This and that

This week has been busy with medical appointments and so will next week.

Ok, most recent first.

Took the Blazer to the shop Wednesday. Grinding brake noise and slipping. Our mechanic drove it last week and didn’t detect any brake issues. Wednesday he picked me up and we went for a ride and he said to let him know when it starts doing either or both. For awhile, nothing. Then I started to hear it and pointed both out, and he did feel the slip. So the Blazer spent another day in the shop. I kept telling my wife that it either needs new brakes, has a broken caliper, or needs the wheel bearings replaced and repacked. Late in the day I get a call. I got 2 out of 3! New brake pads (under warranty), and the wheel bearings on one side had to be replaced and repacked. At least we didn’t have to pay for the brake job.

I paid the bill and left to run an errand. My wife lagged behind a bit chatting. Then I get a call from the mechanic’s number, it’s my wife, she left her phone in the Buick, can she meet me where I am. Yes. Then it takes forever for her to do a 5 minute drive. Turns out she was in a car accident. 4 way stop intersection. My wife had the right of way and was fully in the intersection when a lady blew the stop sign, did not even slow down. She just caught the passenger bumper. My wife was lucky she didn’t get spun around or flipped. This is the extent of the damage to the Blazer:

Yup! That’s it. The other car? License plate came off the bumper, bumper covering came off, passenger front quarter panel all smashed up.

It was very hard to find time to make any calls or get any chat customer service. Last week I spent at least 2 hours on AT&T chat to try to resolve my totally screwed up bill. First, I already had a 4 device protection plan that covers any 4 devices in your home. We’ve used it several times. When I bought 2 Apple 7 iWatches on Christmas Eve (1 for me, 1 for my wife), that’s when the changes were made. The sales person (at a Corporate store) removed my 4 device protection plan and put all 4 iPhones and 2 iWatches on individual protection plans. That person also did not put my wife’s iWatch on the account, and instead added an iPhone 8 (never had one, never saw one, never touched one). THIS is why I have been unable to pair her iWatch to her iPhone. This means I paid for service that I never got because that iWatch’s IMEi number isn’t on my account. Also, I discovered that even though I continue to have the data plan that gives you $10 off per line, they removed ALL my credits from my iPhones and they’d never applied that credit to the iWatches. I still need to contact them to get all of this straightened out. They are wasting a ton of my time with this screwing around with my account. And…my wife has yet to use her Christmas present! Grrr!

#AT&TWIRELESSCUSTOMERSERVICESUX

#AT&TWIRELESSNEEDSTOTRAINEMPLOYEESNOTTOCHEATLONGTIMECUSTOMERS

Lola’s Diner © 2008-2022

Sunday Stealing-From LEP

From LEP

Hi! Our host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Stolen from League of Extraordinary Pen Pals

1. Do you buy things when you want them or wait for sales? I nearly always wait for sales, unless I have an urgent need for something that’s not on sale.

 2. Do you think time moves slowly or quickly? Too quickly.

 3. How often do you spend time alone? Quite a bit with all the quarantining I’ve had to do the last several weeks due to medical procedures.

 4. What’s something that has changed in the last month? I got word Thursday that my kidney issues are taking to the treatment my doctors prescribed.

 5. What’s the best part of your job, profession? That it made me smart enough to purchase short term disability insurance. It helped tremendously after my car accident before it rolled over to long term disability that the company paid for. I was an accountant.

 6. How many pens do you have? 🤣🤣🤣I have no way of knowing.

 7. What are your healthiest habits? Reverently reading nutrition labels when deciding what to buy. Now I’m looking at sodium levels. When I first found out I had kidney problems I was looking at phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium. Now it’s just sodium.

 8.. Do you have a favorite postage stamp? No.

 9. Who did you talk to the most this week? My wife. Probably always my wife. I did actually call my sister to give her the news about my Dr appointment. I usually get super irritated (😡) because when she knows I have medical stuff going on she hounds me the day of. She didn’t do that this time, so I called her. I guess my wife really gave her a piece of her mind the last time my sister was hounding me.

 10. What’s on your bedside table? Bottle of water, Candles, medications.

 11. How often do you try something new? Whenever something appeals to me. So however often that happens.

 12. What are some of your grocery list staples? Cereal, coffee, veggies-fresh, frozen, canned, soups or soup ingredients to make my own soup, keto bread or white bread (can’t have wheat bread), or bagel thins.

 13. Do you have a favorite poet? My son. 

 14. What interesting fact do you know? I’m sure more than my fair share.

 15. Do you fold laundry right away or do it later? I fold it when I feel well enough and have the time. With the back pain and now all the pain of 2 falls (Tuesday and Friday), I can only do things in short bursts, or wait for tomorrow to be less pain.

 

Lola’s Diner © 2008-2022

Sunday Stealing-How Far Will You Go?

How Far Will You Go?

 

Hi! Our host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

 

Stolen from How Far Will You Go?

 

 

 

1.  What was the warmest welcome you’ve ever received? I don’t know…maybe my surprise birthday party in 2021. There were guests that I never expected would go so far out of their way to attend.

2.  What was the best thing about your youth? My Mom. Not only was she a great Mom to my sister and I, she was also Mom of the neighborhood. She was a SAHM, one of the few left on our block. She kissed boo boos, gave hugs, gave treats, and tried to impart some coping skills, or better ways to handle what made them upset.

3.  Who is the most interesting person you’ve ever met? Our couple friends. They both worked for a utility and have fascinating stories. Some of them about near Chernobyl events.

4.  What is the least you’ve ever worn in public? A bathing suit.

5. What was the worst vacation you ever took? In order to answer this I would actually have to take vacations. I’ve been to Florida twice. The 2nd time was uncomfortable and painful, but I wouldn’t classify it as a “worst vacation”. My sister and I drove to Florida and the Keys. At the end of the stay in the Keys I had a dental issue that required a root canal. We drove all the way back to Wisconsin where I had to find a dentist. 

6.  What room in your home do you spend the most time? Master bedroom.

7.  Who made the strongest first impression on you? I don’t know that I could think of one.

8.  What was the most surprising action you’ve ever taken. Oh there have been many. I’ll list the most obvious…coming out to myself first, then to my grade school aged children. Children understand more than you know and they really don’t have the preconceived notions adults do on the subject, and it just rolls off them like you just told them tomorrow is Saturday. They don’t seem to feel it affects you or them any differently. (Of course that is if you raised your children right and never marginalized, were hateful towards LGBTQA people, or spoke in bad hateful terms about the subject.)

9.  When was your life most out of control? Right now seems like it. Too many health things going on at the same time. Doctors only telling you worst case scenario’s, not even mentioning what the not so worrisome things it could be until after test results are available. I think they should tell you both to be both prepared for the worst, but also cognizant of the not so bad things it could be. It certainly would have saved me a lot of angst and lost sleep. I never knew what the best case scenario was. And I was fortunate enough to find out that my test results were the best case scenario.

10.  What would you be best at, were you to change careers? I did go to college for accounting and spent my entire career doing some type of accounting for different types of businesses. I always thought that if I would change careers I would want to get involved in social work, or working at a place like my daughter receives services at. Both my kids illness have taught me a lot of stuff you don’t learn in college and taught me to recognize the crackpot providers. (Of which there are many. I always used to say that some mental health providers come by their profession from personal/family experience. Quite a few were more messed up than the patients.) In addition to my kid’s illnesses, I’ve been exposed to other illnesses while visiting my kids daily during hospitalizations and I got to see a lot of kids with different illnesses, how they presented, and how staff handled situations.

11.  What is the cruelest thing a person has ever said to you? The very cruelest thing I think I’ve blocked out, but generally it was nasty comments and belittling me for being a fat kid.

12.  What is the best thing you ever won as a prize? Let me go check…well…I can’t say it’s a big lottery jackpot, but I won $1 Thursday and Friday night. I know I’ve won other things, but I don’t think I’d refer to any of them as “the best”.

13, What is your strongest argument against capital punishment? In general I am for capital punishment, however, it concerns me a lot when I see in the news stories about sloppy convictions. The ones that bothers me the most are the cases of the mentally ill, or people with learning disabilities (previously referred to as mentally retarded). Those 2 classes of prisoners shouldn’t be rushed through the courts, and in some cases should be changed to life in prison, or rehabilitation and release (where possible).

14.  What have you been most ignorant about in life? The selfishness of others. Right now you could say we have a pandemic of selfishness.

15.Where would you most hate to be pierced? Umm…my lady bits. I’ve heard from some people that their experience was not one of pain. But who can be sure what anyone’s personal experience will be before going through with being pierced?

Lola’s Diner © 2008-2022

Sunday Stealing-The End of The Year

Hi! Our host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

I don't remember where 
I found these questions 

 

1. Something that made you cry this year? The health scare I had this year. Not cancer, a weird kidney disease (that’s treatable) that only 10% of adults are diagnosed with. (Lucky me, right?)

2. Something you want to do again next year? Have breakfast out with our older couple friends on a regular basis. (Providing it doesn’t become unsafe. Oh bonus with the disease? My immune system is compromised during treatment.) We met up with them about once every other month. Twice a month or weekly would be better. We have so much fun hearing their stories. Today’s topic…their trips to Mexico. Lots of laughs and very much needed.

3. Talk about a new friend you made this year? I don’t have any new friends. With all my medical stuff I missed a coffee talk group I’ve been wanting to check out after our library opened after the lockdown. Hopefully I will be able to attend one soon.

4. How was your birthday this year? Awesome! My wife and our couple friends threw me a surprise party at my father-in-law’s house. I was so surprised to see our friends there, since they live near us, and my father-in-law’s house is a 45 minute drive from us.

5. Favorite book you read this year? ☺️ I couldn’t really say. But I could hint. Like lesbian “50 Shades of Gray”.

6. What’s a bad habit you picked up this year? Reading those books. Lol!

7. Post a picture from the beginning of the year.

Photos not posting properly.

8. Post a picture from the end of the year

Photos not posting properly.

9. A memorable meal this year?

Photos not posting properly.

Hospital vegetarian meal. The vegetarian quesadilla was 🤢

10. What are you excited about for next year? Finishing my treatment for MCD.

11. What’s something you learned this year? Decorating my daughter’s first apartment was fun.

12. What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year? The new microwave oven to replace the not that old one that blew up and burned up the front of the old microwave oven.

13. Favorite place you visited this year? I don’t have one. I really didn’t venture out from my usual places.

14. Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions? No need. I don’t make them.

15. Will you make New Year's Resolutions for 2022? Nope. I don’t make them. 

Lola’s Diner © 2008-2022

Sunday Stealing-Holiday Questions

Hi! Our host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

from IsLCollective
 

1. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Spending time with my family.

2.  What’s the most annoying thing about this time of year? Trying to figure out what to get my wife for Christmas. Usually I’ve culled a lot of ideas just by paying attention and putting a note in my phone. I guess last year I checked everything off the list.

3.  Who do you celebrate the holidays with? My immediate family. We’ll do a meal with my in-laws one day before the 2nd of January.

4. Do you travel during the holidays? No. I never have.

5. Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts? I’m good with both.

6. Who is the hardest person to buy a gift for? My wife. (See #2 above.)

7. What is your traditional holiday meal? It’s usually ham. Last year we had a rib roast. I will be eating sides and salmon. (I guess you could say I’m a pescatarian instead of a vegetarian, but I only have salmon a couple times a month.) The family will have ham. 

8. Does your town get decorated for the holidays? Yup. They spent a fortune on a huge Santa.

9. Do you have a Christmas tree? Yes. It’s a small silver tree.

10. If you have a tree, what is on top of it? Nothing. I don’t think it could handle the weight of a tree topper.

11. Do you decorate the outside of your house with lights? No. I have a huge spruce tree (I think that’s what it is.) When I first moved here I put lights on it. Then a year or two later I ran over the cord with the mower. Didn’t take down the lights because the tree is huge and it was difficult enough putting lights up that high.

12. What is your favorite holiday memory as a child? I can’t think of one.

13. What is your favorite holiday dessert? My Mom’s cheesecake. Shoot! I should have made it Christmas Eve, but instead I actually wrapped gifts this year. I’ll have to get over to my daughter’s early to make it so it can set in the fridge.

14. Do you have a favorite holiday movie? Not just one. The original 1938 B&W “A Christmas Carol”, The original B&W: “Miracle on 34th Street”, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “Christmas in Connecticut”; “A Christmas Story”, “Jingle All The Way”, The Santa Claus movies.

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? It’s always been making sfincione, but this year we didn’t have the ingredients. All we had was flat bread so we made vegetable pizza with no sauce because we didn’t have any. Lol!

                                    Lola’s Diner © 2008-2021

Sunday Stealing-League of Extraordinary Penpals

Hi! Our host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Stolen from League of Extraordinary Penpals

 

1. What are your plans for December? Fun medical stuff. Took the wife to the ER Wednesday because her tongue was swollen and she had trouble talking. She was discharged Thursday after IV antibiotics. Went home with 10 days of antibiotics. She has an odd infection. Today was my annual brain MRI, tomorrow Covid test, then quarantine until Tuesday when I will have a biopsy and spend the night at the hospital. Then specialist appointments to get the results. The rest of the month I just want to chill. I don’t need this kind of excitement.

2. How do you celebrate your wins/success? Usually starts with “Woot! Woot!”. Then whatever seems appropriate and affordable.

3. Are holiday movies only for the holiday season? I prefer to watch them during the holiday season, however I started watching them in October. Usually I don’t start until Thanksgiving. I’m already complaining about how often The Hallmark Channel is repeating the same movie several times a week.

4. What would you consider a waste of money? The amount DirecTv and AT&T charge monthly for tv and internet. This month it went up $8. Why? I didn’t get more tv or internet.

5. What do you like to eat for breakfast? Every now and then grits with either cheese and hot sauce or butter and hot sauce. Denver omelette, but no more because I’m vegetarian. So, Spinach and Feta omelette.

6. How do you feel about poetry? It’s ok. I can’t write any myself.

7. Are you shy? Used to be.

8. Do you take time to reflect on your goals? Pass.

9. Something you are curious to know more about? Pass.

10. Something that makes you feel fancy? Dressing up.

11. How you’re still handling the pandemic? Not well. The new strain has me very concerned and I’ve been to the hospital 3 times this week, will be there Saturday and Tuesday, Wednesday. I was in the ER Wednesday for over 12 hours with my wife. Her tongue was so swollen she couldn’t talk. They had people staying in the hallways waiting for rooms. A nurse told my wife they had 25 people waiting 2 days for rooms. Supposedly Covid isn’t bad here, but what are all these people in the ER for?

12. A close friend you’ve never met in person. One of the first women who I chatted with on AOL or MSN chat after I came out to myself. We had once started to make plans to meet, but something came up. She lives in NY and lived for awhile lived in Berlin.

13. Do you get in on trends early or later? I don’t do trends. I buy what I like that I can afford.

14. What is something you do on a regular basis? Grocery shopping.

15. Do you enjoy spending time with family? That depends on what family members we’re talking about. The ones I don’t enjoy spending time with:  The relative who wrote a book. It was to be a memoir that included loss and being “saved” by “her” God. (Only “her” God is the right God.) She also left out half her family in her book, as if they didn’t exist. She also talks in this “I’m better than you tone.” My brother-in-law that treats my sister badly. My step-mother-in-law who treats my father-in-law badly. Once she refused to call for an ambulance when he had very low blood sugar. All she kept saying in her fake southern drawl was “well I don’t know what to do”. My wife was on the phone telling her to dial 911 and she refused. She also ruined every one of our wedding photos that she was in. She’s got a nasty resting b***h face. I very much enjoy spending time with my immediate family and the friends that have become family.

Lola’s Diner © 2008-2021

Why did no one notify my wife

My wife has been helping her Mother’s 80 year old friend, Cathy. She picks up her mail from her post office box, shops for her groceries, delivers them, and puts them away. She has a key to her apartment and had to sign for the key with the apartment manager.

My wife heard from her a couple of times a month when she needed groceries. She hadn’t heard from her in a month and had been calling her cell phone, never reaching her. Not unusual, because Cathy would often forget to charge her cell phone, or it was out of reach. Before the last shopping trip she hadn’t heard from her and drove over to see if she was ok. She had fallen, couldn’t get up, and couldn’t reach her phone. My wife came home, got my son, and asked another tenant to help get her off the floor. I know what you’re thinking, she should be in a nursing home, retirement community, or living with someone. Cathy was stubborn and wanted to live in her own apartment, alone. Whenever she did get sent to a nursing home for Rehabilitation, she would get kicked out because she wanted to do what she wanted to do. She’d been kicked out of 3 nursing homes…that I know of.

My wife shopped for her about a month ago and hadn’t heard from her, couldn’t reach her since. Today I drove my wife over there to do a wellness check on our way to the store. Cathy’s car was parked where it had been. My wife knocked on the door, no answer, so she used her key. She opened the door to find Cathy’s belongings gone, and another tenant’s there. She immediately locked the door and we went to the rental office. It was closed, but she reached someone by phone who would not tell her anything. My wife has no contact information for any relatives. She had met Cathy’s sister when Cathy moved from a condo to this apartment, but didn’t think to exchange contact information.

What do you do in this situation? Thinking the worst, I started Googling. For future reference, if you want to find out if someone has passed away, go to 

Legacy.com. It didn’t take long to find the obituary. Since her name was kind of common I used the listing of those who passed away before her, looking for her husband’s name. I did find the correct obituary. She passed away a month ago on October 9, 2021. The funeral home service was October 15th. Why couldn’t the rental office call my wife??? Or the nursing home that she apparently was at? The obituary listed her as having lived in a NW suburb, but her apartment was in a SW suburb, so she must have been in a nursing home. My wife still has a key to that apartment.

My brother-in-law has insisted for years that Cathy said she was leaving him some property in her will. I’m sure Cathy did say that, but that doesn’t mean it was true. She owned a lot of properties in the SW suburbs and at least one property we know of in Michigan. For years my wife took my son to one of the properties after every snowfall to shovel and salt the sidewalk. I’m sure if Cathy bequeathed any property or money to my brother-in-law or my wife her attorney would be required to find them and notify them.

It’s just really sad and frustrating. Had we known that she was in a nursing home we would have at least called her and asked about visitation rules and to ask if she needed anything. We had done that when she had been at other nursing homes. Cathy was in a nursing home during the early part of the pandemic, and had gotten kicked out and moved to a different one. Each time Cathy moved my wife regularly contacted her.

Lola’s Diner © 2008-2021