Things that suck
 

I understand in the scheme of things, this stuff really isn't a very big deal. I am grateful to have a job and to have health coverage at all. And to not be in a war. And to not be starving. etc. etc. But this stuff is still a pain in the ass and I wanted to list it out because then it seems less overwhelming.

Car insurance:

Two separate incidents, I was rear-ended today, and I scratched my own car a few months back. On the scratch, the deductible is $500 (I had assumed deductibles were annual, but they're per-incident apparently). Any damage over $751 is a point, which makes it more expensive every month. So unless the damage was between $501 and $750, you have no benefit from having insurance, and the only benefit you get is the delta between the cost and $500. So max benefit $250, for which I pay $150 a month.

Summary: insurance provides little to no benefit in this case

I wanted to auto-pay my car insurance. I tried to set it up through my bank. Their site asked for an account number for the insurance. My insurance statements have a membership number and a policy number, but not an account number. Neither of the numbers I have worked. So I tried to set it up through the insurer's website (AAA) instead. But in order to register on their site, even just to deal with insurance, you have to have an AAA membership. My membership is inactive, so I'd have to buy a new membership in order to set up autopayments for my insurance. That offends me on principle. And their customer service closes earlier than I had free time to address.

Summary: poorly coordinated systems create a standstill


Health insurance:

For some stupid reason I switched health plans. This is an HSA. Apparently the way it works is I have a $1500 deductible, and after that is hit, I pay nothing for the rest of the year. Company pays $1000 (I think), which means I'm on the hook for $500 of healthcare costs. (When I did back of the math calc's last year, I paid over $500, so figured I'd possibly come out ahead). But the company adds their $1000 to my account evenly over the course of the year, so I'll incur a lot more than the $500. And my monthly perscription is $200 a month. If I had just left it the old way, I'd pay $25/month for that, and whatever the damn copay is for any appt's. So max of like $600 for the year or something. But now I pay full price for everything until I've hit $1500. What a stupid move that was. And the only way to get reimbursed for shit I pay myself before there's company money in there is some long complicated paperwork which I am surely going to have rejected for some minitae.

Summary: unnecessarily complicated structures can make things more costly and create a lot of headache


Concussions:

From mayo clinic: "There also is evidence that people who have had multiple concussions over the course of their lives experience cumulative neurological damage. A link between multiple concussions and the eventual development of Alzheimer's disease also has been suggested."

I've had at least 5 concussions in my life, probably more


Red meat: eating it will make you die early: Daily Red Meat Raises Chances Of Dying Early - washingtonpost.com

Banks: i went to transfer funds from my checking account to pay off my credit card balance, and i accidentally selected the wrong thing on the drop down menu. so it transferred money from my credit card into my checking, as a cash advance. even though i immediately reversed it, they charged me $100 in cash advance fees and i haven't been able to get it reversed. for clicking a fucking button. it's too much of a pain in the ass to close the bank account and start a new one and they know it.

mail / collections: since health insurance is so stupid, you get all these things in the mail that are not bills. and after getting them like every other week with no activity whatsoever, you start to ignore them. and so then it turns out that like two years ago one of them was actually a bill for a service a year before that, i never saw the bill and then i moved addresses, and just now the collection agency found me and so im sure my credit doesn't look too good. how about just send a fucking bill when it's actually a bill and leave me alone the rest of the time, you'll save about 1,000 trees.

Pharmaceuticals:

So I take Wellbutrin. It really works for me and I'm really glad that it exists. It's helped me a ton. The generic version caused very very serious problems for me. The patent protection expired on the brand name about two years ago. GlaxoSmithKline, who distributes it, just sold it to BioVail. BioVail manufacturers a generic, and was paying licensing fees to Glaxo. Now that they are the owner, BioVail doesn't have to pay the fees, so their generic business is more profitable. I'm really worried that sooner or later they'll decide the brand name just isn't profitable enough for them and discontinue it all together. The generic business is growing, and that particular brand name is dying. Then I'm really fucked.

New computer: i got that f'ing computer and it would just shut down unexpectedly. i flashed the bios, and that might've fixed it, but I don't know. and they only have a 21 day return policy, which is rapidly nearing an end.

Neck: having lost symmetry in my body years ago from a broken clavicle, my neck is highly susceptible to being thrown out of alignment. if i'm not regularly exercising, nearly anything can do it. most recently it was picking up my bag. *crack* need to see a chiropractor 3x. $140 a pop. not fronted by stupid health insurance thing as described above.

I dunno, that's about it for now. What about you guys, what's getting you down.

:)

things that S you say?

yes, things that s

Suicide is the only answer.

Seems like there would be some law against types of drugs to be discontinued. There are patients that depend on them?

are you able to save money? at all?

i'm not 100% informed on the subject, but that sure would be nice. i know that the fda says the generic is 'bioequivalent' though, so in their mind, it's just as good. even though the study to determine bioequivalence only included, if memory serves, 20 people. there's a class action lawsuit just starting now on the generic vs brand name for wellbutrin. in most cases the generic is just as good, but in this case, it's not. the chemical composition is the same, but the release mechanism is not, and that's the source of the problmes.

saving money -- yeah, but not nearly as much as i should be able to. if it weren't for all these stupid things, i'd like to think i'd be able to save more.

you're right, these are all things that suck.

i wholly empathize.

red meat does not suck

if i die before 70 that's ok with me jeez who wants to live that long

having a great date with the cutest girl you've ever seen and then seeing her kiss another guy in the evening of the same day

yeah but if you have a wife and/or kids, you might see it differently around that age. at least that's what i'm imagining

picture of health and longevity that you are ...

my pecs aren't symmetric

I am not a fan of the insurance industry. Shit is all a big ripoff.

Would anybody like a hug

Black people

See what I did there?

I'm being controversial.

I was just gonna say women's mouths but you had to go there with black people

the black, heavy pit where my heart should be caused by my desperate need for approval

I hate car stereos that shake the windows in my house. What the fucking hell makes someone do this makes zero sense.

I hate beans of any kind.

I hate uncultured people who are too simple minded to realize there are alternative viewpoints, alternative experiences and alternative lifestyles.

I hate governmental control of schools (in my world all schools would be private).

I hate cancer and the fact it attacks people who have done nothing to warrant their bodies to be stricken with the disease.

Rigged elections

I feel for you, whatcolor. I've had so many problems getting help for my (mental and physical) problems and just recently got a reprieve via temporary disability. I'm 24 and this will hopeful be very temporary. Meanwhile, there are thousands of people who would have been homeless waiting for this help (that took me almost 2 years to get). I happen to be lucky enough to have a family who was willing to help me, who I should now be able to pay back.

I understand the need to thoroughly screen people to stop fraud, but people with mental illness may not be able to make due while waiting for all the red tape to be cut.

I know this is different from what you talked about, but it's my contribution to things that suck.

Perhaps you should propose a threesome.

When people drive 5-10 miles under the speed limit and you can't pass them for a couple of miles.

writing scientific research papers

fishsticks

going to a mattress store and falling for the salesgirl, then deciding to go back the next week to buy pillows and strike a converation, incite her to come to your show, she's all excited to actually go, then learning that her boyfriend and her are moving in together, then the next week she shows up at your play (but on the day after she said she'd come) and you get to talk to her after the show and see all the signs of an interested woman, but you have a mental block about the boyfriend and basically screw it up with your inaction.

come on 70 is the new 16

homework!

ooo! I have one:

University Bureaucracy

- Hello, I am a University Counselor, and I don't know fuck about what your University program is doing for your future. On top of that, I will do my best to ensure that you have as difficult a time as possible completing your module by changing course numbers and making sure that your program requirements are difficult to understand. Of course, despite all your education being highly ambiguous to your choice of career, it is now of utmost importance that you suck your professors cock so that you can graduate in the top tier of your class or else you shall be excluded from all but the hottest and noisiest jobs. Are you having a problem with a grad-school application? fuck if I can help you! Despite the fact that my job requires a heavy resume of post-secondary education, I do not know shit about pointing anyone in the right direction let alone what post-grad programs are looking for!

I have an HSA plan too...
but I have a $3000 deductable....

but I don't have monthly prescriptions (yet) so it's a good deal for me. I have about 4,000 in my bank account from my company contibutions over the past year and a half (I have had a lot of doctors appts and bloodwork done lately which is going to cost me... but my insurance pays 100% preventative which is what a lot of that crap is coded)

you can't use your HSA to pay for your chiropractor? I was under the impression you could use it for whatever medical reasons you wanted... even benedyrl or lasik or something.

i can but since it just started, there's not really any money in the account (there was some but i used it on one chiropractor appt)

don't waste your money on a chiropractor - sure it feels good right away, but if you are just stretch regularly and stay active back pain can be conquered over time. plus a sack of weed a week only costs $30.

sometimes i really want someone to pop my back. that's when a bf would come in handy. oh wells.

my grandmother died of lung cancer and never smoked anything a day in her life...

This ain't no moral disease for fucks sake.

re: Autopay insurance... I dunno what bank you have, but both of my banks (Wells Fargo and WaMu/Chase) allow you to send free checks online and set them up to auto send to an address. So.. set that up.

redbull seeing Banana in public and not kicking his ass