Hammer Mill Days

Well, I'll be a positive particle in a negative universe. Is that really what deutronium costs these days? Outrageous ! Don't these mothers know there's a recession going on down here? Hi, friends. Just caught me going over the list of necessities for our upcoming interstellar tour de force. Here's an item destined to cause trepidation. Radioactive deutronium fuel - $5,600.00 per pint bottle. Jesus H. Christmas. I guess prices on Aldebaran have been anything but stable over the past year. (The Aldebarans were heavy investors in Bear Stearns, rumor has it.) Not sure why they need to earn it back off of our asses, but there you have it. Anyway, it's on the list because, as you may have surmised, Big Green has indeed secured transport for our tour. I'm glad to be the one to tell you that it will not be one of those Korean missiles. No sir, this is a proper space vehicle. Or so we're told. Fact is, we took Matt's advice and called the guy in Jersey about t...

How have you been feeling lately? Good, I hope... because if you've been ill, you're probably discovering how massively expensive it is to get treatment, even if you have health insurance. In America, it really takes a major illness to know whether or not you have what could be termed adequate coverage (and if you're one of the 47 million who have no insurance at all, the question doesn't even arise). But the utter failure of this system shows up in the little details as well. Not to bore you with my personal foibles, but for the last five or so years I've had dental insurance... which means, in my case, if I have any substantial work done - crowns, for instance - I can expect to pay $1,000 out of pocket instead of $1,600 (assuming it happens no more than once a year). Don't know about you, but that grand is a little hard to put my hands on, so I tend to throw it on the old credit card and whittle it down month by month. That, in miniature, is one illustration o...