I see that you were able to get help and I'm glad, for anyone else who runs into this problem - from very recent experience, contact your local representative's office. Mine was EXTREMELY helpful. I spent over a month trying to contact the UE office and got nothing but a busy signal. I probably called 2500 times. I spoke with my rep's office on a Friday afternoon and by Monday afternoon someone from the UE office had called me and gotten my problem sorted out (they owed me four months of backdated UE due to a problem that took less than 30 seconds to fix). They also called to follow up with me to make sure that my issue had been addressed.

Can I piggyback on this to ask how much of a PITA it is to go through the initial process? My doctor has suggested MM several times for my anxiety/panic issues but I've been kind of dragging my feet because I'm not sure how necessary it is to go through the process and expense when I don't need something regularly, just every now and then. I have a scrip for Xanax and it took me over a year to go through 10 pills because my attacks are so sporadic and because I don't like taking them. I would have less hesitation to use MM than I do the xanax, I'm just not sure I'd need it often enough to make it worthwhile.

Is he the one who had the ads that said "fight China" at the bottom and the ads with his gun slinging elderly mom who referred to herself as Annie Oakley? If so, I'm not sure which one of him or Mastriano is the bigger wierdo.

I told them my best friend was injured in a mass shooting so I would be very harsh on violent criminals, especially if it involved a gun or male-on-female violence (true) and I would never vote for the death penalty under any circumstances and I think that the system in general is heavily weighted against people of color and women (also true). Pretty sure neither the prosecution nor the defense wanted me after those answers. Feel free to use those as well.

I don't know if Federal duty is anything like Allegheny County but I was just excused from reporting two weeks ago because I had a cold. They aren't taking any chances with Covid these days. I had to fill out a medical questionnaire and I answered honestly - I did have symptoms on the list they provided but I didn't think I had been exposed to Covid and I hadn't tested positive. They excused me anyway. It's not totally honest if you were to do the same I guess but if it's a matter of a small fib and not having anyone to care for your baby I don't think many reasonable people would begrudge it.