The big “downside” about incandescent bulbs is that they produce a lot of heat. But guess what? I already use electricity to heat my house, so it doesn’t matter to me. Can those of us with electric-resistance baseboard heat be exempt from the ban? Now that my light bulbs put out less heat, I have to use more electricity to generate more heat to replace the missing heat.

…and don’t get me started on the demise of the Easy-Bake oven. You’ll be waiting forever to get a CFL to bake anything.

…and pity the poor residents of the chicken coop during the winter, huddling under a CFL that produces no warmth.

I hear incandescent light bulbs being decried as “inefficient”. They are not inefficient – they just multitask. They are good at producing heat and light together. Why is that so bad? What if someone wants both heat and light?

Old-fashioned light bulbs are not dangerous and shouldn’t be regulated by the government. Did the government ban gas lamps to get people to switch over to electric lights? As Americans, we have the right to lights, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Actually, CFLs are more dangerous than incandescents. Does an incandescent bulb contain toxic substances? CFLs do. You can’t just throw a CFL in the trash if it breaks or dies. I would rather use more electricity than contaminate the land with more mercury. But I’m not getting that choice anymore.

The main reason I want to be able to keep buying normal light bulbs is for their dimmability. I have several rooms with dimmers. Standard dimming circuits kill CFLs. I know I could buy new equipment and get dimmable CFLs, but the bulbs are $5 each. That’s over 10 times the price of a regular bulb. Plus I would have to buy a new dimmer switch and install it. All that work, and for what? No tangible benefit for me. (Yes, the CFLs would use less electricity, but the initial cost is so high that we’ll probably move into a new house before we would get the payoff.)

I saw the writing on the wall and started putting CFLs in the house a couple years ago. On my own. Without being mandated.

Why?

Because it made financial sense to do so.

I compared the price of bulbs plus the cost to operate them for CFLs and incandescents and saw that CFLs had to last about 10 or 11 months in order to recoup the purchase price. So as long as they lasted over a year (which they did), I would come out ahead financially.

But only for non-dimmable bulbs.

Next government action: sanctioning the sun because it produces heat in addition to light and is a major contributor to global warming climate change.

It’s fun being an SCL guest post-er; I’m wondering what to do to live up to the hype.

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I got nothing.

Maybe not nothing – I can point you to the welcome post I put together about a year ago when Jon ran my first guest post.

And for those of you who are reading this but don’t read SCL: I invite you to go read my guest post about Christianizing TV shows.

And you should also be familiar with the parable found in Matthew 18:23-35. If you are not, go read the parable of the ungrateful servant, then come back here and continue.

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain president, which would take account of his agencies.

And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed $317,000,000,000.

But forasmuch as it had not to pay, the president commanded it to be sold, and its officers, and all that it had, and payment to be made.

The agency therefore fell down, and pleaded with him, saying, “Mr. President, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”

Then the president of that country was moved with compassion, and bailed out the agency.

But the same agency went out, and found one of its mortgagors, which owed it $5,000: and it laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, “Pay me what you owe!”

And the homeowner fell down at its doors, and besought it, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”

And it would not: but went and foreclosed the house, till it should be sold at auction.

So when the other mortgagors saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto the president all that was done.

Then the president, after that he had called the agency, said unto it,
“O thou wicked bureaucracy, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy debtors, even as I had pity on thee?”

And the president was wroth, and delivered it unto bankruptcy, till it should pay all that was due unto him.

In case you had trouble following the story:
Original version:
king forgives servant,
servant does not forgive other servant,
king gets mad at first servant.

USA version:
Fannie Mae gets bailed out so that it can help people stay in their homes,
Fannie Mae keeps its money and continues foreclosing on people,
President/Congress gets mad at Fannie Mae.

For a nice ending to the story, we would see some oversight of the quasi-governmental agencies such that the bailout money is used for its intended purpose.

Even better, the bailout money could be taken from them and given directly to the people – cut out the middleman. In which case tax money is taken from the people and then given back to the people. Might as well just not tax ‘em.

But I surprised Jon Acuff in person and it was one of those moments that, if it had been in a movie, would have the needle-scratching-across-the-record sound effect.

Here’s what happened:

Chapter 1: Getting Ready

I found out about a week ago that Jon would be speaking at one of the nearby mega churches, so I sent Jon an email letting him know that I’d try to see him there. I’d have to skip my home church, since I can’t be in two places at once, but Jon rarely makes it out this way so this was my one chance to see him in person.

Lesson #1: If you have to contact Jon Acuff about something that’s time-sensitive, do not use email. He’ll get to it, eventually. If it’s urgent, use Twitter. Or text him.

Chapter 2: The Service

We got up extra early that Sunday, made it to the early service, and had a great time. If you ever get a chance to hear Jon speak, go do it. He is even better on stage than he is online. It’s one thing to read his writing about pop-n-lock, but it’s another level to see him try to do it.

I had thought, based on the church’s promo, that the service would be about Quitter, but Jon spoke about everything. If you’ve read his book or read much of his blog, then much of it will be familiar (but still funny).

Jon, in case you’re wondering, I laughed the loudest at the Counting Crows reference near the end.

Chapter 3: Waiting in Line

After the service, Jon was signing books in one of the rooms. People were supposed to go buy a book or two and then have him sign it.

I just wanted to meet him. I didn’t care too much about having his autograph. We go back about a year – that’s when he published my first guest post. I would have been happy just shaking his hand and introducing myself.

My wife, however, insisted on buying a book (I chose the original SCL book) for him to sign. So that’s what we did, and it turned out well. We waited in line (with all 3 antsy boys too) and when it was our turn, we approached Jon Acuff.

Chapter 4: The Book Signing

We played it cool, of course, not revealing our secret identity until the right time. He made idle chat with Alpha (“You guys done with school yet?”) and then asked to whom he should sign the book.

I told him “Some Guy”.

He started writing – ‘S’ – and looked down to continue the name. Right at that time, it registered that he knew that name.

“Wait…” he looked right back up, with the record-scratch effect. I have no idea what I said next, but my wife and I conveyed the idea that I was the same Some Guy that occasionally sends him guests posts. He was very gracious, but we didn’t have much time to talk. You know how book signings are.

Chapter 5: Photo Op

I got my picture taken with Jon. He’s got that process down pretty well. As soon as he heard the word “picture”, he declared “side hug!” and put his arm around me. We got our picture, but I was holding Gamma at the time. I do not look so happy in the photo, because I’m worrying about the child who is trying to escape. Jon, naturally, is looking right at the camera and has a great smile. Maybe I’ll crop me out of the photo and post just his half.

Then we exited the book signing area and went back to our regularly-scheduled lives.

Conclusion

I can now say that I am as good a friend with Jon Acuff as he is with Donald Miller. We’re that tight (imagine crossed fingers here). And Gamma is too.

Aaron Kelly: “Fly Me to the Moon”

It was okay, I suppose. He looked a little different. Maybe they went overboard on the makeup tonight. He is trying to look the part, but it doesn’t quite work.

Conclusion: Not Frank Sinatra-y

Casey James: “Blue Skies”

He’s a good singer and a good performer, but this is just not his style. That’s two weeks in a row now that I’ve said that about Casey. Not a good sign.

What is that? Is his hair in a bun?

Casey’s voice is better suited to Frank Sinatra songs than Aaron’s. I thought he had a better stage presence than Aaron too, but for some reason the judges didn’t agree. I did think that he didn’t hit the high notes very well.

Conclusion: Not Frank Sinatra-y

Crystal Bowersox: “Summer Wind”

Very professional, although she almost didn’t make it to the mic on time. Didn’t move around the stage a lot, but she didn’t need to.

Conclusion: Somewhat Frank Sinatra-y, if he were female

Michael Lynche: “The Way You Look Tonight”

He is the first one who looks the part. Although his hat might be a bit small. But it worked.

And he sounded good. And he worked the stage.

Conclusion: Frank Sinatra-y

Lee DeWyze: “That’s Life”

Lee looks the part too, and he sounds even better than Mike. Lee always looks like he just got out of bed.

Conclusion: Frank Sinatra-y

Who’s going home: Harry Connick Jr.

My Favorite: Lee

I don’t know who’s getting voted off, but I’ll put a guess out there for the bottom two: Casey and Aaron.

Normally I’d recommend reading BooMama‘s re-cap of AI, but since she didn’t do one this week, I won’t. I’ll still recommend the rest of her blog though.

Okay, on to the show. This time I kept notes as I watched, instead of watching and then trying to remember later what I was thinking.

Casey James: “Don’t Stop” (Thinking About Tomorrow)

He’s a good singer and a good performer, but this is just not his style. Of course, it’s not his fault he has to sing something inspirational, so I shan’t put too much blame on him this week.

Conclusion: Not Inspirational

Lee Dewyze: “The Boxer”

Can we stop with the hand-waving, people? Please?

I’m a fan of Lee’s voice, and I’m a fan of the original song, but I was not a fan of this arrangement. I think the original version moves along better. Hmm…the judges loved it.

Conclusion: Possibly Inspirational

Tim Urban: “Better Days”

I forget when AI switched from being a singing competition to being an artistry/performance competition. But his voice was noticeably not up to snuff tonight. Plus, do people really look to the Goo Goo Dolls for inspiration?

Conclusion: Not Inspirational

Aaron Kelly: “I Believe I Can Fly”

If I close my eyes, I find it hard to tell that this was not R. Kelly.

No, not really.

I am not a fan of the song, and it’s hard to get past that. The vocals seemed fine, but it’s hard to get inspiration from someone who hasn’t started on his life yet.

Conclusion: Not Inspirational

Siobhan Magnus: “When You Believe”

I like the clarity of her voice. The flowers glued to her arms were a tad distracting. The judges were critical, but of her performance not of her voice. I suppose they are looking for performers, right Tim?

Hey, Simon thought her accessories were distracting too! But he called them leaves, not flowers. Wait, what? Oh, sorry, they’re butterflies.

Conclusion: Possibly Inspirational

Michael Lynche: “Hero”

I didn’t write anything down during the performance. That’s because it was just aiight for me tonight. Nothing special, which could be trouble for him again except his voice was better than Tim’s.

Conclusion: Possibly Inspirational

Crystal Bowersox: “People Get Ready”

I was so disappointed that this was not the Crystal Lewis song. This one is by the Impressions, of whom I have not heard until just now.

She has a good voice and a good performance. So it is possible to have both, contrary to what other contestants may have led you to believe.

Casey, when the judges said “inspirational songs” they meant heart-felt emotional inspiration, not feel-good pep-talky inspiration. If you want to catch back up to Crystal you are going to have to mean what you’re singing. And let the audience know that you mean it. Although if you cry this next week I will be suspicious.

Conclusion: Inspirational

Who’s going home? Probably either Tim or Aaron.

Want a better review of American Idol? Go read Boomama.

Now on to the singing for Lennon-McCartney week…

Aaron Kelly: “The Long and Winding Road”

Sings nicely, but predictable. Do ballads sell well these days?

Katie Stevens: “Let It Be”

The song was fine, that’s all. Good job.

Andrew Garcia: “Can’t Buy Me Love”

I was glad to see he did not wear a tan jacket this week. That just makes him look like Kim Jong Il, if you squint a bit while watching. I have no idea what Kim Jong Il sounds like, especially while singing.

Michael Lynch: “Eleanor Rigby”

Not bad, but he has to do better than this if he wants to make it to the final.

Crystal Bowersox: “Come Together”

If this were Survivor or Biggest Loser, Crystal would be the one who won immunity every week. Not that she needs it, since she’s good every week.

Crystal, learn a lesson from Tara Costa – you can win every week’s contest but still not win the grand prize. I don’t know what that means or how that is supposed to help you, but I felt like writing it.

Tim Urban: “All My Loving”

This isn’t a smiling competition – it’s a singing competition. Tim can certainly sing, but not as well or as memorably as the other contestants.

Casey James: “Jealous Guy”

Katie Stevens did a pretty good imitation of Casey’s laugh during the pre-game interview.

Siobhan did not.

I’m sure he’ll go through to next week, even though most of the 30 million people watching had never heard that song before. I know I wouldn’t recognize that song if I heard it again, unless I heard the words “jealous guy” in it.

Siobhan Magnus: “Across the Universe”

It’s like having a new contestant every week! Who is that new girl on AI? The one who looks nothing Siobhan did last week? Oh wait, it’s Siobhan again. But she still sounds good.

If I had to create a Transformers name, I would use “Siobhan Magnus”.

Lee Dewyze: “Hey Jude”

This song gets old quickly, but Lee did his best to move it along and not let it get too boring. But having the audience sing? Singing the song is your job, Lee.

What did the bagpipes have to do with that performance? I’ll tell you what: it was distracting, but it will make people remember Lee’s song.

Who’s going home? Probably either Aaron or Andrew.

Who, besides those two, will make it into the bottom three? Probably either Katie or Tim.

Want a better review of American Idol? Go read Boomama.

For those of you wondering why I haven’t posted much this week: we are experiencing flu-like symptoms.

For those of you who are not paying attention to how often I write on this blog: I’m not keeping track of how often you read this blog, so we’re even.

I started the family off by getting sick on Thursday. Beta quickly followed and started demonstrating his symptoms about a half hour after I did. Alpha held out until this afternoon. My wife is hoping not to get sick, but the peer pressure might get to her.

Gamma is doing fine so far. We have changed his diet preemptively so that his digestive system will be in better shape if he does catch whatever this is – all he had today was applesauce, bananas, toast, and his formula.

The kids had the swine flu back in the fall. I’ll take that over this flu any day – low-grade fever and a cough versus intestinal problems.

Having just the two kids sick is plenty. We did 3 or 4 loads of laundry today, and that was barely keeping even with all the blankets and sheets and towels that were added to the laundry today.

I hope to be back to a somewhat normal schedule, blogging and otherwise, next week.

Sure, the car sales numbers for July and August will be great, but then what happens when the program is canceled on Monday? That’s the problem with government stimulus – it’s a temporary measure. What happens in September, October, November, and December, when all the people who wanted cars this year bought them with the Cash for Clunkers program and there’s no one left to buy cars?

Coming down off the sugar high…

The country needs the economic equivalent of a long-lasting energy bar.

Another point – there are numerous charities that take used cars from you and sell/give them to needy people. You get a tax deduction, and someone who needs a car gets a car. Won’t the charities be hurting for donations this year? I bet they have to restructure their operations because of the reduction in old cars.

Not only will the charities be hurting, but the needy people – the ones who can’t afford a new car – have just witnessed their transportation options being taken away. There were thousands of cars that were perfectly fine and could have helped families with getting to school or jobs, but the government just took all those cars and destroyed them for no good reason.

Okay, there were two reasons the government was doing this Cash for Clunkers thing: stimulate the economy by getting people to buy cars and improve the average gas mileage of the cars in America.

The first point worked, although the lasting effects have yet to be determined.

The second point is why the cars were destroyed. Okay, actually it was just the engines, but effectively that takes out the whole car. That was to prevent cars with low gas mileage from being driven, and that is supposed to combat global warming (and that is another topic for another blog post). Given how little effect that cars have in the global climate, and the fact that gas-fueled cars were just replaced with gas-fueled cars, how much effect will this really have on the environment?

My main question: is that really worth destroying the cars and making life more difficult for poor families? Would it really have hurt that much to distribute the cars to the needy? If you’re a politician who is not convinced of my point, just think of the photo-op and good press that would have got you: here is Senator So-And-So, seen giving a car to a father whose car was repossessed and he needs a car to drive to work so he can afford to feed his children.

Of course, maybe it’s just my innate sense of not being able to throw away things, especially things that are still working. Note to wife: socks with holes in the toe are still considered “working”.  Maybe destroy the cars with the worst gas mileage and give away the clunkers with decent gas mileage.  Surely some sort of compromise could have been effected.

Last note about Cash for Clunkers – I heard a radio news item that referred to the program as being popular. The evidence they gave for the popularity was that it ran out of money quickly. However, they way they said it put a different image in my mind.

I thought that the money could have disappeared quickly due to embezzlement, political favors, or any number of items not related to the purpose of the program. Just because the government spent the money quickly does not mean that it all went to the right people.

There.

But since you couldn’t see the pennies that just went flying, I will type something here instead.

Here are three problems and suggested solutions for lowering the cost of health insurance:

1. Costs are high in part because people don’t have to pay the cost. Think about this: how much would your car insurance cost if you had no deductible and the insurance paid for oil changes, wiper blades, new tires, etc.? That’s the state of medical insurance today. The consumer / patient pays the insurance company one fee and the insurance company takes care of everything. There’s no real incentive for consumer choice.

   I could take the analogy further for HMOs. In that case, you could go to the repair shop that you normally used (your Primary Service Center or PSC) only. If they couldn’t handle your repair, they could send you to another shop, but it would have to be a shop that had an agreement with them. You couldn’t go to just any shop.Would anyone with a car think that’s a good idea? How did medical care get into this situation?

   Make health insurance more like other insurance. I have an HSA in coordination with a high-deductible insurance plan. This, not a government-run plan, needs to be pushed and expanded. I write a check to pay for whatever medical bills I get. Once I spend above a certain amount, then “traditional insurance” kicks in. The country needs more “traditional insurance” and less bureaucracy. There are no approvals or referrals needed for the checks I write, saving both me and the doctor’s office time and effort and money. But this is tied closely to point #2, which is…

2. Costs are high in part because people don’t know the cost. Back to the car analogy… When you take your car in for service, they have to provide you with a written estimate. So you know, before you agree to something, what it will cost. And if something will cost more than the estimate, the shop has to get your consent.

   A good example of knowing the cost is LASIK. LASIK was very popular, so much so that eye places were advertising to attract patients. What’s an important part of advertising? Telling the customer the price! Eye surgeries became commonplace and price dropped dramatically, in part because of the proliferation of the technology and in part because of the price wars among shops.

   Right now, I can choose my doctor’s office based on location or how happy I am with them. It would be great if I could also take price into account. How much does an ultrasound cost? How much does an annual physical cost? Why not require doctors’ offices and hospitals to publicly post their prices? Kind of like a menu at a restaurant… That would help people choose. Don’t Americans like choice?

   We have started using the walk-in clinic in town because they are much faster than the normal doctor’s office. If it weren’t for my high-deductible insurance, I would not be able to compare the prices, because I would never see the prices. And as it is now, I can compare the prices only after receiving service, when I get the bill. In case you’re wondering, the walk-in clinic isn’t any more expensive. And it’s faster.

   It might not be top-quality care, but it is good enough. And isn’t that what is needed: adequate health care for people? You’re not going to be able to provide world-class care for everyone. That would bankrupt the whole country. But you can provide decent medical care. And that means that there will be different levels of care based on price. So let the people know the prices.

3. Politicians are on the outside. Make sure that the politicians who wrote, pushed for, and voted for the bill have to use the same services that the rest of us lowly civilians do. Make them taste their own medicine (pun intended). It would be easy for the Senators and Representatives to prescribe health-care reform and mess up the private insurance industry if they can keep their Congressional health care separate and untouched. Maybe they would think more about the bill (and actually read it, one would hope) and produce a better bill if it applied directly to them.

Maybe these things would not bring health care to everyone, but they would help make it cheaper and therefore make health insurance affordable for more people.

We have the best medical system in the world. Don’t make big sweeping changes and risk ruining it. Make incremental improvements, like these.