Yet more grumpiness

[fuzzyoctopus]

Six months back in Ashland, Ohio and I can't stop saying "warsh" instead of "wash".  My mother would be so ashamed of me if she heard me speak this way.

I've got to move somewhere where there's peer pressure to use proper English.

[Nessa]

Not sure where to put this (I'm putting it here since the guy had a bad day), but it's a funny anecdote from a patient during my husband's shift at the hospital yesterday:

A guy got into an argument with his wife. She stabbed him in the stomach with a wooden pencil. He got mad at her for this, and really mad at the pencil.  In fact, he was so mad at the pencil that he broke it into pieces, and ate them up. Then he threw them up. Then he hurt his wife, which landed him in jail, but before he went to jail, he swallowed two travel-size tubes of toothpaste--not just the paste, but cap, tube and all. So he came to us from jail with stomach pain (I wonder why?). We fished up the tubes, cleaned out the wound, and sent him back. And we recommended he not ingest non-edible objects anymore.

[Shrain]

ohmyheck. LOL. What was that guy on? ("I'll teach -you- a lesson, stupid pencil! I'll eat you up, I hate you so!") How hilarious. You have to wonder if he swallowed the toothpaste tubes to purposefully be sent to the hospital and not jail. A brilliant plan indeed...

[MsFish]

...until they have to fish toothpaste caps out of his spleen.

[Shrain]

Arrgh! I detest MA vehicle registration laws! I have to switch to a Mass-based auto ins. company before I register my car (which expires tomorrow). That in itself is a pain. But first I ought to get a MA license to replace my UT one because otherwise they'll just have to do all these "amending" forms. After that, I find and sign up for ins., then I go to the RMV and get plates and pay registration, then I get my car inspected, then I go back to the RMV to finish up. Whew.

Oh, and you need *four* different IDs to get a license in MA. So I have to go back again 'cuz I only had three. Ins. is gonna cost me almost $400 more per year here, too. Who knows how much the actual reg. will cost! Plus the $30 or something for a license. It makes me dizzy--and poor(er).

[stacer]

I never had to switch over license and registration to be insured in MA. I just told them I'm a student, and Geico referred me to a local insurer. It was really quite easy. Much easier than getting a local bank account, which was quite confusing. MA is a country unto itself when it comes to insurance and banking, though.

[Shrain]

I'm glad not everyone has these troubles while settling in over here. I sure wish my reg. didn't expire until Aug, when I plan on driving home.

My ins. company isn't very nationwide and, unfortunately, they neither "write" in MA nor offer referrals for MA. Luckily, I've found a very helpful ins. co. and at least I'll only be paying $300 more per yr. As for the license, I was told by a police officer (long story) that if I've lived in a state for more than 60 days and won't be moving again, I need to get a new license even though I'm a student. Yeah, I thought it was weird too. *sigh*

[Shrain]

Plus the $30 or something for a license. It makes me dizzy--and poor(er).

Yeah, "or something." Try $90!! *grumble*

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

I missed an important IM last night and now Im depressed.

[The Lost One]

I had a horrible job interview yesterday. It started an hour late (of which I waited in the lobby for the entire time) and then it only lasted 15 minutes, which consisted of the firm's partners asking dumb questions that they should have known if they glanced at my resume.

I'm also grumpy because I just got a huge hospital bill from when my wife took our youngest son into urgent care only to have the doctor say he had a cold. The bill doesn't say what the hospital did or why it is charging so much. I hate how hospitals and doctors don't explain what they are charging and why.

[Skar]

It's my impression that you can insist on an itemized bill.  

I've gotten into the habit of doing that since I discovered that the hospital where my youngest girl was born charged our insurance for her circumcision.  Sure, they didn't charge me, just our insurance, but eventually crap like that adds up and means higher insurance for everybody.

[stacer]

Uh... yeah. And you can be sure the random insurance processor is at least 50% likely to miss the fact that the circumcision was on a girl.

Even just doctor's visits are ridiculous nowadays, making me very grateful I finally have a good insurance, though the copay did just go up this year. Even my primary care doctor bills the insurance $175--*175!!!*--for a 15 minute visit. The ENT was nearly twice that for a 15 minute consult. Thankfully, all I have to pay is the copay, but imagine if I didn't have insurance (like every time I've been a student in the last ten years).

[The Lost One]

Unfortunately, I don't have insurance. I've been trying to get help insurance through the State but that is an ongoing dispute at the moment (good news though is that an Administrative Law Judge got back to me and is now forcing the state to respond to my requests).

As for the bill, I will be insisting on a itemized bill and for a substantiation of charges. It they don't comply or the charges are unreasonable (which I think they are) then I'll make an offer through a unilateral agreement that will hopefully end the matter in my favor.

I'm just glad that I'm not dumb enough to accept whatever the Hospital asks. Medical bills are negotiable and more people should negotiate over them (even if they have insurance).

[Archon]

EA games decided that it would be a good idea to release Battle for Middle Earth 2 on a DVD instead of a CD, a fact that I was unaware of. This means that neither of our computers can even recognize the disc. Totally sweet.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I finally decided to change my name to Fuzzy O'Ctopus in honor of everyone's st. patty's day names, but the board won't let me.