I was going to attend a course at the Bariatric center called "Back on Track", but I got socked with a huge medical bill. The hospital spends insane amounts of money on an inefficient billing system, and they print up so many useless "informational" brochures, that they have to charge extra for all their procedures. I've harped on this to them and on this blog before, so I won't waste my time talking about it again.
But, a $2000.00 medical bill for a simple visit and 4 tubes of blood is crazy. After the insurance company paid their share, I still owe them $540.00. There goes the money for the course.
In June or July, I will go to the lab to "donate" another 15 tubes of blood for my bariatric checkup. That will cost me another $500 or more, after the insurance covers the rest.
But, as things go, or should I say, as money goes, I will not being able to cover my mortgage soon. So, it may be better to sell the house and move. Said all this before too.
I still feel like I'm moving forward because I'm arranging my thoughts and getting set up for a change.
I just realized how tired I am so I'm gonna hit the sack.
Life is good.
Editing complete. It seems I was complaining quite a bit last night. The truth is that I see such a huge amount of waste in the system. When I was first married 34 years ago, we had Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The doctors back then accepted what the insurance company paid them and didn't bother us with the extra. Now, it seems the hospital is just plain nasty. Every office I go into has piles of useless high quality brochures. They have the internet now, so why bother wasting money on them?
There is also the tons of paperwork required. Most of that is now computer covered, so paper has been cut back on or eliminated.
But, if you look at the doctor's office, you see 15 employees, other than the doctor. They are all there to do paperwork required by the government, or caused by the government. This is one of the many reasons medical coverage is so costly.
I went to a doctor in the late 70's when I was living in Chester County. I had a fever and felt lousy and had no where else to go. The doctor was in his 90's (he died soon after this) and very highly regarded.
This doctor had an assistant with him and a receptionist. He looked at me, asked me a few simple questions, then he took my pulse using his actual hands. He told me he was going to give me pills to help me, and then he said goodbye. The nurse gave me a packet of purple colored pills (not a bottle). These pills weren't even labeled! She told me to take one a day for a few days and I would be fine. They charged me $25.00 for the visit.
The pills were amazing, and I felt better the next day. Now, why can't they do the same thing today?
Nuff said!
April 28, 2011
April 24, 2011
Spring has sprang
Notice the violets all over the lawn. They disappear soon and are replaced with dandelions.
After I used the lawn roller last week, that is, the day after, I felt like I was the incredible Hulk!
My muscles in my arms and particularly my torso were so tight. I felt like I could walk through walls! Grrrrrrr!
Every spring, I experience the lousy cold weather, the teasing warm spells that disappear way too quickly. The rain, rain, rain. Monsoon season hits us hard!
Today is the second warm day in the past few weeks. The temps are already at 70 and moving up rapidly. The difference between this warm day and the first is that this one will be followed by another warm day tomorrow. The last one fell away so fast that it made me wonder if I was dreaming. The storms moved through with a tornado warning (we escaped with just rain) and the cold weather returned with a vengeance.
Today, my mind and body want to crawl up on a lounge chair in the back yard and sleep the whole day away in the warm sun.
Instead, I will work on little things around the house.
I installed the screens into the front and back door. This is a strange ritual that I have been going through since we moved here in 1992. The old style storm doors require that I loosen several clamps that hold the window onto the door. Over the years, the clamps have worn and some of them are no longer usable. Today, they have screens that are already on the door and all you have to do is lower the regular glass and there they are.
A few years ago when I was clearing snow from the front walk, I slipped and put my arm through the glass. Winter attire saved me from anything other than embarrassment and anger for doing something stupid. So instead of replacing the glass with glass, I found a place that would do Plexiglas. My Father in law did the back door that way because the dogs he had back then were prone to try to jump through the glass. The nice things about this is I don't have to clean the glass other than to wipe it off. It has lasted for a long, long time.
I opened all of the windows in the house and basement, and turned on the ceiling fans. Hopefully, this will air the place out a bit.
I also took pictures of the outside yard. It has greened up in the past two weeks from all the rain and little sun. The spring bulbs have come up, and some of them are already dead. I have pictures. If I'm here next year, I hope to remove the bulbs to give to a neighbor, and do some more smoothing of the lawn. I'd really like to change the whole look if I can.
I have a pedal board that I need to populate and try out. For my non-musical friends, this is a board that hold effects pedals. Each pedal creates a different sound that should enhance my guitar playing. I will attach them all to the pedal board so I can transport them easily and safely. There are "all in one" pedals that have all the sounds I would need, but they are very complex and I want simplicity. I want to concentrate on my music and not on the gadgets. I was able to choose the ones I wanted and not bother with others I didn't. The board holds all the pedals securely and comes with a carrying bag for easy transport.
I might play after I get it set up, or just go for a walk. The lounge chair is looking mighty tempting.....
So, I will be cutting up Velcro and connecting cables and such while I watch or listen to TV.
Today is a holiday for some folks, and I am not cutting the grass so the neighbors who celebrate Easter won't be disturbed. I really do want to cut the grass today, but I will wait until tomorrow.
I made a list of must do things to do this coming week, and if I accomplish them all, I will be proud of myself. I am still working on my own, but soon will need some help with the bigger stuff.
On a side note, yesterday I bought several Chicken dinners from my fire company. I took all but one down to my daughter's for her to enjoy. I ate one and got a bit queasy. It had too much butter (fat) in it and didn't go down too well. It did taste good however.
My gastric bypass came back to haunt me!
My muscles in my arms and particularly my torso were so tight. I felt like I could walk through walls! Grrrrrrr!
Every spring, I experience the lousy cold weather, the teasing warm spells that disappear way too quickly. The rain, rain, rain. Monsoon season hits us hard!
Today is the second warm day in the past few weeks. The temps are already at 70 and moving up rapidly. The difference between this warm day and the first is that this one will be followed by another warm day tomorrow. The last one fell away so fast that it made me wonder if I was dreaming. The storms moved through with a tornado warning (we escaped with just rain) and the cold weather returned with a vengeance.
Today, my mind and body want to crawl up on a lounge chair in the back yard and sleep the whole day away in the warm sun.
Instead, I will work on little things around the house.
I installed the screens into the front and back door. This is a strange ritual that I have been going through since we moved here in 1992. The old style storm doors require that I loosen several clamps that hold the window onto the door. Over the years, the clamps have worn and some of them are no longer usable. Today, they have screens that are already on the door and all you have to do is lower the regular glass and there they are.
A few years ago when I was clearing snow from the front walk, I slipped and put my arm through the glass. Winter attire saved me from anything other than embarrassment and anger for doing something stupid. So instead of replacing the glass with glass, I found a place that would do Plexiglas. My Father in law did the back door that way because the dogs he had back then were prone to try to jump through the glass. The nice things about this is I don't have to clean the glass other than to wipe it off. It has lasted for a long, long time.
I opened all of the windows in the house and basement, and turned on the ceiling fans. Hopefully, this will air the place out a bit.
I also took pictures of the outside yard. It has greened up in the past two weeks from all the rain and little sun. The spring bulbs have come up, and some of them are already dead. I have pictures. If I'm here next year, I hope to remove the bulbs to give to a neighbor, and do some more smoothing of the lawn. I'd really like to change the whole look if I can.
I have a pedal board that I need to populate and try out. For my non-musical friends, this is a board that hold effects pedals. Each pedal creates a different sound that should enhance my guitar playing. I will attach them all to the pedal board so I can transport them easily and safely. There are "all in one" pedals that have all the sounds I would need, but they are very complex and I want simplicity. I want to concentrate on my music and not on the gadgets. I was able to choose the ones I wanted and not bother with others I didn't. The board holds all the pedals securely and comes with a carrying bag for easy transport.
I might play after I get it set up, or just go for a walk. The lounge chair is looking mighty tempting.....
So, I will be cutting up Velcro and connecting cables and such while I watch or listen to TV.
Today is a holiday for some folks, and I am not cutting the grass so the neighbors who celebrate Easter won't be disturbed. I really do want to cut the grass today, but I will wait until tomorrow.
I made a list of must do things to do this coming week, and if I accomplish them all, I will be proud of myself. I am still working on my own, but soon will need some help with the bigger stuff.
On a side note, yesterday I bought several Chicken dinners from my fire company. I took all but one down to my daughter's for her to enjoy. I ate one and got a bit queasy. It had too much butter (fat) in it and didn't go down too well. It did taste good however.
My gastric bypass came back to haunt me!
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