Obamacare adventures

    To cut to the chase, I wound up not signing up. My premium would have been equivalent to my rent and I still would have had a vast deductible to meet. So it would have been crazy. But trying to sign up was a whole lot of fun!
    I went on the site the day before the deadline and estimated my costs. It looked pretty good. Or anyway, it looked like I could avoid any fines or fees at no cost to me. The deductibles there too were very high, but at least it wouldn't cost anything. Still, I had some questions I wanted to ask of a real human being so I held off trying to sign up for a day.
    On Monday, March 31, or Deadline Day, there was a program at the public library to help people get signed up. I arrived at the start and they weren't yet ready to do the actual signups yet but could answer questions. Since that's all I wanted, I asked mine and got good answers, indicating that indeed the best move for me would be to go with the zero cost/ giant deductible option and thus avoid possible fines.
    I admit it; I dawdled. I really thought everybody who wanted to sign up had already done so. I was wrong. I tried about 9 pm to get on the website. Eventually I did and was able to start the process, but had to wait for a verification email. This wound up taking an hour. When I tried logging on using the link in the email, the site said that my account was blocked, and suggested that I call the 1-800 number. I did so and a computer voice asked me to leave my number, which I did, and the computer told me that because I had tried to complete the process before the deadline that I would be considered to have beaten it and that I would get a call back within a week. I was relieved, partly to have beaten the deadline but mostly because I wanted to go to a show that I was already late for. I went!
    A couple of days later, a robot phoned me and said that I was still on the waiting list and that I would receive a call. Yesterday, another robot called to say that if I still needed insurance I should call the 1-800 number again. Was she a rogue robot? I don't know.
    Anyway, I called today and went through the whole process. For reasons that the Internet doesn't need to know, I don't qualify for any assistance, so as I say, high deductibles AND high premiums. This might have something to do with the fact that I'm older than God; I don't know. Anyway, my rep was very fun to talk to, the entire experience was a lot of fun, if they decide to fine me, it'll be under $100 (this year), which I can live with. I can still change my mind up through 4/15, too. The only bad part was that Obamacare's hold music was the goopiest! Also loud. Maybe those were the death panels everybody warned me about.