What Next?

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Ken Montville

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “What next?”

The car needs tires. And some general engine repair. Thousands of dollars of dental work needs to be done. Those shoes you’ve been wearing for the last ten years…the ones you’ve had re-soled a couple of times. Yeah. They’ve finally bitten the dust.

Money. Lots and lots of money. The inconvenience and the sense that life is not only a matter of of waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s wondering, “What’s next?”

Prosperity

There is the abundance and prosperity crowd. The positive thinking folks. Everything is the way it’s supposed to be. Everything happens for a reason. As one door closes another opens. You’re perfect just the way you are.

Yeah. I guess.

Breakthrough

I keep waiting for the breakthrough. The moment in my life when the light bulb goes off over my head. The ah ha.

It hasn’t come yet. Maybe it never will.

As much as I listen and want to believe the positive thinking folks, I can’t help but notice a whole lot of people in the world (the 99%?) that don’t quite seem to make it. I’m not taking about abject poverty or the n’er do wells. I’m talking about the people who just seem to scratch out a day to day existence.

Most of the time I feel like that..and I hate it.

Laziness

The sad part is that I seem to be stuck with the inertia of laziness. Floating around the blogoshpere, playing on Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and YouTube and…and…and.

The worst part, for me, is that everybody has the magic formula. Do it this way and you’ll be rich and happy. They all sound so convincing. I just can seem to get motivated to do anything.

Should Your Doctor Pay You?

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Ken Montville

We’ve all been there.

You make the appointment with your doctor. It may be the first time you’re seeing this particular physician or dentist. Or it may be someone you’ve been seeing a long time. Either way… you’ve probably seen the sign in the office or the notice in the paper work. Words to the effect:

“If you need to cancel your appointment you must notify this office at least 24 hours hours (sometimes 48 hours) in advance or you will be billed for the missed appointment.”

Of course, this is a way to make sure the doctor stays busy seeing paying patients all day long. It’s even more important if the patient has decent health insurance. You better believe the health insurance company isn’t going to pay for a missed appointment.

But what if the doctor is the one who bails on you?

This happened to me recently.

I had set up an appointment with a rheumatologist I had seen years and years ago. He has a good reputation in the medical community and both my dermatologist and primary physician know him or know of him. All good.

This rheumatologist has a great website and a friendly staff. Of course, you have to fil out a ton of paperwork and, conveniently, it’s on the website. So far, so good.

The only problem, of course, is he can’t see me right away. He’s a busy guy. Good reputation and all that. So I make an appointment for several weeks away. No big deal. I don’t have a life threatening issue. Lots of people have it worse than me and I’ve been living with this particular pain in my neck (literally) for months.

The appointed day arrives (note: appointed day…as in I have an appointment for that day). I get a call from a chipper staff member telling me that the good doctor called in sick that day and she’ll need to set up a new appointment.

OK. Fine.

Here’s the thing. The appointment isn’t for the next day. It’s not even for anytime in the next week. It’s another full three weeks away.

Huh?

The Bill’s in the mail

Of course, I go along. The staff member is very chipper and apologetic and she’ll see if she can fit me in with the first cancellation (remember cancellations? the one’s you need to make or get billed for if you don’t.)

I do get a call a couple of days later for a ½ hour slot the next day. The next day my schedule is booked, thank you very much, and as much as I’d like to drop everything and rearrange my schedule to accommodate the good doctor, I don’t do it. I stick with the original, re-scheduled appointment.

What I would love to do, of course, is send this rheumatologist a nice, fat bill for the missed appointment. Of course, I need to betolerant, understanding and compassionate about the fact that he was sick. Certainly nothing that he scheduled (let’s hope it wasn’t a hangover from the previous day’s playoff games).

I mean who knows that the one day I had an appointment would also be the day he would be sick.

So, no, the bill is not in the mail. He would probably laugh it off anyway. Or cop an attitude or something. He’s the doctor and I just want to stay on his good side so he’ll treat me and listen to me about my ailment and not do something rash.

Still, wouldn’t it be nice if when the doctor cancels you could send the bill for the time you arranged to take off (several hours, if not the whole day), arrange for day care or whatever else needs to happen.

Yeah. It would be nice.

I’m not holding my breath.

Infirmity

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Ken Montville

Infirmity, it can be said, is a word that is used for people who are really sick. Bedridden.

However, our friends over at Dictionary.com have a definition for infirmity I particularly like:

“a physical weakness or ailment: the infirmities of age”

That’s something I’m becoming more and more familiar with – the infirmities of age.

Today, I visit two separate specialists. One is my dermatologist that I’ve been seeing for years for psoriasis. The drug he has me on needs monitoring from time to time and, to be honest, I think he just likes to get the visit in. The other is a rheumatologist to see about this inability to turn my head from left to right (or vice versa) without pain.

I’ve been to a chiropractor to no avail. I’ve been to an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in neck and spine ailments who suggested it might be a type of arthritis. Yet my dermatologist (see above) discounts the fact it may be arthritis since the drug he has me on for psoriasis is also supposed to help with arthritis.

Are you following along?

Enter my GP who is really a gerontologist. A general practitioner who specializes in the infirmities of age. That’s right. A doctor for people who are getting old! How convenient is that?

His deal for me, other than my weight issue, is blood pressure. It doesn’t seem to want to respond to medication so he keeps playing around with different drugs and dosages in the hope of getting the right mix. Of course, high blood pressure or hypertension is related to me being fat. Ditto the sleep apnea which can contribute to high blood pressure.

Oh. Then there’s the dentist. Yep. It seems that the drug the GP gave me for hypertension has a side effect for my gums which now require a gingivectomy. The bad part about the dentist, of course, if that normal health insurance, even good health insurance, barely covers the cost of dentistry.

Of course, to make matters worse, I developed a toothache which required a root canal.

Here’s the bottom line: It isn’t easy getting old and it isn’t easy getting these infirmities of age.

What’s the solution? Well, diet and exercise would go a long way. Losing the 120 extra pounds I carry around. That would help.

Easier said than done.

Happy New Year From ‘Just Another Rumor’

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Ken Montville

Yep. Another year. Who woulda thought?

It seems like just yesterday we were all in a lather about the Y2K bug and how all the systems of the world would start to shut down, financial systems would collapse, and no one’s computer would work anymore. My financial advisor guy says that Y2K is partially to blame for the “tech bubble” which led to a collapse of the tech sector in the stock market.

How was he to know it would be the “mortgage or housing bubble” that would really lead to the collapse eight years later. Who woulda thought?

Resolutions

This is also the time for resolutions. Everyone I know makes them. Even if it’s resolving not to make resolutions.

Lose weight.
Get healthy.
Exercise more.
Stop smoking.
Save more money.
the list can go on and on…

In fact, there are dozens of blog posts that talk about the “Top Ten” resolutions people make. Dozens more explaining why they’re mostly forgotten by February.

My Resolutions

I find that the fewer things I need to focus on, the better. Maybe they’ll actually work out.

Lose Weight —This has been with me for years…decades…and I haven’t been able to make much headway. In fact, I’ve gained weight. I used to write about my struggle and progress with weight reduction right here on this blog. In fact, at one time, I thought I would make this a weight loss journal in the vein of 344 Pounds and become famous for my achievement. Obviously, I still have lots of work to do in this area. Discipline is the key and that’s something I seem to lack. Especially when is comes to losing weight.
Be More Positive — This is easier said than done. It seems that my life is a major roller coaster and, for whatever reason, I can’t seem to get it to keep going up so that the downs are not as devastating. I usually relate it to money and creature comforts. It seems that whenever I get a little ahead something comes along to suck the money right back out. Most recently it was my teeth. It’s a long story but the Reader’s Digest version is that my teeth and gums are going to costs a-lot-of-money to fix. Nevertheless, I really want to see if I can improve my attitude and shed the curmudgeonly aura.
Save More Money — I told you I have a thing about money. The Missus and I spent a bundle on some home improvements that aren’t very sexy. A new heat pump and furnace and a new roof. Hopefully, both will help with some energy efficiency and neither will require replacement for another 20 years or so. However, we really need to start socking it away for retirement. Neither one of us is getting any younger and The Missus, in particular, wants to stop working for “the man” (in her case, the Federal Government). We both want to enjoy our golden years and that means not having to worry too much about how to pay the mortgage, put food on the table and maybe go on a little trip now and then. So saving money in a serious, deliberate and conscious way is important.

Can The Be Accomplished?

Well, the short answer is “sure”. Why not? They aren’t really that hard. They’re simple, achievable, measurable (the magic SAM formula for goal setting). All it takes is discipline and persistence.

Yeah. That’s all it takes.

Happier?

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Ken Montville

The week between Christmas and New Year’s. Nothing much is going on for me in the real estate world and the Missus decided to take the week off from her Federal Government job. Our anniversay (#8) comes on January 3rd.

Me: If we were both retired you’d end up sleeping all day and I’d be eating most of the time.

The Missus: Well maybe if we were both happier we wouldn’t.

It made me stop and think. Neither of us are young. The Missus wants to be able to really retire in 3 years (and will be eligible). I’m just a couple of years younger. We both could, in theory, live another 30 years. Maybe even 40.

What would we do? Together or separately?

More to the point how can we possibly get to the point where “If we were happier…”

The HP Customer Service Experience

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Ken Montville

As I wrote about in a previous post, I decided that I should purchase a HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus because, after looking at the HP website and making a few inquiries on a few social medial tech pages, that HP had a good reputation for printers and, for my needs, and inkjet would work just fine.

So, I shelled out the bucks and got the all-in-one delivered.

That’s when the HP Customer Service Experience began.

The website is virtually useless. No way to contact support and some user forums that require registration and may or may not be able to answer a question in any sort of timely fashion.
The User Manual – downloadable in .pdf format is also just about worthless.
The black ink cartridge that came with the all-in-one that should have lasted me for my first 1000 pages or so didn’t work. The printer told me it didn’t work and it would accept it.
Trying to set it up with the included software and drivers was not at all intuitive and the adhesive graphic covering the touch panel was deceptive. In short, there was a sequence to follow but neither the start up guide, the User Manual or anywhere else helped with the right sequence.
I wanted to try and print legal size paper and realized it couldn’t be done. At least, not any way I could figure out. Envelopes required taking all the paper out of the tray, inserting the envelopes and resizing the paper guides, printing the envelope (or more than one) and then re-inserting the letter size paper. Talk about a pain in the ass.
Finally, there was Twitter. Many times large corporations pay attention to Twitter. They have a presence and they usually respond on Twitter faster than any other method. After about a day, @HPSupport tweeted that I should follow them and DM with them to resolve the issue.

Of course, I did DM back to them – twice – but have never received a response. Never. Just to simple question –

It makes you stop and think. Do these guys even care?

Evidently not.

Finally….The HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus Installed

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Ken Montville

In my last post, I wrote about trying to install my brand spankin’ new HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus.

Well, I finally did it. Best of of all, I think it actually works.

A couple of things I learned about the process some good, some not so good:

With tenacity and perseverance I can usually figure out what needs to be done to get the job done.
HP support really bites. I even tried getting through to them on Twitter @HPSupport but they weren’t answering. Maybe they had a Christmas party today or something.
Not everything that comes in the box is in good working order. In my case the black ink cartridge didn’t work for what ever reason and I had to run to the store to get one for an additional $37. While I was at it, I got the color ink multi-pack (just in case) for another $57.
While I was trying to get things working I thought I would try the direct, hardwired (USB) method vs the wireless method and ended up needing to buy a new USB cable (which didn’t come in the box) for another $28. AS it turned out, once I got the new black ink cartridge in, I didn’t need the cable. In fact, I had to disconnect it to go wireless.
Doing the AirPrint or HP ePrint thing was tricky and not at all intuitive.

Here’s the bottom line. Unlike technology from the old days when you had a huge manual that would tell you how to do everything and/or a customer support line with a live person at the end, technology of today presupposes that you know enough about how to put things together and make things work.

The other challenge, of course, is that this stuff is all made in China…including the manuals and “Getting Started” posters. I don’t know how they put things together in China but I think it’s a bit different from the way you put things together in the US. Especially instructions on how to put things together.

I think the real deal, here, is that unless you really have a lot of patience or a geeky 16 year old nearby installing even something that should be relatively simple…is not.

Installing A New HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Ken Montville

I don’t usually like to complain about new technology. Well, OK, maybe just a little.

I just bought a brand spankin’ new all-in-one (copy, fax, print, scan) – the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus. It’s supposed to do everything but tie your shoes.

However, the “setup” is less than intuitive and seems to be taking forever. In fact, it has been going on for 15 minutes before I started this blog post. Right now I’m looking at the touch screen on the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus while it says “preparing printer” and occasionally making a sound like the rollers moving.

I pulled the paper tray in and out thinking maybe it wasn’t grabbing the paper. I went to the HP website to see if there was something there that would tell me something like, “the printer takes a long time to setup”. I’m trying to set it up through my wireless router so I can print to it from my iPad.

Alas, maybe that’s the issue. According to the software that came with the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus my network connections can’t be located. Maybe that’s because the hardware is busy making noises and “preparing printer” There seems to be a flashing light but I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean.

So I figure I’ll go to the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus support page and try to find out there or maybe even get a phone number I can sit on hold with while my HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus is doing it’s thing, whatever that is.

But, nooooooo.

There are bunches of support “forums”, blogs, user manuals, etc. but not a single way to get through to a real, live person either in the US or India or China (where the thing is made, incidentally). So I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do or how to do it.

I even tried turning the thing off thinking maybe it just needed to “reboot” or something but then it flashes a message at me saying “maintenance cannot be interrupted”. Weird. Can’t turn it off. Can’t proceed.

Trying to Stay Balanced

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Ken Montville

Here’s the thing.

The Law of Attraction people say that if I think positive things and hang out with positive people and do positive things than positive stuff will be attracted to me.

Sounds pretty nifty, huh?

How’s this (and this is for real)? I was at a week long conference with Jack Canfield a couple of years ago and he likened the positive thoughts or the affirmations or visualizations to sending out a purchase order into the Universe. Now, I’m sure he was just using this as an illustration for some larger point but what I heard was this:

If you want something to appear in your life, visualize and affirm it and the Universe will take care of the rest.

Of course this was a week long thing so there was more to it. The “right way” to visualize and affirm and all that kind of stuff. I was really hoping for the best.

Instead I’m no further ahead than I was two years ago.

I’m told it’s because I don’t hang out with the right people (you are the sum total of the five people you associate with the most) or because I don’t take action when i need to or any number of other reasons.

Maybe so.

It’s just that, for some reason, I cannot get out of this fucking rut.

I don’t have a “passion” for doing something. I obviously don’t like what I’m doing to make money so the personal development and abundance GooRoos will tell me that I’ll never get out of the rut. I have to do what I love, you see. Whatever that is.

What really kills me is that just when I start thinking that I’m getting out of the rut, getting out of the quagmire of debt and general listlessness, something happens to kill the momentum.

That’s right.

Just when I think, “Ahhh. I’m starting to feel better about things. Life is taking a turn for the better. Yay!”, something comes along and BAM! the big setback. It’s pretty frustrating, let me tell you.

I should be grateful and thankful for what I have. People younger than me are dead and have left behind families because of war and illness. People I know or know of get desperately ill and then die. In comparison, my life is a bed of roses and a bowl of cherries.

On the other hand, the personal development GooRoos are always saying not to compare. ”Don’t compare your insides to someone else’s outsides.” or words t that effect. The idea here is that everyone is different. Yeah, they may be rich and famous but they can’t keep a relationship for more than 2 years…or they have no family life…or their health is bad…or they work 24/7.

I’m really trying to find that balance between striving for something which may never come and being satisfied with what I have.

It’s not as easy as it sounds.

When One Door Closes…

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Ken Montville

There is the old saying that a lot of positive thinking GooRoos like to toss around: “When one door closes, another opens.” The unspoken part of this is that the other door that opens may not be the one you want either.

It seems like I’ve been going through a lot of challenges lately and that all of these posts seem to make me sound more and more like Debbie Downer. I know it makes them a bitch to read. “Quit yer whinin’” and all that.

Yeah. I get it.

It’s just that at some point, I get tired of all the challenges and no amount of other people in worse circumstances being thankful for the little things seems to be able to jolt be out of this bout with the blues.

I tend to get like this every Christmas but maybe it’s also part of getting older and not wanting to put up the “front” anymore of being a “nice guy” who “really understands” what you’re going through. Mr. Compassionate and all that.

Maybe it’s the planning or anticipation thing. You know. You plan for “A” to happen only something happens to keep “A” from happening. You want to go on a nice vacation. You’ve saved some money. All of a sudden you get a little toothache. You go to the dentist. He tells you that he can fix you right up…..for about $5,000.

Bye-bye, vacation. Bye-bye half a dozen other things you were thinking about doing. But, it’s all about your health right. You can’t enjoy the good life if you’re falling apart.

I guess I really need to learn the whole gratitude thing. It’s hard. Very hard. Gratitude doesn’t come naturally to me. It doesn’t come easily for me. Most of the time it doesn’t come to me at all.

The worst part is that I really don’t know how to get it.