I was playing with my three year old yesterday. I ended up with the wooden Thomas, but could not gain access to the track. Thomas’s cargo was also reassigned to another toy. Then I came up with a silly idea, which believe it or not, my kids actually got the humor behind. Thomas becomes an "Ice Road Trucker".
Like I said, I had nothing better to do.
Labels: Family
Filed under: Marriage and Family Issues | Leave a comment »
As a follow-up to a recent post about a visit my son Caleb had to a doctor’s office regarding his broken finger, here’s a update. Caleb had surgery this morning to set the bone in his finger and stitch the cut. It was the middle finger on his right hand (the "South Jersey Finger of Friendship" as I call it). The surgery went well, he had a really good nap, and despite having a huge heavy cast on his arm, he’s as rambunctious as ever. The injury is not severe at all; but a large cast was put on him to keep him from putting things in it. The cast seems to be about half of his body weight. Also shown are the ultra-cool and comfortable pajamas that the surgical facility gave Caleb. I offered to buy a couple of extra pairs and should have asked if they come in adult sizes. They look more comfortable than the scrubs that I took home from the hospital when Caleb was born.
I don’t want to give the impression through my "Darn it Jim" posts that I see the health care (and medical billing) industries through a viewpoint of disdain. I’ve actually had many positive experiences and relationships with doctor’s offices and customer service representatives at insurance companies. Of course, all it takes is for one small thing to go wrong to cause immense headaches, hate, and discontent. For the most part, my experiences are positive, but when they’re not, I really need a platform to rant about it.
Labels: Family
Filed under: Marriage and Family Issues | Leave a comment »
A while back, I wrote a series of posts about how it took two years to get a single pediatrician’s bill settled with Aetna. I spent two years and many hours on the phone. I titled my series "Darn It Jim, I’m a Computer Geek, Not A Medical Billing Specialist". I based that, of course, on Dr. McCoy’s famous "I’m a doctor not a…" lines from the original Star Trek series.
When I was in boot camp (United States Naval Recruit Training), I was introduced to the phrase "attention to detail". I did a lot of push-ups over the concept of attention to detail, both for my failure to pay attention to detail and for other members of my company failing to pay attention. In the military, failing to pay attention to detail can cost lives.
What happens while lives aren’t exactly at stake? What about livelihoods that are at stake? What about a family budget? I’ve ranted before about my run-ins with health care. This is a very vital industry, yet it does cause a lot of hate and discontent in society.
Last week, my two year old decided to stick his hand in the car door as it was being closed. This resulted in an emergency room visit. Don’t worry, the ER did fine. He broke one of his little fingers. The ER put a splint on him, wrapped his hand, and referred him to a doctor. My wife went straight to the pediatrician, who has an office close to the hospital, to get a referral. She then called to set an appointment. When she called to set the appointment, the staff went through the typical questions including PATIENT’S DATE OF BIRTH.
My wife showed up for the appointment, and when the doctor came in, guess what the first thing out of his mouth was (as reported by my wife)?
"I don’t work on children this young."
Sure, AFTER his office collected a copay and billed our insurance for the visit, he lets my wife know that he doesn’t deal with two year olds. Anyone care to guess where the attention to detail broke down? At least he rewrapped the hand and referred my wife to another doctor who *might* work with two year olds (which he does).
I think doctors and their staffs should have to do push-ups for every attention to detail error that they commit.
Labels: Hall of Shame
Filed under: Consumer Issues, Hall of Shame, Health | Leave a comment »
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: Crazy Ron Paul has stolen our ad
I’m really getting a lot of mileage out of Windows Live Writer’s "Blog This" extension for Firefox.
Fake Steve Jobs points out that Ron Paul is using one of Apple’s advertisements. I’d say it fits. I’ll let you get the link to the video from FSJ. If you end up here, I’ll give him some "link love".
Labels: Apple, Media, Socio/Political
Filed under: Apple, Socio/Political | Leave a comment »
From http://regmedia.co.uk/2008/01/19/macbookcommodorecompare.jpg
If you’ve been following tech news lately, you may have heard that Apple, at the recent MacWorld conference, announced the Macbook Air. This is probably a great leap forward in technology, yet as many other bloggers have noted, the price leaves out the casual user and the lack of features leaves out the business user, so who other than tech journalists will actually buy this thing? I make a habit of not laughing at or scorning products though. I’ll be happy to see what innovations the Macbook Air, a first of it’s kind product, brings to the industry. Heck, the iPhone has already spurred several Windows Mobile developers to provide touch and drag interfaces to their applications. Unlike the iPhone, which *may* have an SDK (Software Development Kit) announced next month, Windows Mobile has always been open to third party developers.
Filed under: Apple, Hardware | Leave a comment »
I found this post on Albert Mohler’s blog. Cell phones certainly have reshaped the way in which we communicate. As I’ve said before on this blog, my wife and I are untethered from a land line. We got rid of our Verizon phone service two and a half years ago, and I am happy with that decision.
Many years ago (at least eight) I scoffed at the cell phone as an unnecessary luxury for spoiled teenagers. I have obviously amended that position over the years. I now see a cell phone as a vital tool. I love my Windows Mobile phone (HP iPaq 6945). It truly is an integrated communications system.
I have to say that one of my favorite uses for my cell phone is finding my wife in stores. Growing up, my mom could disappear into a store for hours, and no matter how many times I search every inch of the store I could not find her. When my wife and I have to separate while shopping and I can’t find her, I just call to say "Where the heck are you?" If I’d only had the capability in my teen years.
Labels: Telecommunications
Filed under: Socio/Political, Telecommunications | Leave a comment »
The Stand-up Philosopher 