosmic sense, but I would be remiss to not take extra time to say a great big thanks to a few certain individuals.

First off, Melissa went above and beyond (as she often does) for my birthday. Starting with saying Happy Birthday at 12:01 am, she got me a gift certificate for a hot lather shave at a men’s spa and called the Baltimore orioles to get my name on the Jumbotron at the game we went to on that Friday to name a few things. I always tell her that she does way more than needed, but she never listens. Thanks.

My mother called me and kept calling to make sure that her baby boy heard her sing Happy Birthday on his day. This especially made me feel good as I waited in line at the DMV. She also sponsored a new pair of shoes. On another front, Cory and Regina flew over 1,000 miles apiece to spend the weekend in the nation’s capital celebrating good times. Just want you to know I enjoyed the visit.

Then there were the party goers. From karaoke to straight double vodka shots to Fuddruckers at 3am, these folks put in some hard work. So, here’s to Gavin and Jennifer Daniels, Brittany Eck, Curtis Coleman, Elizabeth Sowecke, Melissa, Cory, Regina, Damen Hymes, Kimberly Handler, Isabelle Dusfour, Jennifer Neuberger, Neelum Arya and Francisco Garcia.

Over the week, there were countless others who sent cards, (email and snail mail), emails, phone calls and text messages. I am going to do my best to remember everyone, but I am sure I missed someone. If I did, it was not ill-intentioned. Here goes...

Thank for your wishes on my birthday Roger Mays, Beverly Butler, Stephanie Butler, Dawn Michelle Samuels, Annisa Joubert, Ralph Butler, Jackie Tealer, Camille Tealer, Christopher Smith, Cornell Woolridge, Melissa Fowler, April Somers, Candice Jessup, Mary Kay Herbst, Renee Meaux, Darby Roberts, Taylor Haglund, Melissa Hammond, Jennifer Daniels, Ellen Greene, Susan Hahn, Michelle Montgomery, Regina Perkins, Cory Wagoner, Kirsten Bode, Princess Apple, G-mama Kassle, Jennifer Neuberger, Isabelle Dusfour, Michael Portnoy, Kristi Zipp, Damen Hymes, Anthony Jones, Rose Jones, Kirsten Dartnell, Emily Joyner, Kristen Holland, Jennifer Burrus, David Wiltsey, Anne Russell, Lisa Tyson, Lexi Shuey, Krista Sawtelle, Neelum Arya, Francisco Ramirez, Linda Higdon, Linda Fortson, Sheila Claytor, Tina McGuire, Duncan Manley, Vickie Harrell, Ross Hess, Chris Lamon, Shannon Davis Hunter, Christan Collins-Awad, Curtis Coleman, Brittany Eck, Panache Resturant, The Russia House Lounge, Elizabeth Sowecke, Amanda Hemati, and Eric Hemati.

Can you Haiku??

2007-02-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

So, we have these employee gatherings at work to foster a sense of community and for everyone to be involved in things that are outside of the work environment. They can be fun and are meant to help people get to know one another, especially in different departments. Last year, we started this poetry contest and we used haiku as the format and Valentine's Day as the theme. It was met with some resistance initially, but it survived another year. This year we even added to the theme and included President's Day. I was given permission by some of the authors to publish their entries. Here you go and feel free to add your own haiku (if you do not remember the rules, it is 3 lines, 5-7-5 for syllables per line).

#1
When I look for love
I am caught in a battle
Dance or Pay the Price
(won second place)

#2
Aphrodisiac
Discreet exhilaration
Cardio spasm

#3
First time it was Bill
Then his sweetheart said, "Me too"
Can Hillary win?
(this was my entry)

#4
Roses, fifty bucks
Dinner, one hundred bucks, Not
In doghouse, priceless
(won first place)

Ten Years Ago I Never Thought I Would...

2007-02-13T16:44:00.000-08:00

Have you done something recently that would make you venture to utter these words, “Ten years ago, I never thought I would…” Well, I have. Ten years ago, I was beginning my second semester at Texas A&M. I was playing volleyball and basketball at the Rec Center and going to class, waiting for full blown spring weather. I never thought I would…

1. Be walking to work in 10 degree weather (-1 wind chill) 3/4 of a mile to the subway, then to a bus, and then 2 blocks to work; And actually think that this was a better option than driving. Gas at nearly $2.40/gallon for regular and parking being $15-20 per day. Not to mention that the 7 miles from my home to work takes at least 35 minutes, in NO traffic. The walking commute takes about 45 minutes total.

2. Be walking home on a Tuesday from the bar in a wintry mix (i.e. snow, sleet, rain) after getting left off from work early due to hazardous weather conditions. This qualifies because I never thought I would be WALKING home, which includes the aforementioned 3/4 mile trek from the subway.

3. Be just finishing another book from cover to cover. By the way, it was Phil Jackson’s book The Last Season.

4. Be watching Aggie basketball compete and be ranked in the Top 10 in the nation and actually be mentioned as serious national title contenders. WOW!

5. Be seriously considering paying almost $200,000 for about 700 square feet in a “sketchy” neighborhood.

I am sure there are others, but these are the only ones that come to mind right noow. I am sure you have some. Let me know what they are!

Post Holiday Nostalgia

2007-01-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

Holidays, just as everything in life, has its good points and pad points. Some years, the good outweigh the bad, and sometimes vice versa. Every now and then, you get a push. Let’s review some pro’s and con’s between Thanksgiving and Christmas (of your respective winter holiday).

Pro’s
Time off from work that is paid. This may not apply to all (especially those in non-salaried retail), but I am now thankful I get the Friday after Thanksgiving as a day off. When I run my own company, this will definitely be a paid company holiday.

Any year the Aggies (Texas A&M) beat t.u. (the Univ. of Texas). Period. Reminder, 2006 score, 12-7, Aggie victory.

Food. This includes desserts to dinner and leftovers. It’s amazing that recipe’s created prior to the second world war and cooked on stoves/ovens older than myself keep on filling my tummy with wonderful goodies every year.

Watching kids open presents. Their eyes light up as the paper goes flying and boxes get ripped. As an adult, it always feels like the number of presents kids get today has increased exponentially since you were a kid. Yeah, and they are way more sophisticated.

Sports on TV. Pro and college football. Pro and college basketball. Hockey. Golf. Bowling. Need I go on??

Push
Family/Friends. I could go on and on about this one. When visiting from out of town, and the last time you were in town was a year prior, it can be a challenge to accomplish the feat of seeing everyone you would like and not pissing anyone off. This is a push. Think about it, you fly in with gifts for a pre-determined amount of people, then a bunch of people show up that you weren’t expecting. You don’t even know half of their names, but you feel awkward that you have a present for everyone else and not them. And then to make it even worse, they have a present for you because they knew you were coming ahead of time. Granted, they bought it on the way over, but they still have one. Then come the old stories and pictures. This can be fun, but awful at the same time. I had the greatest time listening to my grandfather and my great aunt (grandmother’s sister), tell about when they were growing up and remembering people’s names and places. We are talking about people born in the late 20’s and early 30’s here. That is before WWII. And they remember the details with such clarity that it is amazing. And then all the pictures come out of you with no clothes on as a child running around the house with a toy gun and cowboy hat. It can be enough to drive people to therapy. The only sensible thing to do, is find more pictures of OTHER people that are just as embarrassing.

Cons
Dishes. Trash. Someone has to take care of it. Just glad I am not low man on the totem pole anymore.

Over indulgence. Turkey, ham, dressing, corn, mac/cheese, green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, carrots, broccoli/rice/cheese, all on the same plate followed by pound cake, pecan pie and ice cream. Repeat every 2 hours. It is too much for any human digestive system to handle.

Holiday spending and traffic. I believe the WORST traffic I have ever experienced was driving from Fort Worth to College Station on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Absolutely horrendous. Mall traffic in any city on the last weekend before Christmas is terrible. Hulen St. in Fort Worth, TX, 1960 in Houston, TX, IH 610 by the Galleria in Houston, TX, Dallas Tollway in Dallas, TX, and Rockville Pike/Wisconsin Ave in Maryland/Washington, DC from the Friday after Thanksgiving until Christmas.

What do you feel are Pro’s and Con’s? These stories are great to read.

How does terror affect your personal way of life?

2006-08-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

I don’t know what it feels like to lose a loved one in a terror attack. I have had loved ones die, but in those situations, the illness was known and there was some preparation time. But in terror tragedies, the loss is unexpected, sudden and unexplainable. In light of recent events in London and the foiled terror plot, it just makes me think about how, if at all, we change our personal habits after terrorist activity rears its ugly head.

How many flights have you taken since 9/11? Any international flights? Do you look for “suspicious activity” or strange looking unattended bags? And if you notice this type of activity, would you actually report it to authorities? Or would you say, “I am just being paranoid.” A Wal-Mart clerk didn’t think it was paranoia when a massive purchase of cell phones sent off an internal “this isn’t right alarm.” And look what happened, turns out that it was suspicious activity.

I use mass public transportation all the time, and honestly, I cannot say I have seen any ‘suspicious” activity. I have encountered some rude and idiotic persons, but nothing that made me think my life is in imminent danger. I had a flight to Miami scheduled for 9/14/01 and was willing to fly even after what happened just a few days earlier.

Do I have a death wish? I would like to think not. I am a risk taker no doubt. I am also an optimist. But I guess in the end, I always think, “It isn’t going to be my flight.” It would be too difficult to go through life thinking it would be.

I still fly to this day. I attended 3 weddings in 6 six weeks (starting the first week of July) and not once have I given serious thought to a terrorist being on my flight. (And I fly out of Washington DC, a target with serious juice to it). Do you think about it? Do you scan the crowd of people boarding your flight and wonder which person is the bad seed? I scan the crowd, but largely to determine whom I don’t want sitting next to me.

So why don’t we think about it more? Why doesn’t it consume our psyche constantly? Do we feel safe all the time? Or do we force ourselves to live in fantasy world that there will be only one 9/11? The world’s most recent events confirm that the potential for another 9/11 (or worse) exists and people are actively trying to make it happen. I believe we should be conscious that sick and twisted people are out there, but I trust that smart people are working diligently to make the skies friendly for everyone. I know this is a naïve and utopian view of things, but hey, I gotta believe in something.

I have read several articles with quotes ranging from “that is the risk you take for flying” or “I feel safer with all the security checks that are in place” or “How else am I to get from NY to LA in 6 hours?” Here is what I think. When the Lord says my time on this earth is up, it is time for me to go. It might be in my sleep, in my car, shot is the street or at the hands of a terrorist. I believe God has a plan for me and all his children, and as much as we may not want to think about it, the plan ends with us dying. So for me, no terrorist is going to scare me from flying. Part of that comes from an unrelenting desire to not give in to what they want and defy what they stand for, if they stand for anything. Where will my next flight be? I don’t know. But if my boss tells me to go to Birmingham, AL, I can guarantee you I am not driving there.

Don't be afraid of the MONSTER!

2006-08-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

After yet another trip back to Texas and enjoying the taste of the fine cuisine that is Freebirds, I felt it time to bring my Top 10 (or so) reasons, that Chipotle will NEVER be better than Freebirds, to the world.

1. No monster (or super monster for that matter)
2. No habanero or death sauce
3. No one says “Sir, someone will be right with you”
4. Only 1 type of tortilla
5. No refried beans
6. No melted queso
7. They serve corn and only white rice
8. The lettuce looks like something from a salad at a hotel brunch
9. Watery sour cream
10. No BBQ sauce
11. No pink lemonade or Dr. Pepper
12. Where are the quesadillas??
13. They have terrible foil wrapping techniques
14. No stamp card
15. No statue of Liberty or foil creations lining the wall

I am such a fan that I carry a monster on the plane with me whenever I return home from Texas. Most friends and family know that if they are coming to visit (from a city that has a Freebirds), they better be carrying a brown paper bag with a monster wrapped in foil with them. Otherwise, they run the risk of getting left at baggage claim. No one has been left yet, thank goodness.

How do you feel about it? Those of you lucky enough to be able to eat Freebirds on a regular basis, consider it a blessing.

2006-08-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

As the seasons change

2006-07-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

So, I was watching my favorite movie on television a few weeks ago, Scent of a Woman, and it is still as good as ever. It made me remember why it is that I love the movie. It also got me to thinking about a new topic to write about in this new forum.

When you live in a city where a large amount of commuters walk or take public transportation or both. There are many things that you notice that raise the brow. Unfortunately, driving commuters do not get this opportunity.

So let’s get right to it. First of all, women are fascinating and frustrating creatures at the same time. It is at this time we shall observe the fascinating part.

Winter clothing for women is subtly and secretively seductive. It isn’t revealing but it happens to draw the attention nonetheless. The long form fitting skirts. The high boots that announce their presences even in the snow. How about the scarf that draws attention to the neck and chest area only to lead the eyes to the jacket wrapped tightly around the body for warmth. Even the jacket, tapered and fitted at the waist (or drawn tightly with a belt) gives a nice silhouette of what hides underneath. This may all seem simple and dull, but when you see it everyday, morning, afternoon and night, it captures the eye and imagination. And you cannot help but look because it is 12 blocks to your metro stop and your ipod is shuffling through the same songs you heard yesterday. So what else to keep the mind active?

And just when you thought you had seen it all, Mother Nature flips it on you and here comes spring and summer. If you thought winter/fall were secretly seductive and enticing, the eyes get a shot of adrenaline come March 21. The first significant changes you notice are the colors. Gone are gray, black, and dark blue. No more wool, fleece or heavy lining on the inside of the leather. The streets abound with bright colors like pink, purple, blue, yellow and every pastel color imaginable. Forget the long fitted skirts and high boots. Now it is time for long, flowing skirts that catch every piece of wind one way and toss of the hips another. No kidding. It is as if someone knitted together a grass hula skirt, threw in some dye and started selling it at Macy’s.

I think I have seen my wife beater go walking by in all different colors. Have you noticed that women will walk around in basically lingerie, put on a pair of capris or jeans and call it a summer outfit? And I will admit to not knowing much in detail about female footwear. I know what doesn’t work, but I have to see it on a foot before I can make that determination. Anyway, open toe shoes (flip-flops, sandals and heels) are a big plus this time of year and they accentuate the feet very well. Those feet however need to be well kept and maintained. Good looking feet are an overlooked attribute. Eddie Murphy knew what he was talking about in Boomerang.

And guys don’t fret. You do have superhuman powers in the spring/summer time. Our x-ray vision is all-powerful when it comes to white pants, shorts and skirts.

They say there is no aphrodisiac like power. Well, spring and summer run a pretty close second. And what I described is just a sampling of what you see when the sun comes out. I didn’t even get into baby tees, tank tops and mini-skirts that would make any catholic schoolteacher send everyone to detention. The ruler above the knee rule has definitely been left behind. It is like women cannot wait to show off what they have been hiding all winter. Every bit of skin that has been moisturized, arms and legs that have been toned showing a hint of muscle from all those Pilates and resistance training classes and dvd’s. It could be considered somewhat primal and animalistic. I just call it my walk home.

How did we become a fat society?

2006-04-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

Been a while since we had a topic for discussion. I have had some thoughts over the past few months. One was about hurricanes, another about supreme court nominees and the selection process and lastly about immigration (which still might happen). All of which I knew would turn political quickly, so I avoided them. In this town I now live in, it is all about politics, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. But shouldn’t we be able to discuss and debate and be honest without hating each other? Let’s try.

So, I went to workout outdoors since it was a nice spring day, about 65-70 degrees. After finishing I was hungry and decided to get something to eat. Didn’t want a sandwich because I eat them all week for lunch, didn’t want to cook anything, so I proceeded to McDonalds. Not to my surprise, McDonalds was packed. Kids, old people and every other kind of people were in there. But have you ever noticed that the person in front of you in line is normally over weight and looks generally unhealthy? Why is that? Fast food restaurants, like all eating establishments, have come under fire in recent years for egregious nutritional deficiencies. As if no one can see and smell the grease that they use for those fries. But they are SO good. Admit it, you go to McDonalds for the fries. Maybe the Quarter-Pounder with cheese or BigMac, but mostly the fries. Do you really think listing the nutritional value of fries anywhere in the place is going to change things? Is there any nutritional value anyways? I try to limit my fast food intake every week to 2 trips every 7 days. Sometimes I stick to it, but sometimes I don’t. But, overall, I don’t eat there every day.

So, who is to blame for the lack of self-control that we have over going to fast food restaurants? Is it McDonalds? It is our parents? Is it us? No one forced my car to go to McDonalds today. No one forces me to go to Subway, when I go. You can list all the nutrition ingredients you want and it will not stop people from going. How many people have ever bought a salad at McDonalds? Or ever gotten an apple at McNasty’s? Yeah, that is what I thought? Did you know that McDonalds is one of the top 5 purchasers of apples in the country? Yeah, very surprising. But normally they get rid of them by donating them to walk-a-thons and marathons and community service projects. No one actually buys them.

I don’t have any problem with government regulations on listing the ingredients in food that we eat. I think that everyone should be knowledgeable of it. However, I don’t believe that it will carry the importance that people think it will. What are we going to do when McDonalds starts listing the ingredients and then sells the same amount of fries the next year? Then what is going to be the argument? Who are we going to sue then when we get overweight and suffer from morbid obesity, which is an actual medical term. Maybe we will sue the school system for not forcing us to take PE. Maybe our jobs for not providing adequate time off to workout or access to the proper facilities.

I find it disturbing that we are moving more toward a society of blaming someone else instead of accepting some responsibility ourselves. What do you think?