Just wanted to drop a quick note about Christmas with the Cranks before we move into the new year.

Insurance is a Bill of Goods
On the 22nd, I got a note in the mail from my dental insurance company. They informed me that despite the sales rep assuring me and the rest of the company that orthodontics was covered up to $1500 for life at 50% of the in-network rate and despite getting told the same thing while spending an hour on the 800 number, they would cover $0.00 of the orthodontic work up I had done to find out which additionally extractions I needed when I go in to have my wisdom teeth cut out. I called the 800 number and asked them why they had failed to cover any of the amount despite the assurances I was given.

Their answer? “Your employer has a plan that does not cover employees but rather only their children.”

“Excuse me!”

They repeat their bullshit rhetoric. I’m livid but choose not to cuss this dumbass out as there’s nothing he can do about it.

I immediately called the COO at home and explained the situation. He said that didn’t sound right, that someone would need to call the insurance company the next day (Christmas Eve) and find out what was going on. The COO said he wouldn’t be back in the office until December 31 and to have our accountant call and find out what was going on. Of course, I had an ortho appointment bright and early Monday the 29th when the balance of the money was due.

I left a message on the ortho’s machine explaining the situation telling them we would have to tackle this problem first thing Monday morning.

I sent an email to the COO and the accountant explaining the situation and called her Christmas Eve morning to find out what was going on. The accountant informed me that the new insurance plan was just a cheaper version of the old plan under the old company.

Our dental policy only covers dependents up to age 19. The coverage for TYPe D Covered Service is explained in the dental booklet on page 50.

I want to sue someone for fraud and false advertising. I’ll speak to the COO first thing when I get into work to see if he wants to try and twist their arm, but the damage is done. I canceled my ortho appointment this past Monday and rescheduled for the upcoming Monday. I sat down and calculated paying this expense out of pocket. Granted, I was prepared to pay 60% anyway, but this was crushing. Fortunately, I’ll be able to pay cash for the entire expense and still be OK, but it is a setback nevertheless.

I think I may retain the insurance long enough to get the oral surgery and dissolve the political bands which have connected me to them.

The Long Road Home
I don’t know why I did what I did next, but I did. I called Mom upset and proceeded to vent.

I wasn’t for sure that I was going to go home Christmas. Dad had to work Christmas Day and so they decided to do presents Christmas Eve. Also, the extended family on Mom’s side was having Christmas Lunch on Christmas Eve. This year it was on a Wednesday, a work day for me. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to take the day off, but my boss said I could have it despite asking on Tuesday.

All of the last minute changes, inconveniences and non-traditions were throwing off my equilibrium. Because of the Thanksgiving episode, I had two offers to spend Christmas with co-workers’ families, one of which is a Potential. As much as I liked the idea, I just couldn’t bring myself to barge in on someone else’s Christmas.

At the last minute, I decided to drive to Irondale an hour and a half away to go to extended family Christmas and then another hour to the great town of Juanita, Alabama to have Christmas with the Cranks. The worst part of this was extended family Christmas–the part I thought would be the most bearable!

Instead of traditionally getting $200 for Christmas, I got some clothes. I don’t know that I’ll use them except for the Alabama shirt and the brown hoodie that Mom bought me, and I’m not a hoodie fan!

There may still be those of you in Texas who read this blog. If you do, you might remember the black fleece I wore, pictured here:

My black fleece

I’ve worn that fleece for years. Before that, I wore a blue denim over shirt. I’ve had this quark for years that i always have to keep my arms covered because they get cold, but I hate wearing long-sleve shirts and prefer dressing in layers.

Though I have no picture to post of me in the brown hoodie because I did not receive a Nikon D60 for Christmas, I must say it looks damned good on me. Perhaps there will be pics one day soon, even if that means coercing whester into taking pics with my camera phone as we did here:

whester is unsure

But I did get the Two-disc DVD edition of Dark Knight.

And I got to see Dad and Mom enjoy their presents from me, something I thought I wouldn’t get to do because of the tight schedule. I got Mom a copy of Vitus and Dad a copy of Something the Lord Made.

My sister gave me a copy of the Pride and Prejudice score.

Timon gave me a copy of the Children of Dune score.

I also got a copy of the Quantum Of Solace and Unbreakable scores.

And finally, my Christmas present to myself:

whester thinks it’s scary when I’m happy.

Xangans,

Please take a moment to compare this post to it’s Live Journal Live Journal counterpart. Look at how I effectively use cut tags on Live Journal. Xanga doesn’t support this feature. If you want to more effective cut tags, VOTE HERE.

Steve Jobs presents the iPhone

I Pulsed about this a couple of days ago, but I wanted to talk about it this morning: according to Apple, 2009 is slated to be their last Macworld and Steve Jobs will not be giving the keynote speech.

Not to sound like Tom Daschle, but this saddens me. This saddens me because Steve is such a great presenter. I think it’s a shame that Macworld isn’t going to end with one last bang of a presentation from Jobs. In the short time that I’ve been an Apple fan–starting with the purchase of miniMax0r last year when Leopard debuted–I’ve plugged into the Apple PR machine, especially Jobs’ presentations. He comes out on stage prepared. He knows his presentation forwards and backwards never guessing what the next slide might be. I wouldn’t go so far to say he’s a great orator–it’s not like he’s giving an impromptu speech–but his presentations are always electric and the viewer gets the sense that he’s having as much fun presenting as the audience is watching.

Case in point–Macworld 2008. If memory serves me right, this is the first iSteve presentation I’ve watched start to finish. I remember reading Endgadget’s liveblog from the presentation while at work and couldn’t wait to get home to watch it for myself. I knew what was coming: Time Machine, Apple TV Take 2 and Mac Book Air.

There are three moments that especially stick out to me from the speech: showing the studios that Apple was working with to make movie rentals possible, admitting to Apple’s failure to get digital content on widescreen TVs and the introduction of the Mac Boook Air.

Continue reading →

I just submitted a Xanga idea. I’ve submitted four now, but was under the assumption that I could get to my ideas at anytime. Not if they don’t get voted on. (You can vote to have a way back to your Xanga ideas here NOTE: Xanga has added a recent link on the Xanga ideas page and has provided a Next>> link for idea perusal).

Here are my ideas (will bump to keep this fresh and also as I go back and find the other ideas that I’ve submitted)

Automatic Arragnement of Avatars by Usage.
Abiltiy to Choose Profile Pictures for Pulses
Separate RSS feed for Pulse
Multiple Cut Tags per Post

GO VOTE!

Which was lamer?

Hope for Change Part 1

My company hosts a canned food drive every year. The company is broken up into teams and we gather non-parishable items to give to some charity (I want to say Salvation Army but don’t quote me on that.) Anyway, the idea is that with competition you can get more people involved, but the only incentive is bragging rights.

Don’t get me wrong, this is for a good cause…at least on the surface. Yes, because of Eeeevil Bush and this damned Bush economy, there are people who do not have a place to live or food to eat. Of course, this is never an issue when Democrats are in office. And thank God we elected one just in time. Could you imagine another four years of homeless people getting drunk on mouthwash? That’s one hell of a hangover!

Someone approached me and whester asking us if we were planning on donating food this year. He said he had to balance his checkbook. I told the gal that was asking to Hope for Change. She said, “You’re going to be a team player and donate something?” “We can only hope.” I replied.

So I’m going to find the biggest picture of Lord and Savior Barack Obama the Most Merciful to put in the box. The proud recipient of this item will receive something better than a can of beans to be quickly consumed and forgotten–they will be getting the message of Hope and Change. Yes, We Can Hope for Change…but it will have to wait until January 20.

I want to update my profile so that people can read a little bit about me and have an idea of what to expect when they read this blog. Some of you have known me a long time and may feel that you know me better than myself. Is there something that absolutely needs to be in the profile? Maybe something you think is best left to reader experience?

Whatever the case, this is your chance to make your voice heard. Don’t forget that anonymous commenting is allowed.

SOUND OFF!