To Satisfy Them
Tuesday. A haircut this morning so I suppose I can say I did get something done. A bus ride downtown before nine to sit and read the paper over breakfast at a cafe next to the shop where I had the appointment at ten, then back on the bus to the apartment. A nap. It's good to have a nap. Some attempt to write something here later this morning, but nothing came out. It's eight in the evening now, I've watched the Robert Redford movie Lions For Lambs. It's heart is in the right place but I can see why it wasn't particularly successful at the box office. Lunch with the ladies tomorrow, which is good.
I'm going to have to make a visit to the local Social Security office this week to prove I was laid off from my old company last year and that I no longer have the same income they've been using to calculate my monthly payment. Using the old figure means they're deducting some sixty dollars more per month than my now retired income should allow. For some reason they want a statement from the company, an original, not a copy. You'd think there'd be a way for them to query a computer somewhere and know. I mean they're the government, Big Brother, after all.
I contacted my old company and asked them for a letter, a simple sentence that says I stopped being employed on June 29, 2007. The HR person said yes, she could do that, no problem, but then never sent me the letter, never responded to my follow up email queries. Was there a problem? Was it sent and I didn't receive it? Was she on vacation and no one was following up? I have no idea why. Maybe there's a legal issue, but no response. For some reason my reaction has been to just shrug my shoulders without any particular anger, although I guess I'm surprised. I'll go to the Social Security office with whatever I can find around here that they sent me when I was laid off and see if that will be enough to satisfy them.
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