Thursday, September 24, 2009

B to B

Or Blonde....



to Brunette...



Change is good.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Late summer knitting

Hurrah for late summer and early fall!

I have been a happily knitting girl in the past month - starting a new project called Traveling Woman Shawl or Kelleys Island Traveller (since I worked on the majority of it there while on vacation). I love the small shawls all over Ravelry and this one was free, simple and a great way to show off the yarn.



Ahhh, the yarn.
Let's contemplate the yarn for a moment, shall we...

I bought the yarn - Malabrigo sock yarn - without a project in mind (this was also before I fell prey to buying yarn for the sake of schmooshy and pretty.) And the colors remind me of Lake Erie right before a storm... but it also brings to mind those lovely faded hydrangeas you see in September.


The work in progress...


I also finished my albatross - a scarf I knitted up for a friend with his logo. It was wide, so it needed to be long - I began it in March and grew it over summer - finally harvesting in September for the cool days ahead.


And I finished a middy sweater for the wee man - he wore it on the sunset ride we chartered around Kelleys. He's become terribly charming in the past few months - which just makes me want to knit him more and more and more cozy things to snuggle up with.
I fear he will develop an aversion to wool! (There's always silk and cotton - heh.)



I am currently re-working the sleeves on the honeycomb sweater, and I just began some hats for my college roommate's children (very colorful and stripey - will share soon) and I realized my Noro should be a sweater, not a Clapotis, so I need to buy some navy worsted to bring out the pinks and greens and pale blues of that colorway... pics and updates to come!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

no one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick

This is what is flying around Facebook today.
I'm glad, because this is what the health care reform is all about.

I was without health insurance for 2 years.
I had a catastrophic plan, but I'm sure it was bunk - but it provided something at a time when, according to my Social Security statement, I was earning just over 125% of poverty.

I was free-lancing for a number of companies in the area - many requiring travel and all requiring a high level of physical ability: climbing 60' up scaffolding, using sand-blasters, that kind of thing.

I was thrilled when I was accepted for my masters program, because it meant I could go to the doctor again.

In those 2 years without insurance, I relied on Planned Parenthood for Ob/Gyn - they had a sliding scale - and the one time I had an ear infection, it cost $150 to go to urgent care. My health care was home-remedy websites, colloidal silver, hydrogen peroxide, a healthy dose of denial and generic neosporin - often pilfered from the first-aid kits of the places I worked.

But 2 months before I was to start school, I had a problem - on a job - in another state. My boss made me go to the hospital despite my stance that I had no insurance. It was something internal and they wanted me to have a scan. I argued with the doctor for 30 minutes about this, since I knew the cost would be debilitating, especially as I was preparing to make even less as a student.

I couldn't leave the hospital - the pain was too much - so I had the scan - luckily it was minor and I got out of there before they could even think of admitting me.

When I got home, the bills had already started - that 7 hour span of time was billed as $10,000.

That was a few thousand less than what I was making after taxes free-lancing during an economic slump.

Then I noticed that the hospital was Catholic, so I researched what it would take to get a reprieve.

Turns out, I qualified.

So I filled out the application, and explained my situation, including that I was about to start a degree in non-profit management.

The nuns... well they accepted it and my bills were forgiven.
Except for the cost of the scan - I would pay the $4,000 for the scan and its reading until a year after I finished my masters.

When I have a few extra dollars, I write a check to that hospital for the kindness they showed me - always hoping that one day we could see past our fears of change and find a new way to offer health care, because no one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick.