Friday, September 07, 2007

Well, Duh

I had this same experience last year with the ankle and related health issues:

The bill arrives today and (without any itemization) totals up to -- are you ready? -- $116,749.00 (not included the cardiologist fees which are billed separately-- about another $6k).

I kid you not.

In a column lateral to the "amount billed" I then find the "amount allowed" i.e. the amount that Blue Cross is actually willing to pay the hospital. That amount: $4730, or less than 4% of the total charge. But wait, there's a footnote appended to the amount allowed. In fine print at the bottom of the page the annotation says that the provider accepts the amount allowed as payment in full and that I, the insured, owe nothing.
Doug told me he had the same experience, and I remember a conversation with a woman (waitress, uninsured) who was stuck paying full price for major surgery. If only she had a corporation or rich man to own her... Stand in the shadow of your padrone, baby, only the powerful can negotiate with the powerful.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Zoinks!


fake babies two
Originally uploaded by badsibot.
Man that's one freaky picture. Was out exploring flickr, and since none of my friends/contacts have posted any pics lately I went a little further afield...

Apocalypse Then and Now

Morning weigh-in: 175.5#, 12% BF

Remember how I said that Saturday's yoga class (with Michael Lear) really got me stoked again, and I felt good to be able to hang in the more advanced class? Well, at last night's class I heard that he and his wife are moving to NYC, to be closer to her job. Anyway, good workout last night, then laundry nite.

Some science: Looks like there's a hole in the asteroid belt, new evidence for the "meteor killed the dinosaurs" theory. Meantime, in our own bid for extinction, the ice caps are melting, and wheat prices are rising. I just might live to see the end of the world after all...

Tonight is bike/gym, then probably corn on the cob.

UPDATE: Fixed the link to Michael Lear. Skipped the ride, hit the gym.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Doldrums? Imposing Order?

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 10.5% BF (Not bad, not bad...)
 
Took yesterday as a rest day: no biking or gym, though I did do a little yoga at home, that 15-minute routine. Went food shopping, blah blah, ate a cheesesteak at the new "Hot Dog Drive-In" (can't shop hungry) but did not go out for real.
 
I was downloading software, some big files so I couldn't play with much else online -- didn't want to choke the download / hog the bandwidth --  and so I used my spare time to clean up a little, mostly just collecting books from various places around the house and putting them in the new bookcase. Some other light tidying might be in order, maybe I'll straighten up a little more as the week goes on, start getting ready for "spend more time in the house" season.
 
Tonight is yoga, then laundry; probably going out while the laundry dries. Oh how it all falls apart so quickly...

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Summer In Deceleration

Morning weigh-in: 122.5#, 10.5% BF (NFLikely)

Well, the Labor Day Weekend has come and gone...

Friday: Did an "easy spin" on the towpath on the singlespeed. My intention was to practice high-cadence riding (hence the SS), but after a while I thought I was going to go insane, crawling along while my legs spun madly away beneath me... Met Brian afterward for a Which Brew dinner. He called while I was on the ride and said he had news that he wanted to deliver in person: due to scheduling conflicts with that "Science of Racing" thing he does, he's going to have to drop out of the VT50. Oh well, shit happens, but he was still pretty disappointed. Pork tostatas, Pyramid Apricot Ale, music by the Family Circus Trio (aka guys from Post Junction).

Saturday started with a yoga workout, followed by chores and breakfast at the coffee shop, and then a gym workout (with legs once again). The leg weights were light, but yoga was pretty intense -- I finally screwed up the courage to take one of Michael's classes, and to tell you the truth I'm pretty stoked on yoga again because of it -- and my body was quite tired by the end of the day. An early evening at my usual local watering hole -- Mexican pizza, more Pyramid, Dave Cahill & friends making the music.

Sunday I did a "local epic:" I had breakfast at the coffee shop, then I rode around Easton until Genesis Bicycles opened (I needed tubes), and finally rode down the towpath to Sals. Since I woke up already tired & sore, with muscles full of prostaglandins, I kept things pretty mellow until I got to Sals, but even there I didn't really try to hammer. On the way home I met a Maryland couple, who were visiting the area specifically to ride the towpath! Pretty amazing, when you think about it. We got to talking, and they told me that there's a new section of the C&O canal (their stomping ground), and you can now go from Georgetown to Pittsburgh offroad. Hmmmm...

Sunday evening was a party at Judy's place (she's the one with the composting toilet). Only a few people there that I knew well, but it was really nice. Dawn S had given me some corn on Saturday that her husband had grown, so I brought that. (She was worried that it would be "starchy," but it tasted great to me.) Plenty of other good stuff there to eat too, of the BBQ & summer salad variety. Turns out it was Judy's birthday, or near enough the actual date for us to sing.

Monday: A killer Jim Thorpe ride. Me, Doug, Brian, Joe C, Rich, James, and maybe a half dozen other people. We did the singletrack through the strip mines, then the core group climbed up to Flagstaff -- we were very disappointed to find the bar closed at the top -- and rode over Mauch Chunk Ridge and down Bob's Option. I was surprised at how well I was riding, especially considering the preceding days' experiences. Afterward, the good old core group treated Rich to dinner at the Hotel Switzerland, since it was his birthday. Guinness, pork tenderloin medallions and a few tall tales -- good times, good times...

Some News: The 24 Hour race was so bad on the trails, that All-A-Muchy has been canceled. Oh well.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Florida Photos!


Kevin And Olivia
Originally uploaded by donXfive.
Get 'em while they're hot & fresh, I just put a bunch on my flickr page.