Could These Two Stories Be Related Somehow?

NPR's Planet Money did a story this week about campaign finance, and Weekend All Things Considered did a story about health care reform.  The interesting thing about the individual mandate component of the Affordable Health Care Act, is that it was proposed originally as the Republican alternative to HillaryCare back in the 90's as a way to keep government out of health care and eliminate health care free riders.
Here we could insert a French proverb making the observation that turbulent changes do not affect reality on a deeper level other than to cement the status quo.↬ We are apparently wearing the status quo like a pair of boots.

Dilemma: If Looks Could Kill, Would I Wield A Cursory Glance, Or A Glancing Blow?

So, Etch-A-Sketches are back in the news now that Romney has announced his promises are written on one. They are old news at the PO, where we've been making policy on them for years. They are precursors of the computers we use now, in the sense that they are pre-cursor, as well as the ephemeral nature of their output. This will be news to some of us, who thought that our policies were written in smoke.
The changes they made to my route took effect, sort of, on Saturday, and now they're saying they'll be making changes in May, and they are already planning for the inevitable mistakes they're going to make, by announcing that they'll be making changes again in September.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Plan your work, work your plan.

Well, That Made Me Feel Silly

I heard a story about attribution on the internet, and now I wish I had something to attribute. Oh, wait a minute.↬

Normally, A Man Of Doleful Mien

When I got home from work today, I told everyone, "I got my new line of travel today from the Post Office, and it could have been so much worse."
"We've never seen you so excited about your job," they said.
And there was more good news, Karen and I each got a letter from the IRS today. Both letters said that they had looked at our return, and we didn't owe any more money, although they did helpfully include envelopes for us to send our nothing in.

Affluenza

We have too much stuff, and a lot of it is in a pile in the middle of our bedroom; just perfect for a bonfire. We're not quite ready for the painter to come the day after tomorrow, but I think we'll make it or else I guess he'll paint over nails, staples and our tv. Which will be fine because I have no idea where the remote is. Anyway, I'm done piling stuff for tonight.

We're Tour de Curing Again

Researchers keep coming out of their labs to announce that the cure for most diabetes cases is diet and exercise. Americans keep sending them back, "Nope, try again, we're thinking maybe a pill, or some special food, perhaps cheese."

Despite that, not all cases of diabetes are caused by sedentary overeating, and the disease can be devastating. To  help fund research into causes and treatments, I'm planning to participate in the 2012 Tour de Cure. If you go to:

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/hartofak

 you can join my team, and then it will be our team. Use the promotion code LUCKY7 before the 21st of March and you can join for $7.00. It turns out that I can't join for you;  it just smiles patiently and says, "Thanks, but you've already joined."

After joining, you can set up your own pages and the process can continue over and over until eventually we become Amway. If the idea of riding sixty miles seems daunting even with SAG vans and snacks, when you get to the site, you can sponsor me. I'll do the riding and eating for you, the researchers will continue the hunt for the elusive Gorgonzola particle and you can feel good about the part we all played in making the world a better place.

There Is No "I" In Postal

If our managers want us to be part of the team, they shouldn't treat us like part of the equipment.

No Oobleck, Though

I've told you before that you don't know what's going to kill you. Karen and I just watched some videos from the 50's about fallout shelters. In one of them, the actor playing the homeowner is smoking a cigarette. Since the film is sixty years old, I bet the actor is dead, and I bet he didn't die from a Soviet A-bomb.
The films showed that when people were vaporized by the blast there was an outline of their bodies in silhouette on walls that remained standing. If the blast was to come here, now, the shadow could be left on the walls of snow lining our streets. And there's so much snow that tourists could come years from now to see it. And yet, we still haven't broken the record. I'm betting I break first. It's tempting to just give up, but winter isn't taking prisoners.
There's so much snow that it's become an issue in the mayoral election. And in postal delivery. After they adjusted my route last summer, I told them, "You don't listen." It's been six months, so they are evaluating the changes they made. Cognizant of the mistakes they made last time, they're making an effort to not listen harder.
Oh, and one more thing, that's not falling as fast as it should. In December, I reached my goal weight. Then came Christmas, vacation, and binge eating. I've been back on my plan for more than two months, and while I've been losing weight, I still have not gotten back to goal. That means that it takes more than two and a half months to lose the weight that I put on in two and a half weeks. Does this seem right? Does this ever happen to you?
I'm only asking because my friend, Rich, said it would be interesting to know if that was a common formula; four times as long (or more) to lose weight as it takes to put it on. I've commissioned a poll at the top of the page to see what you think.