Phone: You're gonna love this. *Ring*

Me: Oh, fuck you.

FuckCake O' the Day: HUGE ISSUE blah blah blah LEGAL ACTION blah blah blah FILE CHARGES OF FRAUD!!!

Basically, it boils down to this: The company that FCO'tD was working for went through a major transition, the nature of which changed its status re: COBRA eligibility. He was let go during this transition and was offered COBRA and has been paying his COBRA premiums for a few months now. Now he need surgery (scheduled for FRIDAY) and is being told he's not covered.

I feel for the guy, I really do. He's scared, he thought he was covered and they're saying he's not...it's a HUGE deal, I get it.

Thing is: We're on his side. We were under the impression he was covered otherwise we wouldn't have offered COBRA in the first place or accepted his payments. We're arguing with the insurance company to cover his ass.

But he needs to learn Rule Number One of dealing with Customer Service, which is: The guy who picks up the phone has no authority whatsoever. If he did, he wouldn't be picking up the phone to talk to your bitchy ass. He'd be telling some other hapless schmoe to pick up the phone.

So asking me if I, personally, am prepared to answer to charges of fraud is stupid. The answer is "No, no I'm not and I am in no way able to do so for the company as a whole, either. I have no authority."

Seriously, understand this: It doesn't matter if I think you're right or wrong, it doesn't matter if I think you're an asshole or Jesus reincarnate; I can't do jack. And if the people who can do jack are "unavailable" there's nothing I can do about that either so huffing "Of course they're in a 'meeting'" and waiting expectantly wastes everybody's time.

So, now...I hope that on Friday his surgeon leaves a sponge or forceps or something in him.

That's the kicker - Thimerisol was NEVER in MMR vaccines!!

Ye gods, I can't spell or read today. Thanks for correcting me there.

Thiomersal.

(Sorry; it's what I do for a living. We've edited a LOT of stuff about the flu vaccine, which *does* have thiomersal in it.)

Is that the same stuff they're always quick to say is not in contact solution anymore?

And now for something completely different, I give you a ridiculously small kitty with a ridiculously large dog: [link]

I think the lack of faith in science that a lot of people have bodes ill for our society. I mean, there's a lot of complex shit out there, and the scientific method is really the only way we have to understand it....

Not that there's never been bad science. But the antidote to bad science is good science, not conspiracy theory o' the day....

TINY KITTY!

I can't believe cuteoverload is blocked. Evil!

Also, I had no idea the Jewish population was so small! A co-worker said something about it only being 1% and I thought, "Fah, right," but it turns out that in this state it is 1% and 2.2% overall. I swear at least a quarter of the people I know are Jewish! How odd.

uuuuuuuhhhhhhgggggg!

You know, I'm old enough that I remember before a lot of these vaccines came out - I was vaccinated for smallpox when I was a baby and got regular polio boosters (ow!) until the Salk vaccine came out. Got mumps, measles (which I was seriously ill with), chicken pox the old-fashioned way. I remember when there'd be talk of closing down the town pool in the summer if there was a rumor of polio. I remember hearing stories of babies being born with problems because their mothers had caught rubella when they were pregnant. So ... people are saying that the chance of autism is worth running the risk of any of these? I really don't understand it.