Stream of concious / rants and raves

Kaiser Permanente raises my blood pressure

Jade-Anomaly — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:14:08 GMT

I just got medical benefits at work and my welcome packet instructed me to go to a web site and sign up for an account and pick a doctor. I get my first bad sign when after picking a Dr. the website sends me back to the pick a Dr. page instead of the next step in the process. No biggie, I work around it and get to the part of picking a log in ID. This is where I get concerned. At some point it asks me to confirm certain information about myself, one question is to pick which of the addresses I used to live at from the several options listed. Well the answer is NONE, but one is familiar, it's my Dad's address. So now this alarm is going off in my head saying "They are confusing you with your dad, this is not good. What if they mix up more than address, what if your medical records get mixed, or you medicines?" (My dad is a Sr. and I am Jr. by the way, so these mix ups are kind of common) I proceed anyway with this in mind and the next question asks me a stuff about my mother. I never gave them my mothers name or any other info about my family, how the hell do they know that or any of the other things in the question? So now I'm really concerned so I decide to call and ask questions. I get member services on the phone and explain my concerns. I ask them where they are getting the information. At first they don't know, when I insist on an answer they put me on hold. When they return the answer I get is "From a confidential 3rd party". Awwww shit, now I'm VERY concerned because they not only have info they shouldn't and incorrect info but they won't tell me where they got it, which I think is against the law but I'm not sure. So now I ask them to verify my full name for me. This is a test to see if they think I'm a Jr. or a Sr., well they can't tell me my full name, they don't have it. I know damn well I filled out the paperwork with it, so what gives? At this I point tell them "Thank you for confirming for me that I have valid reason to be concerned. I will be switching to Blue Shield shortly. If you can't even get my name correct I can't trust you to get anything else correct." I know I shouldn't let this stuff get to me like it does but my gut knots up from it. It has stressed me out dealing with it. I just want to go home and watch a movie now so I can forget about this for a while. Signing up for health insurance shouldn't be a health risk itself. What experiences have others had with Kaiser? What about Blue Shield? Am I over reacting? I really think when it's medical there should be higher standards.

My boss is high!

Jade-Anomaly — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:31:33 GMT

No really, he is. I'm not joking. He hurt his knee and the pain meds he's on are making him so high he's falling asleep at his desk and during meetings, acting goofy and behaving like a big kid. It's pretty funny actually, though I feel a little sorry for the guy, but it's so funny to watch. But really, what a trooper to come to work like that and not stay home. I wouldn't do it, I'd be home on the couch watching movies and sleeping.

Morning nookie is GREAT!

Jade-Anomaly — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:45:02 GMT

It really starts the day with a smile. Thanks for a nice night and a really good morning beautiful. You know who you are. *wink* When I arrived at work the receptionist noticed I was grinning and commented on it, then we shared a good giggle about it and she agreed it's great.

Sick sucks

Jade-Anomaly — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:05:23 GMT

I'm sick and it sucks. I rarely get seriously sick so I can be a big baby when it happens. I'm getting better but I feel so drained. Like right now I'm tired and need a "pick me up" but even the thought of walking across the building to get coffee wears me out. I realized I was sick on Sunday night when a fever sprung on me like a bear trap going off. I had settled in to watch a bit of TV when all of a sudden I had a fever. In disbelief I took my temp and it was almost 100, a few minutes later it was 101. I had muscle cramps, sore throat and a pounding headache too. I opened all the windows to cool off a bit but it didn't really help. I slept with an ice pack on my head and still woke up drenched in sweat. ( no it wasn't melted ice. lol ) Last night was a less intense repeat. Woke to a pounding head, slick with sweat and neck muscles so cramped I could barely move my head. I REALLY didn't want to come to work this morning. Anyway, the fever is gone and other than being tired and a little bit congested I'm ok, but at least now I know why I was so tired on Saturday that I missed out on two great parties. c'est la vie. Anyway, I'm tired and looking forward to going home and resting. But if anyone is brave enough to come by (I don't think I'm contagious) I could really use some company and maybe a little babying.

I need help from Apple geeks

Jade-Anomaly — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:13:47 GMT

I need to take a backup image of a Mac PowerBook G4 here at work but we don't have the right software for it. I've never worked with Macs so I don't know what software is available for it. What recommendations can the Mac people out there give me? What do you like and why? Are you a support tech or just a home user?

Anyone want to take motorcycles to Yosemite this weekend?

Jade-Anomaly — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:34:49 GMT

I don't have any real plans yet, just an idea. I was thinking that I'd just cruise out there with my bag and sleep pad, some clothes and a bit of food and wing it. I might make a reservation at a hostel or campground. This is not a hiking trip, this is a road trip. There might be something I want to see that requires hiking to but only if it's relatively easy and quick. If you're interested drop me an email. Since tribe has been wonky lately send it to thrilljunkie@usa.net

My company is hiring an IT director

Jade-Anomaly — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:35:05 GMT

... do you want to be my manager? lol This place is a mess, party because if the current IT Director. Upper management has finally figured that out and are about to give him his walking papers. I'd love to have someone in here I know and who do more than look surprised by everything. Anyone want a job in a web media company in the financial district?

Office Politics

Jade-Anomaly — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:58:11 GMT

How do you deal with office politics? I work with a guy who is a duplicitous, manipulative little backstabber and the worst part is, he's really good at it. He's got top executives thinking he's the shit, when really, half the trouble we have stems from him. He uses disinformation to make people look bad when they report something different than what's he's saying. For example he'll tell the boss a problem is huge and complex and wait for the boss to report that to the director. Then he tells the director a different story, fixes the problem and claims to not know why our boss thought it was so hard. I think he's sabotaging servers in subtle ways too to make another person look bad. Somehow he gets away with this kind of thing even though he's pretty obvious. He used me as a pawn once before I caught on to him and stopped playing into his games. Since then I've found out that he's now working against me as well, trying to get me fired as well as the boss. Sour grapes I guess. But I'm not a political person, I have no idea how to deal with that in the framework of office culture. Just ignoring him and doing my job will not make it go away, I've been doing that and he's still found ways to undermine me. I don't know what he thinks he's going to achieve like this but I don't want to let myself get burned by his childishness. I'm quietly looking for a new job and on my exit interview I'll mention his tactics but I doubt it will wake them up. How would you cope with a person like this?

I'm working in New York today...

Jade-Anomaly — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:21:59 GMT

... through the magic of the internet.

Anyone want to chill out tonight?

Jade-Anomaly — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:01:19 GMT

I had a blast last night going out for my friend Darling Dave's birthday, but tonight I want to stay in and chill out. Anyone up for a quiet night in watching movies, playing board games, or something like that?

Glorious Coffee

Jade-Anomaly — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:08:39 GMT

It's amazing what a great cup of coffee can do for your day. I brewed the coffee at work today. It's a nice rich black brew for a change instead of the thin pale crap we normally have. So now I'm buzzing along, jamming to some psy-trance on my headphones, working merrily and enjoying my glorious coffee. :-) Yay for good coffee and net radio.

I made some stchuff...

Jade-Anomaly — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:28:32 GMT

I'm going to hang it from a necklace and call it my bunny bling! These are my first ever attempts with a plasma cutter, freehand no less. Damn it's hard to cut a clean line when you can't see clearly but I'm happy with the results anyway. These were just for fun to get a feel for how the thing performs. One is thin sheet metal and the other is thicker iron plate. I found that with the iron plate if I move quickly I can etch the design in and not cut completely through. I can't wait to play with this some more. On another note, my first ever weld was absolutely perfect. Seems I've found another talent. :-) I'm looking forward to making some art things I've had in my head for a while, now that I'm acquiring the skills. Many thanks to the the fine folks at Department of Spontaneous Combustion.

Albert Hofmann, LSD inventor, RIP

Jade-Anomaly — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:01:49 GMT

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/29/albert-hoffman-rip.html Albert Hofmann passed away from a heart attack this morning at the age of 102. The LSD molecule he discovered/created has such promise for medical use. As we all know, it was banned, but it remains accessible to the public despite these restrictions and is starting to become more available to researchers again. I wish he could have lived to see the narrow minded restrictions on it's clinical use and research lifted. But in any case, good work Mr. Hofmann, good work! Thank you.

* UPDATE TO THE UPDATE *

Jade-Anomaly — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:27:07 GMT

So I've got my car back, most of it. Thanks pTony for the shuttle service, you were awesome. After about two hours, mixed up directions, wrong numbers, general confusion and minus $255 of my money in fees, anything of value in the car, one battery, and a catalytic converter, and then a noisy, windy and stinky ride home my car is back in the driveway. They gave me an old battery so I could drive it home but it's not the right kind. So a battery and converter will get it back on the road but that's going to cost a minimum of $300 and that assumes I can bolt a replacement converter in. If they damaged the exhaust it goes WAY up. I've decided that either way I'm getting rid of it. If the repairs are on the low end I'll fix it and sell it. If not then I'm just going to dump it but I hope to break even.

Stolen Car Update

Jade-Anomaly — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:30:58 GMT

When I got home today the San Pablo police called and said they had recovered my car. Before I can collect it I have to get a release slip from Oakland, because the report was filed there, a release slip from San Pablo because it was found there, then pay the tow lot hundreds of dollar$ to give it back to me. Tonight I've talked to people from all three organizations and none of them can tell me what shape my car is in. I don't even know if I'll be able to drive it home. Hopefully I can find out in the morning. At least the lady in Oakland PD Records was nice, she stayed a little late so I could get a release slip tonight. ***** UPDATE TO THE UPDATE ***** So I've got my car back, most of it. Thanks pTony for the shuttle service, you were awesome. After about two hours, mixed up directions, wrong numbers, general confusion and minus $255 of my money in fees, anything of value in the car, one battery, and a catalytic converter, and then a noisy, windy and stinky ride home my car is back in the driveway. They gave me an old battery so I could drive it home but it's not the right kind. So a battery and converter will get it back on the road but that's going to cost a minimum of $300 and that assumes I can bolt a replacement converter in. If they damaged the exhaust it goes WAY up. I've decided that either way I'm getting rid of it. If the repairs are on the low end I'll fix it and sell it. If not then I'm just going to dump it.

Why do they always steal my car?

Jade-Anomaly — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:04:30 GMT

I just walked out front to put something in my car, and the car is gone. This makes two cars stolen in a matter of months. UPDATE: When I got home today the San Pablo police called and said they had recovered my car. Before I can collect it I have to get a release slip from Oakland, because the report was filed there, a release slip from San Pablo because it was found there, then pay the tow lot hundreds of dollar$ to give it back to me. Tonight I've talked to people from all three organizations and none of them can tell me what shape my car is in. I don't even know if I'll be able to drive it home. Hopefully I can find out in the morning. At least the lady in Oakland PD Records was nice, she stayed a little late so I could get a release slip tonight.

Need a parachute / shade structure cover ?

Jade-Anomaly — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:26:48 GMT

I have one, I'm tossing it out today if nobody wants it. call: four one five - two six zero - one one zero five

Nuclear Scanning Catches a Radioactive Cat On I-5

Jade-Anomaly — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:07:37 GMT

Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat's story from a community meeting with Northwest border control agents. Seems their monitoring for dirty bombs from the median of Interstate 5 caught a car transporting a radioactive cat. "It turns out the feds have been monitoring Interstate 5 for nuclear 'dirty bombs.' They do it with radiation detectors so sensitive it led to the following incident. 'Vehicle goes by at 70 miles per hour... Agent is in the median, a good 80 feet away from the traffic. Signal went off and identified an isotope [in the passing car]. The agent raced after the car, pulling it over not far from the monitoring spot.' Did he find a nuke? 'Turned out to be a cat with cancer that had undergone a radiological treatment three days earlier.'" http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/03/24/0035229.shtml ... And Other Strange News.... Pig bladder powder regrows human finger http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/24/pig-bladder-powder-r.html

Work is work

Jade-Anomaly — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:40:21 GMT

At my new job I've been tasked with creating checklists documents for New Hires and Terminations in the IT department (not HR). Instead of reinventing the wheel I thought I'd see if some of you IT geeks out there might have some you could send me that I could use as a starting point. If so email 'em to twolfrey@zinio.com. Thanks **** Edit **** I got the docs written and the boss loves them.

R.I.P Arthur C. Clarke

Jade-Anomaly — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:03:45 GMT

One of my favorite writers passed away today in Sri Lanka at the age of 90. He was one of my first Sci-Fi heroes, predicting technologies in his stories such as telecom satellites, cellular phones and the Internet. http://io9.com/369440/arthur-c-clarke-futurist-and-scifi-legend-dies

UPDATE - Stuffed Animal Pub Crawl

Jade-Anomaly — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:44:07 GMT

******************** UPDATE ON ROUTE AND STARTING POINT ******************************** OK, here is the final plan: Since a lot of people also want to go to the Pisces Party we will begin in the Lower Haight and work our way up Haight Street winding up at the party. We will start a little earlier than originally planned to leave time for both pub crawl and party. When the party ends if enough people want to we may continue the pub crawl. The meet point is the Noc Noc at 557 Haight St. at 1:00pm. If you need to catch up with us later call me at [redacted]. (Note: I created a second entirely new event listing to be sure everyone gets the updated info. Please RSVP on the orginal located at the following URL ) http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/event/Stuffed-Animal-Pub-Crawl/san-francisco-ca/c0b8e0f9-8266-482d-a5f5-38c4c4c61e40?nextpage=http%3A%2F%2Fsanfrancisco.tribe.net%2Ftemplate%2FHomeListings.vm ******************************************************************************************************** In the tradition of the "Stuffed Animal Snow Sport Brigade" trip to Tahoe I would like to announce: The First Semi-Annual "Stuffed Animal Pub Crawl" Taking place the day before St. Paddy's day, Sunday the 16th because well, people have to work on Mondays. Start time will be 1pm to give people time to rally from the night before. If you have friends who would enjoy this outing please do invite them to join us. If you don't have an animal outfit dress as animal control or a hunter. :-)

Looking for a room mate.

Jade-Anomaly — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:20:15 GMT

A room is opening up in my house at the end of March. I'd like to get someone cool in here. It's a nice house, close to Rockridge BART, has laundry in the basement and a small back yard. Parking is pretty easy and there are lots of shops and eateries nearby. I think rent is $565 plus your share of utilities with a $200 deposit.

Need some close up photos taken

Jade-Anomaly — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:23:28 GMT

I need some close up photos taken and my camera stopped working. Anyone near me in the east bay got a camera that does good macro or close up pictures? I need to have a couple of shots taken of my mouth to email back to my surgeon. This is pretty important so I'd be pretty grateful for help.

Post surgery report # I dunno

Jade-Anomaly — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:41:03 GMT

I'm Bored from being so limited in what I can do right now, and when I get bored I get twitchy. Today I had a minor freak out when I thought I had an infection from my surgery. I called my doctors practice and spoke to the Dr. who was on call. He had me email him pics of it. My doc called me back and reassured me that I DO NOT have an infection and that it only looks that way and it's a normal part of the recovery for this procedure. He explained again the stages it would go though, that at points it would look bad, like it was failing. I needed that because after the surgery I was too shaken for that speech to have really sunk in and stuck with me. Then he very gently read me the riot act about pushing myself to hard and expecting too much, too fast a recovery, and not leaving myself enough time in VA to recover where he could monitor things. So now back to the bored part. I need my friends help with this part. I can't exert myself much, so no going to the gym or hiking or such but I really need to be some kind of active. I'm sick of surfing the net and TV. So since I like to make things and be creative and I've been wanting to exercise that creative muscle I'd like to invite people over to work on projects or have you invite me over. I could teach you how to sew or make electronic projects. I could teach you computers or how to change the oil in your car. I've got a little shop with lots of tools and a work bench set up in my garage that we could build some things in if you want to make other stuff. Hell I could even help you turn an awesome liquor bottle or vase into a pipe if that's what you want. I'd like to learn to make jewelry if someone would like to teach me. My room desperately needs some decorating, maybe someone with a touch for it could come help me with that? I've got an old sport motorcycle that I'd like to get running if you have mechanical skills and would lend me a hand. I also have some ideas for fiber optic based art that I'd like to play with if anyone knows about that subject.

Advice on smogging a car.

Jade-Anomaly — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:47:10 GMT

So I've got this car I need to get smogged but I know nothing about how all this works. I'm not from California and it's the first car I've bought out here. I suppose the thing will pass but I'm not positive. If it fails do they reinspect at a cheaper price or do you have to pay the whole fee again? Are there any steps I can take to increase my odds of passing, like high octane fuel or fuel additives? Would changing oil help? I need to do that and a tune up anyway, plugs and wires at least. Also, does anyone know of an "easy" place to pass? Since I have an address in VA I could register the car there and skip all this mess but I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble. I meant to do that while I was in VA but it slipped my mind, I could still do it from here but I'm trying to play by the rules for a change.