An Open Letter to My US Senators

I just emailed both my Senators on the Healthcare bill. Just thought I'd share it.

I'm sending you this message because I've become very disillusioned on this bill. I have several concerns.

First if there is a mandate for all citizens to carry health insurance then employers to be mandated to provide health care. Otherwise its a license for the insurance companies to just print money. OK, to be fair there should be a line drawn as to who needs to provide and who doesn't. That should be determined by a companies (small businesses included) profit. A employee limit would just leave companies to lay people off in order to stay under the limit. Not good. How much money a company makes levels the playing field, fairly.

Which brings me to my second concern, the public option. Yes I'm going there. If employers are not mandated then the only other option is a public one. Otherwise those that have to go out and purchase a policy are at the mercy of the insurance industry. Don't give me any of that free market jargon. It won't work. I just seen what the "free market" did to the banking industry and I'm also a victim of the airline deregulation act, which turned out to a bad thing for those of us employed in that industry (I used to work for Pan Am and we didn't get a "bail out.")

My next issue. Do not tax my health care provided by employer. I worked hard to earn that, including going on strike for three weeks, and I shouldn't be penalized for it. Nor should my employer, UPS. I only make something like 22 thousand a year but the plan they have for us is worth about 10 grand. I'll never be able to afford the taxes on that. It would bankrupt me. How is that fair? I mean you do want me participating in the economy, right? Buying things is good, saving for taxes is bad. Even a liberal minded person like myself can figure that out.
However, if its inevitable that its going to get taxed then I should have the option to opt out of my employers plan (I can't right now as its part of a union contract and I don't have a weekly deduction for it either making essentially free.) If there is a law that allows this, good but I don't know of any. If not add one to the bill. This way I can either buy my own insurance (which is what the Republican want) or use the public option. At 22 thousand a year I should be at least entitled to that.

Lastly, this whole abortion thing. Abortion is a legal and constitutionally protected procedure here in the United States. I'm sure you know that. Not allowing coverage of this is no different than saying smokers can't get treated for lung cancer because smoking is legal. Period. I mean after all why should my tax dollars pay for someone's personal decision to do (insert what ever you feel is immoral here)? What's next on the chopping block, birth control, vasectomies, tubal ligation? This bill is about health care, not taking away women's rights. How many times does the Supreme Court have to rule on this. Thats where this will head if that remains in the bill.

Sorry for the long email but this is a very important issue here an it needs to be gotten right. Now. Not five years from now when we realize we passed a really bad bill.

Thanks you for your time.

Doing windows

So we finally bit the bullet and had new windows put in the house. After a few years of looking and window shopping (pun intended) we finally settled on Unique Windows. Kinda of funny really, I was blind to their commercials then one day I was like, "why don't we check theses guys out?" Didn't help that they were having their own cash for clunkers deal. Something like $150 on each window. Jen called them and they came buy two days later. I'm not going to get into the whole sale approach of this company but if you decide to use them be warned: it takes like three hours to get through. Anyways our minds were pretty much made up at this point and we signed on the dotted line. The price was about what we expected to pay on the high end. The windows were ready in about a week. And we had them here like three business days after they told us that.

Things didn't start out so good. Two of the windows were cut too large., which turns out were the two that needed replacement the most, our single hung pieces of shit that we can't even open anymore. I fact they've been covered in plastic for years now. So they had to be reordered. Then they forgot the kitchen window up in Indy (about an hour and change from here.) With that said, they did an outstanding job. Of all the windows our biggest worry was the bay window. The original was built in the early seventies, like 1971. It's frame was made of aluminum and was a single pane. The flanking lights were single hung (which were broken when we bought the house.) It had those ugly cross bars on the windows. How were these ever popular? But it had a huge projection. Its a 25-50-25 style making it really roomy and large. After years of trying to get a replacement one we finally arrived at the idea of just rebuilding this one. Why you ask? Well lets just say every window shop and lumber yard we went to told us that the measurements we had (which by the way they took) created a mathematically impossible window. Not a single maker could reproduce what was obviously hanging in my wall. I guess sometime computers shouldn't be used. Anyways, long story short a contractor gave us the idea of just rebuilding it. He told us a lot of people do this to keep the look and feel of older windows when restoring an old house. Cool, it can be done. But who??

Well the Unique Window guy tells us "yeah, no problem that can be rebuilt." They replaced the original parts with three picture windows. Lost some glass but its not even noticeable, especially since we ditched the crossbars. As for the workmanship of the windows themselves they're like the Macs of the window word. Expensive but worth it. Triple paned, vinyl with welded corners, foam packed everywhere, and UV coated. Basically heat reflects off them. In the summer it stays out and in the winter it stays in. I already can feel the difference in our bedroom, which is the only room to get both windows. The kitchen is still waiting and the two double hungs in the front of the house are on order. Our little bedroom has just one window which wasn't replaced yet and there is a definite difference in temperatures from our bedroom and that room.

If this sounds like a ringing endorsement of these windows its because it is. I pretty sure we have increased the value of the house big time. Which is always good. Especially in this housing market.

Here is some shots of the work.