It has been a pretty weird week. On Monday I thought this one is going to seem a lot longer than normal. Here is Friday and I look back wondering what the heck happened to Monday through Thursday. Time. A very weird thing and concept at times.
At least this cold snap has snapped. Well it will later on today. I wish a few other trends would manage to do the same. What are you going to do, right?
Well it seems the turbines are back in the news. Front page relative to the most recent study and the op-ed page relative to the mitigation plan. Whatever the battle over the noise, on the political front the battle doesn't seem it is going to be waged in this year's election over that issue.
Still plenty of time for people to take out papers. It may be the battle lines do shift. What I don't see is the "debate" in any contest be tightly framed as it has in the past few years.
Speaking of debates, before the budget rhetoric gets well out of hand, let's keep in mind the governor's budget still has to come out. Whether the lame duck governor will follow past practice and issue a budget that is DOA and based on nonexistent revenue remains to be seen. Hopefully is is a realistic one. Down to earth and grounded on reasonable projections.
It makes life a whole lot easy on the local level to plan a budget with a good idea of what aid is coming down the pike, instead of having to hop and pray that at least the house version comes out before town meeting. Pie in the sky makes great headlines, but as delicious looking as that lofty baked good may be, if you can't reach it to eat, you go hungry.
Within a week of the governor's budget, various state agencies then release the town's require spending/
expected charges on several things.So with a bit of luck and a dose of reality, by February 1st we should know just how deep is the mess we face.
Both are key factors as both will determine what we are able to spend and where some cuts if needed can actually be made, or not made.
As each day passes there is a sense of relief mixed with dread. The relief comes in the way of more certainty. One day closer to the end. The big picture also comes into focus a bit more each day and you can than start weeding out some of the game plans, and there are many, that run through your head and apply it to know circumstances.
The dread is with that certainty is also the reality there are definite cracks in our foundation, and the same are getting deeper and spreading.
Shifting gears ...
If I hear one more time about an honest mistake I am going to scream ( a bit dramatic, I know. Yet about the only recourse available that doesn't get me in trouble). I hope every mistake is an honest one. To think otherwise implies a scenario no one wants to face. My absolute frustration results from the fact that people are not hired or contracted with to make mistakes, honest or otherwise. That frustration is compounded by the fact that there simply seems to be little accountability and even less so any ramifications for those mistakes.
Work in the private sector and tell your employer that repeated, avoidable mistakes are not grounds for discipline or dismissal because the same were "honest" mistakes.
I get that mistakes happen. I get that there are often reasons which mitigate or excuse a mistake happening. There are also times when you just can find a reasonable explanation for the "why" in the first instance or in perpetuity.
Enough on that.
Be safe.
Do other depts. use overtime like the fire dept.? That's not paying more to get more. That's paying more to get the same. A private corp. would find a better way to plug the leak.
ReplyDeleteThe FFD has the fix for this by raising ambulance rates to fill the ot gap ,they could fix the ot by adding personnel ,but that would be a constant cost instead of a variable. Like to know how many FD injuries are on the job an are they preventable in some cases..
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunately a paper fix. You can raise the rates as high as you want. However the reality is whether you can collect your rates. Medicare coverage sets a fee and you get that. Insurance companies do the same. contracts with entities may or may not allow you to go after the "patient for some or all of the difference. the oft cited figure current is $1,460 per run. The insurance payment is what about 50% of that. think the explanation of benefits statements you get from your health insurer. go to the doctors. The charge is one figure, the insurance company payment is a lesser amount and depending on the provision of your policy and the agreement between the provider of service and insurance carrier you are responsible for either nothing, something or all of the difference. You can put any number you want for a charge on the bill, it is what you can collect that makes the reality of whether you can fill the gap. Simply raising rates without the ability to collect is no fix.
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