Today I learned that my health coverage will end. The reason? Web site failure. I tried repeatedly to register the week of November 11, but was foiled by repeated “WE ARE SORRY” messages explaining that some unknown error prevented me from proceeding. I called the exchange. Someone there was able to replicate the error. She filed a ticket for the web people to investigate the error. Later that night I got a message saying my coverage had been renewed and that I did not have to do anything. I assumed human intervention had prevailed over technical failure.
Today I got another message from the exchange. This message said my coverage will be suspended because I never finished the renewal process. I called and was told by one person that this would be an easy fix. She transferred me to someone who said that it could not be fixed, and that because of the web site failure and my inability to re-register my coverage would end. He explained there is a 30-day period during which web site failures such as this are investigated. My coverage ends before that 30-day period, and nothing can be done to continue it. I cannot believe I am saying half of this. I clarified that he was actually saying this. “Because of the web site failure my coverage will end?” He said yes. I did everything I could to re-register, but repeat “WE ARE SORRY” screens prevented it. Guess I better stay healthy. I could lose coverage after Trump enters office anyway so maybe it’s all the same.
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My months-long dalliances with a beautiful woman seem to have come to an end. I am totally fine with it, except that it was nice having somebody to talk to again. We have very little in common but we made a genuine effort to make something happen. We had some romance-like moments, going from practically making wedding plans to talking barely at all. I think it became obvious that we were trying to manufacture something just because we liked each other well enough, and we are both decent people. I suspect she found another guy. As beautiful as she is it would be easy for her to land someone else. Although she said early on that she chose me over a model she had been seeing. I’m curious to know what this model looked like. Hah.
I started having doubts after sleeping with her the first time. That was when she told me she used to be a stripper. At first I was, honestly I think, accepting of this, and not judgmental. But it started to be obvious that she had major-league issues with men, the sort of baggage possibly brought on by trauma and which one would accumulate from being a sex worker. I think she may have done other work in the sex biz. She warned me early that “You should run away from me, Mark Thomas.” She thought I was too nice a guy for someone with her tawdry past. She might be right. I read her wrong. She seemed at first like one of the nicest girls I’d ever met at a bar. But the more I saw the less I liked, and this despite the fact that she is probably the most jaw-droppingly beautiful woman I’ve ever been with. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: that kind of beauty does not go far with me. Beauty like that is a pain in the ass. The sex was sweet but not my style. I talked to an ex about all this. She said it’s right to let it go. I was sort of looking forward to the social rewards that come with being in a relationship. You get invited to things and your general stature as a human being is elevated when you are in a relationship. It’s just a fact. I can live without all that, though. I certainly have before.
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At the ghetto coffee shop, finding myself feeling like a zombie all day. Someone just sat down near me and is eating a nasty-smelling cheeseburger. That’s my cue to leave.
