What's in a Name?

It's not that I've had nothing to write about..It's just that I haven't felt like sharing for a while. I can be churlish like that. In any case, we just returned from a 9 day excursion on the Celebrity Mercury. We actually had a good time, though I'm prone to boredom on long cruises. I took my guitar this time and divided afternoons at sea between reading about Lisbeth Salander and practicing scales and Carulli preludes in the cabin. I wasn't quite ready to go up to the Lido deck and sit there with an open hat...Perhaps next trip. We did attend several cooking classes. As we were preparing to leave on Monday morning, we encountered Walter, the ship's Swiss executive chef. I made one humble and respectful request of him. I suggested that he change the name of the cooking class to something besides "A Taste of Mercury." I told him that adding a simple The before the ship's name might make the enterprise a bit more appetizing. I'm not quite sure that he actually got it.

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Fish Story

Sorry that there hasn't been much lately (as if people actually read this blog-but that's another matter). I've had some issues to deal with, and amusing those of you who follow my verbal droppings has not been high on my list of priorities.

But something did catch my eye in the news yesterday. Here's the deal: They're called "KILLER WHALES," after all..So what did you expect? And this specimen has been implicated in three human deaths. HELLO McFLY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?

I see three possible outcomes. 1)Whale steak 2)Release the SOB and let him fight it out Darwin style on the high seas 3)Go to trial. The question is, however, if an Aquatic-American can get a fair trial with all this publicity.

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Location, Location, Location!

One of my favorite business signs in Baltimore.

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BOHICA

This time I'm determined not to miss out. I was clearly asleep at the switch when the demand for Purel started skyrocketing this year, though I had bought some Johnson and Johnson stock (the parent company) last May and it has done quite well. I should have also been buying boxcars of the hand sanitizer when the news of the flu first came out, but what's done is done. It's just as well, though. With the money I saved not buying all that Purel, I'm sending my broker out to hoard all known stocks of K-Y Jelly. It's only a matter of time before cavity searches become mandatory on all domestic and international flights, and I'm determined not to be caught with my pants down! Fortunately J&J also makes K-Y Jelly, so I'm going to do alright. I wonder who makes rubber gloves?

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Nes Gadol Haya Po

I have to hand it to my wife and admit that I was wrong. The morning of the trip, she finally convinced her mother to come with us. How, I don't know. So, early Thursday, Bubbie got herself out to the beauty shop and to the bank. We picked her up in the afternoon and drove to Atlantic City. It was a terrific trip. We had a milchig dinner at Carmine's with our son, his wife and the machatonim. We then went to the casino in the Tropicana. Bubbie DOUBLED her money! (Translation: She borrowed $1.00 from my wife, played the penny slot machine, and walked away with $2.18.) Not bad for one night's work. Everyone was happy.

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No Surprise Here

One thing about Bubbie, she does not disappoint. While she was staying with us during the recent heavy snowfall, we received a phone call from our son who invited us all to join him and his wife and her parents in Atlantic City on Christmas eve for dinner and some fun. Bubbie was very excited about seeing her grandson, so we made a reservation for her as well. It was all planned. Then, we got the phone call. "I shouldn't go...I have lots to do here (like mailing some letters and not doing laundry or housecleaning)...What will I do there, anyway?, etc., etc...You go and have a good time...I'll just stay home." Now, I wouldn't say she's stubborn, but arguing with her is like Mr. Peepers trying to take down The Hulk. It's futile. So, yesterday I cancelled her reservation. On reflection I realized there was no question but that this was how things would turn out. This was a scenario straight out of The Martyred Mother's Playbook which I believe she co-authored.

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Keeping Abreast of the Situation

I love it. All the folks who supported Obamacare with its foundation of evidenced based medicine now singing another tune when the evidence based medicine shows that it's not so cost effective to get yearly mammograms from ages 40-50. Sounds great in theory-until your ox gets gored and you have to give up access to a test or a therapy that the bean counters have concluded doesn't pay off for the public at large. You don't think it's about rationing? Of course it is. I heard Diane Rehm absolutely crucify one of the study directors yesterday on her radio program. She couldn't understand why there were no breast care specialists on the panel that came to those conclusions. How would that have made a difference? The studies looked at the impact of the test over time. The numbers wouldn't have changed. Does that mean women in that age group shouldn't get mammograms? Of course not. But will the government and the insurance companies pay for it if the studies show that as a public health strategy, it's not so helpful? They won't want to, though I suspect emotions are so great on this one that it will be difficult (if not impossible) to take this away from the public. Get ready for more evidence based medicine.

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