Good Things

Narrowing in on a house rental within the right price range. Didn't get the one we wanted, so we're looking at a bigger house at the top of our rent range. Also negotiated with my current apartment complex, and they're bringing the price down on a renovated 3 bedroom. Honestly, tho, I'd rather have a house. Another two or three showings next week and we'll hopefully be signing for something.

In other news, a liberal application of NewSkin prior to affixing my Omnipod seems to have done the trick. 24 hours and counting and no burning red itchiness around and under the adhesive. You don't realize how much stress minor discomfort puts you under until it goes away.

As noted previously, line edits for GW are here! I've made a little progress this week, but decided to take this Friday off to really dig into them. I've been preoccupied with peak season at work (this week is the last week of peak season), and with some of my job stress easing off a bit, I feel comfortable getting these in the bag. I want them back out the door by the 23rd.

Another reason for the Friday off is just general exhaustion and burnout. I'm trying to do too many things at once, and monitoring how we were doing this tax season in order to provide myself with a guestimate of whether or not I'd have my job come March was a lot more stressful than I thought it would be. Coordinating house hunting when you don't have a car is also a lot more stressful than you might think. Pair that with the adhesive allergy, and it's just been a wearing couple of weeks.

Looking forward to the day when I can actually take off more than a day or two at a time again. May end up taking unpaid time in August. My grandmother is renting a beach house, and my folks are keen on seeing me. I'd rather be going somewhere exotic, but I'll take whatever I can get at this point. Cancelled Wiscon this year already in favor of getting a car come April.

Bring on the book checks, yo.

Who's Being Served?

Can you spot the difference?

Insurance PTSD

Everytime somebody calls me and says the word, "Insurance," over the phone, my heart races, I get sick to my stomach, and I pull out a pad and paper. I also get that hardline note to my voice, the one that everybody always thinks is me being "angry." In fact, it's not me being angry, it's me going stone cold because I know that if I don't, I'm going to burst into tears. My "angry" voice helps me get through a potentially brutal emotionally frought conversation with cold logic and reason.

When I hang up the phone, then I'm allowed to feel something other than cold.

I've also developed a nasty allergy to medical adhesive. Yes, the kind that affixes an insulin pump to the skin. Apparently, this is a pretty common occurence, to show no allergy and then just develop it after a few months of affixing medical hardware to your skin. Thing is, you know, why the fuck haven't they made hypoallergenic medical adhesive if this is so fucking common? WTF?

My skin burns, itches, and eventually flakes and peels and turns a violent crimson color around the site of the Omnipod. I had to pull one off a day early because my arm burned like it was on fire. I still have red welts from two weeks ago on my stomach, and I have an actual peeling burn on my arm where I put two pods near the same site for 5 days.

First things first, I did some research in the t1 forums and found some possible solutions to the allergy problem (skin prep treatments first, barriers next if those don't work), ordered them (this is why I budget $30 a month in meds), and *then* went home and felt sorry for myself. I try very hard not to think too hard or feel too much about anything in the middle of a problem. I leave all that stuff for when the crisis has passed.

I'm getting weird about medical stuff and insurance the same way I was weird after I got out of the hospital. You just get a little extra jumpy. You have these massively over-the-top reactions to "little" things like allergies to medical adhesive and inquiries from your medical supplies company.

The thing is, after going through some kind of massive trauma experience - like I did in the hospital, or the terrible three days thinking I was going to go without care - well, your fight-or-flight response gets broken. So you overreact to everything. It reminds me of the stuff I'll hear about war veterans, or survivors of abuse. Little things like getting on the bus or somebody touching your arm can just totally set you off.

Now every time somebody associated with the medical industry calls me, I'm afraid they're going to tell me there's something wrong with me or they're going to take something away from me. I get this hair-trigger fighting response. I buckle down, dig in my heels, and get ready for the worst.

Mmmmmmm healthcare in America.

How to Write Novel

Your milage may vary.

But this is pretty much what it is (I consume fewer pastries, myself).

Urban Fantasy Vs. Brutal Women

Though often annoyed, I've been trying to resolve myself to getting a sex kitten urban fantasy cover for God's War (complete with moon, over the shoulder glance, and back tattoo). I wasn't sure how to sell "Brutal ass kicking woman" on the cover who isn't all sex-kittened up. They all want to draw a sex kitten.

Then, this morning, I saw this:



And I went, "Oh hells yes!"

I like what this cover does. It's gritty and dark and the main character isn't looking off to the side or over her shoulder in that stupidly flirty, useless way you see on the urban fantasy covers. You're not being invited to oogle her. She's not being presented as an object. She's staring straight at you, just the way somebody who can fuck some shit up would. Add in the blood with that full on stance and oh yeah... this isn't a half bad portrayal of a brutal woman.

Granted, I'd prefer my heroine a little more physically imposing, and less pretty (she's got the face and body of a runway model, not a warrior).

This is how I prefer my book heroines. I don't want her in skin tight clothes (they did go with leather here - you can't win em all), I don't want her to flirt with me. I have no interest in seeing her half-clothed and "vulnerable" to "make up" for her supposed toughness. I'm sorry, but showing a half-clothed woman on your cover doesn't convince me you've got a strong, complex heroine. I want her to be SCARY. I want to believe she's going to fuck shit up. Those are the heroines I'm interested in (and interested in writing).

If I see one more vampire fucking novel cover, I might die. I really have no interest in reading another novel about the protagonist's deep personal angst about whether she should go to bed with the vampire, the werewolf, or both.

I want higher stakes, more complex characters, and heroines that don't all read the same. And I want that reflected on book covers. Because let me tell you, there's a half ton of books out there on the SF/F shelves I'm just not picking up... based entirely on the cover. So sad.

For discussions about what led them to finally pick this cover (and oh yeah is this the best of the bunch), go here.

The Arrival

I can haz line edits, baby.

Ohhhhhh yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

More Reasons to be a Good Diabetic

Klein said the findings support a new idea that Alzheimer's is a type of diabetes of the brain.

"In Type 1 diabetes, your pancreas isn't making insulin. In Type 2 diabetes, your tissues are insensitive to insulin because of problems in the insulin receptor. Type 3 is where that insulin receptor problem is localized in the brain," Klein said in a telephone interview.

In some people, this can occur with age, he said.

"As you get older, some individuals start to have less effective insulin signaling, including in the brain," he said, making the brain more vulnerable to toxins that cause Alzheimer's disease.

And:

Several studies have found that diabetics have a higher risk of getting Alzheimer's than the general population.

Oh joy!

THIS is why I want my 5.9 A1C.

No matter how bad it gets...

Quote of the Day

"Strength does not come from winning.Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength."
- Arnold Schwarzenegger

An Inconvenient Truth

Last night, I watched An Inconvenient Truth.

This morning, I saw this and this, and finally had a place to put all the pieces.

I'm glad I don't have kids.

Don't You Wish You Lived in Ohio?

I Earned a Penny!

My $50 in savings earned a penny! Wow, this is exciting! No, seriously, do you have any idea how long it's been since I had a savings account (that wasn't a 401(k) subject to market madness)? Ten years at least.

A whole penny!

I just put another $50 in there. As life starts to move toward including more than just me, it's time I started actually building a future with the money I've got instead of blowing it on Turkish food.

Mmmmm Turkish food.

Obama Disappointed Cabinet Failed To Understand His Reference To 'Savage Sword Of Conan' #24

Yes, it delights me to no end that Obama's a comic book fan. And yes, I love the Onion.

Writing

Yeah. It's like that.

Check your Interest Rate

I logged into my primary credit card account yesterday to make a payment after cashing an insurance reimbursement check.

While looking at the summary page, I was startled to see an interest rate percentage of 14.99%

Um.

Hold on here, crackerbarrel.

I have a variable interest rate of 6.55%. I've never seen it above 9.99%. I went back through my statements from the three months prior. It ranged from 7.1% to 8.5%.

My interest rate had nearly doubled overnight.

I gave my card company a call. They capitulated pretty quickly (why does it suprise me so much that I can get what I want so easily after that insurance fiasco?).

Apparently, Citibank has rewritten the lending terms. They're not offering my rate anymore (at least not for me), but what I could do was reject the terms and just let my card expire on the expiration date, which is in 2011. This lets me carry the rest of my balance at my old interest rate until that time (yes, I can still use the card, too. I'm just rejecting the new policy). She's going back and adjusting the finance charge for this month to reduce the month's inflated interest.

The idea behind this is that interest rates, hopefully, will have improved by 2011 and I'll be able to sign up for another term with my old interest rate (of course, I plan to have this card paid off by then, but because it has the highest credit limit, this is the one card I did want to keep on hand after both are paid off).

What I find hilarious is that Citibank raised thier interest rates RIGHT AFTER getting their share of the bank bailout money. Go Citibank! That's some awesome customer service, there.

Moral of the story: a very quick, easy phone call can save you 50% in interest payments.

How many people don't actually notice it when their interest rate goes up? How many people just go, "Well, shit, that's the way it is?"

Please check the interest rate on all of your credit cards.

That is all.

OmniPod Improvements

How I got three boxes worth of pods with a 20% failure rate, I'll never know. I actually suspect that until recently, that was the order of the day for Omnipod. Over the last three months, Omnipod has made some improvements.

We're down to a respectable 1% failure rate. I think the last one that failed was over a month ago. The shipment I just got also includes a much better adhesive, which is good news for people like me who are always knocking their arm against doorways. I just smacked myself good while walking through my closet and hot damn but if that thing didn't stay affixed to my arm.

The new adhesive does irritate slightly more. I noticed an urge to scratch around the edges a few times, which I didn't really notice so much with the other ones. But that's well worth getting and keeping those things on.

My blood sugar (barring today's miscalculation of how many carbs are actually in Subway flatbread) has been great. My mood's improved. Life is generally awesome. I can't wait to see what my A1c is on Friday.

Socking it Away

As much as I get on about not saving enough money (I'm trying to find a way to put $50 a month into a savings account), I realized when I did a detailed review of my paycheck this week that I'm actually putting $100 a month into the company 401(k).

You forget how much it is when you just fill out the percentage box on the 401(k) form.

I'm feeling slightly better about approaching 30.

WTF?

The little weather bar underneath my Vista gadgets clock says it's -13 outside. -13, seriously?

SERIOUSLY?

You know, in Alaska, I got this type of weather, sure, but it included perks like northern lights, low population density, and liquor.

In Dayton, not so much.

Also, I'm really not prepared anymore for weather like this. Maybe I'll call in cold.

Chilly Beans

It's supposed to be -25 tonight.

Holy crap, what is this? There's a reason I'm not in Fairbanks anymore.

I think I may be saving the gym for tomorrow. I don't have proper snow boots or gloves for this type of weather.

Look What Arrived Today.... OmniPoddery

Doesn't look like something that should have taken that much effort, does it?

Images We Should Be Protected From

Whew! I'm glad my government censorship agencies are on the job!

What are you doing in the Spring of 2010?

I'll likely be in Peru.

Well, that's what I was supposed to be doing, but I'll likely be promoting God's War instead, as it looks like it'll be pushed back from a Fall 09 to a Spring 10 release date.

This is due mainly to all the craziness at my publisher currently (and in the publishing world in general). I'd figured this was likely to happen cause, you know, the book was sold a year ago and... no copyedits as yet. It was sort of inevitable that the book would be pushed back.

I don't have too many complaints - the book's still being published, and 2010 will likely be a better time to be a debut author (2010, man, look at that, that's like the future or something).

In the meantime, a Spring 10 release date means I've got to wait even longer before selling more books (my publisher gets first right of refusal on my next book, which I can't present to them until I deliver book 3). And in the short fiction world, well, I haven't been writing much of it. I figured I'd just churn out books happily...

Now I'm feeling like a seriously slacker writer. Nothing of mine will see print until 2010? Bummer.

So, I'm back to toodling with some short fiction pieces. There was a time when I strove to keep about 10-15 stories in the mail all the time. Whatever happened to those days? Ok, well, I guess I sold the sellable stories, is what happened, and then never created more.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm working toward creating a backlog again. It's been kind of refreshing. I've been stuck in the GW world for so long that I think a part of me has gotten bored and stale with it - which is funny because it's an awesome world - I'm just so brain-rutted about it that I've ceased to be able to push my imagination as far as it needs to go, in some instances, and I can see that when I'm going back to rewrite book 2.

We'll see if some short fiction can help jutter something loose.

P.S. Peru will be way better in October anyway!!

How to Get an Insurance Claim Expedited (Without Cutting Off Anybody's Head)

Here are some tips on how to get an insurance claim expedited by your health insurance provider. I deal with UHC. Your mileage may vary:

1)Be sure all of your paperwork is in order. Before you start fighting, be sure the company has all the proper forms on file. There’s nothing you can do if the right forms haven’t reached them.

2)Send a formal letter asking them to review the claim. A formal request for review gets logged in their system. The one from your medical provider does too, but it’s not as potent as the one you send. Also, mention things like being prepared to file a formal complaint with the Attorney General. And mean it. If you aren’t prepared to do this, you aren’t ready to do what I just did below.

3)Prepare to spend 4-6 hours of time on the phone over several days. Once I get really good at this, I’d like to get it down to 1 day, but for now, prepare for about 2-3 days of haggling.

4)Keep a record of dates/names/times you contacted people. What company you called. What they said. Ideally, you’d never get disconnected or have to call back, but inevitably, you will be telling your story to several people several times. Cut down on the number of people you have to start the process over with again by hanging on the line and just being transferred as long as possible. Tell them you won’t get off the phone until the issue is resolved.

5)When you reach Customer Service, ask to speak to a supervisor. Whatever you do, don’t get stuck with a first-pickup person. You want to get to the third tier. Immediately state that you have an expedited claim. The second are the second tier folks may have different names: Rapid Resolution Specialists, Resolution Specialists, Resolution Managers, Customer Care Managers, Customer Care Specialists…Once you have a reference number (ask for this once you reach a resolution manager) you can just immediately ask the support person to transfer you. Customer Service is the first line of defense, and all they can do is read to you what you see on your own screen when you log into your insurance account online. Nobody can do anything to physically change your account until you get to at least a 3rd tier person. That means getting to the supervisor/resolution specialist’s supervisor, at the very list.

6)Have a list of ways that you will escalate the call. “If they say this, I will respond with this.” Sometimes you have to hang up and call back several times before you can frame your argument correctly. This is understandable, since we’re often pretty emotional when battling for health services.

7)DON’T EVER LOSE YOUR TEMPER OR GET EMOTIONAL. Don’t EVER lose it with a customer service rep. Be firm, but not hysterical. I lost it twice along the line, and got stonewalled both times. The first time, I had to call back and start all over again with a different rep. The second time, I apologized, explained the situation, and got the payment processed in 30 minutes. Stay calm, but firm. Firm is good. Have your situation story written down so you can recite it calmly. You’ll be repeating it a lot.

Here’s an example of how to keep a record of your contact with the various folks involved in resolving a major health insurance issue (and yes, I know, it would be wickedly funny if it wasn’t true).

PROLOGUE!

December 17th, 2008
So, Jason at CCS Medical, provider of my Omnipod insulin pods, contacts me and says they are withholding my Omnipod shipments until UHC pays outstanding claims from 7/1 and 10/1. UHC claims that the provider is Out of Network. This is untrue, as they have already signed paperwork with CCS Medical to get the in-network rate. They already have the pre-authorization form on file. They’ve had the paperwork for 6 months. Prior to that, it took a year of bullying from Omnipod just to get approved.

Now that it’s approved, UHC isn’t paying.

Jason says they submitted a formal review of these claims to UHC on 12/4 and have still not been paid. He advises me to put pressure on UHC. Mmmm pressure.

December 17th, 2008
I call UHC. The claims rep says it takes 30 days to review claims. I should wait another two weeks for the Dec. 4th claim to be processed.

I submit a written request for review of claims to UHC. This includes EOB documentation and threats about filing a complaint with the Attorney General (not just threats, actually. This same day, I request a list of the other outstanding complaints against UHC in order to prepare my own. I prepared early for the long haul).


December 22nd, 2008
UHC receives my request for review. CCS Medical calls and is told it will be another 2 weeks to correct these claims (I learn this on the 5th).

December 24th, 2008
I check the status of my claims. My online UHC records show that the 7/1 claim is in the process of being adjusted. Somehow. It involved a duplication of the claim, only with a “– “next to it, which I could not understand but figured must mean something was happening to the claim. There was no other explanation. Just the duplicate claim with minus marks next to it.

AND NOW IT BEGINS
!!!

January 5th, 2009

With three days left until my shipment is due to go out, I call UHC to inquire about what’s going on with the adjustment of the claim submitted on 12/4. I’m told it will be another two weeks.
I ask to speak to a supervisor. I’m told there is no supervisor. I just need to be patient.

I call CCS medical and tell them that the claim is being processed. The Rep from CCS medical gives me a breakdown of their previous contact with UHC (see above). She offers tips on how to bully my way past the customer service rep.

I call UHC back and use bullying techniques (buzz words like “rush,” “expedite” and “this is not acceptable” and “today.” Because resolution of this claim will result in failure to deliver much-needed medical supplies, I explain this loudly and often. The fact that it’s true, and the idea of going back to shots terrifies me, helps me with my argument. I do, in fact, need this expedited. Today. Now.). I am transferred to a Rapid Resolution Specialist. Specialist assures me that claim is being processed and will certainly be processed this week. If it’s not processed by Wednesday, I should call back then and hold a conference call with UHC and CCS Medical to get things sorted out.

At this point, I am exhausted, and out of fight. Fighting for a shipment reminds me of how much better I’ve felt since going on the pump, and how much shittier my life will be without it. That’s the thing with switching to a pump. If you’ve never had it, you don’t know what you’re missing. Once you’ve had it, you realize how much better your life can be. When someone tries to take that away, it’s terrifying.

I hang up.

January 6th, 2009
8:00 am –After a long night spent detailing my escalation procedures (including a list of “if they say this, I say this,” prompts to help me when I get overly emotional about it) I call UHC and ask about the status of my claim. They say it is still pending. I tell them I need to put a rush on it.
I ask to be transferred to Rapid Resolution Specialist. She fights it, but eventually transfers me after I tell her it needs to be resolved TODAY so that my medical supplies will ship TOMORROW. Again, the fact that I urgently needed medical supplies NOW was a good selling point, cause let me tell you, I wouldn’t be going through this for a bandaid.

The Rapid Resolution Specialist is surprisingly perplexed and helpful about my claim. She says they can put a rush on it, but it will still be 24-48 hours to process. She warns me, however, that I have a pre-authorization that expired on Dec. 31st. I ask if that will delay payments already not made. She says no. I tell her I’ll advise CCS Medical of this (having no idea who the hell handles pre-authorization forms).

She transfers me to her supervisor, since she has no way to directly change anything on the screen. Supervisor says she and another manager will get it to someone who can actually change the screen and it will be reviewed and out the door today.

RRS supervisor tells me someone WILL contact me either tonight or early tomorrow.
This whole process took about two hours, about an hour and a half of it, total, on hold with UHC. Most of it while the supervisors tried to figure out who the hell they could get to expedite the claim.

7:00 p.m. – Martika from UHC calls and says she spoke to Deanna at CCS. Martika told them my 7/1 and 10/1 claims had been incorrectly processes and would be paid. Martika says that Deanna has released my shipment.

Hooray! I am full of win!!

January 7th, 2009
8:30 a.m. - I call CCS Medical to verify that my shipment has gone out. I’m told it’s still on hold and will not go out today. I’m told there are no notes on the file from Deanna or Martika.

I find this annoying, but not, ultimately, surprising. This is, after all, why I called to verify.

8:45 a.m. - I call Omnipod to see if the holdup is on their end. Perhaps UHC called them instead of CCS?

I get transferred to Billing. Billing sends me to shipping.

I get transferred to Shipping. They tell me to contact CCS medical.

9:30 a.m. - I call CCS Medical back. I speak to L. I tell her to check the notes. I tell them Deanna should have released this from hold. I’m told Deanna didn’t have the authority to do that.

I’m told that it’s because my “pre-authorization form” has expired (as of 12/31/08). It was resubmitted to UHC by CCS Medical yesterday, after they received confirmation that they would receive payment. They could not submit a new pre-authorization form without getting payment first (??).

I tell them this shouldn’t be an issue. I was told all I needed to do to receive today’s shipment was to get them to pay the prior claims.

She says she will call back with more information.

10:45 a.m. - I call CCS Medical. I am told my shipment will ship today and is not on hold!
Hooray! I am full of win!!

11:00 a.m. - I get a call from L. She says I have been misinformed. My shipment will not ship today until the pre-authorization form is processed by UHC. She says they tried to get a rush on it but were denied. She suggests I try and get a rush on it.

12:30 p.m. - I call UHC.

I get Gail in Claims. I tell her August/October/Rush/Expedite/Medical Supplies.
I’m transferred to Coletta the Rapid Resolution Manager. I tell her August/October/Rush/Expedite/Medical Supplies.

I ask to speak to her supervisor, Debbie. I tell her August/October/Rush/Expedite/Medical Supplies.

Debbie tries to stonewall me with, “It’s still processing, process, process, time to process…” This is what every claim rep says first off. What you tell them is that these are urgent medical supplies and they need to go out TODAY. Must be resolved TODAY. Has been processing for SIX WEEKS. ALL FORMS ON FILE.

I lose it with Debbie. I’m afraid this slip up has ruined my chances of getting a resolution. I apologize and explain I’ve spent about six hours on the phone over the last three days with half a dozen people at three different companies.

She says she will contact her manager and call me back. She says she will get it paid today. I told her that’s great – should have happened yesterday. Now I need her to expedite the pre-authorization form. She says they already have a pre-authorization on file for 1/6 to 10/31 2009. She will work on this and get the payment made today.

1:15 p.m. - I call L at CCS Medical and say pre-auth is already on file. She says this isn’t true – UHC was just saying they have a record of it, but it hasn’t been processed. I tell L. that they will call me back today when the claim is paid, and I will get auth # then. L. advises me to conference call in CCS medical with UHC – calls are recorded, and shipment can go out immediately after end of call.

2:10 p.m. - Debbie calls back from UHC. She says the initial 7/1/08 claim has now been paid (record! It’s only been six months!). When I ask about the pre-auth and conference call, she says her department doesn’t handle that: “What we have on file is a… placeholder,” she says. “It’s still being processed.” I ask her to expedite (RUSH, RUSH, EXPEDITE. These are the KEY WORDS). She says to call the department that handles that and gives me the number.

2:15 p.m. - I call the Customer Care Management number (or whatever the hell touchy-feely name they gave this place). I tell her August/October/Rush/Expedite/Medical Supplies. I am told this is the wrong department and given a new phone number and transferred.

2:35 pm. - I speak with Chris? I tell him August/October/Rush/Expedite/Medical Supplies. He finds the actual name of the actual person (with a first and last name!) assigned to work on the actual pre-authorization and transfers me to him (My God!! I’m going down the rabbit hole!!).

2:36 p.m. - I get voicemail for Adam. I say August/October/Rush/Expedite/Medical Supplies call me back immediately here’s my number.

2:45 p.m. – I start to document the whole sordid history of this claim.

3:00 p.m. - Adam calls back!

I am achingly polite to Adam as I tell him the August/October/Rush/Expedite/Medical Supplies story. This is the fifth time I’ve explained it today.

He says this is no longer his case. He transferred it. He gets the name of the manager in charge of the person in charge of the pre-auth (Sandra – he also gave me her last initial. Deeper into the hive I go!). He puts a rush on it (his term is “stat”) and says they will call me back today on the status of the pre-auth.

4:08 p.m. – Jenn from CCS Medical calls and says that UHC has called them and approved the pre-authorization form . The shipment will go out today. She has already personally released it. She asks if I would like it to go 3-day air instead of 5-7 days ground. I say yes, since I only have 6 days of pods (that would be – 2) left.

I will receive my shipment Monday morning.

I hang up.

--------

There is no moral to this story. Oh, what’s the line, what’s the line…

One of the women turned to me just before they left. "We all battle dragons," she said. "There's no shame in losing."

"There'd be no battle," I said coldly, "without the dragons."

She grinned, slid her hat back on. "There will always be dragons," she said. "It's only a matter of who plays the dragon, who plays the sheep. Which would you rather be?"

The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became an Evil Overlord

Because, REALLY:

1) My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

2) My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

3) My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

4) Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

5) The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

Read the rest here.

Six Word Stories

I suppose we would call these "Twitter" stories these days. In any case, Six Word Stories from some of your favorite authors.

Six words:

"Bloody... burning cities. Newsflash! They won."

United Healthcare Update

Just got a call from UHC at 7:10 tonight.

They've called my provider and had them release my shipment.

Omnipods are shipping tomorrow.

Right on time.

See, all you have to do is spend 6 hours over the phone for two days, talk to 8 people, and threaten to file a complaint with the attorney general and you can totally get your approved healthcare costs paid!

It's like a miracle.

Anybody else need me to fight with their insurance company?

Pushing United Healthcare

I intend to write up a whole post about how to push at your insurance company.

Another two or three hours total on the phone today, with three different people. Got to the Rapid Resolution Specialist's supervisor, who contacted *her* supervisor, who got my claim to a claims manager (I know have a claim number) who ASSURES me that it will be resolved and PAID tomorrow morning at the latest.

Then they will CALL my medical provider, tell them the checks have been cut, and give them the check numbers.

This is what they SAY.

They've also told me "Don't call us, we'll totally call you!"

Ha ha ha. Yeah right, do you think I made it this far by listening to that rule?

If I don't hear from them by 9am tomorrow, I get to call and do it all over again.

I get further along every time.

Fucking asshats.

You know what? That persistence thing... about how 90% of succeeding as a writer is persistence? That rule applies to living, too. And all the things involved in it.

Good news is, after dealing with UHC, the idea of battling to get a $15 charged knocked off my Verizon bill was small potatoes. Called them immediately after and got the $15 credited to my bill.

I think I'm starting to become a brutal woman in some of those 21st century skills that have replaced the ability to wield a big sword and hit people with it.

Granted, I want to be good at that too.

You never know when you'll need a big sword.

Bit Torrent

Used Bit Torrent for the first time the other day. It's like Napster used to be, only faster and friendlier.

50 Things to Say (and Mean!) Before you Die

Why not?

Quote of the Day

"Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t."

~ Unknown

I'm So Tired

It really is stunning how many spoons get taken up arguing with five different people at three different medical companies for two and a half hours, then breaking and spending all afternoon and evening prepping for the next go-round.

They're important, worthwhile spoons, though, which is why I'm doing it. Spending these spoons now means having more spoons later. But my god, am I feeling totally mentally useless right now.

As annoyed as I was at the crappy batch of pods I got last go-round with the 20% failure rate, I haven't had any trouble the last three months with the new batch. It's been sublime. Using a pump means I'm more sane, stable, and sugar-happy than I've ever been. I have at least 75% fewer low sugar episodes. I can turn the pump off to avoid a low instead of eating to correct it. I maintain the most stable blood glucose number I've ever seen. I can't wait to get my A1c done.

Sure, there's the hardware changing and moving it around and all that, but jabbing yourself with needles four times a day isn't exactly hardware-less.

And because of the pump, I'm mentally and physically more "normal" than I've been in years.

And they want to take that away from me.

That's what I'm spending my spoons on.

And I'm so tired.

Tomorrow I get to do it all over again.

I need to be subsidized...

... Or, where are all MY rewards for bad busines practices?

The Details of Living

If you do not suffer from a life-ending condition and have never had to deal with health insurance companies, medical providers, pharmacies, drug companies, employer HR administators, and the like - all at once - count yourself among the bless'd.

It only took five phone calls with three different companies over two and a half hours for me to get my insurance providor to admit that they'd processed my medical supplies claim for my first shipment of Omnipods incorrectly.

On Weds, the 7th, I get to participate in a conference call between CCS medical - which provides my pods - and the "rapid resolution specialist" at United Healthcare.

This is because the 7th is the date I'm due for my next shipment of pods, which CCS will not ship until United Healthcare pays their 6-month-overdue bill

I have exactly 6 days worth of pods left. Baring pod failures.

You, too, could spend hours and hours of your life and mental energy on fun and exciting battles like this one, with five different reps from three different companies!

But it is living, which is something?

This is what it's like to be reminded, daily, that you're in a constant state of dying in America.

Imagine how much more productive a citizen I could be if I didn't have this constant drain of mental energy sucked into the bare necessities of living on insulin produced in a lab? What could I accomplish, living in an optimum state of health? How much better would our society be if each and every one of us was able to work, play, live, in a state of optimum health? Without the constant, nagging worry? The shuttle between medical providers, the back-and-forth arguments, the paperwork, the headache, the constant, aching, sleep-depriving stress of wondering if you'll get the medical care, coverage, and suppies you need at prices you can afford... Imagine a world without that worry.

Imagine.

Universal healthcare isn't scary. What's scary is living without it.

In The Zone

From here. There are some things you just can't make up... and be believed, anyway.

SENTRY: We spotted an Arab female about 100 meters below our emplacement, near the light armored vehicle gate.

HEADQUARTERS: Observation post “Spain,” do you see it?

OBSERVATION POST: Affirmative, it's a young girl. She's now running east.

HQ: What is her position?

OP: She's currently north of the authorized zone.

SENTRY: Very inappropriate location.

[Gunfire]

OP: She's now behind an embankment, 250 meters from the barracks. She keeps running east. The hits are right on her.

HQ: Are you talking about a girl under ten?

OP: Approximately a ten-year-old girl.

HQ: Roger.

OP: OP to HQ.

HQ: Receiving, over.

OP: She's behind the embankment, dying of fear, the hits are right on her, a centimeter from her.

SENTRY: Our troops are storming toward her now. They are around 70 meters from her.

HQ: I understand that the company commander and his squad are out?

SENTRY: Affirmative, with a few more soldiers.

OP: Receive. Looks like one of the positions dropped her.

HQ: What, did you see the hit? Is she down?

OP: She's down. Right now she isn't moving.

COMPANY COMMANDER [to HQ]: Me and another soldier are going in. [To the squad] Forward, to confirm the kill!

cc [to HQ]: We fired and killed her. She has . . . wearing pants . . . jeans and a vest, shirt. Also she had a kaffiyeh on her head. I also confirmed the kill. Over.

HQ: Roger.

CC [on general communications band]: Any motion, anyone who moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, should be killed. Over.

From here.

The Weird Turn Pro

Weapons for Her

Japan has made several other contributions to the world of womanly weaponry, most of them used by the female ninjas known as kunoichi, who began slipping through the shadows in the 1500s. The kunoichi’s secret weapons included poisons, blinding powders and stealth weapons like the kushi (hair comb), kasa (umbrella), kakute (spiked ring), nekote (steel claws or fingernails) and hari (sharpened needle). These dual-function weapons went mostly undetected on kunoichi disguised as dewy-eyed geishas, but each could be used to kill, and the kunoichi trained hard to do so, quickly and quietly. Worn as jewelry, the kakute made it easy to slice a throat; the kushi could be holding hair one moment and stabbing a vital organ the next.

YouTube

Apparently, you can indeed upload videos to YouTube. They just take a really awfully long time. I'll be playing with this new camcorder during the break so I hope it's not just, you know, broken.

Too Much to Do, Too Little Time

Someday, writing will steal my soul!

Quote of the Day

"We are all born ordinary. It is our choices that make us extraordinary."

All I Want For Christmas

Due to the staggering cost of plane flights, I ended up staying in Dayton for the holiday, which wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, but I do miss spending Christmas on the Oregon Coast.

In any case, had a pretty fantastic Christmas this year with J. Too much Chipotle and carmel corn was eaten, also there were gift exchanges and much silliness. Which just sort of seems to happen. The silliness, that is.

J. got me the much-needed printer, which is super awesome and makes me uber gleeful. He also got me copies of Rosetta Stone, French level 2 & 3, which is just about the best thing ever, and kick started me back into my French study. It sure beats playing video games.

My parents sent me a fine electric mixer (it's red!), and David sent over a fine array of gourmet cheeses (always appreciated!) which showed up right on time on Christmas eve. Stephanie gifted me with a fine bonsai and pony ornament, which shall take center stage after I paint it some gaudy but appropriate color. Which I will do with the airbrush paint set that J. also discovered was far more useful for my pony mods than his miniatures.

I spent a little time over the break on some dayjob projects (that'll teach me to check my work email), but they, too, were generous over the holidays, and I arrived back in the office to find that we'd all been gifted with one of these fine toys.

Video blogging here I come! Apparently it creates videos perfectly compatible with YouTube. But man, I don't know if the world can handle a Kameron Hurley channel. Mainly, it will be about blood, bugs, and injustice!

Or something.

As said, I spent much of Christmas in and around bed with J., reading books, watching movies, and eating out and in. There was much cooking, and aforementioned silliness. All in all, a good vacation.

Next year, tho, I want more time off and more cash. I ended up digging out the credit card there at the end and putting about $100 on it. Blast it all.

Still far better than usual, but not ideal.

The best part?

I get Thursday and Friday off this week as well, and will be spending time up in Cincinnati with J. watching Spamalot.

Yeah, yeah, I know:

Too much boyfriend, not enough rollerderby.

Working on that.

Stay tuned.

You've Been Warned!

Stuff & Things

I am alive. I am full of stuff and things.

I HAVE A PRINTER.

30 PPM.

It prints double-sided.

That is all.

Quote of the Day

"The objection to fairy stories is that they tell children there are dragons. But children have always known there are dragons. Fairy stories tell children that dragons can be killed."

-G.K. Chesterton

Yucky People

My tolerance for yucky people has lessended considerably as I've aged.

Doesn't this stuff make you sick?

I'm having more and more days where I'm really not proud or comfortable with the idea of identifying as "America."

Americans don't do this. Or torture people. Or... well, yeah. Yeah, we do.

"We."

I just don't identify with this country anymore.

Things I Do in My Spare Time

Write words.

Merry Christmas from United Healthcare

United Healthcare Member Inquiry/Appeals
PO Box 30432
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0432

Dear Member Inquiry Representative;

I am writing to request a formal of review of the decision made by United Healthcare to deny my health service claim of 10/01/08 for a service already formally approved. Please see the enclosed EOBs.

My service provider, Degc Enterprises, provides me with an insulin pump delivery system to regulate my blood sugars. In-network rates and approval for this insulin delivery system were given by United Healthcare prior to 7/1/08 when the company billed United Healthcare for the first medical shipment.

Since starting the pump on that date, my A1c has improved from 6.5 to 6.1. I expect to see a further improvement at the end of December when I have my next checkup.

As a Type 1 diabetic, I cannot live without continuous insulin delivery. My condition is a genetic immune disorder, which I fully disclosed to United Healthcare through my employer. As is well known, controlled blood sugars are vital to the avoidance of complications for Type 1 diabetics.

My use of the Omnipod pump, provided by Degc Enterprises, has dramatically transformed my life. Unlike other pump systems, it has no tubing, which results in fewer accidental disconnections that could adversely affect my blood sugars. It’s these higher blood sugars which contribute to the expensive conditions diabetics are prone to – like blindness and amputation.

Initial cost of the pump is also less than that of many other brands of pump. Its ability to regulate my blood sugar with greater reliability and efficiency than other pumps also greatly reduces my risk of expensive complications. Since using this pump, I have experienced 75% fewer episodes of low blood sugar, which – if not caught in time - can often result in costly medical claims for your company.

It was for these reasons that my pump was approved and covered at an in-network rate on 7/01/08 (see attached EOB).

Until you have provided Degc Enterprises with the payment you have contracted with them to provide, they will be unable to provide me with the insulin pods which have allowed me achieve this improvement in my overall general health and quality of life. I will be forced to revert back to using vials and syringes as my insulin delivery method. This method will undoubtably result in erratic blood sugars and set me down the road, once again, to extreme – and expensive – diabetic complications.

Repeated contact with your customer service line has shown me that they have little control over the approval/denial of claims process. It is for that reason that if it becomes necessary to escalate this matter, I am fully prepared to lodge a more formal complaint with the Attorney General. If necessary, I will also recommend that my employer drop our UHC account in favor of a company more consistent in its approval process.

I am sure you understand that as a Type 1 diabetic, my life and health depend urgently on the quality of coverage and care I receive. My employer considers me a valuable asset to the company, and knows that my decision – and the decision of many of our employees - to stay on board is greatly influenced by the quality of our healthcare coverage.

Thank you so much for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Kameron Hurley

(or maybe, what we really need to improve America's health is a "fat tax". That would be so much easier than universal health coverage that works. I'm sure it would be just as good as real healthcare. After all, we wouldn't know the difference)

A Word Lesson

At what point did it go from a "bailout" to a "rescue"?

Tumbarumba: That Was Wicked Cool

A couple of weeks ago, I installed the firefox addon Tumbarumba. This app randomly embeds fragments of stories into ordinary web pages. When you spot them, you click on them to slowly unravel the rest of the story.

I installed the app and pretty much forgot about it until today, when I was reading a Wikipedia article with an overview of Jorge Luis Borges story, "The Aleph."

I'm reading along and reading along and I hit this total nonsequitor, something about "she being detail oriented" and I'm like, WTF there weren't any women in this story. I went back and re-read the stuff leading up to it twice.

Then I realized what was going on. I clicked on the weird sentence.

And another sentence was revealed.

Another click another sentence, in this fade-in magical webbiny way that gave me that awesome sense of awe you get when you slowly discover/uncover something previously hidden. Isn't there a word for that?

Then another, and another, and then you click on it and there's Greg Van Eekout's story, The Temp, sitting there in a faux Wikipedia skin.

It was like... it was like something weirdly magical. Like uncovering some secret thing. Super web magic.

It was spectacularly cool.

I love this app idea, but I'm shortly going to run out of stories (there's only a handful to get through, really).

It's going to need more stories to really kick butt, and they should be even a bit shorter to cater to internet audiences, but man... wow, that was neat. What a spectacular idea.

Sign up for Tumbarumba! It is full of goodness.

My Agent Makes the i09 Top 20 Movers and Shakers of SF List

Jennifer Jackson, at #16, the only agent (literary or otherwise) on the list.

Sweet beans.

(BioWare, where my buddy Patrick works, also made the list at #12!).

From the Trenches: $6!

From the Trenches, an anthology of SF war stories that includes my short story, "Wonder Maul Doll," is now on sale for $6 from Carnifex Press.

These are the last of the copies (the publisher is going out of business), so if you want one, snag it now.

Oh, IKEA, Sometimes you Confound Me...

So I've been looking into expanding my work/desk space for some time now. A simple 4ft desk/table can run $50 at the local mix n' stuff shop, but for the same price, I could get this great table/bookshelf combo from Ikea that even matches my current desk.

Just $50! Yay!

Excellent, I thought. $25 in shipping makes for $75, which isn't so bad for what is, basically, a whole new desk that will expand my workspace.

So I clickity clackitied and went to check out and then...

Shipping charges were $140.

No, no, seriously:

My order total, with tax was over $200.

From a store that's half an hour away.

Ikea, sometimes you confound me.

Bloodsong

There's this scene in the book where the kid goes to kill the mutant "dragon" (who turns out to be less and more of a monster than he suspects), and he ends up tearing and clawing his way into the guts of this creature that won't die, clawing and swimming up through its guts and tearing out its hearts while the creature tears into its own body even as the flesh tries to knit back together, trying to claw the kid out of its own flesh.

And at the end of this scene, I found myself a little stunned at breathless and was like, "Wow."

I still think Bloodtide will turn out to be the better book, but man, I love these books. I need to read more Burgess.

Took a long time for him to come onto my radar, mainly because he's marketed as a "young adult" writer.

Ummmm?

Whatever sells the books, I guess.

Highly recommended if you love some post-apocalyptic shenanigans. Mutants and nuclear fallout and fantastical fantasy tropes with SFish rationalizations and kingdoms and family feuds and in-your-face prose oh my!

Note to Self

If you're going to start moving the crap around in your apartment, make sure your internet cable can reach as far as where you want to put your desk now.

I'm just sayin'.

And yes, when the gym membership runs out...

...in May, I'll be signing up for boxing classes again.

Because we can only wait so long...

Cancer Drugs Reverse/Prevent T1 Diabetes

Who'da thunk cancer and diabetes had anything in common?

Mmmm juicy, screwed-up immune systems. I loves them!

I wonder if I'll be a non-diabetic when I'm 50? We can hope.

Cause you gotta have goals

Sometimes I think I spend far too much time thinking about the future. On the one hand, it helps me get shit done. On the other hand, there's only so much you can do.

Swim kick laugh run jump yay!

Back to work.

Tis the Season

Boy, I have a lot of work to do. But all I can think is....

I get 5 days off in a week and change! Ok, two of those are days I would get off as a weekend anyway, but 5 consecutive days off! OMG yeah!

That is all.

All I Want For Christmas...

Is cheese!

Naw, seriously, I got it. Plus 5 days off around the holidays. Things are mad-busy-insane right now at work, which would prob'ly be more pleasing if I didn't have a bunch of novel projects I'm pursuing here at the homestead.

Still: I just paid $500 for 6 weeks worth of meds yesterday... which I will be getting reimbursed for by my health insurance company. I've nearly hit my deductible limit, too, so soon the reimbursement will turn into straight up, "Here's your drugs, have a nice day" freebies.

You just can't beat health insurance like that.

Also, Nyx has a new look, which pleases me.

Bugs

Is it a good sign or a bad sign that I haven't actually sat down and figured out which bugs do what and how and whatfor on Umayma until I starting writing book 3?

Ah well. There's a spreadsheet now.

On Being Frugal: Or, Why I Seem to Be Spending Most of My Life Cooking

While I spent a good many hours of today cooking, I pondered why it was I seem to be spending so damn much time doing it lately. I don't mind cooking. I've gotten used to it, and let's face it, it's nice to be able to prepare food I can actually eat a normal portion of that won't kill me.

But really, the reason I'm spending so much time cooking is because I'm being frugal. I keep wanting to say, "I'm poor," but saying "I'm poor" really isn't true. For a single person, I make OK money. The problem is, I have old credit card and medical debt. The good news is, I've been making inroads on paying this off since January.

Cooking is one of the ways I've done that.

I don't buy prepared foods anymore. I buy one kind of cheese. I started making my own iced tea, which saves me $3.99 a week. That's nearly $12 a month. That's a whole iTunes album. Or lunch out. It's very nearly two hours of bowling.

And it doesn't stop with food.

I keep my heat at 69 degrees during the day. I've recently started experimenting with turning it down to 65 at night. And this, in itself, I know is nothing: I have coworkers who turn the heat down to 50 and just put space heaters in their bedroom and bathroom. This is how people manage to save money to, well, save money for things and pay off debt.

I've had to become conscious of all of this uncomfortable stuff, like how much water I use, do I really need that many lights on, and how can I save on my Verizon bill?

I spent much of this last year finding ways to cut things by as little as $1. Seriously. $1. Just a dollar! You'd be surprised at how quick that adds up.

$1 is an iTunes song. It's 1/40 of the way to buying a food processor. It's a bait pony for my pony mods.

Thing is, even knowing all that, it's fucking hard to stick by a budget. It's a lot of mental energy to spend on stuff like figuring out how to sell books to buy books as Christmas presents. It's putting off buying a car until I get another book check, even though I have a boyfriend in Cincinnati, and it's a fucking killer now - more than ever - to not have a car (and it's fucking winter, which always makes not having a car twice as shitty).

Watching books leave this apartment this last week was surreal and just slightly excrutiating. I've gotten rid of lots of books in lots of moves, and moving a few more books wasn't a big deal, but the *reason* I was doing it was just so much different.

And, again: it's not like I don't make money. I have a ridiculous credit limit. I pay $600 a month toward my CCs (It will go back up to $750 next month when my student loans are deferred again after classes start). This is a staggering amount of money. And yes, I could get away with paying a third of that toward them. And then... and then... I'd be in debt for the rest of my life. I would continue to be one of those people who looks like they're making a lot of money but is, in fact, just one bad medical disaster away from moving back in with friends and family.

I don't want to be that person.

It's going to take another year of this. Of counting dollars and selling books and watching the thermostat.

This is hard for me. I've never done this before. My parents never lived frugally during their adult lives. I never learned how to manage a budget. I never learned how to delay gratification. Everything was right now. Want, want, want.

I see. I want. I take. I was always Faith, never Buffy.

Before I got sick, I was not the best of people. Let's just say that out loud again: I was not a good person. I'm not a great person now, mind you. But I'm less of a screaming teenager. Some of this is just sanity brought on by stable blood sugar, but some of this is growing the fuck up. Counting dollars. Valuing friendships. Relationships. Figuring out what the hell it all means and how it all adds up, and more than that:

Knowing that all of us, if we choose to live paycheck to paycheck, are just a stumble away from losing everything we feel we've worked so hard to build. I lost my whole life in Chicago. Yes, granted, a lot of bad shit happened at once - but if I'd had $200 on my credit card, $5k in savings, and chosen a better health insurance plan from my employer instead of selecting the crappy default... things could have turned out a lot better.

We're never going to be prepared for violence, for death, for those scary things that happen in the blink of an eye, the ones so shocking to your everyday experience that they just leave you stunned and speechless. But you can be *better* prepared. You can make the effort.

I know I could lose everything again. Things are still so tenuous right now. But I'm actively working toward a future. The future I want. You pick somebody you want to be. A life you want to have. And you build it. You do what somebody with that life would do. I've always believed that - before I got sick and even now. Pick your future. Build it.

It's not easy. God, it's not easy on a Sunday night when you're cooking breakfast quiche and chicken dinners for the week and trying to figure out how to juggle the dollars you saved on variable utility bills so you can buy yourself a Christmas food processor or cordless drill. These aren't things I want to spend energy on.

But, you know what? I could be spending my energy on so many really *useless* things, like celebrity magazines and cable tv. This really isn't such a bad place to put some energy.

I loved my roaring 20s. But now I need to clean up the mess of them before I head into my dirty 30s.

Because I do plan to get into a lot of trouble.

Er, I mean, financially responsible trouble. But trouble nonetheless.

Peru for my 30th birthday!

And that'll just be kicking things off.

Today's Song, Stuck on Repeat

Ok, let's be honest, it's the "Who needs love when there's Southern Comfort" line that did it for me...

Leeds United - Amanda Palmer

we watch you your expert double exes
it’s just like you to paint those whiter fences

it’s so polite it’s so polite it’s offensive it’s offensive
it’s so unright it’s so unright it’s a technical accept it

but who needs love when there’s law & order
and who needs love when there’s southern comfort
and who needs love at all

we stalk you your expert double exes
we oxidize you in your sleep there’s no exit there’s no exit

you’re on a roll you’re on a roll no one gets it no one gets it
your honor no your honor can’t you protect us, protect us

but who needs love when there’s law & order
and who needs love when there’s southern comfort
and who needs love
when the sandwiches are wicked and they know you at the mac store

uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - i’m so excited
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - the blacks and beat kids
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - i’m getting frightened
uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh - someday someday leeds united

bugsy malone came to carry you home and they’re taking you all to the doctor
burberry vices all sugary spices it’s nice but it’s not what i’m after
sure, i admire you
sure, you inspire me but you’ve been not getting back so
i’ll wait at the sainbury’s countin’ my change making BANK on the upcoming roster

and we’ll stop you your expert double exes
oh yeah, a big stock holder extra cold with 2 X’s
that never talking thing you do is effective it’s effective
your shoulder’s icy colder-oh than a death wish than a death wish

but who needs love when there’s law & order
and who needs love when there’s dukes of hazard
and who needs love
when the sandwiches are wicked and they know you at the mac store

uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - i’m so excited
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - the blacks and beat kids
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - they’re so excited
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - when i think about leeds uniting
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - i’m getting frightened
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - the blacks, the blacks, the blacks, and beat kids
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - it’s so exciting
uh uh uh uh oh oh oh oh oh uh oh - someday, someday, someday, someday, someday, someday

(brought to my attention by this hilarity; I'm pleased it turned out to be such a catchy little tune)

Don't Get Sucked Under!

Everything will be all right.

Planned Parenthood Gift Cards

Tis the season for giving healthcare.

This country could be so much better.

Thankful

Really am.

Urban Fantasy Book Covers Parade

Yes, they really all do look the same. I haven't been making this up.

And if you think my book cover will look any different... ha ha. Just you wait!

Blame Kushiel!

P.S. I would like to note, however, that I'm far happier knowing I'll probably be getting a cover like this than a cover like this. Or this. It's not a bad time for a book cover.

Oh, I Give Up

Oh, OK, I'll go in and get my earache looked at. I kept hoping it would just go away (it's not horrible, just occasionally twingy and largley annoying), but when health care doesn't cost you a kidney anymore, you really should go in and have shit looked at when it comes up.

Tra la.

P.S. For the record, I'll be getting a dog. I won't be taping bacon to it. Maybe spam. SPAM.

That is all.

Babylon

Man, I always forget how much I love worldbuilding.

I want to post bunches of excerpts from Babylon, but I realize the whole book is going to be full of spoilers for the other two books. That's kind of the trouble with the slow grind of the publishing world. By the time the first book comes out, you're already finishing up the third one (knock on wood).

Anyway, for God's War prequel (non-spoilery even!) madness, you can always visit Nyx here.

Also, because folks keep asking: God's War will be out next fall, sometime around September-October-November.

Yes, that's next year (it's publishing, OK?).

And it gives me a lot more time to get the other books right. Which I appreciate.

Things I Really Want to Do this Year

Buy myself a bunch of presents, wrap them, and put them under my tree. Isn't that funny?

I want an excuse to not care about my credit card bill for once (since January) and just buy stuff. For myself.

Oh, sure, I've budgeted money to buy stuff for other folks, but not for myself. I realize it is Christmas and that's not how it works, but the chances of me getting the things I'm in dire need of this holiday season are decidedly slim, since everyone else is just as poor (if not more so) than I am.

Honestly, you know what I got for Christmas this year?

A job and health insurance.

And that's pretty much the best Christmas present ever, let me tell you.

Maybe I'll just buy some extra nice red ribbons for the tree. And bake cookies. Cookies are festive.

Fav Line of the Day

From Babylon, now officially in progress:

"There were all sorts of things you asked yourself when somebody broke things off. Was she bored? Was there a boy? Was she actually an assassin?"

Stuff & Things

Writing is, I must remind myself, a most excellent form of cheap entertainment.

Thanksgiving 08

Welcome to the Hacienda Dayton Thanksgiving! Our third annual? How time flies.


I can haz skillz.

J. meets the dawgs.

Mmmmm spicy cider.

The Old Man poses with the fruits of his labor. Because you can never have enough pie!

The official Turkey Day spread.

The boys make gravy. Really!


Stephanie is far too pleased with this holiday.

I do not find your beer amusing. Buy mine is smashing!

J. gleefully screws me over during a round of Guillotine.

Steph doesn't have enough whipped cream, there...

We might need more pie.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm pie!



Annnnnnnnd we're spent!

See you next year!

Christmas Shopping

Is it terrible that I want my neice, Kaylee, to grow up to be a starship mechanic?

Honestly, this is something I'd like to encourage with my Christmas gifting.

Life

"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."
-anon

Cooking and Reading

... about sums up my life right now. There's gymming in there as well, but I'm down to 3-4 times a week instead of the coveted 6. Blame my social life.

To be honest, I've quite happily traded those two days of cardio for extra bedroom shenanigans. Same general end result, tho, yeah?

This week's most exciting thing was being reminded that The Women of Our Occupation has been published in Swedish. I received my contributor's copies and $50 this week. I promptly spent the $50 on a new director's chair (which finally caved in after 6 years of use and numerous repairs) and a proper spice rack.

Looking back on it, I probably should have bought a printer. Eh. Budgeted for that next month. The spice rack makes me happier.

Though I love my life, I've recently felt that old, lingering ache for a proper kickboxing class. I can't find any at my gym or at the Y. They'll hold them on occasion, but there's no regular month-to-month class, and most of the ones at the gym are held at 10am (WTF?). Fuck this spinning shit, where's my kickboxing?

Yeah, I miss it. You can only do weight training and triathlon cardio for so long before you just want to... you know... hit things. Hard.

I'll be starting college classes again in January, working toward that company-paid-for degree in Marketing. Because hey: who doesn't want to defer their student loans and broaden their skills base? And not have to go into debt for it? (epic win!)

I've also been spending a lot of time looking for freelance jobs, which are about as tough to find as you might expect. Generally, the freelancing gigs you get aren't going to be from blind resume submissions where you fight for attention with 300 other people - it's gigs you get from friends/colleagues who know that you write.

Overall, life is busy in a good way. Doing tons of research for book 3, which involves a lot of reading about murder, Islam, the Middle East, assassination, and bugs. It's a steady diet, right there alongside my new diabetic-friendly pecan cookies.

Work continues to feed me a steady stream of interesting projects that keep me in health insurance. I do love my day job, for all the craziness it sometimes brings. You just can't beat being paid (and health insured) to write for a living, even if you're sometimes stuck writing handouts about the difference in dependent status between a "qualifying child" and a "qualifying relative."

Life is bloody wonderful.

Off to Cincinnati on Friday.

"I No Longer Recognize Marriage"

I no longer recognize marriage. It’s a new thing I’m trying.

Turns out it’s fun.

Yesterday I called a woman’s spouse her boyfriend.

She says, correcting me, “He’s my husband,”
“Oh,” I say, “I no longer recognize marriage.”

The impact is obvious. I tried it on a man who has been in a relationship for years,

“How’s your longtime companion, Jill?”
“She’s my wife!”
“Yeah, well, my beliefs don’t recognize marriage.”

More Reasons Not to Live in Dayton

There's been a bit of an uptick in crime here around Dayton, for good reason. I often joked that I didn't have a problem walking around downtown Dayton at night cause hey, yo, I lived in South Africa. But now that thing is happening here that used to happen out there: all of sudden there are more and more people talking about how they or someone they know has been raped or had their car/house broken into. Downtown, broad daylight, nice neighborhoods, you name it. Random smash and grab.

Obviously, it's still nothing like South Africa, but as your poor of unemployed starts to grow - particularly as winter approaches - and they're not seeing any help, hope, or end in sight, people get desperate.

Dayton's been a dying town since long before I got here, but closing GM may just shut most of it down for good.

It's not that there aren't industries - there's aerospace and Wright State and lots of government jobs at the base. But there's not a whole lot of entry level unskilled jobs around here anymore, and Dayton still has a huge, huge pool of unskilled labor. Who are getting totally fucked right now. Not that things weren't bad before.

Why don't we have government-funded workers' programs that retrains people for new jobs after major layoffs? I met a couple of tower guys working in telcom who were retrained after major layoffs at a manufacturing plant nearly two decades ago. They got trained in telcom and suddenly had a future.

A lot of these jobs are dying jobs. It's why I'm lukewarm about bailing out the auto industry. It's in trouble because it's not working. Let's shift our focus to something that works. We have new and emerging technologies. We have job needs. We just don't have the skilled labor to put in there. And nobody wants to foot the bill for retraining, so a whole city dies.

Columbus and Cincinnati are nice, at least.

EDIT: It turns out Dayton *does* have a place like this (thanks, Tyim!). God knows Dayton has enough jobs in aerospace and the health industry. There are people to do the work. They just need the training.

First Female 4-Star General, Ever

Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody.

Your Weekly Address from the President-Elect

It really is going to be just like FDR's fireside chats.

In fact, if you start to read some of those FDR transcripts above, you'll see an interesting parallel, and I wouldn't be surprised if Obama used them as templates.

It's so awesome to have smart people in charge of the country again. Win or lose, at least I can be proud of them.

Diabetic-Friendly Cream Cheese Pecan Sugar Cookies

I just about keeled over when I tasted these:

Cream Cheese Pecan "Sugar" Cookies

Cookies:
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pecans
dash of salt

Frosting:
1/2 package cream cheese
2-3 tsp vanilla
2 cups Splenda

Cream together 1/2 cup Splenda, butter, egg, baking soda, salt, vanilla. Then add almond flour and pecans. Stir together well. Spoon batter onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 min at 375.

While it's cooking, prep the frosting. Mix together softened cream cheese, vanilla, and Splenda.

Once cookies have cooled, cover in frosting. Sprinkle with pecans and gobble up immediately.

About 12-15 carbs per cookie is what I'm estimating right now. I ate three of them, and they're rich enough that I feel a little sick (who would have thought it was possible to make diabetic-friendly cookies this rich and gooey and tasty? Certainly not me).

All things are truly possible. Enjoy!

For Tonight:

This (substitute potatoes with eggplant).

And this (mine was slightly overdone).

Wiscon

$470 from Cincinnati to Madison?

WTF people, I could have flown back to WA this time last year for that price (I paid something like $250 last year for the exact same flight).

Here's to hoping airline prices catch up to gas prices before the con.

Mmmm Credit

My credit card company, which I'm planning to ditch when I pay off the last 5K (I have another 4k on a no-interest card right now, which I'm paying off at a slower rate), just raised my credit limit to $20,200.

My God, yo. And they wonder how I got myself into financial problems in the first place.

This just seems obscene to me.

Holy Smoke

When I grow up, I want to be Kate Winslet.

P.S. I will never, ever, ever understand WTF it is Jane Campion sees in Harvey Keitel. Or why the fuck she has to slap on those stupid, stupid, stupid feel-good addendums to otherwise interesting movies.

Progress

Not as fast as many of us would like. But it can happen.

Keep fighting.

OmniPoddery: At least it's not a 30% failure rate this month!

I was looking forward to blogging about how I'd gone through an ENTIRE BOX OF PODS without having one of them fail... and then the last one in the box failed this morning.

It wouldn't have been so bad, but the one I was wearing had come unstuck this morning, so I went to change it out with my backup at work. At 10am. And it was my backup that failed.

After the last hellish experience I had nursing myself through a day at work when my pod failed at noon, I decided to trek it home and get it replaced.

Note that this is the post-diabetes, post-layoff, post-Chicago Kameron talking. The default part of me wanted to stick it out. It's embarrassing asking your boss if you can either take a half day or work from home. I have a ridiculous amount of "You show up and do your job" work pride, and I warred with myself over it for about 20 minutes before I gave in.

Why did I give in? Because I remembered how fucking awful I felt last time I nursed a failure with shots-every-hour insulin, and how it took another day and a half just to get back to my old self afterward. If I don't have to force myself through that... why would I do that?

There's tough - knowing that yes, if I have to, I can do that - and then there's just willfully stupid... doing it for the principle of the thing.

So I asked my boss if I could work from home, since busing it home and then busing it back meant I wouldn't get back to the office until after 1pm anyway. He was OK with that (there are advantages to being a writer - you can write anywhere), so I'm working from home today; I only have a couple of small projects.

When I called to report the pod failure, I was actually pretty OK with it. I honestly don't mind a 1 in 10 or 1 in 15 failure rate. That's OK with me. It was very civil. It's that 30% failure rate that starts to fucking grind on you.

I really hope this rate keeps up, because my sugar over the last month has been totally stellar.

I like being healthy. I like being sane. There are too many awesome people in my life right now to screw it all up over bruised pride.

Sometimes you should actually take advantage of offers - like working from home - that will save you and your loved ones a lot of pain and discomfort later.

That's what it's there for.

That's what I keep telling myself.

One for the Road

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

- Thomas Jefferson

Dear Book Three:

Please stop trying to write yourself in FIRST PERSON.

Save that for Twitter.

Thank you.

The Euphemism Generator

You know you want it!

Today's Readings

It's all wars and assassinations. Nothing to see here. Move along.

One For the Road

My life closed twice before its close -
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me

So huge, so hopeless to conceive
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.

-Emily Dickinson

My Latest Addiction

E.S. Posthumus radio!

Because you can never have enough good stuff to write by.