The Just Venting, Airing Out, Talking Shit, Personal Beefs, Problems, Anger Management, and etc Thread for 2015

[jcpp7622]

Bloody insurance companies! I absolutely hate them.

Due to Parkinson's and other neurological issues, I can no longer work; I wish I could be a contributor, but unable to do so. It seems as though anyone who is disabled is looked down upon and discriminated against in some fashion or another. It's not like we like to be this way. Not all of us are out there to ride the system for free. Like any support network, there are those that like to take advantage of the system, but in general these people really are in the minority. Many of us contributed quite a bit to the system as we worked full-time jobs. Being on disability is no fun. Our income is set to just get us by at the barest minimum. We can't have a savings of any kind, can't have any form of investments, own home not counted, and are constantly watched, questioned, montiored, and even audited.

Having said this, I now live on SSDI and long term disability insurance, which I paid into through my former employer. The insurance company finds every excuse in the book not to pay out due to missing paperwork which has been sent by my doctor's office numerous times now that the anniversery of the claim has come up. Instead of them contacting the doctor, and continuing to pay me, they cancel my payments until they hear back from the doctor.

This canceled payment is 50% of my income meaning I can't pay my health insurance (I don't get Medicare until March 2015), among other things including my mortgage, car payments, etc. Because I can't afford my health insurance, I can't afford my medication which runs about $1200 per month without it for only 2 of the meds. If I suddenly stop these meds, I won't just get sick, I can end up in a coma or possibly die since one of them is an MAOI-B inhibitor. If I quit this one, I'll end up with a neuroleptic malignant syndrome, which can be deadly. The representatives at the insurance company don't get this, and keep citing company policy notes.

The suck part is I got this news on New Year's Eve at 6:00 pm when the mailman came via a letter from the insurance company. This totally ruined my holiday and weekend, and I haven't slept in 4 days.

 

[sixthson]

It's -3 with a wind chill of -19 right now.................about normal for Minnesota. I actually like it.

What are you, nuts??? I about froze my ass off running into Whole Foods in Highland Park.

 

[jdcnow]

Oh, hell yeah. It's a picnic out there now compared to the December 2013 ice storm that hit here. That storm literally brought America's 5th largest city to her knees. Some people here still refer to that as The Great Dallas-Fort Worth Ice Hurricane of 2013, just because of the abject horror and devastation brought to this city by that storm.

For those asking about The Great Dallas-Fort Worth Ice Hurricane of December 2013, I did a whole blow-by-blow account of it over here, in this thread, as it happened.

Most people's work was cancelled, school was cancelled, businesses and stores literally just shut down because there was nobody to run them - everybody was iced in. The supermarkets and stores were literally running out of food, because the 18-wheelers couldn't make it to the supermarkets with their deliveries. People lost power - which meant, for many people, they lost the ability to heat up their homes. As pipes and water mains began to bust, whole neighborhoods were literally running out of water - no indoor plumbing for bathroom, laundry, or cleaning purposes.

Of the people, say within 10 miles of me, I was pretty much one of the few people I knew, who still had uninterrupted water and electricity the entire time.

Dallas-Fort Worth was literally behind the 8-ball for a minute...

 

[borg69unimatrix]

I'm enjoying my vacation in Palm Springs. If I was independently wealthy I could see myself living here.

 

[jcpp7622]

For those asking about The Great Dallas-Fort Worth Ice Hurricane of December 2013, I did a whole blow-by-blow account of it over here, in this thread, as it happened.

Most people's work was cancelled, school was cancelled, businesses and stores literally just shut down because there was nobody to run them - everybody was iced in. The supermarkets and stores were literally running out of food, because the 18-wheelers couldn't make it to the supermarkets with their deliveries. People lost power - which meant, for many people, they lost the ability to heat up their homes. As pipes and water mains began to bust, whole neighborhoods were literally running out of water - no indoor plumbing for bathroom, laundry, or cleaning purposes.

Of the people, say within 10 miles of me, I was pretty much one of the few people I knew, who still had uninterrupted water and electricity the entire time.

Dallas-Fort Worth was literally behind the 8-ball for a minute...

I remember that storm myself. As a severe weather enthusiast, I follow the weather like crazy year round, although winters can be quite boring even with our Nor'easters up here in New England! 2013 turned out to be an interesting year storm-wise as the season moved on. There were not a record number of severe storms, but the ones that did occur were quite severe with tornados all over the country causing severe damage especially in Oklahoma in El Dorado, Shawnee and Moore, as well as in Kansas in the Tulsa metro region.

From 2008 to 2013, I had done some severe storm chasing with Roger Hill and his group with Silver Lining Tours www.silverliningtours.com. We saw nothing the first two days then we had an interesting show from the first week of May until the end of tours. Not all the storms produced tornados, but they were quite interesting hail producers, producing baseball sized hail in some locations, lots of great lightning, and truly picturesque super cells.

Since I was on 2 tours that year, I traveled from southwestern Texas to the Sand Hills in South Dakota on the Nebraska state line. We caught a great lightning show up there, then traveled east and south to Tulsa where we saw some bigger storms which produced some tornados. The day after we left our hotel in Tulsa, it was hit by one of the tornados, causing some severe damage. We then chased in the Rush City to Paradise, OK area and saw the end of the Rush City EF3 and a couple of other smaller tornados.

The next day we were in southern Kansas again, chasing storms, even saw some small tornados, but missed the Shawnee twister. It's difficult traveling over 200 miles even on good roads. The storm its self, which produced the deadly twister was big enough to be seen 150 miles away. The structure must've been up to 70,000 feet as it sucked up the moisture. By the time we go down in that vicinity, which we needed to anyway to get to our hotel in OKC, we saw the remnants of the storm and even some smaller tail end storms. That night we traveled through El Dorado and Moore, not knowing what was going to occur in the following days. The tour ended before these storms occurred anyway and I missed them.

Would I do this again? Sure would if I had the money. Right now I'm broke being on disability and fighting for insurance money. Perhaps some day I can travel again while I feel up to it.

 

[jdcnow]

Reason I hate winter #36...

I can't sleep in just my really cute boxer briefs alone. I need pajama pants and socks, because my legs and feet are freezing. #annoyed

 

[GreyUnderscore]

Reason I hate winter #36...

I can't sleep in just my really cute boxer briefs alone. I need pajama pants and socks, because my legs and feet are freezing. #annoyed

This right here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0082QJHLC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
keeps me so warm during the night. I usually sleep with shorts and a shirt but after buying that comforter I had to stop. Some mornings I wake up a bit sweaty that's hot warm I get during the night.

 

[frankfrank]

Reason I hate winter #36...

I can't sleep in just my really cute boxer briefs alone. I need pajama pants and socks, because my legs and feet are freezing. #annoyed

You were complaining that it was in the 20's. Right now, here, about 12 degrees and blowing snowfall...

Wednesday it's not even supposed to "warm up" to zero, though the day's high will actually be ABOVE ZERO because it doesn't start to plunge until after midnight. By sunrise it will be way down around -8 or something.

 

[mikey3000]

I bought one of these for my sleeps. Pricy i know, but totally worth it. With polyester i sweat like mad and I'm alergic to down. 100% cotton or wool blankets also work great.

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/royal-elite-mulberry-silk-duvet-king/1255074869465

 

[jdcnow]

You were complaining that it was in the 20's. Right now, here, about 12 degrees and blowing snowfall...

Wednesday it's not even supposed to "warm up" to zero, though the day's high will actually be ABOVE ZERO because it doesn't start to plunge until after midnight. By sunrise it will be way down around -8 or something.

I do, and will always have an undying respect for people who can put up with weather like what you have up there.

I. Could. Not. Do. It.

I'm looking at the seven day forecast from Chicago's Channel 7. Yikes!

Tuesday: Partly cloudy with snow ending by the morning commute, but blowing snow throughout the day. High: 15, Low: -4

Wednesday: Sunny and brutally cold. High: 1, Low: -11

Thursday: Cloudy and not as harsh. High: 12, Low: 3

Friday: Mostly sunny and very cold again. High: 8, Low: -9

Saturday: Cloudy with light snow possible. High: 15, Low: 10

Sunday: Partly sunny and not as cold. High: 27, Low: 10

Monday: Partly cloudy and chilly. High: 24, Low: 11

 

[jdcnow]

On an unrelated note, while I was brushing my teeth, a major issue came up.

Back when I was in 5th grade, in PE, our school gym was a metal building reinforced with horizontal steel railing along the walls. I don't even really remember the incident, but it was told to me that, while I was running, at a very fast rate of speed, someone pushed me away from them, and I ran slap into one of the horizontal steel railings. Face first.

I hit the railing so hard, that I'm told that I immediately fell to the ground and blacked out for several minutes. The hit I took right in my face did permanent damage to my two front teeth - to this day, there's a huge chip right in the center of my two front teeth. Five years ago, when I lived back home, and worked for a convenience store that had really good dental insurance, I went and got the chip repaired. Well, the repair just fell out. Just now, as I brushed my teeth.

Now, I have to go around with this huge hole in my two front teeth, where this chip is. There's definitely a trip to the dentist somewhere in my future. Now that I have much better dental insurance thanks to the ACA, I'm thinking seriously about just getting the damaged two front teeth removed all together, and having them replaced with dental implants. Implants aren't cheap, but I think they are covered by my insurance. I'll have to look at that.

Right when I really wanted to use my income tax refund to pay off my last debt I owe, here comes another good, old-fashioned roadblock.

 

[The Fly]

What are you, nuts??? I about froze my ass off running into Whole Foods in Highland Park.

Yes...but it has nothing to do with the weather......... Are you a native Minnesotan? I would have loved to have been a kid here, there's so much to do outdoors.


I "discovered" Minnesota in January, 1985 riding my bike from Ft.Lewis Wa. headed to R.I.. I broke down in Hastings, and basically stayed. I love Minnesota winters, when we start hitting -30 wind chill, I'm in my element and ready to party. I'm right in the middle of packing for a winter camping trip (by dog sled) in the BWCA.

Of all the times I've been snow camping, I've never heard anyone complain about the crowds......

 

[borg69unimatrix]

Yes...but it has nothing to do with the weather......... Are you a native Minnesotan? I would have loved to have been a kid here, there's so much to do outdoors.


I "discovered" Minnesota in January, 1985 riding my bike from Ft.Lewis Wa. headed to R.I.. I broke down in Hastings, and basically stayed. I love Minnesota winters, when we start hitting -30 wind chill, I'm in my element and ready to party. I'm right in the middle of packing for a winter camping trip (by dog sled) in the BWCA.

Of all the times I've been snow camping, I've never heard anyone complain about the crowds......

I agree... I think you're nuts too! Vacationing I've recently rediscovered Palm Springs and am enjoying temperatures in the 70-80's ... in January! I could seriously get used to this!

While not as cold where you are, 1,000 + miles north where I live is cold, wet, dark, windy, and fall/winter is in full effect.

 

[sixthson]

Yes...but it has nothing to do with the weather......... Are you a native Minnesotan? I would have loved to have been a kid here, there's so much to do outdoors.


I "discovered" Minnesota in January, 1985 riding my bike from Ft.Lewis Wa. headed to R.I.. I broke down in Hastings, and basically stayed. I love Minnesota winters, when we start hitting -30 wind chill, I'm in my element and ready to party. I'm right in the middle of packing for a winter camping trip (by dog sled) in the BWCA.

Of all the times I've been snow camping, I've never heard anyone complain about the crowds......

Born and raised in Minnesota and not far from the Boundary Waters. I hate being cold, but ironically my husband, who is Greek born, loves winter.

 

[ScottishBiTeen]

Here we go again:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30708654

Seems last month's weather bomb wasn't enough, it needs to throw two more at us in quick succession.

What fun the next two days will be...

 

[frankfrank]

Yipes...I'll bet that ChickenGuy is glad that he moved.

Where IS he nowadays, anyway?

 

[medic1]

^He now lives in glorious Brighton, a fantastic place to stay, with a huge and diverse gay scene..

 

[jdcnow]

Once again let me reiterate my utmost respect for anyone who can happily put up with cold weather.

I. Hate. This. Shit.

From the National Weather Service Fort Worth office, current conditions at DFW International as of 2am US central...

Mostly clear and 20F / -7C
Wind chill factor, 9F / -13C

@Old Man Winter...

Humidity, 48%
Dewpoint, 3F / -16C
Winds out of the north at 10 miles per hour
Barometer, 30.78 inches of mercury and falling from the previous hour

My abject vehement hatred for cold weather knows no bounds... This is just how I wanted to spend my week off from the store - holed up in my apartment because of the god-awful cold. And don't look now, but we might have sleet and freezing rain by the weekend - oh goody!

But take heart - there's a heat wave on tap for early next week. Mid 40s.

 

[The Fly]

I'll be in Richardson Tx. this evening...................and I'm bringing winter with me.....

 

[jdcnow]

I'll be in Richardson Tx. this evening...................and I'm bringing winter with me.....

You're more than welcomed here. But as for Old Man Winter - if I have to personally call DFW International myself, just to make damn sure he doesn't make it through airport security, I will.

Otherwise, I'll pay for a special taxi to ship his ass to Oklahoma. Drop him off on the Oklahoma side of Lake Texoma/The Red River.

Old Man Winter, we don't want what you're selling here, sir! GTFO!

I shouldn't have to dress up like I'm preparing for the Iditarod, just to go to the donut shop across the street from my apartment complex, and get a breakfast sandwich.