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Tweets for Today
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May. 11th, 2008 @ 03:37 am
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Tweets for Today
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May. 9th, 2008 @ 03:38 am
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May. 4th, 2008 @ 03:39 am
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finally, an update
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May. 3rd, 2008 @ 06:57 pm
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Well, apparently some of you are curious about my job. And in this first-real-entry-in-a-while, I'll tell you about it.
It's a small office, set up in an apartment. There's three people there, plus one part timer. I'm doing stuff I've never done before -- namely working with medical records. This doctor moved here from Louisiana, after Katrina hit. He had a lot of records, a lot of equipment; he was the head of one of those practices called "Fixy McFixalot, MD & Associates."
Not only did Katrina put a crimp in his practice, but in the last year or two he was in business, he outsourced his billing to a company that did a terrible job. They missed at least one claim in three. If the claim was never submitted, then it was never paid by Medicare or Medicaid or whatever insurance company the patient might have had. So the doctor has tens of thousands of dollars that live in a few thousand feet of shelved patient files.
One of the things I'm doing is helping him audit these records -- going through them and cross referencing the work that was done on a patient versus the work that was actually paid for. It's different; I've never really had a head for columns of figures or dense tables, much less poor photocopies of charts and cryptic handwritten notes. But it's kind of fun at the same time. It's kind of like a treasure hunt, only without the pretty jewelry at the end.
The other thing I'm doing is high-level conceptual work. The doctor has lots of great ideas, one of which is somehow making this business of data mining viable and extensible to others. In other words, this billing company screwed up on him, so it stands to reason that other practices also have money languishing in similar files. I'm trying to help make this happen for him. He's got most of the tools in place, like computers, a good database program, and a high speed scanner. He said that he's willing to purchase the other necessary tools\, like Adobe Acrobat Professional (he's been turning scanned files into Portable Document Format, but we need something better than the free Reader) and some optical character recognition software (to turn the PDF images into searchable text). He also wants to know at a glance what procedures were done on which patients, and the database is the ticket to doing that.
So it's all new territory for me. I've never worked with medical records, and I haven't worked with databases since college. They seem to like me, they seem to trust me, and I hope I can do right by them.
I'm happy to say that for once, I was at the right place at the right time. I've needed a job like this for some time -- challenging, low stress, not working for The Man in some way. It's all 1099 work, meaning I have to pay my own taxes, but beggahs canna be choosahs, right?
All in all, it's a good gig, and I'm happy I have it. The doctor is a smart man, crazy with ideas, and a lot like me. The person who I'm assisting is a sweetheart, too.Tunes: the world going by while outside |
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Tweets for Today
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May. 3rd, 2008 @ 03:38 am
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Tweets for Today
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Apr. 30th, 2008 @ 03:42 am
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Apr. 29th, 2008 @ 03:41 am
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Apr. 26th, 2008 @ 03:39 am
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Apr. 22nd, 2008 @ 03:39 am
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Apr. 19th, 2008 @ 03:40 am
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Apr. 16th, 2008 @ 04:00 am
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| » Tweets for Today |
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Apr. 15th, 2008 @ 03:35 am
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| » this is worth the post. |
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TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an invitation-only event where the world's leading thinkers and doers gather to find inspiration. It is inspiring and thought-provoking, which I love. I have been following it off and on for some time now.
I recently got this mail from them, and I felt like I had to share. What inspires you?
Here's an inspiring way to start the week.
Take a look at these films. They are each just one minute long. They feature a choir in one country singing another country's national anthem: a simple idea that packs surprising emotional power.
France sings for USA
Japan sings for Turkey
Kenya sings for India
They were shot by film directors looking to support the landmark TED project Pangea Day (which I hope you have calendared for Saturday, May 10).
The event is looking amazing, and I will be writing with some breaking news later in the week. Meanwhile, check out the trailer. And do feel free to forward this note.
- Chris Anderson, TED Curator
P.S. There are more of these anthems on the way.
And I repeat: what inspires you?
Apr. 14th, 2008 @ 06:38 pm
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Apr. 12th, 2008 @ 03:35 am
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Apr. 9th, 2008 @ 03:40 am
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| » twittering |
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Okay. I've been busy, somewhat ... with a bunch of little things that are more suited to Twittering than actual full length posts. (for those that don't know, Twitter is a service that will let you make "micro-updates" from IM or phone te4xt messaging).
And it now works with Virgin Mobile, my current provider (it didn't before). Yay!
SO I was wondering: Do any of you know how to make posts out of your Twitter stream? I've seen it done here on LJ, but thought I'd ask my friends before I start asking people I don't know.
Apr. 4th, 2008 @ 06:45 pm
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| » singin' silly songs day |
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heh! Guess what -- there's a little bit special about this day.
Wheeee :)
I had hoped that my tax return would be here by now, so there could be a little sometin' sometin' ... but it's not. So that will be late, but we are going to dinner tonight. Yay!
That's about it -- I've been going to schools and getting together information for my new venture, that being going back to school. I'm getting more serious about it as time goes on; as I think I said before, I'm sick of this rut I'm in.
Anyway, everyone hoist a glass for me, eh? Have a great day & spare a kind thought for me. It's my birthday!
Mar. 28th, 2008 @ 03:48 pm
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| » scared shitless |
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Okay, here's the thing that's been occupying a large part of my thoughts for the past few days:
I am seriously considering going back to school.
As of this Friday, I will be staring middle age in the teeth, and I have precious little to show for it. I am not respected or recognized, I am not an expert in my field, I am not consulted for much of anything. I am tired of getting nowhere fast and depending on others for support. I know, I know, brain injury and all, but for fuck's sake -- I can't let that stop me. I have to do what I can.
I already have a Bachelor's degree in computer science. But I'm tired of babysitting cranky computers, and the thought of computer support of any kind makes me cringe. I will slit my own wrists before I set foor in another call center. ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rhianwyn would have my head first, anyway.
So yeah. My dream is grAphic design. Art of some kind. Pushing pixels around a page makes me happy, and that's what I want to do. I'm tired of settling, and I'm tired of cowering in a corner when things don't go my way.
I have no idea how I'm going to pull this off. There are two big hurdles: The paying-for-it thing (the local community college is about $5000; I don't remember if that's per-semester or for the full program), and there's the job-in-the-interim thing. I don't know who's going to want to hire me with a school schedule and child care to work around.
But I'm tired of being passed over for jobs because I haven't a proper portfolio, or because I have no regular schooling.
I hope my resolve lasts longer than I fear it will.
Mar. 24th, 2008 @ 07:37 pm
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| » answer to a question |
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NB: I am going dark shortly after this. Though I am not using the userpictures or made posts about it, I feel strongly enough about censorship to at least pay lip service to tomorrow's Content Strike.
ed using In response to a recent ask/tell poll, the lovely ladytairngire asks:
A) Do you subscribe to the idea that illness and injuries are more than just accidental, that they are often symbolic and/or are messages from the Universe [or fill in your favorite term here]?
B) If not, pretend for a moment that you do. What meaning do you take from the accident you had that has so effected [sic] your life?
In a recent post, I allusded to the fact that I thought I survived my Traumatic Brain Injury for a reason. To this day, though, I can't fathom what that reason might have been. Indeed, I am starting to lose hope for ever finding such a reason.
"But you're father to a wonderful girl," some might say. "Isn't that enough?"
"No," I would reply. "It's not enough." I want to leave my mark on this world; I want to be known for my accomplishments. Ariann's life is hers; like an arrow shot from a bow, I have precious little control over her aside from the initial thrust and direction. She is her own person, and it is not my place to ride her coattails.
I can safely say that rhianwyn and I have done well with her, far better than was done with either of us.
But Ariann is not the subject of this post. My TBI is, and how the Universe might have been communicating with me through it.
If indeed that is what happened, then I would say in response "Couldn't you have found a better way to send me a message?" For though I am high-functioning, there are things that continue to this day that clearly delineate my disability: Constant tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Near constant headaches. Inability to hold a job. Lack of motivation and ambition. Cognitive fatigue that can strike at any moment -- as if my brain would throw up its hands (if it had hands) and say "Nope! I'm done! Too much input. Shutting down now."
Oh, and something else about my injury: It's invisible. You wouldn't know about it if I didnb't tell you, and for the majority of the 23 years since my accident, I've discounted it, downplayed the impact it has had on my life, and generally tried to get along as a "normal" person in a "normal world."
I've tried and generally failed, now that I look back on it.
So what was the Universe trying to say to me, and why did it use the cosmic equivalent of a 155mm howitzer to get the message across?
I still have no idea what it was trying to say, or why. I may wonder all the way to my grave, but nonetheless I believe that there was a reason. Even if I don't know what that reason was.
Does that answer the question?
Mar. 20th, 2008 @ 08:07 pm
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| » on specialization |
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A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
This is one of the quotations of Lazarus Long, a fictional character created by the science fiction writer Robert A Heinlein (goddess rest his soul). I found this quotation and many others in a beautifully illuminated book I purchased from my teenage job at Laguna Books.
Little did I know it at the time, but this quotation set the course for my life. I found a certain sense of ego superiority in consciously (and vocally) refusing to specialize. My parents were little help, because they never really encouraged me to pursue things that were interesting to me. To be fair, they did fund certain ... escapades, but after those failed, that was it. There was nothing left to fill that void.
This quotation taught me to be afraid of specialization. I rationalized that specializing would mean closing doors, and I didn't want to do that. I wanted to have all the options open to me all the time.
Much later in life I am learning that it doesn't work that way.
I turned that quotation into justification for not pursuing my own interests, for letting fear rule me. I turned it into a treatise on What Good Men Do. I turned it into a personal manifesto of what I should do with my life.
I'm tired of it. My birthday is soon, I am staring middle age in the teeth and I have precious little to show for it. I have not yet made my mark on the world. There is a mark to be made, I'm sure of it; why else would I have survived my accident 23 years ago? But right now I am fairly content to sit and write, read LJ and play games.
Content, that is, except for the growing sense of discomfort and unquiet. To what end do I do these things?
Of course, I learned how to do all those things in the quotation to varying degrees. I learned to do more, as well. But it wasn't enough. It didn't make me happy, and I don't know what will.
Mar. 19th, 2008 @ 05:59 pm
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