4 accomplishments today and it's only 10 a.m.

1. Clarified some confusing directions from the people who will manage my COBRA health insurance and was able to get the check and enrollment form ready for mailing.

2. Was able to direct the company handling my 401k rollover to prepare to send me 2 checks (1 for traditional 401k money and 1 for Roth IRA money) made out to Vanguard, where the money will go, but mailed to me. I guess I then have to forward it to Vanguard myself.

3. My much loved and used "Pocket Hose" sprung a leak after a month-and-a-half of use. I became alarmed after seeing a lot of criticism of this company and how poor their customer service is. However, I was able to get a live person on my first try and she said while they don't now have any 100 foot hoses like the one i bought, they will replace with 2 50-foot hoses which I can connect together. I think I will just use them unconnected to prolong their life as I have a feeling the fabric exterior will become scratched again on my driveway and eventually fail again. I don't think they will refund the money.

I've used the hose daily to water all my potted plants on the paver driveway and have dragged it around to this spot or that spot. But it did cost me $50 and should last longer than it did!

4. I also got a full refund of $49 from another product, an online subscription that I tried to undo 2 days after purchasing for 3 months instead of 1. I had already gotten my credit card issuer involved but I see just now the company issued a credit. I hadn't expected they would on their own after finding they had no customer service telephone anywhere on their site, which made me suspicious of their legitimacy. No customer service number and they make you hunt all over to find a way to contact them via a little pop up box.

In other news....

I called and left a message to be a paid volunteer in a U Conn study on health behaviors and employment. They're looking for people who are looking for work. It requires a number of interviews and meetings over a period of 3 months but they have locations throughout CT, so hopefully there'd be something nearby. The pay is $672 so worth it to try.

Went out to dinner with dad last night and this morning he dropped off a small bucket of queen anne's lace for my butterfly caterpillars. I may have to pick more once i find it growing alongside the road somewhere. The smallest ones are now much bigger. There are 7, not 6.