New Website

My super amazing wife has started her own blog. It is phenomenal. Some of the best stuff I've read in a LONG time. Seriously. You should check it out. Oh, and this is totally not her hijacking my site*






*actually it is

Food Allergies != Fun

Sarah and I grew up without allergies and in allergy-free homes with allergy-free extended families and mostly allergy-free friends. That’s why it’s so strange to us that Maya has unpleasant sensitivities to so many different foods.

The confirmed list of banned foods includes:

• Tomatoes
• Pineapple
• Blueberries
• Dairy

And some recent probable foods:

• Soy
• Corn

In case you haven’t checked a food label recently, that means she can’t eat anything. No cheese, ice cream, ketchup, fruit salad, anything sweetened with corn syrup (e.g. almost everything), anything with soybeans or soybean oil (everything else), or anything with butter in it.

Maybe I’m being a little dramatic—she’s not going to starve—it’s just very difficult to get used to and impossible to eat meals prepared by others. She gets by on a solid diet of delicious home-cooked meals, supplemented with scrambled eggs and peanut butter.

Fortunately, Sarah’s taken this all in stride. She bakes all of our bread and sandwich buns (you cannot find buns that are safe for her to eat at a regular store—it’s crazy), and somehow prepares three meals a day for her and dinner for us without the above ingredients…and they’re good.

So as you might imagine, we’ve become quite good at reading food labels. We love that labels are often very clear, including nice bold statement like “contains milk, soy”, but sometimes they hide ingredients behind phrases like “natural flavors” and “spices”. As a parent trying to figure out why my almost-two-year-old daughter is sensitive to a dish it’s very helpful to know what’s actually in it. Concealing ingredients behind groupings like those is very frustrating for us.

A recent example of our struggle is Progresso chicken broth. What’s in chicken broth you say? According to the product label, the website, the toll free number on the back of the box, and the letter they sent us, this is what’s in there:

Ingredients: Chicken Broth, Sea Salt, Sugar, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Carrot Puree, Natural Flavor, Salt, Chicken Powder, Chicken Fat*, Celery Juice Concentrate, Onion Powder, Chicken Meat, Carrot Juice Concentrate, Spices, Onion Juice Concentrate, Garlic Powder. [underlining added]

Oh, so the first ingredient in broth is…broth. That makes sense. So Sarah emailed and called Progresso to find out what exactly are: chicken broth, natural flavor, and spices. I’m wondering what chicken powder is, too, but that’s for another day. Their response: we don’t know (i.e. they don’t tell us so we can’t tell you). I called again and pressed further and was simply told to stop buying Progresso Broth if I was worried about it because they can’t tell me what’s in it.

Well that was frustrating. This as a great example of a company failing to win a customer. There’s probably a dozen reasons not to tell us what’s behind those ingredients but I can’t think of one that really stands up to scrutiny. It’s not like we’re going to start making our own broth. Plus, if I was a real competitor, I would think more scientific approaches to figuring out what is in the box would be more fruitful. Instead of giving us a complete, uncensored list of ingredients like Superior Touch did for their Better Than Bullion product (they were awesome—completely answered our questions in a single phone call), they took our name and promised a call back. Days later, the callback was unhelpful. Weeks later, we received a package from General Mills, Progresso’s parent company. This contained a letter with the same unhelpful answer: we won’t tell you what’s in there, but thanks!

As expected, they included some coupons for more broth (which we can’t use in anything Maya touches because we still don’t know what’s in it). Unexpected, though, was the reason for the package: they included a bunch of General Mills-themed matchbox cars. Seriously—we have four of these things:

(Charlotte pictured, not Maya) 

Maya loves them. So, Progresso, thanks for the coupons and the toys—I guess we’re even. I wish I could feed your product to my child, though!

To Fail Or Not To Fail; Plus Bonus Ruminations

A hilarious meme popular in my social group right now is that of the fail. This is inspired by many popular sites, the most notable being FailBlog. a “fail” is an act of failure concluded with the (typically third-party) exclamation “fail”. Some examples:

While trying to refill a honey bear, I over filled causing quite a mess. Upon seeing my error, a witness is right to proclaim, “Fail!”. This is also increasingly popular in photos. For example, FailBlog is full of sign fails and science fails like these:

 

But you already know this. Why would I spend so much time defining a fail? Because apparently it’s not so obvious to a certain group of BabyCenter moms. Here are a few Fail fails:

What’s the fail? Are they not girls? Is one of them not yours?

But they do match. You don’t get how this works…

Is it because the kid isn’t smiling at your song? Or is this a song lyric grammar fail? Sigh…

Sometimes, it’s a genuine fail, but needs a much, much shorter title (e.g. “Fail”):

The problem is that a true fail is self evident and most of these are not. Adding extra words to the caption should only carefully be done to add an extra punch.

---

In the spirit of all things fail, here are a few pics I snapped on the way to work recently:

 
Commute Fail

 
Fire Fighting FTW

On my way to work the fire truck pulled out in front of me and while I waited at a traffic light, they extinguished the flames shooting out of that car. Good work guys!

Here’s another encountered while trying to start up a VM on my Windows 7 machine (for those lucky enough to not be familiar with this, it’s the BSOD—what you see when your computer decides to suddenly stop working):

If you want some more funny pics, check out some recent protester signs.

While I’m dumping photos off my phone, here are some non-fail ruminations.

Once a year, Starbucks seduces its coffee loyalists (warning: avoid mental image!):

And on the other side of the same easel, we’ve got a number of problems. We’re missing an apostrophe, it’s already well after 2pm, and what does that mean about the tax? It’s applicable some places but not here, where I am?

Impressive hand-writing, though!

Pictures don’t do this next one justice. It was the saddest water feature I’ve seen in a long time:

 

Despite its imposing size, it had just one little stream of water which did not do well to cover up the pump or wires powering the thing.

On to more serious matters: getting busy. Here’s family prevention section at Target:

A few observations:

• The top two shelves are only necessary if something from a lower self has let you down or wasn’t in use
• A purchase from the lower shelves is probably always done with a smile (thus the cool product names)
• Purchases from the top shelves, however, are undoubtedly nervous buys (even if you’re trying to become pregnant), and thus the professional product names (peeing on a stick never looked so…idk)
• This could be a nice (i.e. hilarious) way to bring up the pregnancy topic with your significant other. Simply peruse the aisle and instead of reaching in for some family prevention, pick up some family detection

Anyone remember Microsoft Bob? Here’s a kid’s version available today:

And finally, I leave you with something that rarely happens as planned:

Two Cents on Healthcare, Part 3

My previous posts on this topic have met with some healthy and informative discussion. In this post I hope to address some of those comments and then bring my position back into focus.

I started with this:

“I fully support dramatic health care reform. I don’t know what the right solution is but what we’re doing now isn’t it.”

I really mean that last part: I don’t know what the ultimate solution should look like. I’m not an expert but then it doesn’t take an expert to see the writing on the wall: we’re trending in a dangerous direction.

After that, I railed a bit against our current system and posted references supporting my claim that we pay way to much for a system that is not the “best in the world”. This struck a chord with some readers. Paula Haren responded:

“Wow, pull a couple of various quotes and put them all together and your an expert! Considering I have spent lots of time as a nurse(>10yr) and a patient and a wife of someone with cancer and considerable medical debt depite excellent insurance....I must respectful disagree. Sorry Mike, but its just not that simple. And yes, the US does have the best health care in regards to inovation...Spend as much time at Cleveland Clinic as I have and you will see all these people who's socialized medicine has under or miss served (or did not serve at all) their medical needs. I think you would have to put down The New York Times and get in the trenches to appreciate what I am saying.
Just wanted to add my 2 cents!”

To healthcare providers: I meant no offense to you personally. Most of my medical care encounters have been excellent and I attribute that to having good insurance that affords me access to good doctors and nurses. Unfortunately far too many of us do not have access to good care or when they depend on it are hit with obscene debt; and systemic problems lead to poorer outcomes for us on so many levels it’s depressing. As an aside: how is it that you have “considerable medical debt despite excellent insurance”? That sounds like a contradiction to me.

After doing additional research, I’m sticking to my original claim: the United States is not a leader in health care (not even close). Here’s a nice assortment of numbers that don’t make us look so great. And a couple more from the CIA World Factbook (which is fun to browse, by the way):

• Infant mortality: ranked #45, which is one slot worse than Cuba. Cuba.
• Life expectancy: ranked #50 (take that #55-Cuba!)

With respect to Paula’s experience at the Cleveland Clinic, I’d say she probably does see a lot of good medicine but her highly ranked hospital—which is in the top ten in 11 categories—is hardly representative of the nation. In contrast, my hospital ranks in only two categories and gets an unimpressive #45 in each.

In addition to anecdotal counterclaims like that, I’m also seeing a lot of fear. This comment from Miki Hempleman is representative of what I’ve heard from several people:

“I totally understand your feelings Michael and were it all it is SAID to be, I might also swallow the "magic pill" ... but it's not. Read more in depth and you will see it is VERY scary a proposition and will NOT do what they say it will. And I for one am in no hurry to move into a system that will not work.

…

Nervous tho after hearing and talking to good friends that are both Canadians and Brits. It's not that great a deal all the way around. Your aunt?? I believe... whomever, had some very good insight as well.

Getting nervous, real nervous about where we are headed as a country. Man I hope we aren't going to take a ride down the slippery slope. It's SUCH a fine line for us to unravel.”

And it’s really no wonder. Every day interest groups, political action committees, corporations, concerned citizens, and politicians scoop buckets of muck out of the sewers to toss at each other through every medium. Absolutely absurd claims like Obama death panels would be frightening indeed if there was any truth to them.

This fear of change is something I simply do not understand. Maybe it’s just my engineer-wired brain: if something is broken, you fix it. I’m not so naive to believe that this problem is solvable overnight or that a first-pass fix will be perfect (so few things ever are). Instead, I’m pragmatic enough to realize that we’re not setting in stone the next year, decade, or century of healthcare-related policies. Positive change will happen just like everything else: one step at a time (and getting from zero to one is the hardest part).

Finally, I want to refocus my position on this issue:

• Everyone should have health care coverage
• Coverage should be similar to what I have (I’m middle class, I pay small $15-20 co-pays for office visits, and all the important stuff is covered)
• Coverage should be mandatory
• Coverage need not be free (but it must be affordable)
• These steps are necessary for the fiscal stability of our nation as the status quo is unsustainable (thanks for the video, Steve!)

We could hypothetically do this with private insurance and some new legislation. I’m not opposed to that idea out right, I just don’t think it’s practically possible. In the health care equation between the patient, doctor, and insurance companies, only the insurance companies have a direct incentive to keep costs down and they’re doing a lousy job at it:

 

I’m afraid I’ve run out of time to cover all the specific points that Tiffany and Tim discussed. I think they did a fine job and I will likely come back to some of their discussion in the future. They have both clearly put a lot of thought into how specific reform could be implemented and I like the dialog.

Two Cents on Healthcare, Pre-Part 3

While I prepare part three of my healthcare series, I’d like to get some feedback on a question that’s come up more often than I expected:

Is access to comprehensive healthcare a right or a privilege (regardless of ability to pay)?

Let me know what you think.

Two Cents on Healthcare, Part 2

My friend Tiffany commented on part 1 of my healthcare posts on Facebook:

Please address how and/or why the US will remain on the cutting edge of health care without dissolving into the bowels of mediocrity. And, what motivates our most outstanding physicians to continue practicing in this capitalist society? I look forward to your thoughts and will end with a smiley face in order to maintain lightheartedness. :)

This received a very nice response from Tim:

Shouldn't the same motivations still apply?

The physicians are still going to be paid, they are still going to help people, and the plans I have heard would make compensation better for non specialists, like your family doctor.

As far as the cutting edge, I think that was the point of the link. The US is not on the cutting edge of health care now

We may spend the most money, but we don't get the best service, that's bad Capitalism.

I will also end with a smile :) this is just a friendly post. I look forward to reading more about it. Thanks for the link.

I appreciate the genuine friendliness with which Tif and Tim signed their comments though I predict that this will deteriorate soon. I guess we’ll see how long it lasts!

I completely agree with Tim. Our current system isn’t the world class health care giant we all like to believe it is even though we’re paying through the nose for it. While those numbers are dated, more recent analysis is grim, too:

“It’s harder to keep deluding yourself or be complacent that we don’t have areas that need improvement,” said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund.

The study, which assesses the United States on 37 health care measures, finds little improvement since the last report, as the cost of health care continues to rise steadily and more people — even those with insurance — struggle to pay their medical bills.

“The central finding is that access has deteriorated,” Ms. Davis said.

…the United States, for example, has reduced the number of preventable deaths for people under the age of 75 to 110 deaths for every 100,000 people, compared with 115 deaths five years earlier, but other countries have made greater strides. As a result, the United States now ranks last in preventable mortality.

I really think we can simplify and sidestep most of the controversy with a little logical deduction.

Premise: no one will be denied essential health care.

This is a fact today. If uninsured deadbeat Joe Shmoe (no offense, Joe) comes down with cancer, he will receive complete treatment at a hospital, regardless of his ability to pay.

Today’s financial impact: We all hope he can pay but with the cost of an extended hospital visit (easily in the six figures), let’s not count on it. So Joe declares bankruptcy and society absorbs the cost of Joe’s treatment through higher health care costs. Everyone loses.

Consider the same scenario but now with Joe being a mostly responsible guy. Suppose instead of being a deadbeat, he had saved away $100,000 for retirement…but neglected to carry health insurance. We’re a little better off because he can apply $100k towards his medical bills, but Joe’s seriously screwed. He’s probably still looking at bankruptcy and his life savings has just vanished. Sure it’s his fault for letting his insurance lapse but it still seems unfair, especially when compared to the deadbeat version.

Proposed financial impact: we cover Joe and everyone else with universal health care (not necessarily free, but mandated, just like car insurance in Ohio and elsewhere). He gets sick and the system pays, just like before. Only now, we’re accounting for it properly and Joe’s finances are not left in ruins. The cost to you and me is the same either way.

It’s great that we’re a compassionate nation that hesitates to let the sick perish, but perhaps I’m too generous when I assume that the uninsured are so well received. Some stats suggest that many die in need of medical care that’s out of reach (via Powazek, via Blurbomat):

Here's what's actually happening. The US is the only major industrialised country that does not provide regular healthcare to all its citizens. Instead, they are required to provide for themselves – and 50 million people can't afford the insurance. As a result, 18,000 US citizens die every year needlessly, because they can't access the care they require. That's equivalent to six 9/11s, every year, year on year.

That’s embarrassingly sad.

Ruminations in Pictures (Briefly)

Just a few quickies I snapped recently. I noticed this Ben Franklin quote on a website (left) which appears to be attributed to a rather modern looking Ben.

I accidentally ended up at Bing recently and spent some time learning about Puffin chicks (and forgetting what I was going to search for). This factoid will surely make any new mother cry:

While heading home from a busy day Sarah and I were on the same course as this dushbag for a couple of minutes. It’s funny how applicable some stereotypes are:This guy had a Confederate Battle Flag license plate frame, some weird goatee thing, broken tail lights, spray painted and possibly suped up truck, rolled up sleeves, and was swerving and weaving like a true—pardon my language—douche bag. I shouldn’t be so surprised considering where I live.

And lastly, Maya and I came across this violent if not perverse Elmo toy:

You shake it and his head flops around as he giggles (seems similar to this NSFW product ad).