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Monthly Update
Mar. 1st, 2019 05:43 amLet's see....busy, of course. Picked up more work - I'm now helping do tax returns. Fun stuff - no, it really is. Tax returns are fun, and relatively easy. I know it won't last - 4/15 is coming up fast! - but the extra money is good. The regular contract job is ticking along.
Health: I have insurance now! It SUCKS! Went to the doc about my leg 2/5.....total waste of time. The NP didn't listen, caused me more pain (I went in at a solid 8. Left at an 11.), and lied to me ("I'll call you in a few hours." 6 hours later, *I* call. "She doesn't have time today. She'll call you tomorrow morning". Next day, at 1 PM "Oh. She's LEFT FOR THE DAY." At 3:30 "She looked at them, and they're negative." Um. Either you lied to me about her leaving for the day, or she took the X-rays home with her, or she didn't actually look at them, or she came in just for li'l 'ol me. Right.). :Sigh: Made an appt. with the only Ortho in town (for some reason he's NON-Approved by my insurance. Um...he's the only one in town, so how can he NOT be approved??), who also didn't listen and caused even MORE pain. I quit. (He also didn't LOOK at the x-ray - not that it showed anything. Bones heal in 6 weeks - I am 6 MONTHS out from the injury. Bones are healed, and the X-rays are worthless. He said he'd send me out for a MRI if exercises didn't work. Um - 6 MONTHS, dude. Exercises aren't going to do jack except cause more pain. I'm DONE.)
See, this insurance doesn't actually cover anything. We pay $500/month for....this. Regular doctors are $25/copay. (Not bad). X-Rays are NOT covered ($251/copay. That doesn't apply to the $1,500/person deductible.), neither are MRI's. Or lab work not done in the doctor's office. Specialists are $40, unless they are non-approved, in which case they are $60. ER visits are $200/copay. Once you meet your deductible, you're only covered UP TO 70%. Did I mention it's $500/month ($6,000/year) for this....."coverage"?
The insurance we had at the husband's previous job was what you expect. Yes, it was more per month (the retirement coverage was $1,000/month for the 3 of us; he was paying $500/month for him and Himself), but co-pays (both regular doctors AND specialists) was $30. ER visits is $100. Once you meet your deductible ($750, with a family maximum of $1,500) you're covered. Period. The husband's carpal tunnel surgery (BOTH arms) cost us $250 out of pocket. And no, he hadn't met his deductible yet. And that included the doctor co-pays. EDITI was mistaken. It was only $30 TOTAL.
So. After the horrible orthopedic visit, I did the math. I can't afford to have anything done to my leg, assuming these.....doctors....can find anything. So......I quit. I told the husband to remove me from the policy - if I can't use it, I refuse to pay for it - and I'll just continue on the way I was. With the exception of my leg, I am healthy and don't go to the doctor much, anyway, so why pay?
Anyway.
Sewing: Just finished a new barn coat. Pattern is Green Pepper's Barn Jacket......I like it. Easy pattern, directions could use a little tweaking (how you cover the raw edges on the neck after attaching the collar...suck, to put it nicely), and the resulting jacket is nice. I used the heavy-weight denim I had (it's all gone, now!) and lined it with a nice Black Watch plaid flannel......I'll be testing it this AM. (Oh, shoot - I need photos. I'll try later today.) There's at least 3 more in line - Herself wants one in purple, Himself wants one in.....some dark color, and the husband decided he needed one, too. :lol: I'm thinking I need one in a lighter-weight outer fabric, for knocking about.
Herself bought us a 36" wide plotter for printing out .pdf sewing patterns. We are having issues loading the drivers - probably because the only laptop we have that can use them is...well, borked. I have a friend configuring a "new" laptop for me - he said he'd try to load the drivers for me, too. :fingers crossed: (Full disclosure - the printer was only $120. If you consider we were paying $10/page for pattern printing (because I am OVER taping letter-sized pages together), this is a HUGE bargain. Print 6 patterns, and we are even.)
Household: Had to have both the washer and dryer worked on this month. The dryer is about 14 years old, we think, and the rollers went out. My beloved Speed Queen is just 4 - the timer went out. The repairman said we should be good for another 15 years or so...hope so! I still love my washer - this is the first time we've had any issues at all.
Duncan: His official name is "Dammit Duncan!" because he's 7 months old now, and has discovered he can reach the table top. He's eaten 3 balls of yarn, a memory foam pillow, 3 shoes, 1 portable DVD drive, 1 hat, numerous pieces of firewood, 1 feather pillow, 3 pairs of reading glasses.....and I'm sure I'm forgetting a LOT. He's a destructive force of nature.....:lol: Good thing he's cute!
I need to get ready to face the weather and do morning stables. I'll try to pop in later!
Health: I have insurance now! It SUCKS! Went to the doc about my leg 2/5.....total waste of time. The NP didn't listen, caused me more pain (I went in at a solid 8. Left at an 11.), and lied to me ("I'll call you in a few hours." 6 hours later, *I* call. "She doesn't have time today. She'll call you tomorrow morning". Next day, at 1 PM "Oh. She's LEFT FOR THE DAY." At 3:30 "She looked at them, and they're negative." Um. Either you lied to me about her leaving for the day, or she took the X-rays home with her, or she didn't actually look at them, or she came in just for li'l 'ol me. Right.). :Sigh: Made an appt. with the only Ortho in town (for some reason he's NON-Approved by my insurance. Um...he's the only one in town, so how can he NOT be approved??), who also didn't listen and caused even MORE pain. I quit. (He also didn't LOOK at the x-ray - not that it showed anything. Bones heal in 6 weeks - I am 6 MONTHS out from the injury. Bones are healed, and the X-rays are worthless. He said he'd send me out for a MRI if exercises didn't work. Um - 6 MONTHS, dude. Exercises aren't going to do jack except cause more pain. I'm DONE.)
See, this insurance doesn't actually cover anything. We pay $500/month for....this. Regular doctors are $25/copay. (Not bad). X-Rays are NOT covered ($251/copay. That doesn't apply to the $1,500/person deductible.), neither are MRI's. Or lab work not done in the doctor's office. Specialists are $40, unless they are non-approved, in which case they are $60. ER visits are $200/copay. Once you meet your deductible, you're only covered UP TO 70%. Did I mention it's $500/month ($6,000/year) for this....."coverage"?
The insurance we had at the husband's previous job was what you expect. Yes, it was more per month (the retirement coverage was $1,000/month for the 3 of us; he was paying $500/month for him and Himself), but co-pays (both regular doctors AND specialists) was $30. ER visits is $100. Once you meet your deductible ($750, with a family maximum of $1,500) you're covered. Period. The husband's carpal tunnel surgery (BOTH arms) cost us $250 out of pocket. And no, he hadn't met his deductible yet. And that included the doctor co-pays. EDITI was mistaken. It was only $30 TOTAL.
So. After the horrible orthopedic visit, I did the math. I can't afford to have anything done to my leg, assuming these.....doctors....can find anything. So......I quit. I told the husband to remove me from the policy - if I can't use it, I refuse to pay for it - and I'll just continue on the way I was. With the exception of my leg, I am healthy and don't go to the doctor much, anyway, so why pay?
Anyway.
Sewing: Just finished a new barn coat. Pattern is Green Pepper's Barn Jacket......I like it. Easy pattern, directions could use a little tweaking (how you cover the raw edges on the neck after attaching the collar...suck, to put it nicely), and the resulting jacket is nice. I used the heavy-weight denim I had (it's all gone, now!) and lined it with a nice Black Watch plaid flannel......I'll be testing it this AM. (Oh, shoot - I need photos. I'll try later today.) There's at least 3 more in line - Herself wants one in purple, Himself wants one in.....some dark color, and the husband decided he needed one, too. :lol: I'm thinking I need one in a lighter-weight outer fabric, for knocking about.
Herself bought us a 36" wide plotter for printing out .pdf sewing patterns. We are having issues loading the drivers - probably because the only laptop we have that can use them is...well, borked. I have a friend configuring a "new" laptop for me - he said he'd try to load the drivers for me, too. :fingers crossed: (Full disclosure - the printer was only $120. If you consider we were paying $10/page for pattern printing (because I am OVER taping letter-sized pages together), this is a HUGE bargain. Print 6 patterns, and we are even.)
Household: Had to have both the washer and dryer worked on this month. The dryer is about 14 years old, we think, and the rollers went out. My beloved Speed Queen is just 4 - the timer went out. The repairman said we should be good for another 15 years or so...hope so! I still love my washer - this is the first time we've had any issues at all.
Duncan: His official name is "Dammit Duncan!" because he's 7 months old now, and has discovered he can reach the table top. He's eaten 3 balls of yarn, a memory foam pillow, 3 shoes, 1 portable DVD drive, 1 hat, numerous pieces of firewood, 1 feather pillow, 3 pairs of reading glasses.....and I'm sure I'm forgetting a LOT. He's a destructive force of nature.....:lol: Good thing he's cute!
I need to get ready to face the weather and do morning stables. I'll try to pop in later!
