I Had a Dream

There was some kind of outdoor college or high school gathering or event. I was there, going up the stairs, bleachers or hill, and I was talking smack about something because I was thinking for sure I was the Cool Adult, because all teens are constantly trying to find a Cool Adult, am I right? Anyway, someone was warning me to stop smack talking.

Then I came across a senior missionary couple and they were so sweet, but they were warned that they might get in big trouble because they had brought their large turtle, and such-and-such other couple had recently gotten in trouble for bringing a wacky pet like that, which was specifically prohibited. So I really felt for that couple.

Scene Change: the high school/college gathering was indoors, in a semi-rustic room, like you might see in a fancy-type lodge or wilderness meeting facility. There might have been a pot-belly stove in the middle of the room, or it might have been a lectern, and instead of mostly older teens, the room was filled with regular people and lots of my Provo Clayton cousins. And in fact, the room was somehow in The Arapahoe House. Someone came to the door and indicated to the group of us, not everyone in the room, but specifically us Clayton people, that there was an issue, perhaps a serious issue. I thought,"I hope everyone is ok!" and we all stealthily got up and left en masse. We were not disruptive at all. As we were leaving, my Uncle Keith said to me,"There's an atomic reactor under this place." And I was trying to puzzle out what that could mean when he clarified,"We supply all the power for Amazon." And then I knew that he really meant there was a nuclear reactor below the building. So the group of us, which specifically included my cousins David and Julie, headed down the outside stairs. As we were going, there was a little girl walking right in front of my Uncle Keith, who was right in front of me, and she passed by a glass tube that was obviously a heat vent for the reactor. It was kind of sticking up and then bent sideways so that it was in the path of  people walking down the stairs, which seems like a really bad design choice for a nuclear reactor. And as the girl passed by it, her arm brushed against it and it bent, because it was blazing hot from venting a nuclear reactor. Anyway, I was really worried the girl would have a circle-shaped burn on her arm, but she seemed unaffected and Uncle Keith just sort of bent the tube out of the way and kept going. Isn't it crazy that the glass could be so hot it would bend, but not burn people!?

Scene Change: inside The Arapahoe House (but not really; you know how dreams are) We are obviously right below the room we were in before. It is not an emergency at all for which we have been called out of the other meeting. We are all just sitting around, and someone is trying to conduct some business. I am a single college student. I learn that my cousin Julie is offering me $10.50 an hour to be a nanny for her kids. I'm trying to do the math and it's only coming out to like $160 bucks a month, so I am considering asking for $12 an hour. People are chatting and conducting business of some kind, like negotiating. My sister Dorothy is there, possibly telling me it's not worth it to be a nanny. Then people come to a consensus, while I am doing the math on the nanny job, and my cousin David starts singing. It's Ave Maria. He is unabashed, just singing it up, which is impressive to me.

That's when my alarm goes off, but it's on my device, so it's not just a beeping, but some kind of peppy sound effect, and I was thinking, what is that crap? I'm trying to listen to Ave Maria before I start my nanny job! And it was such a bummer to wake up.

Catchy Theme Song

There is a kids' show on Amazon Prime called Tiny Planet and it has a super-catchy theme song. It is a show about two fluffy alien guys that go around doing stuff without talking and their names are Bing and Bong. According to the theme song, they are the Heroes of the Universe. The catchy part is that the song says their names in a way that sounds like bells, so it's really easy to sing. Again and AGAIN.

Check it out and listen to the theme song. As soon as you hear it, you will start singing it and I won't be the only one stuck here in catchy kids-show theme song purgatory.

Who Thought That was a Good Idea?

So I'm on a blog and she has a recipe for "Easy Barbecue Pork {crockpot} Here's the link.

Then half-way through the post, here's a helpful little link-bar, and it says:

"See a peppered-pork biscuit recipe"

There is something hilarious about this to me.  Because, was I searching for the perfect "Peppered-pork Biscuit recipe?"  Is that even a thing?  Is peppered-pork really even a thing?  Pork biscuits?  Could there be anything less healthy?

It just sounded hilarious and out-of-place.  Because it IS hilarious and out-of-place.

Favorite Transformer Names

My three little brothers wished they had Transformers back in the day.  We accidentally acquired the one that turns into a cassette tape from somewhere, and another one that wasn't as cool.  I was a teen when they were That Cool, so it wasn't my scene.  I thought GoBots was a better name, but Transformers were obviously the better product.  Not that I cared at the time.

Then I got married and gave birth to four sons.  I have had Transformers in my house for more than a decade.  My boys are insane for these.  The Classic, the Energon, Whatever the New Thing Is -- we've had them all in here.  I am thankful for my nearly 14-year-old, because when I claim transforming-incompetence, he is more than glad to step in and help his brothers transform Whoever-it-is.

I seem more flippant than I am.  I am actually pretty good at remembering their names.  I know there are a couple-a girls in the bunch.  I have transformed both the car and motorcycle ones.  So yeah, I'm that good.  I have a few favorite Transformer names, since I am involuntarily immersed in Transformer Culture.  That's the reason for this post.  And here they are:

Devastator : my big boy used to pronounce this "Demastator"
Iron Hide : that's a good name, no matter what.  If I had a little fluffy pet kitty, I might name him Iron Hide
Ultra Magnus : What?!  That name is awesome! It's ultra!
Optimus Prime : A little more contrived, but so what?  Optimus Prime! My big boy used to pronounce this "Octimus Prime"  so I always picture him having eight of something.  Mini-cons? Past lives?  Who knows.
Brimstone : super bad
Cyclonus : feels a little bit Greek.  Definitely menacing.
Megatron : a doofus evil robot guy, but great name.
Unicron : as awesome a name as it is to be a robot that's also a planet.
Ravage : name says it all
Cybertron Primus : I'm sorry, but that is the best mash-up of tech-sounding power syllables ever!


I also feel compelled to share my list of Lamest Transformer Names:

Star Scream : and the guy is just as annoying as his name
Astro Train : little boys love trains, but this one is just not cool.
Rat Trap : from Beast Wars.  Eww.
Jazz : really?  Not even going to try?
Kup : allegedly he transforms into a pickup truck

I'm sure there are more.

Inspired by my Better Half

When you finish the title and hit Tab, you should be sent directly to the body section of the post.  Or email. Just saying, since I know you're scanning every word, google.

Seth likes writing.  He started writing on his blog again, zethro.blogspot.com  Check him out.  I don't like writing as much but I have this blog.  I'm not a Type A person who tells her opinions at her leisure, so I have to sneak them into the public conversation secretly, on my blog.  So I'm writing on my blog again.

Something is Wrong with the way People Talk About This

OK.  I haven't posted any opinions or news in a long time.  This one pushed me over the edge this morning.  I have to say something and at least inject my tiny amount of sanity and sense into the mess.

So people talk about Healthcare Reform.  What they're really talking about is Health Insurance Reform.  People talk about Access to Health Care.  Everyone has access to health care, if they want to go to the doctor or the hospital.  The thing people mean to say is Someone Else to Pay for my Health Care.  Then today in the paper Denver Health hospital was whining about how they have to foot the bill for so many more Uninsured People than other hospitals.  This implication that people without insurance are losers who will not pay their bills is what put me over the edge.  I have been uninsured and I have been extremely under-insured and I have always paid my medical bills.  I have had medical bills I couldn't pay immediately and in full, so I put together a payment plan with the medical providers, taking years to pay down.  I understand there are lots of people who don't.  Don't put all uninsured people in an Evil Group.

The problem we're facing is not Access to Health Care or Access to Health Insurance.  The problem is that medical care is OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE.  Since when does it cost 10,000 for a day in the hospital?  I can stay at a dang nice hotel for $300 and I can hire someone to come in and take specific care of me for about that.  What are hospitals using the other 9,000 dollars for?  "Oh, but doctors have to have so much training and specialty!"  Yes, lots of professions require additional training.  I don't see other professions claiming such a rarefied position in society that just because they forked over the dough to go to lots of schooling, they are somehow entitled to charge people 9 times the actual cost of their work.  How is that reasonable?

How is it reasonable that a single pill of radioactive iodine cost me (and my generous insurance plan, through an employer) $8,000.  How is that reasonable?  How is it that three days in the hospital for pneumonia, the only treatment for which was oxygen and antibiotics that I could have overseen at home, cost us (and our generous insurance plan) $20,000?  How is that reasonable?  I could buy the oxygen equipment myself and heck! even the pulse-ox and monitoring equipment, for a fraction of that.  Add in the $10 antibiotic and you still have five figures worth of unexplained, outrageous overage in the bill.  How is this reasonable?

I understand about all the safety procedures, the legal requirements, the lawsuits, the training, the R&D, and all the rest.  I, as a smart, logical, and reasonable person still ask:

HOW IS THIS REASONABLE!???!

...especially when EVERY doctor (and dentist) I have EVER encountered drives a top-of-the-line vehicle, wears expensive shirts, and lives in the most exclusive gated communities.  This isn't rich-poor jealousy.  It's me, scraping the family budget until it nearly disintegrates to pay medical bills, then seeing excess and yes, greed, in the medical profession.

I had cancer;  I'm grateful for medical science.  I just think they need to be grateful for what they have and stop overcharging everyone for it. The problem is the amount being charged for medical care, not whether people pay for their own or whether the government will do so.  If it's reasonably priced, more people can pay for their own.  The amounts coming through on the bills and statements are so astronomical as to be comical.  That's the problem.

Pie!

[prologue] There's a song on Just Dance 4, where the singer says,"Ladies! If your man wanna get buck wild, just go back and hit 'im up style!"  We play this game all the time and whenever I play, Scott and Mark race in to watch.

[story] So it's after breakfast this morning but Scott is still sitting at the table finishing his pears.  All of a sudden he turns to me and yells out,"Mom, Ladies love some pie!"

And I say, wondering,"Yes.  Pie is so good!"

And Scott says,"Because on Dance, they say Ladies! When you wan-na get some pie!"