The .Plan

That new Amy Winehouse song is stupid.

NYT has a great soapbox piece on drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs:

Less than a decade ago, a stint in rehab was assumed to be a body- and soul-wrenching experience. A trip to even an elite facility like the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., was sufficiently shaming to keep under wraps — the psychic equivalent of a week in the stocks. Today a sojourn at a boutique establishment like Promises in Malibu, Calif., where until last week Britney Spears was tucked away, is openly discussed and in some quarters glamorized as a hip, if costly, refuge for the gilded set.

That idea is perpetuated — indeed aggressively promoted — by the marketers of a handful of high-end facilities, some of which advertise amenities on their Web sites like private rooms with 600-thread-count bedsheets, high-tech gyms, spa cuisine and ocean views. “There used to be a stigma to coming to a place like this,” said Chris Prentiss, the director of Passages, another exclusive treatment center in Malibu. “Now it’s like wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt.”
–Ruth la Ferla, “… Having a Great Detox”, New York Times, March 29, 2007

The piece emphasizes the “idealization of recovery” in the collective psyche, but I wonder if that’s a totalizing explanation for what’s going on. A much more truthful assessment would be that current trends are being driven by a trivialization of “rehab” through its overuse to reap political gain. Declaring participation in an inpatient program with an eye towards damage control has the unfortunate effect of causing others to turn cynically away from what could potentially be an effective, albeit difficult, intervention.

Here is a catalog of individuals who have loudly announced their intent to enter rehab — defining “rehab” will be an entry for another day — in recent months:

• Gavin Newsom (Feb 2007)
  
• Isaiah Washington (Jan 2007)
  
• Tara Conner (Dec 2006)
  
• Ted Haggard (Nov 2006)
  
• Bob Ney (Oct 2006)
  
• Mel Gibson (Jul 2006)

More thorough reporters would dig beyond the transparent doublespeak of the initial press release and write stories on longer term outcomes, but unfortunately they are ensnared in this conspiracy as well. When it comes to all things psychological, the nature of the doublespeak (“I take full responsibility for my disordered conduct / I am an alcoholic and am powerless in the face of my genetic disease”, “I am going into therapy to show you that I am taking responsibility for saying bad things about gay people / by going into therapy I am entitled to place the blame of my moral defects on factors external to my soul”) is such that the initial decision is the only one that matters. We are willing to dock moral points if Mel Gibson does not enter therapy, but we are unwilling to dock moral points if he fails therapy. That we would hold a person morally responsible for some choices but not for others — how did this strange set of circumstances come about?

As an aside: in case formulation conference last week, there was a lively discussion of a man who had totally exploited his aged mother out of house and savings and was now (after having run out of money and cocaine) in the ED claiming suicidal intent and demanding to be hospitalized at Hotel Harborview. At one point during the discussion, my attending said, flatly, “He has a moral defect.” After months and months of listening to mental health professionals prattle on about childhood circumstances, genetic susceptibilities, and multiaxial diagnosis, it was a breath of fresh air.

In a now-classic short story from the 1930s, Raymond Chandler described the Santa Ana winds thusly:

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.
–Raymond Chandler, “Red Wind”, Raymond Chandler: Collected Stories

I haven’t quite encountered as compelling a description of the interminable grey & drizzle in the Seattle literature. But someday I will find something in print that can speak to what Seattleites experience from October through March.

In any case, it finally broke today. And I remembered what intense sunshine — not just a sunbreak — feels like.

(interns out for a celebratory pint)

Somewhere far away…

Opened in April 2005 on Bermuda’s west side, 50 minutes from the airport, the 18-acre 9 Beaches resort gives the overwater bungalow concept something of a Cape Cod twist. The cabanas are constructed from a breathable canvas fabric stretched over an aluminum frame, for an appearance that’s more seaside cottage than South Seas thatched-roof cabin. The design allows cool Atlantic breezes to circulate (though bungalows also have air-conditioning). Of the resort’s 84 units, 16 stand on wooden piers over the water; see-through floor panels reveal sea life beneath. 866/841-9009, 9beaches.com, overwater bungalow $305 in spring and winter.
–Jennifer Dennis, Overwater bungalows, CNN Budget Travel Online, March 23, 2007

…but since I am stuck here bereft of vacation days until June, I may as well indulge myself:

Whidbey Island, Deception Pass, Meerkerk Garden, Langley.

My goodness, this state is beautiful.

One of the latest things that has been making its rounds on the Internet since the fall is the “free MacBook Pro” offer. The basic setup is that you sign up for some “trial offers” and in return you get the laptop. In the link just cited, the writer signed up for 18 trial offers on October 4, 2006 and had the laptop in hand by October 30. After cancelling all of the trial offers, the writer’s total out of pocket cost, net of shipping and refunds, was $98.69. Unfortunately, the terms of that deal have changed, and now there is a clause that prohibits participants from cancelling the trial offers prior to 90 days. That substantially undercuts the attractiveness of the deal.

There is a new Web site, ShopFreePay.com, that offers a similar setup, but the range of gift items is broader. You can complete 18 trial offers and get a MacBook Pro, or you can just complete 2 or 3 trial offers and get an iPod Nano. Since I have been on the market for a new digital camera, I thought I would give it a shot: complete 5 trial offers for a new Canon SD800.

Risks: 1) Increased volume of postal spam. Not a problem since I’m moving in 3.5 months anyway. 2) Increased volume of e-mail spam. Not a problem since I created a dummy GMail account precisely for this task. 3) Increased volume of telephone spam. This could potentially be problematic since the only contact number I could give out is my cell phone number. I’ve already got it on the Do Not Call list, and if I notice a rise in telephone spam I guess I’ll have to do it again. 4) Reduced credit score. For the most part, you can choose which trial offers to complete, but for some of the big ticket items like the MacBook Pro, it is sneakily set up such that you end up applying for one or more credit cards. For the Canon SD800, you can avoid applying for credit cards if you are willing to sign up for Webhosting services. 5) Failure to cancel services in a timely fashion. This could be a potential problem if you are trying to keep track of 18 different trial offers and scanning the fine print of 18 different contracts trying to figure out how in the heck to cancel it within the “free” trial offer period. The vendors do their best to set up barriers to cancellation, and in many cases you are only permitted to cancel by telephone (ie., assuming you are able to get a human on the other end of the line).

Benefits: 1) Canon SD800 for a fraction of the regular out of pocket price. Enough said.

Alternatives: 1) Wait for a camera deal to pop up on BensBargains.net. However, I’ve been following that site closely with my RSS feed, and the only Canon deals are for the SD900 which I consider to be an inferior camera. 2) Pay full price. Out of the question. I never do that.

In order to manage risk #5, I set up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with a list of the vendors, their contact numbers and hours of operation, important dates, logs of all contacts I had with them (including cancellation reference numbers and the name of the service rep with whom I spoke), and all out of pocket costs:

I began signing up for trial offers on March 10, 2007. ShopFreePay.com verified my participation by March 12 whereupon I cancelled my subscriptions across the board, the Canon SD800 was shipped on March 13, and it finally arrived today! It was packaged in a box from Amazon.com, apparently sent as a “gift order” but with no order slip.

At this point, my credit card has been charged $253.85. All of the trial offers have been cancelled, and $217.18 has already been refunded. There are one or two packages that I need to mark “REFUSE - RETURN TO SENDER”. Hopefully, all of that will proceed without a hitch.

Looking to buy a place in that ridiculous market? Check out my brother’s new project:

SFHousePrices.net

This salesman of foreclosed homes has a response for everything:

When mortgage lenders get stuck owning dilapidated houses in shabby neighborhoods, they often call James Odell Barnes.

Mr. Barnes works the rock bottom of the housing market, what his lawyer calls the “sub-subprime market.” He and his partners buy foreclosed homes by the dozens, sight unseen, often for just a few thousand dollars apiece. They resell them to low-income buyers who would have trouble qualifying for bank mortgages, providing many buyers with seller financing…

Mr. Barnes says that because the houses cost so little, it isn’t worth his time to inspect them before buying. He guesstimates what they’re worth, based on experience. Most buyers of foreclosed homes spruce them up before trying to resell them. Mr. Barnes wants nothing to do with renovation, a time-consuming and expensive process.

Houses are sold “as is.” When one buyer called to complain about finding a dead possum in a newly purchased house, Teresa Kastanes, who is married to Mr. Barnes’s lawyer and helps with the business, recalls responding: “Listen. I’m throwing in the possum for free.”
–James Hagerty, “Foreclosure Rise Brings Business To One Investor”, Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2007

The secret is out.

(click to see full-sized image)

A recent study reminded me: the stories of the poor do matter.

Sympathy and callousness: The impact of deliberative thought on donations to identifiable and statistical victims
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
March 2007

Deborah A. Small, George Loewenstein and Paul Slovic

ABSTRACT

When donating to charitable causes, people do not value lives consistently. Money is often concentrated on a single victim even though more people would be helped, if resources were dispersed or spent protecting future victims. We examine the impact of deliberating about donation decisions on generosity. In a series of field experiments, we show that teaching or priming people to recognize the discrepancy in giving toward identifiable and statistical victims has perverse effects: individuals give less to identifiable victims but do not increase giving to statistical victims, resulting in an overall reduction in caring and giving. Thus, it appears that, when thinking deliberatively, people discount sympathy towards identifiable victims but fail to generate sympathy toward statistical victims.

When I get up in the morning, I can see the sun reflected in the water of Lake Union and in the east-facing windows of the luxury condominiums on Queen Anne Hill. And when I come home from work, I can see the sun setting over the Olympics.

Oh, wait. Maybe that’s just because this is a no-call, non-ward month! No disimpaction nightmares, no disposition nightmares, no “I want to leave A.M.A.” bitchiness — just pure unadulterated 8-to-6 consultation.

Top 20 Salsa Playlist:

1. D.R.A. - Tanto La Queria
   
2. DLG - No Morira
   
3. Eddie Santiago - Manana
   
4. Eddie Santiago - Tu Me Haces Falta
   
5. Gilberto Santarosa - Conciencia
   
6. Guayacan - Con Que Derecho
   
7. Jerry Rivera - Rios De Dolor
   
8. Jerry Rivera - Solo Tu
   
9. Jerry Rivera - El Principe de la Ciudad
   
10. Jerry Rivera - Mi Libertad
    
11. Jerry Rivera - Ella
    
12. Luis Enrique - Tu No le Amas le Temes
    
13. Maelo Ruiz - Te Va a Doler
    
14. Maelo Ruiz - Regalame una Noche
    
15. Max Torres - El Invierno Pasado
    
16. Pedro Conga - Atrevete
    
17. Son de Cali - Por Haberme Alejado
    
18. Tito Nieves - Fabricando Fantasias
    
19. Tito Nieves - Esa Boquita
    
20. Victor Manuel feat. Voltio - Evitare
    

You can spring my clock forward and take away my sleep, but you cannot stop the inexorable forward march of time.