fibermom's Xanga

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:13:26 GMT

Yesterday began with a nice walk. Then I had a whole day -- nearly uninterrupted -- of writing. I really enjoyed it.

I had a couple of exciting moments. First, there was the website I was sent to edit which turned out to be entirely stolen. Yep, the client had snitched whole paragraphs of content from a variety of competitors. Fortunately it's agency work, so I don't have to deal with the client directly, but I'm making a mental note not to trust those guys with my money.

The question is unlikely to arise, I know. Right now, I'm waiting for payments to come in so I can pay #2 son's tuition. I don't expect to need a financial advisor any time soon.

The next bit of excitement was a contact through my website from a major educational product company. I had to restrain myself from gushing about how I used to sell their stuff! That exclamation point is to show how I would have gushed, not to emphasize my restraint. I totally can fix their web site, too, and I really hope they choose me.

I did also have a call from another agency yesterday, and we got as far as "How do we proceed now?" and "You'll be hearing from me soon." And then this morning I had a request to interview from a new agency that describes itself as "a disruptive force." I think I'd quite like to work for a disruptive force.

But perhaps the most exciting bit was one of the topics I wrote about. Really, I like all the topics I was writing about. I wrote someone a very nice website yesterday, and I love the process of coming up with ways to say what they want to say that really fit their goals, and the character of their business, and their target audience. It's a great pleasure.

But I'm working right now on 2500 words about a political issue, something I don't get to do very often, and it turns out to be very interesting.

It's about physician-owned hospitals, or POHs. Some of the POHs have come about because inner-city hospitals were being torn down by cash-strapped cities, so the doctors who worked there banded together to save the hospital. You could make a movie out of that. Some have been built by doctors who were frustrated with the level of care they were able to give at corporate-owned hospitals, and making their own hospitals allowed them to provide the kind of health care they thought their patients deserved.

Some, no doubt, were built by groups of doctors who felt that they could make more money if they got not only their fees, but also some of the profits of the hospital itself. And it it this capitalist attitude that has -- perhaps -- led to a bill which is designed to run PHOs out of business.

There are two main arguments against PHOs. The first is that the level of care they provide is inadequate, that they are out to make a quick buck and therefore they push expensive procedures onto patients who don't need them, that they put profits first, etc.

Consumer Reports, an organization I trust, just brought out a report ranking hospitals throughout the U.S. In 19 states, the top-ranked hospital is a POH. In my state, the top two are PHOs, and four of the top seven are. Since there are only about 225 PHOs in the nation, this is not the kind of result you'd expect. The PHO in our capital city, which doesn't even have a million residents, is not just #1 in the state, but is ranked in the top 5% of the nation by Health Grades, an independent organization.

And, since much of this first argument is about for-profit vs. nonprofit hospitals, it's worth noting that relatively few hospitals nowadays are nonprofits. We have some charity hospitals in our state, run by religious organizations, but most belong to corporate chains. Even many of our city hospitals are managed by corporate chains on a for-profit basis. In Sacramento, a city which looked into this question, 95% of the hospital beds belong to six corporations. So the PHOs aren't in competition with government hospitals.

That, however, is the second concern. PHOs, the story goes, will cherry-pick (or skim the cream -- pick your favorite metaphor) the healthier, wealthier patients, leaving the charity cases and the Medicare patients for the public hospitals. This is of course the same argument we've heard for years about public vs. private schools.

The Congressional Budget Office, however, was quite frank about their thinking on this. In areas with PHOs, they noticed, it was more common for people to have orthopedic and cardiac surgery. By closing down PHOs, forbidding their expansion, or limiting their ability to accept Medicare, they hope to avoid paying for such expensive treatments for Medicare patients. That is the source of the savings they're predicting: Medicare patients won't get expensive procedures.

I don't see why they didn't just say that they'll no longer pay for cardiac and orthopedic surgery (it's a long list, actually, but those were the examples in the letter) for Medicare patients. Possibly they felt that such a law might make them look heartless.

It's interesting, though.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:55:26 GMT

The German chocolatier for whom I work has his online catalog ready. If you click that link, you can buy his nice chocolates for all your friends' and family's Christmas gifts, and I plan to do so myself. I'll probably get a good quantity of the chocolate-covered sunflower kernels, because they were a big hit with #1 son and also make good cookies. I think I showed you the chocolate version last week, and the butter ones are this week's HGP freezer cookie -- there's a picture at the bottom of this page, and both recipes are at the blog.

Last night our director was having a gallbladder attack. That may not be the correct terminology, but he was sitting down and sweating, and he blamed his gallbladder.

He was courteous and correct, but you could tell how much of an effort it was. He accused the sopranos of acting like toddlers, told us altos that we sounded like a Buick on a cold morning, requested the basses not to shout but to attempt to sound as though they were singing, and asked the tenors to quit barking at him.

And, as I say, I could tell that he was struggling to be nice.

Before rehearsal I made chicken soup with lots of vegetables and whole-wheat muffins with granola stirred in. Before that I met with The Computer Guy, who had ten new projects for me. He also showed me what progress he had made with our Freshplans project.

I was dismayed. He gave the task to his minion, it seems, who removed all the interesting layout, and indeed all the things I'd done. He had also rebuilt it in asp.net, which I don't really know, rather than leaving it in html, which I do know.

"It's not an improvement," I told him, looking at solid blocks of lorem ipsum and the same ugly header it had when I sent it over.

I hope I clarified the assignment, and I hope the cost of the minion's work will not be excessive. I was dismayed to learn that all the careful notes I had put in the code never even got looked at. I figured that was a good place to put it, but the minion seems just to have wiped the whole thing out.

"I wanted video in the place where there was video," I said. "I just wanted the header and footer changed."

Ah well.

I also have an interesting new article for the media company I've been doing a lot of work for. Apparently, part of the new health care reform package is a move to get rid of physician-owned hospitals. I don't know what the controversy there is. We have one of those here in our state, and they're consistently ranked #1 in our state and in the top 5% in the nation for all kinds of stuff. Hard to see why the fact that the doctors own it would be a bad thing, compared with the county owning it, or the VA, which is I believe how it is with the hospitals in our town. There's another in the town where the physician-owned one is which is owned by the university. As a potential hospital patient, I don't care.

But I figure there must be wheels within wheels, and I plan to find out about it. I'm definitely looking forward to that. In fact, I have a fun day planned. Fun, I mean, in the sense that I get to work without interruption on lots of interesting projects.

Walk first, once it gets light.

If, by the way, you have any thoughts on the subject of doctor-owned hospitals, I'd love to hear them.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:20:11 GMT

I went to the grocery yesterday after church. I was in the pasta aisle trying unsuccessfully to find roasted red pepper sauce, when a lady near me asked, "Honey, do you know what durum wheat is?"

I clued her in, and she shook her head. "I'm 80 years old. You'd think I'd be able to buy noodles."
"There are too many choices," I suggested.

And indeed, the grocery store was ready for the holidays, with special products in merchandisers in the aisles and cheery boxes of weird stuff. For example, you can now buy Ritz crackers dipped in dark chocolate, and I am not making that up. I was looking for Rye-Krisp, or Ak-Mak or something healthy like that, without success, but I could have had chocolate-covered crackers.

These are also the people who brought you Mock Apple Pie. 6 Ritz crackers, I'm told, are the caloric equivalent of a brownie, so maybe they're on the right track.

They didn't have Orowheat bread, either, though they had myriad squishy loaves. Nor plain lemon yogurt, though they had Trix yogurt and yogurt with special stomachic properties and yogurt pretending to be dessert.

But you could I guess go into the grocery store every week and marvel at the sheer range of options. I felt more as though I was having to look through lots and lots of nearly identical things in order to learn that they didn't have what I wanted (no dried fruit bits, either, though they did have cherry-essence-infused prunes and yogurt-candy-covered raisins).

And I'm not even 80.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:13:10 GMT

That website is just about finished up. It has taken me 12.5 hours. I've quite enjoyed it. I worked for about five hours yesterday, but I also took some time to enjoy the day, and I got cookies into the freezer.

It's garage week on the HGP, and I find it unlikely that I'm going to clean the garage. Here's the rest of the list:

Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
Buy two canned food items from menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying. Ask for gift boxes.
Wrap and label packages. If needing to ship, get some shipping boxes now and store packages in them.
Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.
Review and revise menus and other plans.
Plan table setting
Plan centerpiece, make as much as possible now (or order it from florist).
Reserve any items needed to be borrowed or rented.
Get everyone's holiday clothes purchased/cleaned/pressed.

I've done some Christmas shopping, actually, and I've done a bit of thinking about Thanksgiving. The table setting, at least. My parents bring turkey and dressing, and I think I'll make mashed potatoes, rice, sweet potato casserole, corn, squash casserole, cranberry sauce, spinach salad, and pecan, apple, and chocolate pies.

I could make the bread shown in the video on this page, or I could just do a normal sort of bread. Sometimes I even use hot roll mix from the local grist mill. #1 son and I are thinking about going out there today, and I could pick some up.

First I must sing "The King of Love My Shepherd Is" in church. This is the hymn I have chosen for my funeral, by the way. Here is a peculiar YouTube, with the camera fimrly on the back of the organist as the organist's sleeve occasionally enters the frame.

I had better get ready and warm up, I guess.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:05:13 GMT

I've been having a lot of fun building a website for the bookkeeper, and I've been learning a lot, but it's clear that using a template doesn't make the process fast and easy. Well, I guess that in theory you could just pick a template and type stuff in. But if you want to make your site look a particular way, then you won't get that with a template unless you put a lot of time and effort into it, and you still have to know html and have software for photo editing and all that sort of thing. I certainly have spent enough time on it that I could have earned enough to pay the Art Teacher to do the design -- and his would have been better. Still, as I say, I'm having fun.

I'm showing you pictures of this as a WIP. #1 daughter helped me make a logo (the client hasn't been able to get one done; this may not be what she wants, but it's better than having nothing there). #2 daughter says that all the pages should have big pictures. I don't know yet.

I'm actually a little bit nervous about using the photos. I don't know whether the client has model releases or permission from the photographers, or whether she just sent me everything she had on her computer.

I think I could get in trouble for using these images, even if she's the one who said I could without getting proper permission first.

My efforts at improving the whole non-work life thing have been spotty.

I have a book where I write down my goals. I went to it today and saw that I hadn't written anything since December 29th of last year. I went back a couple of years in the book and saw that I had goals of fixing my work life, which I think I've now done, and of getting all my kids safely off to college, which I've done, and of acquiring a wardrobe and dressing and grooming myself like a grownup, which I mostly do, and of developing adult friendships (as opposed to seeing only my children and their friends' moms, and the moms out there know what I mean), and I've done that, too.

I had a goal of having a nice, orderly house, which I sometimes do, especially now that I have a cleaner come in once a month.

I also had goals about diet and exercise, at which I've failed miserably since I became a Computer Guy. In fact, I now have new health concerns. Getting enough sleep and avoiding destroying my back and my vision weren't even on my goals list before, and now these are real concerns.

I think that most of us who try to take care of ourselves probably have to get up every day and start over, when it comes to meeting those goals.

But that little book of mine has become a record of dismal failure where health goals are concerned.

I did go out yesterday, when I went to the bank, and I roamed around the bookstore. I was actually there to get the new issue of Practical Web Design magazine, which had a scary article in it about the physical consequences of sitting for long hours in front of the computer in poorly-designed chairs as well as the article on layout that I wanted, but I saw on my way that Georgette Heyer's mystery novels have been reprinted. While I had to resist buying the whole series (I have tuition payments to make, after all), I did buy two of them. And then last night, less than hour after my computer binged at me to tell me I should quit working, I did in fact shut down and go spend the evening reading. It's pitiful that this seems like an accomplishment, I know, but I've already had clients contact me this morning. Having taken an evening off is a big deal.

Today I have to work, but I also plan to clean house, get some cookies into the freezer, and do some reading. I hope. I also have a lot of Christmas gift knitting to do. And I'm determined to fit in a walk or some Pilates. Maybe a nice vat of vegetable soup for my lunches this week. That's the plan.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:48:48 GMT

Yesterday was a really satisfying work day.Apart from the usual barrage of emails from my really persistent client (several of the emails were insisting on a phone call, too, but I just had to refuse that), I got to sit down and get my work done. I started the day with a walk, and it's lovely even as the leaves fall.

You can see from my Toggl pie chart that I did a lot of different interesting things. I had 8.25 hours of billable work, and only a couple of unbillable ones, and I got to rehearsal. The largest piece of the pie is me building a website with a template on a barter basis. Probably a mistake, but we've been considering whether we could do this ourselves effectively and avoid hiring a designer when a client's budget is limited.

The answer is no. It's going to take me just as long to build the site with the template as it would take a designer to build it, and it won't be as good when it's finished. It requires tech skill to do it, too, since you have to be able to use html and resize photos to the correct number of pixels and stuff like that. This is why people's template-built sites often look disappointing.

The next largest one is the Kennedy Center. I was hoping to get some feedback before I turned in the last of my initial three assignments for them, so I've sort of been delaying. However, I've sent in two without hearing back, and I don't want to seem slow, so I'll probably finish that up today. The next largest slice is a press campaign. That guy has me on a retainer, so my time for him is up, but I'd sure like to do more. There's always next week.

Then comes my own site -- I updated my client list and wrote the blog, both unbillable -- and then unbillable work for the llama farmer whose site just launched. I mostly don't list unbillable stuff, but these two I want to keep track of. I don't put teaching on Toggl, so it evens out. The last two little slices of pie are a quick fix to a writing assignment and another client on retainer. I also graded papers, did a little minor networking in the form of actually answering emails and tweets, and helped #1 son with his lit paper.

Overall, it was a nice relatively uninterrupted day doing exciting, creative work, with some music, movement, and conversation in it. I can't claim that I ate right, and I didn't get enough sleep, but I was pretty happy with it.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:00:21 GMT

The book False Economy begins with a comparison of Argentina and the United States. At the beginning of the 20th century, both were new, expanding, largely agriculture nations with immigrant populations and bright futures. By the beginning of the 21st century, the United States was a rich and powerful nation and Argentina was a third-world country. The author claims that there were a few bad economic choices involved, but mostly a lot of bad attitude -- Argentina had a small ruling class that kept all the goodies, while the U.S. tried to share things out a bit. It is possible, the book suggests, for the U.S. to share Argentina's fate if we allow that bad attitude to creep in.

In addition to reading a chapter this provocative book yesterday, I also taught classes, worked for various clients, interviewed for one new job and accepted another, and went to rehearsals for bells and choir.

In bells, a new person arrived and I snookered her into sharing bells with me. With her playing two and me playing two, instead of me playing four, I was able to get through large sections of the piece we're working on with some measure of success.

The piece sounds, at least from where I'm standing, like a car crash. Maybe a car crash involving lots of broken windows. Punctuated by complaining, whining, and bickering, which would actually make more sense in a car crash than in rehearsal. Maybe it sounds better from the front. The new person found the rehearsal humorous. I seriously hope she comes back.

Then we had choir practice with six people and no accompanist. It was sort of grim. It's one thing to have a rehearsal of a small ensemble, but quite another to have just a few from a choir. It's easy to feel that there's a big party going on somewhere and the people who showed up at choir were the ones who weren't invited.

I've been invited to a bit of a party this evening, but also have rehearsal. I'm hoping to have enough work done that I can get to rehearsal, never mind the ladies' night out. However, all my jobs today are fun and exciting, so I have no complaints.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:43:34 GMT

Yesterday I finished up the second of the Kennedy Center things and sent it off. I've had no response to either so far, so I hope I'm sending them to the right place.

Then I went off to do some training in Google analytics. This took three hours and was unbillable, but I felt that it was worthwhile and gratifying. Then I spent six hours putting together someone's e-commerce. This is a person on retainer, so here it is Wednesday and I've already gone over his paid time by several hours and it's all volunteer from here. That isn't gratifying at all, frankly.

So I had a long day. There was also grading of papers, and my husband and I took the dogs for a walk. it was a slow, brief walk. My husband is not good at going for walks. I don't think he grasps the concept. We walked around the block slowly, with him trailing behind me with Toby the dog, who was trying manfully (or at least dogfully) to catch up with Fiona the dog, who was hauling me along down the street as though she had somewhere to go.

We got back to the house and Toby wouldn't go up the walk. We hadn't, he seemed to suggest, done a long enough walk. He knows how long walks are supposed to go on, and we hadn't even left the cul de sac. Once Fiona saw that he was taking this position, she turned back and gallumphed over to where Toby was making his stand. Solidarity, she felt, might lead to a proper walk instead of this strolling around the block bit.

No such luck. My husband works all day in a factory, and I still had several hours' worth of work to do.

Poor dogs.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:04:38 GMT

We had some trouble last night with "All We Like Sheep." The director wants separations between "all," "we," and "like," and then wants "like " and "sheep" sung together with a lot of K and very little SH. The choir in the video rarely looks up at the director, which is probably because they don't want to see his frantic signals about making "we have turned" more staccato.

I had some trouble with "The Lord Gave the Word," and also with "Let Us Break Their Bonds." we have a month to get it perfect, though.

#1 son tried to persuade me to skip rehearsal last night and instead to stay home and watch "The Big Bang Theory" with him. However, a chemist friend in the bass section told me that it has been established that singing choral music makes positive changes in brain chemistry.

I can use some of those.

Actually, aside from the too much work problem, I'm fine. And, since the tuition payments just squeaked through my bank account, I clearly need as much work as I have. But it's good to have evenings of singing.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:07:46 GMT

We're beginning our research papers in my writing classes.

Here you see the sayings I have on my office wall:

"Never try to teach a pig to sing! It wastes your time and annoys the pig."
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research."

The problems my students are having probably fall into these two categories.

First, there are those who still haven't grasped the concept of the Review of the Literature, largely because of not coming to class and not reading the book. These are joined by those who are scandalized at the thought that I expect them to read things in the course of doing their research paper -- mostly they explain that they don't have time. And I still have a few who are most inclined to copy.

And then there are those who still can't write coherent paragraphs, or owe me four or five assignments, or respond to every assignment with confusion and alarm.

At this point, I'd like to be able to drop everyone who hasn't been working. Instead, I give a little speech saying that some of the class has been doing all the assignments and getting good grades and attending, and they know they have good grades, so this is their opportunity to dig in and really get good at research papers, for the sake of their grades in all their future classes.

And some of them aren't sure they're going to pass, and this is their last chance to prove that they're capable of succeeding in Comp II next semester -- because I'm not allowed to pass anyone who isn't.

This speech is scheduled for today.