Picture Phone

In 2020, I did a challenge to include a picture with every post of the year. Looking back, I had fun with the project and thought I would try it again this year. As 2020 started, I didn't know how strange a year it would be and one we wouldn't forget. Hopefully this new challenge won't repeat the past, but time will tell. This week was one of small trial, but it isn't over yet.

Several years ago, I heard about a program through Medicaid called Safelink. If someone received Medicaid or SSI, they could get a cell phone and plan for free. I like the idea of free, and thought a phone could be useful, so I signed up. It was a very limited plan, allowing only 60 minutes of use per month, but it worked fine for my needs. Most months, I got in trouble for not using a single minute or text and had to remember to use it.

Every year or so, I would get an email asking to confirm my eligibility. I went through the hoops and everything went well. I even got a few phone upgrades over the years and now have a basic smart phone. Since more people were using phones in 2020, the monthly limits were increased and renewals were also put on hold. In the four years since, I still didn't get my regular renewal messages. However, I must have missed something.

Using a mouth stick means touch devices, such as smart phones, don't work for me. Therefore, I still use my phone very little. The only use it gets is for entertainment while biking (via caregiver's hands) and verifying codes on some accounts. This is when I noticed a problem.

A few weeks ago, I needed to verify with Amazon I live in the US so I can receive book royalties. In signing into my account, I chose to send a code to my phone. It never came, and further investigation found my service had ended on February 17. I didn't receive any letters or emails, it just stopped.

Web work has been very busy, along with other projects, and I didn't have much time to work on the problem. However, Friday afternoon, I went through several automated loops to try to see what happened and how to restore service. Getting something for free doesn't come with great customer service, but I finally found an actual human that mainly spoke English.

At some point, my service provider changed to another company. I found their online forms, submitted my information and even a copy of my Medicaid card. However, that still hasn't reactivated my account or been accepted as proof. Now, I hope I can get my number back and be able to access accounts again. Time will tell if that will happen or not.

Living the quad life has fun times, and this seems to be the current one. I'm thankful such programs exist, otherwise I would not bother to have a phone. Hopefully this week will resolve it and I'll be back to other tasks.