Of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness: ramblings

Bailey (my son's dog) goes home today. I have to say that Bailey has endeared himself to me, especially after I had him groomed and the massive hair sheds stopped. I remember how much I loved dogs now. I will actually miss him.

So much going on in the world. Today is just a ramble, no rhyme or reason. Farrah is gone. Knew it would happen, yet sad. She became a symbol of fighting a rare form of cancer with no defined cure or remission treatment. Her documented struggle was both inspiring and sad. Yet she could fly across a continent because she had money to do this. Health care coverage would not cover this in our country. For most of us, the catastrophic coverage clause would have kicked in and been maxed out. We need health care coverage NOW. And, if the government does implement a public plan as an option, Medicare as we know it should stop and be combined in the public plan.

In a country where age discrimination is not endorsed, why do we have separate health coverage for those over 65? There should just be a health coverage plan for those who do not have access to employee or group health coverage. The risk could be shared among the 42 million Medicare recipients and the 40 million uninsured. 80+ million subscribers/members of a health coverage plan would be the largest group in the US. Private plans should be allowed to offer coverage to this group also. And all health plans should be staffed by health professionals who actually have experience in health care. No bureaucrats should be allowed!

Moving on to Michael Jackson...I said this was my rambling. I remember the Jackson 5 and Micheal. Yes, I loved their music. Yes I thought Michael was a genius but his loss of childhood, his eccentricity, his obvious psychos0cial needs were unmet and not supported. No child in a normal family would have been allowed to do or participate in what he did. The enormous unstructured purchases, the lavish spending and the desire to be with children were symptoms that were allowed to go unchecked because he surrounded himself with leeches who never helped him but enabled him. A very tragic figure....a musical genius and by some accounts, a great strategist with business acumen that was contradicted by his insatiable needs. And, probably killed by a narcotic overdose administered by a physician who sadistically enjoyed being a personal doc to a very needy human being. Obviously these are all my opinions. Time will tell. I hope the media backs off and especially leaves his kids alone. They are already pontificating about doing DNA to see if these kids are really Michael's. Who cares. Let's just listen to the music and forget the rest.

Iran: too much to fathom. I feel for the Iranian people who are struggling to make their voices heard. So much going on..........

More to come.........................

Signs of the Times

Sign of the times: my recession deck garden is growing! The first sunny day in weeks yesterday and I took some pictures to show off veggies, fruits, herbs. I actually used some cilantro in cooking this weekend. Not a great photographer (yet), I tried to show the actual veggies or fruit buds growth.

Another sign of the times: I have obviously stuck a cord as many of you post your comments encouraging me. That's the first sign of the times: I am not alone in being laid off and the incredible support from cyber friends and others buoys my spirits. Thank you all!

Yet another sign of the times: Health care. Sadly another item in the news that demonstrates the loss of a dream. Erickson Living had wanted to expand their health services beyond their communities; reaching out to seniors in Howard County Maryland. Alas, it was not to be. The revenues generated by Medicare reimbursement were not enough to provide the quality level of care that is their mission. The primary doctor there has come up with an ingenious idea to have patients buy into the medical center. If this does not happen, the center will close. It was enormously successful in the numbers of people served demonstrating the need for good medical care for those over 65. What most of the public does not understand is that Medicare is not free. Seniors have to pay for it and must supplement it to get the standard health care coverage most people take for granted. In addition, they must pay for Medicare D to cover drugs. Calling this health insurance entitlement is not correct. You can read the entire story here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal-ho.erickson07jun07,0,6304428.story

President Obama returns from his successful trip abroad to begin the push for health care coverage for all. I hope he doesn't forget the seniors. Actually, I believe there should be no age distinction in health care coverage. Let's have the same coverage for all human beings!

#COBRA and Pink Slips Revisited. Are you sick of this yet?

Here it is June 3rd and no COBRA. I am sick of it, pun intended. I called the company last night purposely to see if it would make a difference if I called at night...would someone review calls in the morning? Would I be the first call? NO . But I found their website and found an email so sent a scathing email to them reviewing for the thousandth time what has occurred or not occurred. Lo and behold, I got a call from them at 9:30 AM.

Guess what? They have NOT even processed my COBRA yet. 7 weeks and not processed and they are the ones that turned off my health insurance and you are not going to believe it. They told me I need to pay upfront. Did they send me a bill? An amount? A letter? NO. Of course once they heard I was severenced and it was to be deducted from my check they said oh ok.....but they had no record from my prior company that I was severenced. Sounds like unemployment all over again. They told unemployment I was a voluntary quit.

This has been such a disaster. I left with sadness and felt badly for my company (I still do and still worry about my colleagues). But the bad taste in my mouth is really sour.

I told them they had till the end of today to activate my card as I need my medicine. I sent yet another email to HR to ask them to please get this done today.

Ah, the forest of fools is growing by leaps and bounds....more to come. Do you have horror stories about COBRA?