Mariannes Motifs

Medicare is a Mess

Congress is skating on thin ice with legislation that will avoid pay cuts for doctors accepting Medicare. More and more doctors are already refusing to accept Medicare patients. My mom had to switch doctors because one provider just could not afford to deal with the paperwork headaches anymore. For those people ON medicare there is no alternative for the paperwork headache. And forget about the "donut hole" when your prescription drug coverage ends! One friend I know had to spend half a day trying to get on the correct low income plan so he could afford his very expensive medication. Others may be lucky enough to have some sort of medicare supplement. And then there is my mom-in-law who has no health insurance at all until a few years from now when she will qualify for Medicare. She pays out of pocket when she needs to go to the doctor and that can really add up.

$5 Coupon on $10 purchase at half.com

Half.com is offering me a $5 coupon if I refer the email address of anyone who signs up for a new account with them.  You will get at $5 off coupon off any $10 purchase on half.com.  They sell books, video games, game systems, CDs, and DVDs at greatly reduced prices.

Each e-mail that is sent under this Program will contain a code good for $5.00 dollars off of a $10.00 dollar purchase 

Anyone who wants a coupon send me an email at marianne DOT case AT comcast DOT net and the first 4 people will get the coupon emailed to them from half.com.

Here is my store on the site, if you are interested in seeing how it works.

Obama Woos Georgia - "Don't it Make my Red State Blue"

Obama is in Georgia today, wooing voters in this very "red" state.  (Meaning GA has voted Republican in recent Presidential elections.)

"If Obama wins Georgia, he'll occupy the White House," conservative AJC columnist Jim Wooten wrote.

I think this is quite true.  I moved from Rochester, NY to Georgia about 13 years ago, and I still am often surprised by the social conservatism of the area.  Especially once you get out of Atlanta, proper.  However, Georgians are also a state of pragmatic voters who are quite fed up with the war in Iraq, and some of the other Bush-induced nonsese that has been going on.  (Yes I am editorializing.  This is my blog, not the New York Times. What did you expect?)

I have also heard a rumor that GA Governor Sonny Perdue might be considered to run as McCain's VP.  Perdue is pretty popular here, and that would probably sew up Georgia for McCain.  Of course Perdue's Georgia State flag mess might come back to haunt him and make him not a very attractive VP.

Obama's electability in Georgia might also be effected by the growing numbers of African American and Latino voters who are newly registering to vote.  According to Georgia.org Georgia is about "29.8 percent Black or African-American."  Now of course you cannot assume that just because a voter is black that they will vote for a black candidate!  I happen to know quite a few very socially conservative and Republican leaning African American voters.  But that demographic is a fertile groups for Obama to stump to.

And since Secretary of State Karen Handel reported that in the last three months of 2007, African-Americans registered to vote at a rate three times that of whites in Georgia. (according to this AJC.com article) this group may be becoming more motivated to vote this year.

Living in the moment

I guess this is one goal you never are finished with, eh?

See more progress on: live in the moment

5 Completely unrelated things

1.  Dancing around the world video

You should check out this video. How cool is this? Dancing all over the world.

2. Here is a funny blog. I shall say no more as it is called "Smallist" and should not be over described.

3. For someone who is having trouble breathing and has "No Air" that Jordan Sparks is sure doing a lot of singing. Maybe she should sit down for a few minutes and be quiet. Her song makes me want to use my inhaler.

4. Looking for loom stitches and instructions? Isela Phelps blog is a great place to start!

5. Looking for my instructions for Converting Needle Knit Patterns to the Loom?  Well there you go.

5/365 I love Jin because he shared his fuzzy blanket with me.

Ahh when we got our Government Stimulus check a few weekes ago (or what was left of it after they took out the oopsie from 2005 – don’t ask!) we promptly went out to Bed Bath and Beyond and stimulated the economy like we were told to. I picked out high thread count sheets, Jin picked out a soft fuzzy super soft blanket. For a few weeks he told me I wasn’t allowed to touch it but last night I was graciously allowed to snuggle up. It was warm, toasty, soft and fuzzy. Ahhh…

See more progress on: A reason a day why I love my husband for the next 365 days

Jin's plans for Certification

As part of his program at Strayer (Bachelors degree in IT Networking) Jin will also study for Cisco certification.  This is a very prestigious certification in the field right now, and one of the harder vendor certs to achieve.  Of course Cisco is the leader in network equipment - I don't need to tell you that.

If you follow the link above it will take you to the Cisco webpages for information on training and certifications.

In the Information Technology field it is very important to always keep your skills up to date.  Software, hardware, and infrastructure is always changing, and for your career to grow you have to change as well.  The best people in the highest demand are those who have a combination of old school skills and cutting edge skills and can make everything work together.  For example, I know (oldschool) Unix Sendmail administration, Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange, Blackberry Enterprise Server, and (cutting edge) ActiveSynch for iPhone.  Put it all together and it makes one killer email administrator.  (shucks, no need to applaud)

I have been IBM certified in Lotus Notes and Domino Administration for many years, and my expertise and experience coupled with the cert have translated into a great career for me.  Jin is an A+  certified hardware Engineer, which has also been a real help in his career building.  Now that he is getting his BA degree and Cisco certification, I think the sky is going to be the limit for him.  He already has a new job title as Network Administrator II at his company, and got a nice raise the other day.  Yay Jin! 

4/365 I love Jin because he took us to see fireworks!

Even though I know he hates crowds and really didn’t want to go, he drove us and found a great parking spot too.

And Ben (almost 5) who has always been afraid of fireworks was distracted by Daddy saying, “I think the next one is going to be green…” enough to stop being scared and start looking at the fireworks.

Look at this one - it made the shape of a smiley face!  The kids loved that.

Smiley Face Fireworks

See more progress on: A reason a day why I love my husband for the next 365 days

Hey Mom - Check out this Website!

My Mom recently found out that she might have Celiac Sprue.  That is an intolerance to gluten.  I came across this blog a while ago and even though I can eat wheat gluten, I just love the pictures and wonderful descriptions of healthy foods.  It's called Gluten Free Girl, and its a combination of a gourmet blog, GORGEOUS food photography, and interesting chit chat about her life.

I think that when you see the beautiful yummy things there are to eat, you won't miss the stuff you can't have so much anymore. 

Quick and Easy Vegetable Biryani

I spent a bit of time at my local Indian grocery this afternoon.  It seems like every time I go in there I come out with a recipe.  Here is what I got scribbled down on the back of a flier for a show featuring actor Siddharth Randeria at a local high school auditorium.  I editorialized this a bit - its untested so far, but I will give it a try ASAP and let you'all know how this version comes out.

Quick and Easy Vegetable Biryani

2 Tbsp Vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)

½ medium onion diced

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

1 small can diced tomatoes or 1 fresh tomato diced

¼ teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Pinch red chili powder (optional)

2 cups Basmati long grain rice.  (Can substitute long grain rice)

4 ½ cups water

1. In a large pan heat oil or ghee over medium heat and sauté onions, garlic and spices until translucent.  Add frozen vegetables and cook for a few minutes to coat.  Add the rice to the pan with the onions and stir to coat as well.  Then add the tomatoes and water.
2. Cover the pan and bring to boil. Cook covered on low about 20 minutes or until all of the water has evaporated and the rice is tender.

Since I am trying to save money, eat healthy food, and make quick and easy weekday dinners, I think this recipe can help with all three.  Its a good  quick and easy vegetarian meal.  You can add a lot of things to this - really whatever you want.  You could add raisins, cashews,  potatoes, chicken, lamb, the sky is the limit.

Hopefully if I can cook a healthy dinner at home most nights I will soon be able to afford some new laptop ram.