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September 29, 2010

Wednesday Tweets

Anyone got something to share?  Please join in!

Tod:  Ryder Cup this weekend!  Looking forward to some couch time!

Tod:  saying goodbye to 60-70 people this week.  layoffs.  sad, but I am hopeful for my friends.

Tod:  stuck.  have this book that i am reading that's not so good.  but, have this thing where i never stop reading a book.  gotta finish.  so, very slowly slogging through this one.  weird.

September 26, 2010

Happy Birthday To Auntie

Saturday we had the opportunity to participate in a surprise birthday party for Auntie.  Her lifelong friend Penny threw the party at her beautiful home in Santa Rosa.



This is Penny and the birthday girl!


It was particularly fun because the party integrated people from Auntie's childhood, family and work lives.  Here's some from her family life!  Rachel looks good - for someone suffering from shingles ;)  She loved this little table and chairs that were underneath the most beautiful arbor graced with grape vines.


  I loved this picture for some reason.  It's like playing where's Waldo with everyone!


Ok.  These pictures are relatively random.. but DO relate to the party.  You see, we had to park down the street and around the corner.  As we were parking and walking back to Penny's house we saw these two huge spiders.  Cool!

Everyone had a great time - as you can see by the smiles!  Thanks so much Penny for inviting us to be part of Auntie's big day. 

September 23, 2010

Too Much!

Just before we went to Michigan I had the misfortune of cutting my finger deep enough to require a couple stitches.  This evening, I just received the bill for the procedure.  It helps to grasp one aspect of the health care challenge facing America.

Fortunately for me, my co-pay for an emergency visit is $50.

I would say that the entire visit to the emergency room required about 30-40 minutes.  I checked in and waited a few minutes for a nurse.  When she was available she took down my medical situation including complaint (bleeding finger), blood pressure and allergies.  This discussion took less than 5 minutes.  Next, I was taken to a treatment area where a nurse rechecked my blood pressure and dipped my finger in beta-dyne to disinfect it.  Next, a different nurse came in and set up the equipment required to sew up my finger.  That took a couple minutes, max.  Finally, after a couple more minutes a doctor came in to sew up my finger.  That required three small injections of Lidocaine to numb the finger, one needle and some suture material - and about 4 minutes attention.  Following that, the same nurse that set up the suture kit came and put it away and bandaged my wound.  Then, the first nurse I met came with some discharge information and I was on my way.

The charge?  $2,821.20. 

Fortunately, my insurance company apparently has negotiated discounts with the hospital and were ONLY charged $1,325.

I wholeheartedly embrace Capitalism and free markets.  And I fully recognize the time, effort and resources required for nurses and doctors to become educated and retain their professional credentials.  Finally, I recognize the vast amount of capital required to build and operate a hospital.

That being understood - it's simply crazy to charge someone $2,821 for less than 30 minutes or so of work.  Think about it.  That's a rate equivalent to $5,642 an hour;  or over $10M a year for suturing fingers. 

What is the actual cost?  Let's assume the doctor makes $300K a year.. and the two nurses make $100K each.  Factor in a lobby receptionist at $30K as well.  You'd have a payroll of approximately $530K.  Now figure that typical employee benefits are equivalent to approximately 40% of their annual salaries.  That means their total compensation would be $530K*1.4 or $742K.  Of course, you have to pay rent, keep the lights on,  have the equipment to suture, pay for malpractice insurance, etc.  So, factor another $750K annually for expenses (seems high).  Even then, the total expenses would be less than $1.5M.

And yet the hospital is attempting to charge the work out at $10-11M per year.  Worse, is that our insurance company is willing to pay for the work at an annualized rate of about $5M per year.  That's just crazy.

I am aware that health care providers have to charge people that actually work and pay for insurance more than what their actual costs are so that they are able to provide care to uninsured patients.  But this is ridiculous.  Ridiculous.

Indy's Adventure

If you get a chance today, please pray for Indy.  She is going on a little adventure at the animal clinic today.  Surgery.

Indy's got a condition called Bilateral Luxating Patellas.  That's a fancy way of saying that the kneecaps in her hind legs can become or are disjointed.  It's a condition that is common in smaller dogs and correctable through surgery.

Indy's not in too much pain but they did give her a Fentanyl patch for the pain.  You can see it on her leg.  That's why she's sporting that cool head cone; to keep her from nipping at the patch and administering the medication orally.


Julie's a bit anxious about the procedure.  It's always a little risky to put smaller animals under anesthesia but Indy is in really good hands and we pray she will be just fine.


After the surgery she's not going to be able to sleep with her friend Gina for awhile.  She'll be immobile for a few days so we'll be keeping her in a kennel with lots of warm and soft blankets where she can recuperate in peace.  Gina will miss her.


Jack Bauer is gonna miss having a play friend.  Indy and Jack are constantly teasing and chasing each other around the house and yard.  It's going to be rough for Jack to not have that companionship.  Hopefully, in a few days things will be back to normal.   (BTW... did you notice how Jack has one droopy ear?  That's why I call him 1Up!).


We all wish Indy a safe surgery and fast recovery!

September 19, 2010

The Griffioens

We don't get to see Julie's sister, Janice and her family as much as we'd like to.  So, it was a treat to be with them at Bill's party a couple weeks ago.  Janice has a beautiful smile - and can pretty much light it up on cue.  She is very photogenic!


Here she is with Ryan.  How cute.


She also has an infection laugh.  Sometimes she gets to laughing so hard ... well.. it's hilarious.


Here's Julie imitating her.  I think it might have made it worse..


Here's the whole Griffioen family.  Team Blue.


The boys, Arie and Andrew, both have girlfriends.  Grandpas house is .. well.. communications challenged.   In fact, the only place they could get their cell phones to work was in the boat sitting next to the dock.  So, started calling the pontoon boat 'the phone booth'.


John and Janice.  Looking good. 

The Griffioens love the water.  Here's John working the Jet Ski.  Awesome air!  And Andrew wasn't to bad himself.


Here's one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.  Julie's on the dock like she's feeding the Swans.  Janice, apparently, thinks she's a swan - because she's got her mouth open trying to catch some bread!


Julie and Janice had some girl bonding time on the lake in the neighbor's canoes.  Janice can't go anywhere without her Big Gulp!


Here's all three Rexford girls.  I am so glad that they all love each other and have made the effort over the years to remain a tight, loving family. What an example.


We had such a great time together.  It's hard to leave.  Obviously, Janice was heartbroken to have to leave and go back home.  But, we'll be together again, soon.

September 16, 2010

Hannah Pictures

Hannah called asking to get some pictures from our trip to Michigan.  Well, how about I kill two birds with one stone?  I'll let you check out Hannah's trip.. and she can save the pictures to disk!  Sweet!

I've never seen her cross her eyes nearly this well before.  Bravo!


Here's Hannah and Trent enjoying dinner.


Hannah teaching little red to make funny faces when photographed.  And her boyfriend Eric giving Ryan a mouthful.



Hannah hanging with the Grandmas!


This is a photo you're not going to see everyday. Hannah taking orders and smiling about it.


The grandkids with Grandpa Bill and Linda!


Finally time for some jumping photos!  Oh, and yes, fans, Hannah still does a mean handstand!



Here's Hannah and Joel doing their baby belly picture.  Apparently, they taught their nephews a thing or two.  Even Trent's preggers!


Oh.. did we mention that Hannah's boyfriend came up from the University of Michigan to spend some time with us?  I mean Hannah?  Here they are before they started wiping each other out on the Jetski.



So far so good.. and then...  one of several wipe outs.


Here's Eric performing feats of strength with Trent.  First, showing Trent how to do clapping push-ups - with someone on your back!  Then being a human pull-up bar.  Eric was a good sport.


Here's Hannah and Eric with us at Craig's Cruisers enjoying some miniature golf and go carts!



Eric looks serious ;)


Hannah and Dad playing bumper cars ;)


Competitors on the racetrack... friends off the racetrack...


And finally, Hannah and Joel being serious as usual.


Thursday Tweets

Good afternoon!  Anyone got anything interesting going on? 

Tod:  falling in love with NyQuil before bedtime...

Tod:  late on getting blog entries up about vacation.. be patient.. they are coming..

Tod:  just about lost all the weight i gained in Michigan!  boy, do you folks know how to cook!

September 13, 2010

It's Your Birthday!

Happy Birthday Joel!  We were so glad to be with you in Michigan to be able to pre-celebrate your 26th birthday together!  It's been too many years since we have spent time with you on your big day.


You bring a unique sense of joy to all our family events!  Whether by land:

Sea:


or heir!  (okay... needed a play on words to make this work... get it heir.. like in this 5-generation picture)!!


We love you and miss you!  Have a great day with your beautiful wife and son.  Know that you are first among our thoughts today!

gpadre