Charles Shiflett Column December 18, 2005

What Were They Thinking?

No person or organization is perfect, but sometimes decisions that are made just leave me scratching
my head.

• Georgia Power: The good folks at Georgia Power's corporate marketing office must think I've been
standing too close to high voltage lines for a while. Maybe I'm missing something, but this fantastic
offer I just received in the mail doesn't appear so great to me.

I'm referring to Georgia Power's flat billing plan. Our home is totally electric, and like many of you my
monthly electric bill fluctuates a lot throughout the year.

The idea of paying a flat amount each month for electricity will probably appeal to a lot of people,
especially those on fixed incomes. However, you may want to read the fine print before you jump on
this deal.

According to the power company folks, my average power bill for the past twelve months was $139.47.
So how much do you think Georgia Power wants me to pay each month for the privilege of paying the
same amount? Try $190.17!

That means over the course of the year I would pay an additional $608.40! If I use less electricity do I
get a refund? Nope! Thanks for thinking of me, but I'll have to decline your offer.

• Football Bowl Games: What do Southern Miss, Arkansas State, BYU, Colorado State, Kansas,
Houston, Memphis, Arizona State, Utah, Virginia, Missouri, NC State, and South Florida all have in
common?

These college football teams all have paltry records of six wins and five losses each, yet all were
rewarded with trips to play in bowl games. Heck, six and five doesn't even qualify as mediocre.

Let's see… this year there are twenty-eight bowl games, which means that fifty-six college football
teams will be rewarded for their “excellent” seasons. No wonder most Americans feel the college bowl
system is broken.

If we're not going to change to a playoff system, then here's an idea: Let only the top twenty-four
teams play in a bowl game. Twelve bowl games… that's it.

To make the games interesting, each team would have to play another team ranked within four places
of it's own ranking. No more match-ups like at the Orange Bowl this year where #22 Florida State
plays #3 Penn State. Heck, even if Penn State blows out the Seminoles, what have they proved?

• School Calendar: Speaking of college football bowl games… over the last several years, many of the
bowls traditionally played on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day have now migrated to January 2nd.

We would all probably agree that school should come first, but many families plan for these bowl
games when they schedule their holiday trips and get-togethers. Some now see January 2nd as part
of the Christmas/New Year's holiday break.

As a result, many school systems have changed their calendars over the past decade to place the
first post-holiday school day around January 3rd or 4th. This is especially true this year with New
Year's Day falling on a Sunday. So what about our local systems this winter?

Cartersville City schools will reopen January 3rd. With the Georgia Bulldogs playing the night before in
the Sugar Bowl, look for quite a few sleepy eyed students on Tuesday morning in city classrooms.

For Bartow County, the picture is bleaker… they start back on Monday, January 2nd. Let's see, there
are six major bowl games being played on Monday starting at 11:00 AM. Forget sleepy students…
we're possibly talking about an abnormally high absentee rate that day.

• Medicare Drug Plan: If you or someone in your family has reached those golden oldie years, then
you probably have a million questions about this new Medicare prescription drug plan.

There are dozens of plans with a multitude of options. Some plans cover only a handful of medications
while others have lengthy formularies. The co-pay and deductible language is confusing at best.

Of course you could spend several days studying all the details at the Medicare web site and the sites
of the several dozen companies offering coverage. On the other hand, a large number of seniors don't
have Internet access.

As I've found out in helping some family members navigate this monstrosity, there is a high probability
that you will receive more than one answer to any question you raise. You shouldn't be surprised,
because after all we are dealing with government.

So to Georgia Power, the college football gods, our school systems, and the federal government I have
just one question… What were you thinking?