Monday - morning

Last night, signs of ketosis were evident on the test strips.  Not much, but enough to motivate me.  This morning? Gone, lol. How do I lose ketosis overnight? Not sure about that one ..... but....my weight is back down to 217 and counting.  I was up at 223 after I got back.  So, whether it shows it on the test strips or not, it's definitely showing on the scale.  Perhaps today it will start showing again.  Otherwise, I might be forced to go ahead and do a shorter version of a water-only fast.

I haven't done one since I returned from vacation because I simply haven't felt like it.  

I'm going to have to start working out again as well.  Yep, haven't felt like it. Vacation took it all out of me.  I was wiped out by the time we got back and the older you get, the slower the recovery.  

I've still got quite a bit of flab/fat on my gut and thighs, hence I am going to continue on with keto hopefully for as long as it takes. I say hopefully because after a while being on the severely restricted diet, you want to eat your potatoes, pastas, rice, beans, etc. You want to take a break from it even tho you know what's going to happen: weight piles on quickly.

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It's now Tuesday  night. Not a peep from work, don't care really, I've lost this much money in non-working why not some more?!! The truck isn't done. I have no clue what is taking those people so long to fix a truck that has been sitting there what, 10 days? What is the repair bill going to be on that thing?  I want to know just for the fun of it. 10k? 15? At what point do they decide the old junk isn't worth repairing and let's move on to newer equipment?  I didn't say brand new, just something within, say, the past decade anyway? 

I mean, driving up there Sunday for nothing really got me going and not in a good way.  At least I slept QUITE well last night. I'd love to hope for more. 

But you know what's keeping me awake more than anything, now that my room is cool again? Yes, that!

My room ac quit working some time ago and tho it isn't hot in here, it isn't sleeping cool either.  Yes, they replaced the central ac a while back and while they did it, they also replaced the old ductwork. Doesn't matter.  They either didn't put insulation in the walls when they build this carport into a room or they obviously put ineffective stuff in it, because it gets warm in here in the summer. Well, at least if the room ac isn't working. I have it down to 68 degrees in here.

The funny part? I've had a brand new AC sitting in the living room for what, 2 years now? I bought it when the one I had was making funny noises. I dunno why I didn't replace it, but the fan motor was making a HUGE amount of noise and hasn't been pumping out cold air at all.    It feels so good in here.

Oh, the funny part, well not funny, just out of the ordinary.  You see, it got so bad in here today that I had to open the door all the way and put a box fan in the door to blow the heat out. When the didn't work, I tried it the other way. Yeah, neither worked - at all. I'm like, I have that new ac sitting out there, why not put it in? Oh,  yes, because it's very heavy. 

Just so happens we have that lawn mowing dude and he is a totally upright guy, a very hard worker and doesn't play games. He'll help with anything if it means money in  his pocket.  I sent him a message saying I need help installing an AC  unit, but I didn't intone I needed help right now. It was 9 pm!  I didn't see his messages back or the phone call, I must have had the ringer off, I do that after I get so many spam calls, I don't want to hear the phone ringing anymore.  I must have had 15 of them in a row tonight. 

The next thing I know, the 9 year comes running into my room: Jeremy is here! Huh?  Jeremy! Ohh, well tell him to come in. Surprising, yes. He just showed up lmao. I didn't want to do this tonight, I just wanted to see if he could come tomorrow - well today now, lol, it's a little past midnight. Don't normally stay up this late but that's what a good night's sleep does for/to me. 

I said oh, didn't expect you to come so soon! He apologized, thought I wanted it in tonight, he could come back tomorrow. NO NO NO! You're here, let's get this done!  We got that thing installed in 30 minutes, including taking out the old one, putting in the new one and putting in the insulation.  Turning it on - took a minute before that compressor kicked in but when it did, ice cold air started pumping out.

I was fretting that one.  After sitting so long, was it going to work? Or would I be out a substantial amount of money on a defective product? Or  product that might need to be used before so and so time? I don't think the latter is true tho. As long as the manufacturer had it right before shipping and no freon is leaking out anywhere, it will work. And work the new baby did and is doing now. 

It's much quieter and the compressor kicks in and out.  It's a work of beauty. It feels so nice in here now, it's amazing!

And it's late. Need to get offa here.

Good night. 

 Sunday - late afternoon

What it boiled down to was, yes, I went to work today.  I slept like HELL last night, it was going to be a long miserable day.  But that only came partially to pass.  

Why?

Remember when I said the dispatcher wanted me to go up there, to El Dorado, pick up a tractor, then head over to a town near Shreveport, pick up a trailer and then go down and load in Lufkin? Yea, all of that.  

So, I got up early, 5 am, not uber-early but that's early enough, especially after having been on vacation a total of 10 days and not sleeping well - at all - the night before.  Umm, it was still night when I left lol.

I drove up there in my pickup, got in the truck fired it up, started my log book, did a pretrip, transferred my drinks and stuff from the pickup  to the truck and then.....sat there doing my log book. I noticed the air coming out of the vents was not cold.  

I proceeded to take off - this leg of the trip was no trailer attached. I got a few miles down the road and still no air. Contacted dispatch.  Did you know the AC isn't working in this truck?  It was going to be in the high 90's today with real feel in the 100's, no thanks.  She replied, oh just give it a minute, we just had the ac fixed in it. 

She's a kind soul and very nice person, but half the time she doesn't know what she's talking about. If the AC is working, it starts working right away. It might take a minute for cold air to come out? Yes. But 20 minutes? NO. 

I kept driving just to make her happy, after another 10 minutes I pulled over to the side of the road and texted her again.  "It's not working I wouldn't have agreed to this if I knew this in advance"

She replied she wouldn't have asked me if she had known. She went on to how it was JUST in the shop and it was working fine after they were through with it.  Yes, well if it's leaking freon that badly, I thought, they should have at least looked for it, found the problem and fixed it. 

"It's going to be mid 90 heat, index in the 100's.  I really don't want to do this."

"I'll call the customer".  "I'm bring it back.".  I didn't ask permission. It was already hot and sitting in that hot truck literally all day long was a non-happening event.  Are any of the other drivers driving without ac? No.  Would  they? Probably only if it broke while they were on their way somewhere and would be demanding to get it fixed immediately. 

IT'S FLAT ASS HOT OUTSIDE.  IT GETS MUCH HOTTER INSIDE OF THE CAB OF A TRUCK THAT HAS NO AC. 

I wasn't wasting any more words, I drove straight back to the yard, did a post trip inspection, noted the ac isn't working, got my stuff out and drove home.  I actually was so tired I had to stop and take a nap for 15 minutes - which made me feel fine and the rest of the drive home went without any issue.

Well, except: The AC in my pickup isn't working correctly either! I'm taking it into a shop probably tomorrow. I'm guessing the semi will be done tomorrow as well and I will try to get a ride over there to pick it up.  I'll guess beyond that that I have to work on Tuesday - but who knows? They often times get the beginning days of the week covered in advance. 

_________________

Many hours later.  I kind of think that truck having broken ac was a gift from God. It would have been an incredibly miserable day trying to drive that long and get all of that done with so little sleep.  I am not working tomorrow - they have Mondays covered by the previous Friday because they don't like to work weekends doing scheduling stuff.  Allegedly the truck will be done sometime tomorrow.  I dunno, but if I drive down the road and the ac quits working, I'm turning that truck around and taking it right back to the shop.  

BTW, the truck they wanted me to drive was a very junky truck, older than the hills and had a 10 speed in it. I'm used to a 13 speed which can handle the loads much better.  

There are other things to discuss, but I have to keep my mouth zipped on some of it for now.  A revelation came out about a situation going on here that really was incredible. Incredibly bad, maybe incredulous is a better term for it's amazing this has now happened the second time. I wish I could go into details. 

I don't really know what I'm doing tomorrow. It's so hot I abhor going outdoors.  I've been keeping up with politics to some degree but I haven't really been discussing it too much.  The hate and anger coming from the left is something I just don't want to deal with.  I don't remember Republicans being so filled with rage and anger over Obama and some of the things he did, such as Obamacare - which he later admitted was designed to fail, so that they could initiate single payor healthcare system, otherwise known as full blown socialism.  

Trump is Trump and he makes me laugh the way he handles the press.  They treated him very poorly during the Russian collusion hoax - I don't really think many of those people actually thought it was real, they just didn't like Trump so they didn't care if they printed outright lies.

Oh, I got a 2 hour nap this afternoon lol. That's what I did now that I'm thinking about it. I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open, I just passed out.  That's what needs to happen - AT NIGHT TIME!

So I'm forcing myself to stay up a bit later than I should because of that and not wanting to set the conditions for waking up yet again and not being able to go back to sleep - too long of naps will do that.  

With that, however, I'm outta here.  

 Friday - afternoon

I have had a sore throat and headache for several days, it's not crazy bad so I haven't really said anything about it - I picked up something on the trip or I"m just that worn out, could be either or a combo of both.

I"m starting to feel better today, the sore throat is dying down and I slept quite a lot last night.  

My employer was wanting me to come back to work tomorrow.  No thanks. I didn't say that, I just relied on not feeling well - which definitely isn't a lie at all - for not doing it. This started yesterday now I've had 2 phone calls about it today.  I finally agreed to do a Sunday Arkansas run - the other part of this was that they were wanting me to do an Ennis run.

No clue why, I didn't ask and I have no idea what's up with my manager. He gets sick a lot but perhaps he's on vacation.  I know he's been stepping back from active dispatch duties but he is still doing the schedule for everyone.  I mean, what else is there for him to do if not scheduling? Manager stuff, I get it lol.  

Anyway we settled on the Sunday run but my truck isn't finished yet and allegedly not done until Monday.  You see, my manager would never ask me to do this ridiculous stuff trying to get a truck that is 2-1/2 hours away by car, he'd just go to plan B, C or D. He always has back up plans and I don't know why this dispatcher doesn't do the same.  

Well, we agreed on a Sunday run but I then asked how I'm getting to El Dorado to get the substitute truck? Well don't you have a friend that can bring you up here? LOL!  I replied no in the absolute definitive.  Yes, my friend took me to Shreveport to drop off the truck but she isn't going to drive me clear up to El Dorado  for a sub truck, that's 2-1/2 hours!  She was offering money and such and I just said no, she won't do it and besides, she has plans tomorrow.  I wouldn't ask her to do that much as it stands. She likes to drive but she just go done driving the entire trip we went on (and yes, I offered to help but she said she was fine). 

My statement that I can't get a ride up there put her into a conundrum, apparently she assumed I could just "find a way" there.  It isn't down the street and around the corner. I can't even imagine someone asking another person to do that without a plan on how to get that person there.  I really dislike when my manager isn't available, this is the kind of nonsense that ensues.  

So now, she said well I don't know, I"ll have to figure something out.  Yes, please do and that was the end of that.  They must be hurting for drivers - I would have thought they would have pulled someone off OTR to cover for me.  I have been driving 6 days a week, surely my manager had figured out how to cover it? Not like this was a last minute vacation request, I put that request in many months ago.  

See, even if I get a ride somehow up there, there is still dropping that truck off up there and getting back down here. They have never asked me to do this before, just weird.  

Changing the subject, I am still dealing with this insurance middleman. 

 Thursday - afternoon

We got home yesterday around --- 7 ish?  No a little earlier than that.  We emptied out the truck completely and I put everything away that wasn't clothes/personal items related.  

I've very tired, as I expected would be the case after getting home from a fairly long vacation starting on Thursday and ending on Wednesday.  Which is why I took today off as well, but really, I need a couple of days recuperation time.  

My phone has been ringing off the hook for hours now.  All kinds of things, one of which came in about half an hour ago.  My truck isn't done yet, it's going to be completed either tomorrow or Monday.  I really thought they would have had that thing done by now, it's been in there what, 9 days now? I wonder what that repair bill will be. Well, there are multiple repair bills - everything is billed separately as is their habit in truck repair centers. The AC repair is separate from the oil leak repair, which is separate from the engine brake repair - well you get the picture.  

Anyway, one of the messages was about them wanting me to take another truck to use tomorrow for a Ennis run.  First off, how am I supposed to get up there?  I am not asking the lady of the house to drive me that far, that's 2-1/2 by pickup if you take the shortest direction, which you would obviously, but that isn't available for trucks with weight restricted bridges.  I think about that anytime I'm doing anything in a vehicle lol, even when it doesn't apply.  

This dispatcher is a nice person but when it comes to doing schedules, she isn't very good at it. The manager wouldn't likely ask me to do such a thing.  I don't want to go up to the yard, pick up what truck in who knows what condition, drive over the Crossett and drive home and then have to drive to Dallas and then what? Drive back to the yard?  I'm not driving my personal vehicle and frankly, I was at the point of telling them I'm not going to work again until the insurance problem is solved.  

Annnnndddd then. Another phone call. I'm not answering my phone because I'm busy getting post-vacation stuff done. There is a lot to do. I'm just taking a break because of this particular phone call.  I've had to wash my bedding - they left my dog in my bedroom most of the time. We came home yesterday and yes, I remember now, it was just before 6 pm and he was in my room.  I knew the dog would pee on my bed, just a granted at this point, he doesn't do it anymore because I don't let him.  He stays outside when I'm not home - excepting vacation obviously.  

He has to be able to come in at night and not bark all night long plus have a retreat from the outdoors. It's still quite hot out and tho I keep cool water out there and he has plenty of shade, I do like my dogs indoors at night and sometimes during the day depending on what's going on.  Today? Nope.  

Oh, well the dog peed on the bed, I could feel it wet so that was all washed in hot water heavy soil mode.  I vacuumed the carpet and just got finished going over the carpet multiple times with a carpet cleaning machine. I'm thinking of having a professional carpet cleaning company come out and really get the carpet deep cleaned. 

Anyway, this "broker" calls. They deal with our company and they deal with the Bavvy company in getting stuff done like our benefits.  How many companies have to be involved with this? I didn't even know about these people.  

She left a book's worth of a message. The long story short: Bavvy screwed up, but I already knew this.  This lady said she's going to be dealing with this from here on out. She is in a separate company unrelated to Bavvy but apparently deals with them making sure issues are resolved. She said she was  totally sorry for the "terrible" situation - at least they admit that much - that I was put in and that Bavvy had sent me an email about permission to set up whatever that gives authorization to have the account set up for auto pay. 

That is obviously not my venue, I don't deal with that. I deal with trucks and glue.  I am not HR, they had no business sending me that email.  She then stated that my company was not at fault here, I disagree with that statement vehemently. I have informed my company since these late pays ending in no pay started and they did nothing about it. They bear at least partial responsibility.  Maybe not all of it, but certainly some of it lands directly on their heads. 

What I'm getting at here is that the problem was identified in Bavvy not following through with an email they sent to the wrong person and not ensuring that it was corrected.  I had no dealings with Bavvy at all until July 2, when I found out my insurance had been canceled on May 31st.  I never even heard their name before, I think I might have seen that email they had sent and I didn't know who it was or why it was being sent to me, I just ignored it. I did not ignore the emails from Christus telling me the payment is late for several months running and in jeopardy of having my insurance  removed. 

I don't know who did what here, but Bavvy is paying my company back the premiums paid this year, I am going to be reimbursed all of what I have paid - it's a chunk of change folks, it's not just a few dollars, I pay for decent insurance because I want and need that kind of coverage.  They are also going to pay my premiums for the rest of the year.  At the end of this ordeal - well we'll see if we are actually at the end or not - I am not paying a dime for health insurance this year at all.  

This is thousands of dollars. Close to 5k on my end of it, double that on my company's end. That's how expensive health care coverage is and I rarely use it, I just have it because that "something" that might happen, God forbid, but stuff happens to people all the time and age isn't really even a factor.  Kids, teens, young adults, middle aged, old.  If you want to be able to get the care you need in a time of need and not lose everything you own? You best have health care insurance coverage. 

It's a happy - well I'm a bit reserved on it right now for the fact of everything I've gone through with this ordeal, we'll see if they actually do what they're going to say - but  aside from the fact I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch - ending. Everyone knows I was pissed because the situation continued to escalate and I was pretty   upset when this Bavvy company dissed me, didn't call when they said they were going to, put me off on the phone.

The only thing I don't understand is who is covering me right now. Is it Christus or the company I found to give temporary insurance? That was not clarified.  I can't use the company I found until the end of the year, federal or state law prohibits it - I think it's Texas law but my memory is a bit foggy for all I have read and tried to absorb on this matter to try and get it resolved.  It's temporary health insurance coverage only intended to cover a person - well going through something like this.  I never knew such coverage existed and neither did my employer, I thank AI of all "people" for not only telling me about it but giving several links to find the coverage I needed and the thing was even imploring me to go ahead and get it with or without employer permission and get that coverage!

I didn't listen to it at first but after it became obvious this situation wasn't going to be resolved any time soon and I wanted coverage before we went on vacation? Yea, I did it even when they were trying to stop me from doing so.  I didn't care at that point, it obviously doesn't affect them, why should it matter if I have coverage or not to them? Obviously it didn't.  

A LOT of people got involved with this situation thanks to me contacting all kinds of people within my company, contacting Bavvy myself, calling a government agency and threatening to fill a complaint with the Texas Workforce Commission for theft of wages. It most certainly as theft as far as I'm concerned, they were taking my money and not giving the services it was supposed to be paying for.  They knew I was serious and I was contemplating contacting a lawyer.  That's very expensive, last resort type of thing. 

Anyway, I need to get back to the chores I was doing and then I am going to rest. This has been one of the most exhaustive vacations I've been on in quite a while. We did a LOT of walking in extreme heat.  Everyone else - people much younger than me - are also worn out and didn't want to go back to work for lack of energy. 

 Sunday night

Long several days, no real time to put up posts tho I did remember to bring my laptop with me at least.

Sort of a different agenda traveling with another family.  Baton Rouge was going to the new and old state capitol - interesting but very hot and a lot of walking in that heat.  Then we were going to see something I would have really loved - the Kitt warship - but it had been moved to a drydock for a years long restoration.

Over to New Orleans and I can finally say I've been to Bourbon street and I can also say it's not  a place I would be interested in visiting again.  It was very hot, smelly, dirty, etc.  Lots of drug users, drunks, people passed out on streets, sidewalks, grass, etc.  The hotel was a pile of .... as well.  Nothing like the pics showed it and how they could get all of those awesome reviews? They had to have paid people to put them up there. I gave them a 1 star and I would have given them zero stars if possible.  The rooms showed a pic of a queen sized bed and double bunk beds. The rooms? Were the size of large walk in closets, had no queen bed and 2 sets of bunk beds. No furniture, there wasn't room for any.

The whole place was ridiculous and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Turns out it isn't a hotel, it's a hostel even tho it says hotel in their name.  I mean, we got the rooms to ourselves but even one of the rooms, the door wouldn't close they had to relocate.  The only thing good was at least the ac was working.  

We spent the rest of the first day and much of the second day there - I did not want to spend that much time there but apparently I was along for the ride.  It wasn't all bad, the Christmas store was very interesting.  I think halfway through the second day and after trudging through unbearable heat and humidity, we left there but there were several stops on the way to Gulf Shores, so many so that we didn't get there in time to get into the ocean.  

I did get to meet up with an old friend who is a regular reader of this blog, that was nice.  Yesterday, we spent most of the day at the beach. I got my fill of the water and dragging a heavy cart through deep sand, once in and once out. It was a chore just to walk through it, much more drag that thing! But we all had fun, I spent alot of it in the water.  

I'm kinda skipping past things, maybe get more depth this week when we get back home, but we are getting up early in the morning to clean the house, get our stuff packed and head over to Destin for 2 more days of beach fun or whatever.  Hopefully beach fun.  Fair chance of rain there tomorrow, pretty good chance on Tuesday.  I dunno what else there is to do over there, some tropical storm is trying to move in and even if it doesn't turn into a hurricane or high wind event, it's likely to dump a lot of rain. 

I won't let the spoil my vacation, we'll just find other things to do. 

 Thursday - early

Just a short one here. Got up early, like 4:00 am early for my sleep had departed from me for whatever reason, probably a head full of thoughts that I can't shake.  

Regardless, we are leaving at 6:00 am for Baton Rouge and then New Orleans. Will be a busy day once we get there, however, that is many hours from now. It's 4-1/2 hours down there and I haven't been in that area since I worked a previous job over in Louisiana.  

Health care issue just goes on and on, I did buy my own premium, it doesn't go into full effect until tomorrow, but, if there's an accident I am covered.  Bavvy wants to get me into the health care portal to "shop for coverage". No, I flatly told them - or more like a tone of irritation - I am going to file a few things, one with the government and another with Christus itself, to try and appeal this situation. 

I'm at least going to try before I go with United or whoever else is in the portal.  Otherwise, I think I would be eligible again when the yearly selection window opens up, near the end of the year.  This temporary thing is just that and it has a huge deductible and out of pocket expenses.  As I stated before, it's basically just a measure to keep myself from losing everything and going broke if something major happens. It has up to a million dollar limit.  That sounds like a lot but in this day and age, who knows. 

Anyway, apparently the Peterbilt dealership has already fixed the AC - or so they claim anyway, we'll see about that when I get back - and several other issues including the train horns, the cruise control, the engine brake and they said they steam cleaned the engine in order to find the oil leak and found "several of them", one of which they claim to have fixed and working on the others.  

Those were the main issues.  The ABS light was on all the time too, they hadn't addressed that yet.  It's the anti lock braking system, keeps trailer brakes from locking up if you slam on the brakes. I never much cared for that stuff when it first came out so I didn't really care if it got fixed or not - but - if it's on and DOT pulls you over, they're going to see it and write you up for it. 

We have a family moving in temporarily - friends - to watch the animals and to have a break from their temporary living situation. They moved back in with one of their parents in order to be able to save up enough money for a down payment to buy a house. Smart move, but I'm guessing that can get a bit sticky with 2 young kids and the issues they present in daily living. I know, it's a daily thing around here but I'm quite used to it.  No one will be here so it's a win- win. They get a break and we don't have to take 3 dogs and 3 cats to kennels.  

Last night, after having yesterday off, it was hard to shake the thought that "I need to go to bed, I have work tomorrow". It's been 6 days on and 1 off for a while now.  There are a few variants at times but that's pretty much my schedule.  Getting up early wasn't anything but the idea I'm not actually going to work, lol.

We did manage to get haircuts yesterday.  One of the boys wanted a mohawk - it's still a pretty popular hair style with younger kids, the other 2 didn't want haircuts at all but I forced one of them to get one anyway.  The oldest doesn't live with us so I don't really have any say in it, his hair is about a foot and a half long, unkempt and ridiculous.  It'd be ok, I guess, if he would at least take care of it.  His stepdad was here when they dropped him off and said he was going to cut it when he gets home, the same sentiment: he won't take care of it and it's pretty ugly looking.  

The other one I had them cut number 2 on the sides and finger length on the top and it looks good IMO and mom's opinion as well and that's all that counts.  

There's something looming here that had me a bit worried, it's a pretty major thing, not me but the man and wife here that will take place eventually. I don't know when but I had questions concerning my situation here.  Do I need to make plans to move on?  Not something I wanted to have to think about but the possibility was lurking in my brain. That was answered decisively yesterday and was "you aren't going anywhere" type of thing.  I don't mind if I spend the rest of my life living here tbh, no desire to move back to the desert and I've managed to make some friends here as well.  It's basically my home.  

I figured to be here long after the kids are grown and gone.  Or, have a house built on my property after this "event" is over with and we all move over there.  Not really sure, no huge hurry - yet.

Time to get off of here, get some coffee in me, play a couple of games and then get the stuff loaded in the truck - I got up well before anyone else.

G'day. 

 Tuesday - night

I think I mislabeled the previous entry as Tuesday which was incorrect. That was Monday.  

Today was the last day of work before this massive vacation. I say massive for the number of days off - 9 - and the amount of traveling we will be doing - with me NOT at the steering wheel.  

The offload went quickly, drove over to the Peterbilt in Bossier City - about 2-1/2 hour drive.  When I got there, the man knew who I was with. You must be the one with such and such trucking. Yes.  You're here for the AC issue.  Yes and a list of other things.

Well, we only have AC on here. I don't understand why every single thing with this company has to turn into a pain-in-the-ass, but it does.  We went back and forth, I simply ended this nonsense by saying first off, my  manager said he sent an updated list and second, I can call them right now and have them verify it. 

The list was not a short one, trust me, there are a lot of things wrong with that truck that have been needing fixed.  When we finally got to the bottom of this situation, I dropped the trailer on their lot, parked the tractor where I wanted it and waited for my ride. The misses of the house and the kids.    

The real ordeal today, however, was the ongoing bs with the health insurance.  This person who had sent me an invitation from Bavvy to use their system for health insurance never replied to fully 4 separate emails.  The man that is the contact for it never replied, either.  I emailed the HR person and told her I am buying temporary insurance today and I fully expect you, the company to PAY FOR IT.  

She wrote back rather testy - didn't you see the email they sent you? They said they sent you email and you never replied.  I replied to this person with a rather lengthy message.  I'm not going to revisit that message because this whole situation is completely and totally aggravating, it's going on and on and onnnnnn.....But in a nutshell, yes, I got their email and I replied to her 4 times without a reply and once to the man that was going to set temporary up also without a reply. 

This woman copies and pastes as reply from Bavvy stating that they never received a reply from me. I copied and pasted the emails I sent to them and then I jumped right back down her throat, reminding her that she didn't believe me when I first contacted her telling her that Christus has sent an email saying my health care coverage had expired on May 31st and sending her an actual copy of the damn email. 

I then informed her yet again I'm purchasing my own through the Texas portal today and I want immediate reimbursement.  I sent her a series of other emails since she wanted to talk so bad but I didn't receive any confirmation that the company is going to reimburse me for health care coverage.  

And yes, I went into the Texas portal and bought a temporary policy that is limited and has a huge deductible but it's intended for catastrophic types of incidents that you need that kind of coverage for. If you don't, you lose everything you own paying for it and your life is basically ruined as you once knew it. 

I sent a copy of the statement which included the price and no, I of course didn't receive a reply, but now I at least have coverage of some sort, better than nothing.  

I am likely going to inform my manager that if it isn't paid back to me before I return from vacation, I am refusing to work until it is.  If they want to fire me, they will get a lawsuit thrown at them for retaliatory termination and it highly likely that I would win such a case. I hope not to have to go down that road, but as is me, I tend to go down all the rabbit trails of things that could possibly happen now that I have started this ball rolling.  

I can tell you something that I have said a few times here: AI has been my friend in this. I am NOT an expert in healthcare situations such as this, I was groping in the dark and just happenstance put in an inquiry at the beginning of this into a Google search and an AI response came up that was quite intriguing. Asking it multiple questions, I came out with knowledge I don't really want to have to have but glad I found it. This AI creature even gives me drafts of the words I should speak to the various people I am dealing with.  Especially the government agencies.  It's quite amazing but yes, it can be wrong.  In this case and so far? It's been spot on.  The ESBA is a real government agency.

In fact, there is an update about that as well!  This lady from that agency calls me back and says she has called multiple times and has left numerous messages and has received no reply from them.  I was like, wow!  So, I gave her the direct number to Tabitha, the HR person! LMAO.  

After talking to her, I am assuming she spoke with Tabitha today, who knows they aren't saying anything from corporate, I input this information to a ridiculous long "conversation" I have been having with AI about this and it came back with a lot of stuff.  The only thing that  not replying will do, AI stated, is make the government even more suspicious. The government will not stop, they don't care how long it takes and it has "unlimited" resources.  Which it does, basically. They don't just say, oh well, they won't answer their phone or return phone numbers, ohhh my goodness nooo. 

So, that's where that's at for now.            

Today I started prepping for the vacation, tomorrow will be a full day of it.  Haircuts - me and 3 kids, tractor work at the park, a few hours should deal with it, pack, get the house cleaned up nicely, some trips to stores for the last minute stuff - we are having a steak night but they want to buy steaks from some meat house in a town 30 miles away. All well and fine, she is going over there tomorrow with the youngest for his psychology assessment.  The assessment will detail at length what they have found to be issues with him and in depth look at his inner being as they see it and what is going on inside of his brain to the best that they can determine it.  I have a list of things to do, is what I'm saying and I need to go to bed!

G'nite.                                                                                                 

 Tuesday -  night

Just got home 25 minutes ago, it's 8:00 pm.  I got to the plant this morning at 9:00 am and didn't leave until 5:00 pm.  Yup, they had an issue with their lines being clogged and it took them all day long to resolve it.  

Couple that with sitting in a truck that doesn't have AC.

Add to that the ongoing bs with the healthcare chaos. Today it reached a head for me.  I was informed that CHRISTUS - the insurance provider I picked and was paying for - has refused to reinstate me. Bavvy is the incompetent company that mishandled my funds and didn't pay the premiums and now I have to pay for it. They are still telling my company today that they can't figure out what happened....

About an hour ago, I informed my manager that I will be getting temporary insurance and the company will pay for it.  Note that I didn't ask or make  request, no no no. This has been going on far too long and now it's just going to happen and if they don't pay it, I'll file a lawsuit in local small claims court and they can send a lawyer over here to defend the indefensible. 

But now, I got into my email and found an email from these Bavvy idiots "graciously" offering me temporary health insurance until they can resolve this issue.  Well, how they are going to get me reinstated when CHRISTUS has flatly stated they won't?

Well, screw them, but thank AI for seriously vital information on how to get it reinstated.  I actually have discussions with AI on Google about things I need more information about and it has no problem giving it's version of reality, which is copied and pasted below:

3. Use an "Exceptional Circumstances" Enrollment to Get Back In

If CHRISTUS's insurance arm completely digs their heels in on the old policy, you can still buy a new plan with them through the marketplace.

• The Bypassed Window: Because you are past 60 days, you normally can't enroll. However, a third-party error qualifies you for an Exceptional Circumstances Special Enrollment Period.
• Action: Call HealthCare.gov at 1-800-318-2596. Explain that Bavvy's systemic failure locked you out of your plan and your standard enrollment windows.
• The Goal: Once they manually grant the exception, choose a new CHRISTUS Health Plan option right on the marketplace exchange so you can keep using your local doctors and facilities.

Would you like me to help draft the exact narrative text to copy and paste into your Texas Department of Insurance complaint so it hits all the right legal points?

 It's late. I'm getting worn out on this battle with this health care nonsense.  Even the owner of our company has now gotten himself involved in this ridiculousness.  He should, apparently this Bavvy company has also screwed over another coworker tho I am not at liberty to give out the details.  Not now anyway.