Plz Remove "Stupid" Magnet from body......

Right, so, more stupid people....

O.M.G. people, W.T.H?!?!?!?!?!  Seriously, this month has been worse than normal for idiot callers.  Let me educate you a bit more… No, I will not send your medical record through the mail to you without some form of medical release on file.  Why?  BECAUSE IT’S AGAINST THE DAMN LAW YOU FRICKIN DUMB ASS. Google HIPAA Privacy Rule.  It is illegal for me to just randomly send medical records through the mail just because you tell me over the phone that you are Jane Doe.  It doesn’t matter if you can give me your date of birth and social security number.  You have to bring your gimpy crabby annoying old arse into my office and sign a medical release form AND show me a valid driver’s license. That is the law. The law was put in place to protect YOU. It was not put in place to protect me or my doctors.  It was to help you – to try and stop people from stealing YOUR information. When you say to me on the telephone, “you break the law every day, I don’t know why you can’t do it today” it sure isn’t going to help your cause.  You want me to write off the late fees now?  Right.  First you waited 2 months to call us about the bill and then you accuse me of breaking the law.  Yep, I’m sure as shit gonna help you out.  *insert eye roll here* Now, I wouldn’t want you to think that I only deal with stupid people at work.  No, no, no.  Let us not forget school.  We have to work in “learning teams.”  Thus far, it has been ok.  I’ve had decent teams.  Some better than others, but overall, not bad.  Until this class.  There’s this girl who is apparently a complete moron.  First week of class we’re required to fill out a team charter.  She couldn’t be bothered to do that.  Second week of class we have a paper to write.  She couldn’t be bothered to contribute.  Third week she actually pulled her shit together and submitted her portion (poorly written would be too nice to describe it) but at least she did it.  Last week, we had a team paper due.  The total word count could only be 700 words.  We get points taken off if we go over the word count.  So, genius girl submits her portion to the team – all 627 words of it.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!!?  Epic fail dumb ass.  *sigh*  I sure would like to know where this stupid magnet I have on is located so I can remove it.

Let me educate you...

First of all, let me start by saying - WE ARE ALL FRICKIN POOR. Ok, maybe not everybody in the whole world, but the lion's share of us are poor.  Yes, there are different levels of poor, but still.  We struggle here too.  We live off of one income.  That's 4 people and a four legged beast from hell surviving on one income.  It IS possible.  So, for all you damn whiners - SHUT. UP.  For those of you that are "disabled" - and no, I am not referring to those out there who actually are disabled, I'm talking about the douche bags that pretend to be so that MY tax dollars can support their lazy asses - I also only get paid once a month.

What's my problem?  I like my job.  I like what I do.  I'm good at it.  I'm a bitch which makes me perfect for the job.  That said, billing is NOT fun.  If you're interested in a job that is redundant - this is a good job for you. If you like - no LOVE - to have people calling you names and telling you are stupid you are on a daily basis - this job is PERFECT for you. 

Let me help you understand a few things.

1. I do not, nor am I required by law, to bill your health insurance.  That's right - you read that correctly.  The doctors that you see regularly and even those when you have surgery have courtesy billers.  There is no law that states that ANY doctor has to bill your insurance.  Your doctors CHOOSE to bill your insurance to help you out.  You have NO idea the hassle it is dealing with these insurance companies. So, instead of calling to whine about your bill, you should be calling to thank them for billing your insurance. They could just make you pay up front and have YOU bill your insurance.  How does that sound?

2. Contrary to what you tell me constantly - I am NOT stupid.  As a matter of fact, I am an educated woman.  I even carry a college degree.  Do you?  No, most of you that call and scream at me about MY stupidity probably did not even make it out of high school let alone college. You might want to watch the name calling, it isn't taken lightly and doesn't help your cause.

3. No, we do not randomly tack on extra charges just for fun. Not that the thought hasn't crossed my mind...you call me a bitch - there's an extra $5 charge, you scream at me - there's another $5, you feel the need to tell me I'm stupid - how about $5 more?  Don't I wish I could do that, but I can't.  For one, it's illegal and for two, I would lose my job.  We can, however, charge late fees and you're lucky our office only charges $3. 

4. It is NOT our problem.  We couldn't care less if you don't pay your $4.99 copay.  It's not OUR credit that will be destroyed.  WE are not the ones that "need" to see the doctor.  It IS your insurance, your doctor, your bill and therefore YOUR PROBLEM.  You don't want to pay?  No problem, we'll send that on over the collection agency right now.  Have a nice day.

5. After screaming and yelling at a billing office employee, it is probably NOT in your best interest to then ask for a discount.  Really?  Are you THAT dumb?

6. No, our doctors do not over charge.  What you need to pay attention to is those little papers you get in the mail from your insurance company.  What papers?  Right, I forgot, you can't read.  They are called explanations of benefits.  Those papers tell you what we charge, what your insurance pays, what you may owe and WHAT THE DOCTORS HAVE TO WRITE OFF.  Write off = loss of money.  So, on average if you have say Medicare as your insurance and you come in for an office visit, we charge $75.  Whoa - expensive?  (My kids doctor charges $105 for the same level of service)  Medicare pays our doctors a whopping $19.94 and leaves you a $4.99 copay.  What happens to the rest?  We have to write it off.  So, no, we are not overcharging - actually, our doctors get screwed.

7. No, I will not call your insurance company for you.  Why?  First, please refer to #4.  Second, we have over 100,000 patients.  If we stopped to call the insurance companies for each of these patients, we wouldn't ever get any work done.  Do it yourself.

8. If I made a mistake, I WILL admit I screwed up and correct the problem immediately.  I am not perfect.

9. Your insurance company will lie to you.  Why?  Because they want to hold the money as long as possible or because they don't like paying medical claims - take your pick.  Regardless, if you want the truth, do a three way call with your insurance, you and me.  You will see who is lying. 

I'm sorry your life sucks.  I'm sorry that you're a loser and can't be bothered to get a job or suck it up and take some aspirin, but that's not my fault nor is it my problem.  I don't call your home and tell you how stupid you are or that you are a loser and a waste of space....don't do that to me.  I can assure you, I will NOT be nice.

Whoa - that's a WHOLE lotta siblings....

Yeah, I get that a lot.  How many siblings do you have, Jamie?  Welllllll, do you want me to list them?!?!?!  Christina, Missy, Carolynn, Toinette, Chad, RikkiDawn, Alleysha, Ellen, JD, Harley, and of course, Trista.  Is that everybody?  Sometimes I get confused....I try not to leave anyone out, but you can see where it can be a bit of a pain, eh?

Here's the thing.  We didn't grow up traditionally - like "normal" brothers and sisters.  We are probably the poster children for "Dysfunctional Families."  As a matter of fact, if you went into that new store....Toys for Screwed up Kids....there are little barbie sized dolls of all of us in there.  The funny thing is, for the most part - we're not completely screwed up adults.  We have our issues, but we're ok.

I've had my issues with all of them at some point or another - cept Chad, Ellen, JD, and Trista.  But, that's what siblings are suppose to do, right?  We're suppose to have issues - or arguments and work through them?  I can tell you that I am incredibly glad that I got the opportunity to meet every last one of them.  Each person has helped to shape me into who I am and I am eternally greatful for that. 

I have great memories....shall I share?!  Let's see, there's the story about me hitting the deer with my mother's car.  It was during winter break my one year at MSU and I was living with 6 of them and my other mom.  When I pulled into the driveway and ran crying into the house yelling for the phone to call my grandfather, my darling, loving, sensitive little (10 yr old) brother ran outside to check out the damage.  Just about the time I had calmed down he comes screaming back into the house "THERE'S STILL DEER GUTS ON THE CAR!!!"  He was not my favorite right then.

How about doing some killer car dancing after having a stellar flour fight in my kitchen (after an attempt - and failure - of making fudge AGAIN) with RikkiDawn.  I believe we were going to the store to get more flour as we ran out after throwing it all over each other.  Yeah, so I got pulled over - because we were dancing.  I believe the police officer thought I was drunk.

Carolynn - well, my favorite story with her I am going to choose not to share on here...but it has to do with "parking the bar."

Toinette's I'm also not going to share on here - it has something to do with public urinating....Quality Dairy....

Last year right around this time, we had a "friend" move into Jason's room.  He was a rather fuzzy and creepy looking "friend."  I am still not convinced that he wasn't a vampire bat, but thanks to some MAD tennis racket skills, Alleysha Marie saved the day.

Christina, Jd, and Harley - two words....CAKE. FIGHT.

I don't think I can pick just one with Missy.  Then again, maybe I can.  I happen to remember a food fight at her place one night....THAT was FANTASTIC!

Ellen's so young and I missed so much....but honestly, one of my ABSOLUTE favorites, is playing pretty pretty princess at the hospital....for as crappy as the situation was, we had a great time - or at least I did.

I'm not going to go into the multitude of amazing times I've had with Trista.  The memories we have are endless.  Snowball fights, nights spent playing skip bo, scrapbooking, getting married, having babies....we have a lot.

Whatever, anyways, I'm rambling....that's a sure sign I should go to bed.

You attend WHAT college?

I knew when I started this whole college thing that I was going to catch crap.  I've pretty much heard it all - "you're getting your degree from a cracker jack box?"  "Is that even a real college?"  "Is your degree really worth anything?" "It's not REAL college."

Well for all of you taking your big swigs of University of Phoenix flavored Hatorade, whatever.  There's been multiple debates on both sides of this.  There are those for online colleges and against.  Of those that are for online colleges, there is a debate as to whether places like U of P are as good as online degrees offered by "real" colleges or universities like say, Western.  The thing is, I don't much care. 

When I started almost 3 years ago, I did all the research.  I made sure it was an accredited university.  I knew going in that a lot of people would be negative.  I know there are still plenty of people that think it's "easy."  I can assure you, it's NOT easy.  I can tell you, it's almost like the alternative education schools out there.  What are those schools for?  No, they are not just for the "bad" kids.  They are for kids that need a different type of learning.

I flunked out of traditional or "real" college 3 times.  Why?  Because I'm lazy and undisciplined and was BORED OUT OF MY MIND.  I did not want to sit in a classroom for 2-4 hours and listen to some ancient professor drone on and on.  I don't fault those that do.  I'm actually envious of those who successfully finish "real" college.  When I decided to go back this time, I knew it had to be something different as I, obviously, can't handle the norm.  This works for me.  Would it work for everyone?  Hell no.  Do I want my kids to do this?  HELL no.  But, it works for me. 

As to it being easier than traditional college, maybe.  What people don't realize is that I still have to attend class.  I have to be present in class 4 days out of the week.  Not only that, when others who attend traditional college can sit in their class and not say a word, I am required to respond.  I still have to write endless papers.  I'm CONSTANTLY writing papers.  I still have the big old books that have to be read....the multiple chapters in one week.  Yes, I have to do that too.  You may have had to write more or longer papers, sure.  Your professors may have expected more.  I won't argue that. 

My point here is, don't knock it.  I don't knock your college education, don't knock mine.

Protective or Over-protective

Being a mom is the world's greatest and the absolute worst job out there.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's like having your heart walk around outside your chest.  It sucks - plain and simple.  My daughter and I had a small war on Saturday because I wouldn't let her do something.  It got me thinking about whether or not I'm too over-protective.  She wanted to go to the mall with a few of her friends - unsupervised.  She's 13.  I know there are plenty of parents out there that would have no problem with this.  I, on the other hand, have a MAJOR problem with it. 

I tried to explain to her that it isn't that I don't trust her - although, I don't know that I do trust her to make the right decisions all the time - but more so that I don't trust other people.  The Meridian Mall is in a college town - so, college age boys and old creepers dressed as nice people looking to nab little girls.  Little psychotic sounding?  Maybe, but it's how I feel. 

Many people - even people that I spend a lot of time with will disagree with me.  That's ok - you can do what you want with yours and I won't judge you as long as you do the same for me.  I am not comfortable putting my little girl - YES LITTLE GIRL....she is ONLY 13 in potentially dangerous and adult situations that she does not have the mental capacity to handle. 

I firmly believe that there are some situations that parents need to stay out of and let the kids handle.  Squabbles between friends need to be solved by the kids.  How else will they learn conflict resolution?  I do not think that parents should fix every boo boo.  Yes, we want to, but the kids have to learn.  I feel strongly, though, about not putting my child into situations that AS A CHILD she shouldn't be in.  The parties until 11 o'clock at night.  Yes, I've heard of these parties where the kids are already dippin into the sauce and smokin weed.  THEY ARE 12 AND 13 YEARS OLD.  WHERE THE F#$K ARE THE PARENTS?!?!? 

Will my daughter hate me off and on as I tell her no?  Absolutely.  Will my daughter at some point in her life appreciate my decisions?  Maybe, maybe not.  I, however, will have some peace of mind. 

People suck.

I'm annoyed today.  Yes, there are some of you out there that really don't know me that will make some snide comment like "so, what's new?"  Again, I point out - that's because you don't know me.  Anyways, I had to find some way to vent my frustrations, so it's blog time - or more appropriately, rant time.

First, I'm pissed beyond words.  Someone hurt someone that I love with all of my heart.  Anybody that really knows me knows that that is something that I do not take lightly.  You can hurt me and I can handle it, but I do not take kindly to idiots who mess with those that I love.  I become some kind of raging bear on the path to kill.  This douche bag someone, opted to cross the wrong person.  I'm going to hope that he is smart enough to stay away now and that she is smart enough to let go.

Anyways, I was up late last night - never a good thing.  If I don't get 8 hours of sleep, I'm kind of a bitch.  Ok, not kind of - REALLY.  So, I got up late and rushed around getting ready.  What this means is that I currently look like somebody's asshole with make up on.  Yes, I sure do look THAT bad, but at least I showered so I smell ok.  I got my stuff all together and was getting ready to leave when I realized that I couldn't find my phone.  So, I'm running all over the house like a mad woman looking for this stupid phone.  How sad is it that my life has come to a point where I cannot leave my house without this piece of technology....whatever, that's a rant for another day.  I had Phil call my phone, flaw being, I always put it on silent when I get up in the morning so that if someone calls/texts/whatever, it doesn't wake up the rest of the house.  So yeah, it's great that he was calling me, but I sure as shit wasn't going to hear it.  Roughly ten minutes goes by with me frantically searching the bedroom, the family room, and every place in between.  Phil searched too.  Yep, then comes the "stupid ass of the day" moment.  I unzipped my jacket and reached in the pocket of my vest.  There it was....*sigh*  Can you see what a great day this is going to be?

I continue to grab my crap and head toward the refrigerator to get my morning Mt. Dew.  I should point out, before I picked Meg up from dance last night, I verified that there was in fact a Dew in the fridge.  If there had not been one there, I would have stopped to pick one up as we all know that I cannot function in the morning without Mt. Dew in my system. I open the fridge this morning and wouldn't you know it, no dew.  Yup, seriously pissy now.  I am already 15 minutes late leaving the house, now I have to stop and get a pop.

I finally get to work, and go to pull into the parking lot (where I am not suppose to park) and oh looky there - there's a security freak in the guard booth.  This does not bode well for me.  I told her that the window people were coming out to fix the crack in my windshield and that's why I needed to park there - only a half truth (it does have a chip that needs to be fixed).  She informed me I had to park in the visitor's lot for the hospital.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?  I'M AL-FRICKIN-READY LATE.  So, I toodled back to the parking ramp that I have a pass for and parked.  By the time I punched in, it's 7:12.  FML.

Can it get better?  OF COURSE.  Phil shot me a text and told me he finally filled out my behavioral assessment from the other day.  Soooooo, I go in to check and go figure - can't log into the school website because they are having "technical difficulties."  That's awesome.

Nevermind that everyday on the damn television and radio all I hear are these endless commercials for Valenslimes Day.  Am I the only person on the planet that thinks this is a bullshit hallmark holiday made for saps?  I hate hate HATE this "holiday" and everything about it.

Have I mentioned that I get to go sit in the car dealership for 2 hours tonight while they repair my headlight?  Hmmm, I might be a bit bitchy today.

Happy effin Hump Day.