THE WEISS CHRONICLES

Sunday, February 26, 2017

New Insurance Market - interesting pricing 

Add caption

For about a year or so we have received offers to buy sewer line insurance.

This is for the portion of the sewer line that is between our house and the mainline sewer pipe that flows parallel and underneath the street (image ).

The first offers were from independent insurance companies for $10/month which seemed high so I didn't buy.

A few months ago, we received offers for the same coverage at $8/mo.

Recently, we received an offer made to my father at our address (second image) for $5.49/mo. This was for the water line (which is above the sewer line and not shown in the first image).

Last week we received an offer from the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission for $3.99/mo. who is partnering with an insurance company. This is also for the water line.

I will probably buy the insurance if it gets down to $2/mo.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 1:12 PM

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Can Flat Brownies be Chewy - Why YES they can 

 I

Here at the caterer, they are experimenting with various Passover recipes.

The pastry chef made some flat brownies today (which, of course they wanted me to sample). Some substituted almond paste instead of flour; some used potato starch instead of flour; some used a mix of these. All pretty yummy although, the sugar ratio had to be altered on some of them and I had to taste the new version.  The almond paste brownies tasted the best but the caterer is not confident they will be able to buy enough of the kosher for passover variety to do all the brownies this way - also, kosher for passover almond paste is really, really expensive ($15/pound).

They looked a lot like the flat brownies that my grandmother made so they were easy to handle (didn't need a fork and knife to eat them like some of the gigantic brownies that are sold as artisanal).


However, these were not cooked at a high temperature and when eaten the brownies were nice and chewy.


Another tough day at work. Ha Ha.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 11:52 AM

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Yes Doctors Do Make Housecalls - in Ramat Gan, Israel 

 Beth was nauseous on Saterday night. Really, really nauseous.

After a while she was dizzy and had the chills.

She called a doctor. He came over, gave her an anti nausea shot and some pills.

She is better today (although still some chills).


The cost was 200 sheckels, which is about $50. She may or not be reimbursed by her health care plan.


If this had happened here and she had been in an apartment alone (like in Ramat Gan), an ambulance would have come, she would have gone to the Emergency Room and then to in care where she would have had, in addition to the shot and pills, some intravenous treatment.


It would have cost several thousand dollars, although she would never have seen a bill  assuming she had some insurance.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 7:21 PM

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Antibiotics - Cost Structure 

Ann had an infection that wasn't responding to penicillin. So she called her doctor and got a prescription for a different antibiotic. Between her doctor and pharmecist, there was probably at least a half hour of labor to fill this.

The cost to us (because of our insurance coverage) was $0.13. That's right 13 cents (for 12 pills).

posted by Martin Weiss  # 10:15 PM

Friday, February 17, 2017

Does Netanyahu know about our brussels sprouts issue? 

 I came in early (about 6am on 15 Feb) to the caterer. 

They had gotten an order the previous evening for a lunch at the White House (this was the day that Israel's PM was in town 15 February to meet with the President), so the food had to be prepared by 800am for delivery to the White House by 1000am.

The order included Brussels sprouts. 

Unfortunately for the person who placed the order,  the organization that assigns and certifies kashrut venues here in the DC area, has prohibited Brussels sprouts from being certified as kosher because they haven't developed a way to get the insects out of the sprout without destroying the sprout bundle.


So the caterer substituted asparagus and made it pretty with a sauce made of tahini and Rich's non dairy creamer.


I hope there is no international incident (posted a few days after the event).


 Postscript: Caterer got positive feedback from White House on Thursday 16 February so I guess the asparagus were a good idea.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:56 AM

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Thank You Response 

On Friday night our synagogue was the venue for a sit down post Maariv supper.

I was the mashgiach (kosher supervisor) for the event (not as elaborate as the one in the image).

After the main part of the event, our Rabbi said to me,

"Thank you for Mashgiaching this event."

I responded, "And thank you for verbing another noun."

He chuckled.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 3:10 PM

Wednesday, February 08, 2017

Finally Saw Rogue One 

There were only two or three other people in the theater today when I went to see a matinee Rogue One.

It had some very good humor lines (unlike 'The Force Awakens'). In fact it was the best of the franchise in this regard.

The best line was delivered by the guy with the big gun in the first image. After wiping out some bad guys, one of the good guys says, "hey you almost killed me" and the big gun guy says, "you're welcome".

The second best line is by the robot (who is more advanced than either R2D2 or C3PO) in the first image, who tells the pilot trying to escape an explosion field with debris, "There is a problem on the horizon. There's no horizon."

The guy on the left of the second image is the Director of Death Star Development who has a white cape, one of the stupidest bad guy costumes ever. Governor Tarkin has a lot of lines despite the fact that Peter Cushing, who played Tarkin in episode 4, died many years ago.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 4:59 PM

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

New Credit Card - First Use Annoying 

I'm not sure why but the Bank of America Visa folks decided that our credit card information may have been exposed and decided (without our input) to send us a new card.


Fortunately, this card is not used for automatic payment so we don't have to dedicate an afternoon to change all the auto pay protocols.



What is annoying is that, the day after I got the new credit card, I got a citation in the mail for a camera observed violation of red light rules (the program is called Safe Speeds even if it is a Red Light Violation).

This is from the city of Rockville which is very aggresive in setting up such cameras.

So my first payment with the card is to the city of Rockville.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 10:41 AM

Friday, February 03, 2017

Movie had everything going for it - Was horrible  

It was a sci fi romantic comedy drama with Jim Carry, Kate Winslet and., Kirsten Dunst.

It won an academy award for best original screen play. Winslet won a 'best actress' for her role. It grossed $70M and had a cult following. It is now considered one of the best of the 21st century (it was released in 2004).

I found it boring, confusing and stupid. 

The plot is about two people who get parts of their memory erased by a company called Lacuna. The video disk I had contained scenes that didn't make the movie. One was a commercial for lacuna. It was funnier than anything in the movie.

The title of the movie is from a book by Alexander Pope (18th century)  based on the correspondence between Abelard and Eloisa (12th century).

posted by Martin Weiss  # 3:50 PM

An Efficiency Measure at the Red Cross 

There is a long question list to go thru before giving blood or platelets or plasma at the Red Cross.  The list is prepared with knowledge of your ID, your donation record, your personal info, etc. Prior to this month, one of the questions was something like "Are you pregnant?". 

The correct answer for me was not 'no'. The correct answer was "I am a man" which appeared on the computer screen in a place you didn't expect it to so I had in the past answered, 'no' mistakenly and the computer system, informed me I should say "I am a man".  Of course if they knew that, then why ask.

Today, that question was not on the list. So the question list was 43 questions instead of 44. Wow. 

I would like to think the Red Cross did this for efficiency but I don't actually know that.

Image is from the Phoenix New Times for November 2016.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 3:18 PM

Thursday, February 02, 2017

Cell Phone Suppression at the Charles E Smith Jewish Day School 

I was at the CES Jewish Day School today.  At one point in the day, my cell phone basically shut down. I shut down the phone. I turned it on when I left the building and a few minutes later, it was working.

This was, I think, the third time my phone shut down at JDS.

The first two times I just thought it was a coincidence because I didn't think the JDS would have cell suppression but who knows. One of the canned food storerooms that I 'patrol' when on duty is next door to the JDS IT office. 

The image, shows a cell phone suppression system at the perimeter of a prison.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 6:23 PM

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

George Goes to a Magic Show in Baltimore and yada yada he has a new phone 

George was in Baltimore for a magic show.  It was a Shoresh alumni (a Jewish summer camp) get together.

He left his car unlocked and left his phone in the car in a very visible place.

When he realized he had forgot his phone he was already inside the club where the magic show was.

Anyway, he bought a new phone and had shipping expedited and was only without a phone for 2 days.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 7:59 AM

Archives

09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003   10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003   11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003   12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004   01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004   02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004   03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004   04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004   05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004   06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004   07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004   08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004   09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004   10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004   11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004   12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005   01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005   02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005   03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005   04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005   05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005   06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005   07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005   08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005   09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005   10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005   11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005   12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006   01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006   02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006   03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006   04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006   05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006   06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006   07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006   08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006   09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006   10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006   11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006   12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007   01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007   02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007   03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007   04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007   05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007   06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007   07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007   08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007   09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007   10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007   11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007   12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008   01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008   02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008   03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008   04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008   05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008   06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008   07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008   08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008   09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008   10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008   11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008   12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009   01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009   02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009   03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009   04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009   05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009   06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009   07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009   08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009   09/01/2009 - 10/01/2009   10/01/2009 - 11/01/2009   11/01/2009 - 12/01/2009   12/01/2009 - 01/01/2010   01/01/2010 - 02/01/2010   02/01/2010 - 03/01/2010   03/01/2010 - 04/01/2010   04/01/2010 - 05/01/2010   05/01/2010 - 06/01/2010   06/01/2010 - 07/01/2010   07/01/2010 - 08/01/2010   08/01/2010 - 09/01/2010   09/01/2010 - 10/01/2010   10/01/2010 - 11/01/2010   11/01/2010 - 12/01/2010   12/01/2010 - 01/01/2011   01/01/2011 - 02/01/2011   02/01/2011 - 03/01/2011   03/01/2011 - 04/01/2011   04/01/2011 - 05/01/2011   05/01/2011 - 06/01/2011   06/01/2011 - 07/01/2011   07/01/2011 - 08/01/2011   08/01/2011 - 09/01/2011   09/01/2011 - 10/01/2011   10/01/2011 - 11/01/2011   11/01/2011 - 12/01/2011   12/01/2011 - 01/01/2012   01/01/2012 - 02/01/2012   02/01/2012 - 03/01/2012   03/01/2012 - 04/01/2012   04/01/2012 - 05/01/2012   05/01/2012 - 06/01/2012   06/01/2012 - 07/01/2012   07/01/2012 - 08/01/2012   08/01/2012 - 09/01/2012   09/01/2012 - 10/01/2012   10/01/2012 - 11/01/2012   11/01/2012 - 12/01/2012   12/01/2012 - 01/01/2013   01/01/2013 - 02/01/2013   02/01/2013 - 03/01/2013   03/01/2013 - 04/01/2013   04/01/2013 - 05/01/2013   05/01/2013 - 06/01/2013   06/01/2013 - 07/01/2013   07/01/2013 - 08/01/2013   08/01/2013 - 09/01/2013   09/01/2013 - 10/01/2013   10/01/2013 - 11/01/2013   11/01/2013 - 12/01/2013   12/01/2013 - 01/01/2014   01/01/2014 - 02/01/2014   02/01/2014 - 03/01/2014   03/01/2014 - 04/01/2014   04/01/2014 - 05/01/2014   05/01/2014 - 06/01/2014   06/01/2014 - 07/01/2014   07/01/2014 - 08/01/2014   08/01/2014 - 09/01/2014   09/01/2014 - 10/01/2014   10/01/2014 - 11/01/2014   11/01/2014 - 12/01/2014   12/01/2014 - 01/01/2015   01/01/2015 - 02/01/2015   02/01/2015 - 03/01/2015   03/01/2015 - 04/01/2015   04/01/2015 - 05/01/2015   05/01/2015 - 06/01/2015   06/01/2015 - 07/01/2015   07/01/2015 - 08/01/2015   08/01/2015 - 09/01/2015   09/01/2015 - 10/01/2015   10/01/2015 - 11/01/2015   11/01/2015 - 12/01/2015   12/01/2015 - 01/01/2016   01/01/2016 - 02/01/2016   02/01/2016 - 03/01/2016   03/01/2016 - 04/01/2016   04/01/2016 - 05/01/2016   05/01/2016 - 06/01/2016   06/01/2016 - 07/01/2016   07/01/2016 - 08/01/2016   08/01/2016 - 09/01/2016   09/01/2016 - 10/01/2016   10/01/2016 - 11/01/2016   11/01/2016 - 12/01/2016   12/01/2016 - 01/01/2017   01/01/2017 - 02/01/2017   02/01/2017 - 03/01/2017   03/01/2017 - 04/01/2017   04/01/2017 - 05/01/2017   05/01/2017 - 06/01/2017   06/01/2017 - 07/01/2017   07/01/2017 - 08/01/2017   08/01/2017 - 09/01/2017   09/01/2017 - 10/01/2017   10/01/2017 - 11/01/2017   11/01/2017 - 12/01/2017   12/01/2017 - 01/01/2018   01/01/2018 - 02/01/2018   02/01/2018 - 03/01/2018   03/01/2018 - 04/01/2018   04/01/2018 - 05/01/2018   05/01/2018 - 06/01/2018   06/01/2018 - 07/01/2018   07/01/2018 - 08/01/2018   08/01/2018 - 09/01/2018   09/01/2018 - 10/01/2018   10/01/2018 - 11/01/2018   11/01/2018 - 12/01/2018   12/01/2018 - 01/01/2019   01/01/2019 - 02/01/2019   02/01/2019 - 03/01/2019   03/01/2019 - 04/01/2019   04/01/2019 - 05/01/2019   05/01/2019 - 06/01/2019   06/01/2019 - 07/01/2019   07/01/2019 - 08/01/2019   08/01/2019 - 09/01/2019   09/01/2019 - 10/01/2019   10/01/2019 - 11/01/2019   11/01/2019 - 12/01/2019   12/01/2019 - 01/01/2020   01/01/2020 - 02/01/2020   02/01/2020 - 03/01/2020   03/01/2020 - 04/01/2020   04/01/2020 - 05/01/2020   05/01/2020 - 06/01/2020   06/01/2020 - 07/01/2020   07/01/2020 - 08/01/2020   08/01/2020 - 09/01/2020   09/01/2020 - 10/01/2020   10/01/2020 - 11/01/2020   11/01/2020 - 12/01/2020   12/01/2020 - 01/01/2021   01/01/2021 - 02/01/2021   02/01/2021 - 03/01/2021   03/01/2021 - 04/01/2021   04/01/2021 - 05/01/2021   05/01/2021 - 06/01/2021   06/01/2021 - 07/01/2021   07/01/2021 - 08/01/2021   08/01/2021 - 09/01/2021   09/01/2021 - 10/01/2021   10/01/2021 - 11/01/2021   11/01/2021 - 12/01/2021   12/01/2021 - 01/01/2022   01/01/2022 - 02/01/2022   02/01/2022 - 03/01/2022   03/01/2022 - 04/01/2022   04/01/2022 - 05/01/2022   05/01/2022 - 06/01/2022   06/01/2022 - 07/01/2022   07/01/2022 - 08/01/2022   08/01/2022 - 09/01/2022   09/01/2022 - 10/01/2022   10/01/2022 - 11/01/2022   11/01/2022 - 12/01/2022   12/01/2022 - 01/01/2023   01/01/2023 - 02/01/2023   02/01/2023 - 03/01/2023   03/01/2023 - 04/01/2023   04/01/2023 - 05/01/2023   05/01/2023 - 06/01/2023   06/01/2023 - 07/01/2023   07/01/2023 - 08/01/2023   08/01/2023 - 09/01/2023   09/01/2023 - 10/01/2023   10/01/2023 - 11/01/2023   11/01/2023 - 12/01/2023   12/01/2023 - 01/01/2024   01/01/2024 - 02/01/2024   02/01/2024 - 03/01/2024   03/01/2024 - 04/01/2024   04/01/2024 - 05/01/2024