patrick.net

Better to have Loonies than USPs (US Pesos). I predict a return to pre WWII levels for the Loonie. It takes 2 USPs to get 1 Loonie!

StuckInBA: You have lost The Way; I suggest a re-reading of the "Quotes of the Klingon Programmer".

This morning, 101S to the 92 was absolutely packed at almost 10am. From what I could see in my mirror, the 92 overcrossing also looked fugly. For working from home, I can see it in some cases, but not for when I need to interact with people.

OTOH, if work was willing to provide me a videoconferencing setup with a 50" TV in my end and a robot w/ camera and mike on their end, then I'd do it more.

DinOR,

Thanks, I'll check it out. Sad to hear about the 'ol LiarRealtor deserting his post like that. What's up, I wonder?

Theory #1: Caught in one too many lies? Not possible --the NAR only cares when its Chief Minister of Propaganda doesn't lie. The bigger the whopper, the better.

Theory #2: Cannot handle DavidLereahwatch.com breaking his poor mother's heart. Not likely. He loves the opportunity it gave him to publicly play "victim". It's also not clear whether he or his mom actually has a heart to break.

Theory #3: Wants to "spend more time with his family". The ultimate non-reason for people who are leaving their jobs for reasons they cannot discuss publicly. In any case, if DL was your dad, would you really want to spend more time with him? I rest my case.

Theory #4: Rat leaving a sinking ship / taking the last lifeboat off the Titanic. Bingo --this one's my choice. Also notice how Greedspan passed the "baton" (lit dynamite stick) to HeliBen conveniently just before the housing bubble completely ran out of juice. So who wants to be the new NAR "Baghdad Bob" in the teeth of a secular bear market? Anyone, anyone... Bueller...?

I am not sure if the effect of global warming is all linear and predictable with a simple weather pattern shift.

You'd assume that most of Australia lying in the sub-tropical and temperate zone to get warmer? Well no, my parents told me that northeastern Australia (which is closer to the equator) is getting cooler, and drier compared to before. They haven't seen a drop of rain for a long time. Queenslanders worry about getting killed by thirst before intense heat waves. Melbourne, which is in the temperate zone, had a summer snow last year.

BA's 06 summer was sure hot, but we are having a cooloer-than-usual spring here as well. If global warming is truly a scientific fact rather than political PR scam, all we can say is, we don't know what kind of impact it will have on local weather patterns.

Driver who crashed in Oakland involved in previous hit-and-run crashes.

You would think they do a background truck for people who drives gasoline turcks, this guy is quite decorated.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5786459

CB,

is Sun Sui Wah still the place to go in Richmond BC? Where do you go for good Cantonese food up there?

I don't mind living in Vancouver except for the horrible commie medical system that puts you on a perpetual wait for any major treatment.

If global warming is truly a scientific fact rather than political PR scam, all we can say is, we don’t know what kind of impact it will have on local weather patterns.

That is a big IF. Perhaps global warming is caused by pseudo-scientific shit-stirring.

I don’t mind living in Vancouver except for the horrible commie medical system that puts you on a perpetual wait for any major treatment.

You come South for treatment. Advanced medicine in America welcomes you, as long as you can pay up.

Casey Sarin posted a google spreadsheet of his liabilities. So outrageous it's comical.

I have to say that Koi Palace beats many, if not most, Chinese restaurants in Vancouver.

The San Gabriel Valley also has excellent Chinese restaurants.

OO -

don't like the horrible commie medical system in Vancouver? How about going back to using the real commie medical system in China?

Before floods of immigrants arrived simultaneously with doctors leaving for greenback pastures (ie the States), horrible commie medical system in Vancouver was very popular.

Even now, the only Canadians I know who would swap with the US system are, actually, wait a minute.... I don't know anyone who would swap with the US system....

Necessary surgeries happen a lot faster than the HMO/Managed Care flunkies PR system would have you believe. When it comes to cancer care, there is just no comparison.

Vancouver is good for Szechuan food too.....

CB,

But some transactions in Rivermark in first qtr. have shown outright price decline

http://housebubble.blogspot.com/2007/03/rivermark-falling.html

But some transactions in Rivermark in first qtr. have shown outright price decline

That Friggin Fortress is cracking.

OO

I haven't been to Vancouver for couple of years, but Sun Sui Wah was definitely good, I heard Kirin is good too, for cheaper places, we used to go to Hon Kee and another noodle house was really excellent (Tsim Chai Kee).

Funny you mentioned the medical system, my parents still live in Toronto and they are elderly, I haven't heard too many complaints. One time my budding torn a ligament in Whistler skiing, we went to emergency in Richmond and they patched him up and even gave him crutches. Then the doctor asked him to fill out the forms to mail him the bill, he could've given them a bogus address and they will never find him (he didn't and he paid his bills). I guess emergency rooms always get shafted.

I am semi-serious about moving back to Canada, medical is a big reason, I don't really want to work till I'm 65 (a software engieer after mid forties has limited prospects as Randy says) but you can't get Medicare before then, so leaving the US is a serious option.

I just quit my current job and now I found out all coverages cease the same day, before, at least you will get covered till the end of the month, then they changed it to mid-month, now it's the same day.

I just quit my current job and now I found out all coverages cease the same day, before, at least you will get covered till the end of the month, then they changed it to mid-month, now it’s the same day.

Buy don't you get retroactive COBRA coverage in case sh*t happens? Or was I daydreaming?

The True North is great. If all goes well I plan to retire there, but not because of the medical system. Canada is the new California. :)

That Friggin Fortress is cracking.
That ones that Anthony shown was the ones that were bought at the 2006 or late 2005 peak. So no doubt it made sense that it was coming down. I live there and yesterday I went to my kid's classmates' house so they could play. They live in one of the biggest town houses and couple of their neighbor had open houses. There were more activities then I thought, one couple had a Oregon plate, I told my wife after that I can't imagine anyone from out of town buying at these prices unless they work for Google with guaranteed stocks (not options). The 1900 sq. ft. townhouses runs upwards of 850K.

The 1900 sq. ft. townhouses runs upwards of 850K.

Not completely unreasonable. That works out to less than $450 per sqft.

Well, if a condo in London can be sold for nearly $10000/sqft... (yep, ten grand).

Buy don’t you get retroactive COBRA coverage in case sh*t happens? Or was I daydreaming?

You're right, but you'll have to pay out of pocket and then continue with COBRA, it's not a big deal. I don't blame the company for terminating coverage on day of termination, it's just a pain in the ass if you want to take some time off in between jobs.

When I was a graduate student in the US, I was too poor to get health insurance, my Canadian insurance would actually foot the bill, but only to the amount that the procedure will cost in Canada.

How lame is it that Bart does not go down to the southern peninsula? Then there’s San Jose’s separate light rail system. It’s like they are purposely trying to design a public transit system that discourages people from using it.

You know that Marin and San Mateo Counties were part of the original BART plans, but voted down the 1/2 cent sales tax needed to support it, right?

Blame NIMBY suburban voters and their love of the automobile. Now that 101 is a permanent traffic jam, San Mateo finally relented, but not before the BART line got run southwest through The City, instead of paralleling 101, like it was originally planned. This will add at least 15 minutes to the Palo Alto -> Downtown commute.

I hear that San Mateo and Marinites also didn't want "those people" to have easy access to their neighborhoods via BART, but this debate all took place back in the late 60's.

I don’t blame the company for terminating coverage on day of termination, it’s just a pain in the ass if you want to take some time off in between jobs.

Last time I purchased temporary insurance for a two-day gap. Then it turned out that I was covered anyway. It is good to be on the safe side.

we’ve done basically nothing to either shore up the freeway system or find alternative solutions.

BART has steadily marched outward. It is great if you live near it (like I do). I find that walking 15 minutes to BART and then taking it downtown is faster and more reliable than taking the J-Church, which stops 1/2 block from my house.

The best alternative system is to make all freeways toll roads. Using electronics and satellite positioning, the implementation should be feasible.

We should put a price to everything.

BART has steadily marched outward. It is great if you live near it (like I do).

That's a big IF. BART is so sparse in its coverage that it's useless for probably more than 80% of Bay Area residents. I find Muni (especially with the light rail) much more useful, but obviously, that only covers the city proper.

BART has steadily marched outward. It is great if you live near it (like I do).

Not as quickly as the Google shuttle.

CB,

make sure you pay the COBRA and transition into a Blueshield / Bluecross non-HMO plan. I have heard numerous cases of medical insurance rejection based on nitpicking, the rejection rate is high as 30% for all applicants. Stay in the system and don't ever fall off!

The US is good if you have a good medical insurance. If you don't want to work, you can still buy personal PPO insurance at around $200 pp for 40ish, and the insurance company by law cannot kick you out of the system as long as you keep paying your premium. It is not that bad. But once you fall off the train, it is just terrible. The US is the ultimate country for the haves and have-nots, you cannot get stuck in between.

Tsusiat,

China doesn't have a commie medical system any more. It is practicing the most fundamental form of capitalist medical system - no coverage for anyone except those retired commie officials. And get this, if you need to check into a hospital, you need to put in a deposit (usually USD5K or so) or rest assured you will NOT get treated. Many poor patients die waiting at the emergency room. I actually witnessed such an episode myself. The last thing I want happen to me is to get into an accident in China and knocked unconscious by myself alone, I don't think I will get treatment unless I tatoo'd my US passport on my forehead.

I have a question for the wise crowd here. I'd appreciate it if someone can shed some light.

Why would a doctor stay off the preferred network of some big PPO plans? The reason why I asked was because my wife wants to change her obgyn so we asked our GP for referrals. He gave several names, but all of them are OFF the preferred network of our PPO plan, and when we checked them out, these doctors state on their websites clearly that they are NOT a part of any insurance network, but their credentials look very solid though.

Is it because they are so solid that they don't care about peons who prefer to stay within the network any more? What is the financial motivation? Do they get more upscale patients who don't really care about staying within the network so that they can fend off the rif-rafs?

OO, have you read Robin Cook?

http://www.iblist.com/book50684.htm

The US is good if you have a good medical insurance.

I play ice hockey every week, our team is usually a bunch of older (40's and 50's) and a few young players in their 30's. Our goalie is young and he kept him in our games most of the times.

One time he showed up and said he couldn't play, we thought he was hurt, turned out his health insurance ran out, he turned 24 or something like that and his father's insurance couldn't cover him. It took him a few weeks but there was no chance in hell that he would play hockey without health insurance.

Jeff @ SDCIA...

I have been ill...

I can't sleep, I can't eat, when I do eat it comes up. This morning I started the day with a shower and threw up in the shower...(/i>

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!?

David Lereah, the false god of Realtwhores, the master bottom-caller, the most damaging pretend real estate economist himself RESIGNS from the NAR, and NOBODY has started a thread about it?!? Are you freaking kidding me?!?

I am drinking Italian wine because I don't have champagne. The rest of you housing bears better be out on the town sipping bubbly and cheering wildly. Ever since I read the article this morning, I've been waiting all day to see the patrick.net fireworks. Am I missing something, guys? I must be! Ya'll should be partying like 1999 right about now! :o

Ding dong, the witch is dead. Ding dong, the witch is dead!

Why would a doctor stay off the preferred network of some big PPO plans?

Let me guess, Aetna PPO? :) We have the same problem at work. The best doctors here don't want to deal with the paperwork avalanche. They choose not to waste hours on the phone with Aetna reps, losing physician time to haggling over procedure details with a ham-and-egger who probably doesn't even have a college degree. So the good doctors push the "out of network" paperwork on the patient. You pay the doc in cash or check, and get to file the paperwork yourself and then grapple with the Aetna trolls. Yay for ever-so-slightly cheaper healthcare vendors!

The last thing I want happen to me is to get into an accident in China and knocked unconscious by myself alone, I don’t think I will get treatment unless I tatoo’d my US passport on my forehead.

Sounds like you'd be better off with a MasterCard necklace.

Interestingly enough though, there's a growing movement of Americans who want this type of policy so that we can ensure "illegals" don't waste our tax dollars.

It's an interesting problem with no easy solutions.

Why would a doctor stay off the preferred network of some big PPO plans? The reason why I asked was because my wife wants to change her obgyn so we asked our GP for referrals.

OO,

I'm not so sure the paperwork issues are a big enough deal for doctors to shun any particular PPO. Most likely, it all comes down to...you guessed it...money. PPOs require member physicians and hospitals to provide their services at pre-negotiated and (of course) discounted rates. The return benefit for the doctor or hospital is increased business, as all members have to use doctors within the network (or face steep copays). However, certain PPOs have such crappy reimbursement that for doctors or practices that have plenty of business, they're better off excluding those plans.

Another possible issue with some of the practices you mention is that they may be one of the growing number of concierge medicine practices. These cater to the wealthy, accept no insurance, are fee-for-service, and charge an entry/enrollment fee which is very steep. This benefits both sides, as the patient gets very personalized care - MDs have their cell phones or pagers available directly to the patient, visits are not time-limited, care is very "customer-oriented." The MDs get benefits too - the financial equation works out better than for a "traditional" practice, the patient panel is much smaller so the MD feels less overwhelmed, and, the best part, the MD gets to take all the time he/she wants with each patient and get to know them, part of what drew a lot of people into medicine in the first place. The major downside is the lack of patient diversity. If you enjoyed helping poor and indigent, this obviously won't work for you.

LIVE & WORK IN CANADA
FREE VISA ELIGIBILITY ASSESSMENT

http://www.immigrationexpert.com/register.asp?type=1

Officials, however, are puzzled over the reason for illegal stay of nearly 10,000 nationals of developed countries. Even those who were deported during 2005 did not give a valid reason.

I can think of two reasons:

1) Avoiding the law back home
2) Can live like a king there on very little $USD

I posted earlier bagging on canada, but i was only joking! I have only been to canada for 2 hours while connecting a flight to china. truth is I woke up got off the phoenix vancouver flight and thought, wtf? am i in china already? All I saw was chinese people. But when nobody pushed me or cut in line I realized I was in Canada!
I met a bunch of canadian girls living in an apartment near me in a small non touristy town in southern Mexico. Props to the canndadians, they will adventure right on off the map. None of them spoke a word of Spanish, so more credit to their adventure loving ways... I speak nearly fluent Spanish, so naturally I became their tour guide. I told all the mexican captain Ahab guys circling around these big white belugas that nobody was getting anywhere with my "sisters" without my approval. I was given so many margaritas by the friendly locals that I nearly died! Later on the girls gave a performance of the canadian anthem, then the locals sang the mexican anthem. It came to me, and for the life of me I couldn't remember the words to the american anthem, after oh jose can you see?... so I sang Guantamara instead. I am sure canada is fine... but woman wise, I am still voting for sweden, norway, finland or argentina...

but does anyone mind if i stitch a maple life on everything i own before I ride my bicycle across europe?

skibum, Brand, Peter P,

thanks for the enlightenment. I know I can always get an answer from here :-)

I think three doctors I checked out belonged to the concierge category because they made an effort to announce on their medical group's website that they are NOT on any insurance network.

going to asia for 3 months next week, thailand maybe vietnam and indonesia... maybe china again i haven't decided yet

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!? Brand

The power of Blogs... I guess the prick couldnt take the heat
from DL Watch. LOL!