Comments (6)

By kilax, November 25, 2009 5:28 am

First of all, can you believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow? It feels like just yesterday I was looking for friends at the Chicago Marathon. The holiday really snuck up on me – probably because we aren’t doing much of anything tomorrow! Well, we’re running a 5K, maybe volunteering to box canned goods (if we aren’t all sweaty), checking in on Diane’s babies (cats) and picking up my sister at the O’Hare (returning from Cancun), but we’re not actually having the big meal until Friday, when we can celebrate with my sister and her friend.

What are your Thanksgiving plans? Traveling to see family/friends? Hosting? Sleeping in and lazing around all day?

On to Facebook. I’m sure you heard the story about the Canadian woman who says she lost her benefits (she was on long-term leave for depression) after her insurance agency found photos of her having fun on Facebook (story here).

According to the woman, Nathalie Blanchard, her insurance agent found photos on Facebook of her on holiday, at Chippendales, and at a birthday party, and that was evidence that she was well enough to go back to work. They cut off her sick-leave benefits this fall.

Blanchard says her doctor recommended she go on holiday to cheer up, and that she went when she was feeling particularly low.

The insurance agent said they would never deny a claim based on a website like Facebook. Blanchard’s case is going before the Quebec Superior Court next month.

What is your opinion on this story?

A few thoughts come to my mind. My cynical side can definitely imagine someone milking sick-leave benefits for all they are worth. Some people are just lazy and abusive of privileges like that – you know it.

On the other hand, I’ve been up and down in moods myself, and I know that going on a holiday is a good change of pace and way to cheer myself up.

Either way, it’s strange to think that photos you publish online could have this power. Of course, the insurance agent is saying they didn’t base it on that, and we can’t really know, but we do know that online photos have prevented people from getting jobs (and maybe dates, ha ha). Stories like this always cause me to stop and think about my internet persona. Right now, I don’t think I put anything risky or harmful (to my image) out there, but you never know how things can be interpreted!

Comments (16)

By kilax, April 10, 2009 10:25 am

In celebration of having dental insurance, I made a slew of appointments for March and April. Three appointments, every other Friday – general check up, teeth cleaning, then filling some teeny tiny cavities.

Today was the final appointment, filling the cavities. A new (to me) dentist was working with me. He asked if I wanted to do the fillings on the top today and the bottom one at another time, so my whole face wouldn’t be numb. I let him I know I had been coming to their office every two weeks, and unless there was a risk to doing it all at once, I was fine with doing it all today so I wouldn’t have to come back.

I don’t mind the dentist. I am not freaked out and I like it when they clean my teeth. But I must admit, that when they prepared my gums to give me the shots (in three locations), I got a little bit anxious. And when they were giving the shots, I really wished my sister was there to hold my hand. Not that they hurt that much, but my sister took care of me when I had my (6!!!) wisdom teeth removed, and it was really comforting.

The dentist told me “I only put a little bit of anesthesia in the bottom, so when we are working on that one, you’ll have to let me know if it hurts.” Uh, great. He told me that, then left the room with his assistant to give me time to get numb. Of course, it was just time to think, ” how much will it hurt?”

I was sitting there, pondering the pain, and flipping through the stations on the ridiculously large but ridiculously slow plasma tv, when a different assistant came in the room.

She told me that my normal dentist doesn’t work there anymore (explains why I was seeing this new guy) and that he was the only “in-network” (or whatever they call it) dentist. So if I used this guy, today, it would cost more.

Uh. No thanks.

She was really apologetic, which I appreciated. And I told her it was no big deal, and made an appointment for May 15* when the other in-network dentist comes back from maternity leave.

I would rather use an in-network dentist and save myself the money, especially since these cavities are so small and probably don’t even need to be filled. Thank heavens she caught it before they started working on me.

But now I have a numb face, and for nothing. I just tried to drink some water… yeah, that was amusing. And I’m super hungry, but I am not sure if I should eat anything? Ha ha. Maybe this numbness will help me relax!

*Sister, will you come hold my hand?