AmeriCorps/Nonprofit Blog
I can happily report that my cold seems to be getting better. My head is clearing up a bit, although the cough is still around.
Sigh. The cough. It will never go away!
Saturday was unbelievably productive--then again, with 12 union drywallers, perhaps it was all too believable. Anyway, the walls are almost compeltely sheetrocked, which is wicked awesome.
And we got a donation of $1000 today from Flagship bank (hooray Flagship!), and I'm not sure if we were expecting it. Certainly, I wasn't, which is always nice.
On the AmeriCorps Insurance front: EXPLITIVE! MANY OF THEM! I just charged $317 to my credit card to keep UMass Memorial from "garnishing my wages." I don't have any wages! Better yet was the response I got from the insurance--Seven Corners the bastards!--regarding my letter of explanation of why they should pay for the physical I was forced to have by UMass Memorial in order to recieve my medication prescriptions. My logic: if you cover the costs of my prescriptions (which you do), you should then also cover any doctors visits I make connected to those perscriptions. Thus, if, in order to receive my perscription my doctor says I have to have a physical, than that physical is not a preventative care visit but a visit related to my prescriptions.
This makes sense to the average person, does it not? Well, apparently it does not make sense to the (un)average people at Seven Corners. I hate them. A lot. And will Seven Corners help me buy food when my own money runs out because of the substantial increase to my monthly credit card payment due to $317 suddenly being added to my statement?
When will the insurance world acknowledge the clear benifit and long-term financial sense of covering things like annual physicals? When pigs fly over an ice-covered hell?
Trying to reason with insurance companies is like holding a debate with George W.
URGH!
OK, I feel better now. Happy Monday, everyone.
Hello, world! I apologize for being so cantakerous yesterday. Though I stand behind my comments on the evil stupidity of insurance companies (Seven Corners!), I was perhaps a bit overwrought about the whole thing.
I'm feeling much better, which certainly lends to my improved mood. I was worried that I would end up with "almost bronchitis," although those pink pills I was given were amazing! Hooray for the modern miracles or science.
I've got a new link, compliments of Nancy, the GWHFH treasurer. The site is Jibjab.com and it has some great satirical material about the presidential campaign, including a duet of "This Land..." sung by Kerry and Bush. WARNING: with the animation, singing, and some possibly offensive language, this perhaps not something you want to do at work (unless, like me, you work in an office that doesn't care).
Don't forget to watch the VP debate tonight. Edwards vs. Cheney: I think the winner will be pretty obvious. "Shrek vs. Breck" as someone (who, I don't know) named it. Hehehe. Although I love--yes, I declare it!--love Edwards, I can still laugh at that. And will. Haha!
The UN declares that the Sudanese government has done nothing to stop the "not really genocide" (I'm paraphrasing their timidity) in Darfur.
My response: No shit! (pardon my French) Why does the UN--the world at large--refuse to admit that the Sudanese government is behind the violence and therefore doesn't really care to stop it? There are times when I really do think the UN is as useless, ineffectual, and stupid as the Republicans. (Shudder at the thought of agreeing with conservatives). The UN is wonderful in theory, but you need people with the balls--the ovaries!--to put theory into action!
Brrr! It's a bit chilly this morning. I've been so messed up on time lately, that I've only recently realized that is now autumn and therefore normal to be cool. I feel like the whole month of September was skipped entirely. Where did it go?!
Yesterday was a good day onsite. A very competent group from Staples came out and did a great job of hanging drywall. (My only complaint is that I didn't get a t-shirt! Come on, people!) The day was book-ended by a couple amusing incidents:
1. Though I was covered in paint from a finger-painting activity gone wrong at the shelter Tuesday, I opted against showering before going to the build site. Thus, I was perhaps not at my most alert yesterday morning. I got out of my car and went to gather my tools from the backseat only to find the door locked. No problem. I opened the front door, hit the unlock button, and then went to the rear door again. When it stiill didn't open I suddenly realized that I had pressed the lock button. As my keys were in the cup holder in the front seat, this was a problem.
Did I panic? No. Because my cell phone was in my pocket and I have AAA. I dialed the 1-800 number on the AAA sticker on my car window. I explained my dilema with my keys. The customer service rep replied: "I apologize for the inconvience, ma'am." I laughed. "You apologize because I was stupid and locked my keys in the car?" She laughed too. I wish I knew her name because she was wonderful! (Thank you AAA person!) I gave her all the info, winding up with, "I'm parked across the street from 65 Paine Street, Worcester, Massachusetts." There was a pause before she said, "Worcester, Massachusetts? I'm with AAA Wisconsin." Ooops! "Well, I said, I did get my AAA membership when I was still in Wisconsin, so I guess that makes sense." "No problem, ma'am, let me connect you with a Massachusetts person." She did, and an hour later my car was unlocked with ridiculous ease. (Unlike last time, when four hours later, the AAA guy had never arrived. And so my dog ate my emergency brake handle.)
2. At the end of the day I locked up the house and stood with Joony, a Mass Academy student waiting for his mother to pick him up. Without warning I smacked myself on the head. "Doh! I left all of the leftover lunch food in the house!" I should explain that I don't have keys to the house. Once it's locked, I can't get back in. Joony looked at the house. "And the basement windows are open."
Double doh! I've got to get those windows closed. Maybe I could crawl through the window! Then I could properly close them and get the leftover food. These basement windows, however, are not huge. My first attempts were unsuccessful. In fact I almost got stuck. Joony fared no better.
Then I had a brillian idea! I could pop out the lower pane. Then surely I could fit through! I managed to unhinge the top of the pane, but not remove it completely. Well, I thought, maybe I could just flip it up and crawl through. I tried. I got bopped on the head by the pane. Great. Thanks.
But I would not give up! My second try I fit! But then I had to try and reach the ground. I managed to get a toe on the ground and was trying to get my other leg through the window (my legs stretched further than they had in years...) when I noticed that Joony's mom had arrived and was watching me with great curiosity.
"Joony, you're mom's here. I'm fine now, and could you please explain to your mom that I'm not crazy? Thanks for coming today. Bye!"
I was thrilled at my success. I locked the windows and proceded towards the stairs to get the leftovers (hello, dinner!). But at the bottom of the stairs I stopped. Again my hand smacked my head. "Doh!" The leftovers were in the other unit of the duplex. I was inside the building, but in the wrong house.
Oh well. The food would be spoiled. But at least the house was secure.
* * * * * * * *
The other great thing about yesterday: the first day of Belly Dancing! Yes, that's right. I'm taking belly dancing. It's really quite complicated. I love it!
It's Friday! And Deb, our Habitat president, called to tell us to go home. Yes. :-) Thank you, President Kuczka.
Good luck Australia and especially Afghanistan (hello, of course) on your presidential elections (bet you didn't know that Australia's election was this weekend, too).
Other than that, I don't really want to touch the rest of the news--too much killing.
But, hooray for the Nobel Peace Prize! Congratulations Wangari Maathai of Kenya. Plant trees, empower women, and fight for human rights and democracy, all at the same time. Hooray for some good news, anyway.
It's a beautiful weekend, I shall enjoy it to the best of my abilities. It looks like I may play volunteer coordinator at both Perry Avenue and Paine Street. An interesting feat. :-)
