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outsdrI opened up an account at that other blog place ... um, dream something. Mostly, I'm hoping to back up my LJ entries over there, in case LJ goes kablooie. I doubt I'll use it much for anything else (unless LJ goes kablooie) because I don't use LJ much any more. The near immediate feedback of Facebook has seduced away much of my time. However, for longer, more in-depth postings, LJ still rules.
So, hello December.
Nearly time to say goodbye, actually. Nearly time to say goodbye to another year as well. December has gone by quickly. It started with the excitement of planing for Andy's surprise 30th birthday visit from his brother and friends in Albuquerque, NM. The four spent 14 hours in a car just to spend a little over 24 hours with us before driving 14 hours to return home. But, the look on Andy's face made it all worthwhile. It also cemented my decision that returning to Albuquerque at some point fairly soonish is the right thing to do- for the first time, I realized just how badly Andy is withering here as well. We've both been here nine years now, and should have been gone at least four years ago.
Also at the beginning of the month, I bought new tires for my 2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara. It's doing well, has about 85,000 miles on it, but the tires were not good at all. So, I spent $525 on a new set.
This may be familiar to those who have also read my most recent newspaper column, as I discuss it there. I'm not sure how many people assume that everything I write is fictional, but it is not- my columns are all based upon actual situations I have found myself in, and while I have created at least one fictional character to represent pretty much all my relatives in one person, the people mentioned are real as well. I don't make things up, and I rarely need to exaggerate. My driver's door really was frozen shut by someone peeing all over it one time, and I really did slide through a red light, but did not actually ruin a pair of underpants.
A week after I got the tires, I had the vehicle in the shop because it was not defrosting well. $150 and a new thermostat later, it's actually heating up quite nicely now in the mornings.
And then, Thursday happened.
To fully explain Thursday, I need to exposit some backstory. The main clinic where I go for my healthcare went through a change to a new, out-sourced billing system a few years back, which went horribly wrong and they switched to a new, in-house billing system a year later, although the actual transition took well over a year. While this was happening, I did not receive bills for any charges under the old system, but did receive bills for charges under the new system. However, I did make monthly payments to the old system all along. Finally, this past May, the change over was complete, and bills were sent out again for the old system. I continued to make payments to both systems, but in October, I did not receive a statement for old system, nor did I in November, and I forgot to make payments. Furthermore, on one of the visits to have my ears checked (That can easily make up an entire separate posting, so I'll save it.) (ETA- Turns out I already have, a few entries ago.) the clerk mentioned as I was checking out that I needed to be put on a payment plan officially, even though I have been making payments, because otherwise I would be automatically put into collections if my balance was not paid off in full within four months. So, they put me on a payment plan. Fine.
Three days later, I received a letter from a collection agency representing the clinic.
I called the clinic, found out this was for the old system, explained I hadn't received statements for two months, and they said they would send me out a statement immediately and pull it back from collections. Wonderful. I received the statement in the mail, wrote the check out for the full amount of $71 and some-odd cents (neither billing system has online payments available) and mailed it all off on December 2.
On the 15th, I received another collections notice. I checked, and the check I had mailed had never been cashed. I figured they just were moving a little slowly, and didn't think any more of it.
Until Monday, when the phone calls started from the collection agency. The check had still not been cashed.
So, I was concerned, and somewhat upset. Wednesday, I left work and went to the clinic. At 4:05 p.m., I was told there was no one in the billing department, as they had all left for the day. I asked when normal hours are for that department, and was told 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Fine, I said, I'll return tomorrow.
This brings us to Thursday. I get up early (thanks to Jinx, who likes waking me at 4 am by meowing incessantly, clawing my face, biting me, and knocking everything off my nightstand), and get ready to head to the clinic at 7 a.m. It's a lovely 0F outside.
Somehow, as I get into my vehicle like I have numerous times over the past ten years, my jacket catches on the turn signal lever. As I sit down, the lever is wrenched from the steering column completely with a horrible cracking sound and left dangling by a cable. My turn signal was stuck on left, my highbeams were stuck on, and my window was froze shut so I couldn't even use hand signals.
With nothing else I could do, I went to the clinic, only to find out that no, the billing department doesn't open at 7, they open at 8.
I said I would wait.
I drank some coffee (which was FANTASTIC) and checked out my steering column to see if anything could be done. What I could see inside was just shattered, mangled plastic bits, and nothing I poked or prodded turned anything off. So back inside I went. Now, over the course of the night, we'd also received over eight inches of snow (Later, at work, when one of the reporters mentioned that Lander had received a record eight inches in the night, I channeled Paul Lynde and said, "Well, that would have been a record for me, as well!" My editor smacked me.)
So, I'm sitting there, waiting. 45 minutes go by, 8 a.m. is approaching, the front desk girl (a different one from the previous day) is chatting with me and actually making me feel a bit better because she's not making excuses, she's apologizing and trying to be helpful, mentioning that a lot of people are having trouble getting to work this morning, and that the director of the clinic, Ryan (It's amazing how everyone is on a first-name basis in a small town) was going to be late because he hadn't been feeling well. I mentioned he was the one who I had initially spoken to about the problem, and he was the one who was going to take it out of collections at the time. I was visibly angry, but tried to make it clear I was angry at the situation, not the girl I was speaking to.
(Please forgive any typos. My hands are especially problematic when typing these days.)
While waitng, a woman wandered past me with a light bulb in her hand. She said, "A blown-out light bulb. Is there a worse way to start the day?" and I thought to myself, honey, if you only knew.
Finally Janelle arrives a little after 8. Janelle is one of the two people in the billing department. Carrie, the front desk girl I've been chatting with, goes to see if Janelle can help me out, and I finally think something is going to be accomplished. That is, until Carrie returns, and tells me that Janelle says she can't do anything, only Ryan can help me because only he has access to the old system.
This is when I start to lose my cool. Because Janelle is essentially blowing me off. I ask Carrie if Janelle could at least check to see if the check I had sent was ever received. She asked if I meant the check I sent on December 16th, which I'd previously asked her to look up to see if they had received it into their system yet (Carrie had access to the new billing system, but not the old. The check, however, had not been put into the system yet.) I said no, the check I sent THREE WEEKS AGO; the check I'd sent accompanied by a copy of the invoice I had received that was SIGNED BY JANELLE, the same woman who was now apparently saying there was nothing she could do to help me, as only Ryan could access the old system these days, it seems. Why this changed from three weeks ago when Janelle could access it to send me an invoice, I don't know.
Carrie scurried away. I could see her and Janelle talking in the billing department, and Janelle digging angrily through papers. You can be angry, woman, for all I care- my morning has been a hell of a lot worse than a blown-out bulb, thank you. *snap*
Carrie comes back, and says that Janelle will take care of everything that day. I arch an eyebrow and ask her if that means the check has been found? Carrie says yes, and Janelle will will process and take it out of collections. I ask Carrie to tell Janelle that I want a final statement mailed to me, showing my balance paid in full. Carrie says she will pass this on, I thank her, and I leave.
I then head to my mechanic to see if he can fix my vehicle. He is plowing his lot and says he'll get to it that afternoon, which is fine. The owner, Bill, is the only one working there now. Previously, Dave had been my mechanic, but he got married and quit. When Dave worked there, the place was packed with vehicles waiting to be worked on. Now, on both my visits, my vehicle was the only one there. So, I don't think Bill is really worried about business; he just does what comes along, and at his own pace.
Bill gives me a ride to the office. Around 9, I call the clinic to talk to Ryan. He's not in his office; I leave him a long voicemail. He never calls me back.
Bill stopped in later that afternoon- the entire turn signal lever assembly has to be replaced. With parts and labor, it's going to cost at least .... $1,000.
It's been an expensive month to have a vehicle. I tell Bill to order the part, knowing it won't get in until sometime next week. He had drained the battery while paying around with the turn signal (good one, Bill) but it was charged by the time we got back to the garage. The entire steering column had been stripped nude, and he had pulled the fuse so the turn signal would stop working. Nothing could be done about the brights, however. Unfortunately, it turns out that the vehicle won't engage to drive if any of the uses are mising. So the fuse goes back in, Bill wedges something in the column that finally turns off the turn signal, and I drive off, hoping to avoid all policemen as my window is still frozen shut.
And then, today. The paper office was closed today, but I had to keep much the same schedule, since I'm working at the hotel overnight, as usual. So, no tmuch of a day off, and next week, I get to do it again. Hopefully, by then, I have a working steering column.
So, hello December.
Nearly time to say goodbye, actually. Nearly time to say goodbye to another year as well. December has gone by quickly. It started with the excitement of planing for Andy's surprise 30th birthday visit from his brother and friends in Albuquerque, NM. The four spent 14 hours in a car just to spend a little over 24 hours with us before driving 14 hours to return home. But, the look on Andy's face made it all worthwhile. It also cemented my decision that returning to Albuquerque at some point fairly soonish is the right thing to do- for the first time, I realized just how badly Andy is withering here as well. We've both been here nine years now, and should have been gone at least four years ago.
Also at the beginning of the month, I bought new tires for my 2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara. It's doing well, has about 85,000 miles on it, but the tires were not good at all. So, I spent $525 on a new set.
This may be familiar to those who have also read my most recent newspaper column, as I discuss it there. I'm not sure how many people assume that everything I write is fictional, but it is not- my columns are all based upon actual situations I have found myself in, and while I have created at least one fictional character to represent pretty much all my relatives in one person, the people mentioned are real as well. I don't make things up, and I rarely need to exaggerate. My driver's door really was frozen shut by someone peeing all over it one time, and I really did slide through a red light, but did not actually ruin a pair of underpants.
A week after I got the tires, I had the vehicle in the shop because it was not defrosting well. $150 and a new thermostat later, it's actually heating up quite nicely now in the mornings.
And then, Thursday happened.
To fully explain Thursday, I need to exposit some backstory. The main clinic where I go for my healthcare went through a change to a new, out-sourced billing system a few years back, which went horribly wrong and they switched to a new, in-house billing system a year later, although the actual transition took well over a year. While this was happening, I did not receive bills for any charges under the old system, but did receive bills for charges under the new system. However, I did make monthly payments to the old system all along. Finally, this past May, the change over was complete, and bills were sent out again for the old system. I continued to make payments to both systems, but in October, I did not receive a statement for old system, nor did I in November, and I forgot to make payments. Furthermore, on one of the visits to have my ears checked (That can easily make up an entire separate posting, so I'll save it.) (ETA- Turns out I already have, a few entries ago.) the clerk mentioned as I was checking out that I needed to be put on a payment plan officially, even though I have been making payments, because otherwise I would be automatically put into collections if my balance was not paid off in full within four months. So, they put me on a payment plan. Fine.
Three days later, I received a letter from a collection agency representing the clinic.
I called the clinic, found out this was for the old system, explained I hadn't received statements for two months, and they said they would send me out a statement immediately and pull it back from collections. Wonderful. I received the statement in the mail, wrote the check out for the full amount of $71 and some-odd cents (neither billing system has online payments available) and mailed it all off on December 2.
On the 15th, I received another collections notice. I checked, and the check I had mailed had never been cashed. I figured they just were moving a little slowly, and didn't think any more of it.
Until Monday, when the phone calls started from the collection agency. The check had still not been cashed.
So, I was concerned, and somewhat upset. Wednesday, I left work and went to the clinic. At 4:05 p.m., I was told there was no one in the billing department, as they had all left for the day. I asked when normal hours are for that department, and was told 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Fine, I said, I'll return tomorrow.
This brings us to Thursday. I get up early (thanks to Jinx, who likes waking me at 4 am by meowing incessantly, clawing my face, biting me, and knocking everything off my nightstand), and get ready to head to the clinic at 7 a.m. It's a lovely 0F outside.
Somehow, as I get into my vehicle like I have numerous times over the past ten years, my jacket catches on the turn signal lever. As I sit down, the lever is wrenched from the steering column completely with a horrible cracking sound and left dangling by a cable. My turn signal was stuck on left, my highbeams were stuck on, and my window was froze shut so I couldn't even use hand signals.
With nothing else I could do, I went to the clinic, only to find out that no, the billing department doesn't open at 7, they open at 8.
I said I would wait.
I drank some coffee (which was FANTASTIC) and checked out my steering column to see if anything could be done. What I could see inside was just shattered, mangled plastic bits, and nothing I poked or prodded turned anything off. So back inside I went. Now, over the course of the night, we'd also received over eight inches of snow (Later, at work, when one of the reporters mentioned that Lander had received a record eight inches in the night, I channeled Paul Lynde and said, "Well, that would have been a record for me, as well!" My editor smacked me.)
So, I'm sitting there, waiting. 45 minutes go by, 8 a.m. is approaching, the front desk girl (a different one from the previous day) is chatting with me and actually making me feel a bit better because she's not making excuses, she's apologizing and trying to be helpful, mentioning that a lot of people are having trouble getting to work this morning, and that the director of the clinic, Ryan (It's amazing how everyone is on a first-name basis in a small town) was going to be late because he hadn't been feeling well. I mentioned he was the one who I had initially spoken to about the problem, and he was the one who was going to take it out of collections at the time. I was visibly angry, but tried to make it clear I was angry at the situation, not the girl I was speaking to.
(Please forgive any typos. My hands are especially problematic when typing these days.)
While waitng, a woman wandered past me with a light bulb in her hand. She said, "A blown-out light bulb. Is there a worse way to start the day?" and I thought to myself, honey, if you only knew.
Finally Janelle arrives a little after 8. Janelle is one of the two people in the billing department. Carrie, the front desk girl I've been chatting with, goes to see if Janelle can help me out, and I finally think something is going to be accomplished. That is, until Carrie returns, and tells me that Janelle says she can't do anything, only Ryan can help me because only he has access to the old system.
This is when I start to lose my cool. Because Janelle is essentially blowing me off. I ask Carrie if Janelle could at least check to see if the check I had sent was ever received. She asked if I meant the check I sent on December 16th, which I'd previously asked her to look up to see if they had received it into their system yet (Carrie had access to the new billing system, but not the old. The check, however, had not been put into the system yet.) I said no, the check I sent THREE WEEKS AGO; the check I'd sent accompanied by a copy of the invoice I had received that was SIGNED BY JANELLE, the same woman who was now apparently saying there was nothing she could do to help me, as only Ryan could access the old system these days, it seems. Why this changed from three weeks ago when Janelle could access it to send me an invoice, I don't know.
Carrie scurried away. I could see her and Janelle talking in the billing department, and Janelle digging angrily through papers. You can be angry, woman, for all I care- my morning has been a hell of a lot worse than a blown-out bulb, thank you. *snap*
Carrie comes back, and says that Janelle will take care of everything that day. I arch an eyebrow and ask her if that means the check has been found? Carrie says yes, and Janelle will will process and take it out of collections. I ask Carrie to tell Janelle that I want a final statement mailed to me, showing my balance paid in full. Carrie says she will pass this on, I thank her, and I leave.
I then head to my mechanic to see if he can fix my vehicle. He is plowing his lot and says he'll get to it that afternoon, which is fine. The owner, Bill, is the only one working there now. Previously, Dave had been my mechanic, but he got married and quit. When Dave worked there, the place was packed with vehicles waiting to be worked on. Now, on both my visits, my vehicle was the only one there. So, I don't think Bill is really worried about business; he just does what comes along, and at his own pace.
Bill gives me a ride to the office. Around 9, I call the clinic to talk to Ryan. He's not in his office; I leave him a long voicemail. He never calls me back.
Bill stopped in later that afternoon- the entire turn signal lever assembly has to be replaced. With parts and labor, it's going to cost at least .... $1,000.
It's been an expensive month to have a vehicle. I tell Bill to order the part, knowing it won't get in until sometime next week. He had drained the battery while paying around with the turn signal (good one, Bill) but it was charged by the time we got back to the garage. The entire steering column had been stripped nude, and he had pulled the fuse so the turn signal would stop working. Nothing could be done about the brights, however. Unfortunately, it turns out that the vehicle won't engage to drive if any of the uses are mising. So the fuse goes back in, Bill wedges something in the column that finally turns off the turn signal, and I drive off, hoping to avoid all policemen as my window is still frozen shut.
And then, today. The paper office was closed today, but I had to keep much the same schedule, since I'm working at the hotel overnight, as usual. So, no tmuch of a day off, and next week, I get to do it again. Hopefully, by then, I have a working steering column.
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Date: 2011-12-24 11:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-24 12:28 pm (UTC)