Start-up costs would include one ambulance per city where you already have a presence. Advertising would be minimal - word of mouth would soon spread the news - "Uber! I need the ambulance!" "Flyte! Fly me to the hospital!"
What prompted this genius idea? Richie got the bill for his ride in a commercial ambulance after the Redondo paramedics kicked his ass loose. The distance between our house to Providence - Little Co. of Mary is 3.7 miles (using Anza) and in a civilian ride takes 15 minutes. Obviously an ambulance Code 3 with lights and sirens can probably make it in somewhat less than 5 minutes.
The bill that McCormick (contracted to Redondo) sent was for $2,088 or $522 per mile.
He did not receive oxygen therapy or as far as he knows any medications. Oxygen in the ambulance, by the way, is treated like filling your tank at the gas station. Some years ago, I was a Code 3 for an allergic drug reaction to an antibiotic. One the road, I could not talk but pointed (hysterically, it must be admitted) at the oxygen port mounted in the ambulance wall. My bill later charged me for $125 worth of oxygen. I have no complaint, much cheaper than cremation after my death.
I mention this as an educational bit of knowledge.
Continuing a costly story ... on arrival at Providence - Little Co. of Mary, Richie's Primary Diagnosis was: influenza due to identified novel influenza A virus with pneumonia. He spent four days in the hospital. The bill for that was $24,000. I could give you more detail if he hadn't misplaced this bill. He may have filed it, using my lighter as a help.
Happily, there was another bill re the hospital and it was itemized thusly:
Initial hospital day care - $605
Subsequent hospital care day - $217
Hospital discharge day - $325
Total: $1,147
After all of the Medicare and PPO insurance nibbles, Richie now owes $203.43. Thank God it's only that much. We can't afford another ambulance ride for quite some time into the future. Uber! Flyte! You listening?
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Tooth #15
Yesterday I had a dental appointment for a cavity in Tooth #15. To save you time, upper left, second tooth in from where your wisdom tooth used to be. I think. May be third tooth in.
All went smoothly and then it came time for the grind your teeth against a piece of blue paper to show where the tooth doesn't fit as well as the original with the matching bottom tooth. Or at least that's how it used to be when I rode the family dinosaur to the dentist. Thought I tried hard, I could not remember the last time I had a filling done.
I was curious about whether this antiquated - surely?! - part was still being done. So I asked rather diffidently about it and the dentist held up a clamp holding a strip of blue paper! She was laughing like hell, delighted at being able to exhibit that, yeah, good things never go out of use.
All went smoothly and then it came time for the grind your teeth against a piece of blue paper to show where the tooth doesn't fit as well as the original with the matching bottom tooth. Or at least that's how it used to be when I rode the family dinosaur to the dentist. Thought I tried hard, I could not remember the last time I had a filling done.
I was curious about whether this antiquated - surely?! - part was still being done. So I asked rather diffidently about it and the dentist held up a clamp holding a strip of blue paper! She was laughing like hell, delighted at being able to exhibit that, yeah, good things never go out of use.
Monday, March 5, 2018
"I Feel Like a Lobster Roll - Let's Go to MacDonalds!"
You may well be as surprised as I was to learn that the MacD's in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire sell lobster rolls in season which is July to mid-August. The toasted bun with mayo, salt and pepper and lobster meat sells for $9.
I had to sit back in my chair and contemplate this matter. The item that got this attention from me was about the Freeport, Maine, MacD's which is located in a former private home built in 1850 to the specifications of businessman William Gore. Not surprisingly, it is known as Gore House. The only hint that it IS a MacDonald's is a yellow sign above the front door. This location is hailed as the most elegant in the chain because the original design (location of living room, dining room - no wi fi there, btw) has been adhered to with if not the original furniture damned good replicas. The outdoor patio has wooden tables and benches/chairs not (shudder) plastic. The house became a MacD's in 1984 and has been about the only item of real interest to many in Freeport. Certainly I would be one.
Long Island (where many of my in-laws live) lobster rolls are considerably more pricey with $15 being the average and served out of roadside shack at that and out here on the Left Coast, they are routinely the sinister Market Price.
Info for when you order - served warm on a grilled bun with butter, it is a lobster roll. Served cold, with mayo and celery, it's billed as lobster salad.
For South Bay locals, would recommend a lobster tail from Captain Kidd's and an 8-pack of hot dog buns. Chop up the tail, grill the buns and have at it. And next time you see "Market Price," sneer.
I had to sit back in my chair and contemplate this matter. The item that got this attention from me was about the Freeport, Maine, MacD's which is located in a former private home built in 1850 to the specifications of businessman William Gore. Not surprisingly, it is known as Gore House. The only hint that it IS a MacDonald's is a yellow sign above the front door. This location is hailed as the most elegant in the chain because the original design (location of living room, dining room - no wi fi there, btw) has been adhered to with if not the original furniture damned good replicas. The outdoor patio has wooden tables and benches/chairs not (shudder) plastic. The house became a MacD's in 1984 and has been about the only item of real interest to many in Freeport. Certainly I would be one.
Long Island (where many of my in-laws live) lobster rolls are considerably more pricey with $15 being the average and served out of roadside shack at that and out here on the Left Coast, they are routinely the sinister Market Price.
Info for when you order - served warm on a grilled bun with butter, it is a lobster roll. Served cold, with mayo and celery, it's billed as lobster salad.
For South Bay locals, would recommend a lobster tail from Captain Kidd's and an 8-pack of hot dog buns. Chop up the tail, grill the buns and have at it. And next time you see "Market Price," sneer.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
The Annual Broken Elbow Fest - Massive Numbers of Paramedics To Be On Standby
Los Angeles March 4, 2018
Tonight will be the 90th celebration of the annual Broken Elbow Fest wherein Academy Award winners vie to pat themselves on the back which in many cases results in a broken elbow.
We caught up with LA County Fire Department paramedic, Jay Simpson and asked what preparations were being made. He grinned and said, "We're well stocked with slings, gassed up and ready to go. We did have to take all of the opioids off the bus - it's uncanny how these Hollywood types (faint head shake) can smell out an OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin from 50 ft. away. Never seen anything like it even at a methadone clinic."
Award recipients are expected to spend their allocated winner's speech time railing against President Trump, extolling #Me Too and whatever the most recent hash tag promotes. The "herder" who watches for actors over-extending their allotted time said he expects a busy evening "For once," he sighed. Shaking his head in dismay, he added, "Used to be it was sweet stuff like 'Hi, Mom' or the 'thanks yous' ran long, but not any more. I'll be earning my paycheck tonight," he smiled. Holding up a finger to delay us, he added, "Just like I do in Presidential election years. Boy am I glad that only comes around every four years!"
Meanwhile reliable reports (from hair dresses, make-up artists, yogi teachers) are reporting that likely-to-win actors are working out full time on their arm muscles. #No Broken Elbows!
Tonight will be the 90th celebration of the annual Broken Elbow Fest wherein Academy Award winners vie to pat themselves on the back which in many cases results in a broken elbow.
We caught up with LA County Fire Department paramedic, Jay Simpson and asked what preparations were being made. He grinned and said, "We're well stocked with slings, gassed up and ready to go. We did have to take all of the opioids off the bus - it's uncanny how these Hollywood types (faint head shake) can smell out an OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin from 50 ft. away. Never seen anything like it even at a methadone clinic."
Award recipients are expected to spend their allocated winner's speech time railing against President Trump, extolling #Me Too and whatever the most recent hash tag promotes. The "herder" who watches for actors over-extending their allotted time said he expects a busy evening "For once," he sighed. Shaking his head in dismay, he added, "Used to be it was sweet stuff like 'Hi, Mom' or the 'thanks yous' ran long, but not any more. I'll be earning my paycheck tonight," he smiled. Holding up a finger to delay us, he added, "Just like I do in Presidential election years. Boy am I glad that only comes around every four years!"
Meanwhile reliable reports (from hair dresses, make-up artists, yogi teachers) are reporting that likely-to-win actors are working out full time on their arm muscles. #No Broken Elbows!
Saturday, March 3, 2018
DNA Your Dog! Build a $20,000 Chicken Coop ...
My new dental tech was doing a deep clean and to amuse myself I asked her about her dog because she had spoken loving about him on a previous visit. Enthusiastically she told me she had the dog's DNA done from a kit on amazon.com She thought it was $60 or $70 for this service.
When she got the results, she was thrilled and her excitement carried forward. "Oh, the huskey makes him a good long-distance runner - when I train for marathons, he goes with me and if I did 10 miles, he probably did 16 because he'll run ahead of me and then double back. His coloring is Doberman.." and on she went.
Ads for this service stress the fact that testing is painless, uninvolved and send the mouth swab to them and results will be mailed back postage-free.
I can see how it could be amusing to read the results and attribute certain behaviors, possibilities for specific diseases - I immediately thought of hip dysplasia in German Shepherds - to your very own dog. Further, if you'd purchased a thoroughbred and the results that came back had 47 other types of dogs present ... lawsuit time when it was a $2,000 dog.
I had less hope for getting your cat's DNA. Cats are famous for multi-partners of equally dubious distinction. The average found cat is unlikely to be an exotic such as a Burmese. Basepaws describes its services as the first ever for feline DNA. It seems to have been a result of success with dog DNA.
And then I read this: "My cat's name is Roger and I really want to learn more about his DNA because I want to confirm his royalty." Ooooky-dokey ...
However, all of the above paled in contrast to a new fad in Silicon Valley. Billionaires are raising chickens. Naturally competitive the tech personnel are going in for the exotic "heritage chickens" which are a very old breed and often nearly extinct. A heritage bird's average price is $350 vs. $15 for a bunch of common chickens. The buyers are looking for chickens that are affectionate and calm; in other words, small child friendly.
Coops are often a miniature of the residence. But not always. Williams-Sonoma sells a chemical free, sustainable red pine residence for the dear chickens. It is considered the Range Rover of chicken coops by chicken aficionados.
Some coops have solar panels, automated doors, electric lighting and video cameras so that you can visit and check on them from far away. Some chickens rate a personal chef who prepares the organic salmon, watermelon and steak of their diet. This is important because the family eats the eggs. And a six-pack of personally harvested (?) eggs has replaced the traditional bottle of wine for mein host.
A phone app - Coop Tender - comes with the ability to change the coop temperature, ventilation and a motion detector predator alert that switches on a blue-white floodlight. .
Silicon Valley personnel say that after a day of looking at a computer screen, chicken watching is very enjoyable. Even in their living room as particularly nice chickens are invited in to roam the house - wearing a chicken diaper. I should have known that all things are possible - pamperyourpoultry.com and mypetchicken.com sell them. The price range is from $14.95 to $9.49 at Walmart.
And their children enjoy collecting eggs which given the attention to detail most often shown by the driven, they probably do in a haz-mat suit. Monogrammed, of course.
When she got the results, she was thrilled and her excitement carried forward. "Oh, the huskey makes him a good long-distance runner - when I train for marathons, he goes with me and if I did 10 miles, he probably did 16 because he'll run ahead of me and then double back. His coloring is Doberman.." and on she went.
Ads for this service stress the fact that testing is painless, uninvolved and send the mouth swab to them and results will be mailed back postage-free.
I can see how it could be amusing to read the results and attribute certain behaviors, possibilities for specific diseases - I immediately thought of hip dysplasia in German Shepherds - to your very own dog. Further, if you'd purchased a thoroughbred and the results that came back had 47 other types of dogs present ... lawsuit time when it was a $2,000 dog.
I had less hope for getting your cat's DNA. Cats are famous for multi-partners of equally dubious distinction. The average found cat is unlikely to be an exotic such as a Burmese. Basepaws describes its services as the first ever for feline DNA. It seems to have been a result of success with dog DNA.
And then I read this: "My cat's name is Roger and I really want to learn more about his DNA because I want to confirm his royalty." Ooooky-dokey ...
However, all of the above paled in contrast to a new fad in Silicon Valley. Billionaires are raising chickens. Naturally competitive the tech personnel are going in for the exotic "heritage chickens" which are a very old breed and often nearly extinct. A heritage bird's average price is $350 vs. $15 for a bunch of common chickens. The buyers are looking for chickens that are affectionate and calm; in other words, small child friendly.
Coops are often a miniature of the residence. But not always. Williams-Sonoma sells a chemical free, sustainable red pine residence for the dear chickens. It is considered the Range Rover of chicken coops by chicken aficionados.
Some coops have solar panels, automated doors, electric lighting and video cameras so that you can visit and check on them from far away. Some chickens rate a personal chef who prepares the organic salmon, watermelon and steak of their diet. This is important because the family eats the eggs. And a six-pack of personally harvested (?) eggs has replaced the traditional bottle of wine for mein host.
A phone app - Coop Tender - comes with the ability to change the coop temperature, ventilation and a motion detector predator alert that switches on a blue-white floodlight. .
Silicon Valley personnel say that after a day of looking at a computer screen, chicken watching is very enjoyable. Even in their living room as particularly nice chickens are invited in to roam the house - wearing a chicken diaper. I should have known that all things are possible - pamperyourpoultry.com and mypetchicken.com sell them. The price range is from $14.95 to $9.49 at Walmart.
And their children enjoy collecting eggs which given the attention to detail most often shown by the driven, they probably do in a haz-mat suit. Monogrammed, of course.
Friday, March 2, 2018
A Veteran Teacher Remembers
He begins by telling me that he's seen many teachers quoted after these appalling attacks and that most are supporting stricter gun laws. Chastisement (of me) over, he went on to write -
"I spent 30 years teaching public high school in an urban community long considered 'culturally deprived' which was government politispeak for "a bad place." I only felt really threatened once in my years of teaching public school.
In my 13th year, a very strong student challenged me after I called him down in the hallway for using profanity.
He told me he would spread my moustache from ear-to-ear. I started to take off my jacket and necktie and muttered, "I'll just let you try that, young man," but when I looked up, he was fleeing the scene faster than an antelope bolting from a lion and all the while his friend stood there laughing his ass off.
My very first two years of teaching ('72-'73) our school was rife with racial rioting, but as much as they seemingly hated one another, the students always respected teacher authority.
When I was in my 21st year (of teaching) we had two pipe bombs go off in our school. No one was hurt and only minor damage was done, but we had ATF and FBI federal authorities crawling all over the place. I never felt threatened at the time because th placement of the bombs made it obvious the bomber(s) weren't intent on harming people, just causing a school cancellation. The two students responsible were eventually caught by the FBI and arrested. Neither ever returned to the school.
When I was dean of students, we were alerted by a student that one of his buddies had a gun at school. We thought he was carrying it, but it turned out the "gun" was in the trunk of his car - a .12-gauge shotgun he used to shoot skeet and trap at the local conservation club. Having grown up in a more rural setting of the early '60s, I remember seeing friends pickups with gun racks and shotguns parked in the school lot so I wasn't all that concerned. The boy's father came and picked up the gun and that ended the situation. That was all 15 years or more ago.
Honestly? I never felt as if my life was in danger ... back then. Today with the general apathy of society to provide adequate school security, the court mandate that violent children are still entitled to attend public school without regard for the consequences, and the lack of parental control over many teenagers in urban settings, I am glad I'm not still in the public schools teaching. I would add that one of my former student teachers was teaching at Columbine Middle School when the shooting spree occurred at the high school and I know she suffered some PTSD thereafter."
Doug Vermillion of Anderson, IN.
"I spent 30 years teaching public high school in an urban community long considered 'culturally deprived' which was government politispeak for "a bad place." I only felt really threatened once in my years of teaching public school.
In my 13th year, a very strong student challenged me after I called him down in the hallway for using profanity.
He told me he would spread my moustache from ear-to-ear. I started to take off my jacket and necktie and muttered, "I'll just let you try that, young man," but when I looked up, he was fleeing the scene faster than an antelope bolting from a lion and all the while his friend stood there laughing his ass off.
My very first two years of teaching ('72-'73) our school was rife with racial rioting, but as much as they seemingly hated one another, the students always respected teacher authority.
When I was in my 21st year (of teaching) we had two pipe bombs go off in our school. No one was hurt and only minor damage was done, but we had ATF and FBI federal authorities crawling all over the place. I never felt threatened at the time because th placement of the bombs made it obvious the bomber(s) weren't intent on harming people, just causing a school cancellation. The two students responsible were eventually caught by the FBI and arrested. Neither ever returned to the school.
When I was dean of students, we were alerted by a student that one of his buddies had a gun at school. We thought he was carrying it, but it turned out the "gun" was in the trunk of his car - a .12-gauge shotgun he used to shoot skeet and trap at the local conservation club. Having grown up in a more rural setting of the early '60s, I remember seeing friends pickups with gun racks and shotguns parked in the school lot so I wasn't all that concerned. The boy's father came and picked up the gun and that ended the situation. That was all 15 years or more ago.
Honestly? I never felt as if my life was in danger ... back then. Today with the general apathy of society to provide adequate school security, the court mandate that violent children are still entitled to attend public school without regard for the consequences, and the lack of parental control over many teenagers in urban settings, I am glad I'm not still in the public schools teaching. I would add that one of my former student teachers was teaching at Columbine Middle School when the shooting spree occurred at the high school and I know she suffered some PTSD thereafter."
Doug Vermillion of Anderson, IN.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Unheard Voices
Every time there is one of these tragic school shootings, we hear from the police chief, the sheriff, the students...and God almighty the media jumps all over it. But never a teacher. Have you noticed that, too?
So I consulted with the only two teachers that I know.
A PhD special education teacher who works in Beverly Hills was my first choice since he is actively working. The other is no less distinguished, but he is semi-retired. Nice contrast.
What would you like done in the way of prevention?
It seems to me that steps need to be taken much earlier. When we know that a child has expressed any dangerous behaviors - to himself or others - we need to be able to offer more support. In Special Education we have the opportunity to provide counseling, but it (counseling) is typically school-related issues.
Beyond that the kids get referral for services. As you can imagine, this is a long, difficult process as the system gets pretty bogged down.
Does your school have a plan in place?
We have several plans and steps based on the danger. We have a lock down procedure where we lock our metal doors and move the kids to a safe spot in the room. We really just need to keep the kids safe for the few minutes it would take for the SWAT team to arrive.
Do you feel safe in your school?
Yes, I feel safe in my school. We have a police department that will be here in seconds. I have seen it first hand and it is really impressive. Moreover we have plans in the school to lock it down quickly and efficiently.
I'd like to thank this teacher for taking the time to present a teacher's point-of-view. They're there in the heart of danger, too, and deserve credit for so being.
So I consulted with the only two teachers that I know.
A PhD special education teacher who works in Beverly Hills was my first choice since he is actively working. The other is no less distinguished, but he is semi-retired. Nice contrast.
What would you like done in the way of prevention?
It seems to me that steps need to be taken much earlier. When we know that a child has expressed any dangerous behaviors - to himself or others - we need to be able to offer more support. In Special Education we have the opportunity to provide counseling, but it (counseling) is typically school-related issues.
Beyond that the kids get referral for services. As you can imagine, this is a long, difficult process as the system gets pretty bogged down.
Does your school have a plan in place?
We have several plans and steps based on the danger. We have a lock down procedure where we lock our metal doors and move the kids to a safe spot in the room. We really just need to keep the kids safe for the few minutes it would take for the SWAT team to arrive.
Do you feel safe in your school?
Yes, I feel safe in my school. We have a police department that will be here in seconds. I have seen it first hand and it is really impressive. Moreover we have plans in the school to lock it down quickly and efficiently.
I'd like to thank this teacher for taking the time to present a teacher's point-of-view. They're there in the heart of danger, too, and deserve credit for so being.
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