because my brain is a little scattered today

I’ve been wearing my hair down a bit lately, hoping to get sick  of its length.  So, today I’m wearing a headband.  I like this headband a lot, but it’s too tight for my head.  So, right now I’m starting to get a headache.  But will I take the headband off?  Probably not.  Then I’ll have that band across my head that shows that I was wearing a headband.

Stupid.

This morning on the Today show I heard Matt Lauer give an interview with someone, and he actually said, “What’s up with that?”  It made me laugh almost as much as that time I saw Katie Couric flirting with John F. Kennedy Jr. during her interview.  She was actually blushing.  “What’s it like being so cute?”

I know I’ve talked about that Pearl Jam’s “Last Kiss” song before, but I actually heard quite a bit of it the other day, and I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Eddie’s singing and the Saturday Night Live character of Jim Breuer’s– Goat Boy.  Do you remember Goat Boy?  He’d be talking and in the middle of him talking he’d start bleating?  I think there were a couple of sketches where he had musical albums.  Anyway, so I’m listening to the song, and I swear I thought it was done by Goat Boy.  He’d be like:

“I held her in my aaaaaaaaah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-aarms,
I gave her our last kiiiiiiiiii-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahssss.
Bleh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!”

Aspen update:

I’ve been trying to get the remainder of my money back from my insurance company for three weeks now.  I called again:

[scripty]
PHONE LADY
When did this incident take place?

PAMIE
It happened on the fifth of March, but I don’t know when they made the claim, because, see, originally they told me to call the hospital to make the claim, so they did, but then a month later you guys told me that I had to make the claim myself if I wanted to get reimbursed because that’s how you guys do it and not the Houston office, so there’s a claim from me and a claim from the hospital.  But then it turned out that you had to split up the claim into emergency care and specialist care because the doctor who looked at me for five minutes actually got three hundred dollars to tell me to put ice on it.  So, I don’t know what exact dates you have there.

PHONE LADY
So, when was the date of the claim?

PAMIE
I just told you.

PHONE LADY
When was the accident?

PAMIE
March fifth.

PHONE LADY
Is that the date of the claim?

PAMIE
I don’t know.

PHONE LADY
Do you think it would be that date?

PAMIE
Look.  It’s the only claim I have.  I just started with you guys and this is the only time I’ve hurt myself since.

PHONE LADY
So, it’s probably this one from the Aspen hospital.

PAMIE
That would be a good guess.

PHONE LADY
Well, it says here that they are working on the claim.

PAMIE
They’ve been working on this claim since March.  I was told thirty to forty-five working days, and now we are in June.  I would like my money.

(at this point, she actually laughed.)

PHONE LADY
Well, it looks like someone’s working on it.

PAMIE
Yeah, where are we at right now in getting me my money?

PHONE LADY
Well, we usually release reimbursements on Tuesday, so you probably won’t be getting one this week.

PAMIE
Really?  That’s amazing.

PHONE LADY
I’m sorry?

PAMIE
Nothing.  Look, is this reimbursement going to me or the hospital?

PHONE LADY
It says “AB49326.”

PAMIE
Ohhhh.

PHONE LADY
Yeah.

(pause)

PAMIE
Well, what does that mean?

PHONE LADY
It means that it’s coming to you, not the hospital.

PAMIE
Because last time you guys sent it to the hospital and then the hospital credited me.

PHONE LADY
Really?

PAMIE
Yes.  You guys have a lovely Houston office.

PHONE LADY
Thank you.

PAMIE
That was supposed to be a– forget it.  Look, are you guys going to send it to me in a check?

PHONE LADY
Yes.  Probably.

PAMIE
Great.  Read to me the address you have for me.

PHONE LADY
In Austin?

PAMIE
Well, I don’t live in Aspen, or I wouldn’t be having this problem.

(she reads the address)

PAMIE
So, when could I expect this check?

PHONE LADY
Well,  you really shouldn’t have had to wait this long.  I’d wait another week.

(I’m sure even Alanis could see the irony here.)

PAMIE
So, you’re saying that I shouldn’t have had to wait this long?

PHONE LADY
That’s what I’m saying.

PAMIE
What happens if I don’t get it this week?

PHONE LADY
Then you can request an immediate release and they have to release the money because it’s been longer than thirty to forty-five working days.

PAMIE
Oh.

PHONE LADY
Yeah.

PAMIE
But hasn’t it been that long already?

PHONE LADY
What?

PAMIE
Hasn’t it already been more than thirty to forty-five working days?

PHONE LADY
Yes.

PAMIE
Then can I do that release thing right now?  Can’t I request an immediate release now?

PHONE LADY
Oh, no.  You don’t want to do that.

PAMIE
Why not?

PHONE LADY
Because someone is working on it right now.

PAMIE
Someone’s been working on it, is what I’m telling you.

PHONE LADY
Right, but if you are in the reimbursement stage right now then you should get a check next week.  If you do the release, then they put a stop payment on the check, and then you won’t get paid.

PAMIE
I wouldn’t?

PHONE LADY
No, because then they’d have to review everything.  I’d hate to have you waiting for so long just to make you wait longer.

PAMIE
Maybe you would hate that, but none of the rest of your company seems to have a problem with this.

PHONE LADY
(who is laughing again)
Well, I think it’s best if you wait another week.

PAMIE
So, you’re telling me that if I try and get the money now by saying that I’ve waited too long, it will result in them not trying to give me my money but rather they will then try to figure out why I didn’t get my money on time, therefore delaying me getting my money even longer?

PHONE LADY
Yes.

PAMIE
So, right now the best thing I can do is to continue hoping that they are trying to give me my money, rather than making a complaint about it, which will only make it take longer to get me my money?

PHONE LADY
I’m glad you understand.

PAMIE
So you’re telling me to wait.

PHONE LADY
It’s really for the best.
[/scripty]

I couldn’t talk to her any longer.

I got this lovely postcard in the mail:

Isn’t that a pretty postcard?  Who is it from?

You can’t make this shit up, people.  The entire city of Aspen is mocking me.

We will start Birthday Week off rather quietly.. it gets more interesting as the week progresses, I promise you.  For now, we have this: new splash page

and eric is posing as “derrick” in the keep a  secret forum, so don’t let him fool you.