Ive been trying not to spend money lately as having my government credit for health insurance revoked was a $7,000 surprise expense i have not yet recovered from. apparently making exactly the yearly amount a study from 8 years ago deemed was the minimum someone could earn and comfortably be able to afford basic expenses like food, gas, rent, electricity, and clothes was the indication that i could now afford to pay $8,000 a year for health insurance. At this rate one has to wonder why one doesnt just save that money to use on surprise medical bills rather than invest in insurance because you may or may not have a medical problem but certainly marketplace and the insurance company are always going to want paid. this year the marketplace informed me that the monthly fees had gone up and my health insurance at the end of 2024 would have cost me $9,000. I cancelled it and then fought with both marketplace and the insurance company, hired a lawyer, and began proceedings to sue them, for the second time in my life. Both times each part of the operation said that they could see that i cancelled so it must be the other party that i had not cancelled with. Last time they sent bill collectors after me and continued to bill me for services that i no longer had access or right to a whole year after i had cancelled and was no longer covered. My lawyer organized a three way call between marketplace and the insurance company and suddenly everyone could see that i had cancelled with both entities on march 28. The bill collectors stopped and everyone left me alone after i had my lawyer present the evidence to both parties on the phone and inform them of our intent to sue. I notified them that i was also recording the phone call. This time around all i had to do was spend three days arguing and calling them back the very second that they hung up on me. In the end i presented each side with the date given by the other and informed them that they had indeed communicated with each other and i had dates and times that i had communicated my intent to cancel with both of them. I gave them the name of my lawyer and informed them that since we couldnt settle this matter like civilized adults i’d take them to court and we could settle it there. They suddenly admitted that i had cancelled and everyone could now magically see the date.
Now that that’s over with ive been trying to put my life back together but they cleaned out my cushion paying for last year’s health insurance that did absolutely nothing useful for me. Long story short i threw out my back and neck for two months attempting to drag the multipurpose heavy duty roof ladder into the house to change a light bulb in the bathroom. Im not who i was before covid. I need to make adjustments. Hercules doesnt live here anymore. I knew i had no business lifting that ladder by myself at this point in time but i was determined not to have to spend more money. Ive known for some time that i need a lighter and easier to manage ladder. Its just that everything has gone up in price so much and i am not a full time employee…i cant be buying tools and equipment whenever i want willy nilly. I need a battery powered chain saw to take down the oak wilt trees but do i need to take down the oak wilt trees this year? Not really. I found a golden delicious apple tree this year and since the fuji died last year i do need another for the honey-crisp to have hope of pollination…but i decided now was not the time to spend on non-essential purchases so i will look next year and see if they have a golden delicious at that time. Throwing out my neck and back was a longer lived experience than i would like to admit and it convinced me that a lighter ladder was an essential purchase. Even still i waited until i had a reason.
The reason came one morning when i realized every bulb in the one room house burned out at once. I was left in the dark and it was too late an hour to go to the shed and wrestle with the heavy duty ladder. I got ready for work with a camping light and a head lamp. However, there was one glaring problem. The light was how i kept track of scorpions in the house. Without it i would have no idea where they were.
I managed to make it all the way through preparing for work, though i was late because everything takes longer when you cant see it. I grabbed my bags to load them in the car. One bag has straps like a back pack. I had grabbed it by the ring of fabric at the top of it, the handle i guess, and the straps were flapping against my arm as i carried it. I thought i was feeling the strap against my hand when i opened the car door but i felt it wiggling lightly against my palm and then in the light from the interior of the car i saw a huge bark scorpion lying on its back in my hand, belly up and legs wiggling in the air. Eyes wide as saucers i screamed and open-palm flung it into the darkness. Somehow, though im absolutely unsure how, i did not get stung.
That was it. I bought a ladder after work that day. I went straight to walmart, picked out the cheapest ladder that would reach the ceiling, carried it to the car, drove it home, changed the light bulbs, and found it a new place in the shed. Light is a must in scorpion country. It was $28 bucks more expensive than it would have been 5 years ago and pretty cheaply made but that’s the world we’ve got now.