12.27.01 - 11:59 a.m.

a-choo.

aaaaaaaaaa-choo.

aa-aa-aa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaachoo!

sniffle.

i have a cold. i don't like having colds. i especially don't like sitting here at work with a cold when everyone else who has a cold is off at home doing x y or z. like, particularly when i'm might suspicious ('spicious) about a certain someone who shall remain nameless (EDH) whose absence always makes my day much worse.

not that i've done anything, like, at all this morning. well, except for her non-billable duties, which i shouldn't've done, but which had to be done. everyone is out sick.

i believe that certain people are sick, but not others. heh. i think i need to sneeze again. gah. i didn't realize this morning when i was lazing around in bed precisely why, perhaps, i was lazing so deliciously around in bed. somehow, i found a reserve of strength of which i was unaware and hauled myself up and out, dressed and hurtled myself into the (very!) chilly morning.

all my little plants are dying now. finally, dying. the outside ones. because it's cold. it didn't get cold until recently, but i am glad i got my new coat before it got cold. now it feels like winter, and i'm finally ready for christmas to come - when really, it already has.

a-choo.

i received the bill for the rheumatologist yesterday. or, rather, not the bill, but the explanation of benefits from my health insurance. i hafta pay the whole thing. no local rheumatologist was a preferred provider. i would've had to drive to charleston (fifty miles) in order to find a preferred provider. and even though i did hafta drive to ashland, fifteen miles is alot better than fifty miles. it looks like i owe the rheumatologist about $300 for the first visit, and probably another $200 for the second visit.

ouch.

really, i can pay it. but, man. ouch. it would be much nicer if i didn't hafta pay it. heh. i mean, the insurance didn't pay for ANY of this, i guess because i hadn't met my deductible. or something. maybe i needed pre-approval. yeek.

::grumbles::

i don't really pay attention until this happens-happens. and then i'm just. gah. you know, the thing is i'm sure MAMSI made money on me. even with all the evaluations about my eye, i think they all made money on me. heh. i mean, i'm sure i don't want to know how much the firm pays for my health insurance, but i bet we're talkin' $4000/year. because we're such a small group and so many people have such chronic problems, that our health insurance is always at the bottom of the risk pool. and i KNOW i didn't have $4000 worth of medical bills, sooo...

a-choo.

stupid cold.

stupid absent secretary. this is SUCH a lazy time of year, but SO damn busy because you hafta prepare for all those days you'll have off. and i can't wait until i go home tonight. i'm gonna eat leftovers and sack out in front of the tv. i'm gonna rent some silly movie and read my book and like, drink hot tea with milk and eat as many cookies as i want.

so there. iiii bet you're not going to have as good an evening. homemade cookies, snuggling with kittycat, movies and crap tv. it would all be better if i had cable. i'm almost tempted to get cable just for the two times a year when i'm sick enough to relish doing absolutely nothing beyond settling down in front of whatever crap movie or sitcom i can find and absorbing it all through bleary eyes while breathing through my mouth.

heh. but, that isn't worth whatever... $360/year. it's cable or internet access, and i guess i'll go with the internet access. internet access is cheaper anyway.

heh. okay. anyway. i'm going to go write some thank-you notes now. ciao!