I have a health insurance story too. Don’t we all? Mine isn’t as dramatic as some who have been denied needed supplies, such as testing strips for diabetes, or important tests, such as those for a suspected heart problem, but it’s my story and that makes it important—at least to me.
My regular readers know that I suffer from Fibromyalgia Syndrome and they also know that TheMan was recently laid off from his job. My condition is chronic and regardless of what some people have said, it has been progressing (though not necessarily causing permanent harm) and I need to be able to access my doctor. When TheMan got laid off we lost his insurance and my access to my doctor. People will say “What about COBRA?”1, which we were offered. However, COBRA coverage would have cost us $900 a month. For the people who are screaming that we don’t need anymore government mandates or that we don’t need government involved in medical care, this probably doesn’t seem like a lot of money. But when one person in your household is on unemployment2 and the other is working two part-time jobs that don’t pay a lot or offer employer-provided health insurance, there isn’t $900 lying around to pay for the COBRA. We have to pay a mortgage3 and the electricity and the other bills—including, but not limited to food and household supplies. I wanted COBRA, of course, but it really wasn’t a realistic option.
Of course, the first thing I worried about was my “pre-existing condition”. Not how am I going to continue care or let me find a cheap doctor, but how I would manage to get insurance to cover my chronic condition were TheMan able to get back to work. Once you’ve lost the insurance and it’s been lapsed for so long, well, the new insurance won’t pay for what the old insurance paid for. The Certificate of Coverage would mean squat after about 60 days from the point the insurance lapsed. Luckily for me I was eligible for a personal “gap coverage” type of insurance that will, I hope, allow me to get treatment when we’re able to get our insurance back. The premium is only $120 a month. I can’t actually seek treatment for my condition(s) though, because my insurance specifically states that “This policy will not cover treatment for chronic conditions. We recommend another policy for those needs."4 This gap insurance only pays $1500 a year, 2 days in the hospital and no more than $50 a month for prescriptions—after the $700 deductible for medical treatment and $20 copay for all prescription whether they be generic or not. I can find a new doctor to treat my symptoms, though, but only the ones on their list and only if they’re taking new patients. On this type of policy, there really aren’t that many doctors. I’d like to find one where the office visits cost less than $100, but that’s not likely to happen so I’ve got to figure out a way to get the money for my initial visit (remember the deductible?).
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Sphere: Related Content- Which, by the way, was mandated by the government. [↩]
- Another government program, by the way. [↩]
- On a house we bought with A-1 credit and a $10K down payment, I might add. No foreclosure for us. [↩]
- At an outrageous cost, of course. No way could I afford that. [↩]







A Couple of things that Irritate a Blogging Dinosaur
Issue #1: Giving Credit
Yesterday I followed a link on Twitter to an article that highlighted something I’d already read on another site. So, I looked for attribution, a hat tip or something that showed the author of the entry acknowledged the original article. Nope. Nada. Zilch. Considering the link I followed was from a well-known news personality, it was obvious that this person was gaining popularity by aggregating someone else’s work (or a bunch of someone elses1) without acknowledging them.
I’m a blogging dinosaur pretty much2 and remember the good old days when bloggers linked out to each other and gave credit where credit was due. I remember reading the now big political sites before they were big or even taken seriously by the big, bad mainstream media (in all forms including, but not limited to, newspapers, magazines and television) and they would see a story on another blog and link back to that blog thusly:
See what I did there? I read an article in the newspaper but linked back to the site where I originally found the article. Why would I do that? I could have framed it without the "h/t" (Hat tip) and you would never know that I followed a link from someone else’s blog thereby failing to admit I read other people’s blogs and making you think I scour the intertoobs looking for older-than-dirt news on which to comment. There’s no need to send a you somewhere else, where you might find content more interesting than mine and potentially causing you to abandon me. By linking to the site that lead me to the content on which I commented I could potentially lose my credibility as a newshound or something. Who would source me when they could source her? I should be working to make everyone think that I find this stuff myself and that others are aping me. I should be working to make people think that I’m the authority on this shit. I want people that don’t better to think these other people are stealing from me.
Now, back in the day people weren’t so selfish with their linkage. They promoted other bloggers along with themselves and happily admitted that they didn’t stumble upon interesting news/stories all by themselves. They believed wholeheartedly in giving credit whether the credit went to some obscure person no one had ever read before or a major blog such as Crooks & Liars. We happily admitted that we weren’t always original and laughed at those blog whores4 who expected linkbacks, but refused to give proper credit and acknowledge that they’re not that original.
Those people aren’t called blog whores anymore, which is sad because they really are exactly that. They find a good piece of news/blog post/whatthefuckever and rush to put it on their own blog. Then they Stumble themselves, send a tweet (and *gag* beg for retweets), Digg themselves and basically whore the shit they didn’t think of themselves. And they don’t see any reason to send a link to the person who gave them the seed for the fucking post to begin with. The particular blog that sent me over the edge yesterday was top-to-bottom filled with stories the author(s) found somewhere else, but which didn’t offer any kind of credit.
Oooh, you’re so original! Look at you, offering a one line commentary on something you saw on another site and assuming that no one reads those other sites so doesn’t know that you spend your days whoring your stolen shit5. Woo-hoo! Aren’t you spayshul?
Of course, I’m completely in denial about the fact that all the blogging and SEO “experts” advise against linking out because teh Google won’t look favorably upon your blogging endeavors and, apparently, it’s all about getting to the top of teh Google and making the money. Unless it’s all about trying to get popular like the big guys6 so that the MEDIA will notice you and, ohmygod!, ask you to sit on a panel during David Schuster’s show which will cause your followers to fawn on you and declare you the GOD OF THE INTERNETS. With this particular case, I’m going with the desperate need to be popular and getting a talking-head gig.
Hey, maybe if I quit with the foul language and original thinking (ha!) I can manage to whore scratch my way to the top of the heap of Ye Ole Blogosphere and get myself some money and/or interviews? Just copy and past some shit, throw in a comment and voila! What do you think about that idea? I mean, it’s all the rage right now and I am a follower.
Issue #2: Link Shorteners
Another thing that has become popular lately, and which completely irritate me, is the use of URL shorteners in blog posts. Instead of something like "Fab Jinxed" (hover over the link and see the URL) we get "Fab Jinxed".
What the fuck is the point? Really? You want to see the stats to who clicking your links in your fucking blog posts? Here’s a thought: Use one of those 35 stats programs you’ve got your blog connected to and look at who’s clicking out. Unless, of course, you’re trying to hide something, in which case you’re an ass and I hope you get burning gonorrhea7. But there is no valid reason you’re using a link shortener in your own blog post. It’s annoying. I want to be able to hover over a link to see where it goes before I decide to click it. For instance, if you’re linking to World Net Daily as a source for some "facts" I won’t bother checking because I know WND sucks monkey turds and I’ve also discerned that you’re a cretin.
URL shorteners are for Twitter or Twitter-like services, where the number of characters is, ahem, rationed. That’s it. On a blog post there is absolutely no need for them. I don’t care what your reasoning is, if you can’t figure out how to set up a stats program to check outgoing click then you need teh Google or some other kind of help. If you don’t know how to shorten a link via HTML and use the URL shorteners to do that for you (though you know how to code the link so it’s clickable which is unbelievably strange), I’ll give you a lesson8:
Step 1: Add your tags and opening code
EX: <a href=”
Step 2: Add your URL after the opening quote. Just copy and then paste:
EX: <a href=”http://www.fabulouslyjinxed.com
Step 3: Add the closing quote and then use the closing bracket
EX: <a href=”http://www.fabulouslyjinxed.com”>
Step 4: Add a short phrase or some other character to SHORTEN THE LINK
EX: <a href=”http://www.fabulouslyjinxed.com”>???
Step 5: Close the tag
EX: <a href=”http://www.fabulouslyjinxed.com”>???</a> (The forward slash closes your link…dur)
Then you have this: ???
See? Hover over the three question marks, look in the bottom left hand corner of your browser and you’ll see where the link goes. Stop abusing the URL shorteners.
And so ends my rant against blogging abuses for today. And, no, I won’t join my comrades who have given up their blogs for the greener pastures of Facebook. The blogosphere is still stuck with me and my appreciation of the days of yore even as I consider whoring myself out for a talking head gig. And if I start stealing your stuff and not crediting you, don’t worry as I’m just following the advice of the “gurus”. Just sayin’.
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