Day 201 of Sheltering In

Wednesday. Podiatrist appointment was fairly quick. The doctor had to chit chat for awhile, ask how my daughter is (she also sees him). He caught me off guard when he came in. He reached out to fist bump my hand. Pre-coronavirus visits he always shook hand when he came in to the exam room. I wore Nitrile gloves, so I fist bumped him. I’m kind of paranoid about doctor offices, so I wear the Nitrile gloves just for those visits. Yes, I disposed of them in the trash can just outside the entrance when I left.

We did a little grocery shopping after, then CVS, then home. Such exciting lives we lead!

Big surprise! No moving out appliances tomorrow. My brother-in-law couldn’t get ahold of his buddy to help him. This really chaps my hide that this can’t get done Thursday. He claims the appliances are too heavy to move them alone. If my back and shoulders were well, I’d have had the darn things out of my basement months ago. I keep telling my wife that you let gravity or inertia do the work (is that the right word?). Set a blanket or rug in place on the stairs, then tilt the appliance so it’s lying on the stairs. Then you push. Pushing is much easier than lifting. You can have 2 people pushing from the bottom. This works. I moved twice without any movers. I moved a huge window air conditioner up 3 flights of stairs, by myself using this method, when I lived on the 3rd floor (no elevator) near Wrigley. Can’t tell either one of them how to do this. If those flipping things don’t get out of my basement, I am not calling for a furnace service call. And, I am not using those electric oil filled radiators again. My electric bill for the winter months was over $2,200. It was usually around $190-225/month. That over $2,200 is the total which includes the electric bill for the lights, appliances, etc. I can’t run up a bill like that again. Grrrrrrr! I am so angry right now because these dead appliances can’t be taken out Thursday. So my brother-in-law is coming over to mow the lawn. That means the front lawn, cuz that’s what he always does. I don’t like the way he mows it. The blade has to be lower. With the way he mows it, if it rains after he mows it, it will look like it wasn’t mowed a couple days later.  I talked to my neighbor after he got my generator working, about seeing if the craftsman rider was ok, or if my wife blew the transmission. If it’s ok, I want it put in my Troy Built Pony rider. They are both Briggs & Stratton motors. If it’s not ok then give me the details and I will search the Internet for the best price and see how that compares to the price where he would get it. The Pony is like brand new, but I had the engine seize the last time I used it, when I ran over storm debris that I didn’t see. That was 2007 after the tornado. My neighbor is back to avoiding me. Maybe he just doesn’t like me? I don’t care, I need a rider in working order and I’m not buying another one. We do need a rider, with the front yard, side yard, and backyard it’s quite a bit to mow. My brother-in-law uses a walk behind mower and it takes him over 5 hours to mow the front and side yards. That doesn’t include the backyard. Ok, go ahead, ask me. Why does it take that long? Because he has to keep mowing over the same areas. It’s not like he’s mowing a pattern like a baseball field, he’s just mowing vertical rows.🤷🏻‍♀️

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020

Day 198, 199, 200 of Sheltering In

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Sunday was a typical Sunday. Watch QVC (buy nothing!), record da Bears game and watch it about an hour in so we can fast forward through commercials and the 1/2 time talking heads.

Monday my daughter’s day program (which she had not been attending due to asthma and other underlying conditions), closed again. Rumor has it that 2 or 3 clients have the coronavirus. Friday’s Facebook update stated 2 clients that live in the community (not in a group home) have the coronavirus. So that’s 4 or 5 as of Monday. Coronavirus virus tests for all now. My daughter has her test on Wednesday.

Tuesday my wife reached her brother about coming over with a buddy to remove all the dead appliances from the basement flooding. They’ll be taken to the scrapyard for recycling and I’ll probably get $5 for it all. They really don’t pay much, but since they do recycle them, it’s the best option. They are supposed to be here Thursday with my father in law’s pickup truck. I’m sure it’s too late for the used washer and dryer I found. They were smaller than what I typically buy, but small units are better than none.

My daughter had a televisit with the gynecologist in Chicago. (Thank goodness it was a televisit, because the group home transportation won’t take her that far, so it’s on us to drive her.)  This doctor and the one in J town have been arguing about whether surgery is necessary to remove the cyst on her ovary. J town doctor insists she needs surgery, but he won’t do it. Chicago doctor says surgery is not necessary at the present time because in the over 2 years she has seen this doctor the cyst has remained the same size, 2cm. Chicago doctor doesn’t remove them unless they are over 5cm and she takes into account the patient’s age because the surgery can have complications, that could require a partial or full hysterectomy. Because my daughter is still in her “childbearing years”, the cyst has remained stable, and my daughter has no symptoms, the doctor will continue the hormones and schedule ultrasounds on a regular basis to watch for changes. Woot! Woot! No surgery! No ruminating about being sent to a nursing home to recover (cuz that’s what they do.)

Now that there is no surgery needed, my daughter immediately asked about a home visit. She’s got to get tested for COVID-19 and get a negative test result first, especially since there have been more coronavirus cases. Her brother also has to prep her room for us to replace her full bed with the twin we bought. He continues to procrastinate. I think it’s time to have his sister “encourage” him to get it done, because he is not listening to us. You would think he would have gotten it done already since my daughter hasn’t been on a home visit in 200 days. 

I refuse to do the prep work because I can’t have all the progress I’ve made in PT ruined by aggravating or injuring myself. I did have an orthopedic doctor appointment Tuesday, but they canceled again, saying some emergency, and couldn’t reschedule til near the end of the month. I am out of PT days, so I have to wait until that appointment to start the approval process all over again. Good news though, I got my bill straightened out for PT, and for my PCP bill too. I got sent bills for almost $500 (which I do not owe, they aren’t billing properly), I call, get put on hold, ‘oh, your balance is zero.’ Mmm hmm. I had 3 months of bills showing increasing balances and because I called they all of a sudden fix it. Whateves. I’m just glad the call went smoothly and I got the appropriate outcome.

Off to the podiatrist on Wednesday. It’s been way too long.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020