The New Gmail Sucks

The good old days; The Original Gmail

Remember when Gmail first came out and it was the greatest thing ever?  Ok, maybe not the greatest thing, but it was really good.  It was very clear and easy to use and it gave you tons of space to store your emails.  Since then Google has rolled out changes over the years.  Each time there has been a major change, it gets worse.  I wrote about the first detrimental change they made in a blog here.

Most recently they have totally changed the compose feature.  Before when you clicked Compose to write a new email, it would open up normally and use the full screen.  Now when you click it, it just opens a little box in the corner.  What?  Why would I want to be restrained to a little box in the corner when this is the main thing I am working on?  Ok, I know what you are going to say.  There is an option to make it go to the full screen.  I still don't like it even in that mode.  Also the new look is too minimal.  Such basic information such as the labels for "To" and "Subject" disappear once you type something in.  Buttons like "add a picture" or link are hidden away so you have to hover your mouse over certain sections just to see what options you have available.  It's like they are trying to make it as user unfriendly as possible.

They also added Tabs for the emails.  Maybe some people who get tons of emails of different kinds like this new feature as it helps break them up, but for me, it is just another unwanted change.  I quickly put it back how it was.

So if Gmail is so bad, how come I keep using it?  Well, it's not quite bad enough to completely abandon.  I do however use 2 other services, Yahoo, and Live.  Yahoo has made awful changes much like Gmail has and their email is just about useless right now.  Logging out of Yahoo takes about 10 seconds when it should take less than 1 second.  They also use the annoying tab feature.

The best email I'm using right now is Live by Microsoft.  I actually go into it by accident.  See I had to make a Live email account for business and after using it for a while I realized it is more likeable than Gmail or Yahoo.  I'm not ready to switch over all my accounts to Live, but it's nice knowing there are some better options out there.

Random Rants: Marathons, Terms of Service, QR Codes, Job References

The Chicago Marathon was today.  I think deciding to run 26.2 miles is pretty ridiculous, and this is coming from someone who used to be a varsity distance runner.  It is not good for your body to subject it to that amount of work.  I am surprised to see how many people sign up to do it each year.  Most people probably don't run the whole time.  Maybe if you are going to do it with some friends and do a lot of walking in the middle it can be something fun to do, but running that distance is not a good idea as far as I'm concerned. 

Terms of Service agreements always bother me, especially when they put them in those little confined boxes, use capital letters, and have a long drawn out agreement using tons of "legal" words that no one understands.  You have to agree to these things all the time whenever you sign up for something of install a program.  And of course they don't give you the options to say no, so you have to "agree" or else you can't move forward.  Few people actually read these and usually it doesn't matter, but there is always the chance that they could put something in there that you wouldn't want to agree with.  That is why I don't trust these companies that make their agreements so hard to read and understand.  It just shows that they are trying to hide something and don't want you to read it. For once can we get a terms of service that is written in plain English?

What is going on with the trend of QR codes?  From what I understand, they are little squares that you scan with your phone and it pulls up a website or more information on a product.  It seems like these codes are showing up everywhere.  I think this is another one of those fads that get blown out of proportion for no good reason. I mean, I see and advertisement with a code.  They expect me to scan it and look up more information about it on my phone?  No thanks.  I'm trying to get less ads, not more ads.  There may be some practical applications, but for now, I'm not buying into it.

One thing that bothers me about filling out a job application is the references section.  You know the part where they ask you to put down the name and phone number of 3 people who know you so they can call them up and ask them if you are a good person to hire.  First off, I don't like giving out other people's information to people I don't know.  I know I wouldn't really want random companies calling me up asking me to talk about someone who put me down as a reference.  The 2nd reason why I think references are overrated is because of course people are only going to put down the contact information of people who like them and will say good things.  So what is the point?  No one is going to put down the names of people they don't get along with who might not put in a good word for them.  In theory the references concept sounds like a good idea, but in reality it is not very helpful in determining a good candidate for a job.

Cost of Medical Bills is Way too High!

What ever happened that made doctors and hospitals think they can charge outrageous amounts of money for services?  If you have had any medical expenses lately you know what I am talking about.  Now I know doctors should earn a lot for their experience and they have to cover the cost of equipment and employees, not to mention any legal costs that might occur, but still, these medical costs are getting out of hand. I'm talking everything from doctor visits to hospital visits to dentist visits to prescription drugs.

For those who are lucky enough to have insurance, that does help, especially for annual visits where you usually just have to pay a small co-pay.  However, if you need any other tests or work done, prepare to pay an arm and a leg.

Recently, I had a check up and the doctor heard a murmur in my chest and recommended that I have an echocardiogram done to check it out.  Ok, so of course I follow his advice and make the appointment.  The test was basically an ultrasound of the chest which took about 30 minutes to complete. Pretty easy.  They didn't tell me about costs or anything in advance or while I was there.  I just had to give them the form from my doctor.  I figured, I would probably have to pay a co-pay of $30 and the insurance would cover the rest of it.

 A couple weeks later I get the bill in the mail.  It is over $2,000!  What?  How is a 30 minute ultrasound test $2,000?  Luckily the insurance covered a lot of it, but in the end they are still charging me over $600.  I had to pay a deductible of $500 plus a percent of the remaining balance.  Who has that kind of money to just drop on a random test that you doctor says you should get? I don't make a lot of money, but I do manage the little I do have well so I have some saved up, but still, this will take a huge chunk out of my savings.

If I would have known the cost of this test, I might not have had it done, or at least talk to my doctor to make sure it was absolutely necessary.  By the way, the test results were fine, so it basically cost me over $600 for them to look at my heart and say it was fine. 

Why don't hospitals tell you the costs up front?  Even looking on their website, there is nothing about the costs of each procedure.  I did a search on the internet to get an idea of the costs and there was very little information out there on the entire internet.

I mean, you don't go into a car dealership, take a car, and then later get a bill for how much the dealership wants to charge you.  You know how much it is before you buy it, then you make your decision.  This is how most things work whether it is a product or a service.  The prices are advertised.  Why should health care be any different?  Oh yeah, so you don't know how much you have to pay until it it too late.  The medical field is really taking advantage of people in this way.  It's time for a change!

If you read this and have an opinion on the matter, leave a comment below.