When our kids were young, they never talked about insurance
One of the signs of my growing old just walked out of the house a couple of hours ago, following an interesting conversation about insurance.
Our son came by this evening after work, just to let us know he was over a nasty bout with the flu and doing all right. In the course of his visit, the conversation turned to insurance and how his homeowner’s insurance premiums doubled awhile back following a claim for storm damage to his roof. The company he’s with replaced the roof and immediately doubled his premium.
He’s a bright man (aerospace engineer with a master’s degree in physics) and, at the age of 37, much better at handling his finances than his mother and I ever were. So, of course, he went online and got numerous bids on homeowner’s insurance. He found at least four companies willing to meet his pre-roofing disaster premium rate or better it, so he’s changing insurance companies.
I was struck by a couple of things after he left: First, I admire again what a responsible person my child has grown into (I suppose most parents go through similar feelings), and secondly, I noticed quite a contrast between talking to my son about “adult” financial matters now and about sports or games when he was a youngster.
Looks like he’s grown up — and I’m growing old. Not many years ahead, he and I may be having conversations about finding a comfortable and affordable “home” for us to move to. OH — hey, let’s not be too eager to move into that home yet. We’ve still got a few more years of happy mobility left, I’m pretty sure.
Maybe my wife and I will give serious thought to those fantasies of full-time travel for a few years. In that case, maybe our son can help us find a good deal on an RV and a quote on some motorhome insurance for it!
Real cooks don’t need no stinking electric grills …
… and, yeah, there’s a story behind that tongue-in-cheek wisecrack. And, yeah, it does involve things like open flames.
My son’s friend put together a surprise birthday party for him. It involved a backyard barbecue-grilling adventure, of sorts. My wife and I were invited, even though our son and his friends are young, professional, “white color” type people. They were really nice, friendly, and on their best behavior for us “old folks.” It was great fun.
The adventure came about half way through the evening. We are going through a 22+ day stretch of 90 degrees and high humidity weather here in the good old Missouri Ozarks right now. The same was true the evening of the party. So most of us sat inside her (the friend of my son) air conditioned house while she started the grill in the backyard.
It wasn’t some fancy outdoor electric grill with fake flames. But it wasn’t the old-fashioned charcoal grill. She has a propane grill.
Propane as in explosive liquids, TAKE EXTRA CARE.
Fortunately, there was no serious accident, just sort of a minor “whoosh” when she (not being familiar at all with the new grill) let the propane run a bit longer than she should have before hitting it with flame. A big flame.
She came away with both eyebrows and all of her eyelashes intact; my son got an extra chuckle for his birthday surprise, and a good time was had by all.
Real cooks don’t need no stinking electric … but be CAREFUL out there and have a safe summer of backyard grilling yourself!
Autism rate in America seems astonishingly high to me
I was doing some research trying to understand more about autism, when I came across an article indicating that the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now puts the rate of autism nationally at one in 110 children.
The article I read wasn’t exactly clear on what that number really means, but I found it astonishing that one in 110 children are autistic, whether that’s one in 110 newborn or one in 110 developing children, or whatever.
I confess I’m pretty ignorant about autism, but I do realize it covers a wide range of behaviors and wide range of functionality, varied treatment and care needs, the whole ball of wax.
My son dated a girl when he was in high school whose sister was “autistic.” I don’t know exactly what that meant in her case, though I saw it meant she had some attention issues, some “loudness” problems, and some physical awkwardness. I also know she had a good sense of humor and was easily engaged in what was happening around her. Her mom (single parent situation) had worked with her a lot, and had gotten her regular medical and therapeutic help.
But I know, too, that many parents of autistic children face a lifelong struggle to help their children and cover the medical and therapeutic expenses their children need.
Why is the rate of autism so high? I don’t have any idea what it used to be, but what I’ve read indicates it seems to have risen a lot in recent decades. Why is that? Are pregnant women getting adequate prenatal vitamins and nutrition to maximize their health and the health of their babies? Do nutrition and health issues related to the mother and the unborn child even have anything to do with autism?
All of this is in the realm of mystery to me. I certainly hope and pray that medical research and concerned parents will gain a foothold on autism and everything surrounding it for the sake of kids and families everywhere!
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