Monday, December 13th

I was up verrrrry early this morning...I lay in bed playing solitaire on my iPhone for awhile; thoughts wandering over the coming day and things to accomplish.  I finally got out of bed cause I thought trying to sleep anymore was futile; & staring at the screen in the dark was straining my eyes.  So, into my office to check email and the Writer's Almanac and call my bro, Johnny & Shar.... & at last, I was tired enough to doze again.... & Jogger Judy came to run Riley on the beach... that lucky hound dog... breakfast & setting T up for the day... couple of calls about my new listing and to set up an apt to view the Corralitos hilltop haven and catch up on business.  

Next, a ridiculous waste of time calling Blue Shield.  We'd received lots of BS EOB's (Blue Shield Explanation of Benefits) over the weekend.  BS fits perfectly.  Out of maybe 15 pages of EOB's,  there were 3 that stood out.  All 3 were from the same day, our Anniversary, Nov. 24th (I'm not likely to forget that day) when we spent about 8 hours at Stanford.  The funny or actually pathetic thing was only one of the services, the office visit, was allowed and paid.  The other two outpatient services, lab and X-ray were disapproved because "Patient's coverage was not in effect at the time this service was provided".  Now that is totally illogical and I had to laugh when I related it to the service rep.  Of course, he didn't think it was funny.... and promptly put me on terminal hold.  The answer:  our premium payment hit that day (early I might add) and apparently, that stopped our coverage????  So, instead of our advance payment insuring the fact that there would not be any lapse in coverage; it resulted in the exact opposite.  Go figure!!!  It just enforces my view of our perilous state of health coverage... it's all BS!!!  When I spend hours sifting through the paperwork and then, correcting their mistakes and I get to pay dearly for the privilege... I call that BS.  We need real health care reform and we need it now!  Not in 2014.

So, after setting Tracy up with his Neupogen shot, protein drink and meds;  I was off to a certification class on the new HAFA program (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) which is in it's infancy and subject to change as it evolves....BUT a much better way to deal with an impending short sale or loan modification.  I was very glad I spent the time and I look forward to helping folks wade through the system.  

I was so glad to see T downstairs when I returned home.  Allen took Riley for a walk and then, joined us for a glass of wine and we caught up... then, I made dinner and at long last, I finished trimming the tree.  This morning I realized that I'd done a fabulous job on the front & one side of the tree but had sort of neglected the other side and the back.  So, before I could put the boxes away and finish filling the Goodwill box, I had to finish the tree...  It's done and so am I...