Affordable Care Act

I'm doing a project on the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. The more I read and learn about it, the more baffled I am at the white-hot hatred that the Act inspires.

I get that there were many back-room deals made in getting it passed, especially after Obama said that he was not a back-room deal kind of guy... so he lied about that, or well, maybe he was a little idealistic in thinking that this sort of thing could be done without cutting deals.

Yeah, that's irritating. And that whole Nebraska thing is annoying. But that's not enough to cause this burning fury that people have.

When I first looked at the reforms, I thought that most of them were really good ideas. But people were so hopping mad about it, I thought maybe that I was missing something. Or, maybe there was loophole or extra measure buried in the 2,000 pages that I didn't know about. Now that I'm doing this project, however, I kind of think that I'm more educated about this than the average person, and I still think the reforms are pretty good.

Is it an ideological thing? Like, it's not the purpose of government to meddle in healthcare? Did they think that the private insurance companies really were doing a spectacular job and the government is going to screw up a good thing?

I get that the United States has the best facilities and healthcare options available, and we got that way by having a free market, but we continue to rank in the 30's and 40's for all healthcare markers. What good are all those state-of-the-art MRI machines if they are not making us healthier? Why is President Obama such a villain for trying to fix a system that is obviously broken? I don't get it.

Things that are impossible to explain

Lillian, like any 4-almost-5-year old asks a lot of questions. Most of them I can answer fairly easily. For example, Tyler just left for 4 days to Houston (as in "Houston, we have a problem"). Well, he'll only be in Houston for 3 days, but he's leaving from work this afternoon, so it might as well be 4. Anyway, Lillian was very concerned about where he'll be sleeping as Houston is too far away to come home every night. Except, she calls it Fuse-ton. "Are there enough hotels in Fuse-ton for Daddy to sleep in?"

"Yes, honey. There are plenty of hotels for Daddy."

See, easy. But, sometimes, she asks things that I know the answer to, but I can't come up with a way to explain it in 4-almost-5-year old speak. Like, "Why can those bugs walk on the water?"

Well, you see, there's something called surface tension... and um... molecules... and they're... polarized...?

Other things she's asked- Why can you blow out candles? Why does the sun go down at night? Why do plants need sunlight? Why do we need to breathe? And, the other day she asked Tyler why you lean when you go around corners in the car.

I can tell she's not satisfied with the answer "because the sun needs to go to bed, just like you," but she doesn't even understand the concept of a map, how the heck is she going to understand the idea of the Earth?

Scrubs, right...

Have I told you how freaked out I am to start my new job? Have I even told you that I got a job?

No? Sorry, I've been busy what with school and getting a job and all.

I've wanted to work at The Hospital for some time. Of course, I applied to all the hospitals, including The Hospital, to no avail. I ran into a girl I kind of knew who worked at The Hospital, and she, knowing of my fruitless job search, offered to put in a good word for me with her manager.

Yadda, yadda, yadda, I start July 18th.

I've had to have various meetings with sundry HR people and Security personnel. At one of these meetings, I was made aware of yet another meeting I would have to attend prior to my start date. "But you don't have to wear business clothes, you can just wear your scrubs."

"Scrubs... yeah. Good."

See, I don't own any scrubs, except nursing school ones. I'm supposed to be a nurse, and I don't even own any scrubs. I think this is highly symbolic of my total ambivalence towards working.

Now, I could have just gone to a uniform store and purchased some, but what's the procrastination factor fun in that?

I went to the Wal-Marts to purchase fabric, where I requested uno y tres cuartos of each.

One set down, two to go.

Tyler, He Like Sandwiches

To celebrate Tyler on this Father's Day, I interviewed Nora to find out more about him. I think her answers might have been a little biased by the fact that he had just made her a sandwich.

Untitled from Amanda Ball on Vimeo.

Baby or kid

Lillian often asks me when Ethan is going to grow up and be a kid.





I think it's happening faster than we expected.

Did you...

"Nora, Did you eat the paint?"

"No Mom. It spilled into my mouth."

"I promise."

Bathtime 3.0