Monthly Archives: March 2011

This morning I got an email that reads:

Dear Mommy Blogger:

I am a mother of two small children (and for full disclosure work for our nation’s potato farmers, so I am slightly biased but would feel the same even if I didn’t work for them) and wanted to make sure you were aware that the US Department of Agriculture is about to make a HUGE mistake by severely limiting servings of potatoes in schools.  As an influential blogger, I am asking you to help spread the word.  We need moms to weigh in before potatoes are removed from schools!

At a time when all Americans, especially kids, are not eating enough vegetables, we should be encouraging more choices, not less. Potatoes are nutrient-dense and provide kids the potassium, fiber and vitamin C they need.  In fact, removal of the number one source of potassium—potatoes—in their diet may put children in danger of key nutrient deficiency.

To find out more you can go to www.potatoesinschools.com .  We need moms to tell USDA to keep potatoes in schools.  Comments to the USDA are due to by 5:00pm EST April 13 so there’s not a lot of time to waste.

Thank you for your help in spreading the word.

Hollee Alexander
Mom to Rylee, age 3, and Finley Mae, 10 months (both avid potato eaters!)
Hollee.alexander@yahoo.com

I’m not willing to address the fact that potatoes are not a particularly good for you food, but I would like to show you something VERY interesting.

When I clicked on the header to see where the email originated from I saw this. Full disclosure isn’t a sentence in parenthesis, full disclosure is sending the email with your work address at the National Potato Council, in the office you were sitting in when you sent the email?

Unfotunately the National Potato Council has their own server

When I search for that IP address I found this

Lawrence Taylor has been sentenced to six years probation after pleading guilty to “sexual misconduct” and having sex with an underage prostitute.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering what “underage” means, the girl was 16. Sixteen is YOUNG, and LT is no 22 year old that could have been confused. Apparently she was also recently beaten.

I’m sad that our sports/music/TV stars are seemingly given carte blanche to abuse our women and girls, and then celebrated once again. I really do worry that this is happening every day and the only reason we know about it is because Lawrence Taylor was an NFL Hall of Fame athlete.

We should all worry about this. The news isn’t that LT has admitted he is a sexual predator. The news isn’t that once again a football great has behaved worse than an animal. The news isn’t that Gloria Allred has once again inserted herself and will likely get rich while a young lady is hung out to dry.

The news is that when a 52 year old man hires a 16 year old child for sex it’s a misdemeanor. That is very very bad news.

Alexander has joined me in the kitchen. If we’re connected on other social media sites you’ve probably seen our blueberry cream pie, our ginger snaps or maybe even whoopie pies.

This is the first time I’ve made pickles. My Uncle would be proud.

I’m a blogger. I’m not a journalist, or even a citizen journalist. I’m a great blogger, I’m a sucktastic journalist. Here’s why.

I do not fact check. If I were to fact check I would probably have to miss yoga and I’d definitely have to miss tennis. I do not have time for fact checking. It will get in the way of my leisure activities.

I seldom spell check. Well, if the squiggly red line appears sometimes I’ll right click to change the word, but let’s be frank I could easily misspell peak, peek or pique and I probably have.

I do not know how to use commas. The Virgin tells me that my comma splices drive her crazy. Unfortunately I do not know what a comma splice is. I was at the beach that day.

Why would I get three independent sources to verify a story when I could just wait for the first three commenters to say me too?

I do not present the other side of the story. Fair and balanced reporting is for the AP Newswire, not bloggers. I’ve got an agenda folks, the food industry has a huge media budget, y’all have me. I don’t need to present their side of the story.

So yesterday we were at a wedding in San Diego. That meant three hours in the car each way. Which probably sucked for Mr G, but my brother and I were actually pretty comfortable.

After the wedding, the wine, and a few hours of Howard Stern my sweet husband smiled and said. “I was reading your blog the other day.”

This is where I wince, cringe and otherwise try to appear invisible.

“I read that post about the lady whose husband wanted the sexy texts. It was really funny. If I was her husband I’d be hysterical.”

“Really? You don’t think it was a little mean?” I was surprised.

“No, if you sent something like that I’d be laughing pretty hard.” and then I think he remembered my brother in the back seat, “I mean I don’t really see the point of sexting and all, but if I did I’d think that was funny.”

And for the record, this is a sextless home. That wasn’t just for my brother’s benefit.

This morning the news I got was 60% good. After posting about the problems with getting my prescription now that CVS Caremark is administering our prescription coverage I got some really great advice from my readers.

I started with a very long phone call to my State Insurance Commissioner. During the phone call they detailed for me the process of filing a complaint, which begins with contacting the plan administrator. The plan administrator was extraordinarily kind. So much so that when I detailed the series of events I ended up crying. It was the first time anyone had been remotely sympathetic to me.

The plan administrator called me back promptly on Friday and left a message letting me know she had an update, but I wasn’t home all day Friday so it wasn’t until this morning that I was able to return the phone call.

The Plan will reimburse me 60%. I will get approximately $1,200 back, and the other $800 or so dollars will be mine to pay. I will continue to use the mail order pharmacy or be required to pay cash (which is not really an option).

I’m not sure if I should be happy with this. $800 is a lot of money to pay, but $1,200 is a lot of money to be reimbursed. I’ve spent nearly 20 hours on this, and I’m not convinced that 20 more hours would get me the $800 that I feel is due to me.

What I do know is that insurance isn’t designed with health in mind. If it were then physicians would be able to prescribe patients the best drug for their disease and patients would have immediate and unfetterd access to the drugs that can arrest their diseases. Rheumatoid Arthritis is not the common cold. One third of RA patients end up on disability within a few years of diagnosis. That number is a number that has been steadily dropping due to the discovery and manufacture of biologics like Simponi (the one I take), Enbrel, Humira and Orencia. These are not inexpensive medications, but they are far more economical than visits to specialists for pain relief and (sometimes permanent) disability.

No one can tell me that our current system makes fiscal sense.

My readers (bless you all) have been so kind and helpful, emails have detailed for me how to work within the system. Until last August I never understood that a system existed, and I worry terribly for people who would have to wade through telephone trees and piles of paperwork all the while feeling ill and trying to keep their jobs. It’s simply unteneable.

Again, I’m not sure if this is where it ends for me, or if I take the next (rather exhausting) step and bring civil action.

I have been in contact with the mail order pharmacy and I was left speechless when the operator (pharmacy tech possibly?) was unable to pronounce simple words. After I listed the drugs that I am allergic to I waited for him to ask me what prescriptions I’m currently taking. The question didn’t come. Someone other than CVS will have to protect me from the possibility of a drug interaction, a real pharmacist perhaps.

I’m sure I’ll be okay because I have an amazing local pharmacist and a two of the most talented and devoted physicians a patient could hope for, but it will be in spite of CVS’ mail order pharmacy, and not because of it.