A Holiday Shakedown

My crude diagram of the accident. I'm the heart car,
the Ford SUV is the asterick and the square
 behind me was the one that nudged me. 

I spent the morning with Chef--out and about. Doing some gift card spending and having a good ole time. We had picked up lunch and were heading back into the house when my phone rang. It wasn't a number that I recognized but it was from LA, so I picked it up. It could've been a client or someone work-related.

It was neither. The guy said "I'm Martin X. Ben's dad. You remember? Last week. . ." The signal was bad, the call dropped, and I couldn't discern who it was. I was trying to rack my brain thinking if I had been working with some kids lately at a charity, and frankly I couldn't think of a "Ben" to save my life. A few steps later, my phone rang again.

And here's where things got interesting.

A few weeks ago I was on my way to a work event in bumper-to-bumper (aka normal LA rush hour) traffic. The car to my left, a Ford SUV-type, was in a left hand turn lane, but their butt was sticking out so I couldn't move. The cars in front of me had gone on the green light, but I was still blocked. Apparently the car behind me didn't care. A black sedan, probably a Prius but I couldn't remember, nudged me forward. I knew I had been hit, and stopped but didn't realize that my car's driver side mirror had hit the taillight of the car who was blocking my lane. The black sedan took off around me and I got out to check my car. A few scrapes on the back bumper, a scrape on my side mirror and then I saw the Ford SUV had a broken taillight. I got the driver to pull over, I pulled over, we exchanged information, and I went on to my work event. A little rattled and a lot pissed that after 12 years with no insurance claims, poor Liam Nissan had two claims within 5 weeks. I also waved my fist at every black Prius that I saw, which was a lot because it's LA and everyone drives a Prius.

I knew the driver of the Ford SUV was mentally challenged in some way. I didn't know what in particular, but I tried my best to make sure he had everything he needed and I did too. He said the policy was under his dad's name and that his dad would probably get a hold of me.

And his dad did. But not before calling my insurance company. The Ford SUV had called my insurance company before I could even call them and alert them. I wasn't going to file a claim for a scrape, but gave my testimony, uploaded pictures of my car, the Ford, etc.  And then I thought I was done.

But the driver's dad called me today---more than three weeks after the accident, and asked me for $150 for the damages to his son'ts car. He kept saying that I was at fault and that I just needed to pay him and that he just went to get an estimate today and that's what took so long.

It felt wrong. He felt pushy and I KNEW that someone on his end had already alerted my insurance company. I told him that I was not admitting fault, that he had already filed a claim with my insurance company and I wasn't going to pay him if he still has something pending against me. Martin told me that they hadn't called my insurance company at all. That he had no idea how my insurance would have their information. He closed by saying "My son is autistic. You know you are at fault. But fine. Do whatever. I'll assume you will call me back to take care of this."

I called my insurance company and the long and short of it is that they denied his son's claim because it was determined that it wasn't my fault. So his insurance company would have to cover it. That no one on that end should have contacted me at all. My insurance company (who I love!) gave me a copy of the denial letter in case he called me again.

I have a feeling he won't be calling back. I might've had some sympathy if he had been honest, but the total ambush about month after the fact AND after the denial really pushed my limits.

But I'm too young to have arthritis. . .

What do Phil Mickelson and I have in common? A penchant for taking risks? A plethora of green jackets in our closet? A loved one who had breast cancer? Tired of guessing?

Psoriatic arthritis. Or at least we probably do. I haven't been to see a rheumatologist quite yet but got my first referral today after my visit to the best dermatologist ever. My psoriasis medicine from Nashville finally got used up after months of me trying to squeeze every bit out (in my defense that ointment costs a person without insurance nearly $700, so I was being more than lazy--frugal).

So I went in search of a dermatologist in LA, which is a hazardous affair considering the amount of cosmetic procedures that get done here. I wanted someone who knew their shit. And so I went to get a referral to the best place I knew: yelp. Okay so it probably wasn't the best idea to get a doctor's referral from the same place that recommended several shitty pizza places, but most insurance providers won't do it and I forgot the rate-a-doc site address.

I called last week and found the guy was booked up for a while, but was taking new patients. I called again today and BAM! Cancellation. I slipped in at 2 and for the first time in a long time wanted to kiss yelp square on the lips. Dr. Liu asked me questions about my history with psoriasis, asked me about what medications I was on, what worked, what didn't, my biggest concerns, what my previous medicine application process had been, etc. It was awesome. He spent more time with me in one visit than my previous dermatologist did in two years worth of visits. And then he asked the magic question:

"Have you had any joint issues?"

YES! YES, I have!! I had seen a physician in Nashville about my joint problems and even mentioned my psoriasis, but he just brushed me off (he tended to that unless you were a very attractive female). So I've never had a proper referral. Dr. Liu referred me to a rheumatologist and even gave her permission to view his records of me for my appointment with her. I got loaded up with 6 prescriptions for my various types of psoriasis (my old doctor used two and they never really worked) and gave me discount coupons for all my prescriptions, PLUS generic versions of everything he could. The dude saved me $40 with one prescription and at least $35 each for three more PLUS saved the insurance company.

Clearly the proof will be in the results but when I told him that I had never had a remission in my scalp psoriasis since it first happened he said "Well, I'm going to do the best I can to give you some relief." It just felt nice to be listened to, to have someone willing to above and beyond, and willing to help me. (Did I mention he gave me his personal--not office--email address to ask any questions-- PLUS he actually took a few minutes to ask about my personal life?). Seriously, there's very little this guy could do in the future to ruin this first impression.

Now to see if my hip pain is actually arthritis. While I wouldn't be excited about it, it would be nice to be able to have some relief and maybe even use a treadmill again.