Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, March 5, 2024

  • Y’all liking these longer posts, or are they a beating? You complain when I don’t post and then complain when my posts are too long. Hey, just as long as you are complaining I’m happy, at least I know I’m worth griping about, and that means a lot to me.
  • Jon Stewart helps me get through Mondays.
  • Monday started with a frustrating but funny medical billing call. I’ve met my deductible and out-of-pocket, so I’m covered at 100%. Knowing this, I reordered some CPAP supplies. They arrived within a few days, and two weeks later I received a bill for almost $200. The bill said that my insurance, Cigna, has already been billed. I had a feeling the medical supply company needed to update my insurance information. My insurance company hasn’t changed, but I have since started work with another employer. The first thing I do is log into my health insurance website to look at the claim and Explanation of Benefits. Neither existed.
    • I place the call, go through the lengthy phone tree, and finally get a human representative. Within ten seconds of her speaking, I hear a dial tone. I guess we got disconnected. No big deal, so I hit the redial button.
      • “The number from which you are calling has been detected as spam. If you think this is in error…”
      • Hmm, that’s weird. I didn’t catch the last part of the recording. so I hit redial, “The number from which you are calling has been detected as spam. Press 1 if you think this is in error.” I press 1 and get disconnected. I call back and have to go through the phone tree again.
    • A customer service representative greets me. I’m certain the call center was in India. I explain the situation, she reads through a script, and I play along. She asked for an account number, which contained both numbers and letters. Normally, I use the NATO phonetic alphabet to avoid any verbal confusion. You know, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta.
      • I gave her my account number, which had an “I” and a “P”. But this time I said, “I” as in “India” and “P” as in “Pakistan.” Inside, I was laughing at my cleverness.
      • She read it back to me, “I” as in “India” and “D” as in “Debra.”
      • Puzzled, I correct her and tell her, “No. It’s not ‘D’ as in ‘Debra’, it’s ‘P’ as in ‘Pakistan.'”
      • She said, “Yes, I said that. ‘D’ as in ‘Debra’ the animal.” It took me a second and then I realized what was happening. “Oh, you are saying ‘Z’ as in ‘Zeebra’, but you are pronouncing it ‘Zebra’ as if it rhymes with ‘Debra.'” She apologized, and read back the account number saying “I” as in “India” and “Z” as in “Zebra.”
      • I tell him, “No, ma’am. Instead of a “Z” for “Zeebra” you need to use “P as in Pakistan.”
      • So a Z was being used instead of P while I thought she was using a D.
    • “Can I place you on hold as I look into this issue?” “Sure.”
    • “Thanks for holding, sir. You are covered at 100%. Your insurance has already been billed, which leaves you with a balance of $197.59. If you think this is in error, please contact your insurance company and provide them with this process number….”
    • Oh, this again. “Would you mind just verifying my insurance?”
    • “It’s already been verified, you are using Cigna. When was the last time you updated your insurance information with us?”
    • “I’m not sure, but I think the member or group number you have is incorrect and needs updating.”
    • “No sir, it’s correct.”
    • .  “Well, would you just tell me what you have on file?”
    • She reads it to me, I tell her that’s incorrect. She again asked me when I last updated my insurance information. Back and forth we go, but I finally got her to take my updated information and file the request again.
  • Funny college football video game news I ran across last night: Texas QB Arch Manning will NOT opt into EA Sports College Football 2025. Arch is focused on playing football on the field.
  • Alright, I have some mixed feelings about this story, and I may be the only one. It’s actually a Texas love story that takes place near the Houston area. A woman marries her high school sweetheart, he gets in a major car accident and will need to be cared for for the rest of his life, she divorces him to remarry but petitions to be his lifelong guardian. Her new husband is certainly a man of integrity. And while she continues to love and care for her first husband, she still breaks her vow and that does bother me. What good is your word if it’s not as strong as oak? Perhaps I shouldn’t be such a stickler for the rules and let grace and love rule.

    Of all the things, it was her talking about looking at her groom as the doors swung open as she walked down the aisle that got me. I was so scared and let down when that didn’t happen to me and always had me questioning her devotedness. Men, if your bride doesn’t look at you like you are the only person in that room, she will not make you a priority. Leave. Run. Run away. Far, far, far away. Take a taxi. Take an Uber. Hell, go Greyhound. Just get the hell out of there. You’ll be doing yourself and everyone else a favor.

  • I really enjoyed this article, I caught about half of them when I was at the show, but I bet there are even more – All the Easter Eggs Hidden in U2’s Sphere Residency
  • Such as sad story, just 18 inches of water – Basketball Coach Drowns After Keys Fall Down Storm Drain
  • We’ll always love you, Ron – Prior to his first managerial appearance against the Rangers, Ron Washington made sure to talk about Texas’ success in 2023 before he even mentioned his new role with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.”Before we get started, I just want to congratulate the Texas Rangers on being World Series champs,’’ Washington said. ‘’They deserved it. They have such great fans, it was time they got what they deserved for their support of the Texas Rangers. They brought it home.’’
  • This happened over the weekend.

  • I guess this stuff has potential.
    https://twitter.com/HowThingsWork_/status/1763764917746712902
  • I remember ice cream in a rectangular box, but I remember Neopolitan being served in them.

  • I visited a new church on Saturday. I’ll write about it soon. But for now, here’s something about the first church that established my roots.

 

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