Watching hoarders on TV (I think this show is Buried Alive) and thinking about the dynamics of people who hoard & people who watch it on TV.
Watching how they don't take care of their homes because they are so messy that it is overwhelming so they go from messy to trashed - they have piles of junk that become trash because food and dirt and literal trash accumulate on them. And that makes me think about neighborhoods and that process of deterioration. When I drive through neighborhoods that are in transition from marginal to declining, you can see the litter starting to build up - no one cares - they are trashed. The neighborhoods exude hopelessness.While I think most of the dynamics are different, there is a sense of powerlessness and hopelessness that is parallel in the two situations (hoarding and poverty). People see no way out.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
So you think you're in charge of your medical care?
Well, I can't believe the delusion that many Americans have regarding decision-making about their medical care. The reality is that decisions are made by insurance companies and the hospitals/medical centers. Here's a lovely example:
I went for my annual exam with my ob/gyn. (As an aside, I will mention that I didn't go last year because I was too busy taking care of my mother, kids, going to school & working, to take care of myself by going for an annual exam).
Anyway - we had a conversation about my health & concerns that hit on many areas. I found it helpful, blah, blah, blah. I did my copay at the appointment, as I always try to do. I happen to have pretty good insurance, which means that I can afford preventive appointments like this one.
Lo and behold I get a bill/summary of charges & payments a couple weeks later and I was being charged for TWO appointments. So I call the insurance company, who said, no it wasn't us that charged you twice - that would have been a decision by your doctor. Of course at no point did my ob/gyn say that she was charging me for 2 appointments, so I was annoyed, and called the doctor's office all in a huff. Well, her nurse was as confused as I was and said that I should not have been charged for 2 appointments.
What became clear as we talked was that this was a decision made by a coder at the medical facility where the doctor is employed. So, some non-medically trained data person at the Cleveland Clinic reads over the notes about my medical appointment (which I find offensive anyway - how many secretaries, data entry people, billing clerks, etc are privy to the intimate details of my life??) and decides that my ob/gyn actually saw me about 2 separate concerns, so I should be billed for 2 appointments. It's not about time, it's about the number of concerns addressed, whether it takes 5 minutes or 50 minutes. (Although I know that some circumstances, it is about the amount of time your doctor takes with you).
So, don't tell me that you are upset that the government might make decisions about your medical care (which isn't the case anyway) - the reality is that you aren't making the decisions anyway!
I went for my annual exam with my ob/gyn. (As an aside, I will mention that I didn't go last year because I was too busy taking care of my mother, kids, going to school & working, to take care of myself by going for an annual exam).
Anyway - we had a conversation about my health & concerns that hit on many areas. I found it helpful, blah, blah, blah. I did my copay at the appointment, as I always try to do. I happen to have pretty good insurance, which means that I can afford preventive appointments like this one.
Lo and behold I get a bill/summary of charges & payments a couple weeks later and I was being charged for TWO appointments. So I call the insurance company, who said, no it wasn't us that charged you twice - that would have been a decision by your doctor. Of course at no point did my ob/gyn say that she was charging me for 2 appointments, so I was annoyed, and called the doctor's office all in a huff. Well, her nurse was as confused as I was and said that I should not have been charged for 2 appointments.
What became clear as we talked was that this was a decision made by a coder at the medical facility where the doctor is employed. So, some non-medically trained data person at the Cleveland Clinic reads over the notes about my medical appointment (which I find offensive anyway - how many secretaries, data entry people, billing clerks, etc are privy to the intimate details of my life??) and decides that my ob/gyn actually saw me about 2 separate concerns, so I should be billed for 2 appointments. It's not about time, it's about the number of concerns addressed, whether it takes 5 minutes or 50 minutes. (Although I know that some circumstances, it is about the amount of time your doctor takes with you).
So, don't tell me that you are upset that the government might make decisions about your medical care (which isn't the case anyway) - the reality is that you aren't making the decisions anyway!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Fresh Beginnings
I am restarting my blog & will try to be a more faithful blogger - hence new beginnings!
I am almost done with my required doctoral coursework - it's an interesting feeling - excited, apprehensive, uncertain. I think that as one gets older one has fewer of these opportunities/experiences unless you seek them out. Life gets more routine - get up, take the kids to school, go to work, do the job tasks, come home, make dinner, cleanup, supervise homework, get the kids to bed, watch tv, go to bed & start all over again. You know what to expect.
But here I am, and it's like being seventeen again - the world is potentially my oyster. I feel like I can do great things in the great unknown. All possibly an illusion, but a nice illusion, nonetheless. Yes, there is a lot more work before I actually get my doctorate - just a little thing like a dissertation - but this is the end of phase one. So a big accomplishment & a new beginning.
It doesn't hurt that the sun is shining & it's a beautiful spring day.
I am almost done with my required doctoral coursework - it's an interesting feeling - excited, apprehensive, uncertain. I think that as one gets older one has fewer of these opportunities/experiences unless you seek them out. Life gets more routine - get up, take the kids to school, go to work, do the job tasks, come home, make dinner, cleanup, supervise homework, get the kids to bed, watch tv, go to bed & start all over again. You know what to expect.
But here I am, and it's like being seventeen again - the world is potentially my oyster. I feel like I can do great things in the great unknown. All possibly an illusion, but a nice illusion, nonetheless. Yes, there is a lot more work before I actually get my doctorate - just a little thing like a dissertation - but this is the end of phase one. So a big accomplishment & a new beginning.
It doesn't hurt that the sun is shining & it's a beautiful spring day.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Visioning
So I was invited to take part in the visioning process for Pen's elementary school - how do we want the school to be "branded." I think that my mix of open-mindedness and skepticism means that I am happy to engage and support, yet a part of me questions things at a multitude of levels.
For instance, why "branding" -- the creep of consumer and marketing language into an area like education seems to be inherently problematic. Education should be a counter balance to consumer culture and marketing. Yet here it has been co-opted by it. (And no, I do not see this as an instance of education co-opting the concepts of consumer culture - clearly the consumer culture has the upper hand and power).
Or the closing video which reviewed the importance of technology in our world, going on about the internet, blogging, podcasts, and other marvels of technology. Obviously I have no objection to technology, as I sit here blogging on my laptop, but it confuses a medium for achieving one's ends with an end-product. And throwing out-dated facts regarding technology use at me makes me crabby and argumentative. There is a large body of knowledge arguing against teaching elementary students technology! Better to teach them basics of reading, writing and mathematics; and HOW to learn and explore; and that learning is FUN -- all of which needs to be done in the context of relationships.
So, stay tuned for my next post, as I organize my thoughts regarding what wonderful insightful response I can make when the opportunity presents itself!
For instance, why "branding" -- the creep of consumer and marketing language into an area like education seems to be inherently problematic. Education should be a counter balance to consumer culture and marketing. Yet here it has been co-opted by it. (And no, I do not see this as an instance of education co-opting the concepts of consumer culture - clearly the consumer culture has the upper hand and power).
Or the closing video which reviewed the importance of technology in our world, going on about the internet, blogging, podcasts, and other marvels of technology. Obviously I have no objection to technology, as I sit here blogging on my laptop, but it confuses a medium for achieving one's ends with an end-product. And throwing out-dated facts regarding technology use at me makes me crabby and argumentative. There is a large body of knowledge arguing against teaching elementary students technology! Better to teach them basics of reading, writing and mathematics; and HOW to learn and explore; and that learning is FUN -- all of which needs to be done in the context of relationships.
So, stay tuned for my next post, as I organize my thoughts regarding what wonderful insightful response I can make when the opportunity presents itself!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Fall in Ohio
Well, the leaves have mostly fallen off the trees. JT spent the past few weeks trying to earn money by raking leaves with his friends. They are now looking forward to snow with the hope that they will earn even more money that way.
The autumn leaves are always gorgeous. I love the red ones that are almost iridescent, and I love the multitude of colors and the layers of shapes and shades. We had a good fall with many sunny blue sky days (at least for Ohio). I am sure many will disagree and complain about the weather, but there were enough good days for me, and more than we often see.
I can't imagine living somewhere I couldn't see, hear and smell this season.
The autumn leaves are always gorgeous. I love the red ones that are almost iridescent, and I love the multitude of colors and the layers of shapes and shades. We had a good fall with many sunny blue sky days (at least for Ohio). I am sure many will disagree and complain about the weather, but there were enough good days for me, and more than we often see.
I can't imagine living somewhere I couldn't see, hear and smell this season.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
walking down the street again...
Well, I can't believe it's been months since I last posted. Life has transitions after transitions - I have been through a series of changes since I last posted. But at the moment I am treading water. I cannot get it together to do the multitude of things which will bring closure to any of the things I need to bring closure to. So the list sits there and depresses me further.
But I read an article which was talking about the value of blogging in helping people to cope with cancer, and blogging to help cope with stress, and it occurred to me that I could start blogging again.
The title of this post is a reference to the teaching tale (poem?) which is I think titled or subtitled "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters," about walking down the street and falling into the hole and taking forever to get out and walking down the street again and falling in again and taking forever to get out again, and eventually it ends by walking down a different street.
But I read an article which was talking about the value of blogging in helping people to cope with cancer, and blogging to help cope with stress, and it occurred to me that I could start blogging again.
The title of this post is a reference to the teaching tale (poem?) which is I think titled or subtitled "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters," about walking down the street and falling into the hole and taking forever to get out and walking down the street again and falling in again and taking forever to get out again, and eventually it ends by walking down a different street.
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