Today was the same old same old at work. I think maybe it's time for a change of scenery in that respect. I received an e-mail forward from my Uncle today. I won't copy the whole thing here since it was rather lengthy, but it dealt with God vs. Satan. God created broccoli and lettuce and Satan created Ben and Jerry's and Krispy Kreme. God created running shoes and yogurt to combat that and Satan created the TV remote. God created lean beef to help man stay healthy and Satan had McDonald's create the $.99 Double Cheeseburger with everything and fries. Man went into cardiac arrest. God then created the quadruple bypass surgery and Satan created HMO's.
Why point that out? Because Terri and I are currently being screwed by the healthcare system (although I'm hesitant to use healthcare since I don't think they actually give a damn about our health). When we found out Terri was pregnant, we immediately checked into costs since my last name isn't Rockefeller or Rock for that matter. The insurance company said that once we paid the $250 deductible that everything else would be covered. I said, "Fine. $250.00 over the course of 9 months shouldn't be too hard to squirrel away." The insurance company said, "No, perhaps you misunderstand. The deductible runs concurrent with the calendar year. So anything you pay in 2003 will count towards 2003. However, since the baby will be born in 2004 you'll have to start from 0 again on Jan. 1st. So, I wasn't too keen on that. Then came the ultrasound bill. A one hour ultrasound costs $600+ and on top of that they billed us a second fee to have the "doctor" (read: snotty nurse with little to no patience) read the ultrasound. After 20 minutes I could read the ultrasound. It's not that difficult once you get your bearings and understand how the sound affects and bounces off of tissue density. So, because the ultrasound was in December, we'll have to pay what they won't cover and it counts towards the '03 deductible. Which doesn't do us a damn bit of good in '04. And, when the bill came in yesterday the statement date was Jan. 16th. The due date was Jan. 30th. It took them almost a month to bill us, but we're expected to turn around that cost in under 10 days since we received the bill on the 21st. Makes me want to schedule that annual check-up I've been putting off since I have a little money in savings at the moment.
Now, please don't misunderstand. I'm really looking forward to being a parent and would never actually hold any of this against my son. However, the longer this process goes on, the more I wonder how I never managed to stumble into some facet of the baby racket.
Gap baby sells jeans for $19.50. I don't remember the last time I spent that much money on my jeans and my waist size hasn't changed in almost 12 years. If any one has any low investment high yield baby ideas, let me know. I'll be more than happy to devote time and energy towards making it work.