Sign the petition: Don't write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution!

(This is a campaign I'm running for the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition. Please spread the word to people in New Jersey.)

On Monday, June 5, 2006 there will be a vote in Washington D.C. to change the U.S. Constitution to require all states to ban same-sex marriage. Marriages in Massachusetts will be un-done. Civil Unions in Vermont will be invalidated. The prospects of New Jersey achieving Marriage Equality are nulled. The Anti-Gay Industry will score a major victory. NJLGC is collecting 2,000 signatures on our petition to tell our representatives that New Jersey is "the state that doesn't hate": Come November, New Jersey voters will punish any candiate that supported the Federal Marriage Amendment!

http://eqfed.org/campaign/fma_petition

What I learn from working at Google

The guys next to me are on the project that lets Google suggest the exact answer if you ask Google certain questions and people, places and things. For example, search for How old is britnet spears and you get a special box that tells you.

So often I hear them saying things like, “What’s the capitol of France” or “How old is Britney Spears” and I know that they aren’t asking each other, they’re giving examples.

Sometimes I do the query myself just on a lark. Today I learned that Britney Spears and I share birthdays.

Quest Diagnostics

I feel like such an idiot. For years I’ve been dealing with Quest Diagnostics incorrectly.

Every time I got to my doctor it seems a week later I get a bill from Quest Diagnostics to pay for any tests they performed. I attach it to my health insurance paperwork, mail it in, and track it to make sure it doesn’t get lost. Sometimes it does. This takes a lot of my time and often my heathcare provider weasels out of paying it, or worse yet I figure it isn’t worth the hassle and I pay the whole thing.

Today I noticed that the fine print says that I can call with my heath insurance info and Quest will contact them for payment. I called and in 5 minutes and my profile was updated and this claim was taken care of. Future claims should be processed without my intervention.

I wonder if Quest gives a bulk discount to my healthcare provider and thus hopes that I follow one of the many paths that results in me paying full price.

If I ran healthcare in this county, there would be a standardized form that everyone would be required to use and every doctor, service provider, and heath insurance company would have a deadline by which they have to “go paperless” for all these transactions.