Sunday Stealing-January

10 January 2021

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. (Past hosts include: Our first - Judd Corizan, Mr. L, Kwizgiver and Bud) Cheers to all of us thieves!

 

 

 

Taken from League of Extraordinary Penpals

 

 

 

 

 

1. What are your plans for January?
I better be getting my knee MRI soon and find out what’s wrong with my knee/leg. Due to ridonkulous insurance snafus I have to wait again for insurance approval. First my doctor sent me where I always go, but currently they don’t take my insurance. Then my insurance sent me an approval for a different place, I call them to schedule and they don’t take my insurance (how is that if my insurance sent me an approval for them?)

2. What do you want to see happen in 2021?
I want to see the coronavirus gone. I also want to see more vaccines for the coronavirus that are more effective with little to no side effects with faster immunity and broader distribution. Saturday I had to decide if my daughter should get the Moderna vaccine. Sunday I have to get up too early to run over to my daughter’s group home to get the paperwork done. I’m still waiting to her from her doctor, but she has asthma so I’m certain he will approve. IDPH counts group homes in Phase 1A, so she can get the vaccine this coming week. I want to be able to see my daughter for weekend visits. The 2 week visits are just too long. I don’t want hear, see, or read about 🍊.

3. What would you give a 5 star rating?
Hmmm. Would be easier to answer what I would give zero stars. Zero stars to Apple. I got a new battery 2 months ago and I’m always charging my iPhone and it’s constantly crashing. It’s a 7 and I’m NOT getting a new phone until my wife’s phone is paid for. I refuse to have monthly payments for more than 1 phone! I can’t afford it and Apple needs to stop junking up older models to frustrate you into upgrading. 

4. Do you have writing goals for 2021?
I don’t do goals.

5. How do you feel about memoirs?
Memoirs/biographies/autobiographies are my favorite kind of books to read. Katherine Hepburn was a favorite of mine. I’m still reading Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself”. It’s very good, he’s fascinating, but I find myself having difficulty with it. Never had this issue before, but I get lost on a page several times and end up reading the same paragraph over and over. I’ve got several memoirs in my Kindle waiting for me to get to them...Betty White, Audrey Hepburn, Debbie Harry, Steve Jobs, Grace Kelly. I have over 100 unread books in my Kindle thanks to Bookbub and The Fussy Librarian. Both send a daily email of book offers. Bookbub has some free, others from $0.99-$4.99. The Fussy Librarian are all free. Both allow you to choose the genres you like.

6. If you could join any musical group who would you choose?
I don’t think I’m the musician type. I was an accountant. I just don’t see it.

7. What are your favorite genres across all media?
Memoirs, mysteries, some true crime. I find myself reading a lot of Lesbian Romance novels lately. I also enjoy nonfiction.

8. What candle scents are your favorite? More musky scents, or fresh linen. Not a fan of florals.

9. How well can you mimic other accents or voices?
I'm can do some. I think it’s been awhile.

10. What books are on your TBR list in 2021?
See #5 above.1

11. When do you decide it’s time to upgrade/buy something new?
I am not eager to upgrade or buy new because more often than not, new is cheaply made. Example, I just had to replace my Jenn Air gas range last month. I bought it used and got just over 10 years out of it. My new Whirlpool Gas Range just seems cheap. The one I bought for my previous home was sturdy, well built and I was really upset when my agent included my appliances in the contract when I sold the house. Already had service out for the new one because the top section that has the clock and oven controls seems flimsy. When you go to set the oven temperature that section moves unless you are super, super delicate when using the buttons. The service tech said that’s the way all the brands are making them now. Very disappointing. But I do love the 5th burner and the high BTU burner.

12. Why is your favorite color your favorite color?
This is embarrassing and when I answer this you can pretty accurately guess my age. Favorite color is purple. Because Donny Osmond’s favorite color was purple. At least that’s what Tiger Beat magazine said. (SEE! Embarrassing!)

13. Who understands you the best?
My wife.

14. Do you write letters?
Not in a long time.

15. How do you keep going when times are hard?
If I figure it out I’ll let you know. I seem to find a way, but depending on the situation, keeping going involves different approaches.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021 

Days 275-292 of Sheltering In

Christmas was nice, ok. I bought a 4 foot silver tree from Meijer. My wife wouldn’t get the 7 footer from the attic and that’s just not something I can do. It was less than $15 cuz it was on sale and my son is a genius. Ok, not a genius, but he’s paying more attention to things than I think. The box was all badly taped and ripped, so he asks if he should go to customer service and ask if they have any more in the back and if they don’t, should he ask for a price reduction cuz we don’t know if all the pieces are there, we’ll have to get different box for it, etc. Probably seems like no big deal, but you have no idea how hard I’ve had to work to get both kids to go ask customer service when there are none of the item on the shelf that THEY want, or different size or whatever. I can’t always be around when they need to ask customer service or an employee on the floor. It used to be like pulling teeth to get them to ask for themselves, now he volunteered to ask for me. Progress. Baby steps.

Kids got stuff they liked. I’m still missing some gifts. They are here somewhere. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’ve been in so much pain, or medicated to keep track of things. I ended up not wrapping a single gift because I was in so much pain from the leg injury and my back issues. I did “department store fold” the clothing, which was perfect because we decided to take 4 boxes and recycle them. I had a tub for each person and I’d toss an item to my wife, she’d put it in a box (cuz it was already neatly folded) and hand it to the recipient to open. It worked out well and since each gift landed ever so briefly in a box, there was still a bit of mystery and it wasn’t like giving them a bin of not wrapped, unfolded items. 

My wife picked up my daughter Christmas Eve night after her day program holiday party. At that point I was prepping healthy apps and on major pain meds and steroids, so I wasn’t gonna drive. I also thought it might be nice for my wife and daughter to have some time together, maybe so they might get along better. Oh...SILLY ME! It did not last until my son’s birthday on the 28th. Since New Year’s Eve it’s been hell. The arguing, the yelling, the swearing and bad name calling. Yup. I heard the “b” word many times. Once is too much. My daughter wouldn’t dare call me the “b” word, but apparently it’s ok to call my wife that and vice versa. I really don’t understand the need to yell and be so...snippy.

I took my daughter for her COVID-19 test Wednesday. She’ll get the results Friday or Monday and she’ll be going back to the group home probably that same day. Had warranty service out last week because of a few issues with the new Whirlpool gas range. Rubber in between the cooktop seam which was just for transport and should have been removed when delivered. The person I talked to at Whirlpool didn’t know that, so she added it to the service order. My floor got scratched up so we thought the feet might be missing. Turned out there was a piece of glass stuck to a foot. The last item was the top of the stove where the electronic controls are was wobbly. The tech said all the stoves are like that now. Nice. Way to save money by making it flimsy. I got the 5 year extended warranty, so if there is an issue, it’s covered. They just don’t make stuff like they used to. My old Jenn Air gas range which I got used, I got 10 years of use out of it. That was money well spent. 

My wife and I installed our new Whirlpool gas range. My wife would have done it, but she couldn’t loosen the nut on the old gas line. I thought I’d give it a go. Wrench on the bottom nut, 2nd wrench on the top nut. What my wife didn’t realize is that for gas lines it’s not righty tighty, lefty loosey. It’s righty loosey, lefty tighty. So she was tightening it instead of loosening it. When I went to give it a go it immediately loosened! Oh man! She was not happy. She takes pride in DIY stuff, as I do and she was not liking that something she struggled with for an hour took me 1 minute.

I still haven’t had my knee MRI. It’s scheduled for next week, however, my insurance sent approval for an entirely different MRI place. Thursday I will be on the phone with my insurance to get that fixed before I contact the hospital to pre-register. Then I have to talk to them regarding issues with PT balances due. This should have been resolved before I ran out of shoulder visits. (I got more visits approved, but haven’t had a visit due to the knee injury.) I went for the PT evaluation appointment where they keep insisting I have a co-pay. I don’t, so I have to talk to the insurance about that and ask them to conference call the PT place with me...again. If this doesn’t get resolved I am not doing anymore PT unless there is an in network provider that is not the one next door to my doctor. In the past every time I went there I was injured within the first 3 visits and had to see my doctor and stop PT for a couple months. I don’t like the therapists there...can you blame me? I’ve gone there for 3 separate injuries/conditions and all 3 times I was injured because they made me do exercises or movements that I had no business doing. Example: I shouldn’t have been made to lie on the machine where you use your legs to push a weighted barrier. Instant sciatica. I had severe back pain after my surgery and the weighted barrier was too much for me. Also, the 2 therapists that work there split their time at 3 other locations, so, going to a different location I would still be seeing them. Nope!

Today was scary exhausting. My wife and I were glued to the tv watching the chaos that unfolded at the Capitol. After several hours I started checking Facebook to see what was being said about it. That’s just not a rabbit hole you want to enter. Wild, crazy conspiracy theories, smack talking and nastiness. I pretty much stuck with the activist group I’m in. No...I’m not an activist and I don’t play one on tv. I stumbled across the group and discovered it was a better source for local news/politics than the local groups I’m in. Also, virtually every group member is like-minded. In fact I don’t think I’ve checked any of those groups for nearly a month. Too much nastiness, Karen-talking, and fighting. It was just too stressful to read and I really wasn’t getting any local intel. I have some Facebook friends strategically on “30-day snooze” because of politics. One of the first to get snoozed was my wife’s elder sister. In general, she’s pretty “out there”, but it’s the tone of her posts and her attitude. Apparently the party she belongs to is the only correct party and she just bulldozes anyone that disagrees. (Very much like her God is THE only God and if you don’t believe in HER God...well you know where you’re going.)  Since she’s on snooze I didn’t get to see her take on the day, but my wife read to me her posts about it with the comments. They were comments from older relatives whose viewpoint did not coincide with hers. She was just NASTY. And not in a Janet Jackson way. She was very disrespectful to them and then in a huff she took her ball and went home. She blasted every commenter and when she figured out she was alone in her view of the day’s happenings she got huffy and swore off Facebook for at least the 10th time since thanksgiving. Whateves! If you can’t have a polite discourse, don’t bother. I’ve mostly stopped commenting on Facebook. Not because of any ugliness or any issues. I just feel so stressed and depressed that I just don’t want to bother. Most of my Facebook friends are my wife’s relatives, or people from my neighborhood or from high school. The neighborhood and high school “friends” are very clickish. Like back in high school where I was always the odd one out. The neighborhood “friends” are all over the country, but you can tell they all communicate outside of Facebook and those communications often spill onto Facebook. Like plans to get together. I really should graduate to not reading their posts. It’s taken awhile to go to not commenting, so maybe I’ll gradually stop reading them and just read stuff in the cooking groups I’m in. This no friends in real life sucks. It’s hard enough trying to make friends as an adult. Throw in a pandemic and it’s just impossible.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021