Dental Insurance August 27, 2008

Before I start to rant about my dental insurance, I want to make two things very clear. I know that I am lucky to be able to afford both the paltry insurance that I have and the cost of the dental work that my insurance has denied. It is a tragedy that so many people in this country can’t get adeqate dental care (or health care in general). I am also not mentioning the name of my insurance company. Why? Mostly because I think that they are not alone in their treatment of clients. But also because I am planning on following up with them, and on the off chance that someone reads this, I don’t want it to come back to haunt me. That all being said…

I think I might have the worst dental insurance in the world. The last time I checked, the point of having dental insurance is so that when something goes wrong in your mouth, you can afford to get it fixed. When you take into consideration the recent news that good dental health leads to overall good health, it seems even more important. Which is why I have dental insurance. That is, at least, what I thought.

I recently had enough pain in my tooth that it was keeping me up at night. I have the best dentist ever, but even so, I hate going. So, as you can imagine, it must have been pretty bad for me to head over to have him look at it. A couple of x-rays later, I found that I had both a nerve infection (ouch!) and a cavity under an old filling (double ouch). I left the office a few minutes later, armed with a prescription for antibiotics and an appointment to get the old filling replaced. All good, right? Well, that’s until my insurance company denied the claim. Turns out I have exceeded my allowed oral exams. That’s right. Because I had a check-up in February, they would not cover an emergency appointment in July. Really.

So, this bothers me for a few reasons. First and foremost, why do I pay for insurance that won’t cover me if I have a problem? According to the unhelpful rep that I spoke with today, they only cover one oral exam in any 6 month span. If you’re like me, you get 2 check-ups a year. So anything else won’t be covered. That’s right. I can either get 2 check-ups a year or get 1 a year and have an extra appointment available in case there is a problem (of course, if my once-a-year appointment is in February and my emergency appointment is in July, it won’t matter because of the 6 month rule). Sigh…

I know that insurance is a business. The people who work there want to support their family just like I do. But this is ridiculous. If you are only going to cover 2 exams a year (at $84 an exam), why should I pay you? I am losing money by having insurance. Even with 1 or 2 emergency appointments a year (they did cover 20% of my filling…gee, thanks…), I still come out ahead to pay on my own.

Activists August 26, 2008

I was accosted today by an advocate of Greenpeace. Now, as a general rule, I actually like activists. I have a lot of respect for people who devote themselves to a cause that is meaningful to them. But today I just wanted this guy to go away. First, you should know that I was in a VERY liberal part of Washington DC today. Way to go out on a limb that people in this area might be interested in the enviornment (sort of like the activist that tried to recruit my friend to vote for Obama in that same VERY liberal part of DC over the weekend). But this guy was so annoying that I really wished I was quicker with the retorts. You want to fight global warming? Well, I like global warming. In fact, I am excited about it since I look better in short sleeves than long, and I look fabulous in a nice tank top or sundress. And I was shocked at his indignation at the fact that I wouldn’t sign up for Greenpeace because I already support other environmental causes, namely the non-profits that my family members work at. This is when it got ridiculous. Apparently, one of the corporate sponsors of one of these non-profits is McDonalds. And as I tried to walk away from the crazy activist, he kept yelling at me “how can you not care that they are supported by McDonalds?!?”. Mostly because I like french fries. That, and I’m not such a huge fan of the environment – it’s dirty, and full of bugs.

Grogginess August 23, 2008

That’s all. I just hate being groggy, especially when it’s just because I’ve stayed up super late every night for the past two weeks to watch random Olympic sports. (but how can you turn off race walking?)

Time Delayed Sports August 22, 2008

Yes, another rant about the Olympics. Get over it.

I love the Olympics. And I understand that with a 12 hour time difference, most of the sports that I love to watch are going to have to be time delayed. The Beijing Olympic organizers were nice enough to move the marquee events for Americans (swimming finals and gymnastic team and all-around finals) to the morning so that they could be shown live to the U.S. in prime time (which, of course, is why everyone is walking around so groggy…and yes, they really did move them at the request of the American Olympic Committee and NBC). And judging from the timing of the beach vollyeball finals, they may have moved those events as well (though those may have always been morning events). But everything else is time delayed. And it stinks. Radio show hosts who don’t ever talk sports are spoiling results. MSNBC is showing highlights of events that won’t be shown for a few more hours on NBC. And even my newspaper has results before I do.

Sure, there is nothing that they can do about the time difference. But NBC could sure do a better job of how they are broadcasting the games. There is so much “filler” in each of their broadcasts (especially the prime-time show) – if you have to show me events 12 hours after they happen, then edit them down so you can show me all of the heats of a race in that same time span instead of just the ones with Americans running. And why is the time difference prohibitive in some events but not in others? There is no reason that they can’t show some of the evening events live in the morning in the US. If NBC thinks we’ll watch the Today Show hosts run through the fountains outside of the Bird’s Nest, why don’t they think we’ll watch a live broadcast of a track event or gymnastics event final? They could still show the highlights in prime time, but it would let us see it live if we want. Yes, a lot of events are streamed live online. But that assumes that the event you want to watch is being streamed (not all events are streamed) and that you’re willing to chance the fact that you will likely see the results on your way to the streamed event.

Oh yeah (since I’m hoping this will be my last Olympic rant for two years)…enough of only showing the Americans. I can’t possibly believe that the only people who performed in Wednesday night’s “gymnastics gala” were three Americans and one Chinese competitor. Even if you have to show it during the day, it would have been nice to see the whole thing.

Cups August 21, 2008

I am such a fan of Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee. It’s what makes summer summer. But the Dunkin’ Donuts near my house seems to have a problem with my request. Not for the coffee – it is always good. But for the cup. For some reason, my local DD is always out of at least one size of cups. How is that even possible to run out of cups? Today it was large cups that they were out of (which really stinks, since I felt silly ordering two mediums just to get enough caffeine to make it through a long day of work). But sometimes it’s large, sometimes medium, sometimes small, sometimes all three. That’s right – one day I walked in, ordered my beloved iced coffee, and was told that they were out of cups alltogether. If I wanted, they could make it in a styrofoam hot drink cup. Really? Why hadn’t they sent someone out to buy more cups? And why didn’t they have enough cups in the first place? Come on – I was already cranky about having to get up and go to work – no need to make it worse without enough coffee.

Fan Behavior August 20, 2008

I’m a baseball nut. I go to at least 4 or 5 games a year, and I am always shocked at the behavior of my fellow fans. Some rules if you are going to a game (heck, if you are going anywhere):

Keep your shoes on. I know, this seems self-explanatory. But there is always at least one guy who thinks that a ball game is the perfect place to take off his shoes. Yes, sometimes it’s hot. But are your feet really that much cooler out of your flip flops? And to the man who took his sneakers off (socks still on) at a Nationals game earlier this year – stop. You are in public, not your living room.

If you’re going to yell, know what you are yelling about. Some people don’t like the constant yelling of fans (like the man last night who tried to quiet down the crowd after home runs…if you don’t like the noise, stay home), but I don’t mind. What I do mind is the complete ignorance that gets shouted at sporting events. Don’t yell at a player by calling him the wrong name. Don’t shout for a double play when there are two outs. Don’t start a “Let’s Go Angels!” chant when you are at a Red Sox-Orioles game. Don’t get mad at a called strike three when it was actually a ball and the runner is jogging to first. And certainly don’t argue with those around you about the name of the Red Sox closer when you are not even close. Keep it to cheers until you have a little more information.

Learn to count. I can’t remember the last time when I went to a baseball game without a seat incident. Someone is always in the wrong seats, argues that they should be there because they have tickets for those seats, pulls out their tickets, and finds that they are in the wrong seats/row/section/stadium (just kidding on the last one…I think). If you’re not good at figuring out which is row #12, get some help. Don’t just sit in row #11 and argue with everyone around you about how you paid for those seats and you’re going to sit in them.

If you need more than one seat, buy it.

Look at the kids around you. Not because I want you to watch your language because of the kiddos (though in some cases, that would be nice too). But because 95% of the kids at an average baseball game are better behaved than the adults around them. Watch them. They stay in their seats. They cheer for their team. Many of them cheer for the other team too. They don’t argue with other fans. They happily eat their popcorn, cotton candy, peanuts, ice cream, and pretzel (actual food consumed by the kids in front of me last night), smile, and enjoy the game. If only all my seatmates could be like that.

Not Thinking it Through August 19, 2008

I saw a license plate frame in the grocery store parking lot today that actually made me stop for a minute. It said (and I’m not making this up) “If you’re riding my ass…you better be pulling my hair.” It’s so tasteless that all I could think about as I was grocery shopping was “who thinks  that this is a good idea to put on their car?”. An hour later (yes, it was a slow shopping day…that’s a whole different rant…) I got my answer. The business woman who walked out in front of me walked right up to that car and got in. What is this woman thinking? How can it possibly be a good idea to show up for work with a license plate like that? If you pull in next to the boss one day, how can you look him or her in the eye? You’re an adult – act like one.

Bathing Suits in Public August 17, 2008

What is it about summer that makes people forget about basic rules of fashion and decency? Here in Virginia, once the pools open, everyone thinks that it’s perfectly acceptable to be out and about in their bathing suits, regardless of how far away they are from the pool. Supermarkets, bookstores, libraries…even restaurants – go in in the summer, and you are likely to see someone in a bathing suit. I just don’t get it. It’s not ok. It won’t ever be ok. I don’t care if you just went for a swim and want to run into the store for a snack – put on some clothes over your suit. And those of you who are just wearing it because you think you can (you know who you are), you can’t. Yesterday I was behind a woman in line who had on a bathing suit, some sort of wrap around her waist, and flip flops. How is that appropriate? Especially when you are so large that your back has cleavage. And this is certainly not directed solely at overweight bathing suit wearers – sometimes the skinny ones are worse. A few weeks ago at CVS I was in line with a super skinny woman in a bikini top and cut off denim shorts that did not cover the bottom of her bikini. Ugh. I know it’s hot and I know that it’s summer. But please, for all of us, cover up.

Irony August 17, 2008

If I counted how many times in the past week I have heard someone use the word “ironic” incorrectly, I would have run out of fingers and toes days ago. Please – the only thing ironic about what you are saying is that you don’t actually know what ironic means. If you think it’s what Alanis Morrisette sang about, please stop using the word. Like you, the only thing in the song that’s actually ironic is the fact that none of those things are ironic – just unfortunate. And unfortunate is using words incorrectly.

Turn Signals August 16, 2008

Your car has them for a reason. Use them.