This is the best answer, thanks.

I was thinking of not so long ago when we didn't have constantly connected bluetooth/wifi networks in hotels and there had to be some mechanism for codes to be issued without the lock having constant connectivity.

Well, thankfully at least on that front, iCloud lets you set the recovery key that removes the possibility of using recovery questions.

But it still leaves this other hole that people can drive through.

If what you said in your description is accurate, you just became a landlord of sorts. If your housemate doesn't pay up, you have to evict him and find someone who can, or you're on the hook for the $. Tell him he's got to come up with the money or you can't afford to pay both your rents, and he has to move so you can get a replacement.

Why wouldn't they be allowed to do that?

Ask yourself, if you were offering something for sale or rent, you get to state the terms by which you want to sell or rent it to someone.

And it's up to you whether you want to agree to rent / buy on those terms or not. Reset your expectation about whether to be upset or not.

Unless you're in a rent controlled situation where you're guaranteed a rate/term, you decide to renew the lease each time. Or move.

Are you the executor of his estate?

It would be so much more useful if the linked site weren't just a nice-looking page giving the written definitions of the concepts, but actually showed examples of the effects/principles that they're seeking to convey. It's a beautiful website, sure (how much time did the person spend on those symbols/tiles alone?), but not what I expect when someone stands up an entire website to show graphical concepts.

In a way, it is itself an example of the mistake of form over function.

In your 401k online account, do you have a tab/menu option that shows sources of contribution? This should be able to tell you if that is a post-tax contribution or you really have contributed too much to pre-tax bucket.

Did you stop paying the bill when the phone wasn't delivered? That was a mistake. The best thing would have been to continue paying the bill until the issue was resolved, and get credit for that later with the company. Now it's going to be a much harder thing to get that credit mark reversed, if it ever even is reversible.

Why is it impacting your credit score? Are you not paying the bill? You need to pay the bill while it's under dispute, not because it's the "right thing to do" but because with google you have little other recourse than to wait it out. Otherwise you're just tanking your credit score. I guess there's no point in paying it now, because the damage has been done.

Your case is a replay of this person's same situation: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/yunynk/should_i_dispute_a_charge_through_one_of_the/

And DO NOT INITIATE A CHARGEBACK WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD when it comes to Google. They will shut down your accounts, Gmail, etc.

"...the beams pass through the final optical assembly, which converts the infrared light into ultraviolet light..."

Um, what??!

Just take this as a starting premise. When it comes to keeping track of money, the IRS is not stupid and you can assume they won't give away free money. Act accordingly.

Geeez, not to pile on bad news, but... working for a tree company and mountain biking... without health insurance!

Yes, I agree, that is the main issue and if you can get clear confirmation that that is how the company would handle it, I think you would be in the clear.

If you cannot get that clear confirmation, out of safety I might just enroll assuming that your choices will apply for rest of this year and into next year, and that you will begin your new job's health plan as soon as you start work.

Now here is a bit of gray area up to your discretion/judgement: You might try enrolling in COBRA anyway and submitting claims under your old plan. As you said, you're not supposed to have COBRA once you have another health plan, but maybe the systems are not in sync to tell each other that very well, especially for a new employee enrolling in the middle of a month towards the end of a calendar year. Maybe the worst that could happen is that an expense/claim gets bounced back and you have to claim it under your new plan. (and you would be out the COBRA premium as it didn't end up being used as you thought) It all depends on whether the cost/risk of doing this is worth the difference in out of pocket expenditure you're saving.

Your situation is definitely more complicated than usual, so I would get HR verification of your assumptions in writing.

I don't know how your scenario would work unless you mean, you decline coverage as a new employee, and then because it's open enrollment season for 2023, you elect next year's coverage. This may be complicated -- depends on how the company HR policies work. Maybe because you're starting so soon to the end of the year, they assume your choices carry over to 2023? What you want to avoid is a situation / misunderstanding where you declined coverage, and you actually declined it for the next year as well.

So investigate thoroughly with your new company's signup policy.

I see, then it makes sense. Just be sure to google/look into the "what if I have 2 health plans, coordination of benefits" issue. I.e. how do I make sure my COBRA old plan continues to be regarded as the primary plan until it expires.

I don't know why you would delay your start date at a new job just for this. You don't have to do that.

Here's what you do.

Start your new job, elect your new health coverage.

If you have any medical expenses until the end of the year, you retroactively choose COBRA on your old plan and submit those expenses under that. (if the COBRA coverage cost plus expenses makes it worth while to do this).

If you have no medical expenses, then you simply start using the new plan in the new year.

There may be a minor complication about "coordination of benefits" if you end up having 2 health plans at the same time. You might read the terms of the new job's health coverage for that.

And they'll start collections on you, and charge you for court costs as well, if they win. Up to you to assess the risk of doing this.