15:00, 14:59, 14:58...

Start the timer. I have fifteen minutes and counting left of fame.
If you go back in the history of my posts, you’ll find the one talking about how I had by appendix removed and was able to knock down a fat bill. In the process of time, Smart Money Magazine and this girl from Wiretap.com got a hold of me and asked me some questions and stuff. I told them my story and they said they were going to put it in some article.
Well, Paula sent me this link and I went to it. It didn’t work, but I was directed to this site www.alternet.org. Basically, it is a really liberal site that is 180 degrees from my political and moral values; so I just Googled my name and the words “health care.” And boom:

Wiretap.com - http://82.165.179.211/rights/42785/
Some site - http://standeyo.com/NEWS/06_Health/060913.hospitals.wont.tell.html
AOL - http://money.aol.com/smoney/general/canvas3/_a/10-things-your-hospital-wont-tell-you/20060915111109990001
Random Blog - http://alternativemedicinetruth.blogspot.com
Yahoo! - http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/hospital2_1.html
SmartMoney - www.smartmoney.com/10things/index.cfm?story=october2006

So, there you have it. With the exception of the first one – the Alternet one – I don’t mind the articles. I should have known that such an experience would make its way on to a couple of liberal/socialist healthcare oriented agendas, but I thought my experience could be really helpful to people. The key for me was to ask and the various places I owed money to were more than willing to work with me.
For the most part they got the facts right, though the numbers differ between stories. The reality is bills of almost $22,000 were reduced to just under $5000.
Anyway, I’m famous. Wahoo.

A Year of WorkING

Today marks one year since I started at ING. A nervous recent college graduate enter the world of Corporate America, I put on my game face and began my first post-college job. A year later, I have my own cube and am not nervous. ING has been good to me; I enjoy coming to work 4 out of 5 days, I like my coworkers and I do pretty well with the assignments I have. The only part of my job I don't care for is the commute home on Thursday and Friday.
In commemoration of this event, I'm trying to set a record for the most applications configured by one person in a release - 24. This is all Greek to pretty much everyone, so suffice it to say it'll be cool if I can pull it off. Also in commemoration of 10/18, I treated myself to Wendy's. It was good.
I don't know how much longer I'll be at ING. I'm a contract employee. Apparently that means I get paid a little more, but there isn't such thing as paid time off or paid holiday or benefits. It also means on January 2nd, 2007 I will need to be commuting somewhere new; my contract is up December 31st, so yeah. Sort of nervous, the unknown and everything, but what do you do? Tomorrow is always unknown despite our best attempts.
Anyway, Happy Anniversary to me! One year as a working man who yields 1/3 of everything he makes to the government, 1/3 to my wife and the rest to bills. I'm a grown up now!

Pictures: My Nemesis

Much to my dismay, we had a team picture at work today. I’ve never been a fan at staged, set pictures. Never. A root canal minus Novocain sounds equally appealing to me. I don’t know why I’m so opposed to such things. I guess if I am supposed to look good and don’t, there isn’t the excuse like when goofing around.
I have the notoriety of ruining a picture for120+ people. Let me take us all back almost 10 years ago to a little place called Wyoming in a little town called Cheyenne. For those of you who have been failed by the government monopoly of public schools, Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming. I was there with 120 or so male high school students as part of Boys State; no, it’s not something for delinquent youth (at least that’s not its design). A couple guys from each high school in the state are chosen to go and spend a week learning about various forms of government. They divide everyone into two ‘political’ parties and each guy has to run for some kind of public office and I chose secretary of state. At the end of the week, you go on this huge bus trip to Cheyenne and meet with your real-life counterpart.
Anyway, I won and Secretary of State was one of the big five positions (Governor, Lt. Governor, Sec. of State and two others) so in the picture take on the Capital steps, I was in front. Well, I wore a white shirt and tie while everyone else was in a dark suit. (I missed the memo) And I posed with my hands on my hips, feet shoulder width apart - Superman style - with a big, stupid smile. Needless to say 120 mothers were not happy, including mine.
Also in high school, I was a yearbook editor and our crew ruled the roost. In the 1997-98 yearbooks, there are a dozen or so ‘Where’s Waldo’ pictures with Nick, Nathan, Bryan or me (mostly Nick) in the background. It was awesome. It is awesome.

Done

Holy crap. I can't believe it. It's a little weird, to be completely honest. Off and on for the past five years I've tinkered with it and a couple months ago I made a goal to finish the rough draft by the first of October. A day late, but it is done. There's a beginning, a middle, an end and 224 pages of single-spaced Times Roman 12 point font in between. (548 pages of uneditted publisher copy.) One of my friends mentioned that's a lot. I said that was before they took out the parts that weren't any good. He said like 10 pages then. I said 1, with a big picture on it.
Yeah, it might just be plain no good. I don't know. But the rough draft is done.
Just thought you should know.