Overcast and Chilly Friday

Blueberry Muffins

My internet connection has been off and on all day, but, I am still able to post as and when there is a connection!  Sometimes, the connection re-establishes on its own, but, more often, I have to restart the computer.  

This morning, I tended to some paperwork and medical insurance issues, which were resolved without much of a problem.  I always carry my insurance cards with me and present them when I go to the lab for blood tests, etc., because I don't like to provide the information online when I make my appointments (even though, after all the data breaches, my information is all out there, anyway!)  I usually check in at the lab using their check-in kiosk and that's when I enter the insurance info.  Sometimes, though, the lab tech will ask to see the cards and then I hand them to the lab tech.

But, yesterday, and on the previous occasion (earlier in the month), I had checked in using my phone (a much faster way of doing things, I found).  Checking in over the phone, however, doesn't allow me to submit my insurance info and the lab tech didn't ask for it on the last visit and I forgot to ask her if she needed to see the cards.  Yesterday, however, I remembered and asked her if she needed to see them and then, she said yes. 

Then, I told her that I hadn't submitted the information on the previous visit and asked her if they would use the information they have in the system and she said they didn't retain any information in their system!  So, I wondered how they would handle the billing?  Would they send me a bill instead of billing my insurance?  I tried to call the lab's billing department, yesterday, but, they are located in another time zone and their offices had closed by the time I called them, at 2:30 p.m., my time.

Today, I checked the insurance provider's website to check my latest billing statement to see if there was any indication that they had received the bill from the lab, but, it wasn't there, yet.  Then, I called the lab's billing department again and spoke to a customer service agent, explaining what had happened and will I be billed for the earlier visit when I didn't provide the insurance information?  She was very kind and looked up the file and said, no, they just called my doctor's office and got the insurance info from them!  Oh!  Such a simple solution and here I was getting all stressed about it!  

"Hi, my name is Bless and I am good at making mountains out of molehills!"

LOL! Apparently, I'm not the only one to forget to provide the insurance info, although that was the first time for me, and they have a system in place to handle that!  I was so relieved and happy!  I told the customer service agent I spoke with that she had made my day and I can relax and enjoy the long weekend with that situation resolved.  Big sigh of relief!

Once that was out of the way, I checked on the garden, refilled the garden cats' water bowl (which also doubles as Chicken Little and other garden birds' water bowl, as well as the visiting raccoons who tend to spill any water left in the bowl) and picked more blueberries.  I also accepted another package for friend R. 

Then, I cleaned the kitchen and ran the dishwasher.  

Brunch had been rice and beef curry.  At tea time, I made a batch of blueberry muffins, with freshly picked blueberries.  I reused the liners that I had saved from the tin of Danish butter cookies I had bought for the almsgiving; there were ten liners and that's how many muffins I made!  I tried to call neighbor S to ask if she'd like some muffins, but, she was not home; I think they've gone away for the long weekend.  There are leftovers for dinner, although I am rather full after eating two muffins!  I might have some cheese and crackers for dinner.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Not having to worry about receiving a big bill for the earlier lab work!
- Having medical insurance
- Phone calls, emails, texts, etc. with family and friends
- Internet connections
- Blueberries from the garden 

Today's joyful activities included getting the billing question answered in the best way possible and baking (and eating!) blueberry muffins.

Plans for tomorrow include doing some laundry and cleaning my bedroom.  

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for Saturday?  What are your plans for the long weekend?