OK, here is what is going down. I have a gig/vacation coming up next week with zero Internet access from Monday on to next Sunday. I’ll try to get a post out Monday before getting packed, and I’ll be loading up early Tuesday for an extended camping trip. While I’m at the camp out I will be helping man a vending booth that will pay for my trip there. I will also be using Francis/es to demonstrate how a fleet of cargo bikes can replace a fleet of aging golf carts for moving “stuff” around 100 acres of camp grounds. I would like to also have a passenger box bike/trike to show how they can move people and cargo, but since my intentions were strictly cargo when I bought Francis/es I bought the cargo-only bed.
Good News! Thanks to the ACA (AKA Obamacare) I now have a BCBS insurance card in my wallet, and Mrs. the Poet has a nearly identical one with her name added as co-insured in her wallet. The difference in costs and coverage between the policy she had through her job and what I got both of us via the ACA is astounding. First Mrs. the Poet’s insurance, which had a $2K deductible and OOP and moderate levels of coverage that cost her $70/month after the payment from her employer. Now the ACA policy, which has a deductible and OOP of $500 per person, has many more treatments covered, and will cost me $17/month after subsidy. This policy did not exist prior to March 1 (that they are telling me) and was created as a reaction to the number of people that Gov. Goodhair dumped in the ditch when he rejected expanding Medicaid for TX. The fact that so many people are qualified for the expanded Medicaid and didn’t get it says something about wages and employment in TX. As in both of them pretty much suck especially if you have a less-than-perfect job history.
Since the Sprint Cup race was on last night while my Warlock was wreaking havoc on nasty plant creatures in an overgrown temperate rain forest, I have been watching the Indy Car race from Long Beach, and the NHRA Four Wide Nationals from Charlotte NC. The Indy Car race was pretty much a case of follow the leader except for a rare pass in the turns that didn’t result in a wreck, but those wrecks determined the outcome of the race, except for Scott Dixon running out of E85 three laps from the finish. Congrats to Ed Carpenter racing for getting the win with their street race/road course ringer from the World Endurance Championship over in Europe.
In other news, here’s the mayor of Dallas examining Francis/es.
The weather for this event and photo shoot was great, today’s is not so great. I walked to church from the transit station in a light rain, and back from the store sprinkling and windy. All that means is it is spring in North Texas. We have been switching back and forth between heat and AC at least three times in the last 4 weeks, but now we are pretty much set on either AC or nothing. The big thing that causes the AC to come on is running the dryer after doing the laundry, because that makes the inside humidity go way up and get way uncomfortable for Mrs. the Poet.
The broadcast for the drag race is still going on, but I’m cutting the post here because I don’t have anything else to say.
PSA, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 