Timelies all!

Only thing we're planning to do this weekend is go to a friend's birthday party tomorrow. It has the theme "spaghetti and cheese". Spaghetti westerns and cheesy snacks.

This is pretty cool--Obama chats in Indonesian with a State Dept. staffer.

I don't know why it never occurred to me that he would be at least somewhat fluent in Indonesian. Of course he would remember quite a bit of it, since he spent four formative years of his childhood in Jakarta.

It's weird, but when I get the statements from the insurance company, the doctor bills twice as much as the insurance company is willing to pay, and I don't make up the difference. So I'm wondering where the extra money comes from.

It doesn't, usually. Insurance companies bargain with hospitals and doctors' practices for what they're actually going to pay. Sometimes it's by the procedure and sometimes it's a percentage. The "price" is set artificially high, in part because of some of the percentage agreements, and the only time doctors are actually paid that insane amount is if someone isn't insured.

Except for some specialties, most doctors don't really net that much anymore, which is one reason why we have fewer doctors, particularly general practice doctors. I have a friend who manages a joint replacement practice who spends her days pinching pennies. She says Medicare just barely pays the cost of renting the operating room and buying the supplies, so that they only make money on non-Medicare patients and have to fight for every dime they get from the insurance companies.

The "price" is set artificially high, in part because of some of the percentage agreements, and the only time doctors are actually paid that insane amount is if someone isn't insured.

So it's like college tuition then.

So it's like college tuition then.

Pretty much.

We both got cinnamon rolls. Oh well.

I had two appt this week during the workday, both took two hours. Becaus of that, I did not make my 35 hours, despite working over 7 hours every other day. Grrr.

I must remember NOT to take lunch a few days next week since I'll be coming in late one day (teacher mtg).

It looks like Obama wants to open the Statue of Liberty's crown to tourists again.

It looks like Obama wants to open the Statue of Liberty's crown to to

I'll repeat what I just said in Bitches: Obama is the human equivalent of a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

(I just cleaned my kitchen, and the Magic Eraser, being truly magic, easily cleaned off the foulest stovetop ever to see the inside of a kitchen. And then I thought, "Damn, Obama is fixing stuff and making it look this easy....")

Something at work came up that Ihave a really bad feeling about. I'm hoping it ends up being minor, but I don't know.

Dinner was a milkshake. If I eat a full lunch (as I did today because I'd left my lunch at work yesterday and didn't want to chance it so bought an overpriced sandwich) I am so not hungry at dinnertime.

I've given up thinking I can't find the First Family any more adorable than I already do. Check out the "Change Takes Office" slideshow currently featured on the front page of msnbc.com [link]

Especially #4 and #6.

t eta These LJers made a more accessible posting of the photos: [link]