Blue Lime

Day 2 of our mini-vacay brought us much fun!

After a late night of hot tubbing, we slept in. Actually, I slept until about 8am when I could no longer breathe. I blogged and wrote our Yelp reviews from the day before; Emil was up by ~11am. We ventured out to have some lunch. The Leaning Pear was too foo-foo for Emil and a too carnivore for me (but the Fried Green Tomatoes sure were good). It was just lunch, so we were fine. It was nice to see that they make an effort to use local farms and organic ingredients. I made a note to blog about the differences between vegetarian/vegan and organic and raw. Many assume those “land” among the others. This is not the case.

Next, we hit the “other side” of the street to patronize the businesses we missed on Day One. A couple of them were weak. They need a secret shopper in this town to tell some of the business owners that the “perfume” of the business is too strong. :/ I will say this about Wimberley, they certainly include the “girly” in any girl. From petticoats to jewelry to wine-oh-MY, they reach the BFF and Girls-gone-not-too-wild weekend crowds.

We finished shopping just in time to leave for our Zip Line Adventure Tour. Getting there early, waiting to gear up, and “Flight School” was brrrrrr cold on the windy day, but the rides were well worth the effort. Once we got properly geared, the rides were super fun! And, now that we’ve been on one of the Adventures, we are eligible for a night tour complete with glow sticks! We also learned there is a zip line tour in Austin, so now, we’ll need to check them out. The whole event was well worth the price of admission and the red wind-burned cheeks on this blustery day.

It would seem that riding a zip line would be lazy work, but there was a lot of hiking and other effort to the whole Adventure. After the tour, we headed to a local fave, Kate’s Place, for supper. I was lucky to find several vegetarian items that could easily be made vegan. Our food was delicious and the service was impeccable. The funny part of our visit here was the group of four grandparents (three women and one man, apparently all just friends) who were celebrating the end of the Thanksgiving weekend and that all their grandchildren finally went home! LOL! Emil and I just grinned to each other when we heard them. Ah, problems we’ll never have!

After a fine meal, we drove back to The Junction to visit the Devil’s Backbone Tavern. I had a couple of beers, we played shuffleboard, and we chatted a lot with the bartender (Lizzie) and some incredibly friendly locals, including one guy I’m practically certain I know from working at Texas A&M. Who’d've thunk?

Our late evening consisted of trying to get the hot tub, well, hot, while I wrote up this diddy about our day. It’s a great day to be a Luza, except for that failing hot tub thing.

Last Spring, on our way home from Canyon Lake, we saw lots of traffic on I-35 (surprise) and chose to take the back roads, instead. We drove through the little town of Wimberley and decided it would be our next destination.

We weren’t able to make it to Paris for Thanksgiving this year, so we took advantage of the long weekend (and a couple of days off for Emil) to get away from it all.

Emil found us a great cabin that was well within our budget.

We spent our first afternoon shopping at some of the quaint and fun stores and dined at the Cypress Creek Cafe. When we checked into our cabin, we learned the town has a new Trail of Lights sponsored by the local theater group. To cap off a great day, we went to Brewster’s for a sampler flight of the seven beers they currently have on tap. We had a lovely time chatting with the owner’s dad and his caregiver. Bruce, the owner, played NFL football and was on the 49ers teams when they won the ’88 and ’89 Superbowls. The place is covered in his memorabilia. Back at the cabin, we took advantage of the big-tub-of-hot water. Mixed with the cool breezes, it was quite relaxing.

Great day one!

Somewhere, a few weeks ago, I looked at some stats about our little blog and realized that if we had advertising, we could cover the cost of our site (and the domain and the email accounts and all the other stuff that comes with it). So, today, I placed an ad spot in the sidebar of our site. I also allowed some to appear in the RSS feeds, so you’ll see something either way you view our blog.

• We can’t, yet, control which ad types appear or don’t. I’ve requested that service, but I don’t know if we’ll qualify. I think it’s funny that the first ad I saw was for children’s clothing!
• Dear readers, you’ll have to let me know if they are too annoying or disruptive. I “watch” our posts, too. But, I get a lot of adds in other sites I read via RSS, so the ads are easy for me to ignore.
• Please, please, please when you are feeling generous, click an ad or two here or there. I want to see if our projected traffic is really as high as they showed me.

Thanks, family/friends!

Oskar, the blind kitten and his first toys. He has a brother, Klaus, who has sight, so if you follow the video thread, you’ll see them both.

Love, compassion, and even sight. Just a few more things to be thankful for!

I am thankful for:

• my husband, my best friend, my everything
• our mutual childfree belief
• our two cats and one turtle who bring us many giggles and lots of love
• that I still have two grandparents living; two finer people might not walk this Earth
• technology that is more often my friend than foe
• reasonable health for us both
• my small business, especially during this economy, and my clients whom I hold dear
• pants that are too big

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Alamo @Drafthouse,

Thank you.

Thank you for creating a place where adults can routinely enjoy a movie among the company of other well-behaved adults. Thank you for the No Talking/Texting” rules and the No Little Kids policy. Coupled with the ever-changing menu, glorious drink list, and fabulous service, it’s an adult oasis in an otherwise family (ahem) “friendly” world.

My favorite no-talking spot is, of course, the uncensored version of  “Magnited States of America“. I applaud you for sticking by your standards. Your rules are, in fact, the biggest reason I even darken the door of a movie theater. Yours is the only one I’ll visit. Between your policies/service and the RunPee app (which I keep discreetly running in night mode, in my lap, and away from neighbors), I can enjoy a movie experience.

Thank you for keeping the movie-going experience one worthy of adult admission prices.

Your fan,

Lori

Dear parUNts of the little Crotch Dropping next to me at the Alamo Drafthouse,

I knew we were in for a miserable experience when you seated him to the inside instead of between you two. No decent parent would put a kid between them and a stranger when there was another option, even with a seat of space.

The little bastard (and I’m pretty sure this is literal given how little attention he got/sought from “Daddy”) of ~7 years was far too immature for the two-plus-hours movie experience at the Alamo Drafthouse. He was bored 30 minutes before the movie started, and again 20 minutes before the movie started, and again 10 minutes before the movie started. While he might be “technically” old enough to quality for admission, his maturity is far too young for this excursion. He caught my attention the most when he asked if you two called him a “douche” (you said, “dude”). I know you’d save those precious first words for his baby book, but you were too busy chatting to notice he uttered such a statement. Where, pray tell, did he hear did he hear that word used in a derogatory manner?

During the movie and even with a bevvy of food (popcorn, an entire personal pizza, and an adult-sized drink), he was bothering you for more food and attention. When that didn’t work, he climbed up and down over and over again sitting up tall and then down low. He was annoying, even two seats away. When his Mommy-never-says-”no” version of ADD kicked in, he began bouncing his theater seat between the up/down positions repeatedly. You still said/did nothing.

I knew I was not being too sensitive when the young girl (~9 years old) in the row ahead of us and a few seats over kept turning and looking back at him. Her parents had the impeccable manners to tell her to stop.

He pushed too far when, about half way through the movie, he stood up in his seat. I told him, “Sit Down.” I did not yell. I did not use the expletives I wanted to, though I’m sure he knows them all. I simply did what any normal adult would do. It takes a village to raise your child, after all! He was far more well behaved after being scolded by a stranger. He was not perfect, but he heeded the advice of discipline. You should try it, sometime.

Yet, when the movie was over, and after I walked right past you three, you accosted my husband and told him you didn’t appreciate what I said to your child??? While I’m sure your feelings were genuine, you should have aired your grievances with me. My husband neither speaks for nor represents me. You got lucky; he’s a lot more polite than I am. Heh, I bet you were surprised by his reaction of “I don’t care what you think.”

Had you discussed this with me, I would have loudly explained to you that “parent” is a verb and that you weren’t doing it. I would have cited your “fuck trophy’s” egregious behavior to all within earshot so that others, namely those behind and in front of him, could chime in. I’d have explained the policy of the Alamo Drafthouse and that everyone is expected to keep quiet during shows. (And, no, his tall/low sitting, bouncing the seat, asking for food, etc. is not quiet.)

In addition, I’d have told you that your child is a shining example of what’s wrong with our country. And, before you could question that logic, I’d tell you that I’m the daughter of two teachers, that I grew up learning to behave in public, that I have a Masters’ degree (and then some) in Education, that I expect you to teach your child to behave, and, finally, that parents like you are the numero uno reason why I don’t want kids. I don’t want my kids to have to associate with the little fucker you’ve bred. Why should I have to be the “bad guy” to my kids when people like you won’t discipline yours? This year, it’s movie etiquette; in five years, it’s bullying and sexting; in ten years, it’s drugs or worse. Please for the love of humanity, say “no”, now!

If I really wanted to make your night miserable, all I had to do was raise a card; you’d have been booted by a manager. How much fun would that have been for the little Crotch Fruit? Instead, I gave you a pass and made sure your kid knew his rampant behavior wasn’t acceptable. Count your lucky fucking stars that you got to finish the movie instead of blowing $30 on tickets and that-much-or-more on food/drinks before being thrown out. …and then having to try to see the movie again to appease the power of his wishes over those of you!

Next time a stranger confronts your child about his behavior, you need to look at what he’s doing that would warrant intervention!

Sincerely,
I was a good kid. / Why is yours a little shit?

So, Emil (as primary on the insurance) gets a bill this week that the dentist wants the rest of the money for the bridge replacement. Insurance didn’t pay their part due to “a pre-existing condition….missing tooth”.

I know this is a big “shock” to you all, but I’m seething. I know “receptionist” (in quotes and lowercase because she can’t actually do that job in a dental office) could see the anger steaming from my ears and darting from my eyes hours later when I marched into the office and demanded an appointment for a Sit Down with the DDS.

1. Before Emil changed jobs we got an estimate for my medically-necessary bridge replacement. It was confusing, so I called for more info. “receptionist” couldn’t help, but after I insisted, she gave me to someone who could print up another copy, look at it with me, and figure it out; even she was confused, at first. It wouldn’t be confusing if insurance wasn’t paying less than the 50%, but because we hit the total annual cap before the third item, it was a clusterfuck of expensive information…for a whopping three line items!
2. Then, Emil changed jobs and had a different open enrollment month, so I requested another estimate. When it was exactly the same as the previous one, I called. “Um, we have new insurance, which is why I needed a second estimate. This seems to be another printout from the insurance we had.” I was told that they all pay 50% so that it would be the same. Really? So then why didn’t you tell me that when I called to request it? Right: “receptionist”. gah!
3. Procedure done. My senses of sight, sound, smell, and touch were stuck in Hell during the procedures. Lots of money paid out of pocket. Lots of bitching and ranting on ye olde blog.
4. Bill for more money….due to the “pre-existing condition” and a claim that they didn’t pull the tooth. Oh, let us flash back to my Senior year of high school when the dental insurance company used that same bullshit on my parents.

Now, unless they are going to call conception a pre-existing condition, their excuse doesn’t hold water. I never had the tooth. It’s hereditary. “Missing Tooth Clause,” my ass.

So, after a meeting, I marched my pissed-off self into the dentist office, fully prepared to make a scene, if necessary. I tell “receptionist” I need a meeting-not-exam with DDS. I told her to be sure he was prepared with all my insurance information and that he needed to be ready to make a decision about how he was going to handle what they messed up. True to her form, she asks, “so you’re already a patient, then?” #facepalm

I get home and call the dental insurance. It’s been one of “those” weeks, so they got my full wrath.

1. After call-processing hell that thinks X and N are the same sound (and after I’m sure my call was flagged for “stressed” by my resounding “NOOOOOO!” when it asked if it “understood correctly”), I started the conversation with, “I need to talk to someone who can make decisions.”
2. I jump through all her hoops; she puts me on hold.
3. 30 minutes later I get a supervisor who makes me start over.
1. Never had the tooth; hereditary thing
2. Got an estimate in June to pre-tax the money to pay our >50% part of the bill
3. They weren’t replacing a tooth; see point #1; they were replacing the previous bridge
4. He then says he can’t do anything and tries to explain the contract they have with the University of Texas–Like.I.Care! I ask for someone who can do something and am told there is no one. I LOL in his ear. Of course there isn’t. But, I give him a full ass-chewing where I repeatedly explain how “no one” can “do anything” and how the process is set up that way just to keep customers from getting what they paid for. I also explain that my DDS is not going to be happy and he might drop the very coverage due to a lack of communication/payment. Then-and-only-then, the insurance guy explains there is an appeal process to him and about three steps up the chain. I get the number and, while fuming, explain that there will be no money paid on this. We didn’t get two estimates for “fun”. If they lied to the DDS, that’s between them and the DDS. We did due diligence on our part and then some. I practically dare him to use the “damage your good credit” line with me in this state.
5. At this point, some of the stuff I said at the beginning of our conversation leaks into his gray matter, “Now, if you were getting a bridge replaced, that would be different.” ACK!

So, he gets the DDS office on the phone. I give him “receptionist”‘s name and tell him to ask for someone else if she answers. Guess what? “receptionist” did the paperwork wrong. Check box #45 is the one she missed. That little box means insurance treated the whole process as if this was a brand new, first-ever bridge that was needed to replace a—-missing tooth. And, we’ve come full circle. I never had that tooth! Furthermore, the paperwork made it seem that the DDS pulled teeth 9 and 11, which isn’t the case. Though they are filed down to the nubs and capped, I still have those teeth.

To be fair to the insurance supervisor, he took all my yelling and ranting–only some of which was because he didn’t listen the first time–in great stride. By the end of the hour-long call, I had what I needed/expected/wanted and was apologizing for feeling the need to be nasty. I explained to him that I’ve had this same fight over every bridge and that I think the entire industry is a racket. Clearly, if I’m still fighting the same battle some 20+ years after my first bridge, the industry still has a lot to learn.

During the drama, I Tweeted a lot of frustrations. I was sad-yet-comforted to know that one friend had the exact same problem. Her dental insurance told her that hereditary missing teeth are a pre-existing condition unless they are diagnosed before 18 months of age? WTF? Why would an 18-month old have dental xrays? Besides, are permanent “buds” even visible yet at that age????

Friday mid-day, I get a call from “insurance” gal at the DDS. She’s just as ignorant as “receptionist”. She said the insurance company called and that they were doing new paper work and wanted to know if I still planned to come in for the Sit  Down with the DDS. I told her that if they know what they are doing to get it corrected and she is confident it will all go through without any further billing to us that I don’t need the Sit Down. She balked immediately and *I* had to explain to *her* that she missed “Checkbox #45″ on the form…and that without that box, insurance thought it was pulled teeth and a new bridge. She’s confused and bewildered and says she can look at it next week when the paperwork arrives. “Yes, you need to look for Checkbox #45 on the form if you want to get paid.” #moron

I know this has consumed a lot of our blog this year, but I go through this whole thing every time this bridge needs to be replaced. Every damn time. Health care is a racket…the whole industry. Dental is among the worst.

To the DDS who tried to convince me that getting all my teeth pulled in favor of dentures was a bad idea,
“Can you hear me, now???!!!?!?!?!“

It’s a bit early, I know. But, this year, more than ever, I noticed Christmas (decor, music, sales, advertisements, and more) showing up mid-October with greater force than ever before. As you all know, I’d like to get through Hallowe’en before I see any of that. Thanksgiving, too. I can’t enjoy Christmas when it’s been shoved down my throat for weeks on end. By the time it gets here, I’m sick of it, sometimes literally.

I’ve been deleting emails and unsubscribing from catalogs (print and electronic) for weeks, already. I can find better places to spend my money than with companies who act like too many whores on a street corner.

So, I was relieved to find this in my email this morning.

“…I’m moving slow and mindfully—particularly knowing what the next sixty days hold.

Before you find yourself feeling overscheduled, overextended and overworked during the holiday season, I invite you to slow down and PAUSE.

While this is a favorite time of year for some, this upcoming stretch can also be incredibly stressful, emotionally-taxing and just plain exhausting for many of us. (There is a reason therapists offices are packed in January.)”

Read the rest by Renée Trudeau in her newsletter.

Given the difficulties we’ve had this year, her words are especially poignant. Just yesterday, I learned that Grandaddy is not making any improvement since his last fall. Mama Bee is now getting ready to move him into a V.A. home. Because she’s not a Vet, too, she can’t stay there with him. They will be apart for the first time since 1947; she will live alone for the first time in her life. Oh, and just so you all know what’s ahead for your own families’ future, even the crappy nursing homes are $6,000 a month in rural NE Texas. And don’t save your money, if you have even slightly significant savings, you won’t qualify for any other kinds of benefits. Sell the house, and you might make two years.

I have bigger things to worry about than stupid gifts and stressful travels that are only for others.

Thank you, Renée. I’ll heed the advice, but for different reasons.

Thanks to @idodoodle, we have now seen a Blue Lime (Internet Cafe) in the Philippines. Yay for the “franchise”! Now, if we could only get them to pay their fees…. hmmmm?

“Czech” it out!

If you find @TheBloggess to be anywhere near as funny as I do, add her book to your 2012 wish list!

I mean, anyone who will willingly take a dressed mouse on a plane has some funny stories to share, right?

I hope I end up next to her on a plane one day!