The Hobbit Hole VI - And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...

[ecurbh]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...

• First thread: New Zealander builds Hobbit hole
• Second thread: The New Hobbit Hole
• Third thread: The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads! (Congratulations, we filled it up!)
• Fourth Thread: The Hobbit Hole IV - The Road Goes Ever On...
• Fifth Thread: The Hobbit Hole V - Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

[msdrby]

and I cannot type ether

[GulfWar1Vet]

Oh Hair, I am just dying here from laughing so hard!!

Yer a bad Hobbit! No second lunches fer you!

[HairOfTheDog]

~grins~

[msdrby]

Make sure you photo-document for the dragonlady, LOL...

[Overtaxed]

Yes. It's prepaid. You buy the minutes.

[msdrby]

Somebody, remind me whatinsurance is for?

Why do I pay an ungodly amount of money for insurance, and then still have to pay $140 per visit to the doc, on top of my copays and my deductible and lab fees into the thousands?

I am pulling out my hair and using all sorts of sailor talk. My son just walked in asking me if I was okay. Made me cry even more.

(and all this just after waiting on the phone for them to answer for 20 minutes.) "I don't doubt you, BUT without any proof I cannot verify..." (repeat three times in condescending tone)

Thanks to the insurance company, my credit is in the toilet. I have collection agencies hounding me now.

/vent

[Darksheare]

During AT at Fort Drum, we had to defend our portajohns from theft by the OpFor team.
You know how odd it is to have to defend your portajohns instead of your position?

[null and void]

Pippin's father is missing!

Pray/worry/help search for Freeper's missing father - Maryland

[JenB]

Oh, dear... I don't know what to say. Any chance you can straighten things out?

Gee, makes my evening look like nothing. I just spent an hour forcing my brothers to eat (we compromised by them eating cereal) and remain quiet so my sister can sleep. Why won't she go to her room where it's quieter, I don't know... and I guarantee now that I've sat down, my parents will get home and assume I've done nothing all night. Argh.

[Graybeard58]

My sympathies for the insurance problems.

My wife just had spinal fusion in Dec. she was in the hospital for four days and the hospital bill was $55,000 in addition to the surgeons fee of $9,000 plus radiology charges of about $2,000, drugs another $1,000 or so.

I am going to contact the insurance company and check on that $55,000 figure. I don't have to pay anything but I think the insurance company is getting ripped off.

The $55,000 was in addition to $2100 for room and board at the hospital. The bill just shows, IH Misc- $55,281.70

Anybody have any clues what that outrageous figure could be for?

Seperately - A molded plastic back brace that probably may have cost $50 to manufacture, their charge to the insurer -$1,600

[HairOfTheDog]

Somebody, remind me whatinsurance is for?

I have the same question. I pay over $200 per month too, and I have a $500 annual deductible. I NEVER use that much in a year. and I owe for a couple doctor visits over one incident this summer.

I think the first visit ought to be free with the policy each year, and really frequent users of medicine should pay more for being over-average. The current setup just doesn't make sense to me.

[GulfWar1Vet]

LOL

That is so wrong...

HALT! Who goes there?

Us? Oh, it's only us pottyjohn thieves! Yes, we are nasty thieves!

LoL

[HairOfTheDog]

I think hospital costs are complex and there are lots of reasons including lawsuits that have contributed to their extraordinary charges, but I think a big part of it is the invisibility of employer-paid group plans.... A good idea and nice perk that employers started offering, but it has made the cost of insurance and medicine invisible. Most don't know how much their insurance costs, and they pay very little attention to charges they don't have to pay.

I think the same thing is true for taxes. If we eliminated withholding and had to write checks to the government instead of just collecting checks for refunds, the big-spending politicians would be out of office in a year.

[Darksheare]

We were good at hiding inside Fort Drum, and the 42nd Infantry guys doing OpFor couldn't find us.
What they eventually did was follow the truck that delivered portajohns.
Well, no-one had droppped off THEIR portajohns yet so they decided to help themselves to ours.
We were on our normal perimeter watch and saw these guys come bumbling out of the treeline all 'normal' like, shuffle up to one of the two portajohns, and pick it up.
They then tried to shuffle back into the treeline with it as if nothing was going on.
Of course, we raised the alarm after much laughter and the rally call of "Defend the ****house!" was raised.
Afterwards once we'd recovered our portajohn we scrawled inside it with greasepencil and marker about the battle of the portajohns.
Had to be the most surreal wargame I'd ever participated in besides the OpFor chinese roadmarch.. two column marching and singing right up to our perimeter..

[msdrby]

Thanks guys. I am feeling a bit better. I just got done talking to PE on the phone. He calls me to let me know when he leaves work everyday (so I can know when to start dinner so as to not burn it, LOL). He was able to get me settled down enough to quit cursing and crying. I am still irked beyond words, but I am better now that I can think rationally.

I pay alot of money monthly on health insurance because I am on COBRA. Being unemployed has really taken its toll. I cannot wait until this baby is born! I am going to change insurance companies faster than I can change that first diaper. There is nothing that will convince me to go back to this company, except for possibly not having a choice in the matter. AND, I will probably not go back to this OB doc for any future kiddos.

Psst... PE, No more babies until I am employed! (as if you were going to argue, heh)

[JenB]

Are you going to be able to get a job after the baby comes? Or before? Or will you wait a while?

[2Jedismom]

D'OH!!!

I didn't do it! I FORGOT!

Argh!!!

[JenB]

Is that going to be a problem?

Ugh, had to go for milk. Our road is such a mess of ice, potholes, and mud. I hate driving my little car through that...

[2Jedismom]

No...not really. Just wished I had documented it!

Oh well...thank goodness Pippin's dad was found!

[RosieCotton]

Ecurbh, I appreciate your photoshop talents and all, but can the new Hobbit Hole image just die, quickly? Ugh, it's giving me nightmares, and I missed the stupid event in the first place.

For what it's worth, I agree. I'm sick of hearing about the whole thing, from both sides of the coin.