February 28, 2007

Venting

So apparently, having dry-eye is a side effect of Lasik. To the point where it affects your vision, the very reason for having Lasik in the first place. Fine, I can deal with that. That is why eye drops were invented, right? The doc prescribed Restasis, which is supposed to help your eyes produce your own tears if tear production is decreased due to inflammation. The main ingredient is cyclosporine, which has been used for years to help dry eye in dogs.

Restasis is an actual drug, approved by the FDA and everything. So that must be why my insurance doesn't cover it! Or maybe they are just cheap bastards and don't want to shell out the $1080 (with my 12 co-pays of $10 each) it would cost for them to cover it for a year.

They say they won't cover it because the Lasik was elective and not medically necessary. To me that means they shouldn't cover the cost for chemo/radiation if somebody has lung cancer caused by cigarettes. Is smoking medically necessary? They shouldn't cover the cost of fixing a broken arm for somebody who was walking their dog and riding their bike at the same time; cause that is both stupid and not medically necessary. Want a mole removed? Unless it is cancerous and not caused by indoor tanning or by time spent by the pool(not medically necessary), can't help you!

But they will do an abortion if you accidentally get pregnant, all you have to pay is a $20 co-pay.
They will let you talk to a psychologist for an hour about your fear of bananas, for only a $20 co-pay.

Contacts aren't medically necessary either, but if my dry-eye was caused by them, Kaiser would help me. Lasik is better for the environment because you are not throwing away two pieces of plastic every night before bed, and it is more econmically sound because you don't have to keep buying new contacts or glasses every year or so.

And when your eye doctor tells you that you are so blind without vision correction that you couldn't find your way out of a burning house without contacts or glasses, I think the "elective" issue becomes a little more subjective.

Maybe I should just try to get the cyclosporine from a vet's office. All I know is if I decide to shell out the $1200 for a year's supply of Restasis, I'm not getting it from Kaiser. They are not getting any more of my money. I'll go to the Target pharmacy or something.

I'm switching to Blue Cross next year. Screw Kaiser.

February 27, 2007

Anatomy of a 6th Grade Class Picture



Due to the impending High School reunion & the fact that I stupidly agreed to make a slide show, I've been looking at a lot of old pictures. This one isn't from high school, so I can't include it in my slide show.

I was just bored, and haven't had a picture to upload to Flickr where I felt compelled to add notes. So here it is. Dig my Ocean Spray Wave bangs! Click on pic to be whisked away to the world of 12 year old Carol Ann.

February 22, 2007

I know what I'll be watching tonight...



Meredith's looking a little like Smurfette. But she has to live, she's wearing my black shoes! :)

February 12, 2007

Weekend Jaunt

My sister and I trekked down to NoVa/DC this weekend for no reason. Besides a very Supermarket-Sweepy trip to the Crate & Barrel outlet in Alexandria, and a lovely dinner with the Hench, my friend Dena took us on a special "staff" tour of the Capitol---which is exactly the same as the regular tour of the Capitol except you get to cut the line and you're not all bogged down by "facts" that a trained tour guide would give you. The best part of the Capitol is Statuary Hall, where you can stand on the spot where John Quincy Adams once had a desk and hear clear as day what your pal (or foe) waaaaay across the room is whispering.

Dena also brought us to see the statue above, The Awakening, in East Potomac Park. I totally am getting one of these when I win the Mega Millions for the front yard. Except maybe I'll have him clenching an old-timey looking burglar in his hand to ward off would-be B & E'ers.

February 8, 2007

what??




Anna Nicole Smith died a few hours ago. And I feel really sad. I mean and it's not in the way I felt sad about Don Knotts or Barry White; just really kinda shocked. Poor girl. I just always felt kinda sad for her. Sighs.

February 7, 2007

NoPONY

Crap abounds today. Thought I'd drop my own PSA on you.
Keep your dissappointment levels low by expecting even less.

February 5, 2007

Even dustier.....



This illo is by Matt Hammill from my favorite website Drawn!! It pretty much is how I feel about several of my drawings. Like maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea if they came to life. With their misshapen hands, unfinished feet, and general incompleteness altogether. I’ll admit it, I have completion issues - but maybe that’s a whole other blog within itself.

I am happy to have completed our new blog banner. I hope you guys like it, misshapen parts and all. But while G is futzing with html stuff (which I won’t touch out of sheer terror of destroying 4 years of blob zaniness) and helping me understand the mysteries of the Motorola Razr. I thought I’d share some of my art bloopers - that didn’t make the banner cut. It’s what I’ve been doodling around with all month rather than writing blog content.
You'll probably have to click on the picture for it to view bigger. I tried posting this thing several different ways to get it to full size, but without much luck. I usually have to blog in between work jobs so I only have about 20 minutes of "testing" before I just freak out and log off.

bloopers

The top picture is one I was tinkering around with after our First OEF Summit. Hench made several attempts at befriending G’s cat Lil. (which Lil often rebuffed). I was rebuffed a few times myself.

The next pictures were attempts at drawing “Baby Hench” playing with a tin can phone (which is new theme btw). I’m plagued with distraction most of the time so I may draw a head on the 5th and then try to draw it’s body/background on the 25th with leads to a huge disparity between the way one part looks versus the other. Which is where I took issue here - adult head and not correct body ! gack......

Below that is scary me and scary Lil. It looks like we’ve both been dropped in the clothes washer and put on spin.

Finally we have G taking Uma for a walk. I remember G telling me that Uma had got excited about something and literally was dragging her about the neighborhood. I’m sure it wasn’t a fun experience, but it was funny hearing about it.