Grab A Tissue

Never too busy to post something that profoundly touches my heart.

 

Lake Iowa

                                               Cedar Rapids, Iowa before the flood

 

                                                                          After

 

So far, we’ve been fortunate here in Ft Madison. The tornados have stayed west and north of us and the rain has been frequent but manageable. While the Mississippi is about two football fields from our front door, and its up about 30 ft or more since yesterday: we’re on a hill and its highly unlikely that we’ll have issues. My hometown, Cedar Rapids, on the other hand has been listed as a disaster area, with almost 10,000 residents in mandatory evacuation at the count I heard yesterday. I’m sure its much higher now. A levee broke yesterday afternoon and  I have a few friends that I have been unable to reach and assume they are with friends or family. Folks are having to leave pets behind as the human shelters won’t take them and the animal shelters are either full or underwater. Its New Orleans all over again.

My folks are not in danger , in Anamosa, being on high ground and well away from the Wapsi River, but they are finding it increasingly difficult to get out of town as a lot of the roads are completely submerged. I was planning on going up there this weekend but have no manageable way to get to them.

 

Its nuts. Looking at the pictures of Cedar Rapids just breaks my heart.

 

http://iowadot.gov/floods/2008gallery.html

 

( the railroad bridge in CR in one of these pics is the same one that was still standing with cars on it, filmed yesterday on the next video link below )

 

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/19891824.html?video=YHI&t=a

 

 Just to give you some perspective, the Mercy Hospital mentioned in the above video is approximately 4 miles from the Cedar River and looks to be underwater up to almost the second floor. I cried while watching this.  KRCG, the local television station that aired the video yesterday has been off the air all day.

Saturday Morning Flashbacks

Better Words Than Mine

 

I came across this post this morning, on one of my blog feeds. Kind of makes anything I was going to say seem a little trivial.

Saturday Morning Flashbacks

Friday Night At The Movies

The Locusts

I’ll be perfectly honest; Vince Vaughn is in my Top Five, second only to Johnny Depp. I’ll watch anything he’s in. Hell, I’d pay to watch him brush his teeth for two hours.

That said, I discovered this movie quite by accident several years ago when I was laid up from surgery.  Its dark, its sad, and , if I remember correctly, Vince Vaughn doesn’t brush his teeth even once.  This could be one of Vinces best works, Kate Capshaw does a great job of being a ruthless bitch, and Jeremy Davies’ character just breaks my heart.

 

                                                         click on picture for the video trailer

It Had To Get Better !

 

Its so nice to be able to post something happy and shiny  today after a months worth of mumbling and grumbling!

BuddhaMan- If you’re reading this; like you said, it’s GOT to get better. And it just DID!

I’ve been unemployed, by choice, since we moved to Iowa last December. We had a lot of things that needed to be done on the house, and SD and I both agreed that someone needed to be here on a full time basis to deal with the contractors and the progress. I started actively seeking employment about 2 months ago, and had recently started feeling a bit insecure about my employability as I had not gotten a single call back from the dozen or so resumes that I had sent out. I mean, I’ve got a substantial amount of experience in my field and , (and I know this because I had a friend call  my previous employers posing as a potential employer seeking references. Thanks Denise!) I am getting glowing remarks from my previous employers. My resume is rock solid, and I just couldn’t understand why no one was biting. True to my own nature I began self-analyzing to the n’th degree and beating myself up for not being a “good enough” candidate for employment. No matter that the whole country is in an employment and economic slump; I had to make it about something being “wrong” with me.

Yeah, I know, SD ,my mother, and my friends have all spent decades, collectively, telling me to stop being so damn hard on myself.

So anyway, I had finally gotten a request for an interview from a company that said they were ” extremely impressed” by my resume ( !!! ) and I met with them last Wednesday. While the interview went well, I have spent the last two days going over and over in my head all the things I “might” have done wrong and convincing myself that I wasn’t going to get the job.

Does someone make Self-Confidence in a pill form? I used to have tons of it, where the hell did it go??

Well, the karmic forces that have been kicking me in the butt for the last month have smiled upon me today. I just got off the phone with the hiring manager at the company and have been offered the job. At more money  and better hours than they had originally offered. And I can wear jeans to work! I start next Wednesday

Now we’ll be able to afford to do all the fun projects we’ve wanted to do on the house!

Totally fucking AWESOME!!!!!

Hairy Is A Wet Blanket

 

Good Grief.

Bitch. Bitch. Bitch.

Gripe. Gripe. Gripe.

Whine. Whine. Whine

You don’t want to read this. Really. Click on one of my fun, uplifting, cheerful categories, like You Gonna Eat That?  or  This Man of Mine ; something enjoyable instead of something that makes you want to go stick your head in the oven.

If I didn’t have this blog to vent on this month, I wouldn’t have any friends left.

Back in March I went to the doctor because I was having trouble sleeping and was dealing with a lot of anxiety and panic attacks. ( ya think? go figure….)  She gave me a couple of 1 month prescriptions for a sleep aid and some Xanax.  I took each on an ” As Needed” basis, and after almost 3 months still have half of each prescription left.  So I’m not a mess, just a bit “dusty” at times.

Yesterday I get a statement from some outfit called ” ComPsych Behavioral Health Corp” saying my claim had been denied and I was going to be billed for the entire amount of $171 for my office visit. ( $171.00 for a 15 minute office visit???? Holy shit, what a racket. But that’s a whole different post ) Their reasoning for denying my claim is that I had not “pre-certified” my appointment.

What the hell does that mean???!!??  According to ComPsych, I’m required to call them to get permission for this visit.

?????????? WTF ????????? Who ARE you??

My Medical Coverage Plan states that it pays 90% of an office visit if it is with an In Network Provider, and 70%  for an Out of Network Provider. Out of Network is the ONLY situation that requires Pre-Certification. As my doctor IS  an In Network Provider, I’m a little confused. And who the hell is this ComPsych? Apparently Mental Health issues ( this is how it was coded. Kinda makes me feel like I should just go out and pick out my dumpster now. You know, something simple, double doors, maybe in blue ) are not dealt with by Cigna and are sent to this place, which requires pre-certification. I find this ludicrous as my claim was sent to this company I had never heard of, was not listed in my Benefits papers,  AFTER my appointment had already happened. How the hell am I supposed to Pre-certify if my claim is sent after the fact,  without my knowledge,  to a company that requires it???

Somebody just shoot me.

To make a long story short, I spent half of yesterday and an hour this morning on the phone rollercoaster , back and forth between ComPsych, Cigna and my employers Health Benefits people. Each one of them insisted that they didn’t have the information I was seeking and that I needed to contact one of the other folks to get this straightened out.

Typical.

FINALLY, after the third call to Cigna this morning, the phone is answered by a woman who knows what the hell she is doing. Seems their system coded my appointment as a Psychiatrist visit, instead of  the Primary Care Physician visit that it was, and that would have been Out Of Network and would have required all this Pre-Certification bullshit. The claim should have never been sent to ComPsych-obabble  in the first place. The nice woman at Cigna got it  re-coded correctly as a Primary Care Physicain visit and everything should be taken care of.

Gosh, and I had just picked out a really nice dumpster in a prime neighborhood,  right next to the liquor store and the grade school.  Location, location, location.

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ————— WOW!!!—-WHAT A RIDE!!”

 

Saturday Morning Flashbacks

Due to an internet server outage, I was unable to post Friday Night At The Movies. It will be back next week

This Flashback won’t mean a thing to anyone who didn’t grow up in certain parts of Iowa during the 70′s, but I had to add it because, if you did, it will mean tons.

Go Hawks!