Me no Have Internet!

So I changed my gym/running routine to the mornings about a month ago. Now I update my Podcasts every morning so that I can listen to them in the gym/while running. (Bloomberg/BBC/PIMCO are my favorites so far). The other day there was this woman on a BBC Podcast who was talking about her experiment with avoiding email and the internet for one whole day at her workplace (she is a journalist for FT and BBC). Needless to say she could not get much done, in fact she used the phrase “…I felt like a waste of space without these technologies”. I, my usual critical self, smirked about this and dismissed it as typical journalist BS. Little did I know that the very next day I would end up being in a similar position at work.

So I show up at work the following morning and read an email (email worked) claiming that due to some equipment damage from an overnight storm we will not have access to the internet until late in the afternoon.

This is how I spent my day internet-less at work:

9:25 AM: (hey, I am quitting soon. I can come to work whenever I like!) Logged onto Novell email service. Mildly annoyed to find out that web access will not be available until the afternoon. Hmm….I tell myself this can’t be that bad right?

9:26 AM: Give up and call Help Desk to find out what the HECK is going on?! Randy, the IT manager, calmly answers the phone and tells me that they expect to be up and running by 1 pm. Waiting for a new part apparently.

9:27 AM: “I can do this, I can do this. Focus man, what the hell is wrong with you!”

9:27 AM (30 sec later): Clicked on Internet Explorer (yes, I am web browser illiterate) to check if the IT guys are lying about the access. They were NOT.

9:28 AM: Someone comes into my office to talk about work related stuff. Seizing this chance for ‘distraction’ I engage in extended conversation (mostly of the unnecessary kind) about a project. This takes me away from my office (yippie!) and into the plant and labs. See how time flies when you love what you are doing! I am back at my desk after 30 min.

10 AM: The initial paranoia having passed, I now do not even have the urge to look at my iPhone. Like a smoker who has maneuvered the first couple of days after quitting successfully I feel energized now to go internet-free for the rest of the day.

10:05 AM: Discover that I have yet to clear quite a few things in my office in preparation for my departure. Nothing like a little house-keeping to pass time at work. I discover that I used to use this rag of a bag as my shoulder bag for work. It was hidden in one of the file cabinets. Well, I could use that to carry some things back to my apt on my scooter. Loaded up my paychecks from the past 3 years in that bag. Found quite a few receipts from my work trips to London in my desk. And tickets to museums and places I visited in Ireland and Hungary. Gotto keep those. Threw the rest of the stuff away.

11:15 AM: Ooooh that was exhausting! Time for lunch. In my defense, I do eat an early lunch. Decided to take my scooter to Trader Joes and get their “Chicken w/black bean” Wrap. Has anyone tried it? It’s good and only $4. Those marketing freaks! Just as you are about to navigate the aisles they strategically position products to entice you! I spot this “Grain 8 Crisps” which promise a whole 20g of grain in a 100g pack (pack size is 2 times your small chips pack). I know how this is going to end up. I buy these sort of things promising myself that I would spread that pack out for 3 days. Of course in 2-3 hrs the entire pack disappears. Despite all this I buy the pack to ‘supplement’ by Wrap. Why? Well, on the aisle it says “Supplement this with a pack of chips for a hearty meal”. Hey, you gotto obey the Aisle Gods!

11:40 AM: Arrive back at the office. Start eating my wrap. Usually this is the time when I browse (ok, most of the time but this time is almost always reserved for web browsing). Putting up a brave front I decide to not even look at my iPhone. I read work material instead while eating. Spot a couple of mistakes in a presentation due to be sent out to Japan and correct it. Did you have any doubts? The “Crisps” pack is half empty within 15 min. What is with snacks that have Salt? Addictive!

12:10 PM: “Should I call IT to check?” The urge returns! It quickly passes as well.

12:11 PM: I discover that I have 368 emails that I have not opened. Uh uh 368! To be fair though, a majority of those are chain emails at work where people are replying to each other to point out worthless minutiae. I postpone looking at them until the next day. If any of them is that important they will call me no?

12:15 PM: Someone from work steps into my office about a project. This was legit. I needed to take care of this. I spent the next hour and 45 minutes solving this in the plant.
(I do work you know!)

2 PM: Upon returning to my office, I spot loads and loads of paper on my two desks. I had been collecting them for the past 2 years. They were neatly arranged mind you. Was lazy to shred them. Never a better time for shredding!

2:05 PM: Has anyone used the shredder extensively before? Well, let me tell you, the crisp sound of metal cutting against the soft paper, as pleasant as it can get on the ears. Seriously. I spent the next 45 min at the shredder. I had to stop ‘cause the bag filled up and I had no idea how to remove and put a new bag. I decided to shred the rest the next day.

3 PM: Only an hour and 15 min to go.

3:05 PM: My boss steps into my office. We discuss some work details. And then he talks to me about this guy who they were interviewing (on that very day) for a position in my group (kinda my replacement). I asked him about the candidate’s presentation and personal interview. My boss had yet to interview him but he thought the presentation was allrite. He also mentioned that the candidate’s English was not that great. Suddenly my previous boss, who just finished interviewing the candidate, steps into my office and tells my boss to ask the candidate his GPA (not mentioned on his resume apparently). In my opinion that is not a good sign. If you are impressed with the person who you are interviewing you don’t care about his/her GPA. Especially my former boss, he is cool. He must not have like this candidate dude. My boss asks me my preference for going away drinks. I tell him that I didn’t have any.

3:45 PM: Hunger pang! I hit up the vending machine for some Oreos. Not satisfied I re-open my “Crispies” bag and almost finish it. So much for spreading it for 3 days.

4 PM: At this point I am proud with myself that I’ve not had the urge to web browse on my iPhone. Not so bad then huh! Attended to some random work stuff and got ready to leave.

4:15 PM: Emboldened by this day I tell myself that I will not browse the web even at home tonite. This can’t be that bad right?

Of course as it had to be, there was a huge storm that evening and my train was stuck at the station for 2h. I had to cave in and listen to my friend Robert in the train to check the weather (we were thinking about driving our scooters into the city). So I caved in! But not a bad day at all w/o the internet.

Some Clothing Etiquette Please!

A couple of months ago I was at the Philly airport on my way to spend a holiday weekend with buddies in Texas when I noticed something. If you board your flight from Terminal A in PHL you cross paths with passengers arriving and departing from/to International destinations. As I got out of the security check maze in Terminal A I noticed a British family, Mom, Dad, and three teenage daughters, walk by. And all of them, yeah ALL of them, had powder blue sweatshirts and sweatpants on. To add to the fashion parade they had thrown on some bling bling as well. Ok, I am not exactly a fashion connoisseur or the fashion police but that right there is so not cool. I don’t care what your reasons are, traveling cross continental swathed in two pieces of clothing they use to make your bathroom towels is the ultimate i-don’t-give-two-hoots for society statement. You maybe be a Rebel but please find other ways to express that feeling will ya?
Anyway, that got me thinking, what clothing is an absolute no-no in public? (people can wear whatever they want or nothing at all in private but in public, please have some consideration for fellow human beings.).

Here is a list that comes to mind:
-First of course is sweatpants/sweatshirts. Guys and girls, PLEASE, I beg of you, at least thrown on a T-shirt and jeans, how much effort does that take huh. I don’t care how comfortable they are, sweatpants/shirts in public places is the biggest no-no.

-T shirts women wear that say “Da Bomb”, “Too Hot to Handle”, “Cutie” or any other variation that tries to convey the same meaning. Really? So you expect us to go, “let’s see here, I am not really sure if this girl is hot/cute or not, so let me see what her t-shirt says, OK, it says she is. That seals it, she is totally hot, what was I thinking, I should have looked at her T shirt first, duh”.

-Dudes wearing clothing one size (sometimes two sizes) too small. Yeah we all know you spend copious amounts of time in the gym pumping iron (and consuming what have you) and want to show off the fruits of your labor but PLEASE. There are other avenues to show off your prowess, body-building competitions or playing baseball come to mind.

-Fur coats. Especially the ladies. Enough said.

-Speedos. This one time my friend and I were standing in the buffet line at a picnic near a lake and this dude walks upto the line and starts helping himself to food. In a Speedo! He then proceeded to scratch himself. Should I go on? Guys, please spare us the sight of your package while we are trying to eat some food. Stay in the pool/water if you have to wear Speedos.

-Leopard/Tiger skin clothing or accessories. I’ve never understood why women like to wear these. Are they trying to convey a secret message by wearing these? Cave people used to wear them eons ago ‘cause that’s the best they could do then. Civilization has moved along ladies. Can’t y’all too?

-Uber short ‘shorts’. Not sure if any of you have an idea as to what I am talking about here. You know I noticed this one girl the other day wearing these shorts that are basically ‘knickers’ as the British would call it. Jeezaz! Could you leave something for our imagination please!

-This is a borderline no-no for me personally. Girls jeans with no pockets in the rear. So not cool.

-This one’s technically not clothing but I have a problem nevertheless. The David Beckham Mohawk type hairstyle. Dudes, REALLY? that hairstyle is so 10 years ago. Put that half liter of gel to better use will ya?

Healthcare Costs, yeah that topic again!

Do any of you know how the costs are distributed when you make a visit to your favorite (I mean PCP) physician? Would you hazard a guess as to what the absolute minimum cost is when you make a physician visit (besides the co-pay that is)? Has someone ever tried to find out what these costs are prior to or after you make a visit?

The answer to my last question for most people would be a “NO” I am assuming. Why? Let me tell you why. As long as the visit is for something not too serious (surgery or any invasive procedure) most often the doctor or the person at the front desk of the hospital would have told you: “don’t worry about it your insurance will pay for it”. And you move on since it does not concern you. I’ve done that a couple of times myself so I know the situation. Well, maybe we should all have cared to find out how exactly we are getting charged. Why do I think so? Let me tell you why I think so (by the way, I love replying to a “Why do I think so?” using the Let me tell you . Soooo old school movies! But I digress). Two examples:

Example 1:
Y’all remember my posting (more like a rant) on my visit to my PCP to get the required vaccines from a few weeks ago? Well well, apparently that saga needed a different ending. So, I got a snail mail from the MIT medical office earlier this week informing me that I still needed to get another vaccine or furnish results to a test in order for them to approve my policy. Both my doctor and I had forgotten to read that on the MIT medical list of required vaccines that I needed TWO of MMR were required not one . She in her haste (and me in my enraged state) had missed it.

So I ended up calling my hospital to get those test results. Of course, I go through the usual call transfer cycle from one department to another with no solution in sight. And I was about to break my phone at work. I finally got hold of a lady in the lab and told her that I needed the results. She of course checked and told me that she can’t release them to me unless the doctor approves it (for crying out loud these are not pregnancy tests!). And so I find out that my doctor has left the Hospital. Left? No reason was given. I had to apparently leave a voice mail with the nurses and they would respond when they could. Should I tell you how I was feeling at that moment?

I calmed down and called the billing department of the hospital to find out how much they had charged for my last two visits and to see if I had any room within my insurance limit to get another shot. The lady in billing told me that they had charged a total of $450 for my two visits. I am like, “what?” I had 2 vaccines and a test done for chris’ sakes! I then asked her to detail the costs for my two trips to the doctor. Get this, apparently there is a fixed cost associated with a visit regardless of what you are in for. This at my hospital was $25 for admin fee + $80 for hospital fee + my co-pay. So I am effectively paying $105-130 just for stepping in the door. What for exactly? Well of course they give you a laundry list of reasons: insurance to cover this, costs to cover for keeping your records, and what have you. I know that there has to be a fixed cost that needs to cover basic operations but this seemed ridiculous. My test cost $80 and vaccines cost me another $80.

So if you are keeping track, the actual cost for my visits (cost of vaccines and tests) turns out to be 30% of what the hospital ended up charging the insurance company. 70% overhead is an absolute rip-off if you think about it. Where do I start in assessing the outrageousness (is that a word?) of this cost basis. Can somebody please tell me how this is justifiable?

Example 2:
I scheduled my last dental visit 2 weeks ago at my regular dentist. Earlier this year they told me that I needed a deep clean which they said would be done in two visits. I had them done in March but they had not billed me yet. Anyway, I had specifically told the doctor that I would go ahead with them only if it was absolutely necessary since my insurance had a yearly cap for dental visits and costs. The doctor assured me that it would be within the limits and asked me not to worry about it.

When I asked for a cost detail the doctor gave me the list. It clearly was above the limit. When I asked the doctor told me: “This is normal”. The dentists apparently send an exaggerated bill to the insurance company. The insurance company looks at it then pays whatever it deems appropriate (which varies from 50 to 80% of the amount charged). The remaining money is expected to be paid by the customer. So when the bill came I called and talked to the doctor that I will not make ANY payment since I had specifically indicated my concern prior to the procedure. The doctor, to my surprise, waived the amount that the bill said I owed. Note that this had happened twice before. So I asked the doctor if they can so easily let that amount go unpaid why charge higher to begin with. Imagine the shock when I heard his response. Apparently this is a game that they play with the insurance companies: they charge more than they should, knowing fully well that the insurance company will only pay a % of the amount asked. In the end that % payment covers the amount they actually want. I hung up perplexed and a tad bit disgusted. But then a thought occurred to me, what about the unsuspecting patients who pay whatever amount is listed on the bill eventually sent to them by the dentist’s office. Vow. I hope everyone checks their medical bills before they pay.

Lessons from this: always enquire about your medical costs and the US Healthcare system needs to be fixed.

PS: oh, how did my vaccine sage end? Well, I ended up getting another vaccine but got charged less since I found out that you can request a nurse’s visit which does not require you to pay for the admin costs. Again, this because I was anal and insisted on finding out more.