Wacky Way to Order Medical Supplies

I just ordered a pair of hearing aids for eleven thousand dollars.

Your hearing is all right... I really said it... eleven thousand dollars.

They're really nice.  They are adjusted to your personal hearing loss in discrete steps. They discriminate noise from speech, and cancel the noise. They are tiny sub-miniature devices that fit behind the ear. They make understanding speech easier.  They are costly.

But not as costly as stated.  According to AOL you could buy TWO NEW CARS (In India) for that price. The wacky way is works is this.

The hearing aid dealer bills my health insurance co the $11,000.  They naturally say "Whoa, That is ridiculous. They are only worth HALF of that..."

"Furthermore  we pay only 80% of the cost."  So, if they agree, they send the dealer a purchase order for whatever 80% of half of $11,000 is. 

Then the dealer discounts the price by 20%, and I end up paying only for the ear molds... $250. 

Wacky?  I love it.... if it works.   Stay tuned.

Tags: state of the art hearing aids

Cost of Recreation

How much recreation will ten dollars buy?

At the movies, ten dollars will get you a two and half hour movie, including the coming attractions and pop-corn ads.  (Wont pay for movie AND large pop-corn though)

At your nearest casino, ten dollars will get you about ten minutes of gambling and fun at the slot machines.

However, ten dollars spent at the 99 cent store will buy you an HOUR of recreation.  Up and down the aisles you cruise, gawking and marveling at the tons of stuff you could buy for 99 cents.  Not only do you get an hours recreational cruising, but you come home with a load of things you absolutely do NOT need. 

In my case I got...

1. a roll of paper towels.  ($1.50 at the grocery)..

2. four teaspoons..(I needed one, but they came four in a package) ..

3. five pencil sharpeners. (I needed one...cost $1.84 at the drug store, but I got five in one package for 99 cents.) 

4. A deck of playing cards... ($2.79 at the drug store)

5. ditto a second deck

6.  two staple pullers.  (Actually nobody needs any, since you can pull staples by hand, but they are handy to have and came two to a package.)

7. A 24" beach ball. (I have NO use for this at all, but it was cheap.  I heard a lady tell her husband "You might as well get that, it is only a dollar."  That seemed to be my philosophy too.)

8. a one pound box of Nabisco crackers, Onion flavored.. ($2.49 at the market) and

9. a scanning FM radio.  (I have to put in my own AAA batteries.)

10  something else I have no recollection of.  I surely didn't need it badly, I cannot remember what it was.

Total cost, less than ten dollars, except there was a sales tax. Time spent cruising, about an hour.  Really, cheap entertainment

Tags: 99 cent store

Lincoln Quiz

   A quiz about Abraham Lincoln. 

   Left click you mouse and drag the cursor over the answers to reveal them.

Lincoln was born Feb 12..what year? 1809

He died April 18, what year? 1865 

Cause of death? Assassination  BY John Wilkes Booth

Wife's maiden name?  Mary Todd

How many children did they have"  Four

   (extra credit for their names:   Robert,  Edward, William (Willie) Thomas (Tad)

Became president March 4, what year  1861

Served until he died...how long.. Four years, one month, 14 days

Born in Hardin County, What state.  Kenturcky

Died in what state?  Washington D.C. 

What was the name of the theater in which he was shot? Fords Theater

Occupation when elected?  Lawyer

Other government jobs   Judge,  Congressman

Nicknames  Honest Abe and The Railsplitter

  (More extra credit: Mother's maiden name:  Nancy Hanks) 

Tags: Linclon quiz game

Gettysburg Address Quiz

   Here is a copy of Abraham Lincoln's  Gettysbug Address from Wikipedia.  Some words or phrases have been blanked out.  You can test your familiarity with this wonderful, inspiring speech by how well you can recall the missing parts.

   You can also left click your mouse and drag the cursor over the lines to reveal them.

The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth

  

One Man's Junk ....

   ... is another man's treasure.

   When I am bored silly, I go shopping in the aisles of the Stationery Store... Staples, to be precise.  And I am a sucker for bargains.  Consequently, I have a huge supply of assorted ball point pens.

   In order to dispose of some before they dry out and are completely useless I put a double hand full in a container on my table in the dining room. 

   "Oh," said one  of my table mates, picking up a bright green one, "may I have this?"

   "Of course."

   This reminded me of a day long ago when I had been cleaning up the backyard.  I filled a trailer with ivy clippings that I had trimmed from the hedge.  I needed to take them to the dump.

   In order to secure the ivy in the trailer, I covered it all with a worn out plastic swimming pool cover and wedged it down with a junk television antenna.  While I was driving to the dump a gust of wind caught the pool cover and blew it and the television antenna into the street.

   Before I could turn around,one passer by had grabbed the useless old pool cover, and another had grabbed the old television antenna, and both took off with them.  I laughed out loud.  I turned back toward the dump and slowly proceeded, careful not to let too much ivy blow out.

   As I was unloading the ivy cuttings at the dump, another driver hailed me.  "If I plant that, will it grow?"

   I said yes and he took the ivy cuttings.

   One man's junk is another man's treasure.

Tags: city dump, junk

Don't Leave Me Online Without My Leash

I need somebody to look after me.  Allowed to roam the internet looking for bargains is not good for me.  My recent on-line puichases came today. 

Two surprizes.

The video disk I ordered In the Shadow of the Moon turned out to be a BOOK. ... a book like the kind you READ.  Oh, well, I will enjoy it.

The shirts that I ordered came and have SLEEVES.  I haven't worn long sleeves for as long as I can remember.  At least they fit better than the last shirts I bought on-line.  And a happy surprize, they have two breast pockets.  I like that. 

Tags: shopping on-line

Food for Thought

Curious:  Whales are mammals and have the richest milk...50% fat. But pair this with the fact that the mammals with the second-richest milk are guinea pigs, 46% fat, and you have a fact worth pondering.

A cow can swim, but aren't you glad they can't fly?

Do you know what kind of an animal a wether is? Left click your mouse and drag the cursor over the line below to find out.

A wether is a neutered male goat.