12:05 PM - 10.12.14
Someday I'll Be "Mr Pro-Active". But Not Today.

Despite my last entry, the message of which seemed to be "I need to get over my inhibitions" (In here, in my acting, etc), I've avoided writing since then.

Why?

Because I've been so depressed and upset and anxious lately, writing about it honestly would embarrass me and be (at least potentially) alarming and upsetting to some of you.

So I'm writing now because a couple things have happened to at least "cut the gloom" a little bit.

I got called - day-before-yesterday, I think it was - with the shoot date for my next episode of Shameless (I won't keep you in suspense here - It's this Tuesday, though I don't have a call-time just yet).

My emotional responses are so screwed-up right now that when I saw I had a voice-mail from my agent, I was actually depressed about it, because I "knew" it was going to be about Shameless, and not some "new bit of business"...and it was (I'm pretty torn-up over not having booked a single new job this year. Or "so far this year", for any "Pollyannas" out there).

I knew being "bummed" was not "an appropriate response to the situation", so I had to give myself a good talking-to, to "straighten myself out" - "You're actually bummed because your agent called about the tv show you're on? Well, here's a reminder - You like being on Shameless, you fucking dumb-ass! Not to mention you fucking get paid for it".

(I know - as "uplifting pep-talks" go, it kinda sucked. But it was the best I could do at the time.)

Anyway, now that I've read the script (another fun little bit for Kermit) and shared the news on Facebook (Cause I like to remind people that I'm an actor as often as possible, since I don't have anything else to brag about), I'm looking forward to Tuesday...though, as always, I'm struggling not to leapfrog right over Tuesday, and whatever fun and satisfaction will be had, in order to get back to worrying as soon a possible; about whether I'll book "at least one more episode" before the season's over - they're down to the last couple at this point - and, of course, to continue agonizing over what's turning out to be "My Worst Year Ever".

One of the repercussions of "My Worst Year Ever" is that, a month or two ago, I got a notice from the union which said, "Sorry Dude - We checked, and you didn't make enough money to stay qualified for health insurance, so you're uninsured as of 9/30/14. So don't get hurt or sick after that, okay? Or else do, cause, whatever - We don't really give a shit" (That was the subtext).

Sun 10/12/14 (9:10 am)

When you're already feeling downhearted about how your year is going, getting notice that they're pulling the plug on your insurance because you didn't make enough money is...cause to be even more downhearted.

But at this writing, it appears there'll be a happy ending (Though it's complicated, at the moment, by a dental situation I'll address momentarily).

After getting on the ACA/Covered California website and finding it quite confusing (I basically didn't realize you have to apply for "Obamacare" first, and then shop for your insurance. I thought any insurance you picked would help you with the "Obamacare" stuff), I called the union, to see if there was some kind of "work-around" regarding my insurance.

The situation with SAG-AFTRA is, if anything, more complicated than Obamacare (But it's a "more complicated" I have a little more experience with).

Here's the story:

Once-upon-a-time, there were two actors unions, SAG and AFTRA, each with their own health plans.

It was tough for working actors, because there was always a chance, with their earnings split between the two unions, that they wouldn't make enough to qualify for either plan.

But then the two unions "merged", and became SAG-AFTRA, and there was much rejoicing across the land.

But, sadly, the two health plans did not merge (Which is why many of the working actors voted for a "merger" in the first place).

So the union decided that, even if the health plans had not merged, they would allow working actors to combine their earnings, so they might be able to more easily qualify for one of the health plans.

And everyone lived happily ever after.

Turned out, I was only short on the SAG side by a few thousand dollars, so I called the AFTRA people to check how much I'd made on their end during the same time period (I was pretty sure I would end up having made enough to do the "combined income" thing), and was told that I'd made enough to qualify for insurance with them outright.

At that point, I thought I had a choice - of which plan I wanted to sign with (Which would have been SAG) - but actually, I don't; as an actor, if you don't make enough to qualify for either plan separately, you can do the "combined income" thing, but if you make enough to qualify for one plan or the other, that's the plan you have to go with.

So I emailed them the stuff they asked for (On Friday), and "In 3-5 business days" they'll process my application, send me my stuff, I make the first premium payment, and I'm back in business.

There's just one...little...glitch (Codename: Procrastination Strikes Again) - While I could have taken care of this weeks ago, I don't like to, you know, "deal with things" (I prefer a more "head in the sand" approach), so I let my coverage lapse.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Within days, I noticed I was getting a tooth-ache.

Now "noticing I was getting a tooth-ache" has quickly morphed into "I have a full-blown, having-a-hard-time-thinking-of-anything-else tooth-ache", with at least another solid week before I am back among the insured.

(For not the first time in my life, I'm thinking I really need to become more "pro-active"...)

But while I'm not exactly seeing this tooth-ache as a positive, at least it's a fairly clear-cut problem I can "attend to", that I have to attend to, one way or the other.

It's not "I'm alone, my career is going nowhere, and my life is meaningless".

(Pretty sure insurance doesn't cover any of that...)

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