Random babbling and musings

I am back from golf and in a good mood so it's time for some random musings...

The space shuttles are very close to being "mothballed". The end of the shuttle era means NASA will now partner with private enterprise, they say, for space vehicles. This should be interesting.

I am old enough to remember the thrill of Alan Shepard making a sub-orbital flight. He was the 2nd human being to reach "space" and the first American to do so. I was 14 at the time and it seemed like a big deal to me. It has been almost 50 years since that first flight by an American. In those days, we really thought that we'd have established colonies on the moon by now. Of course, we also thought there'd be flying cars and domed cities.

If we had invented/built flying cars, would they be making them into Hybrids?

I am not optimistic about the future anymore. Not that I was very optimistic at any time in the past. Being a skeptic by nature, I found pessimism to be more in line with my thought processes. But I am becoming more pessimistic every day. I blame the news media. It's probably not their fault but they are an easy scapegoat.

I start Medicare this summer. Yes, I will officially be an "old goat." I am not looking forward to it. We Baby Boomers are likely to overwhelm the system. We're a bunch of crybabies, demanding ones at that. I plan on staying healthy. Like most of my planning, nature will likely interfere. I also remember life before Medicare and how the AMA was solidly opposed to its inception. That was in the days when doctors made house calls. Also before people who were not rich likely had any kind of health insurance. We paid less for those house calls than we pay as co-payments for an office visit. Things have changed quite a bit, haven't they?

I am being inundated with insurance people trying to sell me supplemental insurance to go with my Medicare. I wonder how they found out how old I am? I asked that question back when AARP started sending me invitations to join them when I turned 50. They must be getting this data from somewhere.

Speaking of visiting the doctor... I hope I have encouraged people to stop tolerating endless waits to see the doctor. Give him/her 30 minutes beyond your appointment time and then walk out. If enough people do this (and, hopefully, complain to their insurance) maybe doctors will get more efficient. Yeah, I'm dreaming and that is counter to my skeptical nature.

How do you make right angle turns in your car? Do you slow way down so you don't cut across the corner? Or do you cut the corner? My personal beef is that people seem to ignore the possibility of a car approaching the intersection on the road you want to turn onto. I cannot count the times I have had to stop well short of a corner because some idiot cut the corner too tightly.

The first time I got into any accident on a roadway was because a women turned left onto the road I was coming out of. She clipped my left headlight, dinging the fender. She was angry at me for the incident. I am unsure why. I was stopped when she banged into me.

The corner cutters rank right up there with Left Lane Snails, the "slow approachers" to red lights, and the "bitter clingers" who ride alongside you so you cannot change lanes. I blame it all on the "me first, me only" attitude that seems to be rampant throughout society these days.

Ok, now I need a nap. Now that I am an old goat, naps are mandatory