Case managers from Anthem call about Grace all the time. I always ask them how to help me secure therapy or smooth appointments or if they will do home visits and recommend home health. They always decline and say, "Oh it sounds like you have this covered. Her asthma sounds like it's being handled."

Asthma? You mean chronic lung disease and trache-related issues? BAH.

I still have to talk to a "health coach" this week about my numbers--high triglycerides, elevated cholesterol, borderline blood sugar issues, my HUGE BMI and my ginourmous waist measurements.

"Well, I hope poor Grace gets over that cough soon."

If I thought I had a fight that insurance could vaguely help me with, but nope. I have to get bits of UCLA to listen to other bits of UCLA. I do need to schedule acupuncture appointments with the place, again UCLA, the pain place recommended, but I'm not at an escalation point yet. I finally got the prelim paperwork faxed yesterday, and they say the appointment wait is two weeks. I'm not sure if the pain guys wanted feedback from how acupuncture was going by their next appointment, but that's so incredibly not going to happen.

Also--how do normal people with normal jobs fit in acupuncture appointments? I'm assuming me working from home will make it easier, but physical therapy was always difficult enough.

Also--how do normal people with normal jobs fit in acupuncture appointments?

I scheduled mine as late in the day as possible. Not a perfect solution, but it worked.

Heck, I don't know how my dry-cleaner stays in business if they're only open 9-6 on weekdays (9-5 Saturdays). I can almost never get my clothes to them during the week, and often forget on Saturday.

I mean, seriously: if your primary market is people who work office hours, wouldn't you make more of an effort to be open during non-office hours?

I mean, seriously: if your primary market is people who work office hours, wouldn't you make more of an effort to be open during non-office hours?

I guess it's that holdover from the '50s, when housewives and housekeepers were doing those errands, but it's absurd now. Especially if you have any kind of commute.

We have a specific policy that we are not allowed to provide bottle water.

I was thinking tap. Bottled water can be more expensive than coffee. My workplaces really only deal in bottled water for short-run touring performers. I love the places that have the water coolers that filter tap water and have buttons for hot or cold water.

I mean, seriously: if your primary market is people who work office hours, wouldn't you make more of an effort to be open during non-office hours?

Yeah, I think it's ridiculous. Although I realize, now that I work with people who mostly drive to work, doing errands (like dry cleaning) near your job is kind of brilliant because the stuff can just live in your car.

I don't know if any of you recall my cousin's car accident two years ago. Two years ago today, in fact. Her car rolled multiple times as she tried to avoid another accident. She had to have part of her spine fused, her wrist had been broken, and she had traumatic brain injury.

She has worked hard at her recovery. Her wrist and neck healed fairly quickly. Dealing with the brain injury and chronic pain are ongoing issues, but if you didn't know she had been in an accident, you probably wouldn't guess. She is back to driving, even on the freeway. Her hair is finally growning back.

Her accident seems so long ago and yesterday all at once. I'm so glad she is doing well. I wish I could see her more often. It has been over a year since our last visit.

Yes, Jesse. It's made it difficult to have a therapist because virtually nobody iad hours past 5:00. Which is when I usually leave the office. I wonder why nobody thinks about being open for hours like 1:00 to 9:00. Gives you the morning to run your errands and then get the after-work trade.