Things I knew and forgot

 Now that my daughter and my grand kids have moved out, a little looking back is in order.

  When Megan, my daughter, was little she would get into things as kids usually do. Everything from standing on top of  a overturned aquarium which required a trip to the ER and 9 stitches to telling me she hated me for dispensing a little discipline, when she was 3.

  That was about the same year she wandered off and had quite a few neighbors looking for her. She showed back up semi-wet and dirty and said she just went to see the Moo Cows in the pasture next door.

 When Megan and Anaya, my grand child moved in, I was reminded of little girls mischief, plus Megan was expecting her second child, a boy,in a couple of months.

Anaya s mischief, at 6 years old, if there is a pen, marker, expensive paint brushes and large tubes of oil and acrylic paint that go missing... they will be in her room, uncleaned (ruined) brushes and paint tubes left open more or less ruined too.

 Toilet paper to a little girl is something to be used at every opportunity and liberally. A fourth of a roll for one trip to the toilet is not unheard of. 

 I USE to think that dried egg on a plate was the absolute worse thing to clean off said plate. Wrong! I am now convinced that Fruity Pebbles has to be a spawn of the devil, designed to aggravate anyone who washes cereal bowls, even a three hour soak won't dislodge that stuff.

 If there is mommys nail polish and polish remover around it won't be around for long. Anaya painted and cleaned off her nails four times a day at least, I guess she couldn't get it right!  Kinda like her  mom shaving her legs at 4 years old huh?

 Once my grandson Braedyn arrived, Anaya helped out... for about a month or two. Then she started to go see what grandpa is doing.That lasted about four months then Braedyn was sorta fun to be around with again. Overall she has been a good sister as far as that goes, ya'll know siblings, there's always a little something"there". lol

 Once Braedyn was mobile, first crawling then walking, he would scoot down the hall, peek in my door and come on in to my room, while of course picking up everything he found on the floor and putting in his mouth on the way.

 Now that they have found a house of their own, I have to admit I miss the little guy peeking in my room and Anaya s 7 year old shenanigans. 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Still beating the A&M drum, I guess

 The UHV announcement of  purchasing two old apartment complexes kinda got to the A&M take over of UHV people again.

 After the last attempt of a the take over, the UH system has built brand new dorms on 59 business, and it is just my opinion, has led to a revitalization of that area of town, Houston Hwy, Bus 59, does look a hell of lot better than it did 5 years ago.

 Commenting about the purchase of land Claude Jacobs used the same old excuse for switching UHV to the A&M system...


He questioned why the university would buy property and tear down building when it was offered property five years ago.
"I don't think that's a very wise move at all," Jacobs said.


A comment on the VicAd site mentions that they feel sorry for the people that have lived in the Arlington and Casa Del Rio apartments being displaced a year or so from now. Yet when Citizens Hospital purchased the Continental apartment to build a office building for doctors no one cared at all about the displaced residents.


 As near as I can remember UHV spent $9M for the land the dorms are on plus $4M or so because one the building was mold infested, plus another $6M or so to buy and build the third dorm.

 That's about $19M, UHV will ask the state of Texas for a $80M for their planed expansion, so $99M.


 Now let me ask all of the people that supported the "free land" deal what it would cost to extend Airline road about four miles, install water and sewer lines, cable, phone, fill the use to be rice fields land in with dirt and build new buildings, you know replace the current three academic buildings, a student union, a library,(they can't hardly share with VC being 10 miles away), Dorms? or just bus the students back and forth every hour for ten hours a day?

 Is it more than $99M? I would think a hell of a lot more.

 I will also take a shot in the dark and think that some citizens of Victoria are also already bending the ear of our local state representative asking that she/him oppose the $80M bond and again push for a system switch and the creation of the Paco Cabanas.

  
  

Things about the Walking Dead

 There is one thing that bothers me about the premise of the Walking Dead series. (Despite a few of my relatives instance that the zombie apocalypse will be caused by uninformed voters of both parties, depending on who you listen too.)

 Anyway, supposedly some virus infected some person somewhere and he bit another person to infect them and on and on.

 Now the infected persons are dead, except for some little part of their brain which make them want to eat non infected people and pass the infection along.

 In one episode the Rick person was riding a horse, he got away but the walkers ate the whole horse. At least it looked that way. Now why would they eat a whole horse and not eat a whole person?

 But the biggest bother to me is, if the walkers are dead, except for a little part of their brain, wouldn’t their body decay? I mean a rotting body can only stay mobile, supposedly, for a few days before it falls apart.

 And how come there is not a single dog, cat or even a cow left alive? Horses are deer are but no other wildlife. Did the walkers eat them all or what? Hell horses are more tame than cattle.

 At least in the Night of the Living Dead movies there where skeletons crawling around… but how since their brains where dried up.

 I like the Walking Dead series, but come on now, the premise has some serious flaws.

  

Man O' Man, the hurdles thrown up sometimes

Sometimes you do the right things and it just doesn't work...

 My mom had Suddenlink set up on a draft from her account. 

 On 6/15 Bank of America moved her account to estate account, the same day Suddenlink tried to send a draft, Bof A returned it as NSF.

 I had cancelled the automatic draft last week and received a notice from B of A  today.

 So I called Suddenlink to make the payment, They tell me that I cannot make a payment by check, phone or otherwise for TWO months because of a NSF fund check payment.

 I explained but it didn't make any difference, in ending the phone call with Suddenlink, I said "I guess you don't want my money." They replied "That yes they do, but it is policy, no checks for two months"

 So anyway, I guess I have to transfer funds to my debit card or withdraw cash and go stand in line at the local Suddenlink office.

 One more fire to put out, Houston Anesthesiologist, Methodist Hospital and Baylor college of Medicine all filed with Medicare but not Moms supplemental insurance... two months to get them straight.

 Oh well, one more damn fire to extinguish.

Will Cheap Labor be a Thing of the Past?

I signed up for the Motley Fool newsletter awhile back, the one in Mondays VicAd with the dumbest investments.

Yesterdays newsletter was interesting so I did some research. Yes it is, very interesting.

3D Printing

It is not printing on a piece of paper, there just isn't another word for it currently.

Industrial 3D printers cost over a 100K, commercial printers about 20K, about five are marketed now for home use at about $1,500.

As of now 3D printers are used in every field imaginable, defense contractors, auto manufacturers, medical implants and bone and tissue replication, a kidney has been successfully made and transplanted using this techonolgy, jewelry creation, there is even a chocolate 3D printer that can make any image into a edible chocolate treat.

So far 3D printers can build anything using a CAD program in human bone and a few organs, metals, ceramics, glass, composite and other plastics, wood, paper and chocolate, butter and sugar.

The reason for the title of this blog is because this technology has the ability to replace the labor cost of manufacturing almost anything. It is a additive manufacturing process, where something is made from the ground up with zero waste for drilling, milling, boring ect, and zero need to manufacture new tools and dies to change a products design.

Search for yourself about 3D printing or see...

http://www.economist.com/node/18114221

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/115503-what-is-3d-printing

Some 3D printers are already self replicating, if one of the parts breaks it can make its own replacement part. I know sounds kinda like the Terminator movie, but the technology is here already and will only become a larger part of life.

Can't find your TV remote? Print out another one! How wild is that?

But it is coming.

Love and miss you mom...

Medical costs... Victoria vs. Houston

I have notice a trend in the billing submitted to Mutual of Omaha, plan f provider, since my mom broke her elbow and is still under care.

Two ER visits and a TWO day stay at Detar... Submitted $1750 for the two ER visits, annnndddd get this $60,448.08 for a TWO day hospital stay! The hospital stay charges where found in error, but Detar submitted them. Mom was transferred to Methodist in Houston, $270.00 a day.

The Doctors who visited her in her room at Detar... $250 to $395 a visit.
The Doctors who visited her in her room at Methodist, ( TMI Associates, Baylor College of Medicine, ect.), ... $103 to $250 a visit.

Victoria Orthopedic surgeon, who only cleaned out the infection she developed and did not set the chipped bone.... $1350.00
Houston Orthopedic surgeon, who set the chipped bone, grafted tissue and skin over infected area... $1840.00

Victoria anesthesiologist... $ 975.00
Houston anesthesiologist... $795.00

Does anyone not notice a higher fee charged in Victoria than Houston?
And in no way can you compare Detar to Methodist.