Thursday, September 29, 2011

Doctor's Office Visit

So I get a bill from my doctors office telling me that I owe them 110 dollars. I got really fucking pissed off and didn't look at it for a day to avoid getting more pissed off. So I look at my BCBS online account and I see that they denied the claim made by my doctors office. No reason why, just that they don't cover those services even though it says in black and white that they have an allowed amount for my claim.
So I call BCBS and I get put on the infinite hold line. So I email them instead to ask them to explain themselves. Then I call my doctors office and I am sent to billing where no one picks up, just left to leave a message.
One of the things that pisses me off about doctors offices is they don't tell you the cost of procedures or even if they are covered under your plan. It should be a fucking requirement that if it is not going to be covered then they need to fucking tell you that before doing the procedure. Its not fair that I have to find out after the fact and then I have to pick up the bill because these jack offs don't want to communicate.
I call BCBS the next day and I get a hold of someone. They inform me that my doctor is out of network hence the denial. The reason though is because my doctor does not accept HMO. The mother fuckers don't accept HMO even though they gladly let me continue service knowing this. I need to collect as much information as possible in order to fight my way out of this one. I don't want to pay.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Hubris

A co worker of mine went on site to one of our child companies and I think all of the positive responses he is getting is going to his head. I hate how he thinks that they trust him and love him. If I was in charge I would make him look bad in front of them on purpose so that he would come off his high horse. Nothing annoys me more than emotional people in important situations.
He becomes aroused with emotion and over sympathizes with the client so to speak. I hate calling them that, but it is easier to say client than it is to say, "individual who works for company that we own."
The clients pulled him into a meeting that he didn't belong in. They were asking him important questions that he shouldn't have been answering. Right now he thinks he is super liaison. I want to smack him when he comes back.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Hack Shop

The place that I work at is what I would like to call a hack shop. We are given very poor resources and expected to come out with stellar results. They give us these business grade laptops and expect us to get our jobs done quickly and efficiently using fucking Dell Latitudes. A latitude is good for a fucking pencil pusher, not a developer. Inspiron is the lowest you should go for development. What pisses me off is the fact that they give us the least and expect us to make the most out of it.
This is a hack shop that is pretending to be a development shop, then I have people internally telling us what we are doing wrong after the fact... a lot of good that does. Fucking idiots want the best code and performance ever, but don't want to pay for it either.
Right now I am just so sick and tired of the treatment I get here and the disrespect that comes with it. I am afraid to ask for a raise because I think I will be told no and then they will put me on their replacement list. On one hand I want to tell them to go fuck themselves, find a higher paying job and just leave. On the other hand I am afraid to leave because I am technically in a very good and powerful position with respect to the future. This company is still technically a start up and has a ton of potential with my manager's role being changed soon which would change everything.
I just don't know what to do and the worst thing is, who says it will be any different anywhere else?

Monday, September 26, 2011

Wants

After I get my house I would like to have the following in no particular order:
01. A new android phone
02. Switch to boost mobile to save more money
03. New pc gaming rig
04. Upgraded server rig
05. Netbook
06. Shed
07. Angle grinder
08. Welder (not sure what kind yet)
09. Drill press
10. Miter saw
11. Wet saw
12. Newer drill
13. Tap and die set
14. Newer drill bits
15. Table saw
16. New tool box
17. Tool chest
18. Newer larger capacity air compressor
19. New car
20. Pay down student loans
21. New car for wife
22. Vibrating knife tool thingy
23. Composter
24.

Friday, September 23, 2011

One Sided Negotiations

So for just right now, during the year of 2011, it seems that asking the bank that owns a house under short sale to reduce their asking price down by 20K is actually okay. The reasoning I have gotten so far is that they would be idiots if they didn't lower it because we are so far inside with the sale that it just wouldn't make any sense not to.

I think that is flaky reasoning and wishful thinking. Either way at least it is a reason to not give up hope yet. The other side to this is that I have asked like 4 or 5 people already about their thoughts on all of this and they have all consistently said the same thing, "yeah... that's normal. Just renegotiate." I was shocked each time I heard it.

From what I understand, this is considered normal for right now. These banks need to get their crap houses out of their books. It is just more of a liability right now.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Affordable Marraige

Was legally married today to my girl.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Office Warfare

I am thinking about, and I probably am, going to invest in a voice recorder that looks like a USB drive. I do not trust my boss at all and I think it makes more sense to start recording our discussions from now on. Whether it is a group discussion or a one on one interaction, I want to record our discussions so I can review them later and so I can use them as proof too if need be.

I am being told to be patient, but I am not sure how much longer I can wait while I am letting other opportunities pass me by. I can be making about 25-30% more than I am making now. The only problem is that I am not sure how safe any of those jobs out there are in comparison.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The Homeowners Game

I got confirmation from my closer that South Florida homes require type HO3 insurance. I also got my policy lowered to about $1,800 per year by sacrificing a lot on the policy.

So I got my appraisal back and my worst fears have been confirmed the appraisal came in under 10K than asking price. Fuck. Then the next thing is that my closer did a voodoo calculation that I don't understand worth a damn and actually said that it is 20K under. So we need to go back to the negotiation table with the owner and short sale bank bastards and attempt to get them to drop the value by 20K.

This does not look good. I am ready to walk. I got fucked out of 370 dollars for an inspection and 425 dollars for an appraisal that fucked me so far.

This is some confusing shit.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Oh Come On Now!

So the good faith estimate (GFE) for the home owners insurance for my house is $1,200 a year according to my loan officer. It turns out that after we started getting quotes and all this crazy bullshit we find out that it is realistically anywhere between 2,500 to 5,000 dollars for HO3 grade insurance per year! Holy shit, that GFE is not good, it is just a Faith Estimate. So I have been going apeshit crazy trying to figure out how to lower the policy. Not easy and no good. No matter what the best I can find is about $3,000.

Fuck you citizens insurance and fuck you insurance companies in general for skipping town after being required to do your job. You know... make good on the insurance part of the insurance. Citizens can kiss my ass because their rates are purposely high because they don't want homeowners to use them (this is a Florida Republican invention by the way)... well how the fuck am I supposed to be insured by someone who isn't Citizens if NO ONE ELSE WILL COVER FLORIDA? How is that fair or legal?

Thanks Florida Republicans, yall suck.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Fridgerator Courtesy

It is annoying at times to share a refrigerator with so many other people. If everyone would just bring a bagged lunch, lunch box or equivalent it would be fine. However there are those times where people bring in their shopping for lunch for the whole week. That is very nice, but what about everyone else? We want space for our stuff too? I mean hell I bring a bag back and forth every day, so I am not taking up space for very long.

The worst part is when stuff starts going bad and begins to reek like hell. Are you really going to tell me that you forgot about all the fucking shopping you just did? The same people who shop for the week, leave stuff in the fridge to die, then rot for an unwanted odor.

What the fuck?

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Underwriters

There are jobs out there that I think people have that are tough to do because it forces them to be the bad guy in a sense. One of those jobs is software or systems testing. What I want to talk about though is mortgage "underwriters". These people are basically fact checkers, they make it so that any piece of documentation you give them must be scrutinized and verified.

I have to say, it is a little frustrating at times, but they are doing their jobs. I just didn't enjoy some of the more annoying parts like being asked, "where did this number come from in your bank statement?" I would think to myself, "Its money, small amount, why do you care? Want me to pay you or not?" I mean its not like it is drug money where 20K was deposited mysteriously into my account over nigh in cash.

At any rate... they are doing their job. They are protecting the bank and themselves.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Legal Drug Pushers

Have you ever gone to your doctor to get a serious concern of yours put to rest? I have. I have gone to several doctors and just like going to any other professional for their opinion, I have had good doctors and bad doctors. The good doctors seem to care, show genuine interest and have a great knowledge base. The bad doctors don't care, have no interest, are concerning with just getting you out of their office so they can get paid, have a shitty knowledge base due to a lack of care and inexperience and are pill pushers. I have gone to the doctors for some serious concerns and they always seem to want to just fix everything with a pill instead of checking me out and looking at my problems or at my blood test.

The only thing these "doctors" seem to do now a days is look at your weight and tell you, "you are obese and need to lose weight" then to add insult to injury they tell you that because your chemistry numbers don't fall into a predetermined varying range of numbers that you must take a pill in order to get back to that fucking pointless and sometimes made up range of numbers. My resentment for doctors has only increased over the years because there is a group of words I don't want to hear from someone that I depend on for life and death situations and that group of words is "I don't know...". It makes me see red when I hear a trained professional who is getting paid at least six figures that they don't know what is wrong with you or why you feel ill. I know they aren't mind readers but goddamn it they don't seem to try either. The only solution they have to almost everything is, "I am giving you a prescription for something you cannot pronounce and is far from even being natural. It is going to make you depressed and not want to have sex, but you have to take it because your chemistry numbers indicate that you are out of range and that isn't good."

When are people and doctors especially going to realize that you cannot pidgin whole everyone into one category of numbers? We are different breeds of people depending on what area we come from. We are animals. Dogs and cats have breeds, we treat them differently depending on where they are, but when it comes to humans there is this fake idea that we are all physically equal which is horribly wrong. This is not about being racist at all, this is about realizing and accepting that we ARE indeed different physically. There are a lot of genetic studies that are done that prove this otherwise there wouldn't be statistics like, "Black males are more prone to heart disease." Why do you think that is? Because the black breed of people are built differently than everyone else. The same concept applies to people from the middle east, they are also prone to having heart disease and high cholesterol. However for some breeds of people this has got to be normal. I want to believe that is because they live in hotter climates and their blood is constantly heated which is why it probably won't affect them too badly because it keeps their blood thin. Moving over to the polar opposite, look at how well Russians live in cold weather, that isn't a mere coincidence that is like that for a reason. They were bred and adjusted to cold climates. I am guessing that they are stark white to match their surroundings. Eskimos have naturally high cholesterol because they live in freezing weather all of the time and they are fine, they aren't on cholesterol medication. However if an Eskimo went to an American doctor, that doctor would damn that Eskimo to hell because his cholesterol and weight are elevated.

I am going to equate the modern day General Practitioner to a drug pusher. I am not the first to make this comparison and I won't be the last. I also think that the modern day General Practitioner's job can be replaced by a robot or a trained monkey which ever is cheaper. I already aired my complaint about them above, but again they look at your numbers and stupidly say that you belong in a poorly constructed range of numbers; then they prescribe you drugs to get your numbers back into that pointless bullshit range.

I have been doing everything in my power to work out and eat right. I impress people with my dedication, but I have a thyroid problem which means my metabolism doesn't work well enough. I am hot all of the time and I sweat a lot. I have been taking Levothyroxine (most commonly known as the brand name Synthroid) to correct this because I decided it was a good idea. I refuse to take these pill pusher's cruddy and unsupported advice at face value. I did my research and I ran my own tests. I have lost about 40 pounds and I have lowered my chemistry numbers down to what I think is acceptable with diet and exercise. My cholesterol is elevated, but guess what, my cholesterol has ALWAYS been elevated even since I was a child. So the doctor's predetermined bullshit range of numbers doesn't fit me because I am not bred that way. I am also considered obese. I am tall, have big feet and currently weight 213 pounds. I constantly have people telling me I look fine for my size, skinny even. When I tell the my doctor says I am obese their mouths hang open. So all of these things, little things, amount to one giant case against "traditional" bullshit drug pushing medicine.

Finding a doctor is difficult which is why I have pretty much become my own general practitioner. I advise my self to go to the correct specialist after research.

The hospital is a whole other area of disgust to me, starting with the nurses and ending with the bastard doctors who should be ashamed to call themselves doctors. They apparently know NOTHING because all I ever hear out of them is "I don't know...". I have watched people die because they "don't know". I don't trust doctors. Fucking drug pushers. Mother fuckers charge you 80 bucks for a single goddamn Tylenole. All of these doctors are guilty of over charging insurance companies because they are price gougers, thanks to them they increase our premiums and make things are stupid as they are. Trust my, I am not defending insurance companies they are just as worthless as the doctors who scam them. Ever get a scope shoved up your nose? Apparently that is considered surgery and you pay the surgery price because of it. Stupid shit like that pisses me the fuck off.

One of the industries I hate the MOST, possibly more than the drug pushers is their lovely suppliers which are correctly named drug companies or the euphemism "Pharmaceutical Companies". These bastards are the drug makers, they make all of the trash that these so called doctors push out to their users. Now don't get me wrong some of these drugs are useful, I use Claritin on a regular because I have a dust-mite allergy and it can be debilitating at times, but these bastards make drugs for things that don't even make sense sometimes. A lot of these drugs are probably responsible for many cancers that people get. These bastards just like the insurance companies don't give a flying fuck about anyone. They just want money.

I don't care if they have large student loans to pay off, no one forced them to be doctors. Just like I don't give a shit if an aspiring actress or actor has two jobs to fund their dreams, go fuck yourself you don't HAVE to live like that you CHOOSE to live like that. I wanted to be an artist, but artists don't make much money so instead I became an engineer to make ends meet.

Lastly, just to state what should seemingly be fucking obvious: OBVIOUSLY not all doctors, nurses, drug reps, insurance reps etc. etc. fit the bill I described above. I do have some doctors and etc. that have treated me right. However it is not okay that there are people in this important profession that act as drug pushers.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Houses

Things are jiving along with the house. I just paid 5K to escrow, not thrilled about it, but it is necessary. I am drawn to buying a house while other people are so weird about the process, just like with credit cards. It really isn't all that complicated, the process is simple, just do what they tell you and you will be fine.

My philosophy is simple:

Credit Cards

Pay down your bill immediately or in advance. You are borrowing money from yourself. If you don't think you are going to be able to pay it off then you shouldn't have used it to begin with. The moment you let yourself go and charge charge charge is when you should cut up your credit card or use a prepaid version like the one Russel Simmons promotes.

Buying a House

It is not a resale investment. Just because you poured 50,000 dollars into your house, you upgraded it etc... doesn't mean anyone is going to buy it. You buy a house to live in it and sell it if you need to move. If you don't make money in the process then too fucking bad, that wasn't the point. Only rent a house you have paid off before attempting to buy a new one.

Bottom line, if you don't want to own a house, then go rent. However when you grow older and it becomes more difficult to find a job, I will laugh at you because my house will be paid off and I will live rent free. I will only have to pay insurance and property taxes which over the span of a year is about 75-80% less than renting. I will be able to retire easily.

I am just annoyed with all of the people who bought a house and regret it now. Idiots all bought in expensive. 1600/month rent. Mine is going to be 1400/month, which isn't bad. It is less than what I pay in rent now. I am going to pay it down fast too because I like doing that kind of stuff, its a thrill for me. I can't wait to do anything I goddamn want to do to my house. People can kiss my ass.

The only fear that I have with owning a house is not being able to make my mortgage. I will do everything in my power to be on time and current, but if for whatever reason I get hit hard financially, and I cannot bounce back, I am willing to accept foreclosure. Fuck it.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Got Wood?

I was building a wooden box out of pressure treated wood. This box is going to live outside so it needed to be pressure treated. I made a frame out of 2"x2" and used 1/2" plywood as the facing. I bolted everything together as best I could with lag bolts and I used wood glue to bond the plywood to the frame which of course was accompanied by nails and screws.

I used Spax brand screws which kick ass by the way, just wanted to put that out there. They are flared screws that you don't have to pre-drill for (depending on the application).

I used interior wood glue, BAD idea! Its no joke, use the designated glue for exterior. The interior glue will not dry outside in humid weather.

Something that annoys the piss out of me though is that the inscribed wood measurements are a blatant lie! Why the hell is it that when I purchase 2"x2", it is actually 1-1/4"x1-1/4"? Same with other cuts of wood. Like a 1'x2' is really 10"x1-1/4. Why do they do that? It completely fucks up my calculations each time, because stupid me keeps thinking the tag on the wood means what it means. I really need to look it up and find out.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Fuck Me

So I get in contact with billing and it turns out that the fucking letter I gave them from BCBS and the temporary ID card and me saying "I think its a PPO" incriminates me automatically. I fucked myself because I said its a PPO when all they accept is PPO and in reality I have a fucking HMO. Why the fuck can't BCBS just use those fucking terms instead of "Blue Care" or "Blue Plus". Which is fucking meaningless.
So now I made a 110 dollar mistake because that is what I owe them. Their fucking billing staff never picks up the fucking phone when you call them. I hate that kind of shit, I hate those mean fucking billing people and awful receptionists with the bad fucking attitudes.

High Volume Anger

I am currently experiencing the kind of angry that I experience when I am at the tipping point or the verge of a melt down. I now know how people feel before they go on a fucking killing spree. In life its okay to be an asshole as long as you don't break any laws. If you break morality laws it doesn't matter unless the people above you are moral or have visibility of your moral issues. I swear if there was any power I wish I could have, I wish it was the power of death. I wish I was the cosmic being death. I wish I could only be seen when I want to reveal myself and take the lives of people who deserve it.
Where is a fucking hell girl when you need one.
I am trying so hard to calm down right now which is why I am writing down how I feel so that I don't start screaming or yelling at anyone. I am at the breaking point and it is very difficult to not turn. I have dealt with the billing bitch from hell today, admittedly my fault that I got fucked on this and I was passed up today on going to a lunch meeting with one of our potential hires. My asshole boss excluded me from an interview and picked one of the people under me in stead. Said he had more technical knowledge. I am heavily insulted.
So I have been on edge all morning already and it doesn't help that I owe 110 dollars now that I didn't plan on.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Playing House

So I have been trying to buy a house and let me just say it has been rather difficult. Finding it has been retarded, putting a bid in has been absolutely ridiculous, then dealing with all the paper work is uncomfortable. Almost a nightmare.

The amount of money involved in buying a house is ridiculous. It costs too much to buy one and the games you have to play are ridiculous. There is a lot proof that has to be provided, there is a lot of running around and pre-investments that are done. I had to pay $370 dollars for a full house inspection, I had to pay $450 dollars to my mortgage company for fees and other craziness and my all time favorite is $1500 dollar earnest payment. This doesn't include the $10K-15K dollar closing costs and not to mention I found out that I have to buy homeowners insurance on my own which I am going to have to pay the first year of all in one shot. That could be $2-4K easily.

This is going to be tough. The good news is I have been smart about the money I have been saving. The next deal after that is getting my roof fixed, I can't afford that because it is just to goddamn expensive right now to deal with. I have gotten estimates of $11-14K which is pretty goddamn expensive if you ask me.

My point is for all this, is that I want a house. Not because it is an investment, but because I am going to live in it. A house should not be considered an investment, it is considered a place where you live. The property value should be of no concern to you. The goal is to buy the house and pay down the mortgage to zero so that you can live mostly rent free at one point.

If you want an income property, do not try to juggle two mortgages, pay one off first, then rent it out when you purchase a new property.