The Best Birthday Gift Ever!

Yes, today is my birthday. Even if I had forgotten my own b-day, I would have been reminded by the 10 dozen automatic emails in my account from all the message boards and groups I'm part of that sent out a congratulatory message to me. At least I know the computer servers care. ;-)



But what is the best birthday gift I mentioned in my header? Well...remember back a handful of weeks ago when I found out my company was switching health care providers? And neither of my two choices carried the fabulous, new doctor I had found? Read it HERE. Well, I decided to check once more, but this time I went to their website (this Doctor has her stuff together - a comprehensive website with all the info you could want). I got the email address of the woman in charge of insurance, and I emailed her yesterday asking if they take my new insurance.



And guess what came in my inbox this afternoon? Her email saying they now take my insurance! WooHoo! and how does this grab you for great customer service? She said she noticed that a number of their patients were no longer covered because they had to go with the same company I have, and instead of losing them, picked them up so we could all stay. I tell you, I feel incredibly lucky to have found them.



I've been busy all this morning on a project at work. Two of us are trying to get the new master image out to all the counselor's PC's in the call center. We have about a third of it finished. We'll be working on it each morning up through Saturday morning (unless we get it done by Friday or better yet Thursday, and then no need to come in on the weekend).



The 'spike' in my forehead is gone so that's a big plus. I also got the neatest b-day gift from M. who works in the call center. She's kinda goth and loves Nightmare Before Christmas like me, and other Disney stuff. I'll try and get shots of it to post here. Mark told me where my present from him was (he's out of State right now) and I opened it this morning. It was a trivia game I had my eye on. Can't wait to get together with our friends to play.



And finally, I'm giving a review of the new HBO comedy, Extras. I'm not too sure if HBO started with the second season, or it's in the second season (it's filmed in England) and HBO is starting with the first season....but....I honestly had to keep myself from trying to turn it off, I was that uncomfortable...and it's only a half an hour show.



Now let me preface by saying I love British humor, from the PBS 'Brit-coms' to Ab-Fab (possibly one of the best comedies to ever come out of the UK) to Monty Python. But I just didn't get the humor. If it was supposed to be funny, it was the very mean type, like Andrew Dice Clay comedy where you laugh at someone because you aren't the target of the mean jokes.



Ricky Jervais is Andy Millman, an actor who has some how fallen from the graces of the BBC, and is trying to work his way back to the top from the ground level.



Maybe the episode I saw was just not that good but I cringed all the way through it and didn't laugh once. Now the American version of The Office (which Ricky Jervais created the British version) is cringe-inducing, but you still laugh, and care for the characters (I just love when Jim and Pam are playing pranks on Dwight and they knowingly smile at the camera). Andy just doesn't act like a real person. He sits there and lets people basically take a dump on his character/his job/his career, and he just looks at them and doesn't fight back/make a nasty comeback/break down in tears and run away/etc. He gets this slack-jawed look as if to say, 'If I don't say anything or react, maybe they'll stop being mean to me'. The rock-God, Mr. Bowie, was on this episode and Andy gets he and his girlfreind in a bar's VIP area where Mr. Bowie is. Then Mr. Bowie just suddenly sits down and makes up a song on the spot singing about the 'pug-faced, little man who sold his soul' (referring to him making the worst sitcom ever for money - briefly glimpsed at the start of the episode). God, it was just embarrassing. Not that it was badly down...the acting is good...but just that it was pointless. If Andy was a mean nasty guy and deserved what came to him, then OK (think Rowan Atkinson as The Black Adder - or hell, the Coyote as he chased the RoadRunner), but he's just this actor who just goes along with life and wants to be famous. I would honestly love to hear someone else's take on this program. Am I wrong here? Did I catch a bad episode?