No winning today

Ah, Mondays.  When you're employed full-time, very often you dread Mondays. Your weekend is over and it's back to the grind.  I'm here to report that it's not much different when you are unemployed, or as I like to describe my current employment situation, unencumbered.

Frankly, I think Mondays may be worse when you are "unencumbered."  You dread Mondays because you aren't working.  You steel yourself up for the earsplitting silence of no responses from companies and you ready yourself for another templated rejection e-mail.  Then you try to balance that with trying to not get to psyched by interview callbacks or positive feedback on a resume submission.  It's a bit of a demonic merry-go-round, to be frank.  But I am really grateful that the getting psyched is happening a lot more than the big silences.

My Monday today was both a literal and figurative example of why Monday's can be dreadful.  How so?  The first intrusion was a COBRA seminar.  And not one about the supercool Bronx Zoo Cobra.  No, instead I got to hear about the alternatives to this:

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm very grateful that, by law, there is continued health care coverage.  I'm also mindful that I've been fortunate to have had excellent health care coverage all my working life.  And I know that it's a benefit that doesn't come cheaply.  However, in spite of regularly reviewing my contributions to my health care coverage when I was working, I had no idea just how costly it was.  Until, I got my COBRA statement.  And the monthly payment staring me in the face is more than some of the mortgage payments on houses that I've owned.  Can I get a "YIKES!"  So, to explore alternatives to COBRA, I spent part of my day in a seminar on that very topic.  The bottom line - the budget is going to feel some significant intrusion whether it's a COBRA or an alternative.  Outstanding!

The literal intrusion came a little while later, with a delightful visit to the doctor. The one who specializes in, well, plumbing. The one where you hear the snapping of rubber gloves:

I don't think I need to say anything more.  If I do, then you're not enjoying the delights of being a middle-aged man and I'm going to let you be surprised.  Good times, my friends, good times.  I'm glad this Monday is pretty much over.