my health insurance drama continues. actually, more like a minor inconvenience. due to restructuring, MGH no longer accepts network health, the insurance i just joined back in april. the solution was to switch to celticare, which is the exact same price but MGH-compatible. i've tried changing the insurance online at least 3 times this month, 
but my status on the mass health website would never update. finally i called the mass health connector to talk to a real person. he kept pushing me to do it online. after i told him it didn't work, he said maybe it was because i was on a mac or used the wrong browser (i tried it on a pc using the recommended internet explorer and it still didn't work). finally he said he could update my insurance for me (thanks for making me jump through hoops). the switch wouldn't happen until july 1st and i wouldn't receive my info packet (including id card) until 10 days after that. i then called MGH to tell them i made the switch, but they won't schedule any appointments or referrals until my insurance is officially transferred, so not until july. in the meantime my visit to the urologist will have to wait.
i've been afraid to do my laundry because of the small amount of water i found in the center of the basement. i was afraid maybe the washing machine was leaking and that was the result. so when i washed a load of dirty clothes today, i went down to the basement a couple of times to see if anything was leaking. perfectly fine, completely dry. so where did all that water come from? is it seeping from the ground below? i want to ask my upstairs neighbor about it but not since the whole skylight debacle from last summer have we talked anything about home repairs. i think it's better to ignore it until it actually becomes a serious problem.
i didn't get a chance to work on the trek 850 today. i could've brought the bike inside during a brief period this morning when it wasn't raining but i didn't. changing out the shifter cables is a dirty job anyway, best done outdoors (although working indoors would prevent any small parts from getting lost once i disassemble the actual shifter housings).
a craig's list seller in kendall square never got back to me about a $10 window fan. it was a moving out sale, and there was also a food processor i had my eyes on. a recheck of the posting saw those items already removed, i assume they were sold. a quick browse for bikes less than $100 came up with this gem: a schwinn women's gateway city bike for $70. this was the exact same bike i saw at target on monday, selling for $220 $200 (i must've misread the label at the store). the posting was made around noontime and i was afraid the bike would already be gone (i saw it at 7:30).
to my surprise, the seller wrote back in the evening. the bike was still available, but due to overwhelming interest, she was seeing if she could up the price a little bit, a sort of blind auction. i wrote her back, saying i couldn't go any higher than $80. in a bidding war i knew i'd lose, but i told her the bike was for my mother and that i'd be willing to come in the pouring rain tonight to buy it. i guess my heartfelt desperation got to her, and she was willing to sell it to me but only if i'd also buy all her accessories (2 locks, bike bell, pink helmet, rear light) for $20 more ($100 total). i told her i already had all those items, and that she should just sell the bike to one of the high rollers since i wasn't willing to pay $100. i guess none of them gave her a compelling reason to sell (other than more money) and a little while later she wrote back saying she'd sell me the bike for $80 and $4 for the rear light. i'm scheduled to pick it up tomorrow night around central square.
since i didn't make a grocery run, i ate the box of toaster oven pizza in the freezer. bram was soaking wet when he came home, the man does not believe in umbrellas. he was considerate enough to leave his wet shoes in the foyer instead of walking into the house with them on. i told him i found his school id when i was drying my clothes. it must've been stuck in the lint trap.