signfabs

The US health system is BROKEN. The problem is not necessarily with Obama or a Universal Health Scheme. You had problems long before Obama arrived on the scene. Someone, somewhere is making a fortune at the expense of everyone else. Australia, like many other countries, has a Universal Health Scheme that does not send us broke and people who cannot afford insurance are treated with dignity. Our GPs still drive BMWs, our specialists still work four days a week and collect vintage cars. We pay a levy on our income tax and can take private insurance if we wish which gives us a private room in hospital, choice of doctor and much earlier access to specialist care as well as cheaper optical, dental etc. Ambulance transport is prompt and free including air ambulance if needed. Only identification is required for high quality hospital emergency care and emergency treatment would NEVER be denied to ANYONE. Many doctors do not charge above the government paid fee. The hospitals are owned by the state government or a religious order (funded by the government). So no billionaires there. Our system is far from perfect but we don't have to take a mortgage to spend time in hospital. So, where's all YOUR money going. It's the old story, "follow the money". I'm willing to bet that the majority (most likely the vast majority) of the money you spend feathers the nests of a lot of people who have nothing to do with actually delivering health care. The problem probably lies in private ownership of essential services. Don't get me wrong, I am quite politically conservative, but profiting from the misfortunes of others is little short of evil. What can you do about it? I don't know, but a Universal Health Scheme that bypasses the profiteers is probably much closer to the solution than the problem.

Think about this! The entire cabinet of the Australian government is made up of former senior union people. Always on about the rights of the workers. Meanwhile those workers' jobs disappear as businesses downsize or close. It's amazing that our economy is in such good condition. We'll have a new government later this year but I'm not a fan of that mob either. It doesn't matter who you vote for, you still end up with a politician.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said "Taxation is the price we pay for civilization". Politicians always promise more (popular) without increasing taxes and charges (unpopular). Mention a tax increase and you are crucified in the media (owned and controlled by people who could afford to share a bit more.) A politician's main job is to get elected. We are living beyond our means and would like to continue doing so.

Fuel in Aus is over $US6 a gallon, $US7 for premium. Our health scheme is paid for by an income tax levy. Sure, we have "free" health care if you're willing to wait 6,12 months or more to see a free specialist if it's not life threatening. Full service health care still requires expensive insurance and/or deep pockets. To see a dermatologist recently, my wife had to, pay a GP $75 for a referral, wait 3 months, pay $350 for 15 minutes, got $100 rebate from the free health scheme and nothing from our insurance. But I admit the availability of free, fast, high quality hospital and ambulance (including air-ambulance) service in an emergency, with no questions asked is a weight off your mind. Greg

It is possibly just methylene chloride with a some polycarbonate dissolved in. Ask for a material safety data sheet. That will tell you the ingredients but not ratios. Almost anything you do to polycarbonate other than cutting voids the warranty. I hate working with polycarbonate and usually talk my clients into using impact modified acrylic. Bonding dissimilar plastics is a bit like welding aluminium to steel. It can be done but isn't really ideal long term.

A sign manufacturer in our area has CCTV and audio at each workstation. If an employee goes off camera for more than a few seconds, he (they won't hire women) is hailed on the PA to explain. Workers are not allowed radios or music because it would interfere with the audio monitoring. Not surprisingly, employees are also paid as little as they can get away with and generally not treated with respect. It's not like it's a production line where monitoring would be reasonable or that the company's prices are lower than their opposition.. I'm not sure why, but they have trouble hiring or retaining experienced staff. In eight years, they have not had a project manager stay more than three months. As a result, the output per staff member is much lower and they have lots of quality issues. Despite these "efficiencies" the business (in another incarnation) has previously gone into liquidation. Once a good employee believes he or she is not trusted or appreciated, care factor disappears, productivity falls and he or she will look for any opportunity to get out. The employee you have spent time and money training ends up at your opposition. Your employees are as important as your clients. Have fun Greg

See my reply on the "Working with Lexan" thread. Sandblasting, orbital sanding or painting would all reduce the strength of polycarbonate and negate the warranty. The person who specified the material was probably unaware of this. A frosted vinyl (though not ideal) would be the preferred method if you can't afford frosted polycarbonate. Greg

Don't forget, you could use part of the output to supply the small amount of electricity required to make the plasma. Now what you have is unlimited output with no input at all. Right!!!!!

A couple of hints here. The gap between your support rails should be 3 times the thickness of the material. If you are planning to do more than a few bends at a time the support rails need to be water cooled. A cheap way to get short heating bars is to buy an electric bar radiator. They have silica glass tubes with nichrome wire coils inside which heat quicker than calrods and do not buckle when hot. When heated to bending temperature, cast acrylic shrinks about 3%. This is what causes the cracking if you wipe the bend with any sort of solvent, even glass cleaner. Because the fold has shrunk, any time one side of the bend is narrow, the fold will warp. There is nothing simple you can do about this. Greg