2004-07-21 - 4:36 p.m.
The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that do not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)
I realize that sounds morose, but how much bad luck can ONE person have? Nothing in my life seems to be simple. Nothing seems to go as planned. Last week I had to buy new clothes at Wal-Mart and change in the bathroom because I sat to put a top on a way-too-large sized cup of Coke and instead poured the damn thing in my lap. I thought I could get away with it, but when people at WAL-MART start giving you dirty looks - you know you must look pretty bad.
That's nothing. This is just the highlights from the past three months:
- I got fired from a job after eight days. Bad luck certainly, but the good side was I had group health again. I signed up for COBRA. That involved me paying one company to pay another company to insure me with another company. They said it would take a week to clear up, and I would need to pay cash until I got my insurance card and then file claims. Two months later, I was still paying for all my medical bills out-of-pocket, but was paying insurance premiums as well - all the while the insurance company assuring me it would just take a few more days. I finally got my insurance card - the day after I started a new job with new benefits.
- One day I came home to a $1,500 hospital bill for a CT I had done in May. I had paid my May insurance premium, but had transposed two numbers so I had paid $110 less than the full amount. Since I wasn't paid in full, they cancelled me April 30. The procedure was May 1.
- I got a cheap fax machine to help with my graduate school applications and such. It supported different rings for different numbers, so I got a second number for it. Well, some telemarketer had a way of masking their own Caller ID and putting MINE in it's place. I've never had so many phone calls in my life.
- When my father moved back to Ohio from Florida, he stayed with me for a couple weeks. When he got to his new home, he filed a change of address, and listed my address as his former residence. Since we have the same last name - all my mail got forwarded to him.
- I got turned down by five graduate schools because all of their letters to me went to Ohio and by the time I got them, the deadlines had passed.
- I didn't get paid for nearly two months because all of my paychecks were sent to Ohio as well.
- I tried to renew my auto insurance, but found that my father had cancelled the policy months ago when he moved back to Ohio. Of course, you can't *buy* insurance unless you *have* insurance. Of course, they tried to tell me -- again, the notice went to Ohio.
- After fixing all the paperwork to get my mail service restored, I found out my mail was STILL going to Ohio. It seems a lot of companies ask to have the address change sent to them - so all of THAT mail went missing, including many of my bills, so things started getting turned off.
- I finally got to move out of the hellhole that had been my apartment for three years. The two-man four hour job turned into something like eight hours. Yes, they are paid by the hour. The real "bonus" to this company was that for local moves, you didn't have to clear out your dressers or nightstands -- they would wrap them up and move them as one piece. It was a really good idea until I saw them carrying out my dresser - upside down. The movers broke a wood-frame door on my entertainment center. They said they would pay for the replacement parts, so I went looking for someone to repair it. It took a few days, but I found the manufacturer - they stopped making that line three years ago, etc.
- I tried to get my telephone and Internet service moved, except my address didn't exist. They had to do a special search to find it.
- I got a great deal on cable: turn in a satellite receiver and get six months of cable, with HBO, for 6.99 a month and free installation. I got the bill the other day - $219.
- The apartment came with an alarm system that supposedly worked even without being hooked to an alarm company. When I moved in, I found out that all it did was go "beep-beep-beep-beep-beep" when you opened the door. Yea.. that'll scare 'em.
- The apartment came with a built-in entertainment center in the wall - complete with surround sound speakers. Lots of room underneath for the other components, and a top shelf for the converter or whatever. But when I tried to set things up - I found there were no HOLES for the wires to go through.
- The apartment also came with a computer alcove, complete with Internet hookups and the works. Only problem there is - there is JUST enough room for a computer and monitor. That's it. Hope you don't want to print anything.
- The community is gated - which is fine, except the gates don't work. They have to leave them open.
- I needed to change the address on my driver's license and registration - so I tried to do it over the Internet. Did it work? No. It wouldn't say why - just that I couldn't do it. As I'm driving to the Driver's License office and as I'm driving I feel a little sniffle that turns into a trickle that turns into a stream that turns into what I can only call a "flow". I keep pressure on my nose, and fortunately, I had a first aid kit with gauze pads in the glove box. That being fixed, I now notice my hands, arms and face are covered in blood. I am afraid to get out and wash up somewhere for fear someone will call 911, and of course there are no tissues or Purell or anything a girl would have (yes, I admit it, you do need SOME of that stuff in your purse). All I can find are a couple of moist towelettes that are meant to clean your eyeglasses. Oddly, it worked - and I somehow felt like I could see better.
- Once I get to the Driver's License Office, I am met by a sort of traffic controller who sends people to the various divisions based on their need. Colored tickets with numbers indicicate your place in what line. I went at 3pm on a Wednesday thinking it would be slow -- I had RED 54. The sign said "Now Serving: 32." I explained that all I needed was to change my address and I couldn't do it online. She looked my license up, and I found out it had been suspended last April. I had no license or insurance - if I had ever been pulled over, I would have gone to jail, gone directly to jail, do not pass "GO". The reason: I had been fined $35 last April for a traffic offense, but the fine was supposed to be $60. In order to prove I had paid the fine, they needed to see the receipt from the old fine -- I had to race home, find the silly receipt, and race back. "Now Serving: RED 56" - I had not made it in time. The lady out front told me to just go back there - but of course, I get the one person who is a stickler for the rules. She tells me I need to get a new number and wait. I went back for the number, and in my one stroke of good luck, the woman out front walked me back and put me in line and told the others I was next. $25 later, I was no longer a fugitive from justice.
- Last week, my boss called me into his office for a "we need to talk." Sure enough, the project I'm working on - it's been put "on hold." We're not to spend any more money on it this year. This isn't a big deal, except I only have the one project. For now, they seem content to keep me... but my resume is updated and ready.
I've got a lot more, but I think you get the point.
Someone once said, "I know God won't give me more than I can handle, but I just wish he didn't trust me so much."
Now, I'm nowhere near the breaking point. I'm dealing with each thing as it comes, and the only real change is that I'm totally focused on saving money in case I get let go again. This would be fine, except I keep getting these bills for $250 to $600 for my portion of the CT or having my teeth fixed. I need to get new glasses - my current ones are coming apart - and if I have to tape them - then I may snap.
I think if you're born into bad luck - some third world nation where having enough water is cause for celebration - you get used to it and live with it. I just can't believe how much good luck I've had over the years.
I did learn one thing. 1994 was my best year. It's bizarre -- but as I finally fully unpacked for the first time, I kept running into things from 1994 - awards, letters, pictures, etc. There are dates on most other things too, but they're you're usual mix of good and bad. For some reason, 1994 seems to have gone pretty much perfectly for me.
That's probably not true, but that's how I'm going to remember it.
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