Well, here’s a consequence to Hurricane Ike I never dreamed possible, all the way across the continent in Upstate New York: the bureaucracy. My medical insurance company is unreachable and cannot approve my scheduled MRI (an MRI is like an x-ray). Why? Because the insurance center is in Texas; and because of the hurricane, the power is out there. Therefore, everyone in New York State who needs approval for our tests, scans, and appointments cannot get approval for anything. My MRI has been delayed for over a week and counting.

I’m shocked by it, really. I have New York State health insurance coverage. It’s NEW YORK STATE. I assumed everything would be through New York State offices? No, says my doctors’ offices. New York State has outsourced its own health insurance policies! I asked the office– no one can schedule an appointment or a test- no one in New York State who has this coverage– because of the hurricane in Texas?! They said that is correct.

Well, blow me over with chinese air tools and call me Ike! For one, NYS can’t even support it’s own health insurance company?! Not only are New Yorkers leaving NY for Texas, NYS business is, too, apparently! And two, they KNEW the hurricane was a-coming! Why did they leave all that information in one location, so vulnerable?!

I wouldn’t care so much, but my health insurance coverage ends October 1st. I’m contesting the termination, but knowing how slow the bureaucratic slug moves, it may not be reinstated for half a year. And the funny thing is, the company needs an MRI to determine my eligibility. [insert crazy, maniacal screaming]

Somedays ya just gotta throw yer hands up in the air and give a good laugh. Holy cow, the things that go on around here!

Oh, Lord.

I’ve been reading some of the blogs from folks in Texas (do you have any idea how many bloggers are from Texas?! A lot!) and they are filled with accounts of the state after Hurricane Ike. Oh, Lord! I am so sorry for you folks.

I was reading The Homesteading Housewife’s account of her area, which was hit hard by the hurricane.

Our house…. we were very lucky!, it IS still standing & in one piece. But… a tornado blew a path right down the side of it. This lifted our bedroom up off of the foundation blocks and moved it over by about 4 inches. So we can’t open any doors and there is a very obvious slope downward (kinda like the bedroom is fixing to fall off of the main house.

…80% of the pipes under the house have been blown off of the house or came off when it shifted.

But the biggest problem right now is ice and gas.
We have enough gas to last us several more days for the generator (that we use to run the freezers a few hours a day) and have enough ice to make it through today.
Ice…. we will need ice!!

My heart just wrings with sorrow by reading this stuff. And then she goes on to talk about how her livestock was eaten, and that looters threaten the homeowners.

As a New Yorker, I guess I’m pretty spoiled. We live in relative comfort, weather-wise. We had some really bad flooding two years ago, but that was a “100-year” storm. I just don’t know how you Texans and Floridians and Californians and Oklahomaians and Lousianaians (sp? Oklahomites? Louisianaites?) do it. I don’t think I could do it. I just don’t think I could live in those places, with the threats of major earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes every season. I am so spoiled. We get blizzards, but they are nothing, really. All we have to do is stay home when a blizzard hits, whereas a tornado or a hurricane could carry everything away!

I’ve said before that we in New York State don’t have any natural disasters, except for the politicians. That’s the reason why so many people have fled New York State– the politicians are crooked, corrupt, and greedy. Our beautiful state is overrun by high taxes and burdensome regulation. We’ve lost 25% of our population in 3 decades. New York State is bleeding population. I marvel that New Yorkers would rather risk hurricanes in North Carolina and Texas than have to live a life of abject poverty while funding the poiliticians’ pockets. I guess I can’t blame them.

But you know what? You guys could all come back! You could all come back with your families and help us change New York State! You see, we here in Upstate are ruled by the politicians who get their support from New York City. But if Upstate population suddenly increased with freddom-loving folks from Texas and Louisiana and North Carolina– our state could change!

New York State is soooo beautiful. We have four seasons, we have great weather, and we have great neighbors! Come to New York! No hurricanes, no earthquakes, no tornado storms! It’s just politicians. We could change that!