oh, New York!

I spent last Sunday in the city with an old friend. Good lunch, amazing 50% off tickets to American Idiot, and Crumbs Cupcakes!

And, well, its New York. I've yet to visit a city with this vibe.

what's not to love when the Subway AND Loft sparkle?

Just FYI, the "ball" is totally unimpressive in real life.

As much as I entertain moving there, I know I'm a child of the 'burbs and its not realistic. But no city will ever compare.

A Dog's Life, Cont.

So our dog is scared.
SCARED.
Of pretty much everything but food & people. Oh how he loves people. And running off leash. Though he doesn't like people and running off leash at the same time since he's pretty much impossible to catch and running off leash is never on purpose (for me) unless there's a 6 ft tall fence around us. But I digress.

He wasn't always scared of things. I'm not sure when he started disliking sewer grates, but I remember the morning when he first scaled a 10 foot snow bank to avoid walking over one (this went on for weeks, thanks Snowpoclyspe). I do know when he started fearing the stove & oven...two separate incidents involving two seperate cooks, one with bacon, one with dripping cheese, both with a smoke alarm and people unresponsive to the dog's pleas to BARKgetoutsideCIRCLEreallyBARKokfineyoudieatleastletmeoutHIDEUNDERBED. Apparently under the bed is the place to go if there is fire. Or, say, anyone is cooking. This perturbs me, since now if there ever is, heaven forbid, a fire, the dog will be under the bed :(

And...perhaps as a result of two years of July 4th Fireworks at my parent's boat, 200 yds or so from the fireworks barge, Bailey is also scared of thunder.
He hears storms coming long before the wind or rain starts, and ends up climbing on you, burrowing his little ostrich head into the pillows. Or he hides, under the bed.

This week though, I think he's been reading up on thunderstorm safety.
See, thunderstorms can bring tornados (theoretically even in Eastern PA, believable given what happened in Brooklyn this year!).  In a tornado, you should go in the basement. If you can't do that, a room without windows will do. Or a bathrub, preferably with a mattress overhead.

He's all set (sans mattress).

maybe he was just hot? I don't know. He stayed in there for an hour!

gah!!

This is (well, was) outside my front door!

I SWEAR it was bigger than this photo looks - I couldn't get the camera to focus through the glass, and didn't really want to get up close and personal. When I left for work this morning, I saw the web....overnight this thing made a one foot diameter web, suspended from a bush to the eave, conveniently located so the door opening didn't disturb it.

Tonight, it was home.

And huge.  At least half an inch long and FAT. The fattest spider I have ever seen. I should google Brown Recluse because it is the only spider that I'm aware lives here & is poisonous (thanks 4th grade!), but I don't want to know.

And it was eating (presumably) a lady bug! Gah!

In case you're wondering, the spider & its web are now residing in a bush in front of my house. With my broom. (I'll address how to get the broom inside spider free tomorrow morning...)

back on the horse

wagon, whatever.


I'm doing a 5k at Thanksgiving with my dad, so guess I need to start running again (something more regular than 3-9 miles/week?).  Goal for now, break 27 minutes. I did the same course last fall in something like 28:30. One day I will run the elusive 24 minute 5k. In 2007, I did a 5 miler around Thanksgiving in 40:30 (8:06 folks!) so I can dream of being fit again!

Here's my plan:  Hal Higdon Intermediate

I kicked it off right with a 3 miler this morning, 2 with the pup and 1 alone in 30 flat.

Welcome Fall!

It might be 90 degrees out, but that doesn't mean I can't dream of fall...
and get a couple of new things!

For about $75 total, I picked up a new pair of boots (woot for finally finding boots I can wear with jeans without cutting off my calves), a cheap pair of jeans for said boots (since none of my bootcuts go in them without saggy knees!), a cardigan, and 4 lightweight long sleeved tees for layering.

a dog's life

Can't find the dog?
Wandering all over your (1400 sq ft) house calling for the dog, wondering where the heck he is?

Did you check his bedroom?

Sorry I woke you up dude. Be sure to make the bed when you get up.

Heaven forbid the little prince sleeps on the dog bed when there's two people in the queen and he's relegated to the foot...

conversations with insurance

While I understand the argument lines against big government and such, I really have trouble opposing universal health care as a practical matter.  Not looking for debate on what should be covered here, but have these people every actually dealt with a health insurance company?

I've had a few doozies over the years. 2003: three stitches. Yes, I was enrolled in college at the time and a dependent on my parents insurance. No, I am no longer enrolled. Yes, I do think you should cover this since I was enrolled at the time. 2009: skin pathologies. Yes, I had a referral to the derm & derm surgeon. No, I did not bring my biopsy or the larger skin sample to the lab myself, so I did not pick the non-HMO lab. Yes, I do want you to work this out with my doctor, and No, I will not pay the fee until it is resolved.

Most recently, a call to the insurance folks, not our benefits office (thinking, crazy me, they could answer my question), more or less verbatim.

Me: Hi, I'm calling about my reproductive benefits.
Customer Service Lady: OK blah blah
Me: So I understand my plan covers 1 IVF at [specific major medical center].
CS: Yes, it does.
Me: Can you tell me what that entails? I'm specifically interested if I can do monitoring at my home doctor, as he doesn't have privileges at SMMC.
CS: Well, I'm not a health care professional, so I can't tell you all the procedures associated with IVF.
Me: Yes, ma'am, I understand. I want to know what specifically needs to be done at SMMC. For example, do I need to do only the egg retrieval and transfer there for coverage, or do I need to have all the monitoring and other visits there too.
CS: Your plan covers one In-Vitrooooo Fertilizzation [very slowly, in case I didn't know what IVF was]. So I think that needs to be done there but you can do other OB related visits elsewhere.
Me: So you can't tell me what exactly needs to be done at SMMC? [I omitted the part about this having nothing to do with my OB, since I realized at this point this was useless]
CS: I can only tell you what I have on your benefits coverage.
Me: Right, I have that list too. So if my doctor's office calls and asks about billing codes, can they find out what exactly is covered and what I need to do at SMMC to get the coverage?
CS: Yes
Me: But all you can tell me is I have coverage for one IVF, but you don't know what procedures.
CS: Right
Me: OK, thanks, I'm going to go beat my head against the side of this train car now.

blah

So far the highlight of September is the re-appearance of Candy Corn.

This does nothing for the fact I've gained 4 lbs since my last fitness related post despite my ravings (over months) about getting back in shape, but it does improve my mood. Especially the pumpkins no one else seems to like!