captkevman

I documented my progress in decorating an Astro Boy birthday cake for my youngest son’s birthday.

UPDATE: Video should work now. (I had it set to “private” by mistake.)

Back in December, it was decided that my services at my employer were no longer required. This, despite the fact that I excelled at what I did and was a valuable resource to my team. Someone decided that for whatever reason, I wasn’t a good fit there anymore. I tried to fight it for several months prior, but when it became obvious to me that I had the choice of either spending my time defending my job or actually doing my job, I chose the latter, and made arrangements to “mutually agree” to end my employment.

I figured I couldn’t fight it (at least, not without compromising my professional principles), so I may as well just make the best of it. Since I was pretty good at my job, I decided to start my own consulting business and keep doing it, even if they wouldn’t let me do so at the company I so adored.

And it really wasn’t a big deal. I’ve been building a business and learning a lot. But today, the fallout started affecting a lot more than just me in a very obvious, very ugly way.

My daughter is almost ten years old, and is struggling in fourth grade. For the past six years, we have been working with specialists — both medical and academic — to manage her ADHD issues to ensure her success in school. Since first grade, part of that has been trying a variety of different medication combinations that will allow her to concentrate in class with minimal impact other aspects of her life. We finally found the right “mix” about a year ago, and while not perfect, it’s helped her tremendously.

Losing my job meant changing insurance plans, to the one my wife’s employer currently uses. When we went to refill our daughter’s prescription last week, the new insurance company refused to cover it, and demanded that we use an alternative medication instead. I went to pick it up this morning, and the cost of the medication is over $100.

Nevermind the fact that we have no idea how this new medication will affect our daughter (it’s one of the few she hasn’t yet been on).

Nevermind the fact that we’ve spent years finding the right balance of medications for her.

Whatever is best for the insurance company’s bottom line, damn the consequences.

Before today, I was just looking at my dismissal as an inconvenience, and an opportunity to do my own thing, with a “que sera, sera” attitude toward the whole thing.

But now that it’s f*cking with my family, I’m pissed. Maybe it’s my fault for not fully understanding the consequences. But whatever the reason, I’m now faced with the fact that I’m starting over playing roulette not only with my family’s financial/medical well-being, but also with my daughter’s academic success and emotional health.

I don’t know who to be more angry with: myself - for not fighting harder for my job, Big Insurance - for getting in the way of my daughter’s/my family’s well-being, or those responsible for dismissing me from my previous job without justifiable cause.

All I know is that we’re looking pretty much screwed. And it’s because of me.

Dammit.