OMG redux

So, this is kind of a follow up from my last post...

About 26 days ago, I bought some meds for Kenin that were $633, and today I spent $412 for 5 days worth of meds.  What the hell, people?  As stunned as I was before, I'm even more so now.  This will not even cover him until his appointment next Tuesday.  I can't believe the cost of trying to stay alive. 

It must not be enough that I have to pay on 23 different doctor or hospital bills every month.  And please note that I said pay "on", not pay off.  I have what I consider to be decent (not great) insurance and still have tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt.  It only took us 2 months to the day to hit our deductible.  Two months!  Now I have just over $3000 until we hit our out of pocket maximum for the year.  That may not sound like much to some of you, but that's an ass of money to me.  That's almost 3 months rent.  That's 8 months of car payments.  That's about 5 months worth of groceries.  That's an ass of money, any way you look at it. 

Please understand, I'm not asking for a handout, or a hand up or anything at all.  I just want to know why it's so freaking expensive to be sick in America.  We make too much money for any kind of assistance, and I'm happy to say that I have a job and insurance, but it's almost not worth it.  Well, actually, it isn't worth it.  The 23 medical bills that I pay every month?  I can't even pay enough on them to keep us out of collections.  According to this CNN article from 2009 (and you know it's a WHOLE lot worse now),

Bankruptcies due to medical bills increased by nearly 50 percent in a six-year period, from 46 percent in 2001 to 62 percent in 2007, and most of those who filed for bankruptcy were middle-class, well-educated homeowners, according to a report that will be published in the August (2009) issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

Overall, three-quarters of the people with a medically-related bankruptcy had health insurance, they say.

"That was actually the predominant problem in patients in our study -- 78 percent of them had health insurance, but many of them were bankrupted anyway because there were gaps in their coverage like co-payments and deductibles and uncovered services," says Woolhandler. "Other people had private insurance but got so sick that they lost their job and lost their insurance."

There is obviously something broken within our healthcare system.  I don't know how to fix it and the folks that might have some good ideas can't agree on anything. 

You know, when I was younger and I had to go to the doctor or even when I had my kids, I had to pay very little, if anything at all.  I think I paid $100 each to have my kids.  The first time I really had to pay any real medical bills at all, it was 6 or 7 years ago and we had a Kaiser Permanente HMO plan.  But I was okay with it.  The co-pays were $25 and then $10 or so for meds.  It was definitely affordable and I'd love to have that now.  But my employer has Cigna and we have a $2400 deductible and an out of pocket maximum of $5500 before they will pay 100%.  And thank goodness they do, or else I'd be well over a hundred thousand dollars in debt versus tens of thousands.  Thinking of it in those terms almost makes it seem bearable.  Almost.

there's nothing like joining facebook to make you feel old

Apparently the Augusta, Georgia, Westside High School class of 1987 turned out to be a little on the slack side. They're holding their 20th reunion in May, 2009, which is, um, yeah, a couple of years late. Now I certainly can't complain too much as my very own slack ass didn't even graduate from WHS, but you know me, always looking for a cause to champion/complain about. But enough of that, and on to the actual subject...

In the process of finding out about the 22nd year reunion, I was encouraged to join facebook.com as a way of keeping up with the info being distributed. And, upon doing so, I discovered I'd gotten old. But you know what the cool thing is about that? So has everyone else! There's maybe a few a handfull one or two or possibly three folks who look as good as they did when we were in HS. The thing about seeing people as they get older is that all the good looking ones, well, most of them just don't look so good anymore, and a pretty fair amount of the folks that were only so-so in high school are now pretty attractive, like they've grown into themselves. And then there are those for whom there wasn't any hope for in HS and they're still in that same condition today. And to make all those used-to-be-good-looking people I just offended feel better, feel free to tell yourself that I fall into this category.

And so many people chose different career paths than I'd expected they would, but some of them, I can totally see how they're in the job they have. In some cases it's like the super smart person in school is now the guy picking up your garbage and the guy you thought would be picking up your garbage is now a CEO. It's funny the paths our lives take. I couldn't even begin to tell you how I ended up where I am. But yet, here I am.

The other day I was trying to do a decent self portrait and after an hour I finally got 2 that were only 75% horrible instead of the usual 95% horrible, so I started doing post processing on them. While looking at the photos in high resolution, I saw things I hadn't really noticed before, like baggy eyelids, a quadruple chin (which is pretty much the en-tire reason I hate being in photos to begin with) and crows feet (not even feet actually, or even a single foot, more like just a really long toe) protruding (sounds like it's a wart or something, doesn't it?) from my left eye. How, I wondered, can this be the face - we're not even going to discuss the body - of someone who truly feels so young on the inside? And do you know what I discovered? It was my kids, 2 husbands, a lack of good judgement relationship and just plain ol' life that put them there. And you know what? I earned those puppies!

I have o-fficially lost my mind

I love my dog, Bella. I love her a lot, even. This dog is spoiled rotten and it's all my fault. Just how spoiled is she, you ask? I not only throw the frisbee to her a minimum of 3 times a day, every day, for about 20 minutes at a stretch, but the other day I was doing it IN THE RAIN. Rotten ass dog...

ugh

How can it be that mentally I still feel 29, but my body insists on looking 39? I'm getting crows feet and I am not okay with it.

hmmm... very interesting

I got an email from my favorite Yankee, Bob, who passed this link along from the ABC website. There are 26 statements, 13 made by each candidate, and you choose the statements you feel best echo your own sentiments. At the end, it tells you whose policies you're most likely to agree with. Of the 13 statements, I only agreed with 3 that McCain made - which is no surprise to me. The really honest thing about this is that you don't know which candidate made which statement, so there's no such thing as going with the party line.

Try it and see if your beliefs really put you with the candidate you think they do!

no mo', no mo', no mo'

You know, I don't really mind getting older. I mean, the last time I got upset over having a birthday was when I turned 17 and realized I'd wasted a fair amount of my teenage years being a bonehead. Turning 30 didn't bother me and 40 isn't appearing as a great looming horror in my mind's eye. I still feel in my mind like I'm in my 20's, and have even been known on occasion to act like it. So like I said, getting older isn't bothering me one bit. But I've gotta tell you, I'm pretty damn unhappy about what this aging crap is doing to my body.

Having gray hair doesn't bother me. God knows I've earned each and every one of them, so in my eyes, it's kind of a badge of honor. However, I've got the ugliest, most mousy brown hair though, so I dye it. I swear it's not about the grays - ask anyone who's known me, I've been dying my hair since I was 20. What's aggravating me is that my once super thick hair is getting thinner and that's pissing me off. It used to be so, well, thick. And now it just hangs there, limp and lifeless. This is not okay. Just because my grandmother wore a wig to cover her 4 hairs doesn't mean I want to.

My hormones are more whacked out now than I ever was, even during my incarnations of crazy. I'm not talking about emotional hormones, either. I mean, I feel like I'm going through adolescence all over again (except this didn't happen before!) and it was not the most pleasant experience the first time around, let me tell you. My skin is doing strange things, like I break out on my chest, and I have extreme itches on my neck, which (naturally) happen in the middle of the night and I wake up with red welts on my neck from where I've scratched myself too much. And I don't sleep - at least not for more than 4 hours - without the aid of good pharmaceuticals.

Basically, this getting older crap just isn't working for me, so I'm officially declaring that I refuse to age even one more single, teeny, tiny bit. I'm done, finished, over it, not doing it anymore. But just in case push comes to shove and I loose it and beat someone to death with a shoe or something, I plan on using hormones as my defense. And you just know that unless that jury's comprised solely of men, I'm getting off scott free.

no shocker here

And this was a surprise?

I'm not really sure how this happened - Part 3

Apparently, this is absolutely not, in any way, shape, form or fashion, Ashley Biden. This is according to some guy who dated her in college and left a comment to that effect on the original post. Who am I to argue with that? I don't even know why the post is still getting hits because it's about as old as dirt.

However - didn't you just know that there was a caveat in here somewhere - according to a google.com image search and the Christian Science Monitor, this is the real Ashley Biden.

sugar and spice

Have you ever met one of those people who are so nice that you just know deep in your heart of hearts that they would love nothing better than talking to you for hours upon end about your worthless, pathetic life? This would be the kind of person that you're pretty certain the devil never even considered tempting them because they're just that damn perfect. You know the ones? They ones that have a bazillion friends and are so genuinely nice that you want to hurl? Well, I'm not one of those people.

But one of the ladies I work with is. She's never without a smile on her face, she's always dressed nicely, even if it's just in jeans, and every last child in school adores her, even my own kid who purposely ignores me if I happen to be in the same hallway, or worse, near his classroom. She's so perfect I want to hate her, but I can't because not only is she nice, she's from the damn South and that just wouldn't be acceptable behavior for a Southerner (me) who's way too far from home.

So I guess this means I'll just have to like her along with everyone else.

how to suck it up and get over it

Should you ever feel like your life just sucks eggs, you need to read the Punk Rock Mommy blog from beginning to end. It doesn't matter if you're into punk (I'm not, no way, no how) or if you're a Mom (I am, and much more so than I'd like to be some days), or even if you're feeling on any given day like you're a chicken with 3 heads. Just read it. And after you've done that, put on your big girl panties - or big boys pants if that suits you better - and suck it up.

emotions

Part of a discussion from my Interpersonal Communications class (just because):

The emotion that I have the most difficult time expressing is grief. Yes, I know that everyone has a tough time with it, but I think I may have a harder time than most. You know how you see people at funerals (usually the immediate family) that just hold it together so perfectly? Well, I’m not one of those folks. I’m more like a 2 year old curled into a ball on the floor, sobbing hysterically and hyperventilating because you took away my Tickle Me Elmo doll. I think it's safe to say I don't do so well with it.

McCain screwed up good this time

Because I'm fond of trashy folks, I read the comments that were posted on the CNN.com blog that discussed Bristol Palin's pregnancy. I figured all the Democrats and even most (normal) people would be pitching a fit over this whole thing, but I have to admit I was surprised at the overwhelming "WTF was McCain thinking?" vibe that I got. Either 99.9% of the commenters were Democrats, or this VEEP pick has even staunch McCain supporters up in arms. If McCain's advisors are reading those comments, then I sincerely hope they're doing their best to convince him to find another running mate, and fast. I imagine that even a McCain/Clinton ticket would look better at this point.

Come to think of it, this is going to be even better for the Dems than I thought... Bristol will marry her boyfriend, who can't support her and the baby. When this happens, they'll be eligible for housing in the Alaskan projects and will be on welfare. Obviously, these are programs set up by Dems so that will fly even more in the face of the McCain/Palin ticket. Not a smart choice, John, not a smart choice at all.

socio-political commentary

I have absolutely no sympathy for Sean "Diddy" Combs, or anyone else who makes the following complaint:

"I'm actually flying commercial," Diddy said before walking onto an airplane, sitting in a first-class seat and flashing his boarding pass to the camera. "That's how high gas prices are. I'm at the gate right now. This is really happening, proof gas prices are too high. Tell whoever the next president is we need to bring gas prices down."

The poor little rich man can no longer afford to fly his private jet across country because now it costs more than $200K to do so. Boo-Freaking-Hoo. When he has to choose between eating and paying bills or getting medical care, then he will be allowed to complain. Until then, he can kiss my empty wallet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another sign of the times? It turns out that Bristol, the 17 year old daughter of Sarah Palin (McCain's choice for Vice President), is 5 months preggers. Years ago, Palin wouldn't have even been considered for Veep with an underage, pregnant, unmarried daughter, but I guess McCain's so desperate, he'll choose just about anyone. Or maybe he's going for the sympathy vote, though I hope America's too smart to fall for that. Teen pregnancy aside, I'd be really hard pressed to vote this ticket simply based on the fact that I've never heard of this woman.

I'm not really sure how this happened, Part 2

I got an anonymous comment on the original post this morning from a person who claims they went to school with Ashley Biden, and this is not a picture of her. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't (in all honesty I couldn't even begin to tell you where I found it, other than that I googled it), but here's my disclaimer just in case: It may or may not be an actual photo of Ashley Biden; this is the internet, after all, and we all know at least half of what's on here is a bunch of crap. No animals were harmed during the writing of this post and actual mileage may vary. Should you experience priapism, contact your doctor immediately. Have a nice day.

Go here for yet another update.

I'm not really sure how this happened...

But I'll not be the one to say no thank you to being the number one source of Ashley Biden photos. Okay, so it's only one photo, but according to images.google. com, this blog is the first, the best, the taco supreme of Ashley Biden images. See for yourself.

It all started last December when Kenin and I were discussing which presidential candidate's daughter is the prettiest, because we're on top of important political stuff like that. Long story short, my cats Napoleon and Angelo won because none of you fuckers voted in my poll. But whatever, I think I can forgive y'all. So here's the photo that for some strange reason started it all:

who knew?

Find out more than you ever really wanted to know about your birth date. You don't have to register and it's free.


Birth date: 9 August 1969

Your date of conception was on or about 16 November 1968 which was a Saturday.

You were born on a Saturday under the astrological sign Leo.
Your Life path number is 6.

Life Path Compatibility:

You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 3, 6 & 9.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2440442.5.
The year 1969 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/17/1969 and ending 2/5/1970.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rooster.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Salmon; your plant is Raspberry.

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 6 April 1969.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 19 February 1969.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 18 February 1969.

As of 8/21/2008 6:26:47 AM EDT
You are 39 years old.
You are 468 months old.
You are 2,037 weeks old.
You are 14,257 days old.
You are 342,174 hours old.
You are 20,530,466 minutes old.
You are 1,231,828,007 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:

Christopher Cuomo (1970) Arion Salazar (1970) Gillian Anderson (1968) Eric Bana (1968) Deion Sanders (1967) Whitney Houston (1963) Melanie Griffith (1957) Sam Elliott (1944) Robert Shaw (1927) Jean Piaget (1896)

Top songs of 1969:

Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In by Fifth Dimension
In the Year 2525 by Zager & Evans
Get Back by Beatles (with Billy Preston)
Sugar, Sugar by Archies
Honky Tonk Women by Rolling Stones
Everyday People by Sly & the Family Stone
Dizzy by Tommy Roe
Wedding Bell Blues by Fifth Dimension
I Can't Get Next to You by Temptations
Crimson & Clover by Tommy James & the Shondells

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 5.58003913894325 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

Your lucky day is Sunday.
Your lucky number is 1 & 4.
Your ruling planet(s) is Sun.
Your lucky dates are 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th.
Your opposition sign is Aquarius.
Your opposition number(s) is 8.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 353 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 40 candles.

Those 40 candles produce 40 BTUs, or 10,080 calories of heat (that's only 10.0800 food Calories!). You can boil 4.57 US ounces of water with that many candles.


In 1969 there were approximately 3.7 million births in the US.
In 1969 the US population was approximately 179,323,175 people, 50.6 persons per square mile.
In 1969 in the US there were approximately 1,800,000 marriages (9.3%) and 479,000 divorces (2.5%)
In 1969 in the US there were approximately 1,712,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

Your birthstone is peridot.

There are 126 days till Christmas 2008!
There are 139 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were born was waning crescent.

where have all my bloggers gone?

Why is it that when I find a blog that I really enjoy (and I know there's a lot of crap out there - I mean, look what you're reading), the person responsible for it somehow, all of the sudden, manages to drop off the face of the earth and stop posting new content, even though they done so every day for the past 12 years? Do they just wait for a sucker like me to come along so they can vanish? I think they do. Quite possibly they're off at the "Let's really bug Betsy" convention, coming up with new content to post after I've given up on them. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Post some new stuff, people!!! (I know, I know... Pot, say hello to Kettle.)

hi, my name is Betsy, and I'm an insomniac...

And quite frankly, it sucks eggs.

I've been this way for about a year or so and have ended up resorting to sleeping pills. I'm not a big fan of taking them, but the alternative - sleeping 4 hours a night or less and consequently me being even more of a bitch than usual - was just not working for me (and the family wasn't too thrilled about it, either). Things have been okay with it lately, mainly I think, because school's been out, but I'm back at work now and as unstressful as my job should be, it's not. Needless to say, I'm back to 4 hours or less a night. So now I'm off to peruse the 'net. Sweet dreams.

it was supposed to be different

You know, I thought that when Patrick moved out, there'd be certain things in my life that would change. However, this is not what has actually happened. Instead, I've begun to notice some scary parallels that have convinced me that life really is a circle.

Patrick - Move your head, I can't see the TV.
Bella - Lay down, I can't see the TV.

Patrick - Stop looking at my food. You have your own!
Bella - Hey puppy dog eyes, your food is in your dish.

Patrick - I wish you'd quit following me everywhere. Some privacy would be nice.
Bella - Go away! I'd like to pee in peace.

Patrick - I get tired of having to keep one ear awake at night so I can make sure you're not out of bed.
Bella - Do you really have to pee now? It's 3 am.

another day in paradise

I've spent the last 4 days suffering from a nasty summer cold and am now desperately hoping to feel like total crap, because that would be an immense improvement, way up the scale from wanting to die.

Since I've been under the weather, I didn't make it to my pedicure appointment, which was a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully I'll be able to fit it in later this week. One thing you can be sure of is that I won't be getting a fish pedicure. Apparently there's a spa in Virginia where they have hundreds of tiny carp that eat the dead skin off your feet, and it's said to be the best pedicure ever. But no thanks, just the thought of fish doing that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Yuck.