Friday, July 31, 2009
New in Store: Kidishes Tempered Glass Dishes
Finally! Glass dishes that won't leach chemicals, won't smash when dropped, and won't break your budget. Find 'em in our store and online.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Our perspective on health insurance reform
We have been observing the ongoing debate over health insurance reform for quite a while, and it seems to be coming to some sort of complicated conclusion. Or maybe just a new convoluted beginning. We're definitely confused about the different proposals competing against each other, but there's one thing we're certain of. Something needs to change.
From our perspective as small business owners, health insurance for our family has always been a problem. Millie has Type I Diabetes, which means no insurance company will insure us. When individuals apply for health insurance, they're only accepted if there are no pre-existing conditions and diabetes is a deal breaker.
So, we've been participating in Minnesota's health insurance plan of last resort, called the Minnesota Comprehensive plan, which is a subsidized plan for "uninsurable" people like us. For our family of five, it costs us about $1,100 a month. Our deductible is $1,000 for each of us, which means we always have to think twice, sometimes three times, before visiting urgent care or making a doctor appointment. Most years, only Millie ever gets past the deductible. One time, when we took Duncan to the ER, the insurance coordinator at the hospital said "wow--that's really crappy insurance." "Yes," we said. "We know." Offering health insurance to all our employees is not an option, because Millie, with her diabetes, would set the rates for the whole group sky high.
When Obama talked about offering a "public option" during the campaign, we thought that sounded great. Frankly, we'd also support single payer, although that doesn't even seem to be on the table. We're not even sure--what is on the table? All we keep hearing is that some compromise plan which may or may not help us may or may not make it through congress.
We've been chomping at the bit for health care reform since Hillary Clinton. In any case, we're sure that our situation is not unique and we know that many people decide not to start small businesses precisely because of how expensive health insurance can be. Almost anything would be better than the current system.
We've heard more people talking about how the health insurance problem affects small businesses. Our friends at the Birchwood Cafe recently held a press conference about how their business is impacted, too. We agree entirely with their point of view and we call on Congress to do something now to fix this problem.
From our perspective as small business owners, health insurance for our family has always been a problem. Millie has Type I Diabetes, which means no insurance company will insure us. When individuals apply for health insurance, they're only accepted if there are no pre-existing conditions and diabetes is a deal breaker.
So, we've been participating in Minnesota's health insurance plan of last resort, called the Minnesota Comprehensive plan, which is a subsidized plan for "uninsurable" people like us. For our family of five, it costs us about $1,100 a month. Our deductible is $1,000 for each of us, which means we always have to think twice, sometimes three times, before visiting urgent care or making a doctor appointment. Most years, only Millie ever gets past the deductible. One time, when we took Duncan to the ER, the insurance coordinator at the hospital said "wow--that's really crappy insurance." "Yes," we said. "We know." Offering health insurance to all our employees is not an option, because Millie, with her diabetes, would set the rates for the whole group sky high.
When Obama talked about offering a "public option" during the campaign, we thought that sounded great. Frankly, we'd also support single payer, although that doesn't even seem to be on the table. We're not even sure--what is on the table? All we keep hearing is that some compromise plan which may or may not help us may or may not make it through congress.
We've been chomping at the bit for health care reform since Hillary Clinton. In any case, we're sure that our situation is not unique and we know that many people decide not to start small businesses precisely because of how expensive health insurance can be. Almost anything would be better than the current system.
We've heard more people talking about how the health insurance problem affects small businesses. Our friends at the Birchwood Cafe recently held a press conference about how their business is impacted, too. We agree entirely with their point of view and we call on Congress to do something now to fix this problem.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Hey--we're Twittering...Um, Tweeting
Yep, Peapods is now on Twitter! Follow us for in-the-moment flashes of inspiration, new product alerts, local news for parents, and whatever else crosses our minds. See twitter.com/peapods_mn .
For those keeping score at home, this mean that we now have:
1) A store.
2) A Website.
3) A Blog (you are here).
4) A Facebook Page.
5) A Twitter account.
All different! All fun! All a bit much, perhaps.
Enjoy.
For those keeping score at home, this mean that we now have:
1) A store.
2) A Website.
3) A Blog (you are here).
4) A Facebook Page.
5) A Twitter account.
All different! All fun! All a bit much, perhaps.
Enjoy.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Linker Logs Open Source Toys
From Dan: These are so cool! LinkerLogs open-source toys. If you happen to own a woodworking gizmo called a ShopBot, you can fabricate this building toy using a free file. It's the Linux model applied to wood toys!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Mary's Soft Dough, Made in Oregon
Mary's Soft Dough in the wonderful town of Eugene, Oregon. We'd met
Mary through our work with the Handmade Toy Alliance, so we dropped in
to say hi.
Mary invited us into her shop and Abby, Riley, and Duncan got to help
her make a batch of dough. Then we rolled it out and used cookie
cutters to portion it into containers. The dough is made out of 100%
food ingredients like flour and salt and it doesn't have that weird
"play doh" smell. She gave us samples that we played with for the rest
of our trip.
We were so impressed with Mary and her dough that we ordered a bunch
up for the store--you'll find it in our arts & crafts section. We
think you'll love it, too.
And thanks again to Mary for the memorable experience!
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