I am so happy that I normally have excellent health because when I don't, it often means that I have to deal with one of my least favorite entities: insurance companies.
To the mystification of commoners and medicos alike, I managed to get a nasty skin infection on the calf of my right leg. Take one look at it, and you'd swear aliens have landed. Fortunately, it doesn't hurt much, but I want it gone. I went online and discovered that my insurance company can't be bothered to put up a list of urgent care facilities that it covers. Used to be there, but it's gone now. Seeing that made my blood run cold because I would have to...speak...to...a... representative. I have yet to speak to a representative who can be (1) courteous), (2) intelligible, and (3) intelligent all at the same time-- and I have yet to find one that's #3. It would appear that they are all hired on the basis of how well they can read their scripts, not if they can think outside the scripts.
After calling three times, I managed to come in contact with someone who seemed to know which end was up. I made an appointment with a doctor in urgent care and drove all the way over there only to find that I had been given the wrong address and phone number. If this were the only time something like this had happened, I could shake it off, but it's a common occurrence every time I have to deal with the insurance company. And speaking to supervisors is no better. Ask me how I know this. Go ahead. Ask. You can even ask one of the folks at my oncologist's office.
But you will be happy to note that I am well on the road to recovery, although I'm still trying to figure out this happened in the first place.
One of the things I'm supposed to do is to keep my leg elevated. Since I do all my blog work sitting here at my desk, I'm trying to figure out how to type with one leg held high over my head. Hmmm.
I think I'll head out to the corral to see if the links have any good ideas. You never can tell. Head 'em up! Moooove 'em out!
►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
- Can you write a novel as a group?
- Technology is a crime writer's best friend.
- The history of how school buses became yellow.
- Great noir lives-- and dies-- on dialogue.
- Who has time to read? And where? And on what? A brief history of the "traveling" book.
- The Vatican Library has gone digital and can be viewed online.
- Why "Wichita Lineman" contains the greatest musical couplet ever written.
- James Patterson has announced that he'll be giving grants to thousands of teachers.
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
- Most slave shipwrecks have been overlooked-- until now.
- There is outrage as the 12,000-year-old settlement of Hasankeyf may soon be flooded.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art is hiring its first full-time curator of Native American art. ('bout time!)
- Artifacts from the final battle of the English Civil War are being uncovered during a road project.
- A family discovered a "perfectly preserved" Roman tomb hidden beneath their home in southern Spain.
- A Japanese museum is demanding compensation before it will return a stolen $1.3 million painting to the family of a British baronet.
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
- The Grand Canyon will be making a second run at corralling its bison herd.
- More than one hundred seal pups have been born in the Thames sixty years after the river was declared "biologically dead." (See? Not all the wildlife news is bad, thank heaven.)
- Dog breeding has changed pooches' brains.
- These high-tech scarecrows will keep pesky creatures away.
- A stray cat broke into the zoo and became best friends with a lynx.
- This Shiba Inu is the cutest flower boi in Japan, and his nineteen photos are making people happy.
- A French court has ruled that Maurice the Rooster can keep on crowing.
- Squirrels eavesdrop on birds to check if danger has passed.
►Fascinating Folk◄
- Kimberly Teehee is the Cherokee Nation's first delegate to Congress.
►The Happy Wanderer◄
- Murder, hauntings, and the Serial Killer Capital of Australia.
- The biggest William Blake exhibition in twenty years is coming to London.
- There's a Dr. Seuss exhibition opening in Toronto as well.
►I ♥ Lists◄
- Five great novels of revolution.
- Top ten ghost stories.
- Twelve of the fall's biggest cookbooks.
- Twenty-five famous authors' favorite books.
- Crime novels in the Age of Prohibition.
- Seven techno-thrillers to read as our world crumbles.
- International thrillers led by powerful, ambitious women.
- David Lynch names his five favorite books of all time.
That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.
Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!
Hope your leg is improving! And that your frustration with insurance companies has calmed down. It is so annoying to have to talk to people who really have no idea about how to solve your problem, especially about things that should be clearly stated--like what urgent care facilities are within coverage.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your links. :)
Glad to hear the you enjoy the links!
DeleteSorry to hear about your leg, Cathy, and I hope it's getting better. And as far as insurance companies go.....those reps would make excellent fiction murder victims. Just sayin' - that's how we crime writers think. Now, off to see that exhibition of Native American art.
ReplyDeleteYes, they would be---EXCELLENT victims (as well as the people who come to wake you up at 3 AM in the hospital to draw blood).
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