spontaneouslove:

i’ve spent a lot of the past 6 years in a hospital. i’ve talked with a lot of people. you’d be surprised at how people will open up to someone with a tube sticking out of their chest. i guess it’s a ‘you must know where i’m coming from’ type of thing. and let me tell you, about 97% of the time the topic of insurance and costs comes up. and in every single case they couldn’t afford it. healthcare cost is ridiculous. people have sold their cars, their homes, their baseball card collections just for a drug. parents have to have second and third mortgages just to get their baby a transplant that might save her life. and even if the family makes it in to a recovery/remission stage they are left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt they owe to the hospital. forever. if they can even get that far. there are some case where the money just can’t be found. and yes, there are programs out there to offset the cost. but there are requirements and qualifications. for the without insurance folks that is where their saving grace is. but to the people who have insurance, who have a semi-decent paying job there is no help there.

in the past 6 years i had exactly 1 year without insurance. so all of the services and drugs i needed was paid out of pocket. granted it was heavily discounted because i begged and pleaded my no insurance/college student case. but i still didn’t qualify for any assistance due to my ‘fortunate’ bank account. so to date (not including my current stint) i have paid OUT OF POCKET over 1.5 million dollars. i have yet to qualify for any sort of program. i can barely get the hospital to stop charging me $84 for tylenol . i am so very fortunate to have good insurance. i am also very fortunate to have the money to pay those bills. but if i weren’t, i wouldn’t be in this hospital bed. i wouldn’t have made it this far. because i wouldn’t be able to pay the $2,500 a month drug bill. or the $200,000 drug treatments. how can anyone be expected to pay that? how can you ask a parent to make a choice between one childs christmas presents and the others medication. because no matter what you choose, both lose. and no matter how much debt you go into to make yourself healthy, you will be paying for that while living in poverty. unfortunately in this country, it’s cheaper to commit a felony and get treated in prison than to be an honest citizen and never have enough money to pay for you next round of treatment.

adventuresofjoni:

chrisvick:

The machines are rare examples of aging Macs that are still in daily use. They are a testament to the utility and longevity of the Mac, which celebrates its 25th anniversary on Sunday.

Macs will always be numero uno.

Facebook | Tropfest NY 2008 winner, “Mankind Is No Island” by Jason van Genderen

A section of the Rocky Mountain News newsroom sits empty on February 27, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. The edition on Friday the 27th was the last one for the nearly 150-year-old daily, Colorado’s oldest newspaper. The owner E.W. Scripps Co. announced the day before that the paper was closing down after efforts to sell the money-losing newspaper failed. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Scenes from the recession - The Big Picture - Boston.com

think4yourself:

Caption: The floor of this school’s front office is littered with several decades’ worth of student records and report cards.

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (March 14, 2009) - School’s Out For Ever

Viceland has a series of photographs from Detroit’s abandoned public schools. There’s something oddly chilling about them - a whiff of cultural and social death.

This is really not the most powerful photo, IMO.  Everyone should go see the whole series…it’s sad and eye-opening.

1. How old were you? 1 year, 4 months
2. Who were you dating? ummm…
3. Where did you work? Diapers-R-Us
4. Where did you live? Union, NJ
5. Where did you hang out? the floor, on my sister, with the dog
6. Did you wear contacts or glasses? no
7. Who were your best friends? my sister
8. How many tattoos did you have?
9. How many piercings did you have?
10. What kind of car did you drive? I had to master walking first!
11. Had you been to a real party? I had been to a real potty….
12. Had your heart broken? Nope
13. Were you single/taken/married/divorced? Single
14. Any kids? weird.

****15 YEARS AGO (1994)****

1. How old were you? 6 years, 4 months
2. Who were you dating?
3. Where did you work? school
4. Where did you live? Berkeley Heights, NJ
5. Where did you hang out? The YMCA I think
6. Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? No
7. Who were your closest friends? NaDea, Sabrina, Stephanie, Kyle?
8. How many tattoos did you have? none
9. How many piercings did you have? none
10. What kind of car did you drive? Training wheels!
11. Had you been to a real party? I had probably hit a pinata or two…
12. Had you had your heart broken? No
13. Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Single
14. Any Kids? Nope

***10 YEARS AGO (1999)***

1. How old were you? 11 years, 4 months
2. Who were you dating? Probably Brian Finn
3. Where did you work? Nowhere yet
4. Where did you live? Berkeley Heights, NJ still
5. Where did you hang out? Drug Fair, Grand Union, “downtown,” the library
6. Who were your best friends? Courtney, Nikki
7. How many tattoos did you have? none
8. How many piercings did you have? none…or had I just gotten my first holes done?
9. What kind of car did you drive? mountain bike!
10. Had your heart broken? At the time, I probably thought Brian broke my heart after our 25-day relationship.
11. Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Single/taken in that middle-school-kinda-way.
12. Any Kids? no

****TODAY (2009)****
1) Age? 21 years, 4 months
2) Where do you work? Missy McLamb Photographers and Ham’s Restaurant
3) Where do you live? Chapel Hill, NC
5) Who are your closest friends? Alex, Sarah, Allie
6) Do you talk to your old friends? Of the people above, I still talk to my sister, NaDea, Sabrina, Alex, Sarah, and Allie.  I occasionally talk to Courtney.  There are actually a lot of other old friends I still talk to.
7) How many piercings do you have? 10!
8) How many tattoos? none, but plans for four when I have the design and money.
9) What kind of car do you have? 2002 Honda CR-V
10) Had your heart broken? not really
11) How many kids? none
12) Are you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? Taken
13) Contact or Glasses? Neither

think4yourself:

apollosraven:

squashed:

Smithsonian Uncovers Secret Message Inside Abraham Lincoln’s Watch

A watchmaker was repairing Lincon’s watch the day the civil war started. He inscribed a message inside the watch, which Lincoln apparently carried with him but never read. The watchmaker, however, told his children, who told their children, and so on, until one contacted the Smithsonian to see if the old family story was true. It turns out—though the actual message inside the watch was significantly less elegant than that reported in the family legend.

I just heard this on Talk of the Nation! So cool regardless of the message.

“Jonathan Dillon
April 13-1861 
Fort Sumpter [sic] was attacked
by the rebels on the above
date J Dillon
April 13-1861 
Washington
thank God we have a government
Jonth Dillon”

unicornology:

merricat:moptops:sugarcreamcandy:bebelestrange:wrox:snuh: gaseousbrain:lovebug:robotindisguise:iwantmybearsuit:yosisoycool: (via hrldmrtnz)

beatle juice?

I WANT TO DRINK ONE EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

Holyshitbestideaever!

robinredhead:

flowersandart:

nath:

80sTees.com is a nostalgic online retailer that sells officially licensed products inspired in cultural references from the 80’s. They have a wide selection of products but by far the coolest ones are from their Costume T-shirts collection.

Even though they are originally aimed at lazy halloweeners I say some of them can totally become a part of your everyday wardrobe, like the r2d2 and the Charlie Brown ones. Another personal favourite is their Ghostbusters shirt, the spots will glow in the dark looking like green slime splattered all over it.

Charlie Brown tee, please?

think4yourself:

blogonthe:

superpoop

The Hall of Black Presidents?  I don’t know how I feel about this.