I Can't Get No Good Insurance

If you are like me and have no medical insurance coverage, the open enrollment for providers begins October 1st. You are like me in that on March 31, 2014 you will have medical insurance because of the federal healthcare law that mandates all Americans have health insurance. We have six months to figure out who we are going to give our money to so we avoid the government fine for not having said insurance.

I read in the Wall Street Journal about some nefarious practices of some health providers in the US that are sending current members misleading information about the ramifications of the new health care law as pertains to their current coverage. It was an interesting read, and not too surprising. I'm glad the state insurance regulators caught the providers and did something about it. The article got me thinking about my coverage, or lack thereof, and the necessity of it by the end of March next year.

The article in the WSJ mentioned Cigna Health and an online tool that assists people in finding the best health coverage plan for them -- even if it means Cigna will lose customers because a better plan happens to be with another health provider. This action made me nod my head in approval, Cigna was the first place I went looking for my health coverage. As it turns out, however, Cigna will not be available to me in California. The nice woman I spoke with on the phone at Cigna directed me to Healthcare.gov, a website that will help me find the information to get me the coverage I need.

The website set up and run by the government was easy to navigate and sent me in the right direction. We do have to wait until October 1st to see the plan and cost information. I answered some questions about myself: Age, gender, state of residence, etc., entered my zip code and was directed to the state agency responsible for signing up people living in that state. California uses "Covered California," Colorado has "Connect for Health Colorado."

Back at the Covered California website I find a very easy to navigate website that helps me figure out exactly what I am looking for, on average. I was given three options to choose from based on my demographics. All are about the same price of $150 per month, and generally offer the same services with the only differences being in the co-pay and deductible ratios. I am a healthy dude and do not expect to need lots of care so I will go for the plan with a lower monthly and higher deductible because I don't plan on using the services too often. Besides, the preventive care visits are free with my plan. I look forward to access to a medical professional one-on-one.

Some people complain about the mandate increasing fixed costs for the household. Sure, I'd rather not pay $150 a month, but the positive externalities of everyone in the country with access to better healthcare services far outweighs my meager $1,800 a year contribution to society. Thank You, President Obama, for taking monumental action here at home in the USA. The Affordable Care Act will be how I remember you best.

Big Money Strategy

This is the contents of my Big Money investment strategy going into the first week.

The Zale Corporation is a small cap stock operating as a specialty retailer of fine jewelry in North America. Over the past 52-week period, the share price for Zale has risen 128%.

A Finnish company part of the Materials sector, Stora Enso Oyi engages in the production and sle of biomaterials, paper, packaging, and wood products in Finland an internationally. This is a mid cap stock that has seen its share price rise 39% in the trailing twelve-month period.

Agean Marine operates as a marine fuel logistics company that markets and supplies refined marine fuel and lubricants to ships in port, at sea, and on rivers worldwide. This is a small cap stock that has experienced an annualized stock price increase of 61%.

I will track their share price over the next week and next Monday may have new picks for the Big Money portfolio.

Fantasy Football (Bonus: English Edition)

Economist link to Premier League article Place your bets, Gentlemen! The Economist has a bit of advise for managing your Premier League teams.

I tried playing fantasy soccer, once. Fantasy football in the US is much more exciting and gratifying every week than trying to keep track of low scoring players in a completely different sport. Nevertheless, top players in Barclay's Fantasy Premier League for week five are as follows:

1. Leighton Baines (16) -- Everton
2. Dejan Lovren (15) --  Southhampton
3. Liam Ridgewell (15) -- West Brom Albion
4. Brad Guzan (14) -- Aston Villa
5. Mesut Ozil (14) -- Arsenal
6. Sergio Aguero (13) -- Manchester City
7. Loic Remy (13) -- Newcastle
8. John Terry (12) -- Chelsea
9. Robbie Brady (12) -- Hull City
10. Nathan Dyer (11) -- Swansea City
11. Paulinho (11) -- Tottenham Hotspur

Total: 146

Just to share a little comparison with American football fantasy, the starting Tight End (TE) in one of my leagues this season Jordan Cameron had a day with 40 points this week. Aaron Rodgers had a slow day with only 15 points. My other starting TE also had a day with 35 points. So, the top 11 players in NFL Perfect Fantasy points are as follows:

1. Antonio Brown (43.60) -- PIT, WR
2. Drew Brees (42.78) -- NO, QB
3. Jimmy Graham (37.40) -- NO, TE
4. Josh Gordon (35.80) -- CLE, WR
5. DeMarco Murray (32.30) -- DAL, RB
6. Jamaal Charles (30.20) -- KC, RB
7. Santonio Holmes (29.40) -- NYJ, WR
8. Calvin Johnson (27.50) -- DET, WR
9. Stephen Gostkowski (14) -- NE, K
10. Carolina (26) -- CAR, DEF

Total: 255.18

I do not wish to make an inference one sport is better than another. I do wish to impart the rich statistical nature of the NFL, and that Fantasy Football is the best fantasy sport available to play.

Today I bought my first Windows 8 desktop PC

September 9, 2013 10:16 finds me writing this entry because I am more excited than I thought I would be about this moment. Allow me to go back, I have been pacing about a new computer purchase so I can be productive while I apply for state jobs in Sacramento.

I have been to Fry's, then Best Buy, each twice three weeks apart. I had given up for the time being for lack of a qualified candidate. Duel-core processor, 6-8 GB of ram and 1T of memory, all for a price I feel comfortable paying at this time. Those two store could not keep me interested -- Best Buy was close with a price at $499. Didn't feel it, though, with some upcoming auto maintenance and limited resources.

I happened upon Office Depot while passing the time to pick up a friend from school. I found the machine I had been looking for, at a price I could not walk away from: $299. It was the computer powering the display monitors. I got it on the cheap and made a good computer contact with the IT-sales guy in the store.

Here I am, a computer and no monitor. Oh well, I got a great deal and I will have to save up for the monitor is no problem. I'm game; because, I got a great deal on this tower with AMD A-6 processor. I take my friend home and talk about the computer purchase and my subsequent monitor-problem. Turns out her brother has an extra monitor and gives it to me for keeps!

So I set it up and realized I got the HDMI cable but no power cable. But that ain't a problem for a musician like me. I have cords at that voltage already. Boom, headphones connected and the race is on.

I am the first in my family to run Windows 8.

I am the first NOT to delete the stuff I need on the computer:

                AMD Catalyst Install Manager

                Bonjour

                HP Connected Remote

                IDT Audio

                Microsoft SkyDrive

                Microsoft SQL Server

                Microsoft C++ (multiple apps)

                Wi-Fi Adapter

I am the first to figure out how to delete all the crap that is pre-installed...

                Clear Desktop of shortcuts

                CyberLink Corp. (multiple apps)

                HP (multiple apps)

                Norton Internet Security

                Wild Tangent Games

This process is time consuming yet productive. I am not multi-tasking, except on my iPhone to write this entry in real-time as I experience the excitement of my first Windows 8 experience. The final uninstall was Symantec, which also required a re-boot. Total efficiency; and, the Giants won their second extra-innings walk-off in a row. Today was a good day.

Got connected to Wi-Fi. I nearly forgot about that stage. The last time I had a desktop PC and needed to connect to the Internet was in high school at my house in Southern California. That particular computer shared a hard-line with our home telephone. 

Made some tiles smaller, unpinned, and uninstalled programs. My new monitor does not have a camera, but I found out how to get out of a program and back to the tiles. First thing I do is play Solitaire...

Microsoft requires an account I am not in the mood to set up right now. Since I unpinned Internet Explorer, I have to figure out a way to get on the Internet, download Chrome and pin it to my start screen.

 I used Bing, I found its tile. However, when searching from Bing, your web browser is IE. Default is now Chrome, I wonder if I search on Bing and have the search open in Chrome? I prefer Chrome as my default browser -- I like that we have choice in America.

The programs the Microsoft has created are glich-prone and crash more often than I care to keep track of. Though I am generally pleased with the way content is presented. I don't believe I would be as aware of the crashing if I did not use them as often as I do. 

About the apps that load sports, news, and financial data, I do not like that I have no way to access the article through the app if I want to keep the link as a source or archive the article. And, the new app interface and the desktop do not work well together. Like, I can't be reading a story on the Finance app and simultaneously be jotting notes on Microsoft Word via the desktop.

I have no other complaints or comments. Some consumers and IT professionals do not like Windows 8, it doesn't bother me more than the few things I mentioned above. We will get used to it or buy another operating system. I give Windows 8 a neutral rating.