Monday, November 28, 2005

my first quilt

and it's not even a very challenging one at that. But the problem is that the ideas just keep coming, and I have to try them out before they vanish, so that means that projects sometimes have to be set aside. Then regular life takes place, and my weekends free for crafting and sewing are taken up by more mundane things like putting snow tires on the car, going away on vacation (which was one of the greatest trips i've been on) and before i know it, months have gone by.


so this is the whole thing, it's for my college roommate's little boy. I'm pleased with the fabric choice. It's cushy flannel on one side, and on the other it's flannel-y calico that looks like river weeds, like where snakes and tigers live in Africa. The piping around the edge gave me a few fits and the next one will be better I think, but I think that he'll like it.

This is a detail of it.

I'm quite pleased with it, even if it did take me months to actually complete it and ship it to him. hee hee hee

Friday, November 18, 2005

medicare and me

So as a type A personality, I have been spending lots of time mulling over this Medicare Rx. Now I know, you're thinking, what do you care, you're only 30? well, I care because the only way this is going to work is if people try to understand it. That and the fact that soon enough Mary Mary and my dad will have to start looking into it. Add to that my employment at a pharmacy, and people expect us to be knowledgeable in it.

So the inherent problem is that there are private companies involved. Just as Geroge Bush wants us all to be in charge of our govt social security plans (a clever ruse to get us all to unwittingly funnel money to people he has associations and interests with) he wants us to figure out the prescription plans as well.

This is fine, really, it makes sense that we should be the masters of our destiny, BUT, the selection is simply too large. It's daunting. Add to it the fact that the plan companies are marketing it, like sales items. This too is ok, but as we all know, there is far less truth in advertising than we would like. Not to mention the fact that the tools that can be useful in figuring out the plans are not really easy to find online, and, they are not readily available in person. So unless your gran is a fairly advanced web user, she's in trouble.

So I have done my best to figure it out and break it down into manageable steps.

1. Calculate the cash prices for current meds.
2. Determinte the total cost of the current Rx Plan (include premiums, deductibles, and copays). Also be aware that some of these items are only charged if the plan is used.
3. Be sure you know the duration of current plan, and if it's likely to change.
4. Review the Medicare plans available in your area and compare their benefits versus their charges. keep in mind that each plan is different, and that plans may include premiums, deductibles, and copays. They also have specific formularies, or lists of drugs they will cover and not cover.

The trick of course is tracking down the participating plan information. Webmd has a good medicare page.
  • WebMD Medicare Page
  • and a Medicare Rx Tutorial page too.
  • WebMD Medicare RX Tutorial


  • They also have a link to the feds plan lookup tool, but here it is also
  • Rx Plan Lookup Tool


  • A columnist on boston.com said it best, the new plan is called Medicare Part D. D says it best; D stands for disaster.

    Wednesday, November 16, 2005

    half.com

    i like half.com. i think it's very affordable. and dufflebag.com too. i like buying used music, and tough on the record company. it is too bad the band might lose out on money, but the simple fact of the matter is that i don't want to pay the full price.

    so over the weekend i went shopping and blew through too much money, and i stopped at newbury comics, a good place to get music on the east coast. i purchased two weezer albums, an old bad religion album, the lost in translation dvd, and a cd by a guy named butch walker. do you remember him? he used to sing for a band called marvelous 3. they were quite good in the 90's. you know when we were getting overrun with the terrible sounds of spin doctors, sara mclaughlan, the indigo girls, ugh, and hootie and the blowfish and bare naked ladies, Marvelous 3 was a breath of fresh rock and roll air. the stinky, sweaty jump up and down kind that you get drunk and flirt shamelessly with strangers to. it was fantastic.

    But then the record company turned terrible, as frequently happens, and they split up just to spite the execs. so then he went solo, and has since released two albums. i just got the most recent, Letters. it's full of great songs, though i must confess, one sounds EXACTLY like everlong, by the foo fighters, but what do i know? so what i like about marvelous 3 and walker's stuff is that the lyrics seem really heartfelt and emotional. it could be that i am a romantic, and i have a wild imagination, but the songs are really like poetry; rockin poetry, but poetry none the less. sometimes they are silly, but sometimes they are really profound. really!

    so i just purchased Math and Other Problems from someone on half. they better get on the stick and send it out already!

    Friday, November 11, 2005

    on line communities

    i am a member of an online crafting community. i was slightly nervous at first, what if i didn't have anything to contribute? but it became apparent soon enough that of course i have something to contribute, just like all the others do.

    i like it very much. one thing i think is very interesting is how you get to know a person online. you get to know a little bit about their likes and dislikes, their personal philosophy and of course their talents. Also in this community you get to know who is a control freak, and who is more laise faire about crafting. it really is interesting to see the two interact and converse.

    i find it very remarkable, also that people can be so alike and yet still come from very different cultures. for instance, there are knitters in every corner of the globe. facsinating. of course there would be, and why wouldn't there be? knitting is not for a specific group of people, americans, austrailians, or portuguese; rich, poor, or median incomes, it's just for knitters.

    yet there are also differences, the colors, the yarn or fiber, the culturally favored patterns. i think that is so interesting. it's like an anthropology thesis just waiting to happen.

    i wonder if i could do that, be an anthropologist.

    how does that sound?
    hi. i'm kristine, i'm an online anthropologist.

    i think it has a good ring to it.

    Monday, November 07, 2005

    bollocks, that!

    bugger all! manchester united beat chelsea over the weekend. i love chelsea. Forgive me if i am just a silly american with not too much knowledge. I try not to jump on bandwagons just for the sake of it, I love watford too. that is a no no, i know, to support two clubs, but that is the luxury of being on the outside. english people can watch the red sox and also follow the orioles (never the yankees); but sox fans are sox fans, and that's just how it is. (not unlike supporting a football club) it just seems to me that man utd are the yankees of the FA. and bollocks to the yankees, so you can imagine my view on man utd.

    one nil. i haven't read who scored, so i don't even have my facts straight yet, but this is terrible. Bah! Darren Fletcher scored the only goal. Darren Fletcher? who the hell is he? he's only got one goal all season! fooey! I hope he stubs his toe.

    here is the report.
  • chelsea/manutd report

  • egads, look at all those yellow cards awarded.

    I'll have to keep a closer eye on the tables from here on.

    Friday, November 04, 2005

    i am an organized person!

    i simply cannot believe that my dad doesn't think i am organized! i'll have to work on that. i'll have to clean my house and my desk properly this weekend. and my car with 100,015 miles on it (it clocked over the day after i posted that post. i guess i drive more miles in a day than i realized).

    I like being a control freak. it's comforting. i am nothing if i am not planning something. i do try to roll with the punches, and not be cranky if i don't get my way, but i like to plan for every possible scenario in life. for instance i am currently planning my christmas shopping. i am going to get Easy Rider for one brother in law, and music from the TV show Globe Trekker for one of my sisters.

    I mean just because i shreded everyone's paycheck and none of my cd's are in the correct jewel case, doesn't mean that i am not organized. just because all my laundry is still in baskets doesn't mean i am not organized!

    ah, perhaps all these things do indicate a lack of organization. i guess i'll start getting my to-do list for saturday ready now.

    Tuesday, November 01, 2005

    midlife crisis!

    so my car has 99,962 miles on it. i expect to break 100,000 before the end of the year. maybe even before the end of november.

    this is having a more profound effect on me than turning 30 did. I have a car that has 100,000 miles on it! when did it get so old? i won't even be able to trade it in an get one with fewer miles on it, because i'll need to keep it after the loan is paid off, to save some money! oh gaah! what a revolting development!

    it's a very good car, it's a pickup truck, and the only bad thing about it is that i need concrete blocks and snow tires in the winter. but that's ok. people with mustangs do too. it's dark blue. when i've washed it and vacuumed it and used armour all it's a very nice looking car. shiny and blue.

    what i would love to have is a bmw. a black one. hard top. two door. tan interior. if this were a proper midlife crisis, i would go and get one, but it's not, so i can't. i'll just have to dream about my beemer, and make plans for what cd to listen to first!