Daynotes On A Budget, V6.0

 So just for fun, this week was month end from hell.  Literally. We are in process of standing up a giant change in how we do business.  Right now, to obtain an authorization from a payer, I must first log into one system and find out which patients require that authorization.  Then I check that system and another one for the necessary medical documents.  Then I check a third system, which is our current "system of record" which is supposed to be the one we rely on if there are ever disconnects or discontinuity between any systems.  Once I check that third system, I then get to ... well, throw up a hail Mary.   Because during the course of any single day I may deal with a dozen different insurance companies.  Or more.  And where some have phone numbers and forms we fill out and fax for a requested authorization, some have on-line systems we refer to as portals.  And as many insurance companies as there are out there, there are about...

 Rare enough, that, but I am now among those who have managed to acquire two shots of the necessary vaccine for me.  It's been about seven hours since I took the shot on board, and there are some slight side effects. I feel relieved, euphoric, and somewhat let down by the lack of improved wifi.  Google has not yet finished indexing all my brain memories, so I guess that part of the vaccine failed in me.  The 20+ new fingers might be a real benefit, once I get to typing normally.  I mean, I've got almost one finger for every 2 keys.  So that should come in handy.   Other than that there's the apprehension that comes with ... well, something along the lines of first day at new school jitters, as I expect that soon I will be informed my employer will end the "work from home" mandate that has been in effect for us since March 21, 2020, and I will have to return to the office.  I do like what I do, and I like my company, and I do like many of my c...

 I know, the name of the place includes the word "Day" implying daily.  Yeah, I do my best. It occurred to me this evening as I was walking my dogs and contemplating the wreckage of weekend plans I had due to more overtime needed at my employer.  And I mentally castigated myself anyway.  I got what i wished for. Back in 2009, when I was laid off by my last technology employer who, regrettably, went out of business when the founder/owner decided, due to certain personal issues, to end his own life, and thus killing the business, that was his choice.  And I suffered a number of issues, not the least of which was losing a decent technology job in an economy that was utterly unlike anything we'd seen in my lifetime. Which also included taking the home I'd fought to keep for my wife and children, which was, I suppose, a very slight bit of good luck because the amount of work that place had required by the time we left it was ... well, bloody overwhelming.  The w...

There are apparently many people celebrating the "Justice" for Mr. George Floyd, as his murderer, Derek Chauvin, was appropriately adjudicated so this afternoon.  But before we get all giddy, we need to stop.   Justice for this man would have been a ride to the jail, an opportunity to defend himself, and then, after this was accomplished, he would be able to return home to his loved ones.  To call this anything close to justice is a flat out lie.  It is an appropriate conclusion and far too late an end to the career of a bully who abused his position, those he was to serve, and those he was to protect.  So the sooner he gets locked away for a very long time, and becomes the bad example he lived his life to be, the better. But Mr. Floyd is not here.  And that is what is going to continue to bother me.  I am privileged, due to my skin tone, to not live in fear.  And that really bothers me.  I've got something that I did nothing to earn, no...

 I've often felt compelled to speak out on something I see in the media.  This does not occur daily, but quite often. And today's turd in the punch bowl comes from Maxine Waters, allegedly a member of Congress, who is encouraging people to stay on the streets and become more confrontational, per this article at CNN's web site .   I state "allegedly" because when I get upset, I know sometimes I forget my adult responsibilities.  Which is why I'll never be found as an elected official.  Not that I cannot control my temper, for I can.  But rather because when I encounter foul wind blowing across a cesspit, I'm likely to make a face. And living just south of Minneapolis for the 30 years has been ... well, it has it's advantages and disadvantages.  Of late, the disadvantages are growing.  But it does not help when an otherwise educated and presumably intelligent adult introduces herself into a situation that did not require her, and in doing so, s...

 It was rather surreal a few years ago when a young man, driving with his wife and daughter, were stopped on a road near where I used to live - and then the police shot him.  No, he wasn't a drug dealer, he was a school lunch worker - lunch man - and the police apparently chose to make judgements upon the man due to the color of his skin.   Then we had the situation last spring where a depraved individual who wears the uniform and carried the badge of a police officer, who knelt upon, and killed, another man.  And as his trial was playing out, a young man who had reason to be afraid made a bad decision.  Almost as bad as the police officer who murdered him accidentally. Today, this afternoon, in fact, a young man, some 20 years old, took a car from someone.  Then he tried to take another car.  And when that didn't quite work out, he got out of that car and tried to get away - and he didn't.  He made choices that led to the end of his life. Th...

 Yeah, that's right, I said it. We have a front-load "Epic" clothes washer that is coming up on ... dare I say it ... fifteen years old.  It's running fine, dealing with that which we get to deal with.  And I hope it lasts a few more years. But it has one ... treat for us.  When it decides it's time to spin the laundry to get the water out, it is ... rather energetic.  And the load is rarely completely balanced.  So it tends to ... create a bit of a rumble - or more.  And on occasion, things ... fling off the washer top. Now, were I a very smart and hard-working individual, I'd build at set of shelves to hold things above the washer.  Except that there's very much not room for them.  I mean, we could rearrange things down here to create more room, but right next to the laundry tub/sinks is a rather heavy steel pipe - and it's tied by ... apparently electrical tape to a copper pipe.  This combination of pipes manages to fall right in a sp...

 Yeah, some mornings I get up and ... find stupid in the world. Like This sort of thing .  It's an article from CNN stating how one certain "Evangelical Pastor" is encouraging his flock to not be vaccinated against COVID-19.   Now, I am not going to parade myself here as an intelligent man in opposition to stupidity.  God knows I have done enough dumb stuff, and I've also made mistakes.  But there have been times when I have been asked to be a leader.  And I have been responsible for others.  And when I have been responsible for the safety of other people for any reason whatsoever, I bow to the experts.  And in fact, I rely on their advice. And in this situation, the leader of a group based on faith, and I believe this fellow, who goes by the name of "Tony Spell" and is out of Louisiana, and his message to his flock is to avoid a vaccine which will save their lives.  Now, I am no religious scholar, but I did have some benefit of attendin...

I can hope, anyway.   I've been working in my current role for a little over two and a half years, but a very good friend of mine put the bug in my ear.  There's a position open in her group.  It is a bit more responsibility and a bit more difficult, but it is also something I can certainly do.  It does not come with overtime, but the bottom line for me is that, after the last six months working the average 50 hour week, I'm really looking to go back to a 40 hour week.  Yes, I might miss the overtime a little bit, but the job does include a pay raise.  Which would be nice.   So there's that.  And because tomorrow's interview is at the beginning of my day, I'm going to keep this short and sweet (yes, I do know how to do that) and get a good night's rest to be prepared for tomorrow. Fingers crossed... 

I am pretty sure I no longer recognize my home state. I live in Minnesota.  I have, in the last five years, been utterly befuddled by the police shooting a man who had his girlfriend and daughter in the car.  The police shot a woman who had called them because she had heard noise.  The police murdered a man by kneeling on his back.  And this past Sunday, a police officer shot a young man who was not threatening her.  His behavior was clearly that of a terrified child, trying to get away - and it gave good evidence as to why he wanted to get away - because he was afraid of dying.  Now he's dead. I am not sure I understand what it is that's happening in the world.  I do see where the men who were killed were of one racial type.  The woman who died was of another.  But the police officer shared the same general ethnicity with the men who died. And I am intelligent enough to recognize that all people who share a similar skin color are not the sam...

 It's 7:04 pm central time on 04/12/2021. Once again, we begin again. At the end of this month, I'll mark the 21st Anniversary of my first attempt to vomit partially coherent thoughts onto the interwebs.  I was most fortunate to have others to follow, and ... well, some small ape on my back beating me to go faster, faster, try it out. The original and continuing name of this barf-fest is Daynotes On A Budget.  I use the term "Daynotes" with a deep intellectual debt to the late Dr. Jerry Pournelle, he of Chaos Manor fame, the late Robert Bruce Thompson, he of building your own PC, to start with, and a significant group of others who formed the Daynotes gang.   I wandered my way through College by reading Byte Magazine.  Dr. Pournelle, then just "Jerry" to me, wrote captivating and fascinating columns about day-in-day-out computer use and the developing field.  I knew less than nothing about the man - he was a columnist.  That much I knew.  The...