It's been a week of rescheduled appointments, a cleaning woman who wants to show up whenever she wants to, and a couple of jaw-dropping letters in the mail. My appointment with the vascular surgeon had to be rescheduled, and so did one of Denis's. In Denis's case, it sounds as though the doctor has decided that surgery is needed to repair the loose screw in the metalwork holding his spine together. Not exactly what we wanted to hear, but I have to admit that we were expecting it.
The jaw-dropping letters were from an insurance company informing us that, on August 1, our premiums would be going up. For Denis, his monthly premium would increase from $82 to $654. (No, I didn't miss a decimal point.) My monthly premium would increase from $43 to $379. For once, the decision was easy: cancel the policies, so we've been dealing with the paperwork for that. I'm still trying to figure out that tremendous jump in the prices!
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| The heat is on. Shade is at a premium! |
Some of you may have heard about our part of the country being under a heat dome. Nothing new about that. Denis and I are keeping cool indoors and only braving the heat for those lovely doctor appointments.
I'd also like to take a moment to thank a friend for sending me some mail even though one part was a duplicate.
Stay cool an enjoy the links!
►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
- Not lost in a book. Why the "decline by 9" in kids pleasure reading is getting more pronounced year after year.
- Monica Wood on why she organizes books by emotion. (My opinion? They're her books. She can organize them any way she wants. However, she'd better not walk into my house and try to do the same thing with my books!)
- Watch the trailer for Firebrand, a new drama about Henry VIII's sixth wife, Catherine Parr.
- Bring back the book jacket photo.
- Spellbinding cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone could break an auction record.
- Some thoughts on the world of publishing today.
- The traditional craft of bookbinding has been rejuvenated for the TikTok age.
- Why oversized collars were so fashionable in the Elizabethan Age.
►Book Banning & Censorship◄
- Book as Enemy.
- Critics call updated training for public school librarians on book challenges confusing.
- Conservative book ban activists have targeted Rio Grande Valley (Texas) school districts. More from myRGV.
- A June hearing has been set in the case of Norman (Oklahoma) teacher who became a target of Ryan Walters' criticism.
- Six people were abruptly fired from their library positions in Baldwin County (Alabama).
- The Louisiana Legislature has passed a "Don't Say Gay or Trans" bill.
- Senators in Louisiana have revived at-will dismissal of library board members.
- The Berkshire Hills (Massachusetts) Regional School District's independent investigation of the Gender Queer incident cost the school district over $39,000.
- The Shreve (Louisiana) Memorial Library is launching content-restricted library cards for minors.
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
- This Roman-Era ship was carrying jugs full of fish sauce when it sank 1,700 years ago.
- A Canaletto masterpiece stowed in a mine during World War II returns to Wales.
- A 1,900-year-old Roman legionary fortress has been unearthed next to a UK cathedral.
- Why did the ancient Illyrians place helmets in their burial mounds?
- An English family found more than a thousand 17th-century coins during a home renovation.
- The ruins of a 1,600-year-old pearling city has been discovered on an island near Dubai.
- A man found a cache of more than 700 rare gold and silver coins from the Civil War Era in a Kentucky cornfield.
- Medieval treasure belonging to a legendary scammer has been discovered in the mountains of Poland.
►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄
- More than 1,000 sea lions gathered at San Francisco's Pier 39-- the largest group in 15 years.
- A study has found that bumblebee nests may be overheating with the rising global temperatures.
- How a fantastical labyrinth became a crucial habitat for Europe's bats.
- How wolves silently communicate to solve puzzles.
- Watch an incredible Livestream of a fledgling Peregrine falcon family nesting on Alcatraz Island.
- Seven of the weirdest bird calls.
- Belugas may communicate by changing the shape of their squishy foreheads.
- How do elephants say hello?
►The Wanderer◄
- Seven of the most beautiful roads in the United States.
- Harvey Houses: serving the West. (Fascinating history, fascinating places.)
- Fire-scarred redwoods are rebounding by sprouting 1,000-year-old buds.
- The supermarket scanner changed the way we buy groceries forever.
- Has the mystery of the Mona Lisa background been solved?
- Crime and the City: Adelaide and South Australia.
- The Institute of Museum and Library Services selects the 2024 winners for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. Why do I bring this up? Because, of the ten winners, two are in Arizona, and I've been to both several times!
- The worst town names in America-- and other useless maps.
►Fascinating Folk◄
- Tennis icon Venus Williams scores her own Barbie doll.
- Why Harlan Coben decided now was the time to bring back a beloved character.
- Caleb Carr, military historian and author of The Alienist has died at the age of 68.
- When Judith Jones brought Sylvia Plath and Julia Child to American bookshelves.
- Finding Lucretia Howe Newman Coleman.
- Bette Nash, the longest-serving flight attendant in the world, has died at the age of 88.
- Alfred L. Cralle, the Black businessman who invented a better way to scoop ice cream.
- Ronald Reagan's library legacy.
►I ♥ Lists◄
- Exploring diverse representation of women in historical mysteries.
- Fourteen new books with older protagonists.
- Fourteen books set in Maine.
- Seven mystery series set in Dublin.
- Eight of the best mystery shows on Paramount Plus.
- CNN's beach read list.
- BookBub's guide to 2024's best beach reads.
- Ten puzzling mysteries for fans of Wordle.
That's
all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be
sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.
I can't even get past that sentence about your and Denis's health care premiums skyrocketing. Can't you both get Medicare? It has no premium for Part A and then about $175 for Part B, and then a Medigap has a set rate, which goes up annually but nothing like the price hikes you two are facing. It's outrageous. Are they legally allowed to do that? Sounds like some phone calls are called for. Yikes. I'm ao annoyed I can't even read the links yet. I can see it now: Ms. Cole vs.Big Health Care. I know you'll work on this with gusto. I can't even say anything else except best wishes on both of your health and wish you victory with the insurance.
ReplyDeleteI can see from these comments that I should have specified that the raise in premiums was in a LIFE INSURANCE policy, not our healthcare insurance, which is just fine. We already had life insurance policies, so it was an easy decision to cancel these due to the ridiculous price hikes.
DeleteWhew. Am I glad to read that. So now I can read the links.
DeleteBut still, how dare those companies selling life insurance policies raise the premiums that high? Is there no regulation? I hope they hear how terrible this is. Then again, maybe one's blood pressure shouldn't skyrocket.
DeleteI'm thinking that it must be something like a tax write-off because a representative from the insurance company contacted us just as we were about to call them. I think people are cancelling their policies right and left-- which must be the reaction they expected, hence my idea of tax write-off.
DeleteGlad to hear you and Denis are surviving the heat, Cathy. As for your insurance premiums? It's happening all over and it really is awful. I don't blame you one bit at all for cancelling your police. Please, don't get me started on the US healthcare system. Just...don't. In the meantime, I'm heading to check out that ancient pearling city!
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't intend to start anyone off on our healthcare system!
DeleteThat's horrible that your insurance premiums went up like that. I hate trying to find insurance you can afford that actually pays for anything. Good luck in your search! And stay cool this weekend. :D
ReplyDeleteThese life insurance policies were "extras" so no search for new ones is needed. :-)
DeleteMore sympathy from me concerning your insurance - good grief!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, when it comes to organizing books, I can't fathom doing it by emotion - some books involve too many for that to work for me. (My shelves are fiction or non-, but alpha by author in either case. The TBR shelves in my room are not alphabetized, but the stacks there are still either nonfiction or novels.)
And Dana Stabenow has mentioned in a couple of recent newsletters that she's looking into the Harvey girls as potential material for a book or two :)
I think it's the former librarian in me that there is no way on Earth that I would ever shelve my books by emotion, but if it works for someone else...go for it.
DeleteI have been fascinated with the history of the Harvey Girls for years, so that's excellent news about Stabenow.
What's going on with insurance this year is just outrageous. I hate to hear that for you guys and hope you find a good alternative at a decent rate. For us, it wasn't so much the health insurance that skyrocketed. It's the house and auto policies, especially the auto policy. Here in Harris County, TX, the number of companies willing to write home insurance at any price is down to just a handful. Our massive hurricane and flood losses of the last 15 years have crushed us. And the car insurance folks seem to have just gone nuts. Good luck on Denis's surgery if it comes to that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sam.
Delete