pauraque_bk | my beloved and my millionaire girlfriend and i

I don't currently owe money to any doctors or hospitals!

I am not even kidding... after I typed that sentence, the mail came and there was a bill from the hospital. But it's one I already paid, they just sent it before the check had gone through. And it did go through, I'm looking at it on my online bankery right now. Anyway.

If anybody asks, being sick is very expensive. I'm looking forward to cheap crappy universal health care. A friend of mine was recently arguing that the famed Canadian health care is not that good because you can end up on long waiting lists, so sometimes Canadians who can afford US prices come here for surgery and stuff. Key phrase: Canadians who can afford it. My strong suspicion is that poor people are better off with the option of waiting in line than no options at all. Of course I'm not Canadian so what do I know.

I got my new fone. As previously reported, I loved my old fone but the battery was too old and they don't make that kind anymore. It couldn't hold a charge for very long, and sometimes it would do cute little things like not deliver texts for hours, or not let anyone hear me when I talked.

I had to traipse to the FedEx place to get the new one because they refused to deliver it at a time I was actually there. If I'd been smrt I would have had it delivered to work, but it didn't occur to me they would insist on a signature.

I hate new things, but I'll get used to it. All I really ask is that it flips open (check) and has the ability to make a ringing sound when it rings (yes, though not as good as the ringing sound on the old fone).

Supposedly you can make the battery last longer by never plugging it in until it's actually dead. I guess I will try this. In which case I need an alarm clock, because I always used my phone for that. I think I have one somewhere already.

Speaking of new things, apparently there is no Citibank in Montpelier. I didn't believe

_hannelore so I checked, and it's true. There are some Citibank ATMs in 7-11s in the southern part of Vermont, but nary a bank. So I have to close my bank account when I move, and get a new one. I've never closed a bank account before, and when I opened the account I have now, I was like 15 and my mom helped me.

When you close a bank account do you make a new one first and they transfer the funds, or how do they do it? I need help from a grown up. :|

I got a new planner. Every year it's a struggle because I can never find the same kind of planner I had before, and nowhere ever has a good one. I liked the one I had, but it was academic so it went June-June, and since the most important life events I need to plan are taking place in the summer, this wasn't really that good. But I found an awesome one at the bookstore that runs March 2009-August 2010! For me this might as well be infinite, because that's beyond the amount of time I'm capable of planning ahead. And it's a size that fits in the pocket of my man-bag. And it has a week per page with enough room to actually write things.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it isn't spiral bound so it won't lie flat. Also the same thing I dislike about every calendar, which is that in WoW, the weeks start on Tuesday, and there are obviously no calendars that reflect that. Blizzard could maybe squeeze some more cash out of us geeks if they made planners where the weeks run Tuesday-Monday? And with pictures of bodybuilder-looking orcs and anorexic-looking belfs, I suppose.

I think I need a mop. Yeah. Floor is dirty... maybe a mop would help that.

I had a dream that I was packing boxes to be shipped to my new place. I think my imagination is broken.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

New bank account: You can do it that way, or close the old one and get a cashier's check for the balance to take to the new one. Or I suppose you could wire the money to her ahead of time and then have her give you it back, if you plan to use the same bank? Probably since you will be traveling, you don't want to be carrying around a backpack o' cash or anything.

They will ask you, when you set up your new bank account, the most absurd question possible. Maybe there is a more ridiculous one (I suppose "are you alive?" might be more absurd in terms of likely responses) but: they will ask you if you have any friends or relatives who are terrorists.

Because, of course, most people who expect to be laundering money for their terrorist buddies are going to be totally upfront about it.

This is apparently required by the Patriot Act. It's insane. Also, they find it suspicious if you bust out laughing at them for asking this.

They'll also want your social security card and photo ID and stuff, but I imagine you have those sort of things around because generally they are needed for, like, being hired for jobs and stuff.

No laughing or sarcastic answers about terrorists... check. At least at the airport they just ask if anyone has touched your luggage, with the assumption that if YOU put a weapon in your luggage, you wouldn't just tell them.

Interestingly, I'm about to get my state ID changed to my proper gender. (In CA you used to have to go to court to do this, but now that they've reduced the number of hoops I'm finally getting around to jumping through them.) I've been warned to be careful that all loose ends are tied up when this is done; apparently some people have gotten in legal trouble because if you change the info on your ID while you have outstanding contracts or something, they can argue that you're doing it for fradulent purposes. Anyway, I don't think that will come up here.

Re closing bank accounts: Given that you're leaving the area and there are no Citibanks near where you're going, I'd say close it before you leave (they like you to come in in person to close it.) If there's some brand of bank that's in your new area and also in your current area, you might be able to open a new account there and transfer most of the money in your old account before you go. However, sometimes banks can't (or won't, I'm not sure which) open an account for you that will be used in another state. So you'd have to find out about that.

Generally I like to open a new account, tranfer most of the money from my old one and then wait until the checks (or debits) I've made to the old account have cleared, then go in, close the account and get the last few dollars out in cash. But since there won't be a Citibank where you're going... hmmm. Maybe you should give your current bank a call, explain your situation and ask what they suggest.

Wow, your move is starting to sound very real/exciting now that it's coming closer. How soon are you leaving?

Thanks for the tips. There isn't a date set in stone yet but we're aiming for early August.

I'd probably go ahead and open the new account first, then close up the old one, just in case something goes wrong w/ opening the new account. But then again, I have an account at the credit union where I went to grad school that I've had for years, and that's out of state. I deal w/ that account online (and did direct deposit when I was working).

I thought about that too, but I'd like to be able to actually go in a bank and talk to a human if necessary. Not that it's easy to find them open. :)

People who praise American healthcare have never thought of being in the position where they are not insured and/or not able to pay. In no other first world country will you go bankrupt from medical bills, unless you're a cosmetic surgery addict...or travel to the US for expensive treatment! What's more, trained medical staff are in charge of medical decisions, not a junior office clerk at the insurance company. There can be queues, but at least you can be *in* the queue, unlike the US!

In no other first world country will you go bankrupt from medical bills

I think many USians still don't know this, or only know it in a vague way. It's hard for them to grasp when all they've known is our for-profit system.

amg I can't believe you didn't believe me! I totally used that link that you used to verify it was true, sheesh. :P

Now I'm imagining you giving me all of your bank contents and waiting for you at a neutral auction house. Guess I should start making bag space! (yes, we kan relate everything to WoW)

This is totally like moving to a new server. Let me just clear my mailbox and auctions.

My strong suspicion is that poor people are better off with the option of waiting in line than no options at all. Of course I'm not Canadian so what do I know.

And apparently the people who go on and on about the waiting lists Canadians end up on, haven't been on a waiting list for non-emergency care--or even emergency care--at the facility in-network with their insurance, in the US.

Sure, if you can afford the additional out-of-network costs, and the risk that the procedure simply won't even be covered at all, you can go to an out-of-network place. But once again, that comes back to having the money to afford the option. And, finding a place that believes that you'll pay. I've tried to go out of network for treatment, and basically been told "we don't take your insurance, and thus we refuse to make an appointment for you."

Yeah, I've experienced the same. When I had no insurance, I had to cold-call quite a few urologists before I could find one that would accept an uninsured, unreferred patient. Of course I didn't have a referral, I didn't have a doctor. All I had was a urologic disease and the promise that I'd pay out of pocket, and it took ages.

I don't understand how even people who have access to our system haven't encountered situations in which it is very, very broken, unless they aren't even really accessing their health care at all. Almost every circumstance under which I've had to access it has been a complete clusterf*ck for the past decade already. And I've accessing it with access to the insurance companies which are generally considered fairly decent.

Our insurance system is completely broken and itself often standing in the way of treatment options. The dependence on the insurance system is standing in the way of treatment options. We're already at the point where with or without insurance, the only real way to guarantee you're going to get the treatment you need in the time you need it is both the ability to pay cash AND the appearance of the ability to pay cash.

I've seen it extensively from a few different sides. I've had good insurance, no insurance, and an HMO. I've used seemingly every low-cost health provider in the bay area. The system is broken... There are individuals who want to help, and individuals who don't, but that is really not important, the WHOLE system needs help.

I hope Obama's plans will make things better, I really do. I think the US needs better health care more than anything.

my beloved and my millionaire girlfriend and i

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(frozen comment) no subject

(frozen comment) no subject

(frozen comment) no subject

(frozen comment) no subject