Sorry to hear that Starsaber. I’ve lost two cats and a dog since I left for college. Even though I didn’t live with them any more, they were still a part of my family, and it was rough when my mom called and told me they were gone.
So my car’s not doing so well in the cold and snow. It looks like some ice may have gotten into the brake line and the parking brake is now stuck, and getting worse. I’m not sure if I can even go and pick up my oldest from school today, let alone get through my 60 mile commute tomorrow morning.
Frakking cylons!
You’ll be amused to hear that I lived in Charleston before moving up to sunny Massachusetts. Even after all the snow, which I now have to shovel now that I own a house, I’m not moving back. No way. It just gets too hot down there.
I’m sorry for your loss Starsaber
Had jury duty today. I’m both a night owl and not a morning person (funny how that works out). My fault for playing Mass Effect 2 until midnight and expecting I’ll be fine with 6 hours of sleep. d: Usually, I get there on time (8 AM) and I’m out by 11 AM.
Today, I had Boston’s paratransit service (The Ride) pick me up at 7 AM to take me to the court house because I wasn’t sure how bad the sidewalks would be from the snow. It was a ten minute trip, so I had 50 minutes to find food and get back or I’d have been starving in a few hours. I asked directions to a street I knew had McD and BK. I took the wrong way. ): Traveled by cart until 7:35 AM when I decided to head back. I passed a Dunkin’ Donut that wasn’t wheelchair accessible, and a restaurant offering eggs, sausage, etc. for $3.99 that was likewise inaccessible.
On my return trip, I saw a McD I somehow missed before. Or, it appeared out of nowhere. I haven’t decided yet… Anyway, I hauled butt inside and ordered a breakfast, ate there, and returned to the courthouse 5 minutes late. ). 5 minutes was not a big deal though. But, I pride myself on breaking the CP time (colored people time) stereotype.
Thank all that is good and holy for the MP3 player. I had a long wait. By 1 PM, out of the 136 of us that were there, the last twenty of us (I was number 120) weren’t needed. The Jury Duty God smiled on me. Unfortunately, karma is a PITA.
Back on January 7th, I submitted forms and applications for my insurance to pay for a new cart. I was told I’d hear back in ten days. On January 22nd (15 real days, 10 business days) I called for an update. I was told I’d have to wait another week or two for the results. I called back today; three weeks after the 22nd, 5 weeks after the 7th. I was told the application was never sent in… :eek:
Back story: I went to the doctor to get a prescription and various forms filled for the new scooter in November. Well, Dragon Age: Origins and the holidays happened, and I wound up not turning them in until January 7th. The forms needed to be turned in within a 45 day period, which I missed. Totally my fault. The doctor who filled out the forms left the clinic I go to the previous week. Again, my fault for not turning in the forms sooner. My current cart, which is 6 years old and is ready to be taken out back and shot, broke down during the Christmas holidays. The repairs cost me $199 and some change. Afraid it wouldn’t last another month, I high tailed it to the clinic and got another doctor to update and fax the required letter. I called the local scooter retailer to confirm whether the fax was received and in order. I was told it was.
Fast forward to today: I was told and confirmed that the required letter had the correct date at the top, but there was a second date buried within the walls of text that said November 2009 which I, the doctor who updated the form, and the person who received the fax all missed. Rather than call me to let me know of the error, the local store called the clinic in order to contact the doctor they already knew no longer worked there. Again, I called on the 22nd, and was told to wait another week or two.
So, 5 weeks have passed where I thought everything was “hunky dory.” However, I was, in fact, a square behind square one… And, did I mention the 45 day period?? From January 7th, the 45th day would be two days from today…
I was tired from jury duty, and frustrated at being told I wasn’t getting a new cart anytime soon after I had been told ten days, then one or two weeks from the original ten days.
I was ticked off and let them have it.
“Why didn’t anyone call me to let me know?”
“We tried to contact the doctor to get him to update the letter. You know… Eliminate the middle man.”
“The doctor is the middle man! I’m the first person! I called on the 22nd and was told I had to wait another week or two.”
“I don’t know who you talked to, but that person was wrong.”
“So, I had been waiting all this time for news, and the process hadn’t been started from the January 7th…? checked my calendar The 45 day period is coming up soon…”
“…Yeah…”
“Why didn’t anyone called me?!”
I forgot his answer, but it was non-sufficient. Ugh! I was so angry, incredulous (look Ma, I used a big word), and frustrated. Once again, I raced to the clinic, got the forms updated by yet another doctor, checked all of the dates, and had them faxed. Then, I called the store and confirmed the fax was received. I even apologized for my earlier behavior. The person I spoke with was gracious and understanding when I told him I had jury duty today. Now, I get to wait another month to see whether my insurance will even pay for the $2,600 blasted thing and hope my current cart lasts that long…
Thanks for reading my rant. I feel much better now, Dr. Silberman. eyes a pen
Sorry Fastcart. You must be used to craaap like this. Anytime you rely on someone else…you’re pretty much frakked.
Got any Drano and a syringe? ‘Cause we’re bustin’ out of this place.
Keep the faith, GWCer. 
Hehe. Thanks, but I’ll take a rain check. My bed is calling me with its siren’s song.
I feel much better after a 7 hour nap. d: No more Drano or knee stabbing pens necessary.
Dunno how, but this slipped my mind. While I was at the clinic, I asked why am I getting calls and bills from them when I was told my insurances would cover everything. Turns out an insurance I thought I had since December 2008, I didn’t have. And, all of the medical expenses I’ve incurred since then may now not be covered because so much time had passed. No one bothered to tell me I needed to make one final confirmation call to truly make it active.
I’ll be making that call first thing in the morning…
About to call Starbucks corporate for the umpteenth time in the past month-and-a-half to find someone who can get my benefits instated. Jumping through hoops to fix someone else’s mistake is not how I enjoy spending my time.
Hey fastcart, I hope that is the last iteration and it all works out for you now. I’ve had paperwork issues a few times with the other party claiming quietly ignoring me instead of informing me of errors. It’s a PITsB
Trying desperately to install some software today so I can check something before a deadline and it turns out (after 2 hours of checking) that it crashes 2% before the end. Why? Because it thinks my state is observing Daylight Savings (one of my pet hates anyway). The solution is to change my timezone to one which does not observe DST (but has the same clock time!) and the restart the whole 2 hour process again. Officially, I hate Daylight Savings with the fire of a thousand suns. I hate timezones in general.
Seriously, once we start flying to Mars regularly will we still decide when to have lunch based on which side of some hunk of rock is warmer?!
So Starbucks re-opened my case, and I’ll find out what the next round of hoops is in the next few days.
In other news, it’s not looking good for me to get to the meet-up this year. I have to decide by the end of next week if I can afford it or not.
That truly sucks. It must be so stressful. I don’t know how you all get on over there with the insurance system. The only time I have to worry about that is if they want to transfer me to a private hospital.
I have to go to see my (birth) Mother today, I was summoned when a crow tapped on the window and instructed me to go see the Queen Witch, or possibly by a Solicitors letter… now I think about it the letter makes sense. I can’t think what those people want to see me for, I do not want to see them 
Wish me luck!
Ugh, I’ve had to process todays events before writing about them, my “birth” family were out in force, I was promised it was just going to be and my Mother, but that was just a lie to get me to go alone.
My sister opened the door, and took me in with a sneer, “Nice dress” was all the greeting I got, but to be fair it really was a nice dress.
The family were waiting for me in the parlour, as an aside, I have to point out that I grew up in a house with a PARLOUR, is it any wonder I was a messed up kid? What are decorative plates for? My Mother, Brother, Sister and the in-laws were sat in their Sunday best on the terrible sofa set and glared at me as I walked in.
I had not taken my shoes off, and this is the number-one sin in the household, however in what I hope they saw as a show of strength I did not scurry away to remove my shoes, but I just walked to the one open chair and sat in it as dainty as a ballerina, the actual reason I didn’t take my shoes off is that they were laced and buckled like an escapologists nightmare, but they didn’t need to know that.
We sat there in silence for what felt like a year while they stared at me like a dog that’s just been shown a card trick, Mother broke the silence.
“It was nice of you to come Benjamin” she said, “Would you like some tea?”
Silence.
“Benjamin?” she said slightly louder.
I looked at her and asked “Who’s that?”
She sighed dramitically and poured a cup and slid it towards me.
“So,” I asked, “Do you not remember I’m allergic to tea?”
“Of course,” she smiled, “Would you like some water?”
“No, thank you, my Fiance is taking me out to lunch after this” I replied, I swear I almost saw them jump when I said ‘Fiance’.
“Very nice” said Mother
“Do you have to be like this?” asked my Brother
“Yes, I do” I said with a smile and then asked “Why am I here?”
Mother smiled her familiar thin smile “Your Father left you money in his will, and we would like it returned to us”
“Oh?” I replied, I wished I had that water now
“Yes,” she said, “Your father didn’t want you to have that money, it was just overlooked in his will”
My brother cut in “You know he wouldn’t leave you anything”
“But he did.”
My Sister jumped in “We need that money to send the children to school”
I looked at the children, my niece and nephews, who I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to and saw myself at their age.
“You know we like to send the children to private school” said Mother.
“Yes, except me of course” I smiled
Mother’s smile wavered “We couldn’t afford it when it was your time”
Anger boiled up inside me, money was never the reason they didn’t send me to private school, they thought I was too stupid to pass the entry exam, so just never bothered.
“of course” I replied, “Sadly the money is no longer available”
My Brother almost jumped to his feet “What do you mean!? What did you spend it on?” his eyes flicked to my chest.
“I put it into some sort of investment thing” I said with a wave of my hand, “I can’t access it”
“YOU WILL ACCESS IT!” he shouted
“No, I can’t, it’s in trust.”
“WHO FOR!?” he thundered.
I looked again at the children, “That’s really none of your business”
“Well” said Mother, “If you refuse to help your Family…”
I cut in “I am helping MY family”
the room fell to silence.
“Well…” I said, “If there is nothing else?” I stood to leave.
“You seem determined to make me cry” said Mother
I wish I had some clever response to that, I wish I could have just screamed at her, at all of them, but I didn’t, I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction, but mainly I didn’t want to ruin my makeup with tears.
I left and went for dinner with Yay.
So went another lovely visit with the people that share some genetic material with me.
(Benjamin was not my Boy name, the real boy name is never used around me)
Oh NM - I wish I could give you a big hug! My mom and aunt went through a horrible time when their adopted dad passed away. To this day, I get seething angry when I think about it. Just write them off and get on with your good life! And AWESOME that you couldn’t/didn’t give the bastards the cash. 
I hope everything gets worked out with your benefits and will keep my fingers crossed that you can get to the meetup.
I’m dealing with one of my boys being a real DB to a friend of his. It borders on bullying and I’m very disappointed in him, especially because he was bullied when he was younger. Nothing I said seems to have made a dent in his perception of the situation. Maybe a week without internet/going out/Facebook will bring some clarity.
Real family is who you choose, and who chooses you.
Or so I think at least
I killed my expensive Logitech universal remote. Saturday morning I tried to give the charger a 16oz drink of water. The remote works and the charger light comes on but it won’t charge the remote. When I started looking at it closer, I think I corroded the underside of the contacts it uses for charging. :mad:
NM, I’ve had bizarre and frustrating conversations with my family, but none of them sounded like a Noel Coward comedy of manners. Sorry you had to go through that. If it’s not too personal to ask, why do they call you Benjamin, and what was your boy name?
And I’m distracted because somebody just walked into Starbucks wearing a top hat. He has a slavic accent. Is he Russian mafia?
I got a voice-mail from Starbucks today that pretty much reiterated what they’d told me before about why my appeals case was rejected. It’s really surprising that they get to say the deadline to contact them on this matter was two months before I contacted them. But anyway, it’s looking like there was confusion about my current address when they sent out my benefits packet. The post office should have forwarded it to the correct address even if the address change hadn’t hit Sbux records yet.
I worry that along the line somewhere, I forgot to do something, and now it’s biting me in the ass. It would suck if after all this hassle it turns out to be my fault. I certainly waited long enough to start rattling cages about the probem, but that was mainly because I thought I was supposed to wait until the start of the next quarter after I received my packet to sign up for benefits (which would have been January). Now I’m not even sure where I got that idea, so I feel I’m on shaky ground in arguing my case. Still, the fact remains that they sent me my packet AFTER my deadline to enroll had passed, and I think someone should be called out for that mistake.
I’m planning to go to a screenwriting conference in the summer (one of the reasons I can’t afford the Meet-up next month), and I can’t go there with scotch tape around my glasses; so if the insurance hasn’t kicked in by then, I’m gonna have to shell out for new windows myself.
Blech. On the other hand, I’ve made a contribution to Snopes.com!!
Yeah, that’s pretty much established, as you have learned. Glad to see that you handled it well.
On a side note, I used to have a MUCH different interpretation of the whole transgendered experience. But even then I would have found that behavior appalling. So, just know that there are probably people today who sorta-agree with them who would still judge them poorly for their behavior.
Heh, nicely done. I lately find myself counting internet coup. (I got mentioned on Techdirt! I got mentioned on Hipster, Please!, etc.)