Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know there has been an inexcusable interruption in service. I’d been making notes in my “calendar book” (like a BlackBerry, but better for fanning yourself with) as to what days I would draft blog entries and then post them. For some reason, I quit doing this and then immediately and completely forgot I even had a blog, but now I remember.
The prospective job I’ve mentioned here lately is business analyst, which requires being able to build rapport with people, learn what they want software (or something else) to do, and translate that into clearly written documentation. I’ve acquired some books on the subject and have also been taking online courses.
I had tea with a friend a while ago who told me he’d found a miracle worker in the insurance business who was able to get him an individual policy at a good price despite his having a pre-existing condition. He gave me the phone number, and I made a note on my massive to-do list to give Steve a call on a sunny day when I was in a good mood, since insurance research has already wrecked more than one day.
I talked with Steve this past Tuesday and got great information and excellent news. First, it turns out that the state program I was thinking of would not actually be appropriate, as you have to have been without coverage for six months and/or (I can’t remember which) have been denied it. It would be a last resort, so I don’t have to think about it right now. As for being denied, there is a very brief form you can submit to find out if an insurance company would or wouldn’t accept your application without the hassle of completing an actual application, and you also avoid the risk of an official denial.
I still have coverage from my beneficent ex-company, which I love more with every passing day. Every time I pass one of their locations, my heart fills with gratitude: thank you for giving me a job in the first place! Thank you for all the great people I met, for all I learned, for the excellent pay and benefits I enjoyed for more than a decade. And thank you for the generous severance and the opportunity to work with the career consultants.
After my severance ends, I have 18 months of COBRA, and if I get that far without getting a job with benefits, Steve said he’s got several tricks up his sleeve. One thing he mentioned is that you can form a company with another person and then get your own group plan! I was extremely relieved after our conversation.
Also on Tuesday I went for a walk partly on Mission St. and ran into a gaggle of May Day drummers. I looked to see if C. was among them—seemed like his kind of thing—then fled to Valencia St. to get away from the racket and then ran into C., who told me he had just parted from the drummers. I knew it!
Thursday I attended a webinar on personal branding for executives, which I am not, but Dwightly said personal branding is personal branding, and yet another thing the job seeker must do these days. I had a consultation on the phone with Dwightly later in the afternoon, and C. and I went to Borderlands Café in the evening for a spot of tea.
Friday evening Judy and I went to the Metreon to see Safe, the new Jason Statham movie. It features a lot of graphic violence, but less than his last movie, The Mechanic, which really was too much. (If Judy happens to read this, she’ll be surprised to learn there’s a movie that Safe is less violent than.)
Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. I started by going to visit my new hospice visitee, A., and found favorite nurse Charlie standing on the front steps. He told me that his mother now occupies the room of the man I visited for many months. Charlie took me in to meet his mother after I visited with A., who is utterly wonderful. I really enjoyed our time together, though it also kind of wore me out, since she talked for two hours straight, telling me about a very intelligent dog she once had.
After that, C. and I met up and went to La Cumbre for lunch, then to Dolores Park, where Cinco de Mayo was being celebrated, and then to Borderlands Café, where we sat for a good long time and communed with those we knew who happened to come in, including the poet Joie Cook and her husband.
Last on the agenda was a house concert given by Larry Gallagher, someone I’m very fond of, whose music and presence are extremely beautiful and affecting. That was a big treat, particularly getting to experience it while sitting on a couch in a someone’s cozy apartment with maybe 15 others.
The prospective job I’ve mentioned here lately is business analyst, which requires being able to build rapport with people, learn what they want software (or something else) to do, and translate that into clearly written documentation. I’ve acquired some books on the subject and have also been taking online courses.
I had tea with a friend a while ago who told me he’d found a miracle worker in the insurance business who was able to get him an individual policy at a good price despite his having a pre-existing condition. He gave me the phone number, and I made a note on my massive to-do list to give Steve a call on a sunny day when I was in a good mood, since insurance research has already wrecked more than one day.
I talked with Steve this past Tuesday and got great information and excellent news. First, it turns out that the state program I was thinking of would not actually be appropriate, as you have to have been without coverage for six months and/or (I can’t remember which) have been denied it. It would be a last resort, so I don’t have to think about it right now. As for being denied, there is a very brief form you can submit to find out if an insurance company would or wouldn’t accept your application without the hassle of completing an actual application, and you also avoid the risk of an official denial.
I still have coverage from my beneficent ex-company, which I love more with every passing day. Every time I pass one of their locations, my heart fills with gratitude: thank you for giving me a job in the first place! Thank you for all the great people I met, for all I learned, for the excellent pay and benefits I enjoyed for more than a decade. And thank you for the generous severance and the opportunity to work with the career consultants.
After my severance ends, I have 18 months of COBRA, and if I get that far without getting a job with benefits, Steve said he’s got several tricks up his sleeve. One thing he mentioned is that you can form a company with another person and then get your own group plan! I was extremely relieved after our conversation.
Also on Tuesday I went for a walk partly on Mission St. and ran into a gaggle of May Day drummers. I looked to see if C. was among them—seemed like his kind of thing—then fled to Valencia St. to get away from the racket and then ran into C., who told me he had just parted from the drummers. I knew it!
Thursday I attended a webinar on personal branding for executives, which I am not, but Dwightly said personal branding is personal branding, and yet another thing the job seeker must do these days. I had a consultation on the phone with Dwightly later in the afternoon, and C. and I went to Borderlands Café in the evening for a spot of tea.
Friday evening Judy and I went to the Metreon to see Safe, the new Jason Statham movie. It features a lot of graphic violence, but less than his last movie, The Mechanic, which really was too much. (If Judy happens to read this, she’ll be surprised to learn there’s a movie that Safe is less violent than.)
Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. I started by going to visit my new hospice visitee, A., and found favorite nurse Charlie standing on the front steps. He told me that his mother now occupies the room of the man I visited for many months. Charlie took me in to meet his mother after I visited with A., who is utterly wonderful. I really enjoyed our time together, though it also kind of wore me out, since she talked for two hours straight, telling me about a very intelligent dog she once had.
After that, C. and I met up and went to La Cumbre for lunch, then to Dolores Park, where Cinco de Mayo was being celebrated, and then to Borderlands Café, where we sat for a good long time and communed with those we knew who happened to come in, including the poet Joie Cook and her husband.
Last on the agenda was a house concert given by Larry Gallagher, someone I’m very fond of, whose music and presence are extremely beautiful and affecting. That was a big treat, particularly getting to experience it while sitting on a couch in a someone’s cozy apartment with maybe 15 others.
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