Six more weeks of winter

I find myself wishing the snow would stay a few more weeks.

Usually forty degree temperatures and brown lawns in the neighborhood brings a smile to my face. It means warmer mornings for running, longer days, and that baseball season is right around the corner.

But this year is different.

I wouldn't mind a few more weeks of winter.

The reason for this sudden change is Aidan.

He loves the snow. He loves playing in it. He loves touching it. But what he loves the most is helping his dad shovel the driveway and sidewalks. (He loves this activity so much that I'll admit that I've been disappointed a few times when forecast has called for lots of snow and we end up with nothing on the ground.)

Take Saturday. An overnight snow storm dumped two inches of white powder.

After Aidan was ready for the day I asked. "Do you want to shovel snow with Daddy?"

Aidan babbled something excitedly and ran to find his boots and coat. A few minutes later we were outside shoveling snow.

Well, I was shoveling.

Aidan was raking snow. (Since we only have one snow shovel, Aidan uses our garden rake.)

But Aidan doesn't care what tool he has. He's just happy to be playing in the snow with Dad.And while I shoveled the driveway and sidewalk Aidan followed me around, pushing the rake in front of him.

Though I'm sure warming temperatures will bring something new the two of us can do together, I'm going to miss the expression on his face when in the mornings when he looks out the window and realizes there was new snow on the ground.

Thank you Arizona Sarah

Thanks to Arizona Sarah for explaining the cost issue associated with the vaccines. (I forgot she worked in the insurance industry.)

According to Sarah:

Under an insurance plan, there is a negotiated cost for every service - shots, physicals, face-lifts, everything.When there is no insurance, there is only a "whole-sale" cost.So what happens to the difference, you ask?Well, depends on the insurance carrier; some doctors will charge $50 and get paid $50 by the insurance company. Most will charge $50 and get paid $10 or $11 (the negotiated cost of the shot).The excessive costs are often from the physicians, not the insurance companies. When the cost is higher than the "wholesale", it is usually the result of a combination of the doctor over-charging and the insurance company agreeing to over-pay it to keep the dollars coming in and out of both sides of the industry up at an inflated level.

And we wonder why health insurance costs are so high.

Addendum: Hit Coffee had the following insight:

I can't speak on vaccines, but in other areas of medicine it actually makes sense for doctors to charge insurance companies more than they charge patients. If you pay cash then they know that they're going to get their money right then and there. When the insurance company involves, at best their payment will be delayed. Often the insurance companies will find ways not to pay and then time and effort have to be expended getting the money from the patient.

For example, I visited the doctor a while back about persistent headaches. Persistent headaches are covered, but I was trying to quit smoking at the time, and both my doctor and I found out later that anything due to drug-cessation (including tobacco) were not covered. There are enough technicalities that except for the most routine stuff, a doctor doesn't know for sure whether the insurance company will cover it. When they don't, they have to go through collecting procedures that cost money.

And no matter who ends up paying, payment is both delayed and costs more in man-hours and paperwork to collect. It's all a very inefficient way of going about it. My wife is a medical resident, I have good benefits, but I still pay cash whenever I can.

Vaccines cost less without health insurance

While vaccines might cost less without health insurance, the cost of other health services can be deflected with the help of great affordable health insurance. The cost of obtaining quality health insurance can seem like a lot, but the benefits of insurance should outweigh the costs. It’s easy now to find cheap health insurance if you know where to look.

Due to the job switch, the family is temporarily without health insurance. (Fortunately, we should have some by the end of the month). While Marathon Girl and I have been working to find some coverage, Steven's four month checkup came due. Paying for the checkup wasn't an issue but with the routine vaccines Steven needed, Marathon Girl worried that the doctor's visit was going to be somewhat expensive.

I told Marathon Girl that since we didn't have insurance, the vaccines would probably cost less. Though I wasn't 100 percent sure, I remembered a story a coworker at my last place of employment told me. A few years ago he was in a similar situation (no health insurance and his daughter needed some shots). When he told the doctor he didn't have health insurance, the doctor told him that the vaccines would cost less.

Marathon Girl called me after the appointment to tell me I was right.. Shots without health insurance are a lot less expensive. A shot that would be billed to health insurance as $50 cost us only $11. Another would have cost $60 if we had insurance only cost us $10.

I know the health insurance industry is messed up and is in dire need of some market-related reforms. But the fact that shots cost that much less without insurance is a bit perplexing. I understand there are some overhead costs when dealing with insurance companies but I would expect the cost to be a couple of dollars here and there, not $39 or so per vaccine.

If anyone can provide some insight as to why there's such a cost discrepancy, leave a comment or send me an email.

Enjoy Being Lost

Somewhere in the back of my mind I keep thinking that writers of Lost are going to blow it. Every week I think there's no way the can keep the tension up or make a character of the show any more real or complex. But each Wednesday they deliver one incredible episode after another. Last night's episode was excellent and one where Marathon Girl couldn't call the ending. (She has a knack for calling out what's going to happen by the end of the show after the first five minutes.) I'm jealous. I'd really like to write for show or, at the very least, learn from those guys how to write believable plots and characters. And for those who feel like it's too late to jump into the show, ABC will be airing the two hour premiere next Wednesday. If its something that you like go rent or buy the first season on DVD. There should be enough reruns between now and season three that you can catch up on anything you've missed.

Valentine's Day Balloons

Marathon Girl thought it would be nice to get the kids something for Valentine's Day. So on the way home from work yesterday she called and asked if I could pick up some Valentine's Day balloons for Aidan and Steven. I told Marathon Girl I'd be happy to oblige.

Aidan loves helium-filled balloons. Every time we go to the store and walk by the balloons Aidan points to them and says "ballooooo." As I drove to the store, I pictured Aidan's face tomorrow morning when he'd wake up and see balloon in the living room.

Then I get to the store.

It's a mad house.

Men are running around like a bunch gnus being hunted by lions. They're throwing flowers and chocolates in their card then making a beeline for the card aisle where they start fighting over the perfect card for the love of their life.

I shake my head. I learned my lesson last year. I bought something for Marathon Girl ten days ago.

Fortunately everyone seemed to be leaving the balloons alone. There was a large selection to choose from. I looked through the balloons trying to find a nice one for Aidan and Steven. I finally selected a shiny red and black balloon that says Happy Valentine's Day for Aidan and a heart shaped one for Steven.

As I headed toward the self checkout line, a man raced toward me. He had the familiar look of my-love-will-kill-me-if-I-don't-buy-something-nice on his face.

"Where did you get those?" he said pointing to the balloons.

"Over there by the flowers," I said.

"Flowers!" the man said. "I forgot the flowers!" He runs off saying something about his wife liking roses.

I bought the balloons and headed home. I parked the car in the garage and left the balloons in the car. I could hear Aidan knocking on the door leading from the garage to the kitchen. He knew daddy was home.

Aidan was happy to see me. After dinner we played with his toys until bedtime.

As I put Aidan to bed, I hoped he would wake up earlier than usual tomorrow so I could see the look on his face when he sees the balloons in the morning.

I got my wish.

Five minutes before I left for work, I heard Aidan in his room. I opened his door and asked if he wanted breakfast. Aidan comes running out of his room. He stopped suddenly before he reached the kitchen. The two balloons are floating in the air above his chair.

"Ballooo!" he said pointing excitedly at the balloons. He grabbed the red ribbon attached to one and pulled it down so he can hold it. Then he lets it go and watches it bounce off the ceiling before grabbing it again. "Ballooo!" he said again.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Aidan," I said.

I kissed the top of his head before I left for work. Even in the garage I could hear Aidan say "Ballooo!" over and over.

I left for work with a smile on my face, quite sure, for once, it was bigger than Aidan's.

Saturday Runs With Marathon Girl

I'm learning to love Saturdays again. Since Marathon Girl bought the running stroller, we've been able to run together on those days.

There's nothing I'd rather do with her.

Take this afternoon, for example. Blazing sun. Warm enough to wear a long sleeve t-shirt. We start running.

Usually we discuss how far we're going to run before we walk out the door.

Not today.

We just started running.

And it was one of those runs where you feel like running all day. Body feels good. Breathing well. Enough sun and blue sky you could almost forget it was February.

We decided to run a flexible loop that gives up the option to run three, four, or five miles.

We reached the three mile turnaround point. Marathon Girl looked at me. I could tell she wanted to continue.

"Keep running," I said.

Then the four mile turnaround point. I could tell Marathon Girl wanted to keep going. I nodded and we continued.

And as we ran those five miles I'd look over at Marathon Girl every so often and notice her perfect running form, her hair flailing behind her like corn silk, and a smile on her face.

Yeah, I love Saturdays.

Book Update

I've started writing a second book. Actually, I've just started writing the outline for a second book. It took me a couple of frustrating tries at writing the first chapter before I realized the need to write a little about the characters and a chapter by chapter outline before I start to write it. The nice thing about writing the memoir was I already knew how it started, ended, and everything that happened in between. But in order to write good fiction, I need to plan it out a little more. If all goes well, I'm hoping to have the book completed by the end of the year. Marketing my memoir to agents and publishers is going forward a little at a time. I have a few agents that are reading the first few chapters and/or a proposal for the book. Writing the proposal for the book was challenging but fun. The six years of marketing experience I acquired at my last job has come in handy. I've put together a marketing plan on how to promote the book once it's published.

One thing I've noticed about artists and writers in general is that though many of them are quite talented, most of them don't know how to promote and sell their work. Somehow they think the art should and sell itself. Most of the successful artists/writers are not only good at their craft but also very good at selling and marketing their work to their target audience. Marketing is one thing I wish I would have learned in college. Knowing how to marketing my writing might have jump started my writing career by a couple years.

***

New episode of Lost tonight. I can already feel the pains of a two week new episode withdrawal subsiding.

Lesson Learned

The Super Bowl may not have been as close as I thought it was going to be but I sure called the reason why Pittsburgh would win. They were calm and collected the entire game. Even when they started slow, they kept with their game plan and bit by bit chewed up the Seahawks. Seattle, on the other hand, had some of the worst time management I've seen in a Super Bow. When it came to crunch time it looked like they looked confused and unsure of themselves when it mattered most.

But the party was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Like usual, I ate way too much food - especially of my scrumptious chicken wings. It's nice to have a day when you can watch football and eat good food.

***

Aidan is turning into a parrot. He'll mimic just about anything I say as he learns to string words together and form sentences. It's been a humbling experience as now I'm learning what an example I am to my son. The other day I was having a tough day. I went to through something in the garbage and missed. I made a growling sound (which if you listend real close would sound like a swear word) as I picked up the garbage and threw it in the trash. A second later I heard the same sound behind me and turned to see Aidan standing there with a smile on his face, obviously pleased that he can growl (read: swear under his breath) like daddy. Then he growled again, waiting for me to approve. (Yeah, I felt like an idiot right then.) So I'm learning to watch my language and actions more now that Aidan is all about doing things like Dad. Though far from perfect, I really don't want Aidan picking up on my bad habits.

Super Bowl XL: Seahawks vs. Steelers

Being from Washington State, Marathon Girl says we're rooting for Seattle in this year's Super Bowl. That's fine by me. I don't care about either team. So if Marathon Girl says we're pulling for Seattle, that's who I'll pull for. But I don't think Seattle will win. If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on Pittsburg. But I do think the game should be close and an enjoyable one to watch. Both teams have good QBs, RBs, and defenses and are evenly matched. However, I think Pittsburgh has more big game experience than Seattle. Watch that to pay off as the team is more cool and collected than Seattle during the game and is able to make the big plays when needed. Watch Pittsburg win the game with a last second field goal.

***

I'm really looking forward to this Sunday. The popularity of my Super Bowl party has exploded this year. There could be upwards of 20-30 people in attendance. Our main concern is hoping we have enough food for everyone.

I've always been amazed at friends and family who have no interest in football whatsoever who will come to watch the game and socialize. Originally these parties started out more as a birthday party for me since my birthday and the Super Bowl were usually within a few days of each other and, occasionally, on the day of the big game. But lately it's become more of a big event for friends and family to gather and have an enjoyable evening together. And I think that's what I like most about my parties. They aren't so much about the game (unless Denver is playing) as they are the opportunity to have an enjoyable evening with those who I love.

***

And a final football note to the Denver Broncos. Rumor has it you're looking at bringing in either Ricky Williams or Terrell Owens to join the team next year. My advice is this: Don't bring either of them on board. Both have huge egos could have a disruptive influence on the team that is known for working together instead of individual stars. Bringing either one of these people on board could cause more problems then they fix.

Marathon Girl is Super Woman

Marathon Girl has a nickname among some in the neighborhood. That nickname is Super Woman. A lot of this reputation comes from the fact that she runs all the time. Rain or shine, pregnant or not, and often pushing Aidan in a running stroller, Marathon Girl doesn't let anything stop her from running.

The few times I was able to run with her this summer, it seems like we always passed someone we knew who shouted to her "You're amazing!"

Now that we have two kids, running is a little more difficult. Of late Marathon Girl's waits until I come home after work before hitting the road. But depending on what happens during the day, running is not only possible. Sometimes she's exhausted from keeping up with the kids. Other days she's behind on things she wanted to get done and doesn't have time to run. If she could run in the middle of the day, it would be much more convenient.

To make this possible, we purchased a double-wide running stroller online.

Marathon Girl called this morning to say that the running stroller arrived. When I arrived home, the running stroller was fully assembled.

Tomorrow Marathon Girl goes for a run.

I'm wondering what her new nickname is going to be.