Corrupt Hospitals

For those of you who have been following my saga, here is an update. You will remember that I had a fall in my yard and it fractured a small bone in the back of my neck. I waited 24 hours and then Alison drove me to the ER.

Looking back,an x-ray and a support collar should have done the trick but no I ended up spending 27 days in the hospital, at least half of that time trying to cure what the hospital gave me. I use the word " gave me " loosely.

So here's the shocker! The detail invoice came Sat. and it was about 8 pages printed both sides with a total of just shy of $ 200,000.00, take a look at that again and realize that my charges were about $ 7,400.00 per day for what was in essence a minor problem.

At home I take 6 pills twice per day to regulate several problems. One of those pills cost me 8 cents at home but $ 19.73 in the hospital. One medicine was priced at $ 5,073.00 and I was never told about it or had it explained to me.

Of course the insurance company will not pay this amount but even they will pay far to much and drives the cost of insurance way to high. In addition the cost I will have to pay will be several hundred dollars.

In addition the TNFP reported the there was a large collection agent that collects for all the hospitals in town and that they can get very rough and merciless in their efforts to collect money.

I would like to see a large law firm here in town devote it's efforts to studying these invoices and pressing charges for any excess and or unnecessary treatments. In addition to that, find some way to wave charges to any work that has to be redone. Right now I have two friends who have had to go back twice to have joint surgery redone and of course charged each time.

Sometimes a system gets corrupt and good people go along with the system.

Home Bound

Now that I'm home bound ( as they say ) I find myself watching wrecker recovery operations on YOU TUBE. Think about it; it has all the makings of lost, danger,, the unexpected and each accident requires a different solution. And my case I wonder who was to blame, how much will it cost and who will pay the damages?
Lately I have found wrecker recovery as it is practiced in Europe and one can see how different it is approached over there. For instance here in the U.S. often just one wrecker and one person will go out to make a recovery, whereas in Europe several pieces of equipment and as many as a dozen men will be sent to the scene. The emphasis there seems to be how quickly they can get the wreck cleaned up and keep the traffic moving if all possible.
Think for a moment and consider how many thousands of gallons of fuel is burned up as hundreds of cars and trucks must wait along the highway. Each moment that can be saved helps save fuel a nation treasure. Here in the states the mindset might be, the longer I take the more I can charge. Never mind the inconvenience it may be causing hundreds of others.

Unexpected Drama

Lately my wife and I have been watching wrecker/recovery businesses at work, on YouTube It,s more technical and high cost than you might think. Semi recoveries often run $ 10,000.00. Just the cost alone is often life changing!
Take the independent trucker, already burdened with truck payments and diesel fuel at $2.85 per gallon and since he feels that he is a good driver has cut back on insurance to the bare minimum and then hits an iced over bridge and the truck jackknives with 20 tons on the back of expensive merchandise. The big wrecker comes that cost the wrecker company, 3/4 million and the costs shoot up, up and up.
State and federal laws kick in, one lane of traffic must be kept open to keep from backing traffic up for miles and possibly causing other wrecks. The ambulance crew and the fire department are first to work the scene and then the recovery people must figure out how to extract the vehicle without doing further damage.
Every move can rip a brake line, rupture a fuel tank, or puncture a $ 1,000.00 radiator.
Now days recovery personnel have video cameras that record every move they make to protect themselves from errors and omissions and to justify their charges. It's a dangerous job and is often in a hard place to work. Cold and/or heat, rain or snow goes with the job. Yet it's hard to imagine a more important job. Just think that if the recovery people went off the job for even one week it would tie up the highway system and make the roadways a junk yard. 

How did Cats and Dogs survive as a species?

HOW DID THEY MAKE IT?This week as I have taken care of our pets, I wondered how they as a species have made it down through the centuries. First there is the pet section in the grocery store. A whole isle on both sides is loaded with choice after choice; there is at least a hundred choices for our cat. Time after time again we have struct up conversations with other cat owners over which cat food to buy. Which brand does your cat like? Are they picky like ours is? I have threatened to bring Kaya to the store with us and let her see how hard it is to make a choice.

Back to the question; how did our cats and dogs get by before the modern era? We love them and don't mind taking care of them but Coley likes to take a walk, he want's to say hello to the other dogs in the neighborhood. I can't walk much any more so I put him in the van and with the window down drive him around the neighborhood, he barks at all the dogs and at the kids playing in the street.

Kaya is an indoor and an outdoor cat so we get our exorcise getting up and letting her out and in. Think of all the veterinarian clinics around the area and our town just opened a dog park.

So how did cats and dogs get by and survive as a species before we took it upon ourselves to be their guardian?

Overwhelmed by Chaos

Teachers Giving Up

Sunday's paper reported that 32 teachers have already resigned from their contract with the Hamilton County School system. That's double the number from one year ago. But Why? The salary is above average for most of the workers in the Chattanooga area. Insurance, retirement ( especially early retirement) is better than most occupations and job security is good; so why the drop out?
Could it be that there is a feeling of chaos in the class room? Teachers by the very nature of their work need control and discipline in the class room environment. Having 15 to 22 kids who come from undisciplined homes leaves a teacher feeling overwhelmed. In some class rooms, where there is enough funding to support an assistant, that person can keep order while the teacher works with children to actually get their school work done.
Where there is no way to keep order the teacher feels more and more helpless. Of course children coming from undisciplined or malfunctioning homes bring their wildness and their lack of respect for authority to school with them.
So what is the instructor to do? First try to get some perspective by looking at many other occupations. A book I once read was entitled; How to manage Chaos. In short the writer said that you can never be chaos free. It keeps breaking out, in industry, in law enforcement, in military activities, in dealing with animals Etc..
You can still accomplish good things even though you will never obtain the order that you desire. No teacher expects to see more than a little improvement as students pass through their class rooms on the way to the next class. What students are picking up is invisible and in rowdy classrooms it is even harder to detect but hang in there, chances are that nobody could do it better. Chances are that your students are learning more than you think. Many people exist and even prosper in the midst of chaos to have everything quiet and orderly would seem strange to them. To the average teacher chaos is anathema but remember you are doing God's work. He worked to bring order out of chaos and He's still working at it. Continue to be his helpers.

Taut Truth Disguised in Rhythm

This week I got a new book on how to read and enjoy poetry. I have always been intrigued by poetry but never thought I understood most of it. Here are few of his suggestions. I. Read it slow and with a dictionary. 2. Poetry is high voltage and should not be read like you would a newspaper. 3. Poetry usually is not trying to get you believe something but rather is to share an experience. 3. You must bring your intelligence, senses, emotions and imagination to it. 5. Expect to find imagery, metaphor, symbol and paradox in good poetry.
For he that is a super realist,
must learn to perceive taut truth.

Taut Truth-- look up the word TAUT

Learn to Listen

The purpose of a sermon: A sermon can have many purposes but I like to keep in mind that it is used to repair souls. Each week when they gather, some just need a wash job, others need an oil change, some have malfunctions in their computer system. This often takes specialized knowledge and is delicate.

What we must remember is that a sermon can do as much damage as it can do good. Sometimes a doctor does as much damage as he or she does good. So if you are preaching Sunday, remember that a lot of responsibility lies in your hands. Pray for the right insight and the right attitude. If you are a listen be gracious and charitable; getting it right in the pulpit is one of the toughest jobs going!