Comments for Cox Crow

Comment on HOA Taxes by Will

Will — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:15:10 +0000

I’ve suggested that, and/or a geothermal heat pump. We were lucky last season because our contract kept the price at $0.14 above terminal or $2.29 per gallon, whichever was less. The vendor took a beating; retail rates were around $3.50/gallon.

Comment on HOA Taxes by Larry Staton Jr.

Larry Staton Jr. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:07:07 +0000

Buy oil futures.

Comment on Borders by David

David — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:54:33 +0000

In my eyes, the main reason two people don’t get along is a fundamental difference in world views. This correlates strongly with ethnicity, and if one geographical region is heavily made up of one group, I don’t really understand why people want to keep them “unified” with another, especially if they clearly don’t get along. Sure, the country as a whole would get weaker since it would end up smaller, and I can see how the majority would be upset at losing the natural resources, etc., that they might have been able to control with a unified country, but this “nationalism” is just a selfish rationalization for dominating a neighbor that has so little in common with you to be absurd.

IMO, a government should guarantee a “right to exit” as a fundamental human right. This includes the right to emigrate, and the right for a region to exit the political system entirely, by way of secession. How differently would a government behave if it knew that its population could just leave it piecemeal?

Comment on There’s Always Hope by Rick Klau

Rick Klau — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:40:18 +0000

Curiously, I got my “Got Hope?” t-shirt for Barack today.

I hope too.

Comment on Are you now, or have you ever been, a [BLANK] by Larry Staton Jr.

Larry Staton Jr. — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:32:37 +0000

Haven’t these people ever watched Monty Python?

Comment on Lowering My Health Care Costs by Will

Will — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:16:59 +0000

Cheaper for thee, but not for me.

I’m concerned about my costs, not the costs of the company providing “insurance.” My time is expensive. In this case, i didn’t select the company; my employer did. I’m not their customer; my employer is. They have absolutely no incentive at all to ensure my satisfaction.

On the other hand, the Mid-Hudson Medical Group does. I’m their patient. But their voice mail jail rivals that of AT&T. One gets the impression that they don’t want you to schedule an appointment, and don’t really think that it could be an emergency. Unfortunately their competition was just as bad.

At the Associated Press, incoming calls were handled by people. But there was no pool of staff sitting waiting for incoming calls. The AP had receptionists. They answered the phones too. The AP had reporters. They answered the phones too. On some days, you even Lou Boccardi answered the phone.

At 911, people answer the phone. It’s a matter of life or death.

Comment on Fiat by David Nesting

David Nesting — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:54:01 +0000

If my new employer has changed one thing about me, it’s my new focus on data. Most intelligent people can see through statements like that. Give me a candidate that can lay all of the data out on the table, admit margins of error, and make it apparent that they know what a logical fallacy is, and I cannot imagine they could ever possibly lose. This just reinforces the fact that people don’t care about the right thing, they just care about the thing that makes them “feel” best. Statements like this appeal to emotions, and that’s what wins elections. All a necessary evil, I suppose, for a working democracy, but I often wonder if data will ever have a place in human government.

Comment on Lowering My Health Care Costs by David Nesting

David Nesting — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:46:05 +0000

So you want to lower (apparent) costs by making it more expensive to take calls? Even if you spend 5 hours on the line trying to think of ways of strangling the machine on the other end, it’s still probably cheaper than sending the call to a human that knows what they’re doing. Especially if you give up, because if they can wear you down so that you give up trying, then clearly you didn’t need to talk to them in the first place.

Spin it another way: How much would you pay, out of your own pocket, to guarantee that your call was promptly answered by a clueful human being? I sense a business plan brewing…

Comment on Hmm by Rick Klau

Rick Klau — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:13:54 +0000

Not *all* of them. Just the good ones.

Comment on A Golf Course in the Mojave? by Larry Staton Jr.

Larry Staton Jr. — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:32:02 +0000

Maybe you should ask the people in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.