Better days

I didn't blog yesterday because I was in an exceptionally foul mood and had no perspective. But today's a new day, and I feel (somewhat) prepared to take it on.

The day started with my main trigger - being around toddlers, and seeing what horrible little a-holes they can be. And it always begs the question - is this parenting, or just normal kid behavior? A new mom with a three-year-old girl joined our group and the girl was just awful - pouting and screaming her head off the whole time. The poor mother was so embarrassed. I wondered is this just a bad day? A phase? Will she grow up to be a delightful little girl? Who knows? Then in a large play area there were some boys that were just little terrors, hitting other kids and messing up things other kids had created, etc etc. I know I've been over this topic a million times, but is my sweet, jolly little Bumpus going to morph into that in two years? Because I really wonder if I can handle it. The day to day looks awful enough but it would also literally break my heart. I mean those kids weren't just rambunctious - they were evil!

So already in a bit of a state I returned home to find that after complaining to Kaiser about my hospital bill, and being denied because they claimed B was not a member when he was born (?), then taking my claim to the state HMO management board, who then turned it back over to Kaiser, this time denied it again claiming B had his own policy when born with his own deductible which I was correctly charged for. I called the HMO management agency asking what the heck we do now, as we've just spent four months in a complete waste of time of an endless loop. They said I can appeal AGAIN. I asked are they just going to turn it over to Kaiser to deny again? They didn't really have an answer for that. I put this situation on Facebook and everyone is telling me to get a lawyer. And where exactly do I find a lawyer who handles this sort of thing? Anything I pay a lawyer would doubtless be more than I would ever recover. But I would do it if only to make a point. The worst thing is I can't even leave Kaiser - I consulted the people who got me this policy and they said this is the best plan for me in CA, by literally hundreds of dollars a month. So I'm trapped with these charlatans. Oh, and none of this even addresses that extra $600 bill I got a few weeks ago that I haven't even paid. That's a whole separate situation that I'm not even sure is being reviewed or not.

In addition to that clusterfuck I am having a dispute with a seller on Etsy as well - I ordered a dress from a Chinese seller back in September for $72 and never got it. We've been back and forth for months, the tracking number they sent me lead to some US Air Force base and the post office said it'd be almost impossible to retrieve my package from there; then the seller said they'd make me a new one but wouldn't cough up the tracking number; then they said they'd refund me. In filing a complaint with both Etsy and PayPal they both said I'm pretty much out of luck. And just for the record I've ordered plenty of things from Asia and never had a problem, and this was a highly rated long-standing store with tons of excellent reviews. So, what the hell? Yesterday I threatened them with reporting them and giving negative reviews, but still nothing. I'm beyond frustrated that nobody will do anything about this (even if I don't get my money back, you'd think Etsy would suspend them or something!). It is very similar to the Kaiser situation where I feel totally screwed and taken advantage of but at the moment I feel utterly helpless to right the situation. It makes my blood boil.

So, yesterday not a good day. Today I'm determined to not let this stuff get to me and go on and have a good day. I've got my movie club tonight for some much needed mommy time, and I'm going to deliver a big care package to former Bed Rest Friend with some of the preemie clothes I was given and some of my homemade laundry detergent. So those things should make me feel better about today. Oh, and the fact that B is still an awesome, cute baby. That fact doesn't hurt, either.