What insurance really is.

It seems a lot of people have trouble understanding insurance. However, I'm pretty sure everyone understands the concept of a bet, and that's all insurance really is. You say to the insurance company, "I bet that I will need money to repair my car after an accident". The car insurance company looks at your driving record, and at the records of other drivers similar to you, and at their books, and says "I will take your bet. Your stake is [the amount of your premium], and we don't think you'll need a payout." Naturally, sometimes they're wrong. This is why they take thousands of such bets; on almost all of them, they're right. The income from the stakes they get to keep pays for the smaller number of times they're wrong, and if they guess right, they wind up with a profit overall.

That's an example using car insurance. There are specialised car insurers who work with classic cars, which don't fit into the normal car insurer's accounting procedures well; they can still make profits, because the owners of classic cars are careful with them. They don't make '64 Corvettes any more, so you're not going to treat your '64 Corvette with disdain. You'll garage it, you'll keep it clean, not drive it in the rain, and lavish care on it, because it's effectively irreplaceable. Meanwhile, your Corolla that you get the groceries in is a commodity; there's always another Japanese econobox.

Today, I saw somebody advocating, for health insurance reform, simply removing the ability of health insurers to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. While this would possibly improve matters for victims of rape and domestic violence, it's not a solution. Since insurance is a bet, taking on someone that you can know for a fact will need to make claims makes you a sucker. I've even seen suggestions that new insurance companies will arise to offer coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, like the car insurance companies which cater to classic cars.

I want to know what colour the sky is on his world.

It's the little things.

Small details that make the difference.

In general, food shopping here is very similar to in the UK. However, some things differ. For instance, vegetables. I cannot find runner beans here. It's as if they don't exist. On the other hand, celeriac is easy to find, if only I had a really good use for it.

Sausages; I can't find sausages such as I grew up with. Nor can I find back bacon.

Lamb is very rarely found, although I'm not concerned about that since I dislike lamb.

Cheese is much restricted in its selection.

And on another note entirely, we have a new contender in the "classiest clothing" award: an oversized sleeveless t-shirt advertising a bail bond service. Stay classy, sir!

Going native

It would seem that this has occurred. Today is not as hot as it has been of late (today's forecast high: 70°F/21°C) and so I'm moping around, complaining of it being cold, with long trousers, socks, and a tucked-in t-shirt. I'm even contemplating putting on a light sweater.

Interesting sports

One of the things Americans will often claim is that cricket is boring. This is almost always based on a lack of understanding. Yes, a cricket match can last for up to five full days, but that does not mean it's slow. It doesn't mean nothing's happening.

The other day, I was in a restaurant, and upon their multiple televisions there was a baseball match. Now that truly IS a boring sport; approximately every minute or more, one person would throw a ball at high speed, and then nothing would happen. Then they'd roll commercials, and when the game came back, nothing would happen. In the entire time we were there, there was maybe one burst of activity, which unseemly display was rapidly put down. I've never seen so many crowd shots.

In cricket, on the other hand, there is always something happening. One of the many reasons there was stiff resistance to the possibility of showing cricket on commercial channels rather than the BBC was concern that there was not going to be space to fit advert breaks. The same concern dogged Formula 1, but that's not considered at all important, and Bernie Ecclestone is addicted to money, and so that was swept under the rug, but cricket coverage was considered uncommercialisable for many years.

I beilieve that the major appeal of watching baseball is the opportunity it affords for drinking. You can "watch the game" with a constant dripfeed of beer, secure in the knowledge that should you slip into a coma, you won't miss anything, while your other half can't object because it's sports and you're supposed to be into sports. Baseball: not the national sport, the national coverup for getting drunk!

Getting something done...

So now, I've actually got something I can put on my resume. I'm volunteer tech crew with Actors' Ensemble of Berkeley, who are currently working on a production of As It Is in Heaven.

This'll mean a few more miles on the old brick, and some fun times. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Advanced notice

My birthday falls on the 26th of next month. I wish to emphasise at this point that gift-giving is entirely voluntary; if you don't want to, or don't have the money to, that's entirely OK by me. I have everything I need at the moment, so gifts are just a bonus.

With that said, if you do want to give me gifts, I maintain an Amazon wishlist. Receiving things from that list, and probably suggestions that Amazon throws when looking at the pages of things on that list, would be pleasant, so if you're feeling generous, that's a good place to start.

A PSA to my Bay Area friends

Now would be a very good time to check and correct your tyre pressures. Rainy weather and bad inflation pressures are a nasty combo. If you're under, I have a nifty little electric pump that runs off the lighter socket, and anyone within a reasonable distance is welcome to borrow it!