USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Foxfyre]

Good night darlinks. I love you guys.

And we're still keeping vigil for

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Sunshine,
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
TK, and TK's grandma,
Spoonie, Ringel, 007, Sheila and Hombre's sore backs,
Sherry’s Mom,
Becki and Becki’s hubby,
Noomi’s Auntie Marj,
Complete healing for Mrs. Ringel and the Ringels in difficult transition,
Ollie and Mrs. O for a complete recovery,
GW's daughter's friend Sachenda,
Ernie's friend and colleague Max and Mrs. Ernie,
Boedicca's mom for healing and relief from pain,
Foxfyre's Aunt Betty,
Gracie's Moki,
All of us and those we care about who are looking for work,
Safe travels for those traveling,
All who are dealing with colds and flu,
And all others we love and hold in concern.

And the light is on awaiting the return of Oddball, Sunshine, Jughead, Sheila, and Becki and all the others who have been MIA lately. We hope everyone is okay.

P.S. Sometimes in the editing of the vigil list or when I have switched computers, somebody gets dropped that is supposed to be on it. This will always be inadvertent and if ya'll would call it to my attention, it would be much appreciated.

 

[Ernie S.]

Sweet Dreams, Foxy.

 

[Gracie]

I got Hotel California too. No wonder we all hang out in the same galaxy of the vast net universe. lol

 

[Gracie]

Foxfyre...you can take Moki off now. He is back to normal!

 

[Foxfyre]

Great news re Moki Gracie. Looks like I' m the odd man out on the 70's anthem as I got "December '63'--The Four Seasons. I did like the Four Seasons but that was not my favorite song of theirs either. I was probably the only one to pick Forest Gump as the movie I would choose among those they offered and the only one to pick the station wagon too.

 

[Foxfyre]

Good morning everybody. Another warm and sunny day in Albuquerque but we're under a winter storm watch for tomorrow and Wednesday with heavy snow 'likely'. Translation: it will probably get somewhat cooler and a little cloudy.

Today is catch up on paperwork day. Tomorrow the carpet cleaners come and we're having our dryer vent cleaned. It vents up through the wall and through the ceiling and we're expecting there is a lot of stuff in it.

 

[WelfareQueen]

Good morning Mama Fox. Sending a warm cup of coffee your way.

 

[Ava]

Saw American Sniper today great movie I really hope Bradley Cooper wins best actor Oscar though he probably won't.

I saw it yesterday and agree with every word you just posted. I can't wait for it to become available for streaming. I HAVE to see it again. The widow of Chris Kyle said the film was very real, and agreed it did the best of the best in two hours and 12 minutes that could be accomplished. One out of five? Five stars.

Clint won't get Best Director and most of us know why.

 

[Ava]

Good morning everybody. Another warm and sunny day in Albuquerque but we're under a winter storm watch for tomorrow and Wednesday with heavy snow 'likely'. Translation: it will probably get somewhat cooler and a little cloudy.

Today is catch up on paperwork day. Tomorrow the carpet cleaners come and we're having our dryer vent cleaned. It vents up through the wall and through the ceiling and we're expecting there is a lot of stuff in it.

Thanks Foxy and a very good morning greeting, to you, as well. When that vent is cleared, your mind will rest. One less thing to be concerned about. That is how I would be feeling.

 

[WelfareQueen]

Saw American Sniper today great movie I really hope Bradley Cooper wins best actor Oscar though he probably won't.

I saw it yesterday and agree with every word you just posted. I can't wait for it to become available for streaming. I HAVE to see it again. The widow of Chris Kyle said the film was very real, and agreed it did the best of the best in two hours and 12 minutes that could be accomplished. One out of five? Five stars.

Clint won't get Best Director and most of us know why.

I saw it as well Aqua, and agree with you and Blackhawk. Powerful film that helps the rest of us understand what many of our troops went through in Iraq.

I have so much respect for Chris Kyle and his wife. Both are true American heroes.

 

[Ringel05]

Good morning everybody. Another warm and sunny day in Albuquerque but we're under a winter storm watch for tomorrow and Wednesday with heavy snow 'likely'. Translation: it will probably get somewhat cooler and a little cloudy.

Today is catch up on paperwork day. Tomorrow the carpet cleaners come and we're having our dryer vent cleaned. It vents up through the wall and through the ceiling and we're expecting there is a lot of stuff in it.

Starting tonight we're supposed to start getting snow though tomorrow, 3 to 6 inches. Here we'll probably get it.
Fox, don't know how long your meteorologist has been in Albuquerque but decades ago when Bob Ryan first showed up in DC he didn't get any forecasts correct for a couple of years till he figured out the typical regional weather patterns. Once he did that he was correct 90% of the time. Bob Ryan (channel 4) and Doug Hill (channel 7 and WTOP news radio) were the one's to listen to if one wanted to know the most accurate weather forecasts in the area.
Thinking about that I miss having a WTOP type radio station (24 hour news, weather, traffic).
The last snow we got isn't completely gone yet....... mostly but not all.

 

[Montrovant]

Great news re Moki Gracie. Looks like I' m the odd man out on the 70's anthem as I got "December '63'--The Four Seasons. I did like the Four Seasons but that was not my favorite song of theirs either. I was probably the only one to pick Forest Gump as the movie I would choose among those they offered and the only one to pick the station wagon too.

Really though.....would anyone want to wear any of the fashions they showed? Or did we all just try to pick the least odious one?

 

[Foxfyre]

Good morning everybody. Another warm and sunny day in Albuquerque but we're under a winter storm watch for tomorrow and Wednesday with heavy snow 'likely'. Translation: it will probably get somewhat cooler and a little cloudy.

Today is catch up on paperwork day. Tomorrow the carpet cleaners come and we're having our dryer vent cleaned. It vents up through the wall and through the ceiling and we're expecting there is a lot of stuff in it.

Starting tonight we're supposed to start getting snow though tomorrow, 3 to 6 inches. Here we'll probably get it.
Fox, don't know how long your meteorologist has been in Albuquerque but decades ago when Bob Ryan first showed up in DC he didn't get any forecasts correct for a couple of years till he figured out the typical regional weather patterns. Once he did that he was correct 90% of the time. Bob Ryan (channel 4) and Doug Hill (channel 7 and WTOP news radio) were the one's to listen to if one wanted to know the most accurate weather forecasts in the area.
Thinking about that I miss having a WTOP type radio station (24 hour news, weather, traffic).
The last snow we got isn't completely gone yet....... mostly but not all.

Most of the meteorologists on the Albuquerque network stations have been here forever--for a decade or two or more anyway. And I swear they forecast the weather by looking out the window. They do hedge their bets and their forecast for Albuquerque is usually dependent on whatever winds we get with the systems that come through. So if they miss, well, the wind just didn't cooperate.

In sympathy however, I am sure it is pretty much impossible to use instrumentation to accurately forecast weather under our weirdly configured and multi-altitude city surrounded by mountains that do strange things to clouds that pass over.

 

[Foxfyre]

Great news re Moki Gracie. Looks like I' m the odd man out on the 70's anthem as I got "December '63'--The Four Seasons. I did like the Four Seasons but that was not my favorite song of theirs either. I was probably the only one to pick Forest Gump as the movie I would choose among those they offered and the only one to pick the station wagon too.

Really though.....would anyone want to wear any of the fashions they showed? Or did we all just try to pick the least odious one?

The sweater and scarf was more acceptable and less retro for me, so that's the one I picked. But I don't dress like any of those photos and didn't when I was living in that era.

 

[Sherry]

Great news re Moki Gracie. Looks like I' m the odd man out on the 70's anthem as I got "December '63'--The Four Seasons. I did like the Four Seasons but that was not my favorite song of theirs either. I was probably the only one to pick Forest Gump as the movie I would choose among those they offered and the only one to pick the station wagon too.

I chose Forrest Gump...great soundtrack.

My mom is taking me out to dinner for my birthday.

 

[Montrovant]

 

[Foxfyre]

Great news re Moki Gracie. Looks like I' m the odd man out on the 70's anthem as I got "December '63'--The Four Seasons. I did like the Four Seasons but that was not my favorite song of theirs either. I was probably the only one to pick Forest Gump as the movie I would choose among those they offered and the only one to pick the station wagon too.

I chose Forrest Gump...great soundtrack.

My mom is taking me out to dinner for my birthday.

Well since we already delivered your birthday cake early, I'll just acknowledge the actual day :

 

[alan1]

And the doctor bills are rolling in.

In the past 20+ years I've had nothing but the occasional office visit to my primary care physician. I'd forgotton how goofy doctor bills, specialist bills, specialist treatments (MRI), hospital bills and insurance payments can be.
I'm not trying to start a discussion about our healthcare system on this forum, just pointing out how goofy it can be when it comes to billing and payment.

For example, between the end of November and early December I had one ER visit, one primary care visit and one orthopedist (specialist) vist -- those got me to my annual $2500 deductible, so insurance started covering things. So, the steroid shot in my lower back in late December was billed at $1008, insurance paid $208.73, there was an insurance adjustment (that nobody pays) of $747.09 (74% of the bill), my balance due is $52.19. Seriously? How did they negogiate an oddball adjustment amount of $747.09. It's not even an even dollar amount, it has a random 9 cents in the adjustment. And why is the original bill $1008, why not an even $1000?
Oh, and that first orthopedist visit I had, I hadn't met my deductible yet. The doctor billed $390.00, a nice round number. I got an insurance adjustment of $171.24 (44% of the bill), an odd number that seems very random. So, $218.76 was applied to my deductible and was what I actually paid.

It just seems goofy how they come up with these random numbers for billing and adjustments. Adjustment = Insurance company negogiated lower payment. Even the adjustment percentages seem random.
I wonder if the doctors and insurance companies hire quantum physics engineers to negotiate rate discounts on the various services.

 

[Ringel05]

They just updated our potential snow to a foot.

 

[Foxfyre]

And the doctor bills are rolling in.

In the past 20+ years I've had nothing but the occasional office visit to my primary care physician. I'd forgotton how goofy doctor bills, specialist bills, specialist treatments (MRI), hospital bills and insurance payments can be.
I'm not trying to start a discussion about our healthcare system on this forum, just pointing out how goofy it can be when it comes to billing and payment.

For example, between the end of November and early December I had one ER visit, one primary care visit and one orthopedist (specialist) vist -- those got me to my annual $2500 deductible, so insurance started covering things. So, the steroid shot in my lower back in late December was billed at $1008, insurance paid $208.73, there was an insurance adjustment (that nobody pays) of $747.09 (74% of the bill), my balance due is $52.19. Seriously? How did they negogiate an oddball adjustment amount of $747.09. It's not even an even dollar amount, it has a random 9 cents in the adjustment. And why is the original bill $1008, why not an even $1000?
Oh, and that first orthopedist visit I had, I hadn't met my deductible yet. The doctor billed $390.00, a nice round number. I got an insurance adjustment of $171.24 (44% of the bill), an odd number that seems very random. So, $218.76 was applied to my deductible and was what I actually paid.

It just seems goofy how they come up with these random numbers for billing and adjustments. Adjustment = Insurance company negogiated lower payment. Even the adjustment percentages seem random.
I wonder if the doctors and insurance companies hire quantum physics engineers to negotiate rate discounts on the various services.

It definitely is a mystery to all but those who calculate those amounts. I have a theory about them, but it is probably too controversial for the Coffee Shop. There will no doubt be a thread on that phenomenon sooner or later though.