All This Technology!
I am totally aware of my age, especially since I just had a birthday last week...the big one, 65! There was just no denial of my age since I had to get signed up for Medicare and all the extras that go along with it. And then, for some reason, everyone picked up on the fact that it was a big birthday for us (Mike's birthday is just three days after mine and he is the same age!) and made a big deal out of it.
So, signing up for Medicare...that was an experience! The Part A wasn't too terribly difficult, and I managed to negotiate the online sign up without too much trouble. A representative paid a visit to the courthouse, and we signed up for Part B through him with his advisement. But then there was the Part D! The rep made it sound like it was a piece of cake, but I beg to differ!
First of all I put in my meds and location, and it offered me choices...23 of them to be exact! 23 different companies which had all kinds of options, prices and a whole bunch of stuff I didn't understand on each one of them. Which company offered the best service? Which company would pay out the best? Which company would we have to pay the least out-of-pocket expenses? We finally chose a company based on the approval stars.
Then we had to sign up. We decided to do this one evening while we were both available. After one failed attempt when the computer froze up, we went for a walk and came back to try again. The second time the printer failed, and I lost the whole thing. By this time we were both frustrated and becoming testy with one another so we decided to try again the next day. Gladly, things went without a hitch the next day and we finally got signed up for Medicare Part D.
We have now been covered for 15 days and have not had to use our Medicare Part anything so all is going well. We'll see how this works out when the time comes to need to use it!
So, between the fact that I have now entered senior citizenship and the fact that all this has to be negotiated online, I am beginning to feel somewhat inept. Then today, another reminder that the world is going on without me.
I had ordered a Date/Paid stamper for the office. It should have been very simple, a big square stamp that said paid with the date stamped in the middle. Some assembly was required, and that's where the problems began. I hate reading instructions, but was finally reduced to trying to make sense of them. I finally gave up and ran a Google search for a YouTube video so that I could get a visual. The video made it look very simple, but in reality it was not!
By this time I was feeling like a total failure, and the urge to just sit down and cry was very strong! I took it down to the other office to see if Paula could figure it out. Imagine my relief when it stumped her also!
I finally pushed and pulled and pried and squeezed and suddenly the piece I was trying to remove popped off and problem solved! It occurs to me that a Date/Paid stamper shouldn't have to be so complicated. What next?
And what next is probably a good question. The world continues to move forward to new and improved. And it leaves behind a few more people every time something changes. Stick around, kids! I'm gonna need you more all the time!
So, signing up for Medicare...that was an experience! The Part A wasn't too terribly difficult, and I managed to negotiate the online sign up without too much trouble. A representative paid a visit to the courthouse, and we signed up for Part B through him with his advisement. But then there was the Part D! The rep made it sound like it was a piece of cake, but I beg to differ!
First of all I put in my meds and location, and it offered me choices...23 of them to be exact! 23 different companies which had all kinds of options, prices and a whole bunch of stuff I didn't understand on each one of them. Which company offered the best service? Which company would pay out the best? Which company would we have to pay the least out-of-pocket expenses? We finally chose a company based on the approval stars.
Then we had to sign up. We decided to do this one evening while we were both available. After one failed attempt when the computer froze up, we went for a walk and came back to try again. The second time the printer failed, and I lost the whole thing. By this time we were both frustrated and becoming testy with one another so we decided to try again the next day. Gladly, things went without a hitch the next day and we finally got signed up for Medicare Part D.
We have now been covered for 15 days and have not had to use our Medicare Part anything so all is going well. We'll see how this works out when the time comes to need to use it!
So, between the fact that I have now entered senior citizenship and the fact that all this has to be negotiated online, I am beginning to feel somewhat inept. Then today, another reminder that the world is going on without me.
I had ordered a Date/Paid stamper for the office. It should have been very simple, a big square stamp that said paid with the date stamped in the middle. Some assembly was required, and that's where the problems began. I hate reading instructions, but was finally reduced to trying to make sense of them. I finally gave up and ran a Google search for a YouTube video so that I could get a visual. The video made it look very simple, but in reality it was not!
By this time I was feeling like a total failure, and the urge to just sit down and cry was very strong! I took it down to the other office to see if Paula could figure it out. Imagine my relief when it stumped her also!
I finally pushed and pulled and pried and squeezed and suddenly the piece I was trying to remove popped off and problem solved! It occurs to me that a Date/Paid stamper shouldn't have to be so complicated. What next?
And what next is probably a good question. The world continues to move forward to new and improved. And it leaves behind a few more people every time something changes. Stick around, kids! I'm gonna need you more all the time!
Comments
Post a Comment