Mom Fail?

Needless to say, I won't be heading up the the PTO next year.

Place, Part I

I've posted this at my art blog with little response. I'm hoping to get something out of you guys here.

Where are you? Are you in the right place?

You Are Here I, 7 x 7" ©2009 K. Hambric

on Etsy.

You Are Here II, 9 x 9" © 2009 K. Hambric

on Etsy

When you step out of your front door (or the back door, if that is what you perfer), how do you feel? Excited? Anxious? Content? Depressed?

You walk down the sidewalk and stop at the street. Which way do you turn? Where do you go?

The Silence of 72%

If registered voters do not go to the polls on election day, does anybody hear them?

Oh, yes. There will be bitching and complaining. For months and years to come no doubt.

But since you didn't vote, you 72% of registered voters, you need to shut up.

I worked at the polls in my neighborhood yesterday. From 6:15 am to 9:00 pm. Fun. In a strange sort of way. I did get to see and greet my neighbors. The 28% of registered voters in my precinct that bothered to show up.

If I had though about it, and had permission to film, and the 20 minutes (at least) of patience to do it, I would have taken a video of our oldest registered voter. Even with the process of voting taking (a mere) 20 minutes, I can't imagine the preparation involved for this one voter to do her duty. Her caretaker must have required a great deal of patience herself to help this woman dress, get her oxygen tank and wheelchair, and get this woman into the car. Once at the voting place, the woman was wheeled, in the rain, to the ramp at the front of the building. She was rolled into place, given a ballot and her caretaker read and reread all pertinent information. The ballot was cast, and the woman was wheeled to her car once again and taken back home.

Jeez, I wish she had been of my political affiliation. She has my admiration, though. 72% of you do not.

I'm going to expect the neighborhood to be quite quiet for a while. At least until November. 'Cause only 28% of you can hold any kind of conversation about your elected officials.

Explanation of Benefits

Benefits?!? Holy crap that's a funny way of putting it!!!

Call it a medical bill. Call it robbery.

Backstory?

O.K.

Back in March, I took my daughter to our large and ever-growing, ever-merging health building, center, complex, death star, for her annual physical. Ears, good. Eyes, good. Weight, good. Everything just dandy. Except for a small splinter in her foot. Been bugging her for a couple of days. I figured it needed to come out before we took our trip to Barcelona. I knew extensive walking was going to be a large part of the trip and I was worried that continuous picking at the splinter on our part was going to be detrimental to her walking. So, I logically worked it out that if we were going to be at the doctor's office anyway, we could just have them remove it.

The main part of the exam completed, the doctor went to fetch a pair of tweezers. The fetching and removing of tweezers, gauzes and disinfectant from sanitary pouches took about 45 seconds. The actual removal happened so quickly that I would like to have seen an instant replay. Let's say it took about 3 seconds. Fast, efficient and pain free. Until . . .

Yesterday, the bill, entitled EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS was mailed to us. Two entries under Services Provided category. #1 - Preventative Medical Care - $225.00. O.K. Not cheap, but the kiddo was thoroughly looked over. #2 - Foreign Body Removal - $639.00. WTF? We're not talking about the cost of having the body of a foreign person removed (and buried). We're talking about a tiny splinter and less than 60 seconds of medical time.

Sure, sure, our "benefits" paid for some of this. Not nearly enough. But frankly, the question here is, how the hell can this cost $639.00??!!??!!

I'm guessing the whole point of these costs is to rip off as many people as possible in the short term and deter them from returning to their doctor in the future for any medical issue short of death.

Jeez, what is that strange lump?
Could that sharp pain be something important?
How much blood is too much blood?
Is that finger (or other appendage) really crucial?

These are questions we will have to ask for ourselves. To include a physician on the decision making is just going to cost too much.

Is this what the Mafia is into now? Screw drugs and prostitution! There's more money to be made in the "healthcare industry."

Bling

Necklace courtesy of Uncle Chris and a Texas gumball machine.

I'm hoping a gold tooth is not next.