Apr 16: Still here!

Trying to figure out how to transition this from Explorer to Chrome.  Not being overly successful.  Part of the problem may be that I used Laurie on some things and Laura on others.  And I'm not very computer literate.  So, what have I been up to since the last post?  Ha!  Funny you should ask (even though you didn't, but you do simply by reading this blog!).

What follows are the reasons why my posts will be curtailed; bear with me here, because it's going to seem as if this next part isn't related, but it is. 

I am currently covered by the private insurance company, who we'll call XYZ Co, getting 60% of my prior salary.  That amount is higher than what I will get from SSD.  The policy is formulated that when I'm approved by SSD (appeal pending, still) the back pay will go to XYZ Co, not a lump sum to me.  From the time I'm approved by SSD and get checks from them, XYZ will continue to pay me the additional amount on their policy until I'm 65 yo.  The total amount, being 60% of what I was getting (and unfortunately was not adjusted for a couple years to reflect all the on call time), is obviously substantially less than my life plan thought it would be.  I could not live on what SSD will pay me and continue to have the house, even with the rental income from the 2nd floor apartment.  Having the XYZ coverage is what makes the difference.  It doesn't allow me to live large, barely covers with taxes, but is do-able without anything major going wrong.  (But, if you have a house, you know that something always is going wrong.) 

Over the almost 15 years (from about 50 yo to 65 yo) XYZ will be paying out tens of thousands of dollars on my policy.  Insurance companies don't like paying out policies.  The claims person has told me that the major anniversary for this company is the 2 year mark: by that time their 'people' will bend over backwards to find anything that would allow them to stop paying the client (me).  Apparently their 'specialists' will determine that if there is any job I could do, whether it is in my area or not, whether there are any jobs available, regardless of what my doctors say, if THEY say I can work at any job, then they will drop me from the policy. 

You may remember (or not!) in my last post I spoke about a co-worker who had been dropped by SSD, it turns out it wasn't  them, it was XYZ.  Fortunately, she was already approved by SSD.  They dropped her on the basis of two pictures she posted on Facebook from Mardi Gras: one taken from her hotel room window, and the other at a bar that was two blocks away which took her about 20 minutes to navigate to get to. XYZ didn't care: they said 'if you can travel, you can work', which in this case is ludicrous.  I mean, she wasn't on a trek around the world or scaling Mt Everest.  Being able to push yourself for a couple days is not the same as working 40 hours a day, plus the time it takes to get ready and commute, every week, every month. 

Now, this gal who got dropped told me that she posted these 2 pictures to her friends, not publically.  This raises an obvious question:  how did XYZ get the pictures?  It doesn't seem unrealistic that XYZ has some good IT people who can circumvent Facebook's security.  (Personally, I'd bet on facial recognition software.)  It is obviously in their favor to pay a couple IT people to find info to drop clients, probably saving XYZ hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. 

You can see where this is going......

It is in my best financial interest to keep my internet presence as quiet as possible, as well as to never say anything overly positive about how I'm feeling.   My Facebook is under Laurie (my last name), this account is tied to my long-standing AOL account, and now to the Google account which includes my name.  Fortunately this has never had my pictures on it, but I doubt it would take much to track all these accounts down. 

As I've said before my condition is stable, but is not improving.  Since being able to walk I've gone out several times a week, and can walk over a mile, but it  takes about 30 minutes and my left hip hurts from the disc disease combined with the foot altering my gait. I'm doing yoga at home and in classes, have started TaiChi and have lost almost 20 pounds (whole separate story), yet I still don't feel better. Today I went downstairs to get something, then came up the stairs, and my heart rate went up to 110.  My sleep is still an major issue, complicated by the Sjogren's, heart failure and CPAP. 

So, whah, and that's all I'm going to be able to say.

Not sure how many people are still reading, but thanks for following.  Laurie