Archive for November, 2005
Black Friday Is Good Friday
Friday, November 25th, 2005Having never shopped on Black Friday before, scary stories spun in my head. Lust-crazed people barreling through doors grabbing everything in sight. Brawls over bedding blocking isle three. Sleep-deprived, wild-eyed shoppers marauding Wal-Mart pillaging the personal computer section.
It sounded dangerous in a fun yet deadly James Dean kind of way. A herd mentality that makes you want to try it even if it’s as bad for you as a tar-filled Camel hanging from the corner of your mouth.
Today, “succumbing to the peer pressure of commercialism”, as Mr. Dr. said, was the day to see for myself what all the hype was about.
What drove me to such madness? It’s the Japanese fault, I tell you! For some time, my heart has greatly desired a flat-screen TV. Functional, practical and best of all, beautiful, who wouldn’t want one? The old TVs are big, fat, ugly and hog room space. And, you have to watch all those fuzzy, nasty little dots. Yuck.
In addition, the Scottish in me likes a deal. When other people buckle, this chick remains stalwart. Paying retail almost makes me physically ill. Almost. Some things are worth retail, I just can’t think of any right now.
So, imagine my excitement at seeing a $188 flat screen and a $29 sleek DVD player at Target. Imagine my delight at seeing 1200 thread count sheets for $50 at Sam’s Club (a store that I loathe more than just about any other–they force you to pay cash or use Discover–grrrr!). Imagine my shock that a finely-crafted Kate Spade handbag could be had at Sam’s. Who knew?
I could have rolled my old, nursing bones out of bed at 4:30 to ensure that all electronics, textiles and accessories made it into the Dr. M household. I could have, but didn’t. But my interepid sister did.
My shopping excursion started at 8 a.m. Sam’s was reasonably unbusy at 8:00. Still, they were out of the super-fine sheets and I bought the next rung down. Oh well. Still a good deal and they fed me breakfast.
Target was a madhouse, but the fickle fingers of fate were on my side. The shelves were chock-a-block full of merchandise. The isles were stuffed with so many carts they were impassable. The poor electronics dude behind the counter looked like a shell-shocked marine on his first day of combat on his first tour of duty. It was only 9 a.m. Poor chap. Hope he survived.
So, being a woman (a man would NEVER do this), I asked a guy in a red vest, “Sir, I’m not sure if you’re sold out or not, or if everything is running together for me, but do you have any more of those 15″ flat screen T.V.’s for sale?”
Being a man, he was delighted to help. “Let me check for you,” he said authoritatively and promptly radioed Chuck the department manager.
“He’s coming right now,” my helper said. “In fact, here he is.” (They talked to each other on the walkie talkie until about ten feet from one another.) Even in Target, a man is G.I. Joe.
Lo and behold, Chuck held in his very grip, a 15″ monitor, “the last one” asigned to no one. He put it in my cart. I didn’t even have to reach for it! Kizmet.
But my morning wasn’t yet done. I had to check out. That worked well. A lane opened just for me. And then, I had to go to the dreaded Sanctuary of Satan’s cheap consumer goods: Wal-Mart.
Alas, they had sold most of what interested me. But being Wal-Mart, they had something not needed, but enjoyed when found: tons of cheap videos. DVDs for $3.44. I bought $60 worth. We now have a decent library of DVDs. Renting is wasteful at prices like these.
All in all, Black Friday was good to Dr. M. No bruises. No emotional trauma. Black Friday was a Good Friday for me!
Thanksgiving
Friday, November 25th, 2005The Dr. M family enjoyed a quiet, peaceful meal together Thursday. Our “do-nothingness” stretched into today. I do believe that this four-day weekend is the least activity we’ve had all year. Something is wrong with us! It was wonderful. The whole experience makes me determined to repeat it soon.
Student Loans Strangle Business Growth II
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2005Oh, I forgot to tell you how this affects business.
The loans weigh heavily on all college grads–especially if they are doctors like me–who are new business owners upon graduation. The attrition rate for chiropractors is somewhere near 50% within 5 years. Although that might be urban legend. Not sure. No chiropractic schools want these stats out, that’s for sure.
A medical doctor friend had $250,000 in student loans. A dentist can have north of $100,000 if he or she goes on to specialize and then a one chair set-up (you know the spit bowl, plumbing, moving chair) costs over $250,000.
It is tough to feel sorry for these people, right? But the ones you’re seeing are either gutting it up and just getting by (way more than anyone would like to admit), or doing relatively well. You’re not seeing the failures who are stuck with the student loans and business debt.
Now, lets add insurance. We have malpractice (a huge expense depending upon the specialty), liability (someone slips and falls), disability, health (we are a small business and pay through the nose with over a $5,000 deductible) and our personal life must be insured to the hilt because doctors are big targets.
1/10o doctors are audited by the IRS each year. 1/2000 U.S. citizens in other professions are audited. So you better pay a good CPA and have a financial advisor advising your every move.
Doctors must comply with inane insurance regulations that change every day and cost money. One insurance company paid for patient care rendered over a year and a half ago. Insurance companies are in the business of finding a reason NOT to pay. Try managing your cash flow with that kind of repayment schedule.
Some insurance companies pay such lousy reimbursement that we get paid less than half what we charge a cash patient for the same treatment. An orthopedic surgeon I know gets $200 for a Medicare knee replacement surgery!
It’s insane.
Chiropractic enrollment and enrollment in medical schools are declining. Doctors are picking specialties that don’t interfere with their families as much–radiology, pediatrics, anesthesiology, for example. That’s a good thing–for families.
And the Boomers are getting older just as the medical field receives heavy disincentives just to stay in practice.
Every old-timey doc says “Boy, I’m sure glad I’m getting out now. I wouldn’t want to be starting today.”
And it all begins in graduate school with student loans. Do we really want this kind of profession to be the home to trust fund kids and special interest quotas?
Shouldn’t the medical profession be filled with smart, dedicated people who enter the profession with desire to serve and the intelligence to serve well? Student loans should be helping these people get into a profession that needs talent and hard work. Instead, student loans bury the doctor before he or she can get a start.
Student Loans Strangle Business Growth
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2005A punitive bill is making it’s way through congress that will stick those with student loans with a fixed rate that is far above current market interest rates. Call your congressman or woman on my behalf and JUST SAY NO!
Dick Morris says: (read the whole thing here)
With a 25 percent share of the student loan market — more than six times that of its rivals — SLM has cashed in on federal guarantees against defaults on the one hand and blocked student refinancing on the other. As a result, according to columnist Terry Savage, writing for thestreet.com, SLM has made a profit of 1 percent over its loan volume of $100 billion — $1 billion in profit!
Student loans are near and dear to my heart. My husband and I, both chiropractors, paid our way through college. We left undergrad with no debt. We left graduate school with mounds of debt. It is simply unfeasable to get through academics that difficult while carrying a full or sometimes even a part time job.
Like many people we consolidated and “locked in”. That is, we got stuck with an interest rate that cannot be refinanced. So, while interest rates have hit rock bottom, the monopoly called Sallie Mae still gets big fat interest on top of inflated loans (the schools benefit from government upping of loans–they correspondingly increase room, board and tuition). Tuition has more than doubled inflation increasing an average of 10% a year. There is no market correction because financing is so tightly governmentally regulated.
This is NOT a good thing.
Crappy schools make the same money as good schools through student loans. So, good schools, setting themselves apart raise their fees. Only the “poor” (that would have been me) students pay the government loan amounts.
You see how this is crazy?
Sallie Mae wants to keep her nice big cash cow–Dick Morris says that their yearly take is over ONE BILLION DOLLARS–by pushing through a law that would not allow students to refinance.
Of course, this is wrong. The whole student loan system needs to be deregulated so competition can enter. Guess what? Tuition would decline. Loan interest rates would decline. Defaults (to the tune of 25%, which are guaranteed by the Federal government–that’s you and me, don’t forget) would decline.
Stop this madness! Call your Congress Person–TODAY!
Upper News
Monday, November 21st, 2005Ok, I’ll buck up VJ. Really, Dr. M is not moping through life right now. She is very busy and feeling generally irritated by the state of affairs. But that is looking at the glass half empty.
Actually, some things are perking up. Have you noticed that gas prices are on the descent? Do you know why? Econ 101 at work my furry little friends: supply and demand. Glen Reynolds posts some encouraging information about reduced use–that one barrel of oil today does the job that two did in the 50s. That’s good news! People are finally buying hybrids, including Glen, because they finally have some power and style.
Al Quaeda is trying to return to Afganistan, but it’s not working.
Mongolia is democratic and GW is encouraging and supporting them.
My children made pumpkin bread and will be taking it to the old folks home across the street and singing to the nice people there. Community service–now that’s a good idea.
A border fence between the US and Mexico might become a reality. Then again, it might not. It has worked in Israel. Heck, it works with my neighbors. (No illegal feline immigration into the Dr. M motherland, thank you very much.)
Abortions have dropped recently (decline in child-bearing age women is my guess as the baby boomers seek ways to have kids now that their child-bearing years are almost up and they inadvertantly are sterile due to age, STDs, previous abortions, and too effective birth control, but I digress) but are still twice the number (still alarminly high) of the early ’70s.
Thanksgiving is coming. I am profoundly grateful to live in a country that officially and annually thanks God.
So, there! While sounding like a crotchety old bag, “Bah, the good old days were gooder!” Now I can sing like an optimist, which truly represents my views more so on most days.
Have a great day!
Slow Posting
Sunday, November 20th, 2005My mom asked me why I hadn’t posted so much. Short answer: I’ve been really busy. Long answer: I’m sick of the news.
I’m sick of government news. Politicians make stupid decisions that seem unbeatably self-serving and wasteful and then, they vote on another piece of legislation that is even more self-serving and wasteful. They generally seem to have no conscious. They seem to have forgotten that their opinions and decisions do affect people. Is Washington D.C. so insulated from the Average Joe that the only opinions that matter is one anothers and press and pundits and lobbyists they fete with? Blech.
I’m sick of health news. (How’s that for ironic?) Everyone knows they should eat healthy, exercise, etc. They rarely do. All the health research says to eat healthy, exercise, etc. Our world is so polluted now though, that doing everything right still doesn’t guarantee a free pass from cancer or some other horrible disease. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do what you can…I’m just saying, you know what I’m saying.
I’m sick of crime. I’m sick of people abusing their children or someone elses child. I’m sick of rapists. I’m sick of “people smugglers trafficking humans”. And I’m really sick of prosecutors going after some person for this or that minor infraction when real criminals are getting away, literally, with murder. Oh, and I am convinced there is a special place in hell for defense lawyers who traumatize the victims in the name of a “spirited defense.”
I’m sick of stupid priorities in schools. When I was in school, I got a half hour recess in the morning, the afternoon and an hour at lunch time and we still managed to learn to read, write and do some math. My kids get no recess except for a half hour at lunch. And they come home with an hour of homework every night in second grade. WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING IN SCHOOL? So these poor little boys with ants in their pants get put on Ritalin when all they need is some recess to burn off steam? And we complain that kids are fat? Research shows that adults can sit for no longer than 50 minutes before attention fades. My kids at ages six and eight are well-versed in the drug culture, though…a whole week was spent learning to say no to drugs, alcohol and everything else. Is everyone insane?
I’m sick of the media. George Clooney thinks that the worst period in American history was McCarthyism. Cameran Diaz waxes elephant about politics. Every movie portrays the common person as some ignorant hick while Sex and The City glorifies vapid, sleazy women as glamorous. According to Desperate Housewives, the suburbs are filled with conniving, self-centered lust-crazed adultresses (not the love-crazed moms like I know who wait in car-line, shuttle kids to lessons, make dinner night after night, read before bed, and the list goes on and on). And Maureen Dowd laments the dirth of men in her high-faluting world of intellectual stimulation and gender manipulation as the common woman (that stupid little lady who sold her soul, got married, had children and put her career on permanent hold) bumbles back to the 50s. Red state, blue state. Rednecks versus smarter-than-you urbanity. Yuck to it all.
I’m sick of business fads. There is NOTHING new under the sun. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t new products or new services. There are. But the way businesses get those products and services to the market are tiresomely blandly the same as they always have been. And, the problems that undo potential growth are also still the same–lack of cash flow, faulty manufacturing, apathetic customer service, pricing problems, image problems, high overhead, undisciplined spending. Blah, blah, blah.
I’m sick of commercialism. The best holiday America celebrates will be here next week: Thanksgiving. Yet, this year more than any other I remember, it is being blown by in a tidal wave of advertising for Christmas. It’s going to be a huge season, I’m predicting. But give me a break! Are we such a thing-obsessed society that we can’t stop for one day of the year and allow ourselves to ponder for a moment that it isn’t our greatness or goodness that resulted in our abundance but God’s bountiful blessings? We can’t pause, pray and humbly give thanks with a sincere heart filled with gratitude? It is embaressing.
I’m sick of thought police. If you’re a Liberal, Conservative, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Female, Male, Straight, Gay, Fat, Skinny, Rich, Poor, or whatever other category you fall in, you’re supposed to think a certain way. Some black dude in Maryland is getting pelted with Oreos during speeches because he has the nerve to be Republican. And there are blacks (and whites) who defend this! Are you kidding me? You mean to tell me that the good Reverend Martin Luther King would approve of this? This is 2005 not 1950. It is called DIVERSITY. Or is there only a right kind of diversity–the kind where as long as your opinions match mine they are okay? An educated woman is not “liberated” unless she works 80 hours a week in a corporate position. A list a mile long could be written.
I’m sick of warped values. Everywhere in America, people are trying to convince themselves that the affair they are having isn’t hurting anyone, that watching hours of TV doesn’t change your thinking, that leaving their child in day care until 8 p.m. is okay, that the children will be okay as long as mommy and daddy are happy, that a new car, bigger house of more things matters more than siblings, time, and connectedness. These are called deals with the devil, because deep down these deals all come due. And it won’t be pretty when it does.
I’m sick of Baby Boomers. GW Bush saddled the future generations with even more debt with the new Medicare Drug Benefit in the name of appeasing the most selfish, bloated generation ever. Anti-aging (Boomers are never going to die and when they do, they will look 20 because of all the plastic surgery), divorce, McMansions, spas, adventure travel, artificial insemination, surrogates, me, me, me, me, me. The average number of children from Boomers–1.7–means huge responsibilities for those few kids in the future. With divorce, there will be more step-children, too. But will the kid want to take care of step-mommy or step-daddy dearest when old and addled? Um, let’s be realistic here.
I’m sick of stupidness. Rebuild a drowning city. Appease criminals. Hope that terrorists will go away if we pretend they’re not there. Keep border wide open. Keep passing bigger national budgets. Increase student loan amounts so colleges will keep inflating tuition. Search law-abiding people at airports so we “feel safe”. The list goes on….and on….and on….
So that is why there have been fewer posts recently. You know the old saying, “if you don’t have anything nice to say…..”
Attraction and Hormones
Tuesday, November 15th, 2005Interesting. Chinese Face Reading might not be so far off.
Simple Reason Common Cold So Common
Monday, November 14th, 2005Well, well, well, mom was right again. When we get chilled we become susceptible to a cold–so says current research. Now, this might be common sense to all moms, but once again, Doctors have known better and given stupid advice as a result.
Ever heard the saying, “He doesn’t have the sense to come out of the rain”?
Other doctorly advice it might be wise to ignore:
- Sugar doesn’t cause hyperactivity.
- You’re only contagious when you have a fever.
- Children can’t have food sensitivities until they are two.
- Childhood colic is incurable and must be outgrown.
- Breastfeeding is unnecessary or doesn’t make that much of a difference.
- Salt is bad.
- Butter is bad.
- Meat is bad.
- Bread is good.
- Milk is good.
- 6-12 colds a year is normal.
- Pooping once a week is normal.
- Pooping once a day is normal.
And this is just kid advice. A book could be written about all the unfactual, unsupported, medical dogma that passes as “science” but is far from it.
Perfection
Saturday, November 12th, 2005
How can you say there is no God when looking at perfect toes on perfect feet?
Republican Weenies
Saturday, November 12th, 2005For those of you who hold the conflicting positions that we need to rely less on foreign oil but must never hunt nor drill for oil on our own turf, congratulations! The Republican weenies buckled and removed a provision to drill in ANWR while simultaneous giving Oil Executives hypocritical verbal spankings.
They suck! Read more at Michelle Malkin’s blog.
