Mandatory insurance

Yesterday I heard an NPR article about how Massachusetts is coping with mandatory health insurance and the problems it's causing, primarily the lack of primary physicians.

This got me thinking, due in no small part to a book I've been reading lately, "More Sex is Safer Sex", which examines interesting topics from the point of view of an economist (supply and demand and putting the real cost on to the those that get the benefits).

It would seem to me that the problem isn't that health care is so expensive that no one can afford it and that people are going bankrupt trying to pay their medical bills and/or outrageous health insurance costs, but instead the problem is that there aren't enough doctors.

Some part of this equation is classic supply and demand, and Massachusetts' predicament shows it clearly, that there just aren't enough doctors. People with their new insurance are trying to use it, only to find that it takes them months (averaging about 4 months) to get to a primary care physician, and until that's done, they can't move forward in the health care system, so they continue to use emergency services and deal with the mess that creates.

If there were more doctors, presumably, they would be competing amongst themselves for quality and price, and driving down costs. If that was the case, then there might not be the need for insurance or complicated insurance forms that cost doctors money and all in all take 30% of every dollar spent on health care.

For every complicated problem there is a simple answer that is wrong, and this may very well be one of those answers, but I can't help but wonder if we're putting our attention in the wrong place. After all, how much use is insurance if you can't actually use it? I'd rather spend my money somewhere else.

Miata runs!

It's been close to three years since I've even turned on the Miata, and last weekend I decided that was long enough.

A brief hunt for a new battery from BatteriesPlus was required. The first store I went to had one, but one of the vent tubes was broken. The next closest store was going to be closing right about when I would get there, but a quick call to them got them to agree to stay open a few extra minutes (and verified that they actually had a battery). While I was there, I picked up a replacement for the V-Strom as well (yep, I'm not driving for fun much anymore).

About a week later I actually get the time (while Sara is working late) to install the battery in the Miata (V-Strom is still waiting for a nice day) and, it runs! It took a lot of cranking, but the 3 year old gas actually burns! I let the Miata idle while I filled its four flat tires (though none of them appeared to be flat thanks to very stiff sidewalls) and I was surprised that the exhaust was clear, no smoke or anything.

The brake fluid appears to have vanished into thin air, but without any puddles, I can't be certain where it actually went. Does that stuff actually evaporate? I'm guessing not. I topped up the reservoir without checking pad thickness (it might just be all in the brake calipers and waiting to overflow when I replace the pads). Oh well, a turkey baster works well for pulling it back out again.

I think I heard a misfire or two in the few minutes it took the compressor to fill up so that I could pump up the tires, but I can't be certain. I was able to back it out of the garage, and though I have only comprehensive insurance and can't locate my '09 registration (I have it, but I think it's in the house somewhere), I decided I would give it a quick trip around the block to see how it runs.

It got me around the block, which is always a nice way to start. But it appears that there's a (big) miss at about 5k RPM, almost like fuel cutoff. I have no idea what the Link (replacement computer) is programmed for, so it could just be a configuration issue. Before the Miata went into cold storage I was working on tuning it for the newly installed wide-band O2 sensor, so this is probably just old gas and incorrect target lambda points (or maybe the boost control is messed up).

Unfortunately, the Link's keypad display was all messed up, which meant that I couldn't do any adjustments at the time. A trip to Radio Shack was necessary to pick up a soldering iron to re-do the cable connections going to the keypad before I would be able to use it again. I did that resoldering last night and verified that the keypad still works, so I have hopes for being able to get some adjustments made this weekend, and if it's nice, maybe even get in a little driving.

Then maybe I can convert the Miata to be my daily driver. But, that's a separate conversation.

Carpet tomorrow!

It might be premature for a "yay!" but I'm going to give one now anyway. The carpet people called to say that their installers will be calling me tomorrow to tell me at what time tomorrow they will be over to do the carpet install.

It doesn't take very long to get bored with chipboard floors.

Let's hope they come tomorrow because we're going to take apart our bedroom and tear up the carpet tonight.

Change of scenery

Today I start my work day in a new location, my front "den". I think it's supposed to be the den, at least that's what Sara and I call it. It's the room right off of the front entry which I suppose is where you usually put dens.

I'm working here because we've signed up for (and put a deposit on) new carpets which hopefully will be installed later this week. This weekend Sara and I started pulling up the carpet and pad in the upstairs rooms (all of the upstairs, and the stairs, are getting new carpet). We have just the master bedroom and the stairs left to do, which we'll do tonight or tomorrow.

In order to do my office carpet, we had to relocate my desk somewhere, and the den was available (the living room, not so much, since that's where the craft room supplies went). So, now instead of staring out the window and across the street like I usually do, I'm staring into the corner and happy that there isn't too much glare from having the monitor pointed at the windows.

Right now I'm also very glad that I got my Mac Pro with the Airport option, even though I have gigabit Ethernet in most rooms in the house, because I didn't put it in the den. After pulling up all that carpet, I didn't want to have to deal with drilling holes in walls and running cable too.

Hopefully the carpet will be in on Thursday or Friday (or maybe Saturday), because I leave for LA next Monday and return on Friday. After that I start a new job and I won't be working from home anymore (making it hard to be at home for the install).

Why we're staying put

While not moving is always preferable (in my mind), I had been resigned to moving to LA for my new job as Software Engineering Manager. However, with the housing market the way it is, and apparently being located in a town that not many people want to move to, with a niche property (how many people really need a house with a 6 car garage?), made selling the house for a reasonable amount (read not losing too much money) impossible in a reasonable time frame (6 months).

Couple that with the fact that Sara has been working as a substitute teacher, but really wanting to be a full time teacher, and there was a lot of pressure to have a direction. We felt like we were stuck in limbo, not knowing if we were staying, or if we were going. After half a year, it just got to be too much.

I wanted some direction, but I wasn't finding any here in Minneapolis until a Sunday night drinking buddy said that he was going to be turning down a job offer, but he thought that I might be a good fit for them and wanted to send them my resume with his rejection letter. Sure, why not. A couple of weeks later I have a great offer and I'll be staying here in MN.

It wasn't an easy decision to make, however, since I really do love my job and the people that I'm working with. It's just that this seems like a cool job (learning 5 new OSs) and it means that we have a direction instead of being caught in limbo. I'm going to miss the people that I used to work with, and I hate leaving them in the lurch (feeling a little guilty about that), but sometimes you just have to do what is best for you. You know?

Unfortunately, I won't be getting that 1080p projector for the basement right away because Sara is insisting that we get new carpets for the second floor. It's hard to disagree with that, the carpets were cheap 10 years ago and definitely could be replaced, but I'm a bit bummed that my 180 hours of vacation payout is going straight into carpets.

Oh well, I'm sure I'll enjoy the carpets once they're in (it's just the getting them in that will be a hassle).

Getting back to it

It's been forever, or just over a year (which is forever in web time), since I've worked on my blog. Part of that has been because I've been busy (or at least I thought I was too busy), but a big part of it has been because I use this as free therapy, and there are a lot of things that I don't want everyone to know. I had coworkers, parents, one spouse (yes, I only have one) and friends reading this.

While I write mostly for my friends, and I consider many of my coworkers friends, I still can't tell them everything. And a lot of that "everything" going on lately has been my unhappiness of trying to sell my house and move to LA.

Now that I have taken a job offer for an engineering position at a local company and have given notice, I feel that I can probably get back to blogging as a cathartic exercise.

I've started this bog, mark-thecookie-jar.blogspot.com, as a way of separating my more personal blogging from my everyday blogging at mcookie.blogspot.com.

So, watch this spot for more blogging, and don't let Sara know... ;-)