Sunday, April 19, 2009

Kelvinator Ad from 1956 Saturday Evening Post

A full-page ad from the October 13, 1956, Saturday Evening Post for a Kelvinator Magic Minute washer and dryer set. The ad was the inside front cover and would have been pretty expensive ad space. The cover was a Norman Rockwell head-and-shoulders portrait of Dwight Eisenhower.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

No tea parties here, thank you very much

The name of the game in US political histronics is "tea party." Virtual and real, people have scheduled tea parties for today, April 15th, the day when US income taxes are due for the previous year. I won't be participating. I don't love paying taxes, but I recognize the need to pay for all the stuff I expect out of my federal and state governments, and I also recognize that our president is doing his best to help with at least short-term fixes for the Big Greedy Mess in which we find ourselves.

Besides, the reason I was counting upon to provide my annual supply of cause for griping failed me this year. We always owe money to the feds and to the state of Iowa, and we are always owed a refund from the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin likes to hold onto the money till the eagle screams. Like, till June. That's when we usually get our Wisconsin refund. 

Not this year. Today I mailed off our checks to the US Treasury and to the State of Iowa - and when I picked up our mail, our Wisconsin refund check was in it. Now I think that is totally reasonable. A refund that arrives on the same day that our payments are due. This is so fair it really disappoints me because I will have to find something else to whine about now.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

The Army Came Through for Britta

She just got the letter stating she's being offered an ROTC Nursing scholarship to Viterbo! We had been informed of this verbally, but until I see it in writing, I don't believe it. :o)

Praise God, and God bless America.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Company Meeting

The big bosses had a phone meeting for everybody (all but the few left holding the fort) this afternoon. Now I am conditioned to panic when I hear "company meeting," after the last year or so of Barry's job, where "company meeting" meant "lots of layoffs." Not so with Webmedx.  In fact, there's a new recruitment drive on to help out with the $3.7 million worth of new business coming on board in the next 3 months! They are committed to the belief that a highly skilled medical transcriptionist/editor listening to each and every report produces a vastly superior report, and thus helps with risk management, reimbursements and of course patient care. So while we use speech recognition ("ISR," or intelligent speech recognition, is Webmedx's coined term for it), still, a real live MT listens to every word and edits the final product. And they don't send work offshore.

I have been with Webmedx for nearly 2-1/2 years now and am quite happy with the company. If you are an MT looking for a place to stay for the next several years of your career, please take a look around Webmedx.

Happy Insurance Day

As of today, we are once again insured. We can now lop off appendages with impunity, knowing that medical science can reattach them and our insurance will (help) pay for it.

Annual April Fool's Day Roundup

Gmail Rolls Out Autopilot
Google CADIE
Haken on FFF.net:  NASA names Node 3 "Serenity"
George R.R. Martin Takes On a Partner, Promises to Wrap Up Dance with Dragons in a Few Weeks
Britta Stahl: "Mom, I've been thinking about my cell phone use, and I think what I'm going to do is get rid of my cell phone, and from now on the money I've budgeted for it, I'll give to charity."