Insurance Rant

This pissed me off so much, I just had to write about it (insert Mr. B rolling his eyes here :-) )

Ok, so, a few days ago (or more), I blogged about the bait and switch routine from the company that will now be providing MY medical coverage (Mr. B is medically covered through his job; it was cost prohibitive to cover me; one of the downsides of Mr. B working for a much smaller firm than KPMG). Got that all worked out, though, and, it won't be so bad once I get my doc to write me a generic prescription for my allergies.

On to dental. Again, we're currently covered through KPMG's COBRA plan. A decent Aetna Dental PPO which we've been very happy with.

Mr. B took on the job of finding new dental insurance and ended up selecting a plan through Ameritas. Ameritas offered both a PPO and a non-PPO. Mr. B checked to see if our dentist (Randy) is one of their providers. Only for the non-PPO (which as an aside is odd because he was a provider with Aetna's PPO, I don't understand why dentists agree to be in some plans and not others). Anyway, Mr. B definitely signed us up for the Ameritas NON-PPO (more expensive, too, but not much). In fact, the monthly premium wasn't too much more than what we're currently paying for the Aetna PPO.

The other day the plan documents and our policy show up in the mail. First thing Mr. B noticed; all of the information said PPO! 2nd thing; we received two ID cards. One had Mark's name on it, the other simply said "Dependent". Hello, my name is Dependent! I think not. Lastly, and most worrisome and annoying and the primary cause of this rant was this disclaimer: "Type One Procedures (such as cleanings and routine exams; (in other words, preventative procedures that are typically covered before deductible in most dental plans)) will not be covered until after being enrolled in the plan 3 months". Ok, problem; my next cleaning is scheduled for 24 March.

It gets better (worse): "Type Two Procedures (such as x-rays, fillings) will not be covered until after being enrolled in the plan 6 months". And, finally the shoe drops. "Type Three Procedures (such as anything major; root canals, crowns, etc.) not covered until after being enrolled in the plan 12 months". HELLO? The potential for needing these procedures are the reason why people have insurance IN THE FIRST PLACE! (Yes, I am yelling here!)

I got my back up about this and decided, yesterday, to do some more research on dental plans. To my dismay, I discovered that there ain't much to be had out there. Aetna won't cover individuals in NC (only through employers OR if you get their medical insurance, too (nice)).

Most of the plans I found were as bad, if not worse than the Ameritas one (and Randy was not a provider). Also, dental coverage is not as regulated as medical, meaning, they can pull shit that medical insurers cannot (for example, if you've been continually covered under a medical plan, a new insurer cannot not cover pre-existing conditions; however, I guess it amounts to a hill of beans that Mr. B and I have been continually covered by dental insurance our entire adult lives).

I got to thinking about it. Last year we each had two cleanings/exams and that was it (maybe an x-ray or two). We paid just under $1,000 (for the year) in premiums. I bet if I went and dug out the EOBs, they did not add up to $1,000.

Mr. B, since he's been going to Randy 20 years and feels he has a decent professional relationship with him, is going to call Randy, let him know what's going on, and see if he can't get Randy to agree to charge us what he was charging Aetna (preferred rates) AND also perhaps give us a discount on top of that for paying cash at the time of service. At this point, this seems the most reasonable thing to do. Hey, I did not fall off the dumb dumb truck (nor did Mr. B); we are not willing to pay over $1,000 a year in premiums for, basically, nothing. We can easily afford our routine cleanings/exams. And, if God-forbid something major was required, we can pay for that, too. With all the money we'll save from not paying $80+ a month for squat. BTW, this plan also has a maximum annual cap of what it would pay out of $1,000 a year per person, so, even IF something major happened (a year from now), it's not as though the plan would cover much, anyway (after having received a full year of premiums for nothing in return).

RANT RANT RANT RANT

But, as wise people have said, "Don't get mad, get even".

Mr. B told Ameritas yesterday to take a hike and we will in essence, self-insure. I think we have a much better plan, anyway :-)
Mrs. B.

Ranting About The Health Insurance Industry

It's Thursday morning and I'm in the mood for a rant!

Seriously, I am a bit annoyed!

My COBRA coverage (through Mr. B's former employer) runs out 2/28. It's been pretty decent coverage through Aetna but it's also been awful having to pay the monthly premium (Mr. B is covered through his current employer at no cost to him which is nice but to cover me would be real expensive).

Maybe two months ago, I began exploring options for my medical coverage. I'll tell you, it is a confusing process. There are so many plans, levels, options, caveats, etc. I finally decided to utilize eHealthInsurance.com to help me weed through it all.

I plugged in my basic information and up popped several different insurance companies each with several plans (e.g., lower monthly cost but higher deductible, office visits covered before deductible or not, etc., etc.)

I decided on one from United Health Insurance as it fit my needs pretty well (and my doctors are in their network, which is pretty important to me). The monthly premium is actually less than what I'm currently paying (albeit the plan itself isn't quite as comprehensive but good enough).

They required a three month premium be submitted with the application (refundable, of course, if the application was denied).

Last Saturday I got a call from them wanting to know about my prescription for Clarinex; the dose, how much I take, how long I've been taking it, etc. Well, gee (I thought), if that is all they have questions about, I'm set.

Today I got word that I'd been approved BUT the premium would be more than they originally quoted me PLUS there were certain restrictions. What restrictions? Oh, and the email said someone would call me within three weeks to see if I'd accept the terms.

Say what? Three weeks? Sounds like a hostage situation to me since my other coverage runs out in three weeks!

Thankfully, I'd kept the number from last Saturday's call on the answering machine. I called them and, after a LONG hold period (I'm sure they do this on purpose in hopes people simply give up and hang up), I talked to a representative.

This is what she told me. They'd moved me from preferred premium to standard, which meant another $25 a month (not awful; still cheaper than what I am currently paying). And, they assigned a $1,200 deductible for brand drugs. It was $1,000 before. So, in essence what they had done was change it so they would never pay for the Clarinex (a brand drug; can't get it generic). There is no deductible for generic drugs, just a $15 co-pay. As for the premium, she told me that all on-line applications are automatically given the premium rate but almost everyone moves to the standard (more expensive) rate after going through underwriting. As for me, she said since I had an on-going prescription, that meant an automatic move to standard rate because it indicated I had some sort of medical history.

Well, no shit, Sherlock; I'm 45 years old; of course I'm gonna have some sort of medical history!

Anyway, I told Mr. B, fine, I'll get around this by having my doctor write me a prescription for some sort of allergy medication that can be had in generic form. I'm not married to Clarinex; it's just what I was first prescribed and it worked so I stuck with it. I'm sure Allegra or some other such medication will also be fine. And then they'll have to pay for it.

I'm ranting about me, of course, but whenever something like this happens, it always makes me think about all those people out there who cannot afford their medication (and cannot easily switch it or simply stop taking it). It is against the law (now) to not cover a preexisting condition (so long as a person has been continually insured) BUT it's not against the law, apparently, to put a high deductible on brand drugs before they are covered; so high, in fact, that they are NEVER covered. I know a lot of certain medications that people need TO STAY ALIVE are not in generic form. I know there are a few prescriptions that I've received of late for "menopausal" issues that are still under patent and therefore there are no generic forms of them and I'll be stuck paying full price (good thing I loaded up on them this week while they are still covered by my current insurance company).

It infuriates me, is all.

It also brings to mind how much more people who have no insurance have to pay for services.

A few years ago, there was a blip in my coverage right at the time I had to go to the ER for a minor thing. So, I got all of the bills; from the hospital, from the doctor, from the lab.

If I'd have paid those bills, I would have been out over $2,000 (including $50 for one antibiotic pill and over $350 for a doctor's assistant who came and told me I had a UTI and that's it).

Since my insurance ultimately paid it, I didn't pay a dime. What did the insurance company pay? Well under $500 for the whole sha-bang. That's because the insurance company had agreed to pricing with the doctor, hospital, etc. So, they charge one thing knowing the insurance company will only pay half of it.

But, the poor sap without insurance is stuck paying the higher amount.

Good luck to President Obama in trying to fix this God Damn mess!

Mrs. B

Stop Blaming Others and Take Responsibility

Obviously, the title of this entry can cover a lot of topics of late. But, the one that I just read about in the paper is what prompted me to put down said paper and immediately blog about it. Also, the unfortunate incident took place not far from where I live.

Around 6:00 pm this past Saturday, an elderly man from Hillsborough went missing from his family. His family reported him missing about 11:00 pm; it took the Durham police another 90 minutes or so to issue a Silver Alert (similar to an Amber Alert for children except it means a senior person with dementia/memory loss is missing).

About 20 minutes after that alert was issued, the unfortunate man was hit by a car while walking down Highway 98 and Sherron Road (this is near the Food Lion shopping center roughly a mile or so from my house).

Ok, this is really, really sad for everyone. Certainly for the man's family, for him (I guess, perhaps he's happier being dead since he probably now remembers everything) and for the unfortunate woman who happened to hit him (I don't think she's being charged since it was 12:45 or so in the morning and she probably didn't expect some old dude to be wandering down the highway).

What has irked me this morning is the family is upset that the police did not issue this Silver Alert right away. They are saying IF they had, chances are, he would have been found before he was hit and killed.

Maybe that's true. But, hello? WHY did you wait over five hours to report him missing in the first place? And, why in the hell did you let this man DRIVE a car? What? He was DRIVING a car? Someone with his dementia condition/memory loss issues was operating a potentially lethal weapon? Yep, his family allowed him to drive a car from Hillsborough to somewhere, he was apparently following someone else (his wife) so they thought it'd be ok. Well, it wasn't; he got confused (they think) and took a wrong turn. The wife realized he wasn't behind her and pulled off, hoping he'd figure it out and come back the right way (remember, she KNEW her husband had dementia/memory loss problems and she was thinking he'd REMEMBER the right way?)

Anyway, the bottom line (IMO) is that these folks really, really messed up, and, as a result, a man is dead and another person has to live with the fact that she killed him. And these people are blaming the police for not issuing a Silver Alert 90 minutes sooner.

Give me a freaking break!

Mrs. B

The Weekly Newspaper Toss and Ditch

Well, it's Tuesday, which means this is the day Mrs. B and Lucy, while out on our walks around our neighborhood, start "Ye Olde Weekly Newspaper Toss and Ditch".

Every Saturday, one of our local papers delivers to EVERY house in the development (and probably the city) a supplement called "The Durham News". If one subscribes to the paper, they get this supplement twice; in their Saturday paper and also as an aside.

Frankly, this irritates me and always has for a lot of reasons, but, mostly it is because it is a waste of paper to deliver something weekly that the majority of the people that are receiving it didn't ask for it and ignore it. Also, for those of us that go off on vacations from time to time, calling up and stopping your regular subscription does NOT keep this particular supplement from being tossed on your driveway (or somewhere nearby), which sort of defeats the primary purpose for suspending ones subscription (so as not to alert people that you are not home).

Of course, I guess in our neighborhood, one definitely could NOT make that assumption because NO ONE picks up this damn thing!

Hence, "Ye Olde Weekly Newspaper Toss and Ditch".

On Saturdays, as we walk, I think to myself, "Oh boy, look at all of those newspapers (meaning, the supplements). But, it's too early to start picking them up because some people actually do pick theirs up. Maybe they even read it. But, most folks just leave them lying there in their driveway, on the sidewalk in front of the driveway, on the street in front of the sidewalk in front of their driveway, in their grass, near their mailbox; wherever the newspaper morons happen to have thrown it (WHY can't they at least get them up into people's driveways? I mean, c'mon, the STREET?)

By Sunday, a goodly portion of the newspapers are gone but just as many are still lying there, despite the fact that the owners of the houses are out and about, mowing their lawns, backing out of their driveways to go to church or out for breakfast or to the park or wherever they are going. They go, the newspapers stay. Still, I don't start picking them up yet, mostly because there are a lot of people out and about and I'm not really interested in getting yelled at.

Monday is my favorite day, by which I really mean, it's my "I totally can't believe this" day. Why? Well, it's the day that the recycling comes and most people have their blue recycling bins out. Of the houses that still have their paper lying around Monday morning, you'd be surprised how many of them actually LEAVE it lying there, despite the fact that someone in that house has hauled their recycling bin down to the curb. Hell, sometimes that paper is lying right NEXT to the bin and they still couldn't be bothered to pick the damn thing up and toss it into the bin.

Sometimes on our Monday afternoon walk and if I'm out before the recycling guys come, I'll walk around picking up the stray papers (in the case of this week also extremely wet and soggy papers) and throw them into recycling bins.

So, by Tuesday morning, I'm ready to start the toss.

If a paper is within easy reach of our path, I'll pick it up and toss it onto the driveway that I think it belongs to.

This morning, I did this roughly five times. There were a few others that I wanted to pick up, but, there were people (from other houses) in their driveways so I walked on; I'll likely get them this afternoon.

By Wednesday or Thursday, there won't be too many left lying out in the streets (but you'd be amazed how many of the ones I tossed up into driveways are STILL there; some of these houses have a nice collection going).

Last Friday, I walked by a house that I've been playing a nice game of "toss" with that entire week. I tossed the paper onto their driveway Tuesday morning, by Wednesday morning, it was back out on the street. So, I tossed it back up onto their driveway, by Thursday morning it was back out on the street (and, by the way, I know it was the same paper because it was basically disintegrating, it was so old and wet). So, Friday afternoon, there it was again out on the street. This time, I picked it up and tossed it up to their front porch, where it hit the front door with a loud thunk.

I stood there, a 44 year old woman with a dog, wondering if I should run! This sort of reminded me of the "doorbell ditching" game we'd play as kids, run up to a door, knock on it or ring the bell, and then run like hell away and hide.

Well, I didn't run; instead I said quite loudly, "Dispose of your (you-know-what) paper! Nobody opened the door, BTW.

Today, I noticed that that paper was STILL on their porch.

So, it's amazing to me, it really, really is.

First, why does the paper insist on delivering this supplement to people that obviously do not want it and also, why can't they improve their throwing techniques?

2nd, OK, so, you didn't order this paper, but, heck, you've got it! Why aren't more people picking it up and reading it (then disposing of it properly)? Doesn't anyone around here CARE about what's going on in this city?

And, finally, PICK IT UP! I don't get how people can just walk by and ignore something lying there on their property, especially once it gets old and ratty and soggy and starts to embed itself into their driveways.

What IS it with people?

Well, I am happy to report that, since we've started "Ye Olde Weekly Newspaper

Toss and Ditch", more people ARE picking their papers up on their own.

So, maybe we're getting a point across to some of them.

Mrs. B

Grumbles and Rambles

OK, had one of THOSE afternoons. So, I'll bitch, I mean, blog about it and get it off my chest.

1. I decided to go do ALL of my grocery shopping, which meant going to BJs, then Lowes, then Food Lion. Got into the car; oops, almost out of gas, so, had to go to BJs gas station, too.

2. Got on my way to Brier Creek (where three of the four stops were). Along the way, a very small dog, perhaps a puppy, walks out in front of me. No, no, I didn't hit it, but, I got to worrying that SOMEONE might so, I turned around and went back to look for it, thinking I'd see if it was wearing a collar/tag. It took me forever to find a place to turn around (with people coming up fast behind me irritated because I wasn't going as fast as they thought I should be. I WAS going the speed limit, which is 45 through there). I finally get to turn around and head back to where the dog/puppy was. As I drove by, I saw it bounding around in the grass near the side of the road. No where to stop! So, I drove on and turned around AGAIN. The next time I drove past the dog/puppy had been (now headed in my original direction), I couldn't find it, which I hoped meant it had wandered away far from the road.

3. Got to BJs gas station (BJs gas is usually 15 cents or so cheaper than even some of the cheap stations). Well, it has to be to make it worth it because getting gas there is always a hassle for me. This time was no exception. First off, there were a ton of people trying to get to the pumps. One lady was just sitting there blocking the way; you guessed it, yakking away on her damn cell phone. Finally, I get up to the pump. I put my BJs card under the scanner, it lights up, I was good to go. I went through the process of inserting my credit card, etc., and, it wouldn't give me the member price. So, I hit cancel and tried again. By this time, there is a man in a huge SUV pulled up behind me giving me "the look"; you know, gals, the one that says, "You're just a stupid broad who can't figure out how to pump gas and now I have to sit here and wait for you to figure it out! JESUS!" Trying not to get pissed off, I went through the process again; same damn thing happened. Now, Mr. Impatient Know-It-All Man throws up his hands, backs out, and whips around to another pump, glaring at me as he went. I wanted to give him the finger, but, I refrained. I went over to the station to get the attendant, who informed me I'd have to wait until she finished her paperwork. What? I walked back, went through the process AGAIN and, just as she walked up, it worked. Doesn't that always happen? She gave me a look like, "Sure, sweetheart, it wasn't your fault at all" and walked away. I HATE HATE HATE getting gas at BJs, but, 15 cents a gallon is 15 cents a gallon and all those asshole men (and women) can just kiss my sweet grits.

4. You know those people that stand at the door at places like Cost Co and Bjs and Sam's Club and check your receipt on the way out? Worthless. You know why? Because, after I got home, I realized the cashier (usually pretty worthless, too), had not rung up two of my items. And, the dude and the door (who stood there counting and counting so I had thought perhaps something was wrong but he finally clipped my receipt and sent me on my way) had missed it. So, I got home with about $15 of free groceries.

5. On to Lowes which was fairly uneventful except for this one man who kept trying to run me over with his shopping cart and the idiot cashier there who held up the dog toy I'd decided to buy for The Goose (a replacement Kitty; Kitty #1 bit the dust) and said with a look of disgust on his face, "Is this YOURS?" I said in my most snotty voice, "It's a DOG TOY; what, do you think I carry stuffed animals around with me?" The bag lady (meaning the chick bagging my groceries, not a homeless woman) said, "You'd be surprised what we see around here" while nodding knowingly at me.

6. Nothing exciting at Food Lion except the psycho self-check out lane next to me screaming out "Remove all items from the scanner scale!" over and over and over again (no one was even standing there).

7. On my way home, I vacillated as to whether or not I should make the phone calls this afternoon that I'd planned; namely, to call and find out if our stupid timeshare resort fixed the problem we'd had with our deposit into the timeshare exchange company. I decided I was in too much of a pissed off mood to get even more pissed off, so, it can wait until Monday (which is my normal day to make "business" calls, anyway).

8. I got home, unloaded the car and pulled Kitty #2 out of the bag. I don't think I've seen Lucy quite so excited in a long time. I'd thrown Kitty #1 away a few days ago and she was probably trying to figure out what happened to it. Well, when she saw Kitty #2, she went ape-shit and grinned from ear to ear. So, I guess my crappy afternoon ended on a positive note!

Mrs. B

Who the "F" Cares What Sharon Stone Thinks?

Today must have been the day for certain celebrities to get it into their silly heads that the rest of us really give a rat's you know what WHAT they think. Or, that if they say something, we should all automatically gasp and say, "Oh, WOW, she's so deep!"

Take Sharon Stone, for example. You know, "Ms. One Spread My Legs and Show My Muff Shot Wonder" (if you don't know what I am talking about, watch "Basic Instinct"). Anyway, she was blathering on about how the US has really mucked up Iraq and bemoaning all the dead people over there (NOT our troops, but, the citizens). Ok, fine, it IS awful that so many people have died (on both sides) but it just irks me how it's in the paper as if what this dumb blonde actress thinks makes all of the difference in the world.

Now, just before I signed on, I saw that Lindsay Lohan (and we all know how credible SHE is) is weighing in on how "the industry" was responsible for Heath Ledger's recent death (by "accidental" OD). First off, did she even KNOW the dude? Secondly, Heath Ledger was responsible for his death because he took too many of all the wrong sort of pills all at the same time.

I guess what annoys me, really, is how "the news" elects to publish what "famous" people think as if they are somehow wiser than the rest of us. And, there is really no limits on what they weigh in on; any subject is fair game. It is almost to the point (for me) that if a "celebrity" says anything, I'll believe the opposite.

I can hardly wait (not) for all of the celebrities to come out in support of this or that candidate for the US. Well, it's already happening; we know who is supporting Obama, at least. I guess I'll end up voting for the person no nim-rod famous person weighs in on.

And, oh by the way, I have to admit that this was one thing about Cesar Millan's books (The Dog Whisperer) that I recently read that started getting on my nerves; the way he hero-worshiped Oprah Winfrey. You know, the lady who decides for the rest of us what books we should all be reading.

Ok, enough of THIS rant!

Mrs. B

Neighborhood Annoyances: Final

Backing out of my driveway this morning reminded me of one of my biggest pet peeves in this neighborhood and that is people that park their (extra) cars on the street such that it makes it nearly impossible for others to either back out of their driveways (without making a zillion contortions) and/or drive safely down the street without risk of pegging a parked car. We've had issues with the people that live across from us before parking their huge SUV on the street. We asked them not to several times, they continued to do it, so we complained to the HOA and they received a violation letter. For the most part, they stopped parking out there until recently. Their oldest son got a "new" car and so now it's parked out there all of the time. I don't understand why these people don't "get it". Frankly, I think they're just stupid. So, now we have to decide whether or not to complain AGAIN. Oh, by the way, the kid wrecked his first "new" car and this one is already banged up, too. And, the rear end of his mother's SUV looks a sight. Must run in the family. Maybe they wouldn't notice if we took a sledge hammer to both of these cars? Better yet, "dad's" Caddy!

Cars makes me think of another irritating thing; people that drive WAY TOO FAST up and down the streets around here. Not just the residents, but also the contruction workers. This is, of course, an incredibly dangerous thing to do because, as mentioned before, there are a lot of pets wandering around but even more of a danger are all of the small children playing in the street. Why people think it is okay to drive 50 in a 25 zone is beyond me but it is (to borrow a tag from Mr. B) a "recipe for disaster" just waiting to happen.

More on breaking rules. Everyone is required to get approval to make any changes to the exterior of their house or to add anything to their property that is visible to one or more other houses. This basically means fences, sheds, screened in porches/sun rooms, fountains (yes, we actually do have one house that has a stone fountain outside their house), children's play equipment (swing sets, slides, etc.) and swimming pools. Also, any significant landscaping activity requires approval. Does anyone around here actually GET approval? Well, we did for our sun room, but, it's pretty obvious that most people DON'T get approval judging from some of the tacky objects around and the shoddy workman/workwoman ship. Many of the fences that were put up are already falling down/sagging in places. Again, some folks just have a "the rules don't apply to ME" attitude and they don't care that their property looks junky and thus brings down the apperance of the entire neighborhood.

Finally, and this is a biggie, there were MANY morons in this joint that were ignoring the water restrictions. I say "were" because, as far as I can tell, no one has been watering for the past several months. However, back in November or so when the restrictions were implemented (and notification of said restrictions were all over the place in the news, in the paper, in the water bills), people were STILL watering their lawns (one idiot was actually watering the open grassy area NEXT to his house). I, of course, took it as my civic duty to rat them out (this included two houses on our street). So, they likely got some sort of communication from The City of Durham about knocking it off; maybe even a fine (I hope so, anyway).

Ok, thus ends my rant (at least for now) about my neighborhood. I'm sure most people that live in a neighborhood/development have similar beefs. Which is really, really sad. Why can't people do what they are supposed to do?

I told The Kid this morning (while attempting to get out of our driveway)that I could really understand why people move to more rural environments where they only have to deal with deers and ducks.

Mrs. B

Neighborhood Annoyances: Part Two

Before I continue with this "series", I do want to point out that the people/houses that I am now complaining about only comprise a small percentage of the folks that live here. But, because everyone else are so polite and well-behaved, these idiots just stand out like sore thumbs!

My next rant concerns the people that don't seem to mind old newspapers, bits of trash and rejected recycling items laying about their property.

Seriously, there are some houses where there the newspapers (still in the plastic bag) on or around the driveway have been there so long and run over so many times by their cars going in and out of their driveway that they are now a permanent fixture of the sidewalk.

Ok, so, they didn't ASK for The Durham News to be delivered every Saturday (for whatever reason, The N&O delivers one paper per household every Saturday whether you ask for it or not; pretty annoying when you are on vacation and have put a hold on your regular deliveries and you come home to piles of these dumb papers all over the place) but STILL. Pick them up and recycle them! Don't just leave the moldering away out there. I don't understand how folks can walk by day after day and just leave them laying there. Exteme laziness, I guess. Too hard to bend over; fat gut's in the way and all.

These same people are likely the ones that continue to put un-recyclable items into their recycling bins, such as pizza boxes or plastic-coated cartons. The recycling pick-up dudes have absolutely no qualms about taking these items out of the bins and throwing them on the guilty party's lawn. Ok, live and learn you dolts! Don't keep putting them in the bins week after week; and, pick the trash up off your yard! Seriously, some houses have misecellanous trash items in their yards for weeks before they finally either get picked up or they simply blow away into someone else's yard who DOES pick them up!

Along these lines, once the trash/recylcing people have come, put your trash can and recylcing bins AWAY! Don't leave them out by the curb for three or four days. Again, these people have to be driving by them as they pull in and out of their driveway. Hello? See me? PUT ME AWAY!

Very recently, there was an incident with one of the people that lives down the street from us with their Christmas Tree. Ok, so, Christmas was, like, six or more weeks ago and they were JUST putting the old tree out for the trash to pick up. Problem was, they waited too late and the trash folks had stopped picking up trees (I think the last Monday of January was the last tree pick up date in our neighborhood).

So, what did these people do?

They drug the tree across the street and threw it in a vacant lot in full sight of anyone walking or driving down the street. Not only was it unsightly, it was also a) not the proper way to dispose of THEIR tree and b) a potential fire hazard, given our drought conditions.

I ratted these folks out by contacting the HOA. They were sent a violation letter and told to property dispose of their tree.

This week, I noticed that they had drug it back across the street and left it in the vacant lot NEXT to their house and next to one of the construction trash bins. I guess they got lucky because someone disposed of it for them.

How lazy can people be?

I rant about this because, it only takes a few idiots like these to really bring down the look and feel of an otherwise very nice neighborhood. I wish there was a way to "vote them off the island"!

Mrs. B

Neighborhood Annoyances: Part One

A few days ago, I blogged about the houses in our neighborhood. Continuing on with the neighborhood theme (and things I observe while I am out walking the dog) and questions of taste aside (and I must say there are some people around this neighborhood that seem to have very little of it), I'm going to write about several items that annoy, irritate, disgust and simply perplex me about some of the people in this neighborhood.

The first and foremost category the fits all of the above (annoy, irritate, disgust, perplex) are pet owners and in particular, dog owners. Ok, there are some cats that are allowed to roam around free which is, frankly, just plain stupid in a neighborhood full of construction trucks and heavy machinery; but, it isn't terribly annoying (although I really don't want to squish one while driving down the street).

So, dog owners. There are, of course, the owners that let their dogs crap all over the place and never pick up after them. Not only is this against the law (and against the HOA rules), it's just plain disgusting. I really wish I could catch one of these lazy slobs red-handed (or, rather, poop bag-less handed) because I'd let them have it (just ask the huckle berry that lived across the street from me on Saratoga Drive). Seriously, what I know I'd do is I'd catch up to them and hand them one of my (many) poop bags (I always carry a stash on me when I walk Lucy) and say, "Excuse me! EXCUSE me! It looks like you might be in need of one of these bags, you forgot yours, right?" and let them try to weasle out of THAT. I will never understand why people think it's ok to leave their dog's crap all over other people's lawns. You can rest assured that they don't let their dog crap on their OWN lawn.

In the neighborhood on the other side of ours is a house that has a sign in its lawn that reads, "Here lies the last dog that crapped in my yard". What is should say is, "Here lies that last dog OWNER that let their DOG crap in my yard"!

A funny (and tsk tsk tsk inspiring) story; I was walking Lucy a few days ago. Lucy's got "dog-dar" (like radar) for whenever there is another dog anywhere in the vicinity. So, her dog-dar perked up her ears and I saw a ways down the street a huge dude walking this little pip-squeak of a dog. He didn't see us; so, I watched while he let the dog crap in someone's yard. He started to walk away, and, for whatever reason, he turned his head and saw me and Lucy standing there watching him. And, get this. At that point, he walked back to the poop, pulled a poop bag out of his pocket, and picked it up. So, this goes to show if people KNOW they are being WATCHED, they WILL pick up after their dog. Maybe we need to form a neighborhood poop watch committee.

Another dog owner irritant; people that don't control their dogs, either while out on walks or at their own homes. There is one guy who has a dog that is wildly out of control. Whenever I see him and said dog, I try to stay away because the dog is also nasty towards Lucy. The guy, a smallish man, lets his dog literally drag him down the street. When the dog sees someone, it gets up on its hind legs and lunges towards the person. If it sees Lucy, it lunges and growls, which causes Lucy to get her 'tude on. The owner always says to me, "Sorry, sorry!" I want to say, "Dude, get control of your animal!" One day, he was across the street from us and observed Lucy sitting down at the corner. He said, "Wow, you taught her that?" Yeah, I did. Spend some time with your pet, why don't you? BTW, I'm pretty sure he's one of the ones that doesn't pick up after his dog but I haven't caught him yet.

And along the lines (of people that don't spend time with their dogs), there are several houses where I know there are dogs but I have no idea how many or what type because they are always locked up in the garage. I walk during several different times of the day, days of the week, etc., and some of these dogs are ALWAYS in the garage. Even when there are cars in the driveway indicating someone is home. Now, come on; why in the heck have a dog (or dogs) and just leave them locked up in your garage? These are people that should not own dogs. Get a cat, they are less maintenance.

My last two dog complaints and then I'll get off the dog-rant are folks that let their dog outside to do its business while they watch from INSIDE (there is one in particular, a small little yippy dog, that lives in the corner house on a very busy street). The dog runs around the front yard, then, if it sees someone, it starts to follow them. Yesterday Lucy and I came across Yippy out on the sidewalk. I stood there for a bit trying to figure out if I should go to the front door with the dog because it kept trying to follow us. Finally, I heard someone inside the house pounding on the window and the dog raced off to the back door. BTW, my guess is that the owner of this dog is grossly overweight and could likely use getting off their fat ass and walking their dog.

The final complaint are people that tie their dogs up outside. Across the street from Yippy is another small dog that, on nice days, is tied to a stake in the back yard. Whenever this dog sees us, it goes ballastic and runs around and around until it is wrapped around one of the porch pillars. One of these days, that dog is going to strangle itself. A few houses up is a beagle that is ALWAYS tied up outside in front of the house. I just don't get it. I feel so sorry for it as it lays there, mournfully watching me and Lucy walk by. I always say, "Hi, sweetie!" but what good does that do? Poor dog.

Well, this has gone on long enough for today. I'll post some of my other neighborhood observations later!

Mrs. B