Sprayed four gallons of weed killer on most of the yard, hitting weeds individually. Took a break, then mowed the front half. That's enough for one day. Weather permitting I'll spray the parts I didn't do today and mow the rest.
We finally were successful (we think) in getting DW enrolled in Medicare parts A and B. In addition to all the other identity-verifying hoops they want you to jump through now, they also have to send an "access verification code" via snail mail. This has to be a nightmare for someone who has just moved. Anyway, either it didn't get sent or the USPS lost it, because it never arrived. After ten days SSA did send an email that the code was about to expire though. Gee thanks, that's helpful. So after spending an hour an a half with SSA on the phone last week, DW finally got her access code today and we're pretty sure she's enrolled. She'll call tomorrow to verify.
It was a lot easier when I started Medicare six years ago. I suppose it would be too much to ask of SSA to:
A. Hire enough people to answer the phone.
B. Hire people who are fluent in the English language. Twice the person she was talking to had such a thick accent it was difficult to understand them and this lengthened the time of the phone call by at least two times, maybe three, to repeat everything, not to mention the frustration of dealing with people who, shall we say, are not the best and the brightest.
If this doesn't work the next step is to call the congresscritters and see if they can light a fire under the necessary butt to actually get it done. Failing that, Plan C is hire a lawyer to deal with these people. The BCBS insurance she has now becomes secondary to Medicare the first of next month so due to SSA's foot-dragging time is now of the essence.
And then people at SSA wonder why people hate them. Little wonder they have to hire armed guards to keep people from strangling them.
