Today has been draining. Actually, this entire week has gone from great to shite. Well, not total shite, but annoying shite.
Good news first: Daryl got the Visa!!!!! Yay! He is coming over (for good) first of October. Such a relief I cannot put it into words. He bought his plane ticket on Tuesday, which was a happy thing. Then, I found out I got into the writing class that I was told was booked (and I didn't even have to threaten anyone), and then I got a good lead on a great apartment. All good things. yay!
I would say the slow slide into irritants started on Tuesday morning when our server crashed. So, I had to reassure the most computer ignorant office staffer that her files would come back. Not fun. Then, there is this whole logistical debacle I am dealing with involving folk instrument makers, public schools and getting them to the schools in what now looks like a 3 hour window. Basically, I had a list of questions for the "coordinator" such as, how many instrument makers? what times will they be available? Very basic questions. Instead of "answers" I received the same questions from her. It was like e-mailing with the Mad Hatter. I mean, how do you explain to someone, "I have 25 teachers with 1,000 interested students breathing down my back about which gourd mandolin makers will be at their school and when, I need answers, dammit!" I finally got a non-answer today, with more questions. My head is going to explode. Then, we had 3 meetings to plan which involved academic beurocracy and many, many forms, basically to okay eating bagels in a conference room. Then, my Turkish friend Ozge had to go back to Turkey on one-week's notice. For good.
And now, comes the big kahuna: i called the health insurance company today to find out how much it will be for Daryl to have health coverage. Daryl has diabetes. Because he has diabetes, Blue Cross Blue Shield thinks it is fair to charge him (drumroll) $453/month. That's right, a MONTH. Oh, and, for the first 12 months, they won't cover any insulin or supplies. What you get for that exorbiant rate is a $750 deductible. I am told this is the cheapest plan they offer. It doesn't matter that he is one of the healthiest people I know. It doesn't matter that he is under 30. It doesn't matter that he has never had any illness related to his diabetes. It doesn't matter that he needs insulin to survive. None of this matters. I have calmed down considerably, but I am totally disgusted with the health care industry and how people are punished for things they cannot control. I am not even close to joking when I say that this is going to be my "Lorenzo's Oil" (well, sans Nick Nolte). The American Diabetes Association was a fantastic resource to see how f-d up this whole system is. A couple people recommended he try to get a job at McDonald's or Ruby Tuesdays so he can get benefits. Somehow, that doesn't seem like a solution to me.
Here is a great article about the absurdity and counter-intuitive nature of our health care system:http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050829fa_fact
But now, I have the OC and the new Chris Rock show to look forward to, so it's not all bad.
Better Design for All! - 2005-11-09
men are annoying - 2005-11-04
Ides of October? - 2005-10-25
this, that and the other - 2005-10-11
Poncy Like Me - 2005-09-27
