Odds & Ends
No movie review today! I know I've been doing a lot of those, but they've been good writing exercises. I hope they've been mildly interesting for folks.
Things are going OK in kitten's world. Had a rough night last night, got a letter from the insurance company that said they're only paying $95 of my $395 oral surgery because based on the information provided sedation was not medically necessary. That made me kind of angry because when I looked up my coverage before the surgery it just said "x percent of basic care" with wisdom tooth extraction listed as "basic care." There were no disclaimers or mention of sedation not being covered, so I'm annoyed about that. I'm also annoyed with the surgeon because no one even suggested to me that it might be an out of pocket expense. They deal with insurance companies all the time, they had to know. It's not like I have some weird unknown carrier, my dental insurance is through Met Life. So... yeah. Their little 'pay up front' thing is a great way to avoid a customer refusing to pay for it when they find out their insurance doesn't cover it. I thought about writing up a complaint to send to the surgeon's office but I'm not sure if I will get around to it. I was really depressed last night about the financial side of it and the feeling like I had been taken advantage of but I'm feeling better today. Financially I'm going to be fine, it's just frustrating to feel like I can't get ahead.
I will hopefully be getting a new cell phone soon. Mine has been flaky pretty much ever since I bought it but I put off taking it in to the AT&T store until after the warranty had expired (isn't that always the way) so I've just been putting up with it for a few years. It's finally reaching critical mass, and since Matt has been wanting a new iPhone anyway I figured I would just inherit his old one and give the iPhone a chance. It wasn't a product I was totally psyched about, largely because I use my cell phone so little. I get a legitimate call maybe once a week and exchange text messages a few times a month. Sometimes. But part of that may be because my phone SUCKS so I'm willing to give the iPhone a try. Some of the features sound pretty cool, but my enthusiasm has been dampened by the rampant idiocy surrounding the launch of the new iPhone 3G. Because of the exclusivity of Apple's contract with AT&T, they've locked things down pretty tight to try and keep people from buying unlocked phones and using them on other networks. You can only buy an iPhone at an Apple Retail Store or AT&T store. (Unless you want to shell out a thousand or more bucks online to buy an illicit unlocked one.) AT&T stores don't even *carry* them. My understanding is that they had some at launch but they sold out quickly and now they're just taking orders (and only in person). At the Apple Retail Stores, they have been getting nightly shipments and selling out every day before noon--even now, a MONTH after the launch. I went and stood in line with Matt last weekend at the Domain and they sold out of the model he had wanted to buy within 20 minutes of opening the doors. I'll give Apple points for knowing how to hype a product, and from what I understand the iPhone is a GOOD product, but this is pretty ridiculous. I have to admit that in a granola-eating hippie communist sort of way it is very fair because it levels the playing field... if you want a phone, you come stand in line like everyone else. (Or pay someone to stand in line for you.) But commerce being what it is today, this is just not how business is done. They really should have some sort of web-based order/reservation system. Both of the Apple stores have voucher systems in place, which I won't go into great detail on because one of them is really stupid and the other is unconfirmed. I'll know more on Saturday, when Matt and I are going to give the other Apple Store a try. At least it is inside a mall so we'll be standing in an air-conditioned line. Or he will, at least. I'm going to find a bench somewhere to read a book. I find camping out in lines so long you have to arrive before a store opens to even have a chance to buy what you're after somewhat embarrassing (not to mention inconvenient, there's a reason I do most of my shopping online). I just feel like everyone that looks at me is watching, judging... but that's a neurosis I can discuss another time.
In other news, something I have been meaning to write about but haven't gotten around to yet is the City Council's proposed budget for the 2009 fiscal year. Don't let your eyes glaze over yet, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail... what I want to talk about is libraries. You see, one of the things they reportedly want to do to cut costs in the coming year is to close libraries for an additional day each week. This troubled me, because the public libraries already get a very small slice of the budget pie. This seemed like a sad commentary on the value of public libraries to the City Council, but since then it has come out that what they plan to do with the savings is increase security and maintenance for the libraries to make them cleaner and safer. I suppose I can get behind that, but it also makes them less accessible. Maybe I'm more concerned than I should be, but literacy is something that is important to me and I hate to see it made less available to the public, especially at a time when a lot of people are tightening their budgets to make room for rising gas costs and the general cost of living. I know I spend a lot less money on books than I used to, and Matt & I go to the library almost every weekend. Would we still be able to? Sure. It's unlikely that Saturdays will be on the chopping block (most libraries are already closed Sundays and it'd be pretty silly to be closed all weekend) but with the variety of services available to the public at a library there are a lot of people that will be more directly affected by this change (job seekers using the internet, students using reference materials that can't be checked out, etc.). Of course, the city has said they will try to stagger the closures so that if your neighborhood library is closed the next closest one shouldn't be but.. I don't know. I remain unconvinced that it is the best move. At least they're not closing them an extra day to make them 'Greener'. But it's probably only a matter of time. :P
Things are going OK in kitten's world. Had a rough night last night, got a letter from the insurance company that said they're only paying $95 of my $395 oral surgery because based on the information provided sedation was not medically necessary. That made me kind of angry because when I looked up my coverage before the surgery it just said "x percent of basic care" with wisdom tooth extraction listed as "basic care." There were no disclaimers or mention of sedation not being covered, so I'm annoyed about that. I'm also annoyed with the surgeon because no one even suggested to me that it might be an out of pocket expense. They deal with insurance companies all the time, they had to know. It's not like I have some weird unknown carrier, my dental insurance is through Met Life. So... yeah. Their little 'pay up front' thing is a great way to avoid a customer refusing to pay for it when they find out their insurance doesn't cover it. I thought about writing up a complaint to send to the surgeon's office but I'm not sure if I will get around to it. I was really depressed last night about the financial side of it and the feeling like I had been taken advantage of but I'm feeling better today. Financially I'm going to be fine, it's just frustrating to feel like I can't get ahead.
I will hopefully be getting a new cell phone soon. Mine has been flaky pretty much ever since I bought it but I put off taking it in to the AT&T store until after the warranty had expired (isn't that always the way) so I've just been putting up with it for a few years. It's finally reaching critical mass, and since Matt has been wanting a new iPhone anyway I figured I would just inherit his old one and give the iPhone a chance. It wasn't a product I was totally psyched about, largely because I use my cell phone so little. I get a legitimate call maybe once a week and exchange text messages a few times a month. Sometimes. But part of that may be because my phone SUCKS so I'm willing to give the iPhone a try. Some of the features sound pretty cool, but my enthusiasm has been dampened by the rampant idiocy surrounding the launch of the new iPhone 3G. Because of the exclusivity of Apple's contract with AT&T, they've locked things down pretty tight to try and keep people from buying unlocked phones and using them on other networks. You can only buy an iPhone at an Apple Retail Store or AT&T store. (Unless you want to shell out a thousand or more bucks online to buy an illicit unlocked one.) AT&T stores don't even *carry* them. My understanding is that they had some at launch but they sold out quickly and now they're just taking orders (and only in person). At the Apple Retail Stores, they have been getting nightly shipments and selling out every day before noon--even now, a MONTH after the launch. I went and stood in line with Matt last weekend at the Domain and they sold out of the model he had wanted to buy within 20 minutes of opening the doors. I'll give Apple points for knowing how to hype a product, and from what I understand the iPhone is a GOOD product, but this is pretty ridiculous. I have to admit that in a granola-eating hippie communist sort of way it is very fair because it levels the playing field... if you want a phone, you come stand in line like everyone else. (Or pay someone to stand in line for you.) But commerce being what it is today, this is just not how business is done. They really should have some sort of web-based order/reservation system. Both of the Apple stores have voucher systems in place, which I won't go into great detail on because one of them is really stupid and the other is unconfirmed. I'll know more on Saturday, when Matt and I are going to give the other Apple Store a try. At least it is inside a mall so we'll be standing in an air-conditioned line. Or he will, at least. I'm going to find a bench somewhere to read a book. I find camping out in lines so long you have to arrive before a store opens to even have a chance to buy what you're after somewhat embarrassing (not to mention inconvenient, there's a reason I do most of my shopping online). I just feel like everyone that looks at me is watching, judging... but that's a neurosis I can discuss another time.
In other news, something I have been meaning to write about but haven't gotten around to yet is the City Council's proposed budget for the 2009 fiscal year. Don't let your eyes glaze over yet, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail... what I want to talk about is libraries. You see, one of the things they reportedly want to do to cut costs in the coming year is to close libraries for an additional day each week. This troubled me, because the public libraries already get a very small slice of the budget pie. This seemed like a sad commentary on the value of public libraries to the City Council, but since then it has come out that what they plan to do with the savings is increase security and maintenance for the libraries to make them cleaner and safer. I suppose I can get behind that, but it also makes them less accessible. Maybe I'm more concerned than I should be, but literacy is something that is important to me and I hate to see it made less available to the public, especially at a time when a lot of people are tightening their budgets to make room for rising gas costs and the general cost of living. I know I spend a lot less money on books than I used to, and Matt & I go to the library almost every weekend. Would we still be able to? Sure. It's unlikely that Saturdays will be on the chopping block (most libraries are already closed Sundays and it'd be pretty silly to be closed all weekend) but with the variety of services available to the public at a library there are a lot of people that will be more directly affected by this change (job seekers using the internet, students using reference materials that can't be checked out, etc.). Of course, the city has said they will try to stagger the closures so that if your neighborhood library is closed the next closest one shouldn't be but.. I don't know. I remain unconvinced that it is the best move. At least they're not closing them an extra day to make them 'Greener'. But it's probably only a matter of time. :P
