GA: Is it bad that I'm finding that attempt at Sons of Anarchy characters very funny.

I am stupefied by the myuhc website. I would really like to be able to search by claim number, but apparently you can't really search of everything--you can only filter lists and browse until you get to what interests you.

And, dear lord, this is the most opaque language ever. I need to have a heart to heart with support personnel and have them walk me through the EOBs I owe money on, so I can put together the appeals properly. I'll need to go to the pain doctor, since he's most of what was rejected, and I only want to do that once.

I swear--all the language is formulated to look like I don't owe (much) money, but the digits--the digits tell a different story.

Anyway--this can wait at least one more day, if not until next week. I need to go home.

"Yes, ma'am?" Yeah, still mortifying.

Anytime I work with a southern boy I have to just accept that they say that and try not to cringe too much. The worst was the one guy who would say that in emails, but spell it "mam". I've also had female students who called me "Miss [first name]" but I'm not sure if that's a southern thing or a dance student thing." I know they're just trying to be respectful but it still feels odd to me.

I've been at work for 12 1/2 hours and I have 3 more to go. Could someone speed the clock up a little?

Please let me remember I have a 7AM conference call tomorrow.

7 am? That's just mean.

It's India. And I'm definitely working from home. It would either have it now? We have to bend our work hours to accommodate them, but we also have to be in the office (well, AT WORK) for full business days. It doesn't seem well thought out. have no brain--I used the last of it up doing a compare and contrast against "local" Google sites. I'm not entirely sure what it means to search google.com.jm versus any of the rest, and it's noe like the auto-complete has a function, but auto-complete is a gift from a Trickster god. It's like a paper trail of a Zeitgeist, and I don't want to go down that ship, dammit.

I did find this particular comparison interesting. I wonder if the formula to fill that bar is simply popularity, or they do some Google magic that makes it better than their competitors.

Yeah, we have conference calls with our India office occasionally, too, which tends to lead to odd hours (on both ends--a 7am call for me is a 6pm call for them).

I just figured out why I'm Cranky McCrankerson of Crankville these days. I haven't had an unsceduled weekend since before Thanksgiving. My unpopular 7th grade self is pointing at my diamond shoes and saying, "Shiny!" but I think I'm gonna have to hermitize this weekend and pet my inner introvert.

The "ma'am" thing weirded me out for a long time, and then I lived in the South for 9 years (at the end of which my daughter called me ma'am occasionally) and now I miss it. All what you're used to. (Yes, "Miss Firstname" is a very common Southern form of respect - kids often call their close friends' mothers Miss Firstname, and we used it for day care teachers and such. It's less formal than Mrs. Lastname, but still respectful.)

So I am considering a bit of a vacation to Jamaica. Flights out of Fort Lauderdale are surprisingly reasonable, like $196 RT. Friend that was our best man lives there most of the time now and has room at his house so it would be super reasonable. The only debate is whether to take the boys with us.

Do it!

I am considering a considerably more expensive trip to Ireland, because I found a flight that only $850 RT. Why is everything so expensive here?

$850 to Ireland sounds pretty cheap, but I've never priced flights to Ireland.