Notes from an Unemployed Couch Resident

I have been relatively not busy lately. It's fascinating how you can do so little, rarely leave your couch, for instance, and yet life finds a way of frustrating you endlessly. I spent yet another day loitering on the Web and yet I was met with more and more stress.  

Here's a taste of some of my stressors. I had to go get some pills at the pharmacy. I knew there might be a problem, because, well, there always is. I paid for COBRA this month, to continue my medical coverage. It cost $350, so, you'd think it would cover some of my medical expenses. My pill pack costs about $5 with insurance, and $60 without. You would think maybe after I paid $350 to save me $55, in this instance, that I would be covered. Turns out that COBRA takes a month to kick in, so in fact, even though I'm only covered through Nov. 30, my insurance doesn't kick in until about, hmmm... Nov. 30. The COBRA lady on the phone was very nice, of course, and I get reimbursed for whatever medical care I get this month, but let's take something into consideration. My income is $1,100, and if I want to go see my gyno or something, it will cost me upwards of $300, right? But I have to take from my pathetic income to pay that upfront, only to be reimbursed later. How long that reimbursement will take to come back into my hands, I have no clue.

Stressful instance two. When I was in Berlin two months back, my glasses snapped in half when I put them on after a shower. This was really shitty for so many reasons, 1. I am blind without them, 2. I was in a country where there are few unique, US conveniences like "one-hour" anything, and 3. I don't speak or read German. Duct tape only lasts a few hours, so after weeping, I taped up and went out for a drink. By the morning Eddie, my travel companion, had found the ONE one-hour glasses place in all of Berlin. The dude there was fabulous, but all the glasses cost large sums, I got an average priced pair, and with my expensive lenses, they cost ... 590 EUROS. Yes, Anyway. Two nights back, I awoke to a large scratch on my right lens. I guess the gato either bit or scratched them when I was asleep. Just one more expensive drag on my ass. These were two minor annoyances. These are the expensive ones. There are more, but I'll spare you. I guess it's true that no matter how you try to avoid, it'll catch up with you anyway.