Dishwashers and Disposers

In a modern kitchen there is a dishwasher under the counter and a disposer at the bottom of the sink.

What happens when they both break within days of each other?

Panic!

An easy thousand dollars of new appliances just waiting to be purchased.

Thankfully, with a bit of creativity and some insightful help from the internet I was able to return to service both of these critical modern appliances!  As I was adding up the dollar signs I saved through the two do-it-yourself repairs, I realized how much wine that money could buy. Or a new garage door, or some other equally as unimpressive object for the home.

But--at least I didn't have to buy a new dishwasher and a disposer.

I guess a penny (or dollar) saved is a penny available to spend elsewhere. Modern economics at work.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Final Snow of 2013

March 25, 2013, Baltimore Washington Parkway

Call it wishful thinking if you like, but the snow which fell in the Baltimore area yesterday may be the final snow of 2013. Yes, that means until January 2014!

The snow which snarled traffic and caused a relatively minor inconvenience in the flow of life was the last gasp of winter and now it is time for spring!

Even I had to appreciate the way the heavy wet snow clung to the trees leaving the road as a clear path through the wintery forest. It was hard not to appreciate the beauty--albeit it fleeting. The bulk of the snow has melted leaving again the brown colors of winter to reign for a few last days until the springtime can transform the landscape into a colorful palate of colors.

I know springtime is lurking out there waiting to chip out of the ice.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - March 25, 2013

1. It is snowing and many schools have a two hour delay for starting this morning. What is wrong with this picture?

2. The joys and thrills of March Madness in College Basketball are in full bloom this season.

3. I notices a hint of green in the plum trees yesterday--Springtime is trying to arrive.

4. The tee-ball season is kicking off, I'm glad we decided to wait until next week to start practices.

5. This is the first day of spring break for many school systems--and they are being greeted with snow. Time to bail for Florida.

6. Holy Week and Passover coincide this year. Yesterday was the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday and tonight Passover begins.

7. Trying to shake of the lethargy of cold weather, I bought the supplies necessary to perform the annual tune-up and filter change on the lawn tractor. When we got home, Chris talked me out of beginning the process right away by observing, "You're not going to be using the tractor anytime soon."

8. I opened a bottle of the 2009 Gold Medal winning Consensus wine that Chris and I helped blend a couple of years ago. I was disappointed at first with the nose and taste, but after decanting it for over an hour--a really awesome wine emerged. Good wines need some time to develop and often are not supposed to be consumed right out of the bottle.

9. Did I write that it is snowing?  On the 25 of March? Really?  Surely we can do better. On this date last year the high was 61 degrees. That was 20 degrees cooler than the day before when it was 81 on March 24, 2012.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Repurposing

What an interesting word--repurposing. The online dictionary defines it as: To use or convert for use in another format or product. I prefer to think of it more as taking something useless and making useful.

Take, for instance, an old shoe factory rack that has been part of our household furniture for the past decades. This no small wheeled rack has been languishing without a well defined purpose in the basement as a collection locale for oversized dishes.

On more than one occasion it has been considered for downsizing by earning an inglorious trip to the dump in the bed of my truck--which is sad because it is not only old, but somewhat unique. It is an antique? Probably not. It, for some reason, has been spared. Probably because it is old and unique--just not overly useful.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, as the rack was again being considered for downsizing Chris had the grand idea of repurposing it as a wine rack!  What a great idea. All it would take was to construct some shelves to hold wine bottles. Best of all, the modifications would not require changes to the shoe rack--it would remain in its original configuration, in case it has any intrinsic value.

The design was fairly simple since the rack already had shelves and so, with a little bit of construction and some relatively inexpensive wood and stain, the former rack of limited usefulness was repurposed and now has a definite role within the house.

What a great word--repurposing. Taking something useless and making it useful again!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Loneliest Flower

There it was--attempting to bring springtime to reality, alone in my still sleeping garden. A solitary crocus.

But, it did its job--it made me smile and think of warmer days.

What a cold early springtime we are having. I am not even really seriously counting the days until pool opening because it is so cold. (OK, 34 days).

Maybe I won't have to wear a parka for Orioles Home Opening Day on April 5th.

I hope.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Springtime Held Hostage

I think that winter is holding spring hostage. Someone needs to play the ransom.

Although I noticed daffodils and crocus in bloom today--temperatures in the 30's and 40's do not make for inviting springtime activities.

Some of the trees are beginning to break into leaf buds, yet there is still the threat of snow in the forecast. Last year the high temperature on March 22nd was 76 degrees. Today's high is expected to be 50 degrees. Yesterday it was 48 degrees but it felt much colder and as I write this my thermometer is showing 26 degrees.

I am getting ready for baseball practice and may need to wear a parka! I'm gonna freeze out there as the assistant coach for a Jax's t-ball team. Although I do normally wear a glove I wonder if you can play baseball while wearing mittens.

I keep looking for signs of revival and green. There is precious little green yet.

I believe that when spring actually arrives, it is going to be fantastic. But, I could really use an 80 degree day--right now! I keep thinking that I was supposed to be in Sarasota, Florida, this weekend but plans changed. It is supposed to be 80 degrees there on Saturday.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Prescription Wars

Coming to a pharmacy near you is the latest assault on our healthcare system.

I am on a couple of maintenance medicines, which I have been on now for over 15-20 years. Due to recent changes in the healthcare system I have encountered problems when attempting to refill existing prescriptions for two of my medicines.

Overnight, it seems, the insurance company has deemed that the prescriptions needed pre-authorization. This means paperwork and delays in refilling prescriptions that my doctors deem necessary for my health and well-being.  That translates into frustration, and right now, being out of one medicine waiting for the process to complete.

In both cases my insurance company determined that the medicines that I have been taking for over a decade are no longer covered and that in their estimation, not my doctor's recommendation, I had to try a different formulations before the medicines which have been working so well for almost two decades could be approved.

I have questions!

Why did this all have to wait until I needed a refill before it was made known to me? Surprise!

Why didn't my insurance company notify me before it became a personal crisis that the medicines needed to be "preauthorized?"

How can something that I have been taking for almost 20 years be "preauthorized?" Time travel?

Why has it taken over two full weeks to resolve this situation and I still do not have the medicine? Recognizing that I began the process which what I thought was a valid refill which can only be refilled within seven days of running out.

Why does the insurance company believe that they are more familiar with my medical situation than the doctor I have been seeing for 15 years?

Why did this become "MY" problem to resolve? It has taken an appointment with my doctor, multiple calls to the insurance company and multiple visits to the pharmacy to get resolution even though I do not have the medicine in hand. I'm told by the pharmacy that it is on order. My insurance company has decided upon something so obscure that the pharmacy doesn't stock it!

Is this Obama-care? Everyone has healthcare but no one has health care from medical professionals? Insurance companies determine the level of care. Does the emperor have any clothes?

The story of my second medicine is not nearly so dramatic. The insurance company denied my claim despite documentation from my physician and so I am paying for it out of pocket rather than use the approved substitute.

At some point I am going to try to package this situation for my Representative and Senators in Congress so that they can hear first-hand the impact of their decisions.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Under the Jeep in the Driveway

As I arrived home last evening from a hard fought racquetball match what did I find in my drive? Jeremy under his Jeep attaching running boards he bought off Craigslist. I almost didn't see my son prostrate under his vehicle as I started backing into the drive. He never works on his vehicle alone--until tonight. And he was doing a great job.

That he was nearly done was the miraculous part. That there was a crisis associated with the relatively minor project was operations normal. The guy at Home Depot had sold him the wrong bolts--SAE instead of metric, and they did not fit. Always something it seems with every project.

Lucas was in the house with Chris who was fixing stir fry for dinner wondering when we would be in to eat the fantastic dinner she had created, while Jeremy and I were out in the cooling evening temperatures with our hands getting increasingly numb.

After wolfing down dinner and sloshing through a glass of a really nice merlot, we were off to Lowe's to get the right bolts.

Upon returning, the bolts were installed in less than 10 minutes and the project was completed.

Why does every project never go as smoothly as it should? I guess that is just the price I pay for being a "do it yourselfer."

It keeps every project interesting and makes me question the cost-benefit of doing it myself or hiring someone. Thank goodness I hired professionals to do the roof.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Zillbilly Losing Battle to Cancer

One of the fixtures at Orioles games for the past 17 season has been an usher in one of the sections on the club level who dresses in county (or hillbilly) garb with a fiddle and plays along with the seventh inning stretch music. I myself, have enjoyed watching his antics as he incites the crowd and creates joy among those in attendance at the games. He always seemed to be there leading the section in singing along to the song--Thank God I'm a Country Boy by John Denver.

Kevin Cowherd writing in the Baltimore Sun reported yesterday that his run is all but over. The usher, Charlie Zill, has stage four lung cancer. His days as an usher are over and his hope now is to see one or two more Orioles games in person as a spectator. He is hoping for a miracle as, according to the article, he was just evaluated for hospice.

I have never met Charlie in person, but I, like many thousands of others, have smiled and enjoyed his enthusiasm for life and baseball. They have dubbed his dance the Zillbilly and it was shown on the big screen at the games along with the crowd.

I know that during the seventh inning stretch I will always look to the section where he stood and remember him and his Zillbilly dance. And I will especially remember his final performance during the last playoff game against the Yankees where he willed himself to be Zillbilly, one last time, knowing that it might be his final performance. I was there, unaware of the battle with cancer that he was losing--and he knew it, as he led the sold out crowd in a most magical evening.

I pray that Charlie gets his miracle.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - March 18, 2013

1. Having a doctor's appointment at 8AM on a Monday morning does not represent the best way to start off a busy week.

2. It is not that a person is as bad as they could be, it is that they are never a good as they could be.  - J.I. Packer

3. Heard in church yesterday: We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.

4. March madness is upon us! It has overtaken us already. Which team will win it all?

5. It is time to tune-up the mower for another year of fun and dust in the yard.

6. Why does 34 degrees this morning seem so much colder than 34 degrees felt a month ago?

7. Spring officially starts this week--I sure hope the temperatures start to improve soon or Orioles Opening Day is going to be cold.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD