Thursday Thirteen

1. Today I am not in the mood for a Thursday Thirteen; I had a horrid experience yesterday at a healthcare facility, and I am in pain, and my frustration and disappointment level is high.

2. So bear with me while I look around me and inside my head for something to write about today. Maybe this: the sky is partly cloudy, but we had a beautiful sunrise.

3. My desk is covered with work, and I am happy about this. I just wish I felt well enough to do all that I want to these days.

4. We replaced our windows in May 2010. Since then, the gas has leaked out of about half of them, and some of them have had weird brown streaks break out through the glass after a period of time. We have been greatly disappointed, not in the service from the local company that installed them, but in the manufacturer. Not long after we purchased these windows, the manufacturer went into bankruptcy and someone else bought it. They are not honoring the warranties well. Right now I have a top glass in my office that I can barely see through because of the streaks.

5. I had a CT Scan done on April 11. It cost $7,500, according to the EOB at my insurance company's website. The report came back saying I have no bladder. Guess what. I have a bladder. I don't have a gallbladder. I will have to cough up about $600 as my co-pay for this, something that isn't even right. My doctor asked for a correction but such errors does not do much for confidence.

6. A CT Scan I had done in September, by the same facility but at the hospital instead of a satellite location (via the ER) cost $10,000 according to the EOBs. By that time I'd already met my out-of-pocket deductibles for the year, thanks to a surgery and another ER visit. Is the $3,000 difference because one was scheduled and the other not? Inquiring minds want to know.

7. I posted my experience yesterday on my Facebook page and here, and it has been gratifying to see the indignation my friends have expressed over, as my brother so gracefully put it over the phone this morning, my "f@cking" at the health care facility. My thanks to you all for your concern.

8. Most of my friends on Facebook did not know I have been ill; I had not posted anything about it on there before. Perhaps I should have mentioned it sooner there. I have mentioned it on my blog a few times, but I try not to dwell on it. Who wants to read that kind of depressing stuff, you know?

9. We are having a beautiful spring. Lots of things blooming. I love the colors and the renewal. The promise of better times.

10. If the rains in Spain stay mainly on the plains, what does it do up in the mountains?

11. Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild & precious life? - Mary Oliver

12. Laugh more, cry when you have to. Hug three times a day for 20 seconds each. Call your friends, say I love you, and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Could that be the recipe for a long, healthy, and happy life?

13. Thank you dear friends for reading these meanderings. Sorry for the weirdness of it all today.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 341st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.