Looking Forward to 1:00 AM on Friday

Ok, first of all, this post is once again dealing with my/Sam's ongoing dealings with SSI. If you want to leave now, I fully understand. As a matter of fact, I would like to leave now - except I can't.

Second of all, I know this stuff is boring to you. If anybody else were writing about it, I would have closed the window after the first sentence and moved on to more interesting subjects.

And third of all, while this subject is understandably boring to you, it is an anxiety-filled torment for me. So if you're merely bored by this, I envy you. I envy your life. Count yourself lucky and go out enjoy this "life" you have, while I sit here and resent you for it.

That said, in the ongoing SSI medical re-evaluation/review for Sam, which started back in February (in case you needed a reminder. Go back and look. I'm not going to link to it again), I received this letter today...

First, I would like to note that every time I receive one of these mailings, it seems like they always show up on a Friday. This was particularity a problem when I was working away from home. 

When I was working "at the office", I would often return from work at the end of the day to be greeted by a letter like this. And since, by then, it would have been after business hours, there would have been no one I could contact until, at best, Monday. Thus, this bomb would be left ticking in my brain all weekend long.

And note I say "possibly" Monday because, according to SSI, the most difficult time to reach someone at the SSI office is at the beginning of the week. (Which implies that it is somehow easier to reach someone as the week progresses.) The SSI recommendation was to call their offices later in the week.

The problem with calling later in the week is, under "normal" conditions, SSI is only open a half day on Wednesdays. So by this logic, this leaves only two days, Thursdays or Fridays, to try to get through to someone in the office.

But that's under "normal" conditions. 

As you can see at the top of this letter, SSI has helpfully posted their current office hours, which are (in case you're too lazy to click): Monday through Thursday: "CLOSED". They are, however, open on Fridays - from 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM.   

So set your alarm. You'll want to make sure you get in that queue early since everyone else will be trying to get in there during this golden customer service hour.

The other thing about these current business hours is, if, as I mention above, I were still working at the office, I wouldn't even see a letter like this until I got home from work. If that were the case, I would be left with the ticking bomb, not only for the weekend, but for an entire week - at least until the following Friday at 1:00 AM when I could easily call. So, I guess in that regard, I'm pretty lucky I was home.

And since I'm so lucky to have been here when this letter arrived, I went ahead and called Mr. Maxwell (even though it's not 1:00 AM). Unsurprisingly, I got Mr. Maxwell's voicemail. Maybe he'll call me back next Friday at 1:00 AM. 

Anyway, my question for Mr. Maxwell was on page 1, where it says at the bottom, "please try to have all of the items shown below from May 1, 2019 to the present." My problem with this is, they're not showing me any items "below". What are they looking for?

To make matters worse (I think), they make it clear that these "non-items" need to be original or certified copies, not photocopies. Why this is necessary for a phone call, I'm not sure. But regardless, I'm sure when they call and ask me about these original or certified non-items, there will be plenty of time to rectify any potential misunderstandings.

One last thing I'd like to point out. On page 2, the first paragraph is circled (I'm not sure if by Mr. Maxwell or someone else). I appreciate them bringing this paragraph to my attention. Otherwise, I might have passed over it - especially since my anxiety attack began back on page 1. But the thing is, for whomever wrote this, it should be "hear", not "here". And also, while we're on the subject, it's not "you SSI claim", it's "your SSI claim". 

Maybe I'll point this out to Mr. Maxwell, when he calls me back next Friday at 1:00 AM. I'm sure he'll appreciate my attention to detail and thus do everything in his power to swiftly re-approve Sam's claim. At least for another three years.