Barry Dahl dot com

It was 55 years ago today (Feb. 1, 1964) when I Wanna Hold Your Hand became the first #1 hit for The Beatles in the USA. I was a very young lad when The Fab Four made their big splash. I went along for the ride because my two older brothers were in high school at the time and bought all the albums. So, I’ve been a Beatles fan for as long as I can remember. In fact, I can only remember a little bit of the music that I listened to before I listened to The Beatles.

I have several favorites, or near-favorites on my Beatles playlist. There’s one song that haunts me. For many years I paid no attention to the lyrics. This song has a great beat and an awesome sound. It’s a real toe-tapper. But then there’s the lyrics.

Lyrics – Run For Your Life

• I’d rather see you dead, little girl,
• Than to be with another man.
• You’d better keep your head, little girl,
• Or I won’t know where I am.

• You’d better run for your life if you can, little girl,
• Hide your head in the sand, little girl,
• Catch you with another man,
• That’s the end ah, little girl.

• Well you know that I’m a wicked guy
• And I was born with a jealous mind.
• And I can’t spend my whole life
• Tryin’ just to make you toe the line.

Repeat 2nd stanza.

• Let this be a sermon,
• I mean ev’rything I said.
• Baby, I’m determined
• And I’d rather see you dead.

Repeat 2nd stanza

Repeat 1st Stanza

Repeat 2nd Stanza

John Lennon wrote these words. I guess this was before he tried to be a pacifist. He admitted in a 1980 Playboy interview that he treated women badly. “All that ‘I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved’ was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically… any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn’t express myself and I hit.”

I’ve heard many people argue that even though John wrote these lyrics, he wasn’t writing about himself. Apparently, he was writing a story about some crazy jealous dude – but not him. Based on his own words as a younger lad, and based on his statements that he wished he had never written this song – I tend to believe that it’s autobiographical.

It’s a shame that this song has such nasty lyrics. Take this same beat and melody and put it with decent lyrics and it would probably be my favorite Beatles song. Bummer.

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I’m starting 2019 on a personal mission. My plan is to drink 50 different beers in the first 50 days of the year. That doesn’t necessarily mean one beer each day, but a total of 50 over 50 days.

Then, starting February 20, I will go 50 days without a beer.

Then, starting April 10, I will take a self-assessment. Do I feel healthier? Am I happier? Am I an emotional wreck? Is there no significant difference?

I like beer. I really like craft beers. I really like craft beers that are dark, or hoppy, or unique; or possibly all three things at the same time. I hate to think that I’ll be better off without beer, but maybe that will be the case. My father had to stop drinking during the last 8 to 10 years of his life. He still liked beer, but beer didn’t like him.

I’ll keep a running list here, and then report out on my conclusions in April and May.

• Day 2 – Beer 1) Big Sky IPA
• Day 4 – Beer 2) Bent Paddle Harness IPA
  • Beer 3) Bent Paddle Black
  • Beer 4) Beaver Island Sweet Miss Stout
• Day 7 – Beer 5) Summit Extra Pale Ale
  • Beer 6) Lake Superior Duluth Coffee Stout
• Days 8, 9, 10 – ice fishing on Lake of the Woods – Beer 7) Fulton Citra Double Dry-Hopped 300 bottle
  • Beer 8) Shiner Bohemian Black Lager
  • Beer 9) Indeed Flavorwave IPA 

• Day 14 – Beer 10) Odell IPA
  • Beer 11) Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
• Day 16 – Beer 12) Alaskan Icy Bay IPA (meh!!)
• Day 17 – Beer 13) Beaver Island Brewing ’39 Red IPA
  • Beer 14) Earth Rider Superior Pale Ale
• Day 19 – Beer 15) Third Street BrewHouse Sugar Shack Maple Stout (can)
  • Beer 16) Oskar Blues G’Knight
• Day 21 – Beer 17) New Belgium Fat Tire
  • Beer 18) Castle Danger Cream Ale
• Day 23 – Beer 19) Tallgrass Brewing Buffalo Sweat Oatmeal Cream Stout
  • Beer 20) Hop & Barrel Hudson Haze IPA
• Day 24 – Beer 21) Milwaukee Brewing Louie’s Demise
• Day 25 – Beer 22) Big Wood Portside Porter
  • Beer 23) Rush River Unforgiven Amber Ale
• Day 28 – Beer 24) Bent Paddle Harness IPA
• Day 31 – Beer 25) Deschutes Jubelale
  • Beer 26) Earth Rider Duluth Coffee Pale Ale
• Day 33 – Beer 27) Zipline Kolsch
• Day 34 – Beer 28) Schell’s FireBrick
  • Beer 29) Surly Furious
• Day 35 – Beer 30) Guinness Stout
  • Beer 31) John Smith’s Newcastle Brown Ale
• Day 36 – Beer 32) Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter IPA
• Day 37 – Beer 33) Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter
  • Beer 34) The Fermentorium Underwater Panther
  • Beer 35) Earth Rider North Tower Stout
• Day 38 – Beer 36) Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA
  • Beer 37) Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
• Day 39 – Beer 38) Stone IPA
• Day 40 – Beer 39) Big Sky Scape Goat Pale Ale
  • Beer 40) Fitger’s Biere de Garde
  • Beer 41) Fitger’s Nuff Said English Pale Ale
• Day 42 – Beer 42) Hoops No. 9 Pomegranate Rye
• Day 44 – Beer 43) New Belgium 1554 Dark Lager
• Day 45 – Beer 44) Earth Rider Cognac Barrel Aged Valhalla Ale
• Day 47 – Beer 45) Firestone Walker Brewing Union Jack IPA
  • Beer 46) Golden Road Brewing Mango Cart Wheat Ale
• Day 48 – Beer 47) Hammerheart Laurentian Porter
  • Beer 48) Surly Todd – The Axe Man
• Day 49 – Beer 49) Thirsty Pagan Pabsh Double IPA
• Day 50 – Beer 50) The best beer of the first 49 deserves a repeat – and the winner is…the Duluth Coffee Pale Ale from Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, Wisconsin.

• It wasn’t easy drinking 50 beers in 50 days. Turns out that is more than I would normally drink. About 20% more, or so.
• So now the fun part begins.
• This beer lover is going to abstain from beer for the next 50 days.
• Then we’ll see which Barry is best; Beer Barry or that other guy.

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How about those school secretaries? Can I get a booyah!? The text below was printed in the Tuesday edition (4/21/2015) of the Superior Telegram. Here’s a link to the letter at their website, although it will probably disappear soon. This was written as an ode to my wife, who is a school secretary extraordinaire.  I’ll add more editorial comments at the bottom.

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Green Bay Packers fan and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker doesn’t hate all unions and union workers …

just when it comes to educating your kids and people working in most of the other public-sector jobs. Even he felt compelled to respond to all the guffaws on the Interwebz about his love for the union of football referees.

The Governor didn’t want Replacement Refs hurting his prospects for growing the number of jobs for people hawking Packers gear around the Cheese State.  Well Governor, if you think the Replacement Refs were bad for the state, just wait a few years and we’ll all start to see the impact of the Replacement Teachers in Wisconsin.

We do need to be fair to the man. He isn’t against all public employee unions. He graciously spared the police and fire unions, as well as the State Patrol Troopers and Inspectors from his mighty sword.

But teachers and other education workers (low-life, scum, bottom of the public employee barrel) lost most of their collective bargaining power. In particular, his Budget Repair Bill limited “collective bargaining to the base pay rate.” There will be no bargaining over pensions, health insurance, or any other issues besides base pay.

On the bright side, Walker’s plan will save the state even more money than he envisioned. This is what is happening and will continue to happen:

• Teachers and other people employed at educational institutions will leave their jobs for greener pastures.
  • I can hear many of you chanting in unison: “good riddance.”
  • You also say that you don’t believe this, that it’s made up of idle threats. Please read to the bottom.
• Those who remain in their jobs will no longer use the employer-provided health insurance options – BECAUSE THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO.

There’s lots of people out there who say that public employees don’t need unions because they don’t need to be “protected” from their employers, which is the government in one form or another. Think again.

And I don’t give a damn about what FDR said back in 1937 about public service unions. This is 2012, and times are different. More to the point, politicians are different. There’s not an FDR in sight.

I’m sure that many are rolling their eyes and thinking that I’ve bought into the liberal talking points – hook, line, and sinker. Let me tell you why I believe this. To illustrate the point, let’s look at the health insurance “benefits” for the School District of Superior, Wisconsin, where I happen to live.

Before Walker’s axe fell, school district employees had annual health insurance deductibles set at $1,500 for a family. Drug co-pays were included whether you had hit the deductible max or not. Once the deductible was met, other health costs were shared on an 80 percent-20 percent co-insurance split, with a family paying up to maximum of $4,000 out-of-pocket in a given year. Those were the terms for the last contract that was collectively bargained, which ended June 30, 2012.

On July 1, the new “Employee Handbook” went into effect and changed the family deductible to $6,000 per year; and eliminated the drug co-pay provisions until that deductible of $6,000 has been incurred. Let me make sure that you understand what I’m saying. There is absolutely no payment by the insurance company on your behalf until you have paid the first $6,000 in health care costs incurred during the year out of your own pocket.

When you have a $6,000 deductible, all that you basically have is catastrophic care insurance. A reasonably healthy family of four that has normal health care needs during a year will likely end up somewhere in the $4,000 – 6,000 range (Note 1) for the total cost of health services consumed. Your health insurance won’t pay a dime for any of that. Almost makes you want to get really, really sick. (Note 2)

The school district announced that the changes in health insurance would save the district $1.5M each year. That savings is based on the assumption that all employees would continue to use the new health insurance if they were using the old. That assumption is very faulty. Many employees can no longer afford the insurance, thereby reducing the employer’s cost of premiums (fewer insured, fewer premiums paid to ins co.) and saving them even more money. So, sing hallelujah! The school district budget crisis has been solved, and then some! No pity needed for the employees who have seen their compensation package severely reduced – no pity since they are the scum of the earth. They deserved it, right?

Let’s also take a look at the societal cost of this “benefit” (quotes marks intentional). The cost of the family insurance premiums comes to a total of approximately $15,000 per year, paid jointly by the employer and employee  If you have $6,000 in health costs, then you have paid (and your employer, on your behalf) a total of $21,000 for $6,000 in health care.

No wonder the insurance companies love the Governor.

I wonder how many Tea Party supporters there are in the ranks of school employees?  I’ve met a few, so I know they’re out there. How do you like your Governor now? How terrible do you think collective bargaining is now? How much do you love your health insurance coverage?

(Note 1) I took the $3,470 average out-of-pocket health care costs for a family of four and inflated it to the estimated $4K-6K range based on the fact that they would have to pay more for drugs since co-pays wouldn’t kick in until after the deductible is met. How much more depends completely on the type of drugs needed, and on whether they would continue to purchase the drugs they NEED given that they are so expensive. One migraine sufferer told me directly that she would just have to go without her migraine-fighting medicine.

(Note 2) There is a second option for school district employees. Known as the “low-deductible” plan, you can get a more reasonable deductible and drug co-pays IF you have over $6,500 (teachers) or $7,500 (secretaries, for example) deducted from your salary. This “low-deductible” plan is even less affordable than the one mentioned above.

One last thought to chew on. Maybe you think that teachers are overpaid and under worked. You’re entitled to your opinion. This change also affects school secretaries, custodians, food service workers, and many other employees who make as little as $20K per year, before taxes and “benefits” deductions. If your take home pay is $14,000 a year, how easily can you afford $6,000 in out-of-pocket health care costs? I know, I know, it’s not your problem.

So, you’re right. Public employees do NOT need collective bargaining, because nothing bad could ever happen to them. Right?

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