Paycheck 2009-01-27

Chuck Oates
27 January 2009
Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Paycheck

Just about the time I think I can't possibly continue to endure the financial peril that teaching has brought me, one of these shows up in my inbox.

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Prof. Oates,

I was in your APPM 1313 class in Spring '08. I just wanted to let you know that I passed my dosage calculation exam for the nursing program on the first attempt. It is all thanks to the material that you had taught me. I would have failed miserably without the use of dimensional analysis. Thank you and have a good semester.

Sincerely,

Kevin S.

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Maybe I can do it for one more semester, Kevin. Thanks.

--Prof. Oates

Mensa or Densa? 2009-01-26

Chuck Oates
26 January 2009
Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Mensa or Densa?

You may have already qualified for membership in American Mensa or Mensa International!

If you've taken intelligence tests in school or in the military, your scores may qualify you for membership in the organization composed exclusively of people who've scored in the 98th or 99th percentile on such tests. Check the Mensa site at http://www.us.mensa.org/scores for more information. BTW, Mensa is running a Wal-Mart style rollback on its fee for evaluating your credentials--only $25, a $15 reduction over last year's fee. (Such a deal we have for you!)

Alternatively, you may join me in celebrating stupidity, like getting your health insurance from IEEE-Cigna, by applying to Mensa's mirror organization, Densa. Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Densa for details.

The choice is yours!

Prof. Oates

Major Medical: Is That an Army Officer? 2009-01-26

C.L. Oates
26 January 2009
Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Major Medical: Is That an Army Officer?

Today was the day. I finally had to cancel my comprehensive major medical insurance policy. Thank goodness for a very limited policy graciously made available by OCCC to adjunct instructors and a very high deductible catastrophic illness policy I retained from my days as a consultant. Unfortunately, those leave a several tens of thousands of dollars "donut hole" in the middle for me to cover in the event of major illness.

I hope Pres. Obama and company do whatever they're going to do about medical insurance reform in a very large hurry.

I'm feeling a bit sick at my stomach.

Prof. Oates

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Addendum. Here are some details on what finally put the IEEE-Cigna insurance premium out of reach:http://www.todaysengineer.org/2006/Oct/Medical_plan.asp .

Just another fascinating facit of America's broken healthcare (non-)system. --CLO

Chuck Oates
2 December 2008
Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Maybe There's Still Hope

This morning's visit with my friendly, local physician brought forth a couple of possibilities for semi-affordable health insurance.

Maybe there's a glimmer of hope. Stay tuned.

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Lynn

Chuck, I personally understand how very scary and upsetting the prospect of having little or no health insurance can be! With the ever-faltering economy, job losses and reductions in health care insurance coverage, this just may prove to be the next very big and dangerous American Crisis. If health insurance companies require a "bailout" from our government, let's hope there is someone there to speak for us, the little guy. I offer a link to the National Association of Community Health Centers. Please taken a moment to look this site over, share it with others and become an active voice in this potentially massive catastrophic problem. Meanwhile, I hope your doctor can guide you to something in your area that will get you some sort of safety net health coverage. Maybe some help paying for prescriptions. A little peace of mind... You will be in my thoughts. Thank you, Lynn www. nachc. org National Association of Community Health Centers Posted by Lynn on 26 Dec 08 Friday - 23:49

Does Your Product Need Automated Testing? Let's Talk! 2008-11-30

Chuck Oates
30 November 2008
Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Does Your Product Need Automated Testing?
Let's Talk!

If your company has a product that needs automated testing, and particularly if it has to be developed under U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules, we need to talk.

My resume is available as a Word document at http://chuckoates.com/ResumeChuckOates.doc

and in HTML at http://chuckoates.com/ResumeChuckOates.htm .

Prof. Oates

Happy New Year! 2008-11-29

Chuck Oates
29 November 2008
Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Happy New Year!
--Xoxoxo, Your Insurance Company

It'll be a really happy new year for the Oates family. I received notice this week that since I've aged up to the 60-65 group and since everyone is getting a 24% (!) price increase for 2009, our major medical health insurance premium will be almost doubling to $2,131.00 (that's per month!) next year. That's a bit over $25K/year. Since Sue and I together make $24K/year total as adjunct math profs., that doesn't leave a lot for extras like food, clothing, and shelter. Actually, the current salaries don't make a whole lot of difference. We could hardly have afforded this when I was earning a six figure salary-plus-bonus at bioMérieux, either.

I suppose I'll spend Christmas vacation re-creating my resume and calling everyone I know to see what, if anything, is available in the world of engineering work in an attempt to cauterize the financial hemorrhaging.

Having bailed out of the teaching business at O.U. in 1976-77 after my graduate fellowship didn't quite cover my house payment, I'm sitting here 30-plus years later in the same fix, only it's health care this time, now that my house payment is a distant memory. You'd think I'd learn after a while, huh?

Have a happy (and solvent) holiday season!

Prof. Oates

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comments:

Chasity	That is astronomical, regardless of what you make now how do they expect ANYONE to pay those rate and keep their head above water! That's insane, but that's what this country has gone to--not that I think government ran health care would be any better but you know what I mean! Posted by Chasity on 29 Dec 08 Monday - 22:58 [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

	Grandpa/Prof. Oates Chuck Oates	I think this is what happens to health care after two or three decades of "all market decisions are right" and "all regulation is wrong" thinking. (Same goes for the financial system, but that's another topic.) Certainly we don't want to go completely the other direction, but when we're paying TWICE as much per person for health care as the leading health care system, that of Sweden, and getting about the same health care results as some of the poorer countries of South America, something's gotta give. The Swedes live longer and have MUCH better infant mortality rates than we do, yet they spend--I believe it was the equivalent of US$7K per person per year on health care, whereas we spend about US$14K per person per year. Our results in longevity and infant mortality are, nonetheless, about equal to that of Bolivia. Wonderful! It's not like there aren't any other systems to model our after, and the Baby Boomer generation certainly doesn't have time to wait (ask me how I know). Let's hope we don't waste yet another decade before we fix our 30-years-broken non-health, non-care system! ---------------------------------- P.S. There's a recent Time magazine article that spells all this out. I came across it, interestingly enough, in my physician's waiting room! --CLO Posted by Grandpa/Prof. Oates on 31 Dec 08 Wednesday - 14:33 [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

	Grandpa/Prof. Oates Chuck Oates	Oops! It's $7K/person/year in the U.S. and half that in Sweden. For discussion similar to that in the Time article, see http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/28/1649/04990 . Posted by Grandpa/Prof. Oates on 31 Dec 08 Wednesday - 14:46 [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

Laurie

Wow. The House Leadership protects the insurance industry in Oklahoma while the citizens of Oklahoma, young and old ( respectively) alike continue to struggle with increased premiums and unfair exclusions. Now more than ever, the citizens of Oklahoma need to be heard at the capitol. Elected officials need to listen to what we need and not what is best for the insurance industry. (Read my blog for my information on House maneuvers that protect the insurance industry in Oklahoma) Posted by Laurie on 08 Jan 09 Thursday - 01:51

Solar Energy and the Bailout 2008-11-21

Chuck Oates
21 November 2008
Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Solar Energy and the Bailout

While the U.S. Congress made its inept attempt to relieve the current financial crisis by throwing approximately 750 gigabucks at the problem, it did manage to do at least some good by including extensions for solar energy incentives in the bailout legislation. See this<> American Solar Energy Society article for details: http://www.ases.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=286&Itemid=58 .

Continuation of the incentives is long overdue. Perhaps in this tangential way something good can come from the recklessness of Wall Street financiers and the Federal government's failure to adequately regulate them. Let's hope so. There's certainly been enough financial and economic chaos generated by their misdeeds already, and the worst of it is pretty clearly yet to come.

May the (Solar) Force be with you!

Prof. Oates

P. S. While you're at it, you might also like to have a look at this Plug In America FAQ to find out how to make good, efficient use of all that solar energy as "fuel" for your new plug-in car: http://pluginamerica.org/learn-about-plug-ins/frequently-asked-questions.html . --CLO