I Need to Get Invited to More Parties Like This

The Waiting

The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you see one more card

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part

Probably not what Tom Petty had in mind, but the fourth week of waiting to hear from the new insurance carrier is starting to get on my nerves a bit. It's almost impossible to make any plans more than a couple weeks ahead, not knowing how quickly I might get scheduled once we finally do hear back from the insurance company. 

I do have an appointment with the audiologist this week to discuss the two systems. The choice of which system I have implanted is mine, and right now, I'd have a hard time choosing. Each system has features that I like that aren't available on other.   What would be really nice would be a mash-up of the two systems.

Probably the biggest thing about the appointment this week though, is it will give me a chance to try on each of the processors, and find out how they feel, how heavy they are, what color options are available, fiddle around with the controls, things like that.

Home Improvement Blues

A certain blue home improvement store can go suck it.  I've been in the market for a new front door. Since I've finally lined up someone to install it, I went back up to the store to start the process of ordering. 

When I went shopping last fall, the sales person said that for $35, they could send someone out for a detail measurement. When I went back on saturday, a second sales person said the same thing. Each time it was clear that I was either going to install it myself, or use my own person, and not use their install services, other than the detail measuring. Since I  wanted to make sure I was ordering the right size, I paid the fee, and on Monday, their person  called and made an appointment for Tuesday over lunch.

Tuesday comes, and the guy shows up, no problems so far.

Tonight, I go up to place the final order. Surprise, surprise, the sales person tells me that they can't release or use the measurements if I'm doing it myself or not using their contractor. I dealt with three people there tonight, none of them able to explain why they failed to tell me three different times that this would be a problem, other than "It's against our policy to release the measurements." They did say "It's a standard door."

At least they did give me my money back. Except, as I was about to go with the manager to the check out for my refund, they asked if I wanted to go ahead and order the door. My jaw about hit the floor. How am I going to do that, if you won't give me the measurements? I'm just supposed to GUESS at what the "standard door" numbers are?  I told them. "No. You guys just lost a sale and my future business for a long time."

I stopped at the orange place on my way home.  Asked the guy there if they can do measurements as a stand alone package.  He said that for $30, they'll send someone for measuring, and once they have the measurements, they have no problem giving me the numbers. He gave me the number for their install co-ordinator, we ran an estimate based on some rough numbers I already have, and I made the $30 payment.

I guess we'll see if the sales people at this place know their store policy any better.

What I don't get, is why the problem giving me the measurements? I could understand if they had done it as part of a free estimate, but I did pay them for the service.

At any rate, it will be a long time before I go back to the first store.

Update:

I ordered the door without much problem Friday night at the orange store. The sales guy I dealt with this time did draw up a quote for the install without me asking, but when I said I had other arrangements already, he didn't even blink an eye, and deleted it. 

(it came out much closer to the quote I already have than I expected. It would be  tempting to just go with them, but I think it will be helpful to have a connection to an independent guy for some of the other projects I have on my list that I might not want to take on myself)

Minneapolis' Finest

I hate having to interact with cops on the job:

A couple of weeks ago, on one of the first nice Sunday afternoons this spring, I went for a quick 35 mile ride out to Hopkins on the Cedar-Lake trail, and back on the midtown .  Somewhere behind Target Center, I'm waiting at a red light, and a Minneapolis Police car that I had seen a few blocks back, pulls up along side me, rolls down his window, and says something to me.  I wonder if he didn't like the (legal) left turn I had made a couple of blocks back. 

He's at least 6 feet away, we're out doors with some breeze, and he's sitting in his car, I have to bend down to try and get a better look at his face, even though there's almost no chance I'm going to be abel to get what he says. 

"What?" 

"Do you....something," he repeats, pointing at my bike.

Now, I'm guessing there's something broken on the back of my bike, so I take a quick look down, then look back up.

"What?"

He repeats himself, and holds his hands up in the shape of a card, so I start guessing he's asking if I have a license. Well, ever since that car hit me, I always carry ID and my insurance cards with me, so I start nodding my head, then he points at my bike again. 

Now I'm just getting confused, thinking to myself that Minneapolis doesn't license bikes anymore, so I start shaking my head.

Finally , I point at my ear and say: 

"I can't hear you." 

He looks at me for a moment, then starts rolling the window back up, and speeds away.

I still haven't figured out the point of that interaction. I know he didn't see me make any illegal maneuvers on the bike. It does look like I was wrong, and Minneapolis does technically still have the licensing ordinance on the books, but it looks unenforceable, as the state law that allows it (and that set up the registration that Minneapolis "uses") was repealed in 2005. So even if I wanted to license my bike, there is no way to do that.

This kind of interaction with almost any cop always sets me on edge. The Minneapolis Police don't have a particularly good reputation when it comes to dealing with people with disabilities, so I'm just relieved that this didn't escalate to him jumping out of the car screaming, or worse.

Laugh, Groan, or Cry?

I just figured something like this would happen, and I'm not sure whether to laugh, groan, or cry. I had contacted the implant clinic last week to inform them of the upcoming insurance change at work, and they finally got back this morning with this update: My insurance authorization for the surgery was received yesterday. This really surprised me, as they (and almost everyone else) had warned me it would likely take a minimum of 4 weeks to get a response.

Unfortunately, they can't get me on the schedule before July 1, when my insurance changes. That means the request will have to be resubmitted to the new insurance carrier.

What was still unclear was whether I could submit the request to the new carrier before July 1, or if I would have to wait. Before leaving work today, the benefits coordinator in HR emailed me with a form that I need to fill out. Once I submit that with the current approval, she will be working directly with the carrier to push this through their system.

Right now, I have a request in to the clinic to have them fax me a copy of the approval. 

We'll see how quickly the new company processes this, but I'm hopeful: I would think that they would want to make a good first impression with us. Although I don't know much about this stuff, it seems that the fact that they would like a copy of the approval would indicate they may largely accept the other company's decision. 

At the very least, I would guess I won't face too much hassle getting it approved again.

I guess that means I need to contact the audiologist again to find out how much time before the surgery I have to make a final decision on which device I want. Before I do that, I want to try wearing each processor, if possible, and find out what options (colors, processor type, accessories, etc.) are available for each one.

WCCO Meterorology

My parents were visiting last weekend, so we had WCCO on during the wave of storms. I learned some "new" meteorology from WCCO.

I knew that it was only a funnel cloud until it touched ground, and only then does it become a tornado. What I didn't know was that if it then goes back up, so it is no longer on the ground, it then becomes a "Can't believe it cloud."