This is a little harder, all of your answers to the questions can only be one word. It is tougher than you think… Play along if you feel inclined!

USING ONLY ONE WORD:

Where is your cell phone?
There

Your significant other?
Beautiful

Your hair?
Longish

Your mother?
Elegant

Your father?
Rugged

Your favorite thing?
Wifey

Your dream last night?
badbadbad

Your favorite drink?
Beer

Your dream/goal?
$ecurity

What room are you in?
334

Your hobby?
V-Twin

Your fear?
Debt

Where do you want to be in six years?
Smiling

Where were you last night?
Working

Something that you aren’t?
Rich

Muffins?
Bagels

Wish list item?
Acreage

Last thing you did?
Wife

What are you wearing?
Socks

TV?
Books

Your pets?
Furry

Friends?
Important

Your life?
Acceptable 🙂

Your mood?
Worried

Missing someone?
Yes

Drinking?
Tea

Smoking?
Quit!

Your car?
Yaris

Something you’re not wearing?
Fishnets

Your favorite store?
Bomgaars

Your favorite color?
Black

When is the last time you cried?
Dunno…

Where do you go to over and over?
Pee

My favorite place to eat?
Home

Favorite place I’d like to be at right now?
Motorcycling

I received this earlier today. I haven’t checked all the sources, but a quick spot-check didn’t show any misleading info…

Top Five Health Care Reform Lies—and How to Fight Back

Warning: These are my opinions. I’m entitled to ’em. It says so right here…

1. I’m happy Mrs. Sotomayor got confirmed. It seemed like the only thing the opposition could find to oppose was one statement she made fifteen years ago. Lord help me if people would be that picky with ME. From what little research I’ve been able to do, she really does seem to be a level-headed and reasonable judge.

2. Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler fell off a stage at Sturgis and broke parts of himself. How awkward. I hope he didn’t break a lip.

3. I support health care reform. Some friends of mine are unhappy with a clause in the bill (the one about “end of life counseling” or something like that). Don’t trash the entire bill, let’s just get that silly clause removed. Health care costs keep rising, but our level of care keeps diminishing. I know MANY people who have been denied coverage due to “preexisting conditions,” which is BS. Dagmar and I switched insurance companies a while back and it cost us (if I remember right) $800 to be covered for TWO DAYS while the paperwork for the switch was going through. The company had a clause in the fine print that if you were “uninsured” for any length of time, you weren’t eligible for their insurance, so we had to pay a full month’s worth of COBRA to cover us for two days… That ain’t right. Health care costs have doubled in the past few years. THOSE are the abuses that need to be changed. Let’s change ’em.

4. It’s 8:35 a.m. and it’s already hot.

5. I understand that free speech is free speech, but since when is disrupting a meeting considered a viable strategy? The Republican party has put out word that people should go to town hall meetings and “disrupt” the proceedings rather than let others be heard. That, you see, violates OTHER’S right to free speech, doesn’t it? I understand that meetings can be volatile affairs, and that people on both sides have occasionally disrupted things, but I don’t think it’s right for the National Republican Party to actually tell people to be disrespectful and disrupt debates. It seems one step away from a mob… You wanna go to a town hall meeting, wave your sign, that’s fine. Stand across the street and chant, that’s fine. Holler a bit and have your voice and opinion heard, that’s fine. Stop me from doing the same — that’s not fine. That goes for both sides. Let’s get back to listening to each other, dammit.

6. I never heard of John Hughes until today.

7. My upload finished uploading, so back to work I go. (And thus endeth my daily break.)

Why are the insurance companies trying so hard to stop health care reform and paint President Obama’s insurance plan in a bad light? Simple. They have a lot to lose. Here’s what their CEO’s make:

H. Edward Hanway – CIGNA $12,236,740
Ron Williams – Aetna $24,300,112
Coventry Health Care $14,869,823.00
Health Net $3,686,230.00
Humana $10,312,557.00
United Health Group $13,164,529.00
Well Point $9,094,271.00

The AVERAGE insurance CEO makes between $10.5 and $14 million per year depending on your source.

If I stood to lose nearly $25 million per year like the head of Aetna, I’d probably fight dirty too! But think about it. That’s money that WE spend on health care for our families going directly into THEIR greedy pockets… They’re profiting on our misfortune. How much better off would we be if the government provided non-profit insurance coverage for those who wanted it?

Please note, I tripped over these figures on the Internet. I haven’t had time to verify them — I always caution others not to believe everything they read online, so if you have time to check these numbers, please do. If my sources were wrong, please post your findings.

I don’t have much time, so this isn’t gonna be nearly as in-depth as I’d like it to be…

Why are we having a debate on health care? Why do we even need to talk about this? Millions of people are under insured, have been cut from their insurance by the insurance companies themselves and now face economic ruin, suddenly find themselves with a “preexisting condition” they didn’t know about…

Let’s get this straight — the government is NOT seeking “socialized medicine.” What the Obama administration wants to do is OFFER insurance from a non-profit entity to those who need it. NO ONE NEEDS TO ACCEPT. No one will be forced to go on a government-based insurance plan.

The big pharmaceutical companies have teamed up with the big insurance companies and are lobbying hard to brand President Obama’s plan of offering reasonably-priced insurance as “socialized health care,” a phrase they’ve carefully crafted into something that has negative connotations… Couple this with a massive lobbying effort and suddenly something as common sense as “let’s lower health care costs” is in danger of losing. In 2008 special interest groups, including pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, spent $32,523 per legislator per day in lobbying efforts. I’ll rephrase that. For every congressman and senator in Washington D.C., special interests groups spent $32,525 EACH DAY to change his or her mind. source

One of my own Senators, Chuck Grassley (R) is opposed to health care reform. Why? Simple. Over the past few years he’s accepted over $2 million in donations from insurance companies. source Where is this money coming from? Directly from your pocket.

When you pay an insurance premium, you’re giving your insurance company money that they give to your congressman in exchange for legislation that keeps us from slowing down their greed. You’re paying for some insurance executive to eat gourmet meals on fine china in their offices because they’re too “important” to go out to eat or *gasp* bring their own lunch. source I heard on TV (I don’t have time to verify it) that one out of every $700 spent nationwide on health care goes directly into the pocket of the CEO of United Health Care.

That is simply outrageous and unacceptable.

These are the same insurance companies that will gleefully take your money while you’re well and will gleefully cut your benefits the moment you get sick. These are the companies that “encourage” small business owners to drop their coverage as soon as an employee needs to use the insurance.

I was at a meeting the other day where a local Sioux City businessman got up and told about his experience with insurance companies. He said that normally there’s a 2 or 3% increase in rates each year. (When I worked at the print shop I DREAMED of getting that kind of pay increase!) He continued to say that he got a letter this year saying his rates were going up 80% this year. This is not for his personal insurance, mind you, this is for his employees. An 80% increase is insane — enough, he said, to drive him out of business, OR force him to drop insurance benefits for his employees, thus forcing them to pay insurance out of their own pockets.

I dunno about you, but around here that’s usually over $800 a month now.

I saw a sign at the meeting that said the average Iowan pays over $800 a month for insurance, but Chuck Grassley, our Republican senator, pays a mere $350 a month for HIS family’s insurance. Yet when someone approached the senator and asked how they could get the same insurance he enjoys, the senator merely replied, “Get a job with the federal government.”

Right.

I believe around 1% of the population of Iowa works for the federal government. Well over 52% of Iowans work for small businesses. The same small businesses who are being squeezed out by the insurance companies in the name of greed and profit.

Okay, enter the Obama Administration’s plan.

From what I hear, it’s not gonna be great insurance, but it’s gonna be affordable, and they won’t deny benefits to those who need it most. They can run it at an affordable rate simply because they WON’T be spending millions (if not billions) of dollars a year on lobbying, they WON’T be paying Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) $2 million. They WON’T be lunching on gourmet meals served on fine china. They will not force anyone to buy this insurance. It’s not a health care plan, they won’t be choosing doctors, it’s merely affordable insurance.

What will affordable insurance do? Well, the first thing that will likely happen is that there will be a surge of people who are currently uninsured buying it. The next thing that will happen is that the big insurance companies will start to drop their prices in order to compete. Lower health care costs for the same services we get now. Can that possibly be a bad thing?

“Pfft, I wouldn’t trust the government to run insurance!” Well, you trust them to run the Army, don’t you?

“I don’t want some government official standing between me and my health care!” Me either. But who’s standing between you and your health care right now? A guy who wants nothing but profit, an insurance agent who’s PAID TO DENY YOU the services you’ve paid for. To me the choice is simple.

Do not listen to the propaganda. If you see a commercial on TV painting the Obama administration’s insurance plan as “socialized medicine,” rest assured that YOU paid for that ad, and that the people who put the ad out there do not have your best interests at heart but rather their own profits. Think for yourself. Check the facts. Look into this. And when you come to a conclusion, call your legislator and tell them how you feel. Let’s force our congressmen and senators to pay attention to us for once rather than paying attention to the $2 million in donations they got from the insurance companies…

Hippie Go Lucky gets to play at the Chesterfield tomorrow (Friday) night. Yay!

Tons of photos. You can peek at ’em if you want… The first batch is from the banquet a day or two before the flight, the second is of the flight itself. You can learn more about the honor flight at www.siouxlandhonorflight.org if you want… You may also see a full-screen slideshow by poking your mouse thing at the slideshows below and following the links to Picasa.

PayPal

I got an e-mail from PayPal a while back. I forget what it said, exactly, but it was spooky. “Someone’s been trying to get into your account, so we’ve put limits on it. Please log into PayPal and check it out.” I opened a new browser window and dutifully typed in “www.paypal.com” and tried to log in. Sure enough, it asked me for my credit card and bank account info. I stopped and e-mailed PayPal to ask if this was legitimate, then proceeded to forget about it. I never did get an answer.

Today I got another e-mail. Here it is…

Hello Christopher Radloff,

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account.

We requested information from you for the following reason:

We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. We have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features in case your account has been accessed by an unauthorized third party. We understand that having limited access can be an inconvenience, but protecting your account is our primary concern.

Case ID Number: PP-***-***-***

This is a reminder to log in to PayPal as soon as possible.

Be sure to log in securely by opening a new browser window and typing the PayPal URL. Once you log in, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access. We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure account safety.

In accordance with PayPal’s User Agreement, your account access will remain limited until the issue has been resolved. Unfortunately, if access to your account remains limited for an extended period of time, it may result in further limitations or eventual account closure. We encourage you to log in to your PayPal account as soon as possible to help avoid this.

To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal used to make its decision to limit your account access, please visit the Resolution Center. If, after reviewing your account information, you seek further clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal by visiting the Help Center and clicking “Contact Us”.

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thanks,

PayPal Account Review Department

PayPal Email ID PP***

The letter looks legitimate — it’s got my name on it rather than “Dear PayPal User,” and there are no links to click but rather instructions to type the URL manually into a fresh browser. But to be on the safe side I forwarded the e-mail to the PayPal spoof people. They replied in minutes.

Hello Chris Radloff,

Thanks for forwarding that suspicious-looking email. You’re right – it
was a phishing attempt, and we’re working on stopping the fraud. By
reporting the problem, you’ve made a difference!

Identity thieves try to trick you into revealing your password or other
personal information through phishing emails and fake websites. To learn
more about online safety, click “Security Center” on any PayPal webpage.

Every email counts. When you forward suspicious-looking emails to
spoof@paypal.com, you help keep yourself and others safe from identity
theft.

Your account security is very important to us, so we appreciate your
extra effort.

Thanks,
PayPal

The problem is that I still can’t log into my normal PayPal gunk. I go to PayPal.com, type in my name and password, and am taken to a page asking for my financial info… Has this happened to anyone else? Is the first e-mail legitimate? Was the second one an automatic response?

Blech…

It’s a cold rainy day today. I’m not sure it’s supposed to get above 65 or 70… Drippy drippy drippy. A perfect day to sit inside and get all my work done (I’m rendering some DVD’s at the moment so I have a few seconds to type), but the Legion Riders are supposed to be in two different parades today… Little town of Oyens, IA (it literally has three streets going this way and three streets going that way) is celebrating their Sesqui… Semisesqui… Sasquatchcent… their 125th anniversary at noon and Sioux Center is having their annual summer celebration at five p.m.

I’ll need to leave the house at 9:45 a.m., probably won’t get back until after 7 p.m.

I can’t say I’m real excited to lose a day’s work to go ride a couple hundred miles in the rain… I’m just too busy. Riding in the cold and rain doesn’t bother me much, but it takes more time (gotta ride slower, take time to put on the winter gear and rain suit, etc.) and that’s exactly what I don’t have today.

Tagged

I started getting e-mails a few days ago from a friend. “So-and-So wants to show you her private photos on Tagged. Please respond or she’ll think you don’t like her.” Hmmm… I know the lady, and it’s doubtful that she wants to show me “private photos,” so I e-mailed her.

Turns out Tagged is legitimate, kind of a Facebook thing. My friend belongs, so I went to sign up.

I clicked through 15 or 20 advertisement pages (you know the kind, it looks like you’re supposed to click the button, but unless you notice the very tiny “skip” button underneath you get sucked into a morass of popup screens) trying to sign up. Once I was all registered, I went back to check my e-mail, only to find about 15 e-mails from Tagged.

I cancelled my account. It’s icky and creepy there.

Siouxland Honor Flight

I got to go on an Honor Flight last Tuesday. The Honor Flight is where they take a group of WWII veterans, charter a jet, fly ’em to Washington D.C. and let them tour the WWII monument there. It’s free to the vets, and is quite the experience!

We had over 100 veterans go on our trip, along with around 35 support personnel (a medical team, Guardians who look after the veterans, and a few media people). It nearly broke my heart to see the airport security people make 105 85- and 90-year-old men totter around the airport in their stocking feet, britches falling off, shoes and belt in hand… Half of the guys had metal implants and couldn’t make it through the metal detector and had to be taken aside.

We met at the airport at 4:30 a.m., flew direct to Dulles in Washington D.C., got on some buses that took the group to the WWII Memorial, then off to a bus tour of the city, stopped at the Korean Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Air Force Memorial, the FDR Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, then back to the airport and homeward. We got back to Sioux City about 1 or 1:30 a.m. It was a BUSY day!

I’ll do a full write-up when I get time, but MAN was it a touching event! When the plane landed in Washington D.C. people in the airport were waving flags and cheering — they even had the fire trucks shoot water over the airplane in honor of the vets. At the FDR Memorial some school children figured out that the guys in the blue shirts were all WWII veterans — the vets spent the next 15 minutes shaking hands with awed children. When we got back to Sioux City there was a flag line and a real gosh-honest brass band playing patriotic music, people waving flags and cheering — at 1:30 in the morning!

You know, if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s an “Apology Blog.” You know the kind, where every entry is the same, “I’m sorry I haven’t written, but I’ve just been so busy…” I hate that.

Anyway…

I’m sorry I haven’t written, but I’ve just been so busy.