Four O H ! ! ! ! !

So on the last day of April I got on an airplane and went to Florida. Oh, I didn't go alone; NO NO. I took my best friend on the planet along. He is also known as my husband. So we got on the plane with no incidents, flew 7 1/2 long hours and landed in Orlando. Have you ever BEEN to Orlando and used the Disney's Magical Express?? Lemme tell ya, they got it goin' on!!! This sweet lady, who I'm sure get's paid a LOT to do what she does, is holding a sign that says "Disney's Magical Express" with an arrow. She didn't say a word....probably because she didn't speak a lick of English...but that's not the point. We followed the arrow down a looooooong hall to this isolated "terminal". All alone it stood, fancy, clean, well decorated and well staffed. It was 11 30 pm and there were 6 employees standing behind the counter just itching to help us out. The one we chose was an elderly lady from Brazil (every Disney employee wears their name and hometown on their badge). So they quickly gave us a printout with a UPC type code on it and sent us on our way down another long hall with several lines oulined by poles with velvet ropes to guide us. We made our way to small podium just inside a set of very clean, shiny even, sliding glass doors. Outside waited the sweetest old man who took our tickets, took our luggage, loaded it and escorted us onto this incredible tour bus. Let me tell ya, better treatment was not had by the president at his last engagement. These people are nice, helpful and willing to WORK! And they do it with a genuine smile.

We enjoyed the bus ride with about 4 other families, each being let out at their respective resorts. We were staying in a classy RV with my parents at the Fort Wilderness Campground. We were let out at the front where we were met by yet another sweet, genuinely nice worker. This time, a young red head from Minnesota. She asked my name, I gave it to her and she smiled the biggest smile and said to me, as though she'd known me all her life, "Laura, It's your birthday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Here's a badge for you to wear so everyone knows it's you birthay" It was the coolest thing. Well then, she made a phone call, asked us to wait out front and within minutes a young man from Georgia welcomed us and asked if he could please get our luggage for us. He loaded it, and us, in a van and escorted us directly to the doorstep of my parent's RV; with a smile.

Par for the course was this first experience. EVERY single person at Disney was nice, caring, genuine and willing to WORK. I mean from the manager to the janitor. So, Im sure by now you're wondering what Im getting at. Certainly this is not just a sweet little talk about how great Disney is........haha. You know me too well. =0)

So, from the few days I spent in "The Happiest Place On Earth" I learned that Mr Disney was a trend setter. He was a visionary. He was a hard worker; and guess what? HE was successful. There is no doubt, one of the most successful men of our time. His dream and his vision was unmatched, and most likely still is. So from this vacation I took this: I have a solution for all that ails customer service in the US.

SEND EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE (no matter the fancy title or job description) TO ORLANDO, FLORIDA. MAKE IT MANDATORY THAT THEY COMPLETE WHAT EVER TRAINING SYSTEM IS IN PLACE DOWN THERE!! I'M TALKING TO YOU:

DMV

Hospital ER

Urgent Care Center

Any and All Government Offices

Call Centers at PG&E, Visa, US Bank, etc

Drive Thru workers at McDonald's, Starbucks and Wendy's, etc.

Let's take this country to a Disney training facility and teach them all how to smile and be genuinely happy....happy they HAVE a job, Happy they can do something to help another human.

Geez people......Can't we just S M I L E and do quality, fast, friendly work?!?!?!?

Job Security

DISCLAIMER: There is some language in here today (techincal, health insurance jargon) you may not understand. Don't let this deter you. There is a lesson to be learned. Look past all the legalese and see the true meaning and intent of this blog. God Bless You!!

Well, after an absence of Mika on the Mind, Finally today I was pushed over the edge..........again.

I am a Coordination of Benefits Specialist for a great, non-profit health insurer. I LOVE my job and I typically love my teammates. However, today I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to those DUMMIES that can't seem to do anything right. You see, if it weren't for stupid people, I would have no job....or at least I would have nothing to DO while I'm "working". Possibly even my yearly raise would have been smaller or non-existent like 50% of those employed for the same compamy I am. (For this I am grateful)

So today, I come across these comments that are posted to explain that a member has Medicare due to being a kidney dialysis patient. As ALL COB reps know (or should because it's one of the first things we are trained on as a COB rep), when a member has Medicare due to ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease or kidney failure) and are on a group plan, that group plan is primary for..............wait...............You all don't need to know all this boring stuff. The point is..........this:

So this COB rep posted the comments completely WRONG. So I sent her my typical NICE e mail that asked her to correct them. What was her response...........??

"Well, I posted what the other rep said was right.

If you tell me what it should be, I will fix it."

Okay.....Hold your horses "COB REP"!!! I thought we were COB reps because we ALL had the special training and extensive experience to support the functions we are asked to do. I thought that when someone tells you something is WRONG with what you did, you would want to be a responsible adult and a "keep-worthy" employee. I thought that when an opportunity is presented to learn something, we all take that as a stepping stone and build upon that knowledge to ensure less mistakes in the future and lower instances of customer inquiries.

Well, apparently you lazy, self seeking, 'give-it-to-me-on-a-silver-platter' want to do nothing; this is not you. So what did I do.......?? I responded with something very near this:

"Well, I understand that you would like me to give you the information. However,

you posted that you called Medicare and verified the information. What you put

on the narrative is not the same as the comments you posted. Can you please

corect the comments to match your narrative?"

To my amazement (which Im thinking now that I shouldn't have been THAT amazed), she responded with something like this:

"Well, I just looked at what the other rep posted.

I don't know what I should be posting.

If you just tell me what to post, I will post it.

This is just really frustrating."

WWWHHHEEELLLLLL YES IT IS!!!!!

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW FRUSTRATING THIS, CHICK!!!

So I kindly responded:

"Well okay, since I have already done all the homework here it is:

Post ESRD BSC Primary thru 6/30/2011

Post ESRD BSC Secondary effective 7/1/2011"

So what did she do.......?? She posted:

ESRD BSC Primary thru 6/30/2011 and

ESRD BSC Secondary effective 7/30/2011

And DELETED another comment that we are NEVER supposed to delete!!!

Now Wait just a doggone minute!! I just outlined exactly what you needed to post and did NOT say to delete anything. What on God's Green Earth is wrong with people? Are my communication skills lacking? Am I typing Greek? Am I dyslexic? What could possibly explain this gross misinterpretation of my instructions??

All I can say is this........you might want to take this advice if you have a coworker like this. Honestly..........this is solid, pass it on to your kids advice!!! Are you ready for it??.........................

.......................................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................................

Next time I go to work and we have a potluck....I want to know which dish SHE brought.......why.....??

Because. If she can't follow these simple, outlined, easy, to the point instructions layed out for her like Kindergarten coloring instructions....................

HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW A RECIPE?!?!?!?!?!?

Wow.........Whew.......Whoa!!!

Ok so I've been missing in action for a few days.

Seems no one has ticked me off lately. Imagine that.

However, I did have coffee spit all over me last night but it was so funny that I could hardly get mad. After all, when you see someone come so far out of character to laugh that hard....it's completely NOT a matter of anger or agitation. (he knows who he is....)

So I had to REALLY think, who has earned the blog for the day? Who in this world was making me mad or agitated this week? Who has earned the Prize of Purturbed? Well, let me tell ya, it's an ongoing struggle for me to stay happy when I feel bombarded with these good intentioned "friends and family" that seem to think that all the hard work I've done is invalid. They seem to believe that if I drink this juice and take that pill and wear that garment, I can look fantastic in mere minutes (probably 15 minutes as tight as those things look...it would take that long to get it on).

While I appreciate that 9 months ago I would have needed that, I have now learned the value of hard work, discipline and stick-to-it-tiveness. I won't be paying over $100 for a garment to suck me in. I won't be paying several hundred dollars over the next 6 months to buy your weight loss products while you sign up people under you to make you more money. MLMs are NOT for me. It's nothing personal, really, so please don't take it that way.

So............THANK YOU to you all who have made it clear that my workouts and my disciplined lifestyle is not enough. THANK YOU to all you who have made it clear that there is no need to eat healthy, I could just take that juice. THANK YOU to all you that have helped me understand that I can sit on my backside, slip into a $100+ garment and look 2-3 sizes smaller.......Wait.....It just hit me!!! THAT'S the key. You L O O K 2-3 sizes smaller. That's so funny......

I AM 4-5 SIZES SMALLER!!!! And I saved money instead of spending it. I saved hundreds of dollars by NOT eating so much!!! No need to LOOK like anything I'm not. I really AM smaller and I really WILL stay this way because it's not about a mask, it's not about deception for me. It's about real, true, honest self love and God Esteem that I have gained during these last 9 months.

You know......that brings up another point. Ahaha In 9 months a wonderful thing can occur. We know 9 months is the gestational time for a fantastic miracle to take place. From the first dividing of a single cell, the incredible duplication of chromosomes and DNA to the miraculous birth of a little life...........9 short months. That has happened to me!! In 9 months, a new miraculous life has been created. I'm better, Smarter, Smaller and So much Happier.

So again (disclaimer time) if you are selling or wearing these items, just please pray and be sure you are doing it for the RIGHT reasons. I have heard that it's great support for your back. I have heard that the juice is full of antioxidants. I have heard that the vitamins are good for you. That is fantastic!! Just check your heart. I think we ALL (me included) need to be sure that what we are spending our time and money on, and the things we are promoting are things that would please God. HE is the only one that REALLY matters anyway. And one last thing.........

Can't we all get along???

What He Doesn't Know......

Well, today is the day. My sweet hubby is cleaning the carpets. haha My sweetie said to me this morning,

"Well, I guess on my birthday, I could go get the shampooer and clean the carpets.

They really do need it."

To which I replied,

"That is a great idea. What a great day to do it when we can let them dry

with noone else here to walk on them."

Our son is in Michigan and won't be home until late, late tomorrow night. So the sweetie is cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. He is so diligent and hard working. He knows that I am preparing his favorite meal tonight. Steak, Lobster and home made "Red Lobster" biscuits with a fantastic salad (or something) {***Watch Nacho Libre if you don't know what that means. lol***}

Little does he know, he is cleaning them because his parents are on their way here now. They were supposed to be here for dinner too, but apparently there were road closures no one knew about and they will be too late for dinner. However, they should be here around 10 pm to celebrate their oldest's special day with him. What a COOL thing for them to drive over 800 miles to be with him on this landmark occasion. I must say, I wonder if I would do it for my son.....yeah...I guess I would.

Anyway, no rants today....just gotta go get cookin'. Time to run to the store and grab that food....can't wait for a Fantabulistic Dinner with my sweetie

Adios!!

I Can't Even..........

Let me preface this blog today by stating that:

I LOVE MY WONDERFUL, AMAZING HUSBAND OF

21 YEARS MORE THAN WORDS CAN EXPRESS!!!

My sweet, amazing husband is turning 40....yep FOUR-TEE!!! The big FOUR OH!!! Tomorrow. I am so happy that he has made it to this milestone......even though he has been married to, hitched to, stuck with, tied down to me for all these years. He is a survivor.

We have a pretty great and wonderful relationship, me and Val. We adore one another endlessly. We respect one another consistently. We grow together emotionally and spiritually. We love one another unconditionally and forever. Yet at the same time we respect each other's individuality. We encourage each other's separate friendships. We don't scoff at individual activities and actually see the good in them. We don't smother one another with untrust and we never lose control of allowing someone else to be in control. We have lived this life together without jealousy and have watched at the other encounters gain and loss. We have created individual friendships and nourished them. We have separate activities in which we engage; and both of us like it this way.

With ALL that being said, something has changed this last week or so....maybe the last 2 or 3 days even. If you have ever seen us at church, we are pretty separate creatures. We arrive together and we leave together. The time in between, we can be seen chatting with other couples, counseling some, encouraging others. We can be caught meeting new people and getting closer to old friends. We like it this way.

But this change.........this..............different Val. He has to go!!! Last night at church....he was by my side constantly. I would try to get away to talk to Marcella.....he would follow me. I tried to talk to Dave....he followed me. I tried to talk to Miguel....he followed me. I attempted to chat with Danielle....he followed me. No matter what I did...........he followed me.

Does he know something is up? Does he realize, in his advancing age that I AM UP TO SOMETHING?!?!? I am so glad he has no Facebook.....he has no clue.

Let me leave it at this:

HIS FACE....WHEN HE SEES THE SURPRISES I HAVE FOR HIM.....

WILL BE P R I C E L E S S ! ! ! ! !

You Don't Have To E Mail Me More Than Once!

Ok, so since my blog is about people and how they can urk ya, I have a new one.

For those that don't know, I work in the health care industry. Specifically, I work for one of the most well known companies in America: just thing BLUE. My offcial title is Coordination of Benefits Specialist. What this means, in a nutshell, is that I ATTEMPT to ensure that our members have correct information on file so we can process, and hopefully PAY their medical claims correctly, accurately and timely.

Every day I have an issue with some member who refuses to provide the information we have asked them to provide. They get mad and SCREAM in writing on the form we sent them. The thing is, they spend time SCREAMING in caps...but refuse to include the information we asked for. I mean, if you take the time to write:

"THIS IS THE FOUTH TIME I HAVE PROVIDED THIS INFORMATION TO YOU
MORONS. CAN YOU PLEASE GET THIS RIGHT?!?!?!?!"

The thing is, they didn't provide ANY information; just this rant. How can I update something you didn't provide?!?!?!?



Another aspect of my job, most recently added to my list of hats, is to work with ALL the special groups. There are certain employers that have a contract with our company to complete their work in a faster time frame. Some of these groups have a 1 day turn around, some have 14 days. It is my job to follow any cases that come to my department and be sure they are resolved within the contracted time frame. Part of this includes sending a case to a co-worker on my own team, to have them complete something they have started. I am a telecommuter, which I LOVE, so the best way I can communicate with my teammates is via email.

So today, I sent an e mail to a representative and advised her that case 123456789ABC (cases are totally made up and in no way reveal PHI) was in her tickler and needed to be completed today. I continued down my spreadsheet of aged cases, sending e mails to each representative that had a case that needs attention TODAY. After a few e mails, I came across another case that the same first rep had in her tickler. So I emailed her again and advised her that case 987654321ABC needed to be completed as well. What was her response?!?!?!?!?

Well, see for yourself:

"You only need to send one email. I will as soon as I can."

Well, well, well. I WANTED to respond with this:

"Well excuse me, "Ms. I-can't-seem-to-concentrate-enough-to-Notice-these-are-different-cases"

I THOUGHT that we were all professionals here.

I THOUGHT we were supposed to HELP each other out.

I THOUGHT we were all on the same page.

I THOUGHT this was a company where we had mutual respect for each other's strengths.

Thank you for opening my eyes to your inadequacies. I will just take ALL your work from now on and do it for you so you don't have to feel as though we are too demanding.

Please forgive me for thinking you could actually DO the work you are paid to do.

I am sorry that I misunderstood your weaknesses.

In the future, if you will just promise to respond in this same, rude, disgusting manner;

I will be certain to NEVER expect better than mediocre work from YOU. "

Whew!! That felt good. So, I DIDN'T respond that way and told her:

"There are different case numbers; I wouldn't send a new e mail for the same case.......

I send one as I come across them
Thanks so much for understanding. =0) "

See? I can be reasonable. I LOVE my job.......I just can't stand the imbiciles I work with!!

Glad I work at home. God Bless You. And remember:

DO YOUR BEST WORK ALL THE TIME AND THE WORST WORK

IS STILL NOT ALL THAT BAD!!

Blogoshpere....what?!?!?!?

Wow. I guess I give in to peer pressure even at my advanced age. It seems that EVERYONE is blogging. So I figured, why not? I mean, I have some things to say. I have some things I think deserve to be heard. So today will start what will most likely be a determined effort to be consistent. I won't have a schedule of blogs, I will rather "blog at will." It seems there are things that set me off. There are things that unappologetically shove me into a tizzy. Things that determinately spiral me into a passionate scream for action. So, these are the things I will be blogging about.

It seems that the longer I live, the more I learn that it takes ALL kinds. What I mean by this is, no matter where you go, no matter what you say or do, there is ALWAYS that person you run into, that person you accidentally meet. That person that just hits a nerve....that someone that just "does it". Am I the only one? There is NO WAY I am the only one. So as an example, let me start my first blog with these people that I can't even name.

For years now, Val and I have been blessed with a gift, for some reason beyond our understanding, for finding cheap cars. They can be running or not, cute or not. I think it's better to say that these cars find us. It's like these cars WANT to belong to us, at least for a short time. For example, there was a college student (I will not name names) who had a cute little car. It died on her and it just seems to be more than she could handle. It was a terrible situation and we felt so badly for her. She had lost her transportation. She had several people try to fix the car for her....to no avail. So after sitting in a parking lot for a loooooong time, we offered her a decent amount for it. Understandably, she decided that she wanted to keep it try to either get a higher offer for it, or keep it and get it fixed.

Several months later, the car still sat there, collecting dust, dirt and webs. We again offered her a decent price for it, and again were denied. Every time we passed it, we thought we wanted it. After a few more attempts to buy it from her with no positive results, we gave up. We let it sit there all alone. Lonely and longing to be fixed and driven. These cars have personalities. Honestly, they do and this little car WANTED us to own it. I could tell.

Finally, several more months longer with no results for this poor girl, her mom called us and we came to an agreement on a price that would knock your socks off!! Long story shortened, we had it fixed and put a LOT of time and money into it. I started driving to every day. It was a great little car. Here, take a look:

Adorable right?? So I took this as MY car and LOVED darting around in it. We had decided though that we wanted to SHARE this great little car with someone who really needed it. We found a girl that NEEDS it and we sold it to her. She was making payments to us and was about to pay us the very last installment on Friday afternoon. We were so excited for her. Well, there are people in Stockton who think they can take whatever they want. So SOMEONE came to my house Thursday night and STOLE this cute little car. They walked into MY driveway and just.........TOOK it.

I Still can't figure out WHY people think they have a right to do this kind of thing, but they do exist. So we called the police at 8 am Friday, I called the poor, sweet girls mom and told her the car had been stolen. She was heartbroken. Stockton's Finest told us there was a GREAT chance at recovering the vehicle within 24 hours and Stockton has a fantastic record for locating stolen vehicles.

Well, at 2 30 AM Saturday.........we got a phone call. They had found my sweet little car. Stockton's Finest had delivered on their statement. I was SO impressed!! So we asked them where it was located and the answer was less than desirable. It was located IN Mosher Slough. I told them that I love that little car and I wanted it home. They obliged me and brought it to my driveway. COVERED in mud and missing EVERYTHING. I mean they took everything, stripped it down to the metal all around. See.....?:
















So, needless to say, I have a bone to pick. Trouble is.........with W H O ? ! ? ! ? !
I mean, we have NO CLUE who did this or why. All we know is that there are some hoodlems out there that think they can take things that don't belong to them. Things that belong to PEOPLE OF GOD!!

Well, let this serve as notice......consider yourself and the whole of America warned.
We will no longer sit back and be victims. We refuse to sit back and watch as others take away things we have worked so hard for. Not just possessions. I mean "things".

Things can be anything and everything. "They" are taking our cars, our freedoms, our rights. "They" are even taking our desires and remaking them into what "they" want.

Well, I for one am D O N E being the victim and I am done kicking back and watching as my life is dictated by the unregenerated.

W A R N I N G ! ! ! ! ! I AM FIRED UP AND THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!!

I am ready to take back the ground I have lost to the enemy. Be it dreams, ambitions, possessions.......whatever. I am gaining ground and invite you to come with me. Come on friends......get your armor on and let's take this back for JESUS!! This is a spiritual war we are fighting and the time is getting shorter. It's time to MOVE FORWARD....time to be on the OFFENSIVE. I'm tired of always being a defender....I AM taking control of what I want....and what I want is God's will in my life.

This road will be adventurous, fun, scary, anticipitatory and FUN. Come along, friends.

THIS IS WAR!!!