Soaking in Samsara

My Naivety about Health Insurance

I have been very forunate my entire life in regards to health insurance.  Through my employment or that of my husband, I have always had pretty decent coverage for both preventative and major medical care.   I abstractly know that healthcare (or lack there of in many cases) is a hot button political issue and a very, very difficult problem to solve.

Bob was recently reviewing a health plan from a national retailer.  The out-of-pocket expense for the "elite" plan came out to be about $85/month for an individual.  Not bad, eh?   Well, let's look at the specifics.  If he used the entire maximum benefit for basic doctor's visits and basic medical procedures, he would be in the hole for the year.  But, wait, isn't the purpose for more catastropic events?  The coverage for hospital stays, emergency care, more expensive procedures (e.g. MRI) is abysmal.  Our out-of-pocket for any major surgery would be in the 10's of thousands of dollars as they cover a maximim of $1000.  So, it is a lousy plan if you don't get sick or injury and a lousy plan if you do.  But, the retailer can proudly proclaim they provide health insurance!  Ironically, the provider they use is called The American Worker plan.

To the contrary, a certain major recreational equipment retailer provides comprehensive health insurance through Aetna, which is similar in benefits to my own.

This was a very valuable experience for me to see up-close and personal what so many people struggle with everyday.  It also brings me back to some of my values which might have been compromised by some of my more persuasive friends.  Good timing.

   

Comcast Part 2 - The Best Part

I forgot to mention in the previous post that I got a tweet from a Comcast customer care person when he/she saw my tweets about my customer support experience.  Very cool!

Comcast Customer Service - Actually Quite Good

A few weeks ago, I began experiencing connectivity problems with my high-speed cable service.  I won't bore you with the details, but after repeated calls to technical support, the decision was made to send out a technician.  The combination of my Apple Airport base station, a Vista laptop, and the Comcast-supplied cable model turned out to be perplexing.  This configuration had been working beautifully for 2 months and then just konked out on me.  While the technician was not able to resolve the wireless connectivity issues, there were some very positive aspects to the service:

• The phone technicians (all but one), were very polite.
• I was given a one-hour window to wait for the technician and he got there 1/2 hour in to that window.
• He tried his best working for over an hour.
• He didn't charge me!
• Had he charged me, it would have only been $20.

Everyone complains about the cable company, so it seemed fitting to offer a more positive spin on the company.

Philanthropy 2.0

About a month agao, I had the honor of joining the board of the Entrepreneur's Foundation of Colorado (EFCo).  EFCo has a very simple and effective model...venture-backed companies may donate 1% of their Series A equity to be held until a liquidity event.  At that time, the money generated is used to fund local community foundations.  But, there is more to it.  Member companies have resources available to them to engender a spirit of philanthopy and giving throughout the entire organization.   I am excited to start working on this endeavor within NewsGator in the coming months.

I'm twittering

I really hate to admit this, but I am a bit addicted.  I found myself repeatedly checking the web version of Twitter yesterday afternoon from my iPhone to see what folks were up to.

If you want to follow me (that phrase still creeps me out), I'm at www.twitter.com/karlgco.   Which reminds me, I had a dream last night about a guy that got a key to my house and I was freaking out until we could get the locks changed.  I don't think that dream was random.

Empathy

Some of my close friends and co-workers know that last week was a rollercoaster of emotions as we had a kitty health scare.  Our Ragdoll cats are now over 7 months old and they were visiting the vet last Monday for the rite of passage known as neutering.  Their blood work showed a slight elevation in relation to kidney disease, so the vet wanted to do a urinalysis and possible ultrasound before proceeding with the surgery.  When Bob called with the news, I went in to an emotional tailspin.   Of course, I had to search online and find sad stories about purebred cats dying very young from Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), a congenital condition.   

I managed to pull myself together (after bawling in my office) and engage in a practice that has been very useful for me in the past.  This practice involves taking in all the sadness and dispair of those who are experiencing a similar emotion.   This practice connects you to others and can generate profound compassion as opposed to creating isolation and self absorption.  Within an hour, I was still sad, but I was calmer and ready to deal with the outcome.

The outcome turned out to be a good one.  Their urinalysis was fine, but we did proceed with the ultrasound just to be safe.  And just to generously part with $700.  The boys has a clean bill of health and can go in for their "surgery" this Wednesday.

Thanks so much to everyone who was concerned and kind during our week of angst. 

Grateful to be an American

I've always been intrigued by the phrase "Proud to be an American".  My buddy John recently wrote a post in which he makes this claim and I know he is sincere in his love and pride for this country....I very much admire that about he and his lovely better half (for realz) Ginger.

I am a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen who tries to live a decent and ethical life.  But, I have never served in the military (wish now that I had) and I have never contributed to public service.   Thus, I can only say that I am profoundly grateful to be an American.  You will never hear me say that I am moving to Canada just because I don't like the result of an election.  I'm sure there are wonderful people there - including my in-laws - but, no thanks.  The resources and opportunities we are blessed with in this country, though far from perfect, should be appreciated.

So, gratitude before pride for me.  Maybe I can get my own bumper sticker...

The Five Perfections

The Five Perfections (or Paramitas) are guiding principles for folks who pursue the path I am following.  I have been contemplating them deeply this week and will be trying to observe them more fully in the months (lifetimes) to come.  I have found that public declaration of an aspiration can be a powerful motivator…kind of like going on the show Biggest Loser to meet your weight loss goals.  Well, not really like that at all, but…

Here are the perfections and my aspirations for each one:

• Generosity – can I be more generous with my time, with kind words, with monetary funds without expecting anything in return?
• Patience – can I be more patient with the aggression of others, with my own neuroses, with daily life itself?
• Discipline – can I be more disciplined in my practice, in my daily attention to ethics, in the care of myself and others?
• Joyful Exertion – can I participate fully in my activities with joy and gratitude?
• Meditation – can I be more mindful, aware and alert in all activities? 
• Prajna – can I see things for what they really are, without conceptual thought clouding my view?

I will stumble frequently…but I will try.

Customer Care Stories - Recent Trip to Boston

I've had a long hiatus from blogging and I'm pained to start back with a less than positive story.  Actually, there are plenty of positive aspects, so I will try to make sure I highlight them.   My colleague Jeff Nolan inspired me with his recent post about air travel.

I just returned from an overnight trip to Boston, where I was speaking at the AIIM conference.  Let's start with booking my flight.  I am a very loyal Frontier Airlines customer but they don't fly direct to Boston.  Waaa!  I love Frontier because their prices are great, their staff is friendly, they treat their staff well, the flights are comfortable with plenty of legroom and directTV, and they are on-time a good percentage of the time.  See, something positive!  Unfortunately, I had to fly United.  When I booked my flight, the fare was > $1000.  Our resident company travel expert  checked the flight a week before I left and found the fare to be much cheaper.  So, she rebooked it and asked them to refund my credit card.  Which they didn't do.  Instead, they claimed to have sent travel vouchers.  She called back and was on the phone for 1.5 hours trying to get the issue resolved.  But, no, we have to mail the travel vouchers back before they will refund me.  Note: I still haven't received the vouchers.  Also, when she rebooked, I lost the Economy Plus upgrade I had made and had to redo it - at this late date, only middle seats were available.

OK, the day of departure, I get checked in and find myself sitting between two very nice women so I have plenty of room.  The flight was, of course, over-booked and my tiny little carry on bag (seriously) wouldn't fit in the overhead bin because people had stuffed their big old bags in our overhead compartment as they walked to their seats in the back.  There is a special place in samsara for people who do this.  So, I had to shove both bags under the seat in front of me, crushing one of them in the process..thank goodness I travel light.

I finally get to my hotel, the Omni Parker House on Beacon Hill.  I love this hotel...very historic.  I get to the front desk and the clerk tells me with a strained smile that half of the hotel lost power and my room wouldn't be ready until about 8:00 that evening.  It was 4:30 at the time.  I actually laughed and said I wasn't surprised.  He looked frightened.  I went to the bar (where they agreed to pick up whatever I ordered), had a glass of wine and worked on the computer as they had good wireless connectivity.

The next day, they comped my dinner and my breakfast and 1/3 of the room charge.  Not bad, not great but an adequate response to the inconvenience.

While I was in the bar the evening before, I tried to upgrade my return flight to Economy Plus.  I had been waitlisted for an upgrade (thinking I had enough miles to pay for it) and thus I couldn't complete the upgrade.  I used the feature to delete the waitlisted flight and it told me the transaction was successful.  But, it stll appeared.  No matter how many times I tried.  So, I called a reservations agent.  He told me he had removed the waitlist status and to try again.  No luck.  I then asked him to just upgrade me as I had my credit card ready.  Oh no, he can't do that.  He does't have access to "that system".  So, what exactly does being a reservations agent mean??

When I get to Logan to check in, the agent who was routing people to the check-in kiosks tells me that the guy behind the counter (there literally was one guy) would help me upgrade.  So, I wait.  He ignores me.  When I ask her again if she could help me, she tells me to go get in "that line over there".  I politely said "no, you are going to help me".  She gruffly gets behind the counter and quickly finds an available Economy Plus seat and books me.  How hard was that?  She was much more friendly when I handed her my credit card.

My seat was in the exit row - literally, the very front of the plane by the door.  This was fine, but I had no storage.  The very nice flight attendant stored my stuff in the first class cabin.  I was amazed that the attendants were as nice as they were given the abuse they take from disgruntled customers - which includes about 99% of United customers.

Ah well, no worse for the wear, and I had the opportunity to contemplate folks around the world who are experiencing stressful airline situations.  I wasn't sick, I wasn't flying home to the funeral of a loved one and I was flying home to my 3 loved ones.  Plenty for which to be joyous and thankful.

Another "truth" destroyed...

I was chatting with some colleagues earlier today about logical fallacies.  One of my colleagues, a fiercely logical thinker, turned me on to that phrase.  While I'm not sure the following example fits the topic, it is another example of holding on to a personal "truth" that has since been turned on its head.

I was a personal trainer for a number of years and still study nutritional science for fun.  I also read and listen to a considerable amount of anecdotal evidence in terms of what works for some folks and not for others.  When the low-carb craze hit in the late 90's, I was mortified.  I found it to be the biggest bunch of crap I had ever heard and, while I didn't believe that the low-fat craze of the 80's and early 90's was much better, I refused to buy the low-carb theories.

I have discovered the hard way (over and over again) that when I am judgmental or convinced I am correct about a health topic, that health condition afflicts me.  Migraines, back pain, and now insulin resistance (IR).  But, my self righteous little inner voice told me "insulin resistance ONLY happens to people who are overweight, eat a lot of refined carbs and sugars and don't exercise!".  Well, think again.  Turns out that insulin resistance is becoming much more common and is being recognized as a major contributor to PCOS, type II Diabetes and my affliction, hypoglycemia.      I have been pretty careful with my diet for a long time, but now I have to be particularly rigorous in avoiding refined carbs and sugar and that has resulted in an overall decrease in my carbohydrate intake.  I still eat plenty of whole grains, fruits and veggies, but lean more towards high-quality fats and protein.  With the addition of the drug Metformin, I hope to keep this IR in check and avoid the development of diabetes.

One of the really cool things about blogging is that folks from all over the world with similar issues can share and learn from one another.  I have had numerous inquiries from folks who had surgeries similar to mine and I would be happy to share my experience with this latest adventure.  It can be a bit intimidating to put your personal information out for the world to see, but I figure the positive aspect of potentially helping someone outweighs any negatives that might occur.