One Stepping Stone/Stumbling Block at a Time

Yesterday morning, quite early, I received a phone call on my cell phone. It was Stephanie, from Social Security, telling me that all of the paperwork is completed, and has been keyed in. Today, no later than tomorrow, my application should be active and I can go ahead and get things moving for my Medicare number. As we were laughing over the phone, I told her "I know I have plenty of time to get the SS worked out, but to get the insurance change-over, I'm against a wall. If I stay under my current insurance, I'll be spending more than $500 extra on coverage instead of switching plans." She totally understood and I'm moving along. What a relief. 

Do any of you remember the game "Pitfall!" for the Atari
system? I might still have it in my cabinet, along with
my old, original Atari. It was a hoot. It's starting to
look rather indicative of my life over the past few
months, though. That's a bit frightening. 

Of course, that just opens the pit for the next pitfall. On one hand, I need to get a new driver's licence, and on the other hand, our small income tax refund is probably toast and we'll owe. Ouch on both counts. Damned government. 

The "Enhanced" Driver's License has the US Flag because
they've confirmed your status as a US Citizen. The
rest of the license is pretty much the same as the prior
versions. I don't have to get an EDL, but I would rather
like one. It would make things a bit easier if we decided
to swing up to Canada or something. 

I'd like to get one of the fancy-dancy driver's licenses this time - the kind that will allow me to cross the borders into either Canada or Mexico or even go to the Carribean. I'm not necessarily planning any trips north, south or east, but I'd like to be prepared. Unfortunately, the documentation they request is going to be hard for me to get. I may have to start writing the Department of Motor Vehicles and find out what they will consider acceptable. I have a long list of "we accept X and Y", but most of them only want things that expired within the past year. Like a passport. My passport expired more than 20 years ago. I didn't need one, I haven't traveled, so I didn't bother renewing. *sigh* Time for the next bureaucratic nightmare. Argh! 

I'll get the hang of this yet! 

So, one stumbling block at a time. At least I'm only backing up one step for every two steps forward. Have yourself a totally fabulous Thursday. I'll be celebrating the birthdays of three friends on LJ. Maybe I'll treat myself to a cookie. LOL I'll be back tomorrow with a rundown of this week's Project Runway.