Posted by Carl on Oct 10, 2009 in
Good Going
The Skunk Ape or Stink Ape or Swamp Monkey is a cryptic hominid said to dwell in the Southeastern United States, from places such as Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Arkansas, although reports from the Florida Everglades are particularly frequent (florida skunk ape). Skunk ape sightings, while rare, have been reported all through Florida for more than six decades but by no means have been verified scientifically.
There was a large wave of sightings in the 70s, all consistently describing the creature as reaching about seven feet tall, weighing 300 pounds plus and to be strongly foul smelling. Since then the popularity of the skunk ape in southern Florida has continued to increase, along with the number of alleged sightings.
The Skunk Ape is described as a big, hairy, stinky, swamp-dwelling creature similar to the well-known elusive mysterious Bigfoot or a big chimp as the name suggests. There are many in the Bigfoot research fields that believe Skunk apes to be a variety of the infamous Bigfoot of the northwest.
Many reports also depict the Skunk Ape as having glowing red or green eyes; however, this is in general attributed to the reflection of a flashlight or automobile headlights when the creature is spotted at nighttime. It has been reported that both male and female are covered with reddish-black fur and also have outstanding hearing as well as the skill to climb trees and swim rapidly in order to evade detection or capture.
It is named for its appearance and for the repulsive skunk like odor that is said to go along with it.
Posted by Carl on Oct 10, 2009 in
Good Going
The problem has been people do not have the ability or incentive to shop medical providers, hospitals, doctors etc. Yes in some state there is a lack of competition among health insurers, but this is not the main issue!
People are completely unaware of what medical services cost; ask anyone who has been a hospital patient if they know what the room and board rate is, or how much does it cost for a doctor to visit your bedside while you are confined to the hospital, or how much does it cost when a hospital gives you an Advil. Most people will not know the answers to these questions, or if they do, they will completely unmoved by the fact that the hospital charges $30 for an Advil, or that the room and board rate is $2500 – $4500 per night. It seems that people just do not care! Do people realize that these outrageous charges are driving up medical insurance premiums?
In a recent conversation I had with a nurse she explained that at her hospital when a nurse administers insulin to a patient, she takes one does from the vile and throws the remaining insulin in the vile away. But the patient is charged for the entire vile. This is the procedure the nurses are instructed to follow by the hospital.
I called the hospital to ask what a vile of insulin costs, I spent 90 minutes being switched from one department to another, I spoke with the billing department, the business office, the Vice President of Patient Services and no one was able to tell me who had access to this piece of information.
I became quiet concerned when the conversation turned and I felt I was being interrogated by the Vice President Of Patient Services, who was I, was I a reporter and why did I want to know?
Final, I was told that if I wanted to know the price of any services offered by the hospital, I would have to go the hospitals business office and look in a book that has the list of prices charged for their services. I asked if I could call that office, maybe someone could look up the charge in question? I was told, very emphatically “no”! When I ask “why not” I was told by the hospital’s VP of Patient Services, “because we don’t have to, the law does not require that we give this information out over the phone”.
Only when hospitals are forced to compete will we be able to control healthcare costs in America. Private health insurance will never be affordable if hospitals, clinics and other medical providers are able to secretly charge whatever they want unhindered by competition.
Why is this problem being ignored by the Obama administration? This problem is costing hundreds of billions of dollars each year and driving up the cost of health insurance. The problem will also not be solved with a government option, that will just mean the problem will be even more hidden from the public. We will see tax increase after tax increase; a national deficit even further out of control than it is now.
Posted by Carl on Oct 10, 2009 in
Good Going
It is a very sobering instant once a couple is told what the estimated costs are for a wedding.
Some of the bigger expenses can be that of wedding flower arrangements, so its a good idea to focus a little of your planning on this area as well. Be strong in your determination to save money for your wedding and put all that extra toward the honeymoon! Put down your budget ideas and be tenacious about sticking to it,but don’t sacrifice quality.
Don’t wait until the wedding is a week away before you start thinking about weight loss diets. Keep in mind that there are other options besides folowing weight loss advice for making yourself look nice, such as manicures, tanning and of course, your wedding day hair style.
Don’t forget the not so romantic notion of taking care of prepaid legal services early on. People try not to think about the sobering stuff around wedding plans, but its best to consider the issue up front.
Friends and family are a great resource to help you prepare for the big day – make use of them.
Posted by Carl on Oct 10, 2009 in
Good Going
As children we have always relished games where we have to go look for hidden clues and complete the games. These types of hidden object games have an aura of mystery around them. Now due to the advancement of technology these seek and find games have been created with exciting and interesting features which can be played on game consoles or through the computers.
Seek and find games are also known as hidden object games or I spy games. When a player begins to play one of these seek and find games it is a matter of time before he or she becomes completely addicted to the games. Most of these seek and find games need the player to look for hidden objects and find them. The hidden objects are cleverly concealed in the screen and it is really challenging to look and find these objects. Once you have located the hidden objects then you are allowed to move up to the next level of the game. As you progress in locating the hidden objects in these seek and find games you will find that the going gets tougher. But the excitement never stops and you will keep looking for the hidden objects. When there are two or more players then the game really hots up as the players begin to vie with each other to locate the hidden objects.
Most of the gaming websites allow you to download the hidden object games and play them for an hour to check out if you really like the game. If you do like the game then you could buy it online.
The author of this article runs a site dedicated to Adobe ColdFusion 9 at cs4direct.com.
www.urbanartforum.org