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With Universal Studios having announced the release date for the fourth season of The Rockford Files before the third season had even hit the shelves, it seemed to me that Rockford has done well in DVD sales, which shouldn’t be a surprise. The Rockford Files has a very strong following, despite seeming to not have much of an active fandom (compared to the Dukes of Hazzard, for example). James Garner’s easy going protrayal of Jim Rockford has endeared him to fans for more than 30 years.

Heck, Garner’s talents have endeared him to fans for more than 50 years! So, why the hell won’t Warner Brothers release Maverick on DVD?! A “Television Favorites” with three Maverick episodes came out a couple years ago and I’ve about burned a hole into the DVD. My video tapes from taping off TVLAnd are nearly worn out.

WB made a big freakin’ deal about their 50 years of television history and Maverick was often included in some of the print advertising as a future DVD release. Come on WB! At the very least you gotta release the first three seasons! James Garner and Jack Kelly as Brett and Bart Maverick respectively are the coolest, smoothest pair of gamblers ever. Forget all those silly World Champion poker shows on television now. None of those people hold a torch to Brett and Bart.

So what’s the deal WB? You think Maverick as a 1950’s western is too old of a show and won’t sell well on DVD (despite the fact that several other westerns from that time have been released on DVD)? You think because Maverick was not a traditional western that it won’t sell well on DVD?

Wanna bet?

Last week, I noticed an ad on television for…umm…well, there’s never a good word for this product, but it’s pads. You know, maxi pads? Sanitary napkins, ect… Anyway, these three lovely young ladies were lounging around near a pool or wherever when one of the girls notices a water tower near by. And the water tower is about to burst.

She grabs a pad from her purse, leaps to the rescue and just as the water tower bursts open, she holds the pad up and captures the oh, I don’t know, few thousand gallons of water into the pad. Crisis averted the other girls congratulate her on a job well done and one of the girls marvels at how the pad, after taking in ALL that water, is still dry.

First of all it’s the stupidest maxi pad commercial I’ve ever seen. But besides that, the timing couldn’t be more dubious. After the news back on February 6th about astronaut Lisa Nowak and her 900 mile non-stop car trip, accomplished in part by wearing one of the NASA space diapers, I got to thinking: What if someone saw this commercial, believed the pad could hold THAT much water and instead of trying to get the special NASA diaper (or a pair of Huggies), wore one of these pads for their own 900 mile non-stop jilted lover car trip?

You think I’m kidding don’t you? I hear allegations of false advertising all ready…

The above cartoon quite accurately demonstrates the way the local news media reports about snowfall around these parts. It can be anything from an inch to three feet and it’s quickly labeled The Storm of the Century. Regular television or radio programming is interrupted to bring us the latest flake by flake coverage. “Winter Storm Warning is in effect for Capital City! It’s gonna be a big one folks! Holy cow look it the radar here! Snow just everywhere! Best to stay off the roads as driving could be dangerous…”

No kiddin’. (And that includes you, you people with your friggin’ SUV’s!!! Ahem…sorry, small car complex). I swear tho’ that the newscasters around here are NOT originally from around here because they get so damn excited about snow. And they seem to assume that their audience has never experienced snow either and thus…it’s big news! Look, it’s snow! It happens around here, every year about this time and has for many thousands of years I suspect! Should continue for at least…oh another thirty years anyway before the apparent devastating effects of global warming finally slap us in the face.

Global warming? I’ve got a foot and a half of snow in my yard right now and the temperature outside is about 15 degrees with a windchill factor of -10 and I’m supposed to get upset about global warming?!

Anyway, it’s snow, it’s white, it’s cold, it’s pretty and eventually it’ll melt and be gone and we’ll be complaining about the black flies and the heat and humidity of summer.

And that’ll be big news too.

Okay kids it’s time for the monthly stat check on the top search strings that led unsuspectin’ souls to my blog in search of God knows what during the month of January. The reason this amuses me so much is, well, it just does. I had many unique search strings in January but I’ve condensed this list down because some of them had to do with similar topics.

“how to make a dunkaccino”

“how to reset number pad entry on ford”

“peanut butter high in cholestrol”

“eat moldy cookie”

“moldy teeth”

“are avacados bad for you”

“do peanuts clog arteries”

“tommy dorsey”

“breast enhancement”

“glen miller”

“david soul”

“1973 pinto”

“caffiene in m & m peanuts”

“pearl harbor on december 7 1941″

“foods that kill”

“maryanne coltrane”

“conspiracie theories about glenn miller”

“list of foods stain teeth”

“raw cookie dough health hazzard”

“million of our older americans have not signed up yet for their”

Breast enhancement?!?! No, not here! This is a blog about moldy killer foods, bad teeth, peanuts, dunkaccino, Pearl Harbor, 1973 Pintos, David Soul, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and myself. There’s no floozy business going on here!

A previous post showcased a forwarded “This Should Tick You Off” type email, where a compare and contrast of 5 million older Americans vs. 12 million illiegal aliens came to the conclusion that as a society we must really hate our old folks. The forwarded email makes the assumption that the 5 million or so Americans who have not yet signed up for Medicare Part D, must be confused and our government is mean because they will not be given any additional time to sign up for the plan.

Well, first of all, seniors in this country DO get the short end of the stick. As I sit here at the tender age of 30 and watch my 65+ year old parents deal with varied health issues, medical insurance and Medicare I hope and pray that Medicare is dead and gone by the time I hit 65. (I’m not a big fan of Social Security either). The reason I’m so jaded about these two government institutions isn’t because they were set up to be a supplement for income and medical insurance for retirement. In theory it’s a wonderful idea. Problem is, because these are government institutions, they make it so damn difficult to take part in!

Social Security and Medicare coverage are promoted as earned rights. My folks worked and busted butt for 40+ years for the right to have access to Medicare coverage. They did not, however, work for 40+ years only to be subject to the whims and discretion of medical insurers who don’t know a damn thing about health issues and the government who can’t make a simplified form if the continued existence of this great nation depended on it.

Therefore, to assume that 5 million older Americans haven’t signed up for Medicare Part D because they’re “old and confused” is insulting.  Many older Americans who are on Medicare also have supplementary insurance (also known as Medigap policies) which include prescription drug coverage. More often than not, the prescription drug coverage in these plans is as good as, or better, then Medicare Part D. Also, some Medigap policies make it quite clear: If you sign up for Medicare Part D, you will lose your Medigap coverage completely or you can no longer take advantage of the prescription drug coverage of the Medigap policy. 

So, many of these 5 million Americans could sign up for Part D, but then lose their supplamental coverage entirely, putting them at risk for higher out of pocket expenses on their medical bills. They might save a buck on the pills, but pay more at the hosital later. Are they “old and confused” by not signing up for Medicare Part D? No, they’re probably pretty damn smart!

As further evidence of just what a crock Medicare Part D is, and perhaps the 5 million seniors who haven’t signed up for it are doing themselves are favor, the following open letter to my state’s Senate delegation appeared in the February 8th, 2007 “Capital City Gazette”

This morning I spoke with my 86-year-old sister, who is considering dropping her Medicare Part D coverage because she has, for the first time, been prescribed a series of expensive medications, not one of which is covered by her plan.

I also spent over two hours on the phone verifying that the Part D plan which I chose and purchased last year no longer pays for the medication I take daily. I was told by the insurance company that it has been changed from generic to preferred by Medicare.

I was told by Medicare first that such a change would probably never be made and second that apparently it had been made. Of course, I had no way of knowing during the open enrollment period that I should be considering other plans. I only learned of the change when I had to pay for my medication.

If you had deliberately chosen to create a boondoggle of Medicare Part D, you couldn’t have done a better job. I’m sure the insurance and pharmaceutical companies appreciate your representation. I do not!  -V.C.S

Prescriptions not covered? Prescriptions covered and now dropped? What the hell was our government thinking when they came up with this plan?

Apparently, they weren’t. To borrow a phrase from that forwarded email…yes, our government must really dislike our old folks.