Beware--I Drive

       I’ve noticed some different robo-calls to our home recently.  Before I turned 65 this year, I was getting calls almost daily from folks who wanted to help me negotiate through this Medicare maze.  Translated:  they wanted to sell me an insurance product.  There must be a ton of money in selling medical insurance plans to eligible Medicare recipients.

     But that dwindled once I hit 65.  I guess they figured by then I MUST have signed up for something in the way of Medicare co-insurance.  But now I’m getting calls of a different nature, from folks saying that I qualify for a back brace, anxiety medicine or skin condition prescription at no or little cost to me.   Of course, I hang up immediately.

     I didn’t realize that hitting 65 was such a big medical milestone in life.  I do pretty much the same things I did when I was 64 since I was retired then too.  I’m physically in the same shape, save for some minor aches and pains.  Well, my short term memory is an issue but that’s nothing new.  I’ve always pondered the hereafter, as in when I’m entering a room then stop to wonder what I’m here after.

     But I received another wake-up call that society is considering me old.  It happened while I was going over bills recently and I decided to see if I could save some dollars ‘bundling home and auto insurance’ like they’re always advertising on TV.  So I called an insurance agent who promised, indeed, that I could.  Wonderful.  So I canceled my home insurance policy with another company and had him sign me up.

    Fast forward to about a week ago and I got something in the mail from that insurance company.  My check for overpayment no doubt!  So you can imagine my UNPLEASANT surprise when I opened the envelope to discover a bill for $50.  What!?  The invoice said the increase was due to a policy change review I initiated when I bundled my home and auto insurance.

    Again, WHAT??!!  I bundled to reduce my insurance costs.  I was on the phone to customer service in milliseconds, none too happy.  The customer service representative very politely explained that the policy review discovered (drum roll here) . . . that I’d turned 65.  I apparently was now considered among the higher risk drivers in their insurance pool.  So my home insurance did go down but my auto rates increased to make up the difference.  And then some.

     I haven’t received a ticket in ages, no accidents either, and I no longer have to fight the traffic and crazy drivers during rush hour.  Still, my auto insurance rates were raised.  And not an insignificant amount, I might add.  Is it my short term memory lapses they’re worried about?  Are they worried that I may suddenly forget what side of the road to drive on?  Or blow through a stop sign I forgot about?  You wonder. 

     Speaking of short term memory lapses, I took my grandsons to the recreation center this week to swim in the pool.  Since we had to use a locker to stash our belongings, I brought my wife’s combination lock.  I’m not too good at remembering combinations but my wife wrote the number on my towel.  In addition, she went over the combination with my seven-year-old grandson Grant.

      After we swam, I arrived back at the locker and realized that I’d absent-mindedly (that hyphenated phrase describes me a lot these days) stowed my reading glasses in the locker so I was having difficulty reading the combination on the towel.   Plan B.  Ask grandson Grant.  “What’s the combination again?”

     “I had too much fun to remember it,” Grant responded.

      *sigh*   Wish I could say that was my problem.