One Twenty over Eighty—I Hope

In the end, it was one envelope that defeated me. It took over 35 minutes to coax one from my home printer today. Well, actually two, because the one that printed thirty seconds into this exercise was upside down. That was the only one that came out clean. When all was said and done, I had to use labels, because the envelopes refused to cooperate. It’s a good thing no one is checking my blood pressure right now.

In the last month, these are some of the things over which I have not lost my temper:

1) Staring at a computer print-out verifying the receipt of my weekly unemployment claim, while listening to a customer service representative on the phone tell me the claim wasn’t received.
2) Getting no answer when asking whether I should expect a disruption in insurance service, before COBRA kicked in.
3) Confirming a disruption in service when trying to fill a routine prescription.
4) Finding out that while I could transition some of my company life insurance without going through the headache pertaining to “evidence of insurability,” the cost would be more than three times that of a new policy.
5) Having to demonstrate evidence of insurability to get a new policy. This involves approximately an hour on the phone rehashing every minor medical detail that occurred over the past 10 years and feeling guilty when one series of questions uncovers something I inadvertently left out.
6) Waiting for an insurance nurse/representative to come to do a quick physical work up on me (re: #5 above) when I had a regular exam just prior to the layoff, including blood work demonstrating that I am extraordinarily healthy. (That day, the blood pressure was nice and low.)

Nonetheless, it was the envelope that wouldn’t print that caused me to percolate today, setting off a minor volcano blow. It’s all good now though, because I figured out what is happening. It’s a little punishment. The envelope is not for a resume and it probably should be. Instead, it’s for an essay I wrote a few years ago, that I have edited, polished and decided to submit one more time to see if it could possibly be published.

Like everything in the last month though, it’s all in how you look at things. Perhaps this envelope situation shouldn’t be considered an aggravation. Maybe it’s a reminder to slow down and proofread the essay another thousand times before sending it out. Ok. I get it. And, while I’m waiting to regain my composure, I’ll edit the resume, for what also feels like the thousandth time and which was what I was supposed to be doing this morning anyway. But hey. The insurance nurse is coming soon. Before my blood pressure spikes again, does anyone know where to get some envelopes printed?

PS. It’s about five hours later, and point of fact, I did find a typo.