pet peeve #5

... is people who use the word 'promise' instead of the word 'swear.'

For example, "I'm telling ya, this woman was seven feet tall. I promise!"

or "Promise me you didn't sell the car without telling me!"

'Promise' always implies something that may happen in the future, not something that may have happened in the past.

'Swear' can mean to declare or avow a present or past event or statement to be factual.

The abuse of this word has had me peeved for quite some time, I promise ya.
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do you hate your drivers license photo?

If you're like me, you would rather stick a pen in your eye than to show anyone your drivers license photo. I don't know a single person who's ever said, "I actually like the picture on my drivers license. It really brings out my best features."

A colleague of mine has a spouse who works at the DMV. I asked her to ask him why the photo always looks so lousy. Here's what he said:

Don't forget that the photo is meant to identify, not to flatter a person.

At our local DMV office, the single lamp they have to light my face is to the left, and slightly above my line of sight.

Pretty much at the same angle as the flashlight the cop would be using were he to pull me over at night.
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increasing prescription copayments

From our local newspaper, this story about increasing prescription copayments:

Insurers jack up drug co-pays
Gina Kolata, The New York Times

Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.

With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, such as $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter what the drug's actual cost.

Instead, they are charging patients a percentage of the cost of certain high-priced drugs, usually 20 percent to 33 percent, which can amount to thousands of dollars a month.

The system means that the burden of expensive health care is no longer a problem only for people who have no insurance. Instead, the new pricing system can mean that even insured people may not be able to afford the treatments they require.

No one knows how many patients are affected, but hundreds of drugs are priced this new way. They are used to treat diseases that are not uncommon, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, hepatitis C and some cancers.

There are no cheaper equivalents for these drugs, so patients say they are forced to pay the price or do without. Insurers say the new system keeps everyone's premiums down at a time when some of the most innovative and promising new treatments for conditions such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis can cost $100,000 and more a year.

But the result is that patients may have to spend more for a drug than they pay for their mortgages, more, in some cases, than their monthly incomes.


So now instead of going to the pharmacy for a refill to treat your aunt's lung cancer and paying a flat rate of $30 for a month's worth of pills, poor Aunt Sally may now have to cough up a thousand bucks or more. Well, guess what. Aunt Sally doesn't happen to have twelve grand a year lying around to spend on meds, so she's gonna do the next best thing - hit upon her family for assistance.

Imagine a scenario like this one:

Sister: "Hey, bro, how's the new job going? Wanna contribute to the costs of Dad's MS medication?"
Brother: "Sure, Sis, I can kick in a few bucks. How much is it?"
Sister: "Three thousand dollars a month."

Or how 'bout this one:

Mom, to son: "But you have to go to school, honey. Don't you want to grow up to be rich so you can help pay for Grandma's hemophilia prescriptions? We all have to do our part."

OK, one more, then I'm done:

Insurance Company: "Good news, Mr Jones. We've tapped your home equity, your pension and IRAs, and all your life's savings to pay for your wife's rheumatoid arthritis meds. You now qualify for free prescriptions because you're below the poverty level."

We've come around full circle regarding the results of many individuals' acquiring certain illnesses: You get sick, and then soon after, you die. Only now it's not for want of treatment, but for the inability to pay the portion of what your "insurance" will now no longer cover.
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rsvp

A young boy is trailing his parents at the mall. He peers into the Victoria Secret display and sees the letters R.S.V.P. on the back of a particular garment of intimate apparel.

He asks, "Mom, what does rsvp spell?"

His mom responds, "RSVP is a way to tell someone who has invited you to a party that you're coming."
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privacy much?

This Sunday's Parade Magazine has an article about privacy. One fallacy I often hear about the lack of privacy people feel these days is, "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If nothing else, non-hiders should worry about how they are going to ensure that all the data building up on them remains factual.
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resumé "interests"

Take a look at your resumé. Do you have a section for "interests?" If so, what do you have there?

If you have something like needlework, you may worry about not getting offers for jobs requiring, I don't know, movement?

What about sports? Did you list baseball? Soccer? Tennis? Listing such activities can prove to a potential employer that you are not afraid of activity. After all, if you play a sport, you can show you're a team player, may perform under pressure, and may not fold when the going gets rough.

You may also be telling them that you're a liability. People who participate in sports can get injured. Injured personnel take time off of work. Sometimes six weeks or more. An employer has an interest in hiring someone who's not likely to suddenly need a month and a half off, specially from something totally unrelated to their work responsibilities.

So next time you decide to boast about your athletic ventures on your resumé, consider that it may not be though of as a virtue by some employers.
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high cost of prescription medication

Drug manufacturers have tried to justify the high costs of prescription medication by stating that you are not paying for the cost of producing the pills, which is not all that costly, but to pay for research and development of more powerful medications for other illnesses.

There are medications for some illnesses which costs over one hundred thousand dollars a year. Of course, the patient doesn't pay a hundred grand - you and I do through higher insurance premiums.

I'd like to meet that patient for whom I am helping to pay such a prescription bill. I have no problem with helping him live a long and happy life - something that may not have been possible years ago before this modern technology in pharmaceutical care.

I'm just kind of hoping that since I am helping him, maybe he can come by and give me a hand.

My lawn could use a good mowing.