The Dark Road Home

Monday will never make My Top Five Days of the Week list, Modern Philosophers, but today was even Monday-er than usual.

When I left the office at the end of an exhausting ten hour work day, it was pitch black.  I’d forgotten about the time change yesterday, and the utter darkness caught me completely off guard.

Alas, it was a fitting end to the day.  Less than a week after finally regaining power, I was back in the dark again.

Both literally and figuratively.

We found out today that the cost of our medical coverage for 2018 was going to skyrocket, while the benefits were going to decrease.

This at a time when we’re all putting in mandatory overtime to try to catch up on all the work we fell behind on during the blackout.

It felt like something of a “kick ’em while they’re down situation”, which was only made worse by the realization that some of us might not be able to afford to pay for the medical treatment necessary after getting roughed up like that.

I try not to grumble too much about money during our adventures together in Blogland, but you all know I recently had to get a new car.

Zombie Car, I sure do miss your zero monthly payments right about now!

So I’ve been scrambling to figure out how to pay for that new vehicle, and working the maximum amount of overtime allowed along the way.

Even with that, I’m barely keeping my head above water.  Now if you fill the tank with the additional cost of my medical insurance, there’s a good chance I’m going to drown.

After all, I’m a horrible swimmer.

You know I’m stressed about finances when I tell a friend that I miss my ex-wife because having that second income and someone to help me make the big decisions such as “Should I just decline the insurance and pray I stay healthy for a year?” was a big help.

I never go to the doctor, and I’m in much better shape now than I was six months ago, so it is tempting to go without the coverage.  I’m going to do some research on what the tax penalty is for not having insurance.

I do have some money tucked away in my Health Savings Account, so I would be able to cover minor emergencies should they arise.

The long, dark tea time of my soul (a little nod to the amazing Mr. Adams!) was not at all improved when I stepped out into the rain and realized it was now middle of the night kind of dark at five o’clock.

Of course, since I’m big on finding the silver lining lately (that quest might be the only thing keeping me pseudo-sane these days), I will say it was nice to be able to climb into the RAV4 for the dark, rainy drive home.

Yes, the same vehicle that has me deeply in debt was salvaging the day.

This post is apparently sponsored by Irony.

I do feel much safer behind the wheel of my debtmobile, so the evening commute was stress free, but rich on brooding.

If only everything was free, and I were rich.

Ah, the wordplay.

Someone recently suggested that I use the blog to make me happy, so tonight’s post was all about venting and exorcising the bad vibes from my overcrowded mind.

Thanks for reading and making me feel like someone is out there listening to what almost made my head explode.

Not that anyone would’ve seen it happen.  You know, because it was so damn dark…