[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

I haven’t updated in about a week, but I feel as though there is a lot of catching up to do. While the market is still in the shape that its in, I’ve dived in head first in a few personal projects.

1) Slightly Delightful – This is a domain that I’ve used in the past for my personal blog. Since I switched over to this SuperDuperFantastic, it’s sat there in silence. I’ve always liked the name, so I couldn’t bear to part with it just yet.

I am now using it as a shopping blog to document all my neat finds!

I decided on gearing it towards items that cost $50 or less since that still remains an amount that I might be willing to splurge now and again. I was, of course, inspired by a lot of the shopping blogs I’ve come across on the internet and just really wanted to start my own. RV helped me out with the graphic design, and I altered a WordPress template to get what I wanted.

The site was born on the first of this month. It’s slow going for now, but I’m hoping it will grow!

2) #2 on the 101 in 1001 – Go on a week long camping trip.

RV’s father’s family is having a reunion up at a campground along the Oregon coast, and I’ve been invited. It’s a week-long trip up in the RV [hahaha]. It’s not really camping though because this RV is decked out. His dad basically likes to travel with his entire house.

3) #90 on the 101 in 1001 – Attend Burning Man – just to check it out.

With more time this year than the past, we’ve decided to borrow the RV and join in on the Burning Man fun. We have our tickets and bicycles, so I guess that means we’re going. Sure, driving an RV in won’t exactly be roughing it, but when you’re in that amount of heat in the middle of nowhere, a little comfort should be okay. I don’t think we will be joining a specific camp, which I think will work out just fine as long as we have everything we need. A friend of ours is joining us too and plans on creating t-shirt art to be distributed to the people we meet. Should be fun!

4) In conjunction with the item above, we’ve bought bicycles! So guess what? I’m crossing #1 on the 101 in 1001 off the list – Buy a bicycle. Ride it. as soon as I’ve assembled the bike and rode it around a bit.

5) I’m helping out with Twestival SF this year. They were looking for a Merchandise Manager, so I volunteered. This year’s beneficiary will be 140 Smiles. Operation Smile is a private not-for-profit medical services organization providing reconstructive surgery and related health care to indigent children and young adults in developing countries. Medical volunteers travel on medical missions to repair of cleft lips, palates and facial reconstructive surgery in 34 countries around the world.

It’s going to be a busy few months. I hope that by the time I resurface, the market will have changed in my favor… Who knows? I remain optimistic as always!

There was a 1.5-week period of worrying and wondering, but it is over.

Medical insurance coverage is back! Thank goodness. After a few phone calls to ADP, it looks like I am good to go. It was just a matter of talking to people. Once I waded through the options over the phone and got to a real live person, it all worked out. COBRA doesn’t activate until payment, so if you’re looking to take that route, you have to make payments right away. I wasn’t aware of that, but I moved quickly from that point forward. I will probably have to call the oral surgeon’s office to make sure all account information is up to date. You know, get that ball rolling once again. Dental insurance isn’t back yet, so I have a few more follow-up calls to make.

I’m running out of names to refer to this health insurance debacle, but after a few phone calls to the administrator, things are starting to look up. I called in to make sure that my payment went through [even though it says so on the site] and that they’re on the ball with contacting my health insurance company.

Supposedly they’re keeping track, so that’s a good sign. There are notes under my account for them to follow up here and there. *phew*

Customer service matters. If you’re understanding and helpful, you gain consumer confidence. The health insurance industry in the States is already messed up. We don’t need bad service to aggravate the situation. So now you won’t see me writing a frustrating blog post about how the administrator sucked. In fact, the woman on the line was kind enough to give me a more direct line, so I wouldn’t have to deal with the bazillion prompts I had to listen through on both calls so far.

I will call back Monday morning to check on the status. The saga – it continues!

As it turns out, the administrator has not yet contacted the insurance company of my status. So I called the administrator today, and they basically said that COBRA is not active until I make the first payment. In other words, IGNORE the due date of the first payment of August 15th and make it right away if you want coverage! It’s weird that the due date isn’t for another 1.5 months if you want coverage for the current month. I would think that handling retroactive claims is more of a hassle anyway… or are they just hoping that people ignore that fact and pay up?

Since the premium reduction form hasn’t taken into effect [they need to do another approval process with the former employer], I had to drop the total amount for the first month. It ends up being about 25% of total income [income being unemployment insurance]. It’s no wonder more people don’t sign up for COBRA. I’m hoping the premium reduction is approved soon!

If all works accordingly, the payment will get through to the administrator in two days. I’ll have to call in and request an update about whether or not they received the payment, so that they can go ahead and call the insurance company.

The earliest this will all be settled is next week. All the while, my oral surgery approval process is probably at a halt due to this. FANTASTIC!

In an effort to keep updated on the medical front, I scheduled an appointment to see a doctor for an annual exam [annual, in this case, means for the first time in YEARS]. Unfortunately, it seems that my insurance is no longer working as it should! UGH. On top of that, I have been experiencing migraines [and accompanying nausea as well] lately. I really want to go to the doctor for that, but it appears that I might have to postpone such a visit until I figure something else out. I’m not sure what is causing this – stress? hormones? I’m somewhat concerned as this has never happened before, at least to this magnitude. Usually a painkiller would work just fine, but this isn’t the case now… While I sort all my insurance problems out, I’m visiting the acupuncturist.

Looks like I will be on the phone A LOT this week, sorting this out. As of June 30, 2008, my eligibility with my health insurance company was terminated. Fine, but then I signed up for COBRA immediately, so technically it should be active [and it says this on the administrator's site]. I sent in a form for the Premium Reduction, but I don’t even know if they got it or how to apply that to my first COBRA payment. Do I just not pay 65% of the total, or should I pay it all and have them reimburse or credit me later? Will 35% of the total just show up as what’s due, rather than the full 100%?

It shouldn’t be THIS hard! AND I am currently bugging them about a claim from a year ago at a doctor that is supposedly under the plan. Why are they denying me the charges for someone in the network?! *shake fist*

This probably all ties into the trouble I am having getting approval for my jaw surgery to come. If they don’t think I’m covered, well then – FUDGE.