What kind of phone should we get?  We no longer have a landline (haven’t for a few years now  — Ben and I got rid of ours circa 2007, I think) and Aaron and I both have pretty craptastic phones with contracts up so that we are free to do as we please!  Aaron is leaning towards an iPhone, but I am scared of the costs of service (not so much the phone itself as a one-time fee is something I can deal with).  I do want kind of a fancier phone as I’d like to be able to have a real calendar on it and all that.  But maybe that’s silly.  Of course, we also don’t have to do the same thing, but family plans seem cheaper and, of course, then there’s just one bill, which is nice. 

Help! Peeps, please advise.

But that’s not going to stop me from writing about this.

Health care.  I don’t know if you guys are aware, because you have to be REALLY paying attention to have caught this, but there’s a huge debate going on in this country about the health care system.  It’s true.  If you don’t believe me, just google it and go to, say, page 10 or so and something is bound to come up.

Here’s the thing.  I don’t know the answer.  Though I think a nationalized health care program sounds more like the answer than anything else I’ve heard.  At a basic level, it seems like not only the morally right thing to do, but the option that would be best for our economy.  Having government control health care seems, to me, like it would reduce costs for American industry making it more competitive at home and overseas and give greater oversight into spiraling costs. I’m also one of those odd individuals who, despite a sometime Libertarian streak, actually thinks the government does a generally decent job in the things it runs.  For example, I think the criminal justice system is fairly decent while dealing with Charter is ridiculously bureaucratic and dumb.  In any event, the thing that truly bugs me about the whole debate is this: the popular talk that health care costs would be significantly lower if we could somehow just tame those nasty personal injury lawyers and put an end to extreme malpractice lawsuits.  This irks me for several reasons.

1.  Sometimes I think there’s some sort of feeling out there that if a doctor or nurse or hospital or anyone attached to the medical profession screws up, there should be little to no recourse for the victim.  People sometimes seem to think, “Well, it wasn’t on purpose, so let’s just move on.”  Of course it wasn’t on purpose.  People also don’t purposely run red lights or drive over the center line and cause accidents.  We have car insurance for just such non-purposeful events.  The same is true for doctors.  The same is true for lawyers or nail technicians or veterinarians or restaurant owners.  We have to have insurance to cover unexpected events — accidents.  And yes, of course it’s going to be more expensive for the medical industry since a lot more is at stake.  That’s just the nature of the job.

2.  There has already been a tremendous amount of ‘tort reform’ in that multiple states have capped the amount a jury can award a victim of medical malfeasance.  I don’t agree with these policies, but they are in place now and the insurance lobby has been very successful in obtaining them.

3.  And here’s probably the most important one for me.  The actual affect that medical malpractive litigation has on health care costs is so minimal it is almost not worth discussing.  I don’t know if Talking Heads use tort reform as a constant in their arsenal on reform because they really believe it is that important or if because, and this is the reason I actually suspect, it’s easier to use the lightning rod of lawyers than to try to affect actual change.  The thing is, every statistic I have ever seen shows that litigation costs (and malpractice insurance) account for — maybe — up to 1% of the cost of health care in the US.  Even if this is wrong, and it’s twice as much, that’s 2% of costs.  Eliminating those costs entirely would do just about nothing to change the out-of-control situation we’re in.  So I really wish people would cut it out and move on.

I know – you’re thinking, well, well, Kate, then what IS driving up costs.  Hell if I know.  I suspect it’s ridiculous profit margins, crazy expensive (and often unnecessary) tests and equipment, big salaries and little to no incentive to reduce costs.  But I don’t really know.  I know, though, that it’s not the lawyers. 

Look, I know it’s popular to hate so-called ‘ambulance chasers.’  But I really urge you to think twice about this and maybe to read John Edwards (I know, I shouldn’t speak his name just yet) book, ‘Four Trials.’  I feel like people are usually apt to embrace movies like ‘A Civil Action’ and ‘The Verdict’ (both of which I like very much, as well), but when it comes to a case in the news, or when politicians use litigation costs as a platform, public opinion flips and suddenly the lawyers representing the victims are the bad guys.  And that’s something I don’t get. 

Now of course the court system is vulnerable to huge abuse — by both lawyers and pro se litigants.  And by those hiring the lawyers.  But just because there are crappy claims out there doesn’t mean that there aren’t good ones and deserving people who need access to the legal system.  I venture to say that way more often than not the victim is the little guy, pitted against the megainsurance company and the odds are stacked way in you-know-whose favor. 

Sorry for the rant but I’m officially bugged by this.  And I really don’t think it’s because I’m a lawyer.  But maybe I’m wrong.  Thoughts?

How annoying will this post be?  Probably super annoying to those of you who can’t stand football, ie Communist Feehan.  And probably pretty annoying because all I’m doing is rehashing my venom for the man.  You know who I’m talking about.  Especially because I mentioned him in the title of the post.

I canNOT stand Brett Favre.  I know, I know, who would have thought this would ever happen?  I had a poster of him in my freshman-year dorm room.  I had bought in Rosendale on the way to Green Bay for something or other.  I LOVED him.  My dad used to call him Stonehead, but I had fallen hard for number 4.  He was dreamy and cute and smiley and he loved to play football.  I mistakenly translated that into a love for the green and gold, a love for Green Bay.  Boy was I wrong.

After years of dancing around it and making us wonder, “Will he?  Won’t he?,” Favre finally annouced his retirement from the NFL in early 2007 and I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news.  I was in the bathroom at the Palmer House packing up my stuff from an oral argument I’d had in the morning at the Seventh Circuit.  I don’t remember a thing about the case (not surprising), but I remember getting a simple text from my cousin Maggie saying, “He’s retired.”  It took me a bit to figure out what she was talking about, but then I began to cry.  The end of an era.  He’d left us.  I didn’t really blame him — football’s a rough sport, afterall — but I was crushed.  We then spent months thinking, “Maybe he’ll change his mind; he won’t be able to stay away; he’s coming back soon.”  But then he didn’t.  He thought about it that spring and Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy flew down to Mississippi to get him back on board.  But he backed off again.  The Packers drafted around Aaron Rodgers that spring, not Brett Favre.  That summer, the Packers told Aaron he’d better get ready to lead the team, and that’s what he did.  He hosted players over for dinner, he showed up for training camp, he assumed his role as quarterback — a role he’d patiently waited around on the sidelines for years to get.  He’d been the understudy for too long and he now deserved to play.  To start.  All systems were ready to go.  Fans got behind him and eagerly anticipated the first preseason game in August.

And now it was August.  And who comes flying into town on a private jet while the local papers screamed, ‘Touchdown?’  You guessed it.  Favre and Deanna waltz into town with serious chips on their shoulders and demands that couldn’t possibly be met.  Favre was already upset that the team had moved on and hadn’t jumped at the opportunity to take him back when he started to indicate at the end of July/early August that, oh, he might be interested in playing again.  Well, who can blame anyone — at least anyone involved in the business aspect of the team — from hesitating and thinking twice this time before assuming that Favre spoke the truth.  Did he really want to come back?  Well, that hesitation led to Favre crying like a baby and throwing a tantrum that he wasn’t being well-treated.  And that led to Thompson and McCarthy saying, “You know what?  Rodgers is our guy.  He’s here, he’s reliable and — and this is important — he’s been training in the off-season and practicing during training camp, things that Favre has never been very interested in.”  So, they think, we’ll talk to Favre and see what the deal is but we’ve been fooled so many times now, we’re not promising anything.  Favre meets with McCarthy and McCarthy comes out with the impression that Favre is no longer at all interested in playing for Green Bay.  Well, enough said.  It’s been enough.  It’s been too much, really.  And Favre is released (with serious stipulations such as he can’t play for a team in the NFC North; and if the Jets, who ultimately take him, reach the Superbowl, the Packers get a certain draft pick; should the Jets reach the playoffs, the Packers get a different specific draft pick; etc.  Of course none of this matters because after a great start, the Jets stink up the remainder of the season and don’t reach the postseason).  And it’s done.

And then we all see Favre in a green-and-white jersey and it’s weird.  More Jets games are shown on Wisconsin television than ever before (or ever will be again), I dare say.  But that’s really about it.  Since he’s playing for a team the Packers never play, it’s not the biggest deal in the universe.  Since the Jets end up sucking, it’s a little bit easier to swallow.  Don’t get me wrong: I was pissed.  But it was nothing compared to my feelings this year.

Favre is a Viking.  He is a traitor.  And, as Terry Bradshaw stated, a liar.  He wanted to beat Green Bay for revenge and to say otherwise is so unbelievable it makes me wonder about his sincerity when it comes to anything that comes from his mouth.  He’s a diva.  He’ll play for the Vikings because they have maybe the best offensive line in the country.  I can’t really blame him for that.  I don’t want to get hit by professional football players, either.  What bugs me about this, though, is that I don’t think he wanted to come back to GB in the first place, but he’s convinced himself that he has been wronged and others have jumped on this idea and now he is getting sympathy for it.  Long-time GB fans are blaming Thompson and McCarthy for Favre no longer being a Packer.  And maybe they’re right; but I think they made the right move.  They put the diva’s feet to the fire and he cried.  A football team is just that: a team.  Favre was no longer a team player, if he ever was.  The end result of this all is that we have pretty much the worst possible scenario: we have Packer fans who are now Vikings fans. 

Completely unacceptable.

I know I’ve been totally derelict in posting lately and it annoys me.  I really feel like I have lots to say (not important stuff, but you know, stuff) and have just not been able to get it out in the blogosphere.  Our internet has been fantastically craptastical at home as of late and I haven’t been able to find the inspiration to post while at, ahem, work.  So, please just bear with me and don’t forget me and I will be back with something of *substance* soon…. 

Will it be Million Dollar Listing commentary?  Complaints about people with kids?  Balloon Boy nonsense?  Um, no, it won’t be that.  Sorry to kill the suspense there.  Will it be Scientology talk?  You betcha!  Eeks!  Again!  Sorry, I am very bad at keeping things a secret.  Ok, essentially I expect it to break down like this:  (1) TV: the Bravo lineup and some new blurbs about Harper’s Island and my total addiction for cheesy horror; (2) Scientology and the new French ruling along with the news Sarayu slipped to me that Paul Haggis publicly broke from the Church over, of all things, Prop 8; and (3) Halloween at the zoo with my family. 

Would anyone care to add a fourth?  I’m going to need to move on this because we obviously are going to need to do some Favre-smackdowns.  Sorry, Fee, I know you are over football comments, but it must be.

Just a little bit of trivia: If, today — October 15, 2009 — you type “Kate” into google, the first result is about Jon and Kate Gosselin.  Marinate on that.

Aaron and I decided to take a much-appreciated (if not deserved) vacation day today, which means I am in bed, watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta and — simultaneously — Wikipedia-ing “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”  I love TV so much, but I almost always seem to want to be doing something else while watching — a crossword puzzle, reading a magazine, treadmilling, facebooking, etc.  Anyway, as I recently revealed to Terry and Sarayu — not that it was exactly a secret — I just can’t seem to sate my appetite for Bravo reality shows.  The Real Housewives franchise is positively enthralling.  I thought I wasn’t a fan of Atlanta, but season two has changed my mind entirely.  I Wikipedia-ed it to look up who these women actually are (you rarely get the full scoop on any of the RH ladies).  Fascinating!  Not to take Wikipedia at its word, but if true, these gals have some issues.  Admittedly, what I really wanted to know is if there is any truth to Kim’s repeated assertion that she’s only 29.  According to the Bible, er, Wikipedia, she was born in 1978, so she’s 31 now, making her claims in previously recorded shows that she was 29 very plausible.  I’d still like to see an actual birth certificate.  Or, better yet, some sort of tree-ring investigation, carbon-dating or other scientific-minded testing.  Anyway, several of the ladies seem to have some serious financial problems.  Apparently, NeNe was evicted from her home after season one; Sheree’s house was sold in foreclosure; and Lisa filed for bankruptcy in 2007.  Additionally,  Lisa’s ex-husband has custody of their two kids.  Drama!  But not the kind shown on the show…Which is probably just fine.  That stuff’s just depressing.

I have to admit that I can point to two external, but related, things that helped me come to terms with my affection for RHA.  One was when I was watching the Rachel Zoe Project (another Bravo original) and Rachel was talking to Ashton Kutcher on the phone (speaker phone, of course).  Ashton was in Atlanta with Demi and Rachel’s assistant, Brad, got on the phone to ask if they had run into Kim or NeNe or anyone.  Ashton, without missing a beat, said that they had yet to see any of the women, but he clearly knew that Brad was referring to the Housewives.  He then said that he did not watch the show, but he knew the significance of a spotting.  You can then hear Demi chime in and chide him, “You watched the entire first season!”  Hee hee.  Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher watch RHA.  Ok, and the second thing that reinforced my love was when I was watching Andy Cohen’s show (no idea what it’s called) dissecting the Bravo shows.  Andy Cohen, as you know, is the genius behind the reality shows I love.  Ok, actually, I don’t really know if that’s entirely true, but he is an NBC “television exec” and has his name on my loves.  Andy had Jimmy Fallon on and they were sipping cocktails and talking all about RHA.  NeNe even came on the show via video and Fallon interviewed her.  The real moment for me, though, was when the two of them could not stop talking about Kim and Kandi’s “Don’t Be Tardy to the Party” masterpiece.  If you have not seen this episode, you must.  It is priceless in its ridiculousness.  It is Kim doing backup singing for some new song of Kandi’s in which Kim just repeats, in an attempt at a sultry voice,   ”Don’t be tardy to the party — whoa-o-a-who-o-a” over and over and over and over again.  It was one of those moments when you kind of turn your head to the side like a dog and wonder, “Is this real?”  And then you sort of feel like you must be mistaken.  And I kind of did think that until I saw Jimmy Fallon singing it repeatedly (and, in fact, he and Andy recorded it to make it Jimmy’s ring tone).  And then putting his gin and tonic on his ring finger pretending it was his engagement ring from Big Poppa.

Ok, I suddenly feel like I’m totally talking to myself.  Is anyone with me on this?

I hate to think that I only like it because some celebrities like it.  Because, really, there are lots of things celebrities like that I don’t (Uggs, for one).  I prefer to think that these celebs just made me more comfortable with my love for the show.  It’s kind of like when Phish started covering Neil Diamond; I felt vindicated.

In a shocking turnabout, we’ve decided to take the house (er, condo) off the market.  What?  But, Kate, you just put it on the market!  I know, I know.  But, in getting ready for last week’s open house (to which only one, but seemingly genuinely, guy attended and liked the place); I pretty much came to the conclusion that it was not the right time to move; that I love the place; that I love the location; and that moving now is just not necessary.  I know, peeps, you must be shocked and worried about my mental health.  I assure you all is ok (or, rather, as ok as it has been).

So, stay tuned for possible updates on fixer-upper stuff…And if anyone has advice or suggestions on peeps to talk to/hire about doing kitchen or “lover level” (I’ve decided calling it the basement is just bad sense) remodeling, I’d love to hear it…

And stay tuned for pics from the 3rd annual Cambridge, WI Barktoberfest!  Though damn chilly (the snow held off!), it was a fun time for peeps and hounds.  Wait, wait…here they are!  Make sure to try to fully understand the size of the English Mastiff (200 lbs.); my pics don’t do him justice.

UPDATE: Design appointment scheduled with Big Box Depot on Thursday evening.