Lanchester.net ...musings of an old nerd

The above email was sent by Verizon to me on June 2. On June 14, they cancelled my dry loop DSL! Tech Support can't help me. I have to wait until Billing opens in the morning to fix this (assuming they can fix it). Thanks, Verizon DSL!

The bright sandy beaches of South Carolina are a sight to behold. If you watch the ocean closely, you might see a few dolphins chasing their supper just off the beach.

The muddy waters of health insurance in South Carolina are a sight to behold as well, as least the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) variety. All this became apparent when my adult daughter, a four-month policyholder, tore her ACL recently playing volleyball with some friends.

I suppose if I didn't know any better I might think it was standard practice in health insurance to DENY EVERY SINGLE CLAIM PRESENTED, but I've had more than my share of orthopedic injuries and surgeries, and not one has ever been denied. Not once. Never. Not even by BCBS in my state.

In the few short weeks my daughter has been actively using her health insurance, she has also been denied coverage for an MRI of her knee, an MRI she was pre-authorized by BCBS of South Carolina to get, for failing to be pre-authorized. Hmmmm...I can only conclude BCBS of South Carolina has run out of money, and is trying to find a few suckers who will actually pay instead of fight. (Yes, we called BCBS of South Carolina to give them THEIR OWN pre-authorization number after the fact for the MRI to enter into their computer system so they would pay the claim, but they just transferred the call to the National Imaging Association. Much confusion! BCBS didn't listen to my daughter's explanation. The call-taker thought she wanted to obtain a pre-authorization!)

Side note: BCBS of South Carolina's website is http://www.southcarolinablues.com, presumably because the policyholders spend so much time singing the blues.

But my daughter's situation gets better (worse!). Every one of the "preferred providers" my daughter has used so far has "overcharged" her, acccording to Blue Cross Blue Shield. So she is apparently responsible for all these overcharges, which are significant. Why are these doctors and facilities listed as preferred providers if they are overcharging?

BCBS of Illinois, on their explanation of Benefits (EOBs) would subtract out the "overcharge," signifying (I assume) BCBS of Illinois had pre-arranged with the provider to be charged the "proper" amount. This is what I expected to happen in South Carolina.

Why are things handled so differently between Illinois and South Carolina for health insurers with the same name? And what is the insurance comissioner's number in South Carolina? I have a call to make.

Overall experience with the iPad: Love the thing! My MacBook Pro is largely ignored now, used only for such tasks as movie editing, picture handling, and scanning/printing. The iPad is excellent for reading/cruising the internet in the car and in the house or in bed. Having taken a lengthy trip with the iPad and the Mi-Fi, I now find these things annoy/annoyed me a bit about the iPad: 

• The Name: Why, oh why, did they call it the iPad? Are we used to it now? I shudder less when I hear it, but I still shudder.
• Headphones: It doesn't come with headphones, and although iPhone headphones work with the iPad, it was really difficult to get any headphones to fit in the jack the first few times (a tight squeeze).
• Charger: The charging cable is too short, and Apple makes you fork over more cash  if you want an accessory to make the cable longer.
• Calculator: The thing needs to have a calculator on it. Thanks to a third-party developer, there's a free app for that now.
• Clock: Where's the clock/alarm clock?
• Location-Based Services: I'm not sure how this works on a wi-fi network, but part of the time while traveling about 700 miles one-way with the iPad and a Verizon Mi-Fi portable hotspot, the iPad's Maps app knew exactly where I was (the Mi-Fi is cellular-based), but most of the time, it thought I was two miles from my house (in the opposite direction of my travel). I understand you should get a 3G-based iPad with a GPS chip if you want pin-point accuracy, but the inconsistency of the results I got with wi-fi location services is what I don't understand. How does it put me 700 miles from home one minute, then exactly where I'm at the next? Must be something to do with the capabilities of the cell tower I'm connected to.

 But the above annoyances are minor. I love the thing!

They are right. It's smokin' hot, wicked fast, and stunningly beautiful. You should get one if you have the cash.

I ordered a Wi-Fi Apple Tablet (iPad, awful name!) from an Apple Specialist, the closest thing to an Apple Store we have in this area. (And they have served this area well since the 1980's, I think.)

At first they indicated they wouldn't be open on Saturday for us to get our tablets, which I thought was strange. Where was the big party? The tea, cookies, streamers, and balloons?

And then I read a rumor that Apple Specialists have been under a special non-disclosure. They couldn't even let anyone know they were getting any tablets today (April 3, 2010), and they certainly couldn't advertise it in the paper or on the radio. There isn't even a picture of a tablet on their website with a "Coming Soon" banner.

All they would tell me is they have a purchase order with my name on it, and if the tablets come in on Saturday, I can have it. (I have to call in Saturday to see.)

So we'll see. Why did the silly dog wake me up so early? :)

If you're lucky enough to be walking around with a Verizon Mi-Fi in your pocket, it would be a good idea to turn off broadcasting the network name. It's just an added security precaution so the casual user doesn't see your SSID (network name) pop up when he turns on his wireless-capable device near you.

How do you turn off broadcasting your Mi-Fi's SSID?

• Launch a browser on your Mi-Fi-connected device (iPhone or computer).
• Type in 192.168.1.1 in the address line and click Go (press Enter, whatever!).
• The Mi-Fi's status page will appear. You need to login with your admin password to make any changes.
• Type in your admin password in the upper right corner.
• Click the Login button.
• Choose Settings from the Advanced menu at the top (in the red menu bar area).
• Under Access Point, uncheck the setting "SSID broadcast enable".
• Click the Apply button.

That's all. Now you'll have to type in your SSID on your computer/iPhone/iPad the first time you want to join the network. (Some devices will always keep track of it and hop back on it. Others will force you to retype it every time.)

Needless to say, you also need to turn on security (WPA2 preferred, if your wireless cards can handle it).

I've always found Sylvan Border Farm general-purpose flour to be the best gluten-free flour, but I thought I'd branch out and try something new: Orgran All-Purpose Gluten-Free Wheat-Free Flour.

The flatbread I made with the Orgran flour was great. I still don't know if Sylvan Border Farm or Orgran is better. Orgran has lots of stars on Amazon. We'll see if I can reach a conclusion in the next few months.

IconFinder.net has free, high-quality icons to use in your websites. Many very nice collections!

I have several pages of third-party apps on my iPhone 3GS, but there are only a few I use a lot.

• Facebook
• Grocery iQ: The best grocery shopping app around! The husband and I both have it, and we can sync lists. We separate A LOT at the store to speed up shopping, and as I check an item off the list, he gets the update! A huge amount of features for 99 cents!
• Echofon: My chosen Twitter client. Seems to be an easy font for the middle-aged to read without glasses.
• Google: I primarily use Reader, but also GMail on occasion.
• MacGourmet: I have the app on my Mac, too, and these sync up marvelously. The "chef's view" on my iPhone blows the recipe up to a size big enough for me to read from without reading glasses.
• Mantis Bible Study: My main workhorse of the Bible apps. You download the translations, commentaries, concordances, etc., to your phone. The company has been updating the app frequently, and now it's about perfect. You can take notes, highlight, and look up commentary. Anything you enter can be backed up online with the click of a button. This is the most expensive app on my phone.
• Things: This is my to-do app. I have the Mac version, and they sync marvelously! Fabulous interface.
• The Holy Bible, YouVersion: This has great reading plans! As a study Bible, it's not nearly as full-featured as Mantis Bible Study, but you can't beat free. (The browser-based version on my Mac has a beautiful interface.)
• Evernote: Just a fabulous free app for every kind of note-taking you could possibly do.
• Flashlight: A basic free app that turns the entire screen white. It lights the way on dark nights up the stairs.
• Mi-Fi: Shows signal strength and battery charge for a Verizon Novatel 2200 Mi-Fi.

Those are the apps I use all the time. If I'm having connection problems, I might use a network test app (Speed Test, iNetworkTest).

"About 75 percent of spending, for instance, goes to taking care of chronic disease."

Read about it and get the facts at Factcheck.org.

I'm quite sure any bill put together by politicians will be full of provisions aimed at pleasing powerful special interest groups, but people need affordable health insurance. Is the health care bill a good first step? I don't know, and it will be hard to tell until it all shakes out.

It's definitely been interesting to see the hatred generated during the drafting and the passing of this bill. Can't we all just get along?