papsrus

Eh? MG Insurance companies and health-care providers (hospitals, doctors offices, clinics) typically have agreements where the health-care providers will accept a percentage of the total billed cost as full payment, basically. The insurance company pays this. (The patient usually owes a co-payment to the health-care provider as well). Invoices typically will show a column with the total amount billed (say $1,000) followed by a column that shows the amount that the health-care provider has agreed to accept from the insurance company as full payment (say, $200) followed by a column that shows what the patient owes as a co-payment (say $40). I think the general idea is that the insurance companies are providing a pool of clients, and hospitals and clinics agree to accept a percentage of the actual billed amount in exchange for access to that pool of clients. ... something along those lines. This practice leads to health-care providers inflating the first number in order to get an acceptable amount in payment from the insurance companies. Also, some clinics and doctors will not accept some insurance plans. So as a patient, you have to match your insurance with the list of doctors they provide, or you will pay higher out-of-network costs (higher deductibles, co-payments, etc.) It's a wonderful system. Even better if you enjoy mounds of paperwork! EDIT: btw, all this comes up for renegotiatiation each year. For instance, the company I work for negotiates with a variety of insurance providers each year to get what they deem to be the best deal (for them, not necessarily for their employees, although hopefully the two coincide). As a result, beginning Jan. 1st I will have a new insurance carrier (my company is switching from Blue Cross to United Health). United Health may or may not include my current doctor on their list of in-network health-care providers. (I haven't been able to determine this yet.) If my current doctor is not in their network, I will either have to find a new doctor -- one who is in their network -- or pay higher out-of-network costs to remain with him. You can imagine the complications all of this might present for someone who is actually seriously ill. Having to deal with a serious or long-term illness is stressful enough. Having to wade through all this insurance crap is enough to drive you over the edge.

Man! Thanks for all the great recs. You guys are unbelievable. I have managed to stumble across a small number of the musicians and titles mentioned: Noone and Dodds (although not his very early recordings) and the Freeman Mosaic single in the revivalist camp. Bill, I had that second Ory title you mentioned in my cart at amazon just yesterday and passed on it for now. I'll revisit that. Thanks. Spanier and Kid Ory are two of the more obvious/likely places to begin, I suppose. Dodds as well. And McKinney's Cotton Pickers! Harlem Hamfats (can't pass on a name like that). And Bix -- I do have the JSP there. Will wade a little deeper. 'Devin' Tune' does provide a great broad brush on a lot of this. I need to dig back into that first set. Listening to samples of the "Breaking Out" box now. Great stuff. Thanks so much for all the insights. I'm looking forward to foraging around for some of these. Will keep a close eye on the thread for more ideas that might pop up.

Realizing that this is a pretty broad category, I'm interested in delving further into that formative period of music/jazz that I suppose begins somewhere around 1920 or earlier and runs through the mid-30s. I find myself increasingly drawn to this period for a variety of reasons, but primarily because the music is just plain filled with such excitement and incredible musicianship. It soars. I've managed to acquire a small number of some of the more widely known titles around, many of which I learned about here. But my appetite for this stuff just keeps growing. I kind of approach my search for this stuff in a scatter-shot manner now, which ain't a bad way to go. But I'd just like to refine my focus a little bit. And so, with that, I'm hoping the collective wisdom here can offer up some further suggestions. Here are some of the more well-known titles that find fairly regular rotation in the old CD player: King Oliver -- Off the Record: The Complete 1923 Jazz Band Recordings Louis Armstrong -- The Hot Fives and Sevens Jelly Roll Morton -- The Complete Victor Recordings Hot Dance Bands from OKeh 1923-1931 Original Memphis Five -- Columbias 1923 - 1931 New Orleans Rhythm Kings 1922 - 1925 Bennie Moten -- Band Box Shuffle Jabbo Smith --1929 The Complete Set Luis Russell 1929 - 1934 Teddy Wilson -- Of Thee I Swing And probably a couple dozen other generally lesser-known titles from this period as well. So, where might I turn next?

Beautiful.

Adding to my list of resolutions: 1. Lose 20 oounds 2. Exercise more 3. Keep the leaves raked off the lawn at all times 4. Clean all of the leaves and twigs out of the window wells 5. Get down on my hands and knees and pick out by hand all of the leaves that have collected under the bushes 4. Clean the garage often 5. Scrub out the grout between the bathroom tiles on a rigorous schedule 6. Wipe all of the cobwebs off of every beam in the basement on a rigorous schedule 7. Know the music I already have in my collection before I buy more. Forget the music compulsion, there are some heavy foliage/cleaning issues here you need to deal with. I consider leaves to be natural mulch and leave (heh!) it at that. And I've got three giant oaks next to my home. In other words, it's a losing battle no matter what I might do. I can sweep the sidewalk in front of my house one day, and at this time of year it's literally covered in acorns, leaves, spanish moss, twigs by the next morning.

Probably an arm and a leg. I suspect those billed costs are inflated numbers, because the hospital knows the insurer is only going to pay a pre-determined percentage of the billed cost. So they know if they bill for $50,000 they'll get $6,000. Problem for the patient is, the co-payments are based on the former, not the latter.

... and, I can personally attest to the fact that, in addition to being a powerful set of music, 'Vonski Speaks' has incredible curative powers, without a doubt.

Thanks MG. Although it only means I'll be annoying the hell out of you more frequently with mental gymnastics about English usage But thank you. I appreciate that. And, really, thanks to everyone for all the good vibes and well-wishes here. It made a big difference. Allen even took the time to track me down and give me a call. Thanks Allen. The rest of you bums ... eh That was the first time in my life I've had to have some kind of more-or-less major surgery and I really was a bit naive/ill-prepared about what to expect. Next time some doctor casually suggests curing me with a knife, I'm going to run for the hills.

Changing a CD takes 45 minutes. Other than that, it's no big deal.

I am, thank you. I'm pretty much back at 100%. Still having some trouble sleeping (as you may notice from occasional 4 a.m. posts here), but other than that, I feel great. One of the nice unintended side effects is I lost about 12 pounds! And I was probably close to 30 pounds overweight, so I'm feeling really good about that. Going to do my darnedest to keep the poundage off. Don't want to get too ... issue-oriented here, but just as a side note that may be of interest/amusing, (I don't believe I've mentioned this) the hospital bill to my insurance company for the surgery alone (not the surgeon, nor anesthesiologist, nor 3 days hospital stay, nor the medications, nor the home health-care visits/program, nor follow-up visits, nor visit to the emergency, nor sonogram on my leg, or any of that other stuff) was .... $52,000 (and change). I about fell on the floor when I got that invoice. (But I was close to falling on the floor at the drop of a hat anyways at that time.) Sent the co-pay off today. A tidy little $1,180. And I've got insurance. So ... there you go. But I don't give a shit about any of that. I'm just happy as a clam to be BACK!! .... pretty much. Thanks for asking.

FHP gives him a $100-something ticket and says, case closed. Our long national nightmare is over.

yep, good advice.

Pats' secondary looks a little shaky.

Couple more: Oscar Celestin, Sam Morgan -- "Recorded in New Orleans 1925 - 1928" (jazz oracle) Reuben Reeves & Omer Simeon: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order 1929-1933 (document)

Case closed!

I'll kick in. As you say, time for a donation anyways. Gotta wait till Dec. 4 though when the old credit card cycle rolls over. Went on a little bit of a spending spree this month. :blush2:

Didn't realize Neuheisel was calling timeouts at the end of the game, presumably to try and get the ball back. Still think Carroll is a dick. ... It's college! Aren't they supposed to be teaching these young men something about sportsmanship? -- (I know, naive of me, but still.) He was a dick to Sanchez after the guy declared for the draft, he's a dick for claiming a national championship that belongs to LSU, he's a dick for whining about not getting in the championship game last year and mouthing off about how USC would have beaten both Oklahoma and Florida, and he's a dick for going deep on UCLA when they obviously weren't playing defense anymore (despite the curious timeouts). I hope UCLA remembers this one next year and -- as Tomlin says -- unleashes hell on them. (I feel better now. Now where's that asshole Lane Kiffin?)

Not lately.

Sing Along with Bill Frye looks like your best bet. On a serious note, I have a pair of Klipsch RB-81 speakers that I'm very satisfied with. I listened to a variety of speakers in a listening room at the now-closed Sound Advice store here, and these were the clearest and brightest sounding by far in my price range, to my ear. In your price range, Klipsch has the B-2 speaker -- $250 on the nose. For a few extra bucks, they also have the RB-10 ($269). I can't say what either sounds like, of course. But just going by my experience with the brand and the comparison listening I did before purchase, I'm very happy with the RB-81's. You might also check out this site. There seem to be plenty listed within your price range manufactured by all the usual suspects. Maybe someone more knowledgeable is familiar with some of those listed. You can narrow your search by price range. Good luck, and if all else fails, don't forget about Bill Frye!

It is a little bit funny that the game turned on a penalty for too many men on the field -- in Canada, where they play with 12 men to begin with.

The most surprising part of this whole sordid episode is that a guy worth almost a billion dollars lives in a $2 million shack squeezed so close to his neighbor that he's forced to drive over their lawn when his wife chases him down the driveway. And he gets the lot next to the fire hydrant?

That's exactly why it would serve Tiger best if he confronted this whole thing head on, which he hasn't, and that includes his refusal to talk to the FHP. The circumstances surrounding this accident are unusual, at the very least -- running over a fire hydrant and crashing into a tree yards away from his own driveway at 2:30 in the morning; wife swinging a golf club at the vehicle; Tiger so out of it he's passing in and out of consciousness after an accident where the air bag didn't even deploy? Coupled with his refusal to talk to the police (his right, but still ...) it all adds up to one big WTF? He's a public figure. There are certain things that go along with that, one being that when something unusual like this happens, people are going to ask questions. He shouldn't be surprised that his refusal to answer them only feeds the curiosity. What do you think reporters will be asking him at his next news conference? He'll probably have some prepared statement ready similar to the one that he issued Sunday along the lines of, "It's a private matter, etc., etc.," But is it? He clearly put others at risk by his actions, he took out a fire hydrant, and FHP and EMS had to respond. I'm not sure but the road itself may very likely be county property as well. Not sure that all adds up to, "It's a private matter."

From ejp626's used CD sale here: Ornette Coleman -- "Town Hall 1962" (esp) Teddy Wilson -- "The Impeccable Mr. Wilson" Woody Herman -- "Road Band" (membran) Marion Brown Quartet (esp) And a couple from elsewhere: Teddy Wilson-- "Portrait" (documents) A 10-disc box of Wilson's '30s-'40s recordings for about $12!? Gillespie, Christian -- "After Hours" (ojc)

So if his wife moved Tiger from the car to the ground next to the vehicle, shouldn't that be a one-stroke penalty?