When it rains, it pours...
And by the look of the weather outside, I mean that title quite literally.
Man, what a week I've had! I've still been dealing with issues with my dad's transfer, which have been a pain. The one bright spot is that I sent out an e-mail to all my dad's friends & co-workers who have been e-mailing me about him, updating them all on the hell I am going through and now a lot of them are helping me out by calling different hospitals, gov't officials, etc to see if any of them can assist in the transfer process.
In the end, we were sort of forced to decide to have a trachestomy performed on my dad as well as have them insert a PEG (a feeding tube into his stomach). That surgery is actually schedueled for this morning, so I'm praying that goes well.
Then he'll have the weekend to recover, and as of Monday, the doctors/hospitals in NY will no longer have the excuse that he is too much of a risk to move/accept due to him being intubated anymore. The trache is much safer, so now the problem should ONLY be finding a bed. One good thing though is with the trache being put in, he might be able to be moved to a step down below the ICU level, and thus give us more flexibility in finding a bed (since generally ICU beds are very limited). And with my dad's friends helping me out, we should be able to get one. So keep your prayers going about that.
It's still been rough b/c there has been no change in his condition, so that's something still looming on the horizon, but getting him to NY to be with all his family, loved ones and friends will definitely be a good thing.
Other issues I've had to deal with this week, were: 1) speaking with my professors to get an incomplete for the semester, b/c with everything going on, I have not been able to concentrate on my work and do my 2 term papers, or study for exams; 2) I pulled a bone-headed move and I wound up going WAY over my minutes of my cell-phone plan this month. I got the bill on Sunday night and it was huge! Thing is, I didn't get why at first. But then I realized it was b/c I have been using my cell for pretty much all my calls- even though I was home and could have used my house-line!
It sucks, b/c my mind has been so out of it lately that it didn't even dawn on me to use the house phone. I never even come close to using my minutes on any usual month, so it's never been an issue for me, but boy was I about to learn the hard way. So I had to deal with that on Monday, but luckily I got a really nice operator at Verizon, and she wound up bumping me up to the $79.99 plan and pro-rating me, which eliminated the majority of the bill. So thank God for small favors.
I just realized that I am in danger of going over this month as well though. As of this morning I was already at 408 minutes (my plan is for 450), and that's til May 15th. So I tried calling Verizon to bump up my plan to either the 900 or 1300 minute plan, and the person I got wasn't that big of a help at first.
Apparently Verizon's policy is really weird when you want to change your plan in the middle of a cycle.
I had been told on Monday when I got my credit that I was in danger of going over my minutes this month, and that I could bump up my plan just for the one month. She said I could make my decision on Wed, when she was supposed to call me back to tell me the exact amount of my credit (b/c they didn't have it for me right away).
The lady never called on Wed though, but I figured that I really needed to increase it or else I was gonna run into the same problem. So I call and tell the operator what the lady told me the other day. The operator said if I increase my plan I have to extend my contract, which I wasn't thrilled about, but since I have no immediate plans to change companies I was willing to accept. The issues came when trying to work out the minutes and pro-rating.
This is how the lady broke it down to me: basically, the higher plan could NOT be prorated back to the beginning of the cycle (April 16th), so what would happen is these 12 days or so would be covered under the 450 minute plan. The problem with that, is b/c it's only 12 days, that is prorated as well so I would only be covered for 174 minutes (out of the 450). But I had already used 408, which puts me 239 over (yes I realize that does not add up exactly but these are the numbers they gave me, lol). So the 900 minute plan would only cover from today on (and not the "extra 239 minutes), meaning I would HAVE TO PAY FOR ALL THOSE MINUTES OUT OF POCKET (which would come out to over $100, b/c it's like .45 cents a minute).
This made absolutely no sense to me! I was like "the point of me changing the plan is to cover the extra minutes. I haven't gone over my 450 yet, so changing to the 900 plan should cover ALL I've called to the moment (the 408), and give me an extra 492 minutes to work with!"
But apparently, that is not how it goes. I was getting frustrated with this lady, b/c this wasn't what the other woman had told me a few days before. So I wound up not changing my plan.
****
The update to that story is, I was called back by the Verizon operator shortly after I hung up. I was on the phone with the doctors at the moment, so I didn't take the call, but the voice message stated that what she could do is change the plan, and then just re-work the NEXT bill to eliminate the charges for those "uncovered" minutes. I tried calling her back to confirm (since she said she needed my permission since it extends the contract), but it went to her voicemail. So we'll see how that all turns out.
But just in case things don't come together for me, unless you have Verizon (where I have the "IN" plan), don't call my cell before 9pm on weekdays. You can catch me either in my office or at my house (just e-mail me if you need any of those numbers). I do have free weekends though, so I'm good in that aspect at least (I also have up to 250 text messages, so that can be done as well).
I'll update everyone again just in case things change.
****
And oh just wait til you hear about the crap I went through this morning!!!
Right now, I'm actually supposed to be on a college trip with my job to Yale University in CT. But here's what happened:
We were supposed to meet at Mount Vernon HS around 7:45-8am. I was running a little behind, b/c the doctors called me early this morning to give me some last minute info on my dad's operations today. So I left my house around 7:45am. But i figured, "hey, it's only a 15 minute ride anyways, I'll be fine."
So I hop on the Bronx River and almost immediately I run into pretty crazy traffic. At first I assume it was an accident. So I flip on 1010 WINS on the radio to hear the traffic report and they are saying that many of the parkways are flooded!
This surprised me, b/c it wasn't raining at the moment. I knew it rained last night, but I just didn't know much! But apparently it was really bad b/c I was LITERALLY on the Bronx River Pkwy stuck between Gun Hill Rd and E. 233rd for over an HOUR (for those of you who don't know the area, that is just ONE exit). And everyone was forced to exit at 233rd, b/c it was flooded beyond that point. Meaning they had to squeeze 3 lanes of traffic into a one lane exit- not fun!
So yeah, that was pretty annoying. I wound up missing the trip, b/c I didn't get off the Parkway and onto the side road until after 9am, and obviously most of the traffic was going that way as well, so it probably still would have taken an extra 20-30 mins to get to Mt. Vernon High School, so they had to leave without me.
The fact I got left behind doesn't really bother me too much (saves me from being in a long bus ride in crappy weather) but it was still a hassle to deal with, b/c I then had to turn around and deal with traffic to come into the office at Fordham).
So, it has been quite a morning to say the least...
Man, what a week I've had! I've still been dealing with issues with my dad's transfer, which have been a pain. The one bright spot is that I sent out an e-mail to all my dad's friends & co-workers who have been e-mailing me about him, updating them all on the hell I am going through and now a lot of them are helping me out by calling different hospitals, gov't officials, etc to see if any of them can assist in the transfer process.
In the end, we were sort of forced to decide to have a trachestomy performed on my dad as well as have them insert a PEG (a feeding tube into his stomach). That surgery is actually schedueled for this morning, so I'm praying that goes well.
Then he'll have the weekend to recover, and as of Monday, the doctors/hospitals in NY will no longer have the excuse that he is too much of a risk to move/accept due to him being intubated anymore. The trache is much safer, so now the problem should ONLY be finding a bed. One good thing though is with the trache being put in, he might be able to be moved to a step down below the ICU level, and thus give us more flexibility in finding a bed (since generally ICU beds are very limited). And with my dad's friends helping me out, we should be able to get one. So keep your prayers going about that.
It's still been rough b/c there has been no change in his condition, so that's something still looming on the horizon, but getting him to NY to be with all his family, loved ones and friends will definitely be a good thing.
Other issues I've had to deal with this week, were: 1) speaking with my professors to get an incomplete for the semester, b/c with everything going on, I have not been able to concentrate on my work and do my 2 term papers, or study for exams; 2) I pulled a bone-headed move and I wound up going WAY over my minutes of my cell-phone plan this month. I got the bill on Sunday night and it was huge! Thing is, I didn't get why at first. But then I realized it was b/c I have been using my cell for pretty much all my calls- even though I was home and could have used my house-line!
It sucks, b/c my mind has been so out of it lately that it didn't even dawn on me to use the house phone. I never even come close to using my minutes on any usual month, so it's never been an issue for me, but boy was I about to learn the hard way. So I had to deal with that on Monday, but luckily I got a really nice operator at Verizon, and she wound up bumping me up to the $79.99 plan and pro-rating me, which eliminated the majority of the bill. So thank God for small favors.
I just realized that I am in danger of going over this month as well though. As of this morning I was already at 408 minutes (my plan is for 450), and that's til May 15th. So I tried calling Verizon to bump up my plan to either the 900 or 1300 minute plan, and the person I got wasn't that big of a help at first.
Apparently Verizon's policy is really weird when you want to change your plan in the middle of a cycle.
I had been told on Monday when I got my credit that I was in danger of going over my minutes this month, and that I could bump up my plan just for the one month. She said I could make my decision on Wed, when she was supposed to call me back to tell me the exact amount of my credit (b/c they didn't have it for me right away).
The lady never called on Wed though, but I figured that I really needed to increase it or else I was gonna run into the same problem. So I call and tell the operator what the lady told me the other day. The operator said if I increase my plan I have to extend my contract, which I wasn't thrilled about, but since I have no immediate plans to change companies I was willing to accept. The issues came when trying to work out the minutes and pro-rating.
This is how the lady broke it down to me: basically, the higher plan could NOT be prorated back to the beginning of the cycle (April 16th), so what would happen is these 12 days or so would be covered under the 450 minute plan. The problem with that, is b/c it's only 12 days, that is prorated as well so I would only be covered for 174 minutes (out of the 450). But I had already used 408, which puts me 239 over (yes I realize that does not add up exactly but these are the numbers they gave me, lol). So the 900 minute plan would only cover from today on (and not the "extra 239 minutes), meaning I would HAVE TO PAY FOR ALL THOSE MINUTES OUT OF POCKET (which would come out to over $100, b/c it's like .45 cents a minute).
This made absolutely no sense to me! I was like "the point of me changing the plan is to cover the extra minutes. I haven't gone over my 450 yet, so changing to the 900 plan should cover ALL I've called to the moment (the 408), and give me an extra 492 minutes to work with!"
But apparently, that is not how it goes. I was getting frustrated with this lady, b/c this wasn't what the other woman had told me a few days before. So I wound up not changing my plan.
****
The update to that story is, I was called back by the Verizon operator shortly after I hung up. I was on the phone with the doctors at the moment, so I didn't take the call, but the voice message stated that what she could do is change the plan, and then just re-work the NEXT bill to eliminate the charges for those "uncovered" minutes. I tried calling her back to confirm (since she said she needed my permission since it extends the contract), but it went to her voicemail. So we'll see how that all turns out.
But just in case things don't come together for me, unless you have Verizon (where I have the "IN" plan), don't call my cell before 9pm on weekdays. You can catch me either in my office or at my house (just e-mail me if you need any of those numbers). I do have free weekends though, so I'm good in that aspect at least (I also have up to 250 text messages, so that can be done as well).
I'll update everyone again just in case things change.
****
And oh just wait til you hear about the crap I went through this morning!!!
Right now, I'm actually supposed to be on a college trip with my job to Yale University in CT. But here's what happened:
We were supposed to meet at Mount Vernon HS around 7:45-8am. I was running a little behind, b/c the doctors called me early this morning to give me some last minute info on my dad's operations today. So I left my house around 7:45am. But i figured, "hey, it's only a 15 minute ride anyways, I'll be fine."
So I hop on the Bronx River and almost immediately I run into pretty crazy traffic. At first I assume it was an accident. So I flip on 1010 WINS on the radio to hear the traffic report and they are saying that many of the parkways are flooded!
This surprised me, b/c it wasn't raining at the moment. I knew it rained last night, but I just didn't know much! But apparently it was really bad b/c I was LITERALLY on the Bronx River Pkwy stuck between Gun Hill Rd and E. 233rd for over an HOUR (for those of you who don't know the area, that is just ONE exit). And everyone was forced to exit at 233rd, b/c it was flooded beyond that point. Meaning they had to squeeze 3 lanes of traffic into a one lane exit- not fun!
So yeah, that was pretty annoying. I wound up missing the trip, b/c I didn't get off the Parkway and onto the side road until after 9am, and obviously most of the traffic was going that way as well, so it probably still would have taken an extra 20-30 mins to get to Mt. Vernon High School, so they had to leave without me.
The fact I got left behind doesn't really bother me too much (saves me from being in a long bus ride in crappy weather) but it was still a hassle to deal with, b/c I then had to turn around and deal with traffic to come into the office at Fordham).
So, it has been quite a morning to say the least...
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