this week's schedule again has me in at 5am on friday. Just ONE day early, all the rest are evenings. Of course it is my monday, so it again screws up my weekend
this week's schedule again has me in at 5am on friday. Just ONE day early, all the rest are evenings. Of course it is my monday, so it again screws up my weekend
originally posted in wrong thread. 
Looked at a book on Amz. Checked out the used ones and now tax starts at 75c up to almost $4 and every single one has tax added. Never have I seen that before. For that I wholeheartedly blame Amz who opposed an internet sales tax when small and pushed it when they got too bigly for their boots. Geez louise. I do also blame the Supreme Legislative Body er, Court. 
The hits just keep on coming. I signed up with Obamacare, thinking I could go see my local doctors. Not one of them take it. I haven't had a A1C in 5 years. I've had government "health" insurance for over a year and haven't seen a doctor because I can't figure out how to play this rigged game.
I call to make an address change. They ask a few questions and I tell them that I've been laid off for 6 weeks. They change my premium. Last year, it was $124. Come January, its $164. They said with the unemployment, the bill is now $154. Great. $10 is $10.
I get my first bill. They didn't update the address. And its now $194. Apparently BlueCross' MO hasn't changed. Double premiums inexplicably. They did it to me 15 years ago. I dropped them, and haven't forgotten. I'm going to use the allotment I have added for dental. And I'm dropping them again. berkeley it. Never trust an insurance company.
Is competency really that hard? Deposited a check on wednesday and they said it would take two days to clear, still waiting.
Canceled satellite TV last week and was assured they wouldn't debit my account again, guess what dinged my account this morning?
All I want is for people to do the job they were hired to do. Simple GD concept, execution seems to be getting worse year after year.
Appleseed said:The hits just keep on coming. I signed up with Obamacare, thinking I could go see my local doctors. Not one of them take it. I haven't had a A1C in 5 years. I've had government "health" insurance for over a year and haven't seen a doctor because I can't figure out how to play this rigged game.
The insurance network game is ridiculous. They have the networks so narrow and so bizarrely restricted that using any actual insurance plan is going to require changing doctors based on who's in your network. I spent hours choosing which plan to use, and then the next year the plan was discontinued and I got the pleasure of shopping networks again and changing doctors again. Don't even get me started on the cost, it's absurd. I have the luxury of not really needing to worry about it, and can't even imagine how stressful it would be if the premium increases meant I would have to choose between eating and going to the doctor. It's not just Obamacare - even before the ACA we were barraged with massive premium increases year after year after year. Anyone not protected by having employer provided insurance is just boned over and over again. The alternative is being exposed to a potential million dollar hospital bill while at your worst and least employed. It all just sucks, horribly. And for the privilege of having this bizarre useless insurance I pay $1300/mo for my family. Then when I actually use it I pay again. And again. And again. A medical procedure last year meant I paid four different bills for hundreds of dollars each, while still paying $1300/mo for the insurance. Thanks! I love it!
dculberson said:Appleseed said:The hits just keep on coming. I signed up with Obamacare, thinking I could go see my local doctors. Not one of them take it. I haven't had a A1C in 5 years. I've had government "health" insurance for over a year and haven't seen a doctor because I can't figure out how to play this rigged game.
The insurance network game is ridiculous. They have the networks so narrow and so bizarrely restricted that using any actual insurance plan is going to require changing doctors based on who's in your network. I spent hours choosing which plan to use, and then the next year the plan was discontinued and I got the pleasure of shopping networks again and changing doctors again. Don't even get me started on the cost, it's absurd. I have the luxury of not really needing to worry about it, and can't even imagine how stressful it would be if the premium increases meant I would have to choose between eating and going to the doctor. It's not just Obamacare - even before the ACA we were barraged with massive premium increases year after year after year. Anyone not protected by having employer provided insurance is just boned over and over again. The alternative is being exposed to a potential million dollar hospital bill while at your worst and least employed. It all just sucks, horribly. And for the privilege of having this bizarre useless insurance I pay $1300/mo for my family. Then when I actually use it I pay again. And again. And again. A medical procedure last year meant I paid four different bills for hundreds of dollars each, while still paying $1300/mo for the insurance. Thanks! I love it!
The amount of people that I know that could retire if they could keep paying what they pay now for their insurance through the workplace is absurd. Seriously, my MIL could retire if they could somehow keep paying what they pay now for insurance, but instead they have to wait 3 more years until they go on Medicare. And, here is the kicker for how absurd that is: My FIL SELLS SMALL GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE. He knows this like the back of his hand. They need my MIL to stick it out until she's 62 and has been there 25 years so she can retire with the full benefits at her company.
Hell, my own parents were in a similar boat; my mom had to keep working as an elementary school nurse for an extra year than was planned to keep the health insurance until my dad could go on medicare. I'd be surprised if she made $20k in a year, but it saved my parents over $30k in insurance.
My mom called me to tell me about the new car she bought.
Backstory is that I am done with being tied with her ruinous money habits and she has a fixed income with a low wage supplement job.
02 Buick lesabre with 130k, a check engine light, and rust on the fenders. My brother and my mother are trying to tell me that $4k is a good deal. Sounds like a $1500 car to me.
It's bot my problem, it's not my problem, it's not my problem...
Apexcarver said:My mom called me to tell me about the new car she bought.
Backstory is that I am done with being tied with her ruinous money habits and she has a fixed income with a low wage supplement job.
02 Buick lesabre with 130k, a check engine light, and rust on the fenders. My brother and my mother are trying to tell me that $4k is a good deal. Sounds like a $1500 car to me.
It's bot my problem, it's not my problem, it's not my problem...
I mean, they got a horrible deal, but at least they didn't buy a B5 Passat or something... this should at least keep running [poorly] for the next 50 years with just oil changes and shouldn't nickel and dime her to death... But just think of the Toyota Avalon you could have had for $4k
Yeah, at least the advice I gave her about what to buy stuck. I told her she was looking for an automotive cockroach, a car that just won't die, can be fixed by a moron, with cheap parts .
In reply to Apexcarver :
That's the antithesis of anything German, so she's got that going for her.
I waited - and by extension, the client waited - 3 days past the deadline for a cost estimate to come in. Multiple promises, multiple deadlines, all blown.
When I finally got the information, it was useless and covered about 10% of what it needed to cover. So I scrambled around and did some WAGging and made my own, so I could shove it out the door to the client after their third or forth time begging for it.
Seriously, if this is what I was going to do anyway, I could have just done it last Friday and had a happier client.
What was somebody saying about incompetence up there? Seriously, just do your damn job.
In reply to dculberson :
I don't know whether to feel worse for myself or you. You spend on insurance what I make in month. There's something seriously wrong with both those things really.
dculberson said:Appleseed said:The hits just keep on coming. I signed up with Obamacare, thinking I could go see my local doctors. Not one of them take it. I haven't had a A1C in 5 years. I've had government "health" insurance for over a year and haven't seen a doctor because I can't figure out how to play this rigged game.
The insurance network game is ridiculous. They have the networks so narrow and so bizarrely restricted that using any actual insurance plan is going to require changing doctors based on who's in your network. I spent hours choosing which plan to use, and then the next year the plan was discontinued and I got the pleasure of shopping networks again and changing doctors again. Don't even get me started on the cost, it's absurd. I have the luxury of not really needing to worry about it, and can't even imagine how stressful it would be if the premium increases meant I would have to choose between eating and going to the doctor. It's not just Obamacare - even before the ACA we were barraged with massive premium increases year after year after year. Anyone not protected by having employer provided insurance is just boned over and over again. The alternative is being exposed to a potential million dollar hospital bill while at your worst and least employed. It all just sucks, horribly. And for the privilege of having this bizarre useless insurance I pay $1300/mo for my family. Then when I actually use it I pay again. And again. And again. A medical procedure last year meant I paid four different bills for hundreds of dollars each, while still paying $1300/mo for the insurance. Thanks! I love it!
I have my healthcare insurance through work.. still costs over $400/month for me alone. I recently gave up on their stupid mail order pharmacy. Every year we get a new insurance plan and this year we got a new insurance company, which means every january I get to go through the same old BS of transferring my scripts to a new mail order pharmacy. This year I went to do it and was met with a 45 minute hold to talk to somebody.. screw it.. I can afford $20/month for my meds.
January 8, I go for my annual physical. Point out to my doc that I'm 2 years past the age my dad was when his heart stopped. A week or so later, I go and fail a stress test. Feb 4, I go for an angiogram. Halfway through, I hear the doc say, "We'll keep that pic for the surgeon". March 18, they roll me in, laugh at my hilarious joke, and I wake up six hours later with a quadruple bypass. Five days later, I'm home, and ten days after that I'm walking about a mile a day.
Total cost out of pocket, $200 for a private room.
I know this is kind of a flounder, and I know I've paid a higher tax rate for my whole life, but I'm ok with that. I can now go back to work and pay taxes for more years than I would have, and I'm not bankrupt.
And, no. The system is in no way perfect, and it's not cheap, but I never have to worry about getting a $240,000 bill, either.
The main reason I stay where I am and suck up whatever they decide to do to us is because I can buy a relatively affordable plan that covers most of the wife’s expenses.
RevRico said:In reply to dculberson :
I don't know whether to feel worse for myself or you. You spend on insurance what I make in month. There's something seriously wrong with both those things really.
Well, like I said, I can pay it, and still have money left over to live on, so definitely don't feel bad for me. Just commiserate with me about our f-ed up insurance and health care system.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
When faced with quadruple bypass, I'll have nothing to worry about. I'll just be dead.
Two women in my office have been having a very loud conversation right outside my office, for the last 1/2 hour, about some rapper who just died. Both seem heartbroken by it, nearly at tears.
Is there something I'm missing?
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Nippsey Hussle got shot. I didn't know of him until the other day and I listen to rap. Apparently he was a decent dude from what I hear.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Same thing that happens anytime a celeb dies. People care way too much about famous strangers.
STM317 said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Same thing that happens anytime a celeb dies. People care way too much about famous strangers.
My general rule of thumb is reciprocity. Would this person care (or even know) if something happened to me? If the answer is 'no', move along, nothing to see here.
volvoclearinghouse said:STM317 said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Same thing that happens anytime a celeb dies. People care way too much about famous strangers.
My general rule of thumb is reciprocity. Would this person care (or even know) if something happened to me? If the answer is 'no', move along, nothing to see here.
Maybe. Or maybe that famous stranger played an important part in that persons life. If it was Bob Dylan, or Mick Jagger, would you still be wondering why they're crying?
I have no clue who this guy was, but he (his art) apparently meant something to someone. Why rant against that?
mtn said:volvoclearinghouse said:STM317 said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Same thing that happens anytime a celeb dies. People care way too much about famous strangers.
My general rule of thumb is reciprocity. Would this person care (or even know) if something happened to me? If the answer is 'no', move along, nothing to see here.
Maybe. Or maybe that famous stranger played an important part in that persons life. If it was Bob Dylan, or Mick Jagger, would you still be wondering why they're crying?
Yes, I would be wondering why people were crying about Bob Dylan or Mick Jagger. Or any person they weren't direct friends or relations with.
In reply to mtn :
Are you ranting against my rant? 
Clarification: the rant was not so much that they have strong feelings about a celebrity (though I do find that somewhat silly) as it was about them carrying on about it, which has no place in the work place. If it bothers you so much (and the one lady was crying all day yesterday about it, too) then stay home and bereave.
STM317 said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Same thing that happens anytime a celeb dies. People care way too much about famous strangers.
This has been making me wonder lately. With people struggling to kiss the popes ring as he snatches it away, to lunatics screaming for sports characters or political personages, through folks losing their E36 M3 over musicians and celebrities. I utterly fail to understand that reaction. I’ve met a few famous people in my time and I can’t imagine ever it being more than “Oh, hey you’re famous. Cool.” Maybe shake hands with them if I think they are a decent human being. But celebrity worship just weirds me out.
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