Time to Opt-Out of TotalCare

The City of Tulsa's TotalCare ambulance program in theory covers all emergency ambulance service requiring no out of pocket costs by you. If you live in the City of Tulsa and do not opt out a mere $3.64 is added to your monthly water bill.  

With the exception of Councilor Bill Christiansen who voted against TotalCare, I want to thank the Tulsa City Council of 2007 for creating a system, where by Tulsa's citizens must opt-out of instead of into TotalCare. It is a great way of creating the illusion of choice whilst at the same time ensnaring the unobservant masses into a government sanctioned insurance plan.  Your council, in all of its infinite wisdom, was way ahead of the curve. Who would have guessed that a mere 3 years later Obama and the Democrat Congress would be following in their footsteps.  If there is one thing I've learned from the 2007 City Council, Mayor Kathy Taylor, and from Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and President Obama is that it is the government's duty to make sure we all have health coverage (whether we want it or not), and that a single government approved insurance plan really is best. God Bless you guys!

 If you hate your fellow Tulsan who is counting on your participation in TotalCare, and so choose to opt-out of TotalCare, you may do so by calling (918) 596-9511 by the end of June. If you love Tulsa and want to pay your fair share and choose not to opt-out, then you agree to the following:

I acknowledge that my insurance provider and/or I am responsible for payment of ambulance services provided to me by EMSA. I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to provide EMSA, within 60 days of the date of service, with any valid insurance and third-party payer information pertaining to me or anyone living in my household who receives EMSA services and that failure to do so nullifies this agreement. In addition, I agree to furnish any information requested by my insurance company in order to facilitate payment of ambulance claims for me or anyone living in my household. In consideration for payment of the membership fee, I hereby assign to EMSA all ambulance benefits that any covered family member or I may otherwise be entitled to receive from any insurance or other third-party payer for services provided under my TotalCare membership. EMSA will accept this assignment as payment in full for emergency transports, and for non-emergency transports if insurance or other third-party payer coverage provides benefits for the transport. I understand that EMSA will file my ambulance insurance claims for each covered person and is entitled to receive payment from all insurance or other third-party payers up to the amount of EMSA’s usual charges. If no insurance or other third-party payer benefits are available or if the insurance company or other third-party payer denies payment for non-emergency service, I understand that I will remain responsible for payment of EMSA’s reduced fee for TotalCare members (40% off EMSA’s standard non-emergency rate). Any insurance or other third-party payment I receive related to EMSA’s services provided under my TotalCare membership must immediately be delivered to EMSA, if there is an outstanding balance on my account. Violation of the terms of this agreement will result in termination of this agreement, and the patient (or responsible party) will be billed for all charges related to services provided.

Wow data can last!!!

Looked what popped up on my phone's calendar the other day.

Wow data can last!!!
Mon 5/24/2010

I created this to see how long I can carry data with me. What software and equipment will I use in 2010?

I'm using a Palm 5 syncing with Outlook 98 in Feb 2000

see you in 10 years.

That's pretty cool!

To answer answer my question, I'm now using a Motorola Droid that syncs my Outlook 2003 calendar with my Google Calender via Google Calender Sync.

I think I'll add something to my Google Calender to go off 20 years from now...stick around and I'll let you know how it goes.

Father Was Never There!

Unfortunately some children are forced to endure a single parent household. Often the stories behind the loss of the parent are as sad as the repercussions in the lives of the children. Fortunately, in the case of the Three Little Pigs (click the pic to watch the video), the story has a happy ending*.



*Especially for whoever got to eat that sausage!

I Do Not Heart Apple...

...However Adobe, the makers of Flash still do. Despite the fact that Apple has rejected Flash on it's devices like the iPad, the iPod Touch, and the iPhone,and despite the fact that Steve Jobs has said some not so nice things about Flash recently.

We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company - no matter how big or how creative - should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web.

When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe's business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end - and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors.

We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web - the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time.

In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody - and everybody, but certainly not a single company.

Apple's attitude that we know best, is nothing new. The original Apple Macintosh did not have arrow keys because Steve Jobs decided that people didn't need them. Apple said we don't need more than one mouse button, they said we don't need disk drives, they said that iPhone owners didn't need multitasking, or cut and paste, and now they say we dot need Flash.  Ohh yeah, Apple pretty much controls which apps you may or may not run on your iPhone, iTouch, or iPad. Never mind what people want, Apple knows best.

And don't get me started on Apple's Developer agreement, which dictates what you may or may not say in public, where you must sell your application, how much you can make, what compiler you have to use, and so on.

This is the primary reason that I reject all Apple products. It is this arrogance regarding "their devices", and "their user interfaces", I say "their", because I get the feeling that you don't ever really own an Apple product, you are just borrowing it. It is really Apple's, and they are gracious enough to let you use it...as long as you obey their rules. I'm not going to accept that control. I don't want use use use Apple products the way they want me to. I want to be in charge of technology, not the other way around. I do not heart Apple.


(via Engadget)

A Noble Inheritance

Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capable, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of fife, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence. The structure has been erected by architects of consummate skill and fidelity; its foundations are solid; its compartments are beautiful, as well as useful; its arrangements are full of wisdom and order; and its defences are impregnable from without. It has been reared for immortality, if the work of man may justly aspire to such a title. It may, nevertheless, perish in an hour by the folly, or corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, THE PEOPLE. Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.

Joseph Story, "COMMENTARIES ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES" Chapter XLV. Concluding Remarks.

South Tulsa Bridge Discussed for Bixby?

Google was kind enough to let me know about this story out of the Bixby Bulletin, Bixby bridge still being discussed.

Mayor Ray Bowen said he has met with the Tulsa mayor twice and has had a good discussion with the Tulsa team. Bowen added, however, that the topic has reached a point at which Bixby needs to meet with the Oklahoma Transportation Association.
...
“We have a place it can go, and we won’t bother anybody,” said Bowen, referring to a location within Bixby city limits near a bridge that fell in 1938. Establishment of a bridge in that area could also have a positive effect on the Leonard area.

An interesting development to be sure, although I'm not entirely sure what bridge they are talking about since I didn't live in Tulsa in 1938. However, I did find a reference to a bridge collapse in 1938 "December 9 - The collapse of the Bixby Arkansas River bridge on Highway 64." Which confuses me because there is still a bridge over the Arkansas on Highway 64. 64 turns into Memorial drive at E 171st St South. Maybe 64 took a different route in those days? Does anyone know where this proposed bridge site that, "won’t bother anybody" is?

There are some who call me...Tim?

Tim had always been interested in secrets. Secrets like, which one of the town’s men is my father? Why do cherries float and not very small rocks? What makes fire work? But none of these seemingly impossible to answer questions compared to the largest secret of them all. What was that creepy little rabbit guarding at the mouth of  The Cave of Caerbannog?

Many men had tried to figure it out, they tried and died. Tim had decided that perhaps the answer lay not with brute force but with magic. And so he poured himself into mystic arts of enchanting, and for 20 years gained mastery over fire and brimstone and smoke. The town’s folk were terrified of Tim’s ability to summon fire, so much so that instead of trying to put him on a giant scale with a duck they feared and shunned Tim. Banished from the town, isolated and alone, Tim spent his days trying to blast that rascally rabbit from a far. Alas it was no use, the rabbit just hopped out of the way.

Frustrated, Tim decided to let off some steam by blowing things up. This caught the attention of a man named Arthur. Arthur, a self-described king, seemed to have the favor of the Almighty, and Tim perceived that this man and his small army might finally be able to succeed where he and so many others had failed. Arthur was looking for some sort of mystical challis and Tim knew he could use that to his advantage.  With the promise of the Arthur's prize, Tim led this King and his knights to The Cave of Caerbannog…and to the rabbit.

The battle over, the smoke cleared, Tim was embarrassed that the final solution had been but a small variation of his own, “Of course, a hand grenade…damn, I was so close.” Regardless, the bloodthirsty rabbit was dead and he was free to uncover its precious secrets.  Unfortunately for Tim, the revelation that the rabbit was guarding another more cruel and foul tempered monster was enough for him. Having wasted 20 years on this stupid rabbit, he decided to cut his losses and get on with his life. On his way out of the cave he found the rabbit's remains, a single charred foot. Tim decided to keep it as a luck charm of sorts. As for what to do with the rest of his life, Tim had been seriously considering a career in the shrubbery arts.


The End.