COBRA wants you

OK, maybe I opened a can of worms, but you know how I know COBRA sucks? They named the frickin’ program after G.I. Joe’s nemesis. Seriously, you think the Commander gives a crap about your continuation of coverage? Grow up. Cobra Commander doesn’t care at all.

But why, you ask, do I hate COBRA (the extension of benefits thing, not the international terrorist organization)?

I hate COBRA for one reason – I had  to pay thousands of dollars to keep my family of 5 covered for about 6 weeks because breaking coverage would have resulted in having certain (ahem) congenital defects labeled as pre-existing conditions. And that’s not even what burned me up. If that was the price to pay for coverage, fine. My issue is that they never provided me with the proof of coverage I would need (without hours spent on telephone hold with “trained” representatives) until a week after the coverage ended.

Wha-huh?

Yup. In fact, the last check I sent them was for a final week of coverage (because they really do milk you for every last second) was written and mailed a week after I no longer needed it. But that’s how we work these days. Everything is on a credit schedule. As long as you pay… eventually… you get to skate.

So while I asked about the concern over health insurance in NC last time, I could just as easily been asking to investigate carpet cleaning Durham NC, because either one is useless to me in NY… just like COBRA.

H-h-h-health?

Are you worried about health insurance NC? are you worried about it NJ? Not me, up here in NY. I gots me a full time job with benefits and all that good stuff. Of course, a recent transition of ownership of my corporate division meant I had to COBRA for a month. Lordy, Lordy, don’t get me started on that fiasco! Seriously one of the most ridiculous experiences of my life. I appreciate the idea. I understand the reasoning. But seriously, COBRA as it is currently set up can only benefit the insurance companies. It doesn’t effectively cover individuals and families, and it really doesn’t help caregivers.

Family Values… Whale Watch style

My complaining about the number of Whale Watch parents dodging their kids yielded a funny comment from a friend who joked that a 3 day trip in close quarters with his son might make him look for an immigration lawyer Los Angeles style… having nothing to do with immigration into the US, but rather what he could do to immigrate to another country. Leaving the family behind.

It was a joke of course, but seeing how some of those parents dodged their own kids, maybe they had a similar thought… but without the “ha ha” at the end.

Watermark this!

I think I’m going to look into local letterhead printing. I need some stationary that declares I am a father who actually likes spending time with my kids. As I mentioned last time around, I was disappointed by how parents avoided their own kids on a recent Whale Watch trip. It’s not just that, though. It seems any activity that should be bringing families together, like scouts or little league or class field day, ends up being a failure – at least in that regard. Instead, parents drop their kids off like it’s a babysitting service.

And yes, I know that families have conflicting schedule and siblings are involved in all sorts of activities. I know we all have busy work schedules and it is difficult to break away or get a day off. But when I see a stay at home Mom drop her kids off at a practice, only to show up again 10 minutes before it ends with a giant Starbucks and her phone glued to her ear… well, I feel pretty good about most of the choices I’ve made. Hopefully she will be able to say the same.

Where’s my kid? What kid?

While the Whale Watch was pretty cool, aspects of the trip were somewhat of a drag. Some people who’ve been on the trip in the past spoke about bonding over s’mores at the camp and such. I’m not sure if they were talking about bonding with their child or bonding with other adults, but I have to say… not a whole hell of a lot of bonding was going on around my campfire. I mean, maybe I’m jaded after many years of Cub Scout outings and, frankly, much better s’mores (nobody s’mores like a scout s’mores) and to be honest, I did make friends with a couple of Dads I hadn’t met before. But what really bummed me out was how many parents spent the vast majority of their time messing with their phones.

Calling home, texting God knows who, Facebooking…. it was like they would do anything they could to avoid spending quality time with their own child. It certainly wasn’t everybody. A lot of us really got into it with the kids, and really enjoyed all of the activities. But it was way more parents than I would have liked. I mean… what a freakin’ drag!

So while I’m scamming an Outer Banks dolphin watch, they would more likely check out highlands NC homes for sale. Maybe take it to the mountains where they can lose their progeny in the woods. I guess it will all depend on whether they can get a decent cell phone signal.

Watching them whales

Well, all that fundraising and nonsense paid off. Last week I went on the legendary Rhinebeck Fifth Grade Whale Watch trip. It was pretty cool. Going on a whale watch is certainly an interesting experience. And all of the related side trips and excursions we went on were pretty cool. I’ll have to see about one of those Outer Banks dolphin watches next. My brother in North Carolina can hook me up. Maybe I can call it a Schedule C business expense if I hire a Raleigh CPA. The IRS will totally buy that, right? Of course, then I have to figure out how to get from Raleigh to the coast in a sensible manner. Maybe I can play the frugal card – sure I drove 12 hours to meet with my tax guy, but then I stayed at my brother’s house and saved money on a hotel… I just had to drive a few hundred extra miles  to the dolphin boat as a result.

No?