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**braumeister** · 09-27-2015, 06:48 PM

Headed home after another great week in Denver. I've been one of the judges at the Great American Beer Festival since 2002, and I keep coming back because I enjoy the camaraderie so much. This year the number of judges exploded to over 240 in order to judge the equally exploded number of beers entered in the competition (over 6,800).

But what really got me is the fact that there were twice as many breweries entering beers this year (over 1,500) as there were just two years ago.

You many have noticed that there seem to be many more microbreweries and brewpubs opening up lately. It's not just your imagination!

Ronstar · 09-27-2015, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister

Headed home after another great week in Denver. I've been one of the judges at the Great American Beer Festival since 2002, and I keep coming back because I enjoy the camaraderie so much. This year the number of judges exploded to over 240 in order to judge the equally exploded number of beers entered in the competition (over 6,800).

But what really got me is the fact that there were twice as many breweries entering beers this year (over 1,500) as there were just two years ago.

You many have noticed that there seem to be many more microbreweries and brewpubs opening up lately. It's not just your imagination!

Sounds like my idea of a great time! The microbrewery explosion is one of the reasons I quit brewing my own beer. No need to brew my own - It's so easy to get high quality beers commercially.

Khan · 09-28-2015, 12:36 PM

Accessories for small people added to truck.

W2R · 09-28-2015, 03:28 PM

Great accessory, Khan! You look so happy too, and that is best of all.

Nodak · 09-28-2015, 03:35 PM

Harvest is in full swing so I went for a drive around the countryside. Most grains are done but beans, sugar beets, potatos, and corn are being harvested now. It's fun to see some of the richest farm land on earth. When I was a child I assumed all dirt was black.

ls99 · 09-28-2015, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan

Accessories for small people added to truck.

You look waaaaay toooo happy!

**MichaelB** · 09-30-2015, 03:23 PM

I was over at Lowes this afternoon picking up a few things and saw this. It's still September.

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W2R · 09-30-2015, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB

I was over at Lowes this afternoon picking up a few things and saw this. It's still September.

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That's insane! I was aghast just to see Hallowe'en decorations out in residential areas this past weekend.

**Walt34** · 09-30-2015, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB

I was over at Lowes this afternoon picking up a few things and saw this. It's still September.

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It (Christmas displays in stores) seems to creep up a few days or weeks every year.

Got our flu shots. I had a regularly scheduled doctor appointment and DW tagged along for the shot.

It seems the doctor's practice is now owned by the local hospital. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I suspect the latter. All the staff from the doc on down were struggling with learning the new software they have to use.

**braumeister** · 09-30-2015, 03:32 PM

As I posted here previously, the Halloween decorations started going up where I live back in early August.

**Gumby** · 09-30-2015, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34

It seems the doctor's practice is now owned by the local hospital. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I suspect the latter.

I don't know your health care arrangement, but it is generally a bad thing for payors when this happens. First, the rates charged will now be the ones negotiated by the hospital, which are generally higher than those that can be negotiated by an independent small physician practice. Second, this means that there may now be a "facility fee" charged, which is sort of a general allocation of hospital overhead that gets charged to everyone who goes to a hospital "facility", which need not be anywhere near the actual hospital. All in all, the same service from the same person in the same office will likely now cost substantially more.

Idnar7 · 09-30-2015, 04:33 PM

Took the pontoon out of the lake. Earliest ever due to a wedding this weekend. Last night was down into the 40's and seeming like Halloween. Summers keep getting shorter

**Walt34** · 09-30-2015, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby

All in all, the same service from the same person in the same office will likely now cost substantially more.

I suspected as much simply because of diminished competition. The same entity owns all but one of the hospitals in the tri-county area and now they're buying the physician's practices. Not good.

We are fortunate to have very good insurance coverage (secondary to Medicare for me) so hopefully the effect on us will be slight if noticeable at all.

**MichaelB** · 09-30-2015, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister

As I posted here previously, the Halloween decorations started going up where I live back in early August.

Amazing. Who really is getting ready for Christmas?

I get the feeling this is similar to what we called busy work. No one expected it to produce anything useful, but a manager somewhere could say with confidence that a retail strategy was underway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby

I don't know your health care arrangement, but it is generally a bad thing for payors when this happens. First, the rates charged will now be the ones negotiated by the hospital, which are generally higher than those that can be negotiated by an independent small physician practice. Second, this means that there may now be a "facility fee" charged, which is sort of a general allocation of hospital overhead that gets charged to everyone who goes to a hospital "facility", which need not be anywhere near the actual hospital. All in all, the same service from the same person in the same office will likely now cost substantially more.

My insurance doesn't include facility fees, and it doesn't count toward deductible of out of pocket, and I think the same applies to Medicare. Health care..

pb4uski · 09-30-2015, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB

I was over at Lowes this afternoon picking up a few things and saw this. It's still September.

.
.

I was in Costco last night and noticed a display of holiday wrappings and ribbons. Yuk.

pb4uski · 09-30-2015, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Idnar7

Took the pontoon out of the lake. Earliest ever due to a wedding this weekend. Last night was down into the 40's and seeming like Halloween. Summers keep getting shorter

Mine is still in. I'm hoping to have another trip ro two in the next few weeks and then will take it out.

**Gumby** · 09-30-2015, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB

My insurance doesn't include facility fees, and it doesn't count toward deductible of out of pocket.

You might not pay more, but your insurance company probably will, and that eventually gets reflected in premiums.

Dreamer · 09-30-2015, 07:02 PM

Khan, You do look so happy in that picture. It looks like marriage and living in FL agree with you.

Dreamer · 09-30-2015, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34

Got our flu shots. I had a regularly scheduled doctor appointment and DW tagged along for the shot.

It seems the doctor's practice is now owned by the local hospital. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I suspect the latter. All the staff from the doc on down were struggling with learning the new software they have to use.

I had a regularly scheduled doctor appointment today also. They did not mention flu shots and I did not think to ask about them. I usually get mine toward the end of October.

My doctor's office is now owned by the local hospital also. It will be interesting to see what is charged and paid by insurance, when I get my explanation of benefits from them.