Observations Monday 3 JAN 2011

2010 ended with a tornado in the St. Louis area. How appropriate. Good riddance to a bad year.

2011 started with this on my right upper wrist:

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00006&return_link=0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganglion_cyst

It's not painful, yet, but I now have to wear a wrist rest/brace.

The holidays were both good and mundane- and annoying.

I had visits from old Air Force friends in my remodeled Doghouse. We were happy to see each other, and it surprised them that the house was habitable... :)

After Christmas, I visited my second cousins, at a post-Christmas party. It went well, and I may go practice shooting with them after a long absence. Good thing my gun hand is not affected.

Paid my property taxes. 2/3 went to the local school district. It's the price you pay for a good community. The process at the county courthouse was surprisingly painless.

The bad part of the holiday season came just before New Years eve. During the bad weather over Christmas weekend, I found myself switching channels, and finding myself bored. Cue Bruce Springsteen. Unfortunately, there are more than 57 channels on. I found my radio, computers, and dog to be more company. So, I canceled U-Verse.

That began the nightmare. I won't bore you with the (psychotic) details, but on New Year's Eve, I was back on Sprint, with a smartphone. I still have local phone service, and DSL from AT&T. Those work well, and the landline is a lifesaver- think of it as an insurance/safety measure.

I spent the New Year's eve party at one of my friends house with about ten others. Boardgames had to be split between two groups. Actually came close to winning a game. :)

Today was spent in a waiting room. They had Direct TV in the exam room, so I found that one content provider was much like the other. No sat for me. The doc-in-the-box came in, and spent perhaps four minutes on me. *I* could have done a better job.

Our healthcare system is simply going to destroy itself. Regardless of your politics, the system will collapse, and we will go Canadian or British. Unfortunately, this will probably mean at least two generations of economic, medical, and political mayhem- and many broken lives. For Americans to change, there is always a horrific pricetag to be paid, and no choice but to pay it. It will not involve large-scale violence. Just enough people dying off naturally in political influence to allow change to occur.

It is a very cold war. No medals, no parades.

The same goes for economics and politics.

Wally