The Boss is in Rohnert Park today, just seven miles away. That's the closest he ever gets to being in the same room with me, which is fine, but this trip has me worried. I'm afraid he won't be able to make it through the upcoming storm and get back to Nevada. I'm hoping he doesn't get stuck in California, especially so close. My independent lifestyle is in serious jeopardy here.

Luckily, he considers it a poor use of his time to come to my house. That's why I've been able to set my own hours, not to mention the rather casual dress code I enforce upon myself. If I thought he might show up at my door unannounced, I might have to get up before nine, dressed before ten. I'd probably consider shaving and wearing shoes. I'd have to clean the bathroom and vacuum the rug.

I'm scaring myself a little here. It's a good thing I don't have to think about it. Even if he were coming, he'd need to call for directions, since he hasn't been around since the last time I moved. Or the time before that, come to think about it.

On the other hand, maybe he'd notice how badly I need some grading done in the driveway. He might even offer to buy me a tractor to keep the weeds down.

It's more likely, though, that he'll see the spare bed in the loft and think he has a new place to stay when he comes into the area. After all, he's paying part of the rent here. And every time he stays with his ex-wife, she has work for him to do around the house.

Okay, I'm getting scared again. I just hope the big storm that's headed our way doesn't keep him from his appointment in Sacramento tomorrow, and then on home to Nevada. That's when I'll exhale again, after he's safely on the other side of the mountains.

When I write something like yesterday's entry, I don't expect any comments or feedback. But I brace myself for it anyway, because I'm writing about a subject that I know so little about. My perspective on the insurance industry is that of a mouse looking at a falling tree. The whole thing doesn't have to come down of top of you for it to do major damage. One small branch is enough.

The agent called today and asked if I got her fax a week ago requesting "clarification." I asked her exactly what she wanted. She said the insurer needed a statement that the two employees in question were not full time. I said I'd give her that, but I'd already told them exactly that, on the form I sent with the application. Her answer was, "As far as they know, it might have been the agency filling in the form." She wanted a statement on company letterhead, and she had it within ten minutes of her call.

When I sent her the completed application forms several weeks ago, I told her that I hoped it was all she needed, because I expected her to carry the ball from then on. And I suppose she has, but we're still where we were a year ago, overpaying for underservice. So I don't really have much faith that this is the end, or that we'll get the new policy without further runaround.