More Changes

For the past month, I think I have been pretty lazy. I have been playing tons of online games and I re-installed Dungeon Siege on my computer. I haven't been doing much yard work because the new room mate has been doing it all. I have been catching up on most housework. I have been cleaning rooms, sanding floors, and re-painting. I should be getting my financial stuff together to see if I can at least pay what I can afford on my student loan. I haven't done that yet. I even lost confidence I will find a higher paying job. I lost confidence that I will get anything done at all. The pay period is changing. This means I will be paid only once in July. They say I can get a payment advance...no because I already have a bunch of other shit to pay back. My job is pretty much screwing me next month. I need to hurry on liquidating my pension with DirecTv and get rid of one of my credit card bills. Then I have no choice but to use the rest of my disbursment money to bring down another credit card bill. I cannot afford another bill. Someone suggested getting a pay day loan...no that is a 100% interest rate and again...I cannot afford another bill. I cannot do anything next month which really sucks because it's my birthday month. Then again, I have some left overs from Christmas and graduation...I may be able to have some fun. Since I cannot afford Photoshop, I just may get a tattoo. God, I feel like the Buckets. I can only afford one candy bar...This means that the problem with Frank has to wait. Until then, I am feeding him some canned pumpkin with his food. I have been giving him some veggies as well. He seems to be doing better for now. They are due for shots and a groom. Perhaps in August... Another change was my schedule. I was working the early shift because of college. So, now I am back to working during the night. I am still working during the weekend. I wish I could find a different shift so I didn't have to work Sunday. The plus news is that I should be getting paid a night time differential.

Why I Think Medical Care is a Scam

Do not get me wrong, I am sure that not every person does this. I have friends and family that work in the doctors office. I do not hold their occupation against them. For everyone else that is playing the devil's advocate, shame on you. If it is anything that America needs to be fighting against is the hospital. These are the people that are supposed to take care of you when you are sick. Instead, we are either going further into debt or just not going in to see the doctor. I will tell you what I know based on my history of visiting the doctors office. We will start with a low income without insurance. I began working at minimum wage jobs and no insurance. I think that this is a time that is easier because I did not have anything to pay for, but a car. I was eligible for free medical care based on my income. I could easily make an appointment without the hassle of making several phone calls for a different doctor. I was eligible for a free annual exam and free depo shots. Yay, low income. Moving on in life, I am getting paid more. Therefore, I had to start paying a small fee for an annual exam or occasional illness that I could not cure myself. Granted, the doctors office still has payments based on income. I am still eligible, but I have to pay unless it is within my insurance's network. Which brings me to the next issue, insurance. When I was working for DirecTv, I paid for Aetna. Even though Aetna is a big pain in the ass, they are the best health insurance company. I was making too much money to be eligible for low income. This did not matter because Aetna pretty much covered everything. I had a co-pay of $25 (It has raised since then I am sure). My annual exams were covered with a co-pay. When I had an emergency visit, they practically paid the entire bill. The disadvantage of Aetna is that the list on their website is not entirely up-to-date. They are nonchalant about this situation but saying, "What? I do not understand....whatever do you mean?" They refer you to the doctors office to make sure that Aetna is accepted. When you call the doctors office to ask, they refer you back to the insurance company. Ultimately, you are ping ponging for hours until you end up in a padded room. I cannot tell you how many times I had to do that until I started yelling at them. I finally obtained a doctor, but she was a pediatrician. Then, I was not working for DirecTv. I had another emergency and had no choice but to enroll with COBRA. I'm glad it was only temporary because they wanted $200 a month. Someone who does not have a job cannot pay that kind of bill, that is ridiculous! Things spiral more and more out of control after this mind you. Chaos happens. I go through one job, lose that job, get a new job. United Health Care is the new insurance company that I have to cope with. They have the same behavior as Aetna and cost way more. Oh, this gets better. I do not make enough money to even have the insurance and the information is even harder to retrieve. At this point, I qualify for low income medical care. So, I am calling around again for more information about my insurance. United Health Care would give me an answer along with a tangent. They consistently gave me additional information that I did not ask for to make it even more confusing. I thought it was pointless to use them because I qualified for cheaper health care...so I thought. Doctor offices are now double crossing patients into coming to their office. As a consumer, this is really bad because consumers should have the option to shop around. The medical field industry has made this impossible. This is how I found out. Because the insurance company was not giving me a straight answer, I call locally for a doctor. I called Southwest District Health. I talked to billing and the lady told me it was going to be $75. "Great!" I think, why was I paying so much for insurance to have a high bill? Southwest District Health is a scam. They scammed people so they could build that new fancy building outside of Nampa. After the appointment, they tell me it was $175. I was shocked. This was discounted based on my income, even after I called an asked about it. They ignored me when I questioned them about it. I let them give me the shaft, I paid the bill and never went back. I continued to pay for my insurance for another two years without using it. I couldn't use it because I could not afford to. Why not cancel it? This is another area where they get you. At Hewlett Packard, you get decide once a year if you want to make changes. So, I could not cancel my health insurance even if I wanted to. If I run into a financial issue (and payroll is next month), I cannot cancel the insurance so I can have food on the table. I finally get the gumption to start calling names on the list provided by the United Health Care website. Again, I am calling them to make sure the visit is covered. Again, I am referred to the doctor's office. Again, the doctor's office refers me to United Health Care. This happens with Aetna as well and I know the routine. People who make minimum wage and do not have insurance are lucky. Finally, I got fed up with phone tag and started to scream at United Health Care. I finally start getting answers. The company pays $500 toward a medical bill. This was one piece of the puzzle that I could not get. The lady on the phone says it is like a gift card. If I use that up then I have to start paying money. Okay, this information would have been useful two years ago. The annual exam is covered, no co-pay. Nice! (Still skeptical after fighting). I was exhausted after this, I think this process lasted between one to two hours. What is even worse, I felt hopeless. No appointments were available for at least two months. I waited for a month to finally make an appointment. I was too busy with college, work, taking care of the house, caring for pets. I called Women's Health Clinic. I asked them if they still accepted United Health Care. They referred me to United Health Care. I told them I will not and the situation about how I have to play phone tag. I will not do it again, I am forcing people to *gasp* get off their fat ass and do their job. I get an appointment set up. The wait was originally two months, but it was changed to three weeks. The day of the appointment, I called billing. Is there a co-pay? Check my insurance, no the appointment is today. No, and anything that is not covered is paid for by the company. Great, see you in an hour. I drive all the way from Nampa to Boise. Long story about why I will not visit doctors in Nampa. Anyway, I arrive early. I do my appointment. I get the annual exam and want to check other stuff. They lied to me. I get to the front desk after the doctor visit. "Annual exam is free. These tests are not going to be covered," lady stated as though she was expecting a conflict. She got one and she made a very cocky face when I chewed her out. This pissed me off even more. "I called you guys. There was a reason I called you people! I called your office twice to make sure I would not have a bill. I do not have any money. If I was told otherwise, I would not have come here!" She lacked empathy and had the most bitchy look on her face. "Give me your supervisor!!" She went ahead and summoned her supervisor as she reluctantly reached for the phone for security. The boss finally comes and brings me to the office. As we make it to the office, I am chewing her out. Then another person who was the supervisor of Women's Health Clinic. I tell them how awful it is that I am tricked into coming when I have insurance and I do not have enough money or time for this. I am eligible for discounted health care. I spend hours calling. I spent money on insurance for two years and used it for the first time for this? I am told to be responsible. I was responsible the entire time. I made the phone calls that I was supposed to make and nobody did their job. This was the SECOND time I was fooled into going somewhere thinking I would be covered. The supervisor of the billing department was making calls as I reamed the supervisors up one side and down the other. I was balling by the time the billing person came back. She told me that I was covered, so it was what I was originally told. I was told $1,000 is paid by some company, no idea who I thought HP paid $500...whatever. After all of this, I am skeptical. If I get a bill, I have to call the billing department again. I will not pay it. I will let it go to collections.

Forced to Live In Silence

I have not had television for three years now. I shut off my DirecTv when I was terminated for making the economy tank. I got a radio from their total rewards program. Being stupid, I got rid of another radio that was on it's last legs. I should have kept it because the new radio quit working. I do not like using my computer as a CD player because most of the programs I use require a disc. So, I spend much time in silence and there is a reason I need the television to be on. So, NO, I cannot turn it down or shut it off. One of my birthdays, Paul got me a radio. (Probably got the money from something of mine he sold.) It was fine, but the wires were messed up. One speaker works one day and the other the next. Sometimes both of the speakers function. Then one day, neither speaker worked. FINE. At this point, I did not have a television or radio. I am alone at home in complete silence. My dogs do not make very much noise. I played games online to take my mind off of it. I get more pissed off at people that called themselves friends because I got isolated. I finally graduate. I get a gift card for Walmart. I rarely shop there because the food goes bad as soon as you slide the debit card through the machine. I decide to get a stereo that changed discs. BIG MISTAKE. I only had the stereo for 11 days and it already broke. One of the discs fell under the platter and now I cannot get it out. The only thing I hope is that they do not give me the run around with this piece of crap electronic. I want my money back and they owe me a disc. I will take the money and purchase a stereo from Hastings. They at least have something that plays cassette tapes.

Got Some Exploren To Do

Had another vacation and not very many people to contact. I believe that vacation is disappointing. I haven't been anywhere in nearly three years. I have been home doing distance learning. My social life is so bad, I would rather work on my birthday. I wanted to go camping before I begin paying for my new loan. So far, I have had two weeks of free time and nothing happened. Yesterday, I was overwhelmed with disappointment. I had discovered some interesting information in a traditional life "magazine" that I found at Albertson's. The magazine contained a list of various places to have a picnic or hike or whatever. I found one on the list that had native paintings. The website claims that there are places to camp. I decided to go and see if it was over rated. I had no idea this area of Idaho existed. NEVER trust Mapquest because it is ran by idiots. How come it cannot say, simply take 12th Avenue? No, it says take Dewey to Fern to Holly to Greenhurst...pretty much drive around in a great big circle. Morons. I was already pissed off and even more enraged at the crappy instructions and the waste of paper. So, I took 12th Avenue or street...whichever has Walmart on it. I drove all the way until it turned into a highway. As soon as I turn onto Melba, I was amazed that I never knew about this area. There were fields of large lava rocks that randomly had cattle. I made it to Celebration Park and noticed lizards zipping across the road. I did not notice anywhere to camp unless I had a RV. I think it would be too uncomfortable in a tent. I wandered through an archery range and hiked through the large, hot boulders. I would not say that they have paintings, I would say that they are carvings. It was an interesting trip that is only a half an hour away from the house. It was kind of a lazy day yesterday. I got quite a bit done. I painted the front door and the front window. Things are beginning to look better. I began to paint the extra room today. I will finish the rest when I am more motivated. I went looking for a place to get more ink. Perhaps the sun god of Aten...

Happy Day!

Sorry, I have been a while. Been busy making preparations and being lazy at the same time. I have been busy shooing off the people who want me to continue my education. I will when I have a man in my life (which will be never) and when I am making more money. It will certainly not be University of Phoenix because they are backstabbing bastards. For now, I will take my associates and run. Graduation day was interesting. I was bummed out before I left for the ceremony. I was putting in the ruby earings that Grandma gave me for my birthday and it slipped from my fingers. To this day, I haven't found it. I'm too afraid to vacuum the floor now.I arrived about an hour early in case traffic was horrific. I wandered around the premises. I pondered why in the world did I do this and would I ever torture myself like this again. This was the largest graduating class they ever had; someone said it was a class of 340. The faculty were having a difficult time arranging the alumni for photos. This was the first time they had a ceremony in the Centurylink Arena. The speeches were annoying because it sounded like a bunch of people trying to sell more garbage.I was wondering what that roll of paper was going to say. As I unrolled it I thought, "Are you sure you do not want to further your education?" Nope, just junk mentioning I must fill out my documents to receive my real degree...I already got it. Lately, I have been looking at lists of jobs. Of course, the UoP member that is sending them to me is only sending me information on jobs that require a Bachelor's. The university cries about the Frontline report, but you cannot deny the recorded footage because that is exactly what they do. Talk about a catch 22. Anyway, an associate of mine pointed out a state job. It pays really well, I am crossing my fingers. I won't hold my breath because they use programs like GIS, which I have no experience in. It would be exciting and fun to participate in preserving Idaho history. Otherwise, I will just be a wishful thinker struggling to pay for a degree that I obtained for no reason. I had some fun after the ceremony. I didn't have a chance to get more photo opportunities. I brought my camera and got a larger SD card...oh well. I met with dad to go to Red Robin. I would have begged for some Japanese, but I was already taken out for Thai at my favorite place on Garrity.