Not too big to epic fail and other FNG (fun-n-games)

Wow, BOA.  Just wow.  I bank with them, I'm sad to say, and this has to go down as one of the greatest banking gaffes EVAR.  (Note: "evar" must be used when emphasis is on the all-time craziness of anything; it reminds us to span all of time, which is a lot, right?)  Some numbnuts, through a "glitch" on BOA's behalf, was able to withdraw $1.25 million despite obviously not having this amount in his account.  Despite the fact that he was massively overdrawing his account, he got to keep on keepin' on!  And guess what he did with it!?!?  Gambled it all away.  Now, I know Detroit is one giant den of slack as cities go thanks to the decaying U.S. automotive industry (and that decayed thanks to a few very greedy executives, but that's another time) and the fact that Motown is no longer responsible for providing Americans with quality R&B/soul music, but this guy is a total loser.

A couple of things come to mind for me.  First, just how much money ARE these casino ATM's holding, any way!?!?  Clearly, the only game this guy played and won at the casinos was the ATM slot machine.  He inserted his player's card (debit card) and won every time (collect winnings that slide out of that little spot or get dealt down into that magic little area under the secret cash trap door)!  He must have cleaned out these ATM's each time he went.  I have no clue how what the capacity is of an average ATM, but dayum!  He was goin' to town.

Next, how did BOA allow this to go on for what, 17 days!?!?  The second they even think my card's security has been compromised, it is automatically canceled.  I sort of appreciate this in the sense that they protect me from fraud, but could a brother get a better heads-up on this so I can get enough cash on hand to last until my new card comes?  And forget about me trying to buy gas in Mississippi during my move to NYC.  Suddenly, they were suspicious about my $40 gas purchase in Podunk Junction, MS.  Obviously, as a smart thief would, I chose to use my card at every gas station I stopped at from Houston to Mississippi so my trail would be easier to figure out as I hauled ass across the country.  Forget calling me to inquire about the situation, to ensure it was indeed me, they just shut the card down on me.  That was a hot-ass mess, peeps (BOA's customer service for this type of issue is not available 24/7).  But this dude withdraws over a million for a span of two weeks and no one figured this out a little quicker?  Maybe BOA holds investments interests in Harrah's or Caesar's or whichever one set up shop in Detroit.  Maybe it's collusion.  Hmmm....

Here's the link for this little oddity.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/detroit-man-gambles-away-1-5-million-accidentally-191619543.html



Maybe worse than this is this woman embezzling $10 million from the auto dealership where she worked.  Over seven years, she was raking it in and trying to live large.  Some stuff she enjoyed with the money I can get down with.  She went to the Super Bowl in Arlington.  I would have liked to do that.  But a Phantom of the Opera costume and wig fitting!?!?  You steal $10 million and you want to do that!?!?  Who even knows that's an option?  Still, at least we know why Acuras cost so much.  The owner acted like even though they can only expect to recover about a tenth of the money, he says they're still fine business-wise.  Meh, $10 million, no biggie.  We sell a few more TL's and we're golden.  If I were the business owner, you better believe I'm auditing the finances all the time.  Who doesn't check into all of this??  Oh wait, the guy I used to work for.  But that's another time, too.

Read about the accountant who must have missed her chance to work at Enron here.

http://gma.yahoo.com/high-flying-auto-dealer-employee-steals-10m-luxuries-171018665--abc-news-money.html



Finally, if you're a mom and you are doing this to your child, you should have refrained from having real kids and just gotten yourself some dolls.  To me, this is child abuse.  I'm sorry you didn't get a Cabbage Patch doll in 1985, but you're gonna have to chill on the funky hair for babies.  Babies are allowed to be baldish with their cute little fuzz.  Why do you have to make your baby into a micro Nikki Manaj??  No, just...  NO.

http://gma.yahoo.com/high-flying-auto-dealer-employee-steals-10m-luxuries-171018665--abc-news-money.html



That's all for now, friends.  Hope that made you feel better about your own lives and sanity.  I know I'm a better person for knowing all this.  Be well, folks!

Smorgasbord

Oh, folks, I have so many things I've collected recently that I just have to comment about.  Let's start with something that is a prime example of how humans exhibit more hubris than any other living thing on Earth.  Planes can crash!?!?  We still fly (myself included).  Driving drunk is a bad idea!?!?  Gimme the *hiccup* keys!  Some drugs can make you a face-eating, banshee-style wailing lunatic!?!?  And they're legal so they must be OK!?!?  Sweet!  Gimme the website.

Bath salts are all the rage and the link below can take you to some very interesting information about them.  I don't know why I'm so shocked.  We've been told for years that cigarettes contain rat poison and can kills us, but millions of Americans still inhale with glee.  Check this link out:

http://gma.yahoo.com/bath-salts-dangerous-drug-inccreasing-across-us-065109986--abc-news-health.html


Next are some fun items that contribute to the current backlash against a group of people who simply want to be given the same rights as other Americans.  Nothing is more fun than a kid who's about 5 singing "ain't no homo gonna get to heaven" and then getting a standing ovation.  Now THAT is having "choych," people.  Here's the link to that video.  Feel free to clap along: it's SO catchy!  Oh, this church doesn't condone hate, just hateful indoctrination of children.  C'mon, people, get it right.  Geez!

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/church-where-toddler-anti-gay-song-filmed-don-135427889.html



As many of my lovely readers may know, this sumbitch (that's how he would say it, I just know it) has a great idea for fencing in all the lesbians and queers.  What I love is that he says thinking of two men kissing makes him "pukin' sick!"  However, the thought of kissing him makes just about everyone, gay or straight, male or female, pukin' sick.  And I don't know about you, but when I get sick, I go for pukin' sick.  Go big or go home, as my girlfriend says.  Watch the fun at this man's church.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/pastor-delivers-anti-gay-rant-suggests-building-electric-142753831.html



The University of Texas has a school for pubic affairs.  I bet there is a wait-list to major in that!  I guess things like crabs and grooming are popular classes.  I'm not sure who ended up losing their job over this, but someone had to.  I'm wondering if a sneaky Aggie got a job at the printers where these were made and just couldn't help himself.  Check out these lovely programs:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/university-texas-apologizes-pubic-affairs-commencement-typo-183616371.html
 


I know this is going to shock many of you, but Congress is getting dumber.  Apparently, none would fare too well on the show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?"  If you haven't seen the movie IDIOCRACY, just know it's coming true faster than we think.  50 years!?!  Psssht!  We only need another 50 or so.  Check it out:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/congress-getting-dumber-184032926.html


Now, I'm one for everyone paying their fair share of taxes.  A flat percentage seems to be fair, but America just can't seem to get it down.  However, the French are leading the way with their amazing and Socialistic idea to tax the wealthy 75% of their income.  Yes, you read that correctly: 75%.  So when people are thinking of working hard to get high-paying jobs, they just say, "Meh, minimum wage is cool."  Who is going to go to med school over there??  Not me.  Screw that.  If I can just work in fast food and basically make the same as a guy who makes 4 times what I make, I'm gonna go all Kevin Spacey in American Beauty: "I want the least amount of responsibility possible."  I'm sorry, I'm not paying 75% of my money to any government just so they can spend it all crazy.  Uh uh.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/smith-baffled-proposed-french-tax-increase-god-bless-140144896.html


All right, friends, this catches us up on some of my WTF moments around the Interwebs.  I hope this made your trip to the potty a ton of fun!  Peace, peeps.

American Society + the idea of Bullying

American society always needs a group to bully.  In essence, this means that just about any subgroup of American society IS a bully.  This idea of mine, as warped as some people may find it, arose due to the ever so hot topic of gay marriage.  Currently the group-to-bully de rigueur is gays.  Really, it's anyone who is not heterosexual.  This is the one group right now that goes out to the playground and gets a wedgie every day, or gets its lunch money stolen, or gets stuffed into a locker between classes.

I think it's practically sardonic that there is this big push to teach kids about bullying in schools when the leaders of our country run around doing a big group-bully thing.  It would be like a group hug, except group hugs foster love and community and warm-and-fuzzies.  So a kid is supposed to listen intently to his lesson at school about how it's wrong to pick on someone because they're different, weaker, smaller, etc., yet go home and check out the news to see that yet another state in our fine Union has shot down the idea of granting one of the weaklings a civil liberty.

Before homophobes run for the Bible to selectively propose verses that defend their ideas on the subject, remember how many other groups have been the 90-pound weakling before: Native Americans, blacks, women, people with physical disabilities, poor folks, more blacks, more women, people with mental disabilities, people who listen to rap, people who listen to metal, fat people, short people, anorexic people, Latinos/as, Asians, more blacks, more poor people, the white man, more women, uber-smart people (cuz they're called nerds), ...  You get my drift.  I find it tough to think that any single individual who reads this post doesn't belong to some subjugated group in some way because listen, America is a pro at finding ways to pick anyone apart.  It doesn't matter your biological sex, your skin color, your income, nothin' - in some way, America will find a way to bully you.

The rich white man, bless his heart, has been bullied, too.  He has to shoulder the blame for everyone who is poor, uneducated, can't get ahead, or just does not have what he has.  He has had to take all the blame for everything that's wrong with America!  Yes, people, America has found a way to bully even THAT GUY!  So if THAT GUY is getting bullied by American society, the rest of us are fucked.

As you can see, American society is a professional bully.  Somehow, some way, it will find a weakling to pick on.  Some groups are better targets than others.  Yeah, the rich white guy has gotten bullied some, but he still has some power.  It's like making fun of the star quarterback because he's not a star in the classroom.  There's still an angle for bullying him to some degree, but he's still the starting quarterback, and he's still gonna get more chicks than you.  That aside, America has currently decided that GLBT type folks will be placed squarely in its crosshairs for now.  Sure, there are some nice folks who really try to make sure that group isn't bullied.  There are the proverbial "nice kids" on the playground who make sure the GLBT group doesn't get picked last for dodgeball, but there are still a whole bunch more to make sure that the GLBT group is the first to get pummelled right in the crotch and face by all the dodge balls at once, ensuring that the kid is not only out of the game, but definitely humiliated.

Having said this, I find it ironic that anyone besides a rich white guy would want to make sure a group of people is denied equality.  I mean, really, people.  I'm a white guy, but I'm not rich, and I certainly know what it's like to be viewed as less-than.  I think everyone reading this does.  So though most of my loyal readers are probably already on my side (warped as my thought process may be), you might nudge some folks this way who have it in their minds that marriage is between a man and a woman.  I call bullshit: if ketchup is married every day in restaurants, then surely two human beings, no matter what, can get married.  And I call double bullshit because for those of you who still think that, shame on you.  There is some way that America has found or will find you to be "less than" yourself.

Finally, I close with this: who is hurt by a person marrying someone of the same sex?  Unless there is a giant gay pride-style parade of homosexual people coming to your house and conducting their marital bliss in your face, shut up already.  All of the hetero people I know who are married don't cause me pain and suffering because I don't immediately think of all of their private business.  If one of my married couple friends has an argument, sex, dinner, financial issues, or anything else concerning their marriage, guess what!?  I don't know anything about it.  Why, I just sat here and wrote my blog, happy as a lark, and I'm sure somewhere, a hetero married couple is doing it.  Luckily, though, their private life did not interfere with my life.  Whew!  Dodged a bullet there.  Until that type of life-ruining for others happens on a regular basis, though, I say let the heteros keep getting married.  In the meantime, let everyone else who wishes to join them in marital bliss do so, please.  It's time American society stops bullying ANYONE who belongs to it.  Peace and love, friends.

p.s.  Sorry if there are any mistakes - trying to get this up in a jiffy.  Will edit later.  Thx!

Lottery = Keep your food stamps (Huh?)

Here's a classic case of when only WTF will do....

This article was the one I had planned to launch this blog with. In fact, it was that proverbial straw because after reading it, I just knew I had to create an outlet for my commentary on crapola like this.

The abbreviated version of it is that this chick won $1,000,000 in the Michigan lottery but thought it was OK to keep collecting her $200-a-month in food stamps because she "wasn't working." No shit, you're not working!! A million bucks?? I'm not gonna work, either... For a while, any way. Still, common sense, people, common sense!! And the state of Michigan needs to get all its ducks in a row, too. It should have been a little easier to figure out that this woman had a substantial source of income and did not need the assistance any longer.

Things like this give me a severe case of red-ass. I know you'll feel it, too, when you read what this dumb-ass has to say. Welfare has become something many people feel they are entitled to so they can spend their money on things they want. Food is a necessity, but we should get that for free, right? I mean, our ancestors didn't scrap and claw to eat, did they? No, they sat around and said, "Survival is a God-given right. The animals should just march into our caves and lay down right now." Sheesh.

Don't get me wrong, some people really need it. They are elderly, disabled, or dealing with other circumstances that may truly induce hardship. But I honestly have had enough of people who both collect food stamps but have brand name clothing or cell phones or a nicer car than mine. I went to the store yesterday with $20, and I told myself it has to get me through about 3-4 days. Times are a little lean right now, but I'm not about to find some way to finagle food stamps when I know I really don't need them, I just need to budget better.

It seems that as time goes on, American people believe they are entitled to pretty much everything. And guess what?? We're not. None of us are. I really love my cable but I can tell you as I prepare to take on a $2,000 tax bill (thank you again, New York), that cable service may just have to be suspended for a while as I negotiate balancing my budget. I need to fly to Texas for a wedding, finish paying my car off (so close!), pay my own medical bill co-pays, rent, etc. I also have an understanding that I chose to take on these debts that I probably did not have to or could have reduced them in some way (move to a more crackish neighborhood). So, when things get tight, I don't take on this mindset that my food should just be provided for free. I just deal with it the best that I can. Like I said, if cable gets suspended for a while, I'll read a book (or 3) while I catch up on the bill as soon as I can. That is life. Americans, and I'm raising my own hand here, have a poor concept of living within our means.

So.... homegirl (not meant racist - I often say homegirl in a tongue-in-cheek way) needs to get her act together and stop pretending she believes it's OK to collect food stamps when she just dropped 500K in the bank (after taxes). You say you have two houses?? Whose fault is that? You chose to do that with your money instead of invest it in oh, school or something else that could benefit you for a lifetime. Learn to fish, girl, not to just take fish from someone else. That kind of money, invested and used wisely, could set one up for a good while. And hey, go get a job that you want to do because you like it. I'd love to work 20 hours a week at Guitar Center because I can, or get paid $8 an hour for 20 hours a week to work at the ASPCA because I want to, not because I have to. My 500K could knock out monthly bills (and accrue interest in a lovely, diverse portfolio) and I could happily skip along to my animals or guitars and drums, not keep taking money I know I shouldn't be taking now that I'm substantially better off.

Here's the link to the article. Weigh in and let me know what y'all think. And I hope she knows that despite the time and distance between us, there's a hall monitor up her ass!

http://news.yahoo.com/lottery-winner-food-stamps-thought-maybe-okay-because-161650898.html;_ylc=X3oDMTNuYTcxMGpnBF9TAzIwMjIzOTg2MzAEYWN0A21haWxfY2IEY3QDYQRpbnRsA3VzBGxhbmcDZW4tVVMEcGtnAzA1MGQyNDFlLWRmNDItMzFkMS1iOTUyLWJlMWIwZjExM2NhNQRzZWMDbWl0X3NoYXJlBHNsawNtYWlsBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

Healthcare Crisis is because...

I was reviewing a notice this evening that said I still owed $100 to NYU Hospital. I recently paid a $100 co-pay for my surgery from the summer, so I thought these notices were a mistake. Upon further investigation, I realized this $100 was for an ER visit back in late July for the severe pain I was experiencing in my hip.

Now, let me make something clear: I do not trot down to the ER for no reason. Here is my lifetime summary of ER trips:

Severe stomach flu around age 6

Broken ankle at age 16

Severe salmonella at age 23

Left arm slightly destroyed by pit bull mix puppy at age 33 (and that was only because I was concerned about crazy bleeding and possibly contracting rabies)

Extreme pain due to ginormous cysts on (now-removed) ovaries at age 34 (just shy of 35)

These things all, in my humble opinion, merit a trip to the ER. All of these trips resulted in me receiving some form of treatment that was indeed helpful. Granted, that damn dog trip seemed to cost an excessive amount of money in terms of what they billed for the services I received. But alas, I was treated in all of these cases and actually helped in regards to trying to become healthy again.

However, this last trip in July was one of those complete wastes of time. I was suffering from pain that I could not bear, and I didn't think I could make it to my regular doctor's appointment because A) the pain was happening right now and B) the doctor would still have to order tests to determine the cause, which would require more wait time. I figured yeah, the ER is gonna cost me $100 in a co-pay, but maybe I can get x-rays/MRI's done NOW.

After a 3-hour wait, a doctor stopped by to ask me about my pain. I told him it was unbearable and kept me up all night, etc. I explained that it hurt no matter what I did. I expressed my wishes to have some type of definitive procedure, such as x-ray or MRI, done to help figure out its cause. The doctor simply said that I could walk, therefore he doubted it was broken in any way. He also said they did not have any MRI on site, so they could not do that. His expert medical advice was to basically OD on Advil to try to reduce inflammation I may have (which was not actually known since no tests were done).

I left pissed off because I could have done that myself. I know to take NSAIDs for inflammation so I didn't need this douche telling me that. The least he could have done was the x-ray. It couldn't hurt to verify or rule out anything, could it? And I knew this was going to cost my insurance company some money, so why not at least do something worthwhile?

So after getting this these letters about the payment, I checked into the situation. I reviewed the claim on my provider's website, and HOLY SHIT!! That worthless visit to have some woman take my BP and temperature, wait three hours, then talk to Dr. Douche about how surely nothing is broken or that wrong since I'm walking on it cost my insurance provider a cool grand, plus the doctor's separate $268 bill. REALLY!!?!?! That's allowed!?!? What amounts to highway robbery is allowed?? What happened that day that justified raping my insurance company of $1,000?

Ultimately, my orthopedist did order the MRI and the result of the MRI on my right hip showed a tear in the labrum, a legitimate injury that does cause a lot of pain. I'm still in pain because I have not had time to deal with my hips (both are now in on the party) the way I need to. This is an injury that PT can possibly help, but most likely a minor scoping will be necessary to fix the tear. And the best the ER doctor could do was tell me to go take Advil all day, every day??

This case exemplifies why we currently have a health-care crisis in this country. It's certainly bad enough that there are times people cannot pay there medical bills, especially when they center around emergency treatment. I know that hospitals often bear the burden financially for serious cases they see. And I'm honestly not sure how to go about solving this problem just yet. It clearly needs more time and thought in order to achieve a viable solution for the great majority of people. Still, this type of egregious overcharging is most certainly not a step in the right direction. Straining and draining my really awesome insurance company does not help anything in the long run. God help anyone who incurs unexpected health issues... Stay well, friends.