NPR Valentines, Pretty Much The Best Thing Ever.

Thank you NPR.

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NPR Randomments

I’ve been back in the news loop lately listening to WBFO on my way into work in the morning. Been wanting to post a few stories for a while and never got around to it…until now. Lucky you.

South Carolina Tea Partiers Wish Romney Would Just Go Away – Well, I think South Carolina Tea Partiers should just go away. And I’m not even a fan of the anointed one from long ago.

Why A Teen Who Talks Back May Have A Bright Future – No wonder I’m such a bright one.

Study: Weight-Loss Surgery Can Cut Deaths From Heart Attacks, Strokes – Big sigh. I’m morbidly obese. And I’m completely against surgery for personal weight loss. (And so is my doctor.) I need to change my lifestyle if I want to live…eat healthier and exercise. Especially when thinking about having children. Longer post on this in my head…

No, The School Nurse Is Not In – this story made me mad. What is more important than our children’s health and education? How many children already have inadequate health care, now school nurses aren’t there either? Our country has F-ed up priorities.

FOR EXAMPLE – Are You Being Paid $600,000 To Party?

2011 Put Chrysler Back In The Fast Lane – Who are all these people buying brand new cars when all I see around me is From Boom To Bust: The Year In Unemployment

The Tuesday Morning after a Long 3 Day Weekend

I think the Tuesday Morning after a Long 3 Day Weekend is worse than any possible Monday. Why? Why ask why, it just is. Can I stay under the covers please?

NOW add in the All Things Grump Factors.

WBFO woke me up on this lovely Tuesday Morning after a Long 3 Day Weekend with the following news stories.

1. Blah, blah, blah…weather…blah…HIGH 90 DEGREES!

Heat, Haze, Humidity. Three of my least favourite words. And to think the heat was on last week. Whatever happened to SPRING? This Winter Cold Weather girl needs a transitional season to make it more bearable.

2. Blah, blah, blah…TOO OLD TO HAVE BABIES…TOO POOR ANYHOW!

Thank you Morning Edition for this lovely wake-up call reminder. (Literally.) Ugh.

Egg Freezing Puts The Biological Clock On Hold

By the time a woman hits her 40s, 90 percent of her eggs are abnormal. The chances of a typical 40-year-old getting pregnant in any given month? Ten percent.

One 40-year-old says she wishes she’d learned about egg freezing earlier. Esther Montoro, a 37-year-old photographer, looks a little stunned. “I think it’s fantastic,” she says, “but I think it’s so incredibly expensive.” The whole process — a week of hormones, plus the procedure to collect the eggs — runs $12,000 to $14,000. And because it takes 10 to 20 eggs for a reasonable shot at success, some may need to do this several times. Plus, there are annual storage fees. Then, when you’re ready to use your eggs, you’ll need in vitro fertilization, another pricey procedure. All told, costs can easily exceed $40,000, money Montoro doesn’t have.

Best Valentine Ever!

NPR Rap

Cheers to Gabe for sharing this link on FB!

SEDDIG groupies revolt!

Ah! NPR is a big fat tease! They can’t post a link to “Are You A Constitutional Scholar? Here’s A Test” and then not have the quiz show up online?

UPDATE: Quiz online. 5/5 without even thinking.

WBFO- ALL NEWS!

I’m SUCH a nerd. When I just read this email I went out loud “ooooooh!”

And realized I was excited about an all news NPR format, yes people this is me.

Dear WBFO friends,

On February 1st, we’re coming out with some significant changes for the region’s NPR station.  For the first time in our 50-year history, WBFO, 88.7FM will be offering a complete daytime schedule of NPR news and information programs from morning until evening. For quite a while, listeners like you have asked us for more of the shows that you’re passionate about, and we’ve heard you.

Call me crazy…

But when I heard this story coming home from work on NPR I thought twice about my habit of listening to NPR.

Unemployed Without Benefits: A Couple’s Struggle

Let’s pretend all you know about the story is this headline. Would you presume the story would involve a woman who was used to making $80-$100K a YEAR who is married to someone who RETIRED AT 60? And pays $1500 per month out of pocket for health insurance.

Um, yeah.

Boo fucking hoo.

Really NPR? Let me show you the plight of people who are unemployed without benefits.

I’m not shocked, but saddened that THIS is the couple they chose to profile.

Yeah, I’m not done.

“The largest group of people that do not qualify for unemployment insurance are the nontraditional employees,” says Howard Rosen, a labor market expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He says millions who are not full-time, permanent employees are out of luck.

A growing number of people who are consultants, self-employed, temporary employees, part-time employees — a whole plethora of different kinds of arrangements — are not currently eligible for assistance, Rosen says.

RIGHT. Like waitresses/waiters/bartenders, home health care aids, PT clerks at a grocery store, date entry temp workers.

No, not in this story in this story they choose to feature…

Among this group are Barbara and Gary Ratner. Gary Ratner completed a doctorate in biochemistry from Emory University. Barbara Ratner has been a self-employed architectural illustrator since 1990, when she was laid off from a company in Atlanta.

“And I actually never had to worry about work,” Barbara Ratner says. “The phone just kept ringing. It was — it was like magic.”

She had so much work when she was laid off, she didn’t apply for unemployment benefits. Now, because she’s self-employed, she doesn’t qualify for them.

Um. Yeah. Wait, it does get better.

“I’m beginning to identify with the frog in the pan of water where someone turned the heat up and it took me a while to realize that yes, this isn’t like it has been before — and I don’t know where it’s going,” she says.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Um, let me tell you a story or twenty my friend about what a frog in a pan of water really feels like.

The Ratners have already pulled nearly $10,000 from their retirement account. They are cutting back where they can — eliminating a phone line and canceling memberships to civic groups. Gary Ratner decided to retire late last year. And because they’re in their 60s and do not have a group health plan, the couple pays $1,500 a month for health insurance.

How they chose to profile a family who chooses to eliminated memberships to civic groups instead of choosing NOT TO PAY THEIR ELECTRIC BILL for a month, is seriously beyond me.Um, how many Americans who are unemployed don’t even have ANY KIND of a retirement account.

I’m not suggesting that this isn’t a difficult transition for this couple. But come freaking on NPR, let’s welcome ourselves into the REAL world for a change.

I’m embarassed to be a faithful listener after hearing this story.

Gary Ratner is hoping to get a biochemistry fellowship, while his wife continues to look for work. And both hope that President-elect Barack Obama’s economic plan will create new jobs and ultimately turn the economy around.

Thank God for President Obama who will save them.

For shame, NPR. For shame.

NPR induced dream…

I had a dream last night that I took a pregnancy test and I was PISSED OFF that I read it wrong, it gave me two LINES instead of a PLUS mark so I assumed I was NOT PREGNANT. I guess the plus mark was supposed to mean pregnant? And a line meant that I wasn’t so I thought I wasn’t, but I was…and I was soooo upset. AND NOT READY! AND FREAKING OUT!

And then the dream fast forwarded to me having twins. (Two lines? Get it. ) Named Ella and Sam.

I woke up, turned around to Mark and asked him if he liked the name Sam.I’ve tossed about the name Ella before, so that part didn’t seem odd. The anger part seemed very real though…real and scary, I’m obviously nowhere near a baby mood lately!

I put this little ditty up on Twitter and I got this as a response.

kateanon @allthingsjen did you have a tomato before you went to bed – ended up with Sam and Ella…?

And then this on Facebook.

Lisa Baker (IUP) wrote
at 10:56am

Sam and Ella?? Salmonella! It must be the tomatoes…

DUH!!!! OF COURSE! I was terribly groggy this morning when the alarm went off and was playing the news on NPR! Sam AND Ella. I’m still cracking my dream self up thinking about it.

I would LOVE to meet Carl Kasell!!!

Mark your calendar for May 9th because you and all your friends are invited to WBFO’s second annual Wine Tasting with NPR’s Carl Kasell! Some of the region’s best wineries will be there to share their fine vintage with you. Last year’s event was a huge hit, so you don’t want to miss out! Tickets are $30 for WBFO members and $45 for non-members. Click here to purchase your tickets. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the door.

I mean if I can’t get his voice on my home answering machine perhaps I can get a picture of us together and smiling and put it next to our home answering machine. Yahoo!!!

But there’s no way in hell I’m leaving my house on Friday after the long week (and weekend) I have ahead of me. Oh and it costs $90 for the two of us, which is a bit out of our budget.

WAIT, WAIT I WONDER IF I BREAK INTO THE WINE JAR OF CHANGE TO SEE IF WE’VE COLLECTED $90!!!

At the beginning of the year, I decided Mark and I would put all our change in this big ol’ jug and whatever $$ we collect would go towards fancy schmacny dining out dinners since we NEVER go out for $100 dinners. And really, there are quite a few restaurants I hear wonderful things about and would like to go to but never can. We have no idea what happens to all our change, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to gather up some $$$ without feeling it in the pocketbook. $40 at the laundromat? Only use $30? The $10 goes in the jar. Presto. And Mark’s buddy Paul (while very drunk) donated $20 to our cause on Mark’s bday. I bet…

Hmmmm.

I bet…

No, tired. I will be EXHAUSTED. And that $ is to be used for fancy dinner not wine tasting with Carl Kasell.

Right?

Someone should be talking me out of this, I emptied the jar and we are at a little over $60.