Highs and Lows

It’s been one of those weeks that I wish I could have skipped completely. This time change is still affecting me and the cats. We sleep and eat on standard time and the rest of the day is spent on daylight saving time. That may have something to do with my volatile emotional state.

My car is broken and we think it may be a major problem—several thousand dollars to repair. There is a leak of coolant, and the motor and all the stuff under the hood (stuff--that’s a technical term) is so compact that we can’t see where the leak originates. Mr. Fixit has spent a few hours every day trying to find the source but can’t. We made an appointment with a mechanic for tomorrow morning to check it out. If it’s a minor problem, we will have it fixed; if it’s a major problem, Mr. Fixit said he was going to tear the motor down himself in his spare time. I can do without a car, but it sure will be inconvenient for us. Every now and then I have to pick up the grandchildren after school or pick them up in the mornings if they are sick. There is no way we can buy a new car. Well, we could but it would be a strain on our budget.

Our AIG annuity is maturing next month. We met with our investment guy and told him we want to get our money out of AIG because they are all a bunch of greedy crooks. We have to transfer it to another annuity so that we won’t have to pay a boat-load of taxes next year. I think he found a solution for us so we have another meeting scheduled for Monday.

We also had a meeting with an insurance guy about Mr. Fixit’s Medicare supplement. The plan he has now has almost tripled its premiums this year. He (the insurance person) had some suggestions to lower our costs.

I hate these financial meetings. Too much information just goes right over my head to make good, informed decisions.

Now for the good news—Today when I was paying bills, I called the hospital to see if they had received all the payments due from the insurance companies for Mr. Fixit’s heart catheterization and stent. The small hospital where he was treated in the ER and had the catheterization said we owe a little over $500.00 on an approximate $20,000 bill. Then I called the hospital where the stent was done. That bill was huge! It was in excess of $35,000.00, but we have never received any sort of statement from them. We knew the amount of the bill from the incomprehensible insurance summaries. When I asked the lady if she could give me a ballpark figure of what we owe, she said, “Mrs. Fixit, we show a zero balance on that account.” I said, “Are you sure?” She said she was sure. To my great embarrassment I started to cry—tears of joy, of course. I had expected to be told that we owed at least $5,000. What a relief! I had been so worried about those bills. She must have thought I am completely nuts; she may be right.

When I went down to tell Mr. Fixit, I completely lost it. I was standing in the driveway sobbing like my heart was broken, but it was that the worry had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt like a fool. I hope nobody saw that little emotional exhibition.

I don’t know whether I could stand another week like this one. Thinking about money makes me crazy!