So after 5 nights of waking up with the death rattle in my throat, I decided to go to the doctor on this wonderful President's Day. I go online to see where in town takes my insurance. Turns out, nowhere. I could go to the doctor in Dallas, DeSoto, Decatur, but NOT Denton. So I decided to go to the nearest Care Now , since they're supposed to take all insurance. They had web check-in, so that was good...and I get there and it looks nice and clean. I was looking forward to seeing a real doctor and not the shady nurse practitioners that I had seen at the university health center. I didn't have to wait too long, and there were tv's in the actual examination room. I pretty much knew that I just needed some antibiotics...I even knew what kind it was just a matter of telling the doctor to write it down on that little pad. ( I think that for the most part, general practitioners are wayyy overpaid for the amount of work they actually do ). Aside from realizing that I will always be in a state of needing to lose 10-20 pounds from my weigh-in, and that I've gone from having high blood pressure to low blood pressure, my visit was very pleasant. UNTIL it was time to pay. 140 dollars for my 5 minute exchange with the doctor. I was like, " uhh I have insurance, you take it right?" And I got that little phrase that I remember my mom getting so pissed off at when I was a little kid who got sick like every month:

" You haven't met your deductable yet."

What the hell does that mean? I finally asked. It means you need to incur a certain amount of expenses before you get the "copay" bargain price.

" So...if I like got a bunch of xrays and blood work, I would THEN qualify to pay the 25 dollars I'm SUPPOSED to pay?"

" No...you'd pay the full price of all that and your next visit would cost 25 dollars."

"Oh."

So that makes sense, but why are they taking out 150 DOLLARS A MONTH out of my paycheck? I'm sorry but being a grownup sucks balls. I wonder if I qualify for medicaid...seriously...I'm regretting going to the doctor now. Yesterday I was *this* close to buying this 200 dollar Coach purse. I have never spent that much money on an accessory...but this purse was the softest leather and was the perfect size, and I knew it would last forever. I should have bought it and just put up with coughing a few more days.

Michael Moore's next documentary is called "sicko" and it's due out this year. It's about the health care industry in the US, and I can't wait to see it so I can be even more pissed off.

In other grown-up news, the TAKS test is tomorrow for the kiddos. Which is super for me because all I need to do is read the test administrator manual and walk around the room. I don't have to be sober for that, right? Just kidding. Maybe.

...antibiotics go down great with vodka tonics...