LIFE GUARANTEES -- GANG AFT AGLEY

You never know what you're going to read when you come to my blog as my previous post evidenced.  Some bloggers write sequential posts describing their day-to-day activities, others writings cover over a week or longer; then some have themed subjects, explore other topics, memories and ideas. 

By comparison, my blog posts are probably somewhat of a hodgepodge of my meandering thoughts, some of life at any given time, some recollections and mostly whatever happens to be capturing my interest at the time.  I'm not sure there is ever a long consistent connecting thread that might serve to stimulate readers to return and read more.

One such short thread currently is my "smart phone" that was delivered when expected at the end of the previous week.  I think the iPhone seems to be rather like a smaller version of my iPad-Mini that I like so much.  The larger phone size is less desirable to me than my cell phone which fit nicely into a small pocket-like padded carrier.  There was a soft material handle I could hook my fingers through to carry about and still have the use of both hands, or put the cell phone in my pocket -- to have handy should I need to make an emergency call.  

My little cell phone was ideal instead of subscribing to one of those special services necessitating wearing a device to hang around my neck or a pin to affix on my clothes with a button to push should I happen to fall, for example.  But there are various smart phone features that I may gradually incorporate into using that exceed those offered by my now former cell phone.

Perhaps the next change I might make will be to use a "smart watch".  I remember when reading the Sunday newspaper's comic strip page was a regular activity I began enjoying when I was elementary school age decades ago.  I wasn't a regular fan of Dick Tracy, but I do recall being impressed with the fantasy aroused when he started wearing a 2-way wrist radio on which he could send and receive messages -- pictures, too!  That could never happen in real life --- could it?

A few decades later kids got a toy 2-way wrist radio as featured in this commercial:

Another longer thread I've been mentioning occasionally had been our unusual weather.  Climate changes here occupy the interest of most of us Californians since we have been jolted into ongoing drought conditions.  For example, as Thanksgiving approaches we've unexpectedly been catapulted back into summer with our temperatures pushing 90F degrees where I live.   Others in SoCal are presently having even higher numbers -- no rain, of course.

Periodically a thread of aggravations will reach a pressure point forcing their emergence into my writings.  So it is, I wish radio and television commercials were prohibited from using the ringing of doorbells in their ads to garner a listener or viewer's attention.  

When I'm only half-way attentive sometimes, I hear the doorbell and all too often think it's my house doorbell ringing.  Inconveniently, I make my way to my front door to discover no one there, cause that bell wasn't my house ringer, just some broadcast commercial.

Just as there is no surety about the source of some doorbell rings I hear, there are no other guarantees either.  Definitely there are no guarantees in life as most of us likely have learned in many ways through our years if we didn't already know that truth.  

There have been so many unexpected situations, unlike those we experienced when he was living, that I've encountered since my husband's death 15 years ago.  I sometimes wonder if such surprises will ever end short of my death.  Most recently, an unexpected letter arrived announcing a specialty supplemental-type insurance policy that transferred to me when he died is terminating mid-month.

The highly rated one hundred-year-old-plus insurance company that issued that policy experienced a deadly siphoning of their assets over time through a complicated setup by one of their trusted administrators through other thought-to-be legitimate company associated businesses.  When the criminal enterprise was discovered, the financial deficits were so severe that even several years efforts to save and rehabilitate this once highly respected insurance company could not overcome the damage.

Just as the company could not be saved, this policy we had paid into with its benefits are being terminated.  The individual premium was very modest, much less than one hundred dollars annually, and we did have the coverage those years which we, fortunately, never had to use.

The coverage was for a variety of incidental expenses one could encounter, beyond what regular Medicare and other supplemental health insurance policies pay for cancer and a number of other serous medical conditions.  The group policy had been available through my husband's employer, continued following his retirement, then transferred to my name when he died.   Now, in my older years might be when I could be more prone to issues qualifying for the benefits.  Hopefully, I won't ever need them.

My time has been absorbed recently seeking information, including clarification on this matter, pursuing possible options on related issues revolving around this policy and determining if there is the possibility of  a replacement plan through the employer from whom he retired.  Predictably, given how life goes, accomplishing all this was not simple, in fact, rather complicated and time consuming.  There was lots of navigating recorded phone mazes, leaving messages, being transferred to a seemingly never-ending number of others who were said could better handle my inquiry, referrals to call a different number, a few emails, and the beat goes on, but I finally obtained some answers. 

I still wonder if there might have been some negotiations (formal or informal) on this matter that were part of his agreement to take early retirement that could be pertinent.  Those facts may be lost in time, so there is to be no replacement policy.

So far, a similar medical reimbursement policy purchased privately with a company to which I was referred, revealed that in California, at least, they will not sell such a policy to anyone over 65 years of age.  I notice the original now terminating plan still appears on an internet search, but I've been unable to locate such a plan with other insurance companies to establish their requirements.   In fact, I haven't been able to find another insurance company even offering such a policy other than that one with the age limitations.                        (Please don't suggest other policies to me and I hope insurance companies don't start contacting me with their very different and much more limited and expensive policies either.)

This is one more instance of how some of the care we may take to arrange matters after our death can go not as we expect.  We plan as best we can, but even the most improbable things can happen.  I'm reminded of Scottish Robert Burns poem from which "gang aft agley" is often interpreted as meaning plans going awry.

Perhaps you recall instances in life that have confirmed to you there are no guarantees, eh?