I would trade home repair for clothing alteration! Would that we had transporter technology.

Word.

That is awesome, Pix! I need to make a list of things to do before my parents get here in a couple of weeks, and then DO THEM.

I am so excited for you, sj.

I wish you peace and comfort from the funeral.

Steph, what Liese said.

I had a 10 am appt which rescheduled last minute for 1 pm, so I'm lazing a bit. Need to send two emails, make a phone call or two, and take Frankie to the park.

Steph, I hope the rest of your day is peaceful.

sj, that's wonderful. Congratulations to you and TCG.

The house needs a thorough deep-cleaning, to include professionally cleaning the carpets or replacing them. I'm lucky if I can motivate myself to vacuum the cat hair off the couches right now.

So yesterday evening was really nice. I had dinner with a friend and we ate burgers and fries, and drank adult beverages and talked about normal stuff. I left her house feeling lucky and loved. Then I picked up the mail when I got home. According to the life insurance company, I am dead. Oh, and my husband's name on the refund check for the premium overpayment is Fredrick {my last name}. *boggled* They expressed their condolences at his loss, and reminded him that the policy terminated as of the date of my death, 13 Feb 2012. The second piece of mail was the conversion packet--addressed properly to Rob this time--again expressing their sympathy and advising him that he may be eligible to port his coverage.

Very few things leave me speechless. This was one of them. It actually made me double over, and it felt like a bad portent of things to come. I managed to pull myself together to send them the following email:

I sent you the corrected claim form for my husband, RHP III, on March 14, 2012. His date of death is February 13, 2012, as attested to on the physician's statement.

Today I received two items in the mail from OneAmerica: a refund check for $131.33, dated March 23, 2012 and made out to "Fredrick N." for refund of premium for MFNlaw. There is no such person as Fredrick N. and I have no idea how you came up with this. The accompanying letter was signed by Account Analyst J.S. I also received a conversion packet for my now-dead husband, RHP III. He obviously does not need this.

Just to be clear - I AM NOT DEAD. My husband is the one who passed away on February 13, 2012. I respectfully ask that my term life policy in the amount of $X be reinstated immediately, with no lapse in coverage. I would also like to request an update as to the processing of the benefits claim for my husband in the amount of $X.

Please call me at your earliest convenience to rectify this situation. I cannot believe this has happened. In the middle of the most difficult period of my life as I mourn the loss of my husband, I am confronted with a mistake of this magnitude that could have easily been avoided. My cell phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. I will also be contacting the Maryland Insurance Commission to apprise them of this situation.

Regards,

MFNlaw

This morning I received a call from J.S., who apologized profusely for the mistake and pain it caused, and told me that my policy has already been reinstated. I asked for written confirmation for my records, and she said it's going in the mail today. So, overall I'm satisfied at how it was rectified, but good Christ, what a fucking gut punch last night.

revised multiple times to remove identifiers. brain = swiss cheese right now.

Jebus, Maria.

Don't you (or did you) live in Fredrick? Still a bizarre error, and so totally not what you need to be dealing with.

I know, brenda!

I do still live in Frederick (note spelling) which makes me think someone transposed the city field with the first name field, but managed to mangle the spelling too.

I did ask J.S. how on earth this could happen, and she said that it could have been something as simple as missing a checkbox as she worked on my file. She had no immediate explanation for the name fiasco.

edited because I am also having trouble with Teh Spelling today.

What a respectful email Maria. You show enormous strength, because my response would have been delayed due to a friend needing to edit out all the "fuck" "asshole" and "fucking"s.

Aw, fuck, Maria. Gut punch is right. I'm glad they're not being cretins about fixing it, at least.

Eek, Maria. And J.S. deserves props for (1) correcting promptly, (2) contacting you promptly, and (3) being apologetic.

Yeah, yikes, and good job on you, and good on them for the correction, even if the error is somewhat befuddling.

Damn, Maria. Your email was highly tactful, considering, and I'm glad they responded in kind. Definitely not something anyone should have to deal with.

Frankie just got in a fight at the de facto dog park. The dog (a big 1 yo, not super trained) was after Frankie's ball (which he won't even fetch half the time). We separated them, no physical harm done to either dog, but sheesh. Frankie seems to be getting sassier as he matures, and I'm sure it's something I'm doing (or not doing), but I don't know exactly what.

How old is Frankie again?