Silly resistor values

Spehro Pefhany · Jul 21, 2009

Yep. I have a client in Adelaide, and a potential client in Auckland.

...Jim Thompson

Nice to see it's cooled down a bit in Phoenix. 115 F or whatever it
was a few days ago looked just a *bit* hot (I'll be down next week).

Jim Thompson · Jul 21, 2009

Nice to see it's cooled down a bit in Phoenix. 115 F or whatever it
was a few days ago looked just a *bit* hot (I'll be down next week).

T-storm (annual rainfall) time. 115°F yesterday, currently only 82°F,
but MUGGY, more T-storms predicted this afternoon :-(

Will you have time to sip a few ?

Jim Thompson · Jul 21, 2009

Did any of your former employers offer on-going health insurance after you
left?

I ask because my stepfather, who retired a few years ago, still gets health
insurance through his old employer (it's dirt cheap too -- <$100/mo), which
surprised me in that -- other than COBRA -- I've never had that option with
former employers.

---Joel

I only had COBRA options which, when I was young, I could easily beat
by shopping around.

Before "retirement", I was at over $800/month premium, $5K deductible,
for catastrophic ONLY... no coverage for "ordinary" doctor visits,
etc.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice

Rich Grise · Jul 21, 2009

Business users tend to register their SW. They have to, for support
reasons alone. My clients do, my employers did, I do.

The guy that lent me the software I use at work swore that the guy who
lent it to him had a full license. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

krw · Jul 21, 2009

Obama likes to claim differently (that private heatlh care plans will still be
around), but it does seem that the actual wording of some of the legislation
attempts to remove a lot of "choice," at least long-term as private insurers
slowly die off.

Valid point, although a lot of people don't have quite that flexibility -- if
you're a relatively low-skilled worker, and have some chronic disease (aka,
"pre-existing condition"), it can be nearly impossible to find another job
where your condition will be covered. A government-run system will at least
address that problem (even though, yes, it will surely create plenty of new
ones in its place too).

Employment is not conditional on "your condition". "Pre-existing
conditions" _are_ covered, as long as you have continuous insurance
coverage. If not, there is a period where they aren't covered
(1-year). I've been going through this for my wife now (Blue cross of
MS doesn't talk to BC of AL).

I suppose that if one doesn't like the impending U.S. health care system they
could try to move to Canada, the U.K., or Oz?

I do believe they're a little stricter with aliens than we are.

Personally I'm willing to take a "wait and see" attitude with the Obama plan.

There is no "wait and see". Once you wait, it's too late. GOing back
is almost impossible. We still have the hangover from the New Deal.

It is insanely expensive, it will create plenty of new problems, it won't work
for everyone... but it just might fix more problems overall than it causes,
and possibly even do so at a lower overall cost per capita than what we're
spending now. I'm not at all completely confident about this, though -- feel
free to tell me, "I told you so" in a couple of years...

When we're all destitute, you can tell yourself that.

krw · Jul 21, 2009

Did any of your former employers offer on-going health insurance after you
left?

I ask because my stepfather, who retired a few years ago, still gets health
insurance through his old employer (it's dirt cheap too -- <$100/mo), which
surprised me in that -- other than COBRA -- I've never had that option with
former employers.

As part of a retirement package, sure. This was relatively common and
indeed is part of the UAW's death sentence to the auto industry. I
have insurance as part of my retirement too, but it's not that cheap,
particularly for family members. It was cheaper to go with my current
employer.

Joerg · Jul 21, 2009

Joel said:
Sure, but if your current insurer says something isn't covered, how many
people *really* have the option to go off and find a different insurance plan?
Of those who are in employer-provided plans, I'd say very, very few.

Those of you who are self-employed clearly do have more options here...

Not really. We have Kaiser and that even limits you to one particular
doctor.

although my understanding is that you tend to end up paying even more for a
given level of coverage than what most employers would be paying.

Oh yeah, tons of money plus super-high deductible ($2700/person in our
case).

At some point we also have to acknowledge that there's only so much money to
go around and in trying to determine what's covered and what isn't we need to
look at what provides the most bang for the buck: It doesn't make sense to
spend, say, $10k on a procedure for 1 person where there's only, say, a 20%
chance of success when you could perform 10 $1k procedures with, say, 90%
success rates.

The most disturbing part of the Obama health care plan is the purposed desire
to limit alternative insurance; that doesn't make any sense, and in other
countries there are systems where private and government-run insurance
peacefully co-exist.

That is quite disturbing. I haven't heard what they want to do re HSA
accounts. The Bush administration did really great to put those into place.

But are they just trying to save money? Or certain procedures just aren't
available in Europe?

Both. Sometimes stuff isn't covered and they go there because it's
cheaper. Other times a procedure hasn't gotten blessing yet so they go
somewhere else, especially cancer patients who don't have a lot of time
to wait.

krw · Jul 22, 2009

Sure, but if your current insurer says something isn't covered, how many
people *really* have the option to go off and find a different insurance plan?
Of those who are in employer-provided plans, I'd say very, very few.

Many employer offer several plans. You're always free to buy you own.
Of course you might have to give up the 50" plasma TV, but...

Those of you who are self-employed clearly do have more options here...
although my understanding is that you tend to end up paying even more for a
given level of coverage than what most employers would be paying.

That's where the system can easily be fixed. *Allow* insurance
companies to pool people who don't have a "common interest". This is
currently forbidden in most (all) states. Also allow high deductibles
(currently forbidden in many states) to go along with HSAs. Give
people an incentive to buy insurance by letting some stupid ones lose
their SUVs.

At some point we also have to acknowledge that there's only so much money to
go around and in trying to determine what's covered and what isn't we need to
look at what provides the most bang for the buck: It doesn't make sense to
spend, say, $10k on a procedure for 1 person where there's only, say, a 20%
chance of success when you could perform 10 $1k procedures with, say, 90%
success rates.

Ah, so the federal government should just tell people to shut up and
die, already. Why shouldn't that person, with the "only" 20% chance
of living decide for himself what his life is worth? If you really
believe what yo wrote above, you and Obama belong together. I just
hope your wife, or daughter, doesn't get breast cancer.

The most disturbing part of the Obama health care plan is the purposed desire
to limit alternative insurance; that doesn't make any sense, and in other
countries there are systems where private and government-run insurance
peacefully co-exist.

Obama doesn't want health care. He wants "equality". Once you get
your arms around that concept you see what he's all about. He wants
to distribute misery equally.

krw · Jul 22, 2009

You're an idiot.

No, DimBulb, but you're AlwaysWrong.

And dopes like you are to blame for it.

How *do* you do it, AlwaysWrong?

krw · Jul 22, 2009

Well, Jawjah is really close to where you live

Yep, less than thirty miles. The Atlanta airport is 100mi from my
house. I don't got no JawJuh accent, though. I'm a carpetbagger. ;-)

Personally, I wouldn't buy anything from MS that needs support. Only the
mundane stuff.

The problem with M$ crap is that it always needs support, but support
is beyond possibility.

Jim Thompson · Jul 22, 2009

Hi Keith,

The man's net worth is something like $7M, which -- while far below that of
many previous presidents -- is certainly well above average in this country.
So apparently he doesn't want *eveyrone* to be quite that equal...

---Joel

krw · Jul 22, 2009

Hi Keith,

OK, but those "relatively low-skilled workers" often don't have continuous
coverage; penalizing them for that seems wrong to me.

Those "relatively low-skilled workers" need to get more skills.
Showing up for work when they're required to is one of the skills they
need.

It (the waiting period) varies with the particular insurance provider, doesn't
it?

No. I suppose some could be less, some nonexistent.

Yeah, it can take years.

OK, but at least at engineering companies, I'd be surprised if many of them
dropped their own health care plans in the next couple of years.

I wouldn't. Why would they bother with insurance if they can "buy"
the "government option" cheaper? That's not really the point though.
Once the "government option" is there, it *will* crowd out all others.
That's precisely how it's designed.

Nah, it won't get that bad. We just might not maintain our status as the
country with the highest standard of living anymore... :-(

It *will* get that bad. That's the design. Listen!

krw · Jul 22, 2009

Hi Keith,

I've yet to have one like that... although I have had a few where there
weren't *any* offered.

My PPOE had at least six different options, one of which was an HSA.
My current employer has only one; not too bad, but nothing to brag
about. In reality, it's what insurance should be, or better.

Given that we currently pay twice what other countries do for our health care,
I'm not too worried about the TV just yet...

We will be paying four times. Note that we're paying what other
countries pay for their entire population just to cover those with
Medicare, Medicaid, and the military. Medicare doesn't even pay the
entire bill for those with Medicare. Just how is covering *everyone*
with government insurance going to be cheaper than covering 1/3?

I agree with your suggestions regarding pooling individuals and high
deductible/HSA plans.

That's what insurance should be.

Not entirely, but the idea is that you need to weight your spending towards
what actually works.

"Your" or "our". There is a *big* difference. I prefer government
bureaucrats not have the power of life and death over me.

As cold as it may be, in a group of 10 it's better to
let 1 person die because a procedure to save him would cost $10k than to allow

Ah, the "greater good" fallacy. You really are a commie.

9 people to die when procedures to save *them* would be $1k/ea. In actuality
it's of course a lot more complex than this, but the point is that when it
comes to deciding how to spend limited resources, emphasis needs to be put on
trying to do the most good possible under the basic assumption that -- from
the government's perspective -- no citizen is any more or less valuable than
any other.

I suppose everyone should live in the same house, drive the same car,
and eat the same food, too. Welcome to the USSR (where the
bureaucrats are more equal than the non-).

He can, I'm just talking about government health care plans here; I'm all for
people buying additional insurance on top of the "basic" care the government
would be providing. I'm against provisions of any proposed government health
care plan that would try to actively put such supplemental insurance providers
out of business.

That's what you're going to get!

The man's net worth is something like $7M, which -- while far below that of
many previous presidents -- is certainly well above average in this country.
So apparently he doesn't want *eveyrone* to be quite that equal...

Of course not. He has already said that he would not have the same
medical coverage as he would have for you and I. You don't think
congress is going to have the plan dictated for the rest of us? Wake
up!

Jim Thompson · Jul 22, 2009

Hi Keith,

Because the private insurance option will have better benefits than the
government option. Hence it's still a perk like any other that companies use
to attract and retain employees.

Do you have a timeline in mind? Obama is already 6 months into a 48 month
term, and while the economy certainly sucks right now, the overall standard of
living in the U.S. is still well above that of, e.g., Europe.

---Joel

Joerg · Jul 22, 2009

krw said:
My PPOE had at least six different options, one of which was an HSA.
My current employer has only one; not too bad, but nothing to brag
about. In reality, it's what insurance should be, or better.

Umm, I thought you were retired and consulting.

We will be paying four times. Note that we're paying what other
countries pay for their entire population just to cover those with
Medicare, Medicaid, and the military. Medicare doesn't even pay the
entire bill for those with Medicare. Just how is covering *everyone*
with government insurance going to be cheaper than covering 1/3?

It's going to be either a tax increase, a (huge) premium increase, or both.

[...]

Joerg · Jul 22, 2009

krw said:
Yep, less than thirty miles. The Atlanta airport is 100mi from my
house. I don't got no JawJuh accent, though. I'm a carpetbagger. ;-)

But that's not even 1000 miles of a move. My last one was about 6000.
But yeah, they'd always hear that you oarn't from this here
neighborhood. After a while some twang will probably sneak in. The son
of a neighbor lived in Texas for probably about 10 years, moved there
when he was 20 or so. He sure sounds like a Texan by now.

My accent is a mixture of half a dozen ones. Sometimes people can't make
out where I am from.

The problem with M$ crap is that it always needs support, but support
is beyond possibility.

The simple stuff doesn't and that is the only SW I use from up there.
XP, Word, MS-Works, that's pretty much it.

krw · Jul 22, 2009

Umm, I thought you were retired and consulting.

I retired in November of '06, then contracted for a year in Ohio
starting in August of '08, when I got another real job in Alabama. ;-)

It's going to be either a tax increase, a (huge) premium increase, or both.

Both. Huge! Let's not forget more debt. Huge! More people out of
work, more taxes, more debt, and 'round and 'round she goes. If you
thought Carter was bad, this is going to make us wish it were Carter.

krw · Jul 22, 2009

But that's not even 1000 miles of a move.

1270 miles direct, 1390 if you include the year stop in OH, but who's
counting?

My last one was about 6000.
But yeah, they'd always hear that you oarn't from this here
neighborhood. After a while some twang will probably sneak in. The son
of a neighbor lived in Texas for probably about 10 years, moved there
when he was 20 or so. He sure sounds like a Texan by now.

I don't have a NewYak or Vemont, eh, accent. It's still pretty
Midwestern.

My accent is a mixture of half a dozen ones. Sometimes people can't make
out where I am from.

I'll let that one slide... ;-)

The simple stuff doesn't and that is the only SW I use from up there.
XP, Word, MS-Works, that's pretty much it.

Word? What junk! Its paragraph management is the pits. Controlling
lists is impossible. Excel is the only M$ software I can even stomach
(it's even "good"). I'll get into Access when I get some time. We'll
see.

Martin Brown · Jul 22, 2009

Jim said:
I only had COBRA options which, when I was young, I could easily beat
by shopping around.

Before "retirement", I was at over $800/month premium, $5K deductible,
for catastrophic ONLY... no coverage for "ordinary" doctor visits,
etc.

...Jim Thompson

Why are you so happy to be totally ripped off by *private* insurers when
you could have an altogether better public national health service for
everyone by paying about half that amount in taxes?

You would cease to be paying for layers of slimy insurance salesmen,
flash advertising brochures, medical insurance loss adjusters and other
junk. The money saved would provide decent medical care for the poor.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Martin Brown · Jul 22, 2009

Joel said:
Hi Keith,

Absolutely they should, I'm just not willing to penalize people WRT basic
health care even if they are unskilled lazy bums. (And unfortunately there
are some such people today that end up in emergency rooms and thereby cost
society a lot more than if they were provided basic care and stayed far away
from the emergency room.)

BTW, a lot of people who just don't seem to be able to hold onto a job and
drift around also tend to be mentally ill and really need treatment.

And therein lies the problem. Some of them are also good men fallen on
hard times. Victorian era classified as deserving poor vs undeserving poor.

A pretty astonishing example of an internationally famous astronomer who
despite publishing what are still the standard reference works on
amateur deep sky observing died in poverty and obscurity in San Diego.
He worked for 22 years at Lowell Observatory before losing his home.

Short version on Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burnham,_Jr.
Gory details in the Phoenix Times.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1997-09-25/news/sky-writer/full

A name collision meant that in the outside world everyone thought a
different Robert Burnham who worked for Astronomy magazine had written
his books. In any civilised society his previous empoyment record would
have guaranteed him some minimal social security income and care.

He has an asteroid named after him but no-one cared for him on Earth.

Ah, thanks; I didn't know that.

Because the private insurance option will have better benefits than the
government option. Hence it's still a perk like any other that companies use
to attract and retain employees.

That is how it works in the UK. Private insurance allows a bit more
flexibility about scheduling operations and nicer rooms. The NHS
incidentally ends up picking up the pieces if the private sector makes a
mistake and the private hospitals often throw difficult cases with
expensive complications over the wall.

One thing to remember here is that it is very difficult to negotiate
price when you have a life threatening injury or acute appendicitis.
Private medicine likes to keep it that way since they make more money.
The same arguments and scare tactics against a public health service
were used in the UK when the NHS was formed. You may find it interesting
to look at that.

Do you have a timeline in mind? Obama is already 6 months into a 48 month
term, and while the economy certainly sucks right now, the overall standard of
living in the U.S. is still well above that of, e.g., Europe.

Only for a small fraction of the healthy and wealthy. It isn't clear
what properties of standard of living you are referring to either. You
may well have insanely oversized cars, TVs and be bristling with guns
but is that necessarily better than life in Europe?

You also seem to have a rather poor average life expectancy and very
high levels of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The world economy was wrecked by a series of Enron style "creative
accounting" stunts with CDOs that allowed banks to fake their profits so
the masters of the universe could all claim their bonuses. The
regulators were asleep on the job.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Silly resistor values

Silly resistor values

Spehro Pefhany

Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson

Rich Grise

krw

krw

Joerg

krw

krw

krw

Jim Thompson

krw

krw

Jim Thompson

Joerg

Joerg

krw

krw

Martin Brown

Martin Brown

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