Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I'm having corndogs, and onion rings for supper tonight.>> I've never had a corndog in my life.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I guess you've probably softened your criticism of the Wal-Mart crowd carrying grocery bags through the lobbies of DVC Resorts now that a higher class of person needs to do it.>> Nope. Not at all. Wal-Mart is still the Bentonville Devil. I'd live under a bridge before I'd give them a penny of my money. BTW, you gotta love WALL*E and its take on BuyNLarge (AKA WalMart) as well as a 'stay the course' president and a bunch of people that can't even walk floating around on loungers with robots that bring them food and pick them up if they fall out (and strangely resemble many WDW guests on ECVs!) I so love how subversive the folks in Emeryville are even as part of the Mouse's empire now! OK ... back to Trippy ... <<You MAYBE now even appreciate the advantages of the Disney Dining Plan for those not quite a rich as Trippy. Though I doubt it. ;-)>> You doubt right. <<I love ya Spirit, but I've never seen a tiger change his stripes so quickly!!>> I'm curious. How do you feel I've changed because my fundamental feelings on all of the issues discussed here haven't changed at all.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<My monthly contribution has gone from $0 - 8 years ago to well over $650 a month and that is for one less person ( that Inow pay COBRA for) - and the coverage has higher deductibles - out of pocket max seems to rise about 50% a year,and less is covered ( i.e. mostpreventative no also going away.>> The problem with health care is that it has been way too cheap for too many people for too long. With our employers picking up the expense we've used health services far more often that we would if we had to pay for it ourselves. Yea. I know. Preventative care saves money. Have you ever seen an independent analysis of that assertion? Probably not. They all come from the health care industry. Drug advances have also contributed enormously to the increasing cost of medical care. I take my Simvastatin and my Gemfibrozil and my Amlodipine and my Zetia and my Triam/HCTZ and my Atenelol and I have great blood pressure and cholesterol levels. My dad died of heart disease at 55 and that sure will never happen to me... especially now that I am 56. But I could accomplish much the same thing if I got off my dead ass and exercised some more. But hey... popin' the meds is easier and I don't pay much for them anyway. What would happen if I had to pay for 100% of those meds myself? That treadmill we've got taking up space in one of our bedrooms would get a helluva lot more use, I'll tell you that!! As Pogo used to say... We have met the enemy and he is us!! (I seem to hear personal responsibility echoing around here somewhere...)
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <The problem with health care is that it has been way too cheap for too many people for too long. With our employers picking up the expense we've used health services far more often that we would if we had to pay for it ourselves.< here's the other side of that issue. The companies who did cover this before also used it as leverage to pay below market value for positions, citing benefit packages as making up the difference. What has happened as benefits are beingcut severely, is for the most part wages have been frozen also. So now the employees are paid less than likely they should be- and now have to afford the coverage also - a lose- lose. It's NOT that these corporations paid these benefits out of the goodness of their hearts Trippy - they madeit back on the salary side of the ledger. Being involved in this for 30 years - and managing to those balance sheets, this is how it worked. They didn't pay better than market wages AND pay benefits- that is a real misconception. And yes they can get away with this now because they give a darn about employee loyalty because the economy is so bad they know people options to leave are somewhat minimal - especially those over 50 years of age. <if I got off my dead ass and exercised some< this could be the bumper sticker on my car also --
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<It's NOT that these corporations paid these benefits out of the goodness of their hearts Trippy - they madeit back on the salary side of the ledger. Being involved in this for 30 years - and managing to those balance sheets, this is how it worked. >> I ABSOLUTELY know the truth in that. I've told people for years that yes, the salaries at the U suck but the benefits are great and the jobs are about as secure as you will find anywhere. So many of us knew about that tradeoff and consciously decided that it was OK for us. But whether employers did it out of the goodness of their hearts or not; the generous health plans of the past have, in my opinion, contributed ENORMOUSLY to the present cost of health care.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I made tofu tacos the other night for dinner (I guess that's my California side showing). They were mighty tasty.
Originally Posted By Socrates Getting back to #240: I haven't been thinking about, or keeping up, with space exploration lately. But (taking the bait)I did think the idea of a space shuttle made sense - it wasn't very practical in the long run to use expendable rockets. That's a bit like scrapping your car every time you finish a trip. As far as the shuttle's capabilities, which to you think is more important: - Long-range exploration, going out as far as we can? - Or near-Earth work with a space station and resupply shuttle? Socrates "I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance."
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I've never had a corndog in my life. << >> Ahh - that explains so much! << I think he needs a Texas State Fair corndog to be a complete person Dan.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 <<<I made tofu tacos the other night for dinner (I guess that's my California side showing). They were mighty tasty.>>> Spirit just lost my respect.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> BS I say. If Enron, United Airlines, Worldcom, Bear Stearns and many others can be propped up by this government, << I don't remember the Government bailing out Enron even though Ken Lay called in every favor he had. The big shots went to prisonor or died, but they sure hurt a bunch of people here. Same for Worldcom. I lost a fair amount of my money in that one. At least they're cell mates with the Enron jerks. Bear Stearns, what can I say. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York got snookered on that one. American Airlines as well as the other Airlines that benefitted from the 15 billion dollar bailout is a tough call. We have to have Airlines, but I would have felt much better if their employees had reaped the benefits of this bailout. I guess all the political contributions to both parties paid off for the Airlines.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I just don't understand why there isn't more anger about what's going on in general, although I feel the vice grip the religious right has taken on this country has something to do with that (and I won't say one more word about religion on this site, just putting out my honest opinion). << I disagree with you completely here. I also think this is not a subject for this forum however. So that's my last word on it.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <I ABSOLUTELY know the truth in that. I've told people for years that yes, the salaries at the U suck but the benefits are great and the jobs are about as secure as you will find anywhere. So many of us knew about that tradeoff and consciously decided that it was OK for us. < many of us understood that also - the difference appears to be that our companies have recently reneged on the benefits as well as pensions promised. So for those of uswhoalso accepted the benefit - salary tradeoff for 25- 30 years - today we're totally screwed and we can;t get back the time we spent
Originally Posted By danyoung >I think he needs a Texas State Fair corndog to be a complete person Dan.< Absolutely! Honestly I was thinking of Fletcher's Corny Dogs as I wrote my last response!!!
Originally Posted By vbdad55 OMG it's an epidemic ! I recommend a Cozy Dog at Cozy's in Springfield Illinois -- the birth place of the corndog * - ( there is a food network special on hot dogs ) - I had my first at Illinois State Fair about 45 years ago - yum. <a href="http://www.cozydogdrivein.com/" target="_blank">http://www.cozydogdrivein.com/</a> * A number of current corn dog vendors lay claim to the invention and/or popularization of the corn dog. Carl and Neil Fletcher introduced their "Corny Dogs" at the Texas State Fair sometime between 1938 and 1942. The Pronto Pup vendors at the Minnesota State Fair claim to have invented the corn dog in 1941.[6] Cozy Dog, in Springfield, IL, claims to have been the first to serve corn dogs on sticks, in 1946. [7] Also in 1946, Dave Barham opened the first location of Hot Dog on a Stick at Muscle Beach, Santa Monica, California.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo No corndogs!!!! You guys have been to DCA and not had a corn dog???? OMG! I don't believe it. I wish corndogs were easy enough.
