buh, i forgot that there was one last step of actually paying my premiums to BCBS, and that wasn't necessarily going to be a simple matter of keying in some credit card information on some handsomely designed, efficient website

clearly i was a fool

everything *seems* to be set for now, but apparently i am not able to pay online until i get a member id, and i can't get a member id until i pay my first premium...

which means i just got off the phone with the sweetest 126-year-old csr, who was helpful to the absolute best of her abilities but thanks to years and years of unstimulating drudgework had the effective memory of a goldfish

*sigh*

at least she was a very sweet and chipper goldfish, and i'm sure she is a very wise and sensible old lady in a more richly humane context outside of her day job. but it would have been nice if her memory hadn't fully reset itself every time she changed task screens