The Fun Never Stops Around Here
Mar. 25th, 2009 07:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
voxwomanSo I have no Internet at the house today. The modem is displaying all the blinkenlights properly - except for that "Internet" light which I think is behaving strangely. I didn't have time to troubleshoot anything this morning before leaving for the office (and working Internet connections), but I asked my spouse to reseat all the wires. Maybe it's a cat issue, or a CAT5 issue, instead of being a problem with our ISP.
My sound card also stopped transmitting sound from applications (other than it's test application) sometime yesterday. I also have to deal with that, to my chagrin. I am hoping it is just a "driver now out of date" issue because I loaded in some Windows Updates yesterday, and also, stupidly, allowed Windows Media Player to activate/install itself. It doesn't uninstall, either. I have run into similar issues when I run Adobe Premiere - it doesn't play nice with other applications (I suspect they are all vying for the same resources and Adobe says "No! The sound card is Mine!!"). Usually a reboot returns things to normal. Yesterday it did not.
On the home front, the POD storage unit we had dropped off on our front yard apparently is against the local zoning laws, because a fellow from the City (Joe or Bob, I forget now) called and said we have to get rid of it. The alternatives were: put it in the back yard (truck can't get there because of the way our driveway is), or put it in the driveway (we then have to park on the street). The sucky thing is this is probably going to cost us close to 200 dollars for nothing. Voxspouse is pissed off, and rightly so. The reason we didn't check with the town first is because the prior owners had one of these things on the front lawn for a few months when they were in the process of moving out. I pointed this out to Joe or Bob, and he said that he has a complaint, and once that happens, they have to act on it. He was pretty apologetic, too.
In any case, I decided that I am going to give up my parkig space in the garage (which, BTW, is larger than the frickin POD), and park in the driveway, and we will use the garage to store the stuff that has to come out of the attic so we can start renovations. I don't know why we didn't think of this before, or why the idea was vetoed (ISTR the spouse saying no to the idea initially, but I could be misremembering). I don't think you can do a renovation project of this magnitude (basically adding a level to a house - finishing an attic and adding a bathroom) without some inconvenience.
And then, there's the Federal Bureaucracy! So Monday, I get a call from the nursing home where my father (of blessed memory) spent the last 2 weeks of his life. The billing person there tells me that Medicare has denied the claim, and that Medicare won't even speak to the nursing home representatives, and can I do something about this before they have to bill us "privately". She suggests I call the SSA, which I do, and find out that in thier records, my father has been ineligable for Medicare since 1992! (Please note I have statements from Medicare as recently as 4 weeks ago showing paid claims). The fellow at the SSA suggests I call Medicare.
Medicare refuses to speak to me about this bill because I am not my father. My father can't speak any more, but that's beside the point. I either have to find the EOB statement that denies the claim (and then, apparently, they will talk to me about it over the phone), or I have to make a request in writing that includes court documents designating the executor of the estate (which is my brother, actually), and some other things, and then they will send a copy of the statement denying the claim and maybe we go from there.
I am hoping this letter is sitting at the Assisted Living facility, from which we cannot get mail forwarded for some reason, and that I can go pick it up at lunch today, and continue to pursue this matter. I am not going to describe the stupidity of the pension thing - he died 2 days before the end of the month of February, and the OMB requires us to remit the last pension payment and apply for a reimbursment for the days he was actually alive. That's got to cost more in administration fees than the damned pension!
Oh, and I have a shitload of "emergencies" to deal with at work, too! Gah!
My sound card also stopped transmitting sound from applications (other than it's test application) sometime yesterday. I also have to deal with that, to my chagrin. I am hoping it is just a "driver now out of date" issue because I loaded in some Windows Updates yesterday, and also, stupidly, allowed Windows Media Player to activate/install itself. It doesn't uninstall, either. I have run into similar issues when I run Adobe Premiere - it doesn't play nice with other applications (I suspect they are all vying for the same resources and Adobe says "No! The sound card is Mine!!"). Usually a reboot returns things to normal. Yesterday it did not.
On the home front, the POD storage unit we had dropped off on our front yard apparently is against the local zoning laws, because a fellow from the City (Joe or Bob, I forget now) called and said we have to get rid of it. The alternatives were: put it in the back yard (truck can't get there because of the way our driveway is), or put it in the driveway (we then have to park on the street). The sucky thing is this is probably going to cost us close to 200 dollars for nothing. Voxspouse is pissed off, and rightly so. The reason we didn't check with the town first is because the prior owners had one of these things on the front lawn for a few months when they were in the process of moving out. I pointed this out to Joe or Bob, and he said that he has a complaint, and once that happens, they have to act on it. He was pretty apologetic, too.
In any case, I decided that I am going to give up my parkig space in the garage (which, BTW, is larger than the frickin POD), and park in the driveway, and we will use the garage to store the stuff that has to come out of the attic so we can start renovations. I don't know why we didn't think of this before, or why the idea was vetoed (ISTR the spouse saying no to the idea initially, but I could be misremembering). I don't think you can do a renovation project of this magnitude (basically adding a level to a house - finishing an attic and adding a bathroom) without some inconvenience.
And then, there's the Federal Bureaucracy! So Monday, I get a call from the nursing home where my father (of blessed memory) spent the last 2 weeks of his life. The billing person there tells me that Medicare has denied the claim, and that Medicare won't even speak to the nursing home representatives, and can I do something about this before they have to bill us "privately". She suggests I call the SSA, which I do, and find out that in thier records, my father has been ineligable for Medicare since 1992! (Please note I have statements from Medicare as recently as 4 weeks ago showing paid claims). The fellow at the SSA suggests I call Medicare.
Medicare refuses to speak to me about this bill because I am not my father. My father can't speak any more, but that's beside the point. I either have to find the EOB statement that denies the claim (and then, apparently, they will talk to me about it over the phone), or I have to make a request in writing that includes court documents designating the executor of the estate (which is my brother, actually), and some other things, and then they will send a copy of the statement denying the claim and maybe we go from there.
I am hoping this letter is sitting at the Assisted Living facility, from which we cannot get mail forwarded for some reason, and that I can go pick it up at lunch today, and continue to pursue this matter. I am not going to describe the stupidity of the pension thing - he died 2 days before the end of the month of February, and the OMB requires us to remit the last pension payment and apply for a reimbursment for the days he was actually alive. That's got to cost more in administration fees than the damned pension!
Oh, and I have a shitload of "emergencies" to deal with at work, too! Gah!
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-25 03:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-25 04:03 pm (UTC)Complaining neighbours are no fun either, of course. And here I thought that only the Swiss enjoyed such practices ;-p.
Wish you endurance.
That attic will be worth it all in the end, I'm sure!
Your neighbors suck. Boo!
Date: 2009-03-25 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-25 08:09 pm (UTC)Since your brother is the executor of the estate can he deal with Medicare? If the court says he is the executor they have to talk to him.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-25 08:30 pm (UTC)There were 20 letters from Horizon (dad's supplemental insurance) showing payments to his doctors during the time period in question - including Medicare payments! - but not the hospital or other things. I am going to talk to the nursing home again, and suggest that maybe they try going through the same channels that the doctors went through to get paid.