I'm baking a pumpkin cheesecake, taking cues from a couple of recipes but essentially making it up. We'll see how it comes out, though if it's successful or if it's a failure, I won't know exactly what to blame, since I only measured certain ingredients, like bricks of cream cheese and number of eggs, but not others, like spices, which I like to add, sometimes excessively (or so I've been told). So far, so good: It's in a slow oven (300 F), and still has about a half hour to bake.
In the meantime, I'm remembering what a relief it was to FIND MY WALLET! Even after having canceled my credit cards and replacing my ATM card from the bank, and my driver's license, it was good to find it at the bottom of my backpack. Of course, it was in the wrong pocket, and I had made an insufficient check in that main compartment for it, though that's where it ended up...
So I phoned my health insurance provider (Anthem Blue Cross), and learned that I can get a cleaning and exam covered once a year, starting next year, as a new benefit of the plan. Unfortunately, my current dentist is not on their provider list, but I did get a few names of other dentists to try. One of them is the dentist with whom I'd had a dispute months ago, so I won't go to them. The name of their practice is Pacific Dental, and they're located in the shopping center of the Big Lots with an ARCO gas station at the intersection of Black Mountain Road and Mira Mesa Boulevard. Unprofessional and essentially out to bill as much as possible, I'd left their office without even having been given a proper exam!
I just phoned 1-800-Dentist to see whom they recommend according to my insurance carrier. It looks like the nearest one in their network is on Regents Park Row, in La Jolla, which can work for me, since I know where that street is and how to get there on the bus. I made an appointment for 4 August, since it's likely that I'll be in town then. I figure, as long as it's routine care, it'll be fine to go somewhere that is not within walking distance.
If Kat goes to see her father (even if it's in Colorado, where his mother and siblings live) that month, that is when Peter & I'll be taking our summer vacation. I'd forwarded to Peter an email announcement regarding dive vacations at Palau, and he responded that he's been thinking to return there, as he'd gone a couple years ago and had really, really enjoyed the diving there.
I think the band director at Mira Mesa High School told parents that the students will have about two weeks in August before band practice starts (before the school year commences), so we'll need to coordinate our travel plans, for it is better to make plans ahead of time and avoid last-minute changes (as Kat's dad did for Christmas this year, as he is wont to do). Kat's father seems to have made some effort to prevent me from learning where he's residing (especially since I'm submitting a petition to the court for an increase in child support), though I don't really care. It's immaterial to me where he lives as long as he makes his payments. If my petition goes through, those payments will go up to catch up with inflation and general increases in cost of living as a child grows older and incurs greater costs upon parents (namely, me).
Addendum to post:
I learned this morning (16 December) on NPR that Anthem does not pay for routine care sought outside its state borders. This does not mean too much for me, since the only care I'd require outside of California would likely be in an emergency, and emergencies are all covered. Any follow-up or long-term care that results from anything I get done over state lines would need to be written so that they can be followed by my GP and other health care providers within California. Apparently, this decrease in service area was one way in which Anthem is trying to cut its costs and ensure their profit margin, which, I'm sure, is plenty wide, especially since they are the largest health insurer in the state.
The cheesecake came out loose, but still very much edible and quite tasty. I hope I can remember exactly what I put in it, though I suppose that will never happen...
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