a vegasdad rant

Why, oh, why does Z-Dub all of a sudden not want to sleep at night? I'm not kidding when I say he gets out of bed a minimum of 15 times a night for various reasons. This has been going on for about two weeks now and it's annoying the crap out of me. We've tried preventing him from napping during the day. We've even tried keeping him up later in the evening. All of our approaches to resolve this new bedtime ritual have failed miserably. It's frickin' annoying. It's interrupting "Daddy and Mommy time."

Now, changing the subject completely, why would Discovery Channel think it's smart to air "Shark Week" in the middle of summer when throngs of vacationers are visiting beaches across the country? Talk about scaring us out of the water. Luckily, we're in Las Vegas and the only real scary creatures at our beaches -- sand bottom hotel/resort pools -- are overweight, old and hairy Eurotourists who think it's fashionable to wear speedos. Having one of them bend over in front of you can cause severe illness and possibly death. That's why we prefer the more private pool cabanas. They also make us feel like rock stars.

Finally, I'm annoyed with myself for not finding more time to update this blog. A lot of it has to do with my hectic schedule lately. Also, the kids have been wacko lately. Now that The Deuce is mobile, it seems that all we do is try to prevent him from hurting himself. Speaking of The Deuce, he has one voracious appetite. I thought Z-Dub was going to eat us to the poor house, but we're quickly realizing that our more plump infant is even more of a pig. It's no wonder he's only 14 lbs. lighter than his three-year-old brother.

That's all.

the elusive vacation

We need a vacation....badly. I have a week off coming up at the end of June, but we still haven't planned what we're doing. This is mostly due to some medical issues that may need to be addressed during that time. What needs to be done, where and exactly when will not be determined for another few days, so planning has been placed, frustratingly, on hold for now.

We'd like to hop on a plane and head off to an exciting, exotic location, but that probably won't be feasible this year. With Z-Dub's surgery earlier this month and some other medical appointments in the family, we've had to fork out nearly $1,500 to pay insurance deductibles, uninsured diagnostic tests and for prescription medications. Needless to say, it's been one extremely expensive month so far. It's probably going to continue to be as such for the next couples months as well.

If we are able to take some time for a vacation during that week, it'll probably be just a quick trip to our homeland of Southern California -- perhaps San Diego. It'll still be fun, but nothing like last year when we went to Montreal. Speaking of which, I wrote an article for Uptake today about  vacationing in Montreal. Feel free to check it out . It was difficult to write because it made me yearn for a return trip. I definitely want to go back for the Jazz Festival and to see more of the city. Maybe next year.

Anyone else have plans for summer vacation this year? Want to invite a family of four?

burn

My stepmother was in town visiting this weekend. She was shopping for houses here in Las Vegas as she plans to relocate from neighboring California in the not-to-distant future. She loves our neighborhood, so she stopped by the sales office and toured a few model homes and picked up a price sheet. When she brought the sales figures back to show us I almost had a frickin' heart attack.

Our house, the one we bought one year ago next week, is now selling for $100,000 less than what we bought it for. To make matters worse, houses that are double and even triple the size of our's, houses that HotMomma really, really wanted, but we couldn't afford at the time, are now selling for less than what we bought our's for. This doesn't make HotMomma happy. She's been complaining (every day) about how cramped we are with the addition of The Deuce.

Of course, I'd love to take advantage of the new low prices on the bigger houses, but I obviously can't sell our's for a long, long time. I can keep our current house and buy an additional one, but we don't have enough cash saved up to do that right now.

THIS SUCKS!!!! STUPID ECONOMY!!!!

But, hey, at least we have a roof over our head.

dream job at last

I woke up this morning to find that my dream job  is finally available. I shall apply immediately. I hope I get an interview.

I wonder if I can bring the family?

looking ahead

I'm thinking of getting my master's degree. Perhaps an MBA with a marketing concentration or a MA in Strategic Communications or Marketing Communications.

Do I have time? Probably not, especially with two kids now.

Do I have the money? Well, that can be worked out. My employer does have tuition reimbursement that will pay for half of it.

Why do I want this? I have no idea. I just know that I have an urge to expand my educational resume. Perhaps it will lead to an even brighter future, financially and professionally. Not that I'm in a bad place now. I actually love my current job.

It's obviously something I can't start in the immediate future, but perhaps in a year or two. In the meantime, I'm going to start my research and planning. I did a little today. I can earn an MBA or MA online through Boston University or George Washington University. Either one would be cool. Or I can do the in-class thing here locally. I haven't decided.

Oh, and I want to learn a foreign language. Perhaps something Asian.

I think I'm thinking too much. There really isn't enough time in a day.

matters of health and wealth

Shopping for medical insurance for the family may incite violent and uncontrolled rages. I haven't cracked yet, but I'm starting to feel the pressure. The clock is ticking away and I have little time left before Z-Jay arrives and I need to have health coverage arranged for the family.

I have insurance for myself through my employer. They pay the entire premium and it's decent coverage. Actually, I don't really know if it is, because I've had it for two years and have only had to use it once. It could suck for all I know. This leads me into the reason why I don't have the entire family enrolled. It all has to do with cost. Those greedy f%#kers at the insurance company want $1,136 per month out of my paycheck to enroll HotMomma, Z-Dub and Z-Jay. That SUCKS! It's the cost of a frickin' mortgage. It's robbery!!!!

Because of the high cost of insurance through my employer, Z-Dub and HotMomma have been enrolled in the health care plan at her work. The coverage isn't quite as good as mine, but it's much, much, much less expensive. We're talking less than quarter of what it would be on my plan. But now we have a problem. When Z-Jay is born HotMomma will go on maternity leave and her insurance will go COBRA, meaning we have to pay 100 percent of the premium to insure all three of them. That's almost $900 per month. Again, robbery!!!

Additionally, after Z-Jay is born HotMomma is considering taking a voluntary furlough for up to three years so she can stay home with the kids. That means I need to find an affordable and acceptable insurance plan to cover all three of them. I've been doing my research and I'm getting close to finding something that'll work and not break the bank.

The first plan is a standard POS plan with a $1,000 individual deductable ($3,000 for family) for roughly $450 per month. It only covers 80 percent of medical costs with the deductable waived for preventative care. The second is a HSA plan with a $5,000 family deductable for $220 per month with preventative care covered at 100 percent.

I had an HSA plan through my previous employer and it was awesome, so I'm leaning towards it. It also gives you control of your money, because instead of paying a high premium you get a low premium and you put additional pre-tax money into a health savings account to cover medical expenses. Any unused money you get to keep. It puts you in control of your money instead of the insurance company stealing it.

I haven't completely made of my mind yet on which I'll choose. I'm doing budget research to see what will work better for us. The good news is that if HotMomma decides to take the furlough Z-Dub won't be sent to daycare/preschool anymore, which will make up for the cost of having to pay for the insurance.

This isn't a political site and I don't generally write about political issues, but something finally needs to be done about medical insurance and costs in this country. We've gone way too long with promises that aren't kept.

I'm not at all satisfied with either presidential candidate's healthcare proposals. Hopefully the ultimate winner will prove me wrong and actually make some real changes.

money matters

XM Radio subscription = $13.00
Over-priced and never used gym memberships = $72.00
Showtime Channels on cable service = $10.00
Milkman and staple food home delivery service = $60.00
Eating out for lunch, five days a week = $120

Cutting unnecessary spending to save $275.00 each month = SMART

Using the newly saved money to buy diapers and other stuff for soon-to-arrive Z-Jay = INEVITABLE

On a side note, this bitch finally facing reality = PRICELESS