This one came by way of my dad. A British comedy duo, a married couple called the Jovers, that had an act in Vegas. Very funny, with sly double entendres and impressive physical comedy, especially considering they were entering their 50’s when they did this. Be sure to go to YouTube and read the comments.
Wanting to be stuck in the middle
Tonight’s Marketplace radio show had this segment about the economic and political importance of having a Middle Class.
[audio:http://download.publicradio.org/podcast/marketplace/segments/2012/09/21/marketplace_segment27_20120921_64.mp3|titles=Marketplace: 21Sept12]Vacuum Tubes for Victory!
http://youtu.be/2eDb8ojvreo
Cranking out the years
With my ‘interesting’ eyes, I can relate to Friday’s Crankshaft.
Crankshaft is one of my favorite comic strips, but when there are flashbacks — tinted brown and framed as if in an old photo album — I have to ignore the “timeline disconnect” in the continuity. Ed Crankshaft is supposed to be a WWII vet who had played ball for the Toledo Mud Hens. For that to be possible he would be somewhere between 85 and 90 years old — too old to make it up the stairs to his apartment over the garage, let alone drive a school bus. His daughter and son-in-law witnessed the Kent State killings of students by the National Guard in 1970, so they have to be at least 60 or 62, and yet the family is portrayed as if Pam and Jeff are 50-55.
Soundclouds!
Brian Sibley, distinguished Man of Letters and friend of the blog, interviewing Ray Bradbury.
Lia Pamina, the sweetest of Spaniards, and likewise a friend of the blog, has a delightful song that’s been remixed by her talented producer, Robbie Leff.
And here’s a catchy tune I caught on BBC Radio 2.
The outs of insurance
I received a statement from Blue Cross/Blue Shield, saying my wife wasn’t covered for a hospital visit she had back in June, and I would be responsible for the $2000 in charges. She did indeed have an appointment there in June, but not on that day. The form said she didn’t have insurance on the day services were provided, which of course she would have, if she had been at the hospital that particular day.
So what was the problem? The hospital had sent BC/BS a bill for charges belonging to another woman who happens to have my wife’s name. BC/BS claimed innocence, that it was the hospital’s mistake, but they also screwed up. The statement had the wrong middle initial for my name, which was what made me suspicious in the first place.
It was possible, if unlikely, that the woman with my wife’s name is married to a man with my name, but I was told by BC/BS that their computer system had replaced my middle initial with my wife’s. Having spent more than 30 years in the healthcare computing business I felt confident in saying to the representative, “unless somebody entered that by mistake manually, that’s a bug in your software, and you need to kick this upstairs.”
Speaking of healthcare, this is worth watching…
Watch Making Sen$e: Competing Claims About Healthcare Reform on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.