Bills and Sponge Cake on Monday

Today started off with a phone call to the insurance company to ask about the $715 bill I received from the radiology center.  I was on the phone with them for 30 minutes, but it would be well worth the time if it means saving myself $715.  Apparently the radiology center billed the insurance company directly, instead of going through the HMO I belong to.  So, the insurance company denied the claim and the radiology center billed me, instead.  The person I spoke to at the insurance company spoke to someone at billing at the radiology center while I was kept on hold and explained what the billing procedure should be.  So, they will resubmit the billing through the proper channels and I am to disregard the billing, unless I hear from them, again. 

Then, I received the latest billing from the utility company, in today's mail.  $376.33!  What?!  Yes, the billing period is for 2 months, and the bill includes water, electricity, sewage, and trash collection, but still!  That's almost $400!  I usually don't go over $300 per bill, which is why I allocate $150 towards it in my monthly budget.  Well, a closer look revealed the reason for the higher than usual charge - they are charging me $87.85 as a "correction" on two previous bills from last year!  January 2014 to March 2014 and from March 2014 to May 2014!  My charges for the current billing period amount to $288.48 which is no higher than usual.  That breaks down to $101.50 for 624 kWh for electricity (I am allocated 1,000 kWh at Tier 1 rates), $51.15 for 11 HCF (hundred cubic feet) of water (I am allotted 24 HCF during winter and 29 HCF during summer, at Tier 1 rates), sewer service charge of $61.80 and solid waste (trash collection) charge of $74.03.  I know they experienced billing problems last year due to a change in the computer program they were using.  They over charged some customers and there's a lawsuit pending about that.  They undercharged me and I called them about it; I was told they will correct it later, and I thought they already did that on a later bill.  I will have to go through my old bills and see if I can figure it out.

All this worrying over bills had me feeling stressed.  I tried to relax by sewing on the quilt binding, but that, too, was giving me trouble and not coming along as I would have liked.  So, after fussing over that for several hours, I decided to bake a cake.  My usual sponge cake.  As I mentioned before, this is my favorite recipe.

The Recipe

I copied down this recipe from my mother's recipe book, and it is one of the easiest recipes to make:

Cream together 1/4 lb. butter and 1/2 lb. sugar

Add  2 eggs, one at a time

Beat well after each egg has been added:

After eggs have been mixed in

Add 1/2 lb. sifted flour mixed with 3 tsp. baking powder, along with 1/2 cup of milk; add vanilla (I hadn't written how much, so just added about a tablespoon); recipe called for salt, but I used salted butter, so I didn't add any salt.

Add vanilla

 Spread the mixture in a baking pan:

Before baking

Bake in a moderately hot oven for about 30 minutes:

Fresh out of the oven

Cooled on the rack for a few minutes:

Cake Cooling

And enjoyed for dessert:

Piece of Cake!

Breakfast was tuna salad on toast; daughter made fried rice for lunch; dinner was some of the groundbeef/vegetable mixture with rice.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Getting one bill more or less resolved
- Daughter making lunch
- Freshly baked sponge cake
- Time spent in the garden
- Getting through Monday!  :D

How was your Monday?