{"id":22544,"date":"2025-07-18T13:27:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/?p=22544"},"modified":"2025-07-18T13:27:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:27:27","slug":"not-the-best-summer-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/uncategorized\/not-the-best-summer-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Not the best summer ever&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">First, June, my brother David died.  June was kind of a rough month.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Then, July&#8230;as I pulled into the Aldi parking lot on July 1st I got a call from one of my doctor&#8217;s offices, saying they&#8217;d called my insurance to get approval for an MRI later in July.  The insurance company told them that our insurance had been terminated.  WTF?!  Surely, an error.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">I called the insurance company, they said that had to talk to the policy holder, which was Kevin.  I called and told him and went about my shopping, hoping that things would be fixed up by the time I got home.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">But no.  Kevin had great health insurance through the State Retirement System; when he got on with the state police they guaranteed that he and his spouse\/dependents would have health insurance for life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Nope.  He&#8217;d gotten a letter a couple of months before, and it was vague and full of confusing information, but then it said that if he needed to take action, he&#8217;d get another letter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">He didn&#8217;t.  So, because Kevin is now on Medicare and I&#8217;m not yet, on June 30th they cancelled our policy because Kevin didn&#8217;t do something, still not clear what he was supposed to do.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This was a very OH MY GOD I HAVE TO HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE, panicky kind of day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Kevin contacted the State Retirement System and after a couple of days a higher-up person told him that we weren&#8217;t getting our insurance reinstated, then they said he could be re-enrolled in August, but I&#8217;d have to wait til next July.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN??? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Kevin then e-mailed one of our local State Representatives, whose chief of staff contacted him to say that they were going to reach out to CMS, the Central Management System (?) because many state retirees were having the same problem.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">After a while they contacted Kevin again, and the State Rep he&#8217;d reached out to, his chief of staff, and another State Rep were all going to meet with CMS because now there were over a thousand state retirees in the same boat.  That&#8217;s a whole lot of people, so obviously Kevin wasn&#8217;t negligent, because what were the odds that over a thousand other retirees were likewise not paying attention?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">That meeting was scheduled for Tuesday.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Yesterday, Wednesday, the chief of staff reached out to Kevin by actually calling him on the phone, the old fashioned way, and said there was nothing they could do.  WTF yet again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">All month Mom and Amy kept saying, &#8220;It&#8217;ll all be OK, you&#8217;ll get your insurance back.&#8221;  I was dubious and had only a shred of hope, and yesterday that came true.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">No health insurance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">When this all started I started looking into the Affordable Care Act insurance and there aren&#8217;t great options.  So, now I&#8217;m trying to remain calm and figure things out and get some kind of insurance by August 1st. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This month I&#8217;ve had this underlying anxiety, worrying that I&#8217;d injure myself enough to have to go see a doctor or go to the ER or something.  When I went running through the woods I knew there was a giant hole out there, now covered by tall grass, so I was mindful of the hole, found it, and didn&#8217;t fall in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">At least July is almost over and I&#8217;m still OK for now.  My MRI has been re-scheduled for August and I&#8217;ve re-scheduled other doctor appointments and if I didn&#8217;t have health issues it wouldn&#8217;t be so nerve-wracking.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This too shall pass.  But like I said, not a great summer so far.  On a brighter note, a few pictures of June&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Lester and Riley, who always make me smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j1.jpg 540w, https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j1-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 540px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">On June 7th I looked out to see that both Jim and Kevin were mowing the lawns using push mowers, even though they have a couple of big and fancy riding mowers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">They wanted to get the exercise, of course, but it struck me as funny, both of them mowing like mad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j2.jpg 540w, https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j2-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 540px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">It looked like they were headed straight for each other&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j3.jpg 540w, https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j3-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 540px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">But no collision.  Did they even acknowledge that the other was there?  So funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j4.jpg 540w, https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j4-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 540px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">And then, they were both off in their own directions, as Jim got a little bit perilously close to the shore&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j5.jpg 540w, https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/j5-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 540px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A good time was had by all.  Everything&#8217;s going to be OK.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Ok.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Ok.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Ok then, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Mrs. Trying to Remain Chill Hughes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First, June, my brother David died. June was kind of a rough month. Then, July&#8230;as I pulled into the Aldi parking lot on July 1st I got a call from one of my doctor&#8217;s offices, saying they&#8217;d called my insurance to get approval for an MRI later in July. The insurance company told them that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[143,39,94,1174,489],"class_list":["post-22544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-jim","tag-kevin","tag-les-paul","tag-no-health-insurance","tag-riley"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6JLYy-5RC","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22544"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22551,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22544\/revisions\/22551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}