Work meanderings

CIGNA where I’m working at the moment does some really dumb things besides paying us wages that they should be ashamed of. Seriously? $13.00 an hour for a job they say needs experience and a college degree? Anyway besides that they put up this sign to save energy and they advocate unplugging things at home when you’re not using them, okay so far, Appliances, that makes some sense, Home Electronics, yes because they consume a lot when you aren’t using them. Lighting????? Say what???? You want me to come in a dark house at night and scramble around to plug in the light??? Or do I need a surge protector at every single outlet??? Where I still would have to stumble around for the switch. Dumb.

 Number one, trying to plug in the light in the dark is just stupid, you might meet the boogie man.

And

Number two, you better pay me a whole lot more than $13.00 an hour if you want me to buy surge protectors for every single outlet in a 2 bedroom apartment. I can’t afford vacuum cleaner bags at the moment. Did someone seriously read this thing before they put it up??? Someone has no common sense.

Amusement for the moment: A Chinese doctor in San Francisco whose first name is Kok.

 Ran out of work and they are trying to find me something else to do, hope they hurry. We next get to bug people in Massachusetts.

 My job entails researching where doctors are currently when their contracting mail is returned. I’d say about a third are dead or retired.

 I’ve been keeping track and I have now called all 50 states and can tell you that New Yorkers and people from New Jersey are the worst and calling anywhere on the West Coast or the South, they are so polite. The Midwest would be if it wasn’t for calling Chicago which can be almost as bad a NY. NY is the only place that hangs up on me regularly. Doctors when you get them on the phone are always more polite than their office staff but sometimes have no clue what their Tax ID is but they will tell you their current address without putting you through a lot of crap. One particular hospital in NY in particular will tell you their doctors but not their physician assistants. That’s privileged information at HR or Medical Staffing but if you ask the operator, they will tell you straight out. And they are listed on their website but they can’t tell you on the phone. Then they will wonder why their submitted bills won’t get paid, stupid.

 I’ve had Drs move to Dubai (Did you know Cornell has a branch of their medical school there?) the Philippines, New Zealand, South Africa, Jordan, Russia, Argentina, “somewhere in Europe”, France, Germany. We have an informal contest among the temps for things like the farthest away, longest name, funniest name, longest dead and longest retired without some one catching it. I’ve had guys that were dead or retired for 20 years and their contracting record hasn’t been updated. I’ve had a doctor in jail and 2 Drs practicing in the prisons. A lot of V.A. and Drs now working in military hospitals. Including a plastic surgeon which I thought was very cool. Of all the places to be a plastic surgeon I can’t think of people that need it more than wounded soldiers.

 Just saw an ad on CNN website for a Groupon and it was for a Cinco de Mayo pub crawl, TWO DATES available. Last I heard Cinco de Mayo was only one day, the 5^th of May. AND it was for Philadelphia showing two WASPy looking guys. Something is seriously wrong with this picture. It’s one thing to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Los Angeles or AZ or Texas but Philadelphia? Why because they have such a high percentage of WASPy looking guys from Mexico?

 Okay I just learned how to say Peabody MA. I would have said it like they said it in Sherman and Peabody from the Bullwinkle cartoons but the nurse said it like peabiddy, fast and emphasis on the Pea. Learning…

 It’s so embarrassing to call an office and find out the Dr has been retired for 15 years. Or even worse get some little old man at home that wants to know how you got his number.

Pickin’ Flowers

Chorus
Pickin’ flowers in the rain and
Laughing with the sun
We try to teach how to
Live by themselves
And still get things done.

I’m gonna be a counselor at a summer camp
And gonna find out what it’s about
Little eyes are gonna look up at you
And little hands will reach out.

Days are long and the nights are short
And the pay is so small
And you really don’t know if what you say
Ever sinks in at all.

Build a fire, dig a trench, sharpen an ax
With a whet stone.
And maybe next time when you’re not there
They can do it alone.

Sometimes when things don’t work out right
And we think we are flops
They’ll look and us they’ll smile at us
And they’ll ask us not to stop.

When it’s all over and it’s time to go
We sit and think
What parts of us did they take along
What parts of them do they leave.

So that’s why I’m here at this summer camp
And I hope you feel the same way
There’s a lot to get but there’ more to give
And I hope you’re here to stay.

Rainbow Children

Chorus:

We’re a rainbow made of children
We’re an army singing songs
There’s no weapon that can stop us
Rainbow love is much too strong.

I was raised in Mississippi
Saying “yes sir” to a man
But I found out it got me nowhere
So I ain’t gonna do it again

Well, my grandma, she was a princess
And my grandpa, he was a chief
And thanks to those of my good neighbors
Both my folks are on relief

I was taught that black was evil
I was taught that white was good
But in a rainbow made of children
Every colour’s understood.

It’s not the winning that’s important
But it’s how you play the game
But that’s not how some folks see it
And that’s not how peace is made.