Sigh of Relief

I’m finally finished with my Business Law class. It seemed to go on forever due to the two vacations within, making the class take nine weeks, start to finish, instead of six. I probably didn’t get an A, but I guess my 4.0 couldn’t last forever.

Extinctions and Supernovae

According to a new proposal by astronomers, two-thirds of the world’s living creatures may have been destroyed by a supernova near by. Its gamma rays would have recomposed the Earth’s atmosphere and allowed deadly ultraviolet radiation from the sun to hit the surface.

It would have also created dust in the atmosphere, cooling the surface, and setting up conditions that would allow an ice age to begin. Neat. Well, it’s neat, except for the fact that a supernova might expose the Earth to harmful gamma rays every few hundred million years and could happen at any time without warning.

We’ll be safe once we learn to live under water in the deep ocean.

Health Care

Last year, I paid $52.89 for my health insurance every other week. This year, I will be paying $61.15 for the same benefits. That’s almost a 16% increase. I’m not going to be getting a 16% raise; at least, I highly doubt it. Part of me wants to be thankful that I have any health insurance at all, but that part of me is barely on talking terms with the other part of me.

The good news is that all employees of my company are reimbursed a partial amount for health insurance payments. The bad news is the amount of reimbursement didn’t increase 16% from last year. It increased 0%.