shopko optometry

[leah]

so i'm in the midst of a minor financial crisis (car problems abound, a couple doctor bills) and among them is my need to get new contacts and/or glasses, as i'm on my last pair of contacts and my glasses are irreparably broken.

that said, i have pretty crappy vision insurance (like, only a 10% discount or something like that) and am trying to find the least expensive place i can go but still get decent service. on the list of approved blue cross/blue shield providers is shopko.

has anyone had any experience, good or bad, with shopko optometrists?

also, does anyone in the lincoln area know of a good and/or inexpensive mechanic?

[Gidan]

If your only saving about 10% you might actually save money going without insurance. Tell them your not insured, you might find someplace that will work out a good deal and a payment plan with you. Might not, but cant hurt to try.

[Diekan]

Just think of the money you could have saved by not giving it to a shitty insurance company... seriously. Drop the insurance and put that money (the amount you would have given to the insurance company) aside... then when you need it, you have it.

I know a mechanic down here name Billy Ray Bubba Joe Smiff who will fix your car.

[leah]

/shrug

it's insurance through my first real job after college--like i knew any better.

other fun insurance problem: it doesn't cover yearly gyno exams. i'm in debt right now from my yearly visit... why would my employer and insurance company make me suffer just for making efforts to keep my lady friend happy and healthy?

[brinstar]

tuffy at 14th and pine lake is good, though not exactly cheap. what's wrong with car?

[Donnel]

Diekan the vision plan is probably included with the other benefits (or lack thereof it seems) she most likely doesn't pay extra for the vision part.

[leah]

our insurance bites ass

what's wrong with my car? not sure. the check engine light has been on for awhile, but i figured i'd let it slide for as long as possible since so many people have told me that those just turn on for no reason sometimes. but now, the "fix-yer-brakes" light is on, and i know from experience that i can't put that one off, otherwise it'll just get more expensive.

josh's car is poop, too, and has been for a lonnnng time... thankfully he's finally convinced that we need to take it in, so that's what we're doing tomorrow. yarrrgh.

[Lionking]

around here, a lasik procedure is no payments, no interest for 3 years. Fix your eyes then take 3 years to pay it off. It's the bladeless lasik fwiw.

[Narrock]

Check out the Sam's Club or Costco optometrists too.

[Phlegm]

what's wrong with my car? not sure. the check engine light has been on for awhile, but i figured i'd let it slide for as long as possible since so many people have told me that those just turn on for no reason sometimes. but now, the "fix-yer-brakes" light is on, and i know from experience that i can't put that one off, otherwise it'll just get more expensive.

You should just wait for the death trap light to turn on then just get another car.

[Diekan]

/shrug

it's insurance through my first real job after college--like i knew any better.

other fun insurance problem: it doesn't cover yearly gyno exams. i'm in debt right now from my yearly visit... why would my employer and insurance company make me suffer just for making efforts to keep my lady friend happy and healthy?

Ahh... I see. You know that brings up a good point. College does a wonderful job in teaching you skills for your chosen profession, but it does nothing to prepare its students for the real world. I would love to see colleges making incoming Freshman take a course on "Basic Living 101" in which they learn the value of credit, how to balance a check book, how to look for jobs when they do graduate, what insurance is and how it works... etc. Everyone would benefit. The school would benefit by getting a little more tuition, the student benefits by being more prepared for the real world after school and the economy benefits by having more responsible consumers in the end.

Diekan the vision plan is probably included with the other benefits (or lack thereof it seems) she most likely doesn't pay extra for the vision part.

That's true.

what's wrong with my car? not sure. the check engine light has been on for awhile, but i figured i'd let it slide for as long as possible since so many people have told me that those just turn on for no reason sometimes. but now, the "fix-yer-brakes" light is on, and i know from experience that i can't put that one off, otherwise it'll just get more expensive.

Well, the check engine light has nothing to do with your brakes. That is probably nothing more than an oxygen sensor gone bad in your exhaust system - not a big deal. Your break warning light, however, IS a different matter. And, you're right it will get more costly to wait. The break warning light doesn't come for worn shoes, so it is certianly something a lot more serious.

[DangerPaul]

suck it up and put tape on your glasses and wear them

[Dylan]

suck it up

Exactly, get a job as a stripper and do BJs on the side.

[DangerPaul]

that too

[Gaazy]

As Dieken said, id worry a lot more about the brake warning light that the check engine light. Ive had the sensor replaced 2 or 3 times on vehicles and they inspect an dnothing is ever wrong, so i dont even bother checking it anymore.

Def. go get brakes looked at when you get some cash. Got any friends that can take a quick look at it?

[Arlos]

Then again, sometimes the engine check light IS something serious. Last time it happened on my car, it was from cracks in 2 of the hoses leading from the Turbocharger. Could have had some bad results if I'd let it go.

-Arlos

[Gaazy]

Yeah I guess it could be, but from what ive seen, I rarely trust the light.

Either way, I buy a full up and down maintenence and inspection every 3 months or so on my truck. Ive got a couple buddies who are great mechanics around here so I get a good deal, and its saved me money in the long run by catching problems early.

[DESX]

Heh yeah I throw one of my friends here $50 bucks to check my car. Fucker knows how to do everything. He bought a minitruck and custom made all the parts himself from sheetmetal he molded it and everything.....when he was 16. He even made some suicide doors, he knows how to make the hinges near perfectly. Amazing how people are so good at such as young age. Anyway I threw him $50 bucks to inspect it, check everything and I just have to pay the price for the parts and give it to him and he puts everything in.

[Dylan]

Auto supply stores have little computer things that plug directly into your car when you have your check engine light on and it will pop up on the screen exactly why the light is on. They shouldn't charge you for it either.

Its not hard to find out whats wrong with a car.

[leah]

/shrug

it's insurance through my first real job after college--like i knew any better.

other fun insurance problem: it doesn't cover yearly gyno exams. i'm in debt right now from my yearly visit... why would my employer and insurance company make me suffer just for making efforts to keep my lady friend happy and healthy?

Ahh... I see. You know that brings up a good point. College does a wonderful job in teaching you skills for your chosen profession, but it does nothing to prepare its students for the real world. I would love to see colleges making incoming Freshman take a course on "Basic Living 101" in which they learn the value of credit, how to balance a check book, how to look for jobs when they do graduate, what insurance is and how it works... etc. Everyone would benefit. The school would benefit by getting a little more tuition, the student benefits by being more prepared for the real world after school and the economy benefits by having more responsible consumers in the end.

this is a very good point. i was lucky enough to have taken a couple classes like this in high school, but i think the "real world" was too far off for me to take the class too seriously... although i do still remember a lot of things from it.

as far as credit goes, all of my credit cards are completely paid off (i have a chase visa and about three store credit cards--victoria's secret, maurice's, and gordmans--that are completely paid off and no longer in use) and the only long-term credit things i have are a car loan that i'm halfway done with and my student loans... which i have 15 years to deal with (depressing, btw). so all in all, i'm not in too bad of shape. i keep myself tied to a very strict budget with what needs to be paid with each check written down on a calendar so i don't miss anything. this would all be fine and dandy, except this budget doesn't afford much extra spending money, especially not for anything major like potentially substantial car repairs.... plus trips to the eye doctor... plus new contacts and glasses (i'm missing a lens in my glasses, so i can't just tape it up or else i totally would hehe... although i'll get new contacts before i even think about spending money on new glasses, i haven't worn my glasses in months)... plus a ridiculously large lady-doctor bill (it was 175$ for the visit itself, plus an extra 15-20$ for each STD test--which i was not going to skimp on because i'd rather be safe than sorry, clean bill of health btw--plus another $200ish or so for lab costs and stuff... it's insane--and my insurance is taking care of about $100 of it, another $260 will be covered by my weekly flex plan contribution, and the rest will be out-of-pocket).

cliff's notes for that whole retarded paragraph: i am actually pretty good at money management, but my salary doesn't allow for much wiggle room or unexpected expenses.

as far as the car goes, don't worry, i won't put off getting the brakes fixed. hopefully right now it's just the pads, but if i wait too long i'll be dealing with replacing rotors as well... but i'm not going to take my car in until we get josh's taken care of because i don't want both of us to be without a car at the same time, and his is more in need of fixing, since it has stranded him on the side of the road more than a few times this week. we're taking it in today, and as soon as his is taken care of, mine'll go in.

stupid, stupid money. christmas is going to be very modest this year from me, which is sad because i really was hoping to be able to spend grown-up money on everyone this year.

[Gaazy]

Desx, a lot of the mechanics around here are young and really good at what they do. Ive always looked at it like a natural ability. Some people just have that mechanical state of mind. Like medicine, some people naturally can do medicine, and some peopel can't. You can learn em in school all you want, but that will only go so far.

[Darcler]

Make things for people this Christmas. We're broke too so we are telling Gid's family that our trip to CT and them seeing Jackson is thier present. We're cheap like that.

[Diekan]

I thought Gid was an administrator... I know they make cake...

[leah]

i really don't have that many people to shop for anymore... i'm sure i can get by with spending $20-40 each on people. i have about a bajillion ideas of what to get alex, i know what i'm getting my mom already (although it'll be slightly more than $40 but i've wanted to buy her something nice for a long time now so it's worth it), ashlie won't be hard to shop for (she's a threadless t-shirt fanatic), i will get tony some spoofy jesus-related humorous thing, i'm buying matt and krystal christmas ornaments (long story), i'm not sure what to get my dad or my josh though.

christmas won't be too bad, i know. i just wish i could afford to spend more money on people.

[Darcler]

Luckily, we draw names on both sides of my family here. So I really only have to buy 4 things. 2 from Gid and 2 from me. We cant use the kids as a present since they see them all the time.
Aw damn, plus 3 presents for my cousin's kids. Ugh...plus 2 for my other cousin's kids. But those two are happy with Dollar Store toys.