Saturday, May 05, 2012

Pay the Hospital with Salt Water

When Kadizzle got his bill from the emergency room in Globe, Arizona, he was furious.  After waiting six hours to be seen Kadizzle got his three stitches in the finger for the princely sum of $1,500.  The American health insurance industry is rotten to the core, and health care in this country needs and enema.  Examining the bill it turns out Kadizzle was charged $26 dollars each for three bottles of sodium chloride (the medical term for salt water).  The salt water was used to clean the wound.  The exact same salt water can be purchased for $2.00 per bottle from the internet.  Kadizzle's owes the hospital in Globe, Arizona $147.   So that comes out to about five bottles of salt water.   So just to be fair Kadizzle will send the hospital 12 bottles of salt water.  According to the Hospital that would be worth $312, but will only cost Kadizzle $24.   The Hospital will get twice what they asked for when they sell the extra salt water to the next person they rip off.  If you go to the hospital take your own salt water, you can get it at any drug store, and it is medically approved.  Tell them to pour theirs back in the ocean.

Friday, May 04, 2012

Living on dreams isn't easy

Summer is rolling down the road at high speed. With the warm winter a lot of sailing friends have set new records for getting their boats in the water.  Yesterday Kadizzle finally got the bottom paint on and finished up the work on the keel.

Last summer Kadizzle hit a rock and took a chunk out of the keel.  Hitting the rock was pretty stupid, and dramatic.  The lake was at a record high last summer.  As the good ship came out of a bay with the fleet Kadizzle was distracted and not really paying attention to where the boat was. Think of the guy who hit the rock with that tour boat in the Mediterranean.  After a loud bang a big piece of fiberglass floated to the surface.  The Commander's eyes got big and it was obvious the Commander was taking it pretty serious.  Kadizzle knew it was the keel that hit and it was not a life or sinking problem.  The Commander got in panic mode and wanted to radio for help.  After some talk Kadizzle got the commander to simply inform the other boats we might be sinking.

What really spiced up the adventure was when The Commander went below to assess the damage. For some strange reason the sump pump was on. The bilge always has some water in it.  As the Commander went below she heard water gushing into the boat.  Now it was full panic.  The Commander was sure we were sinking.  What actually happened was the discharge hose from the sump pump had come off, so instead of pumping water overboard the pump was just pumping water in a circle.  The pump was shooting water at the floorboards of the boat making it sound like a huge leak. There was no leak at all, but it took a little bit to get the commander to realize it.

The big piece of fiberglass that floated to the surface was a previous patch on the keel.  Anyway, the new patch is in place and all is well. Now we have to go out and  find another rock to hit this year.

Now, why title this post "Living on dreams isn't easy"?   Well Kadizzle is sitting here listening to John Prine.  Prine has some of the best lyrics ever.  Some day Kadizzle is going to put together a story that is entirely made from the lyrics of songs.  If you have never listened to John Prime, do so.  John will sing to you all you need to know about life.