Good-bye, George Carlin

This is pretty freaky. Last Friday we were just talking about George Carlin. His name came up at the convenience store while standing in line, and then we talked about him on the ride home. A few years ago we went to a performance he did here at the Ryman Auditorium. We scored the most excellent seats, second row, just slightly off center stage, thanks to my friend at the radio station. We “won” them.

Anways, just as I was heading to bed I heard the talking head on the local news mention that George Carlin has passed away. Another shocker for the weeked - we figured George was so nasty and incorrigible that he’s be around for another 20 years. But it turns out that his heart gave out and he died in L.A., the Land of Angels.

So, good-bye, George - thanks for the years of laughter at your observations and your jokes. I grew up listening to your sarcasm and jokes pointed at our boomer generation. We’ll miss you.

When Part D Matters

My mother-in-law shocked everyone this weekend when she announced that she’s going to retire. We honestly thought we would never see the day! She has a little store on a charming little town where she knows everybody and although she’ll never get rich, the store brings in enough money that she never goes wanting for anything. So for her to retire we were first shock and then immediately concerned that something is wrong. So the wife and I dropped everything drove down to see her, face to face and make that everything is OK.

Well, she was glad to see us and acted pretty normal, so that was good. But she says she’s tired, tired down to her bones, and she just doesn’t want to run the store anymore. She’s always had a problem finding good help and she’s never found an assistant manager that she could trust completely, so she’s decided to put the business up for sale and become retired.

Of course, that decision has opened a whole pandora’s box of questions and we have to tread lightly so we don’t offend her, but the wife went nuts with a hundred questions and we finally had to leave because I could tell the MIL was getting annoyed. We asked if there was anything she needed help with and surprisingly she asked if we would help her look into MediCare and the Medicare Part D coverage that I vaguely remember hearing about.

Now I’m not sure she really needs the help of if she just came up with this little taks to shut up the wife and divert her attention to a little project, but the wife grabbed onto that request like a boll weevil grabs hold of a cotton ball. And off we went.

Thankfully there is a lot of good information on the internet about Medicare and the Medicare Part D plans. We spent a couple hours reading up on it last night and we are so thankful to learn that MIL is completely eligible so it was a great relief to find that her medical needs will be taken care of during retirement.

Now the Medicare Part D coverage is about the plan you choose for paying for prescription drugs, and, to be honest, I found that a little more complicated to understand. From what I can tell of the benefits of Medicare Part D, you have a reasonably small deductible that you pay out of yourpocket each year, and then the Part D plan kicks in to pay 75% of the cost of your prescriptions, up to $2,510. After that limit, you have to pay for your prescriptions until you’ve spent $4,050, and from then on your prescriptions are covered again. This little gap between $2,510 and $4050 is called the “donut hole.”

There are a lot of dates and deadlines and limits to keep track of, so the wife has committed to learning all the requirements and helping her mother fill out the forms and keep track of everything. Thankfully, MIL is basically healthy and we’ll have time to learn all the details before she has to use it, and the wife is really good at bookkeeping type things, so this will give her something to do that she’ll be good at and can actually be helpful for her mother.

Who Picked Out the Letters?

Honesty in a vanity plate, as seen at the grocery store parking lot entrance.

At first I was impressed with the way they worked their religious bent into their business. After all, we are living in the bible belt. So here is Christian Realty. That name itself should appeal to a lot of the people in these parts.

And they have a clever tag in their domain name as advertised on the back end of the SUV: The ONE way home dot com. Very clever.

But now notice the letters on the license plate: BAD DRVR.

At least they are honest.

Technology for Technology

When the chemists or scientists invented the clear plastic film to protect the military’s helicopter blades, I’m sure they had no idea that there would be a new commercial use for the product. As it turns out, this particular film is ideal for covering handheld electronic devices like my new iPhone. The film is clear, scratch proof, flexible, and practically indestructible. This film covers the whole iPhone to protect it from getting scratched, dirty, or even dropped, as the film has a grippy feel that makes the iPhone less likely to slip out of your hand.

I saw this film, called “invisibleSHIELD” on a website and knew that these guys have a hit on their hands. I was looking for 3g iphone cases and found something even better than what I expected. This is much better than a traditional case or cover. And it works on other things, too, like digital cameras, watches, portable DVD players, MP3 players - all kinds of electronics gear that need protection.

Anyone spending several hundred dollars on a handheld device like the iPhone or Blackberry, should spend a few dollars more and get an invisibleSHIELD to protect their electronics investment.

Cristofori’s Dream

There was a compliation album of new age or easy listening music that included a delightful instrumental by David Lantz called, “Cristofori’s Dream.” As I was not familiar with David Lantz, I did a little surfing to see what I could find.

Turns out that Bartelomo Cristofori was an Italian inventor. He toiled away in a little shop working on harpsicords, one of the primary instruments of the day. He was intrigued with finding a way to make the sound less harsh and worked on modifying the design until he found a way to make the sound he was looking for. Thus, in 1709 the piano was born in his modest Florence shop.

David Lantz wrote this song as a tribute to Cristofori - and it’s beautiful.