INSURANCE KERFUFFLE HODGEPODGE!

     Good morning everyone! I hope that you are all well. I hope that your new year is going well, also. 
     The change of the new year brought with it a change in helth insurance for my beloved SWMBO and I. With the change in health insurance came the usual adjustments to the usual change in policies and procedures of the new company. In a word...UUGHH!
     The good news is another Wednesday is upon us and therefore another Wednesday Hodgepodge. Take a break from your week and relax as you enjoy the Hodgepodge. 

1. What keeps you blogging?
     There are acouple of reasons why I blog. One is that I enjoy crafting sentences trying to express my thoughts as precisely as possible. I also have some fairly strong opinions and enjoy giving voice to them through the written word. Last, and by no means least, I have enjoyed getting to know my fellow bloggers through the Wednesday Hodgepodge. I relish the diversity of opinions and personal experiences that have been shared through the Hodgepodge.

2. Some people like to travel in the winter months. Do you enjoy the beach in winter? According to Southern Living the best U.S. beach towns to visit this winter are-

St Simons Island (Georgia), Hilton Head (South Carolina), Bald Head Island (North Carolina), Seaside (Florida), Bay St. Louis (Mississippi), Cape San Blas (Florida), South Padre Island (Texas), Folly Beach (South Carolina), Chincoteague (Virginia), Duck Key (Florida), Nags Head (North Carolina), and Fairhope (Alabama)

Have you been to any of the towns listed (in any season)? Which on the list appeals to you most this winter? 
     SWMBO and I do not do a lot of traveling at any time of the year. I'm sure that visiting a warm water beach during the dead of winter would be a nice break from the deep freeze. 
     We have not visited any of the beaches mentioned...ever. We would like to at some point.

3. What's a song you're embarrassed to know all the lyrics to? Are you really embarrassed or do just think you should be?
     I do not think that I am embarrassed to know the lyrics to any song. I cannot think of a reason why I should or would be. I enjoy music from artists that some people think are not "cool." A few examples are Air Supply, Barry Manilow, and Celine Dion. I am not embarrassed about it. I just like what I like and I am the sole arbiter of what is cool, that is, what is cool to me.

4. When you were a kid what's something you thought would be fantastic as an adult, but now that you're an adult you realize it's not all that fantastic?
     When I was a child I thought that being the master of my own destiny would be fantastic. I thought having the freedom to come and go as I like, to eat what I like, to not eat what I don't like and to stay up as late as I want would be fantastic. Then I grew up and found out too late that adulthood is a trap and that there is no escape from it.

5. Share a quote you hope will inspire you in 2018.
     "Knowing is not enough; We must apply. Wishing is not enough; We must do."  Possessing knowledge is a good thing. Wisdom is knowing how to apply that knowledge. Furthermore, we must engage, we must do, if we are to accomplish anything. The curse of procrastination is that it puts off "doing" and nothing gets done as a result. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.
     President Trump inartfully expressed the opinion that the United States should admit people to the country who have skills that will enhance our country and to not admit people who are essentially unskilled and who would become a burden to this country. He was advocating for changing to a merit system to obtain entry to our country rather than a quota system where we admit a predetermined number of people from a given country.
     I agree with the President that there are countries that are less desirable then others. Case in point, remember all the celebrities who promised to leave the United States and move to another country if Donald Trump was elected. Not one of the celebrities chose a country to flee to whose citizens don't have access to a quality education and are forced, through no fault of their own, to live in squalor.  The Presidents choice of words, although crude and profane, were accurate. 
     Facts are troublesome things. One fact, the president was not denigrating any people. He was describing the conditions under which they are forced to live.