FAMILY DECISIONS

Health insurance is not just an individual decision. Sick people affect their friends and family. If the monetary problems are solved, then the problems with care for the sick become simpler.

Thanksgiving is a good time to talk with your friends and family members about Obamacare and what kind of health insurance is best for you or for them.

Talk to teckies about the websites. Talk to nurses about coverage. Talk to HR friends about their advice.

You do not have to make health insurance decisions by yourself.

(Keep politics out of the discussion by pointing out that RIGHT NOW you need to make a CHOICE regarding HEALTH INSURANCE, not PRESIDENTS.)

Do not let your uncle or young cousin take unnecessary risks with whether they can get free birth control or get their knee replaced.

Trust me, Thanksgiving will be happier if people are less frightened about you getting sick and having NO health insurance.

CONVERGENCE

Once every 70,000 years or so, US Thanksgiving and Hanukkah converge. It does seem strangely fate-like that this is happening the same week that Iran has finally agreed to stop progress in its nuclear program.

If I believed in predestination, like the Presbyterians of yore, I could say that perhaps God has a sense of irony. 

Since I believe that any progress is better than no progress, I will drink a Thanksgiving toast to peace in the Middle East.

A BUTTER THANKSGIVING

When you cook margarine, it can turn into trans fats, which really do clog your arteries. For forty years the FDA allowed trans fats in food. (But better late than never.) So use butter with no guilt, as butter is better for you than trans fats.

Very few people know how to cook with butter, so I will give you a few tips.

A stick of cold butter will become easy to spread after 10 seconds in the microwave.

Most recipes calling for butter mean UNSALTED butter. You can use salted butter, just cut down on the salt you would otherwise put in.

If you are making pie crusts or biscuits, stir up all the dry ingredients first. Then mix it up with the butter, water, etc. but only enough to just mix the ingredients. For some reason, this makes the crust and biscuits more fluffy and better tasting.

Raw pie crust has to be COOL. Start rolling it out from the edges. If it tears, repair it with a edge piece, "glueing" it with a LITTLE water. (I dip my fingers in the water and dab it on the top of the torn part, then put the new piece on top.) Dusting the dough with flour is important to stop the dough from sticking.

Pie dough extra pieces can be buttered, then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and baked for a tasty cook's treat. (Cinnamon sugar is made by putting a teaspoon of cinnamon in a cup of sugar, then stirring it up.) Bake the rough pieces till they are a toasty color. (350 degree oven.)

Expensive cinnamon is well worth the extra price. It really tastes MUCH better.

Cooking with children can be great fun. For years, my children were my prep chefs. Children especially like kneading bread, then watching it rise while you take a nap.

ENJOY!

BOOKS -- THE PSYCHIC VACATION

At least for me, a book takes me completely out of this world and into the author's world. I can travel on Mars, walk on a beach, ride a racehorse, all without leaving my comfy chair. Movies sometimes also do this, but a movie only lasts 2 hours. A good book can take days to read.

I am on a reading vacation at the moment. A real vacation is expensive both in terms of money and in terms of moving my arthritic body. (Cue sympathetic string music.)

I have reread one of my favorite John Brunner books, Citizen of the Galaxy. I am contemplating Star Beast by Heinlein.

Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews was a great mystery and great fun. Ditto for Heavenly Delights by Kerry Greenwood. I read all of Kerry's flapper mysteries in one gulp this summer. 19 books in almost as many days kept me sane as I awaited the revenge of the losers.

If I want to remember the almost indescribable sensation of oneness with a horse, I read Dick Francis. He also understands people, especially male people, and their motives for mayhem.

So take a break, read a book. The mind you save may be your own.

DIVINE DESERT -- MAPLE SYRUP PECAN PIE

Pecan pie made with maple syrup is one of the most FABULOUS things I have ever eaten. However, it is clear that I am NEVER going to convince professional bakers to actually sell maple syrup pecan pie.

Maybe we can start a health rumor that maple syrup, a product of maple trees, is healthier than corn syrup. I personally believe that maple syrup is the magic and life giving tree elixir that the elven need to exist. %<)

Meanwhile, those of us who are talented cooks, capable of actually making pies, can make our own maple syrup pecan pie. It is as easy as substituting maple syrup for the corn syrup. Add a tablespoon of extra flour as the maple syrup is not quite as thick as the cheap syrup. 

BTW, the lower grades of maple syrup are actually tastier, and better in the pie. Maybe I should move to Canada, where maple syrup is sold in buckets.

Unfortunately, I no longer feel like baking anything. And I have NO IDEA where my Tupperware rolling pin and mat are located. 

I guess I will just have to suffer, and take maple syrup to restaurants that actually make, rather than microwave, buttermilk pancakes.

HEALTH INSURANCE COULD START 1/1/2014

If you do NOT have health insurance, you can be covered by January 1. If you want to know if you are eligible for FREE HEALTH INSURANCE, check out the Kaiser Family Foundation health insurance calculator. You need to SIGN UP BY DECEMBER 15 for a January 1 start date.

If you CAN get free insurance, it will probably be an expanded Medicaid coverage. I would call rather than use the internet. Call early in the morning on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for fastest service. (How to do this varies from state to state. But Kaiser should tell you how to get started.)

If you make over $50,000 per year ($100,000 per year for a family of four), I would call a health insurance agent. It is always best to use an experienced professional to solve complex problems, such as which plan to choose.

PANIC IS NOT HELPFUL.

I can not experiment with the health care sites as I get Medicare and am, therefore, covered.

We should all be grateful to the Kaiser Family Foundation for their health care calculator. It looks like the government web sites are for SERIOUS SHOPPERS ONLY.

DO NOT KEEP A POLICY THAT WAS CANCELLED. Cancelled policies do not meet minimum standards. If your policy was cancelled, call an insurance agent and find a qualifying health insurance policy.

The number of choices is HUGE. Sometimes choice is overwhelming. If you are overwhelmed, CALL 1-800-706-7893.

THE HEALTH YOU SAVE COULD BE YOUR OWN.

ON ARMISTICE DAY WE HONOR VETERANS

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, World War I came to a halt. It was "The War to End all Wars".

Millions of young men were sent into machine gun fire. The war destroyed an entire generation of Europeans. And the peace agreement set up World War II.

It is not easy to have peace.

I admire the people who fight for freedom.

Have a peaceful Veterans Day!

WATCH A DIRTY TRICK UNFOLD

The so called drunken video of the Mayor of Toronto relies almost entirely on the fact that the Mayor is fat and pink. As a fellow fat, pink person, I know that the video would have been BORING if the Mayor had been thin and slick.

The video shows a man, in a private home, speaking to guests, either before or after a meeting. Other than the normal gait of a large, fat man, the video shows a man talking in hyperbole about making someone or something dead. It is obvious that he is talking about politics, not about murder.

No where in the reporting does anyone question whether the Mayor was in his own home when the video was taken.

No where in the reporting does anyone mention the Mayor's right to privacy.

Frankly, I think this tempest has a two pronged agenda.

The subtext of a video showing the Mayor smoking crack is aimed at trying to continue the stupid war on drugs. Reporters who stalk alleged users are just falling into the old pattern of making drug users the bad guys, as if casual drug use is worse than addiction to alcohol.

Someone wants to use ridicule as a way to get the Mayor to resign. I object to using ridicule against someone just because they are pink and fat.

I could tell you stories of how pink, fat people using a wheelchair are treated. My favorite is the woman who patted me on the head, as if I were a child.

But all this tempest is a GREAT way to study an unfolding dirty trick and how easy it is to sucker the media into destroying someone.

BRAVE LEADERS

Recent reports indicate that Yasser Arafat may have been murdered by polonium. He was a brave and outspoken advocate for his people. I mourned him when he died and I mourn him still. I did not alway agree with him, but I admired his commitment to bettering the life of his followers.

Any outspoken leader knows that they risk being murdered by people who believe that the death of a leader will stop their followers.

Unfortunately, you often can not tell a great leader from a troublemaker until the leader is gone. A true leader will have an increasing number of admirers even after his/her death or imprisonment. No one remembers a troublemaker except for the trouble she/he caused.

The sad part of Mr. Arafat's death is that, at the time he died, I thought perhaps he was murdered by radical members of his own group.

If you are a reader of my blog, you know that I believe that VIOLENCE IS ALMOST NEVER THE ANSWER.

Every day, I see people lose friends because they will NOT TALK honestly about why they made certain decisions. On a national level, this refusal to talk means that no solution will ever be found.

I will make two suggestions for the Middle East. Hopefully these will help.

Let Israel have Jerusalem. They won it in war, they have the older religious claim, and it is stupid to divide cities, as we learned in Berlin. Be sure to ask for monetary compensation for the loss of Jerusalem so that you can get your peaceful economy up and running well.

The rebels should negotiate. NO ONE wants Syria to collapse with 100 METRIC TONS OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS stored somewhere in Syria. Russia may put pressure on Assad, but ONLY if there is a viable plan to peacefully hand over power. Such a plan can not happen unless everyone TALKS TO EACH OTHER.

VOTE TOMORROW

Off year elections are sometimes MORE IMPORTANT than our larger elections. The rapidly crazy ALWAYS vote for the rabidly crazy. If we are going to be able to make changes this coming year, those of you who have elections, NEED TO VOTE.

In order to protect the selfish rich, the rabidly crazy will object to funding:

     Food stamps,
     Highway upgrades,
     Help for farmers destroyed by huge storms,
     Head start and lowering class size,
     The arts and sports necessary to engage learning,
     Training for police officers,
     And, the list could go on forever.

If you want the crazies to be GONE, you NEED TO VOTE!

THE WORLD YOU SAVE WILL BE YOUR OWN.