Random Friday

I would really like to get back to doing the day of the week blog posts. Like Sunday Stealing. But trying to find anything that is still active is very time consuming. I think I have the weekends covered. We’ll see.

Yesterday I got a prescription for a cane. Today I went to the local medical supply company. I was really hoping for a Hurrycane. It folds in 3 places so it’s easy to put in the car or cart at the grocery, and it’s very stable. I was borrowing my father in law’s for longer than I care to admit. Anyway, no dice. I have an old lady cane now. It’s an offset cane, which means it’s like a “C” shape at the top and it has a single foot on the end. I don’t like the “C” shape, I don’t find it comfortable and the bottom scares me. The Hurrycane has a T handle and the foot had 3 points of contact making it infinitely more stable than my new cane which has 1 point of contact. It can also stand on its own. I’m hoping I can scrape together some cash next month to buy a new Hurrycane. I’m liking the purple one. I just hope I don’t have a fall before I can get one. I thought buying from a medical supply place they would properly adjust it and explain its proper use. Nope. They showed me all about my daughter’s new nebulizer last time I was there. They weren’t busy today, so I don’t get it. I definitely used “my daughter’s Mom voice” (code for when I am super personable, polite, and somewhat chatty). The employee was polite and chatty back, but the service part of the transaction was lacking.

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UPDATE:  I walked into the house with the new cane yesterday. I walked out of the house with it this morning. My spouse saw how I was walking with it and told me to go back to her Dad’s Hurrycane. I just felt unstable with the new cane and lost my balance a few times. Not a good idea.

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I am currently in the process of charging and updating passwords on every darn WiFi enabled device we own. Which reminds me...laptop. If I forget, the next time I use it imma lose my mind because it won’t work. I have the Kindles all charging, why do they take so long to charge?  Ugh! The internet guy came today and apparently was ROTFL his ash off. Our modem is an antique and should have been replaced the last time we complained about horrible service. So we’ve had horrible service for at least a year because the last tech was too lazy to install a new modem. This guy took care of all the tv’s, made sure everything was working properly. My spouse said he was very thorough and chatty. I was out getting my old lady cane and picking up a few groceries while my spouse held down the fort.

Time to get back to “Veronica Mars” on Netflix. I finished up OITNB as soon as the last season came out July 26th. I do enjoy “Veronica Mars”, cuz I love Kristen Bell (She’s awesome in “The Good Place”), but I’m wanting a comedy movie or series and not having any luck finding anything I haven’t seen before or would be interested in. Loved “Schitt’s Creek”, “Kim’s Convenience”, “Ozark”. Maybe I should go back and pick up “Queen of the South”, but it’s impossible to read the subtitles. Oh well. Got any ideas for something new to watch?

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2019

Dr Quackers Visit

Where to begin? 

I am incredibly angry still, over 3 hours since I left my appointment with Dr Q. (Obviously not his real name, but after what transpired today I think that nickname is appropriate.) Dr Q was to look at my MRI’s, talk about my headaches, and I was hoping for some type of memory test. The PA did a very simplistic, super short memory test. I scored 28/30. I don’t feel that reflects the issues I have been having. Even though the test was a joke, my spouse turned even whiteR at my wrong answers.

Before the test, the PA was going over my current medications, etc. During this I had a very vivid flash of me having a seizure at home. I’ve never had a seizure before and there was absolutely nothing that we were discussing that would even remotely bring the thought of a seizure to my mind. 

Dr Q comes in, asks about the headaches, insomnia, other issues such as back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain. Then he gets up and starts pressing on my face and head, then pinching my shoulders and neck and moving my neck around. Of course I am vocalizing that I am in pain, that he is hurting me. Apparently that’s how he gets his kicks. Whatever Dr Q did to my neck is still causing me pain. Then he proceeds to tell me he’s sending me for PT for my neck and for a sleep study. 

Dr Q then tells me I need to lose weight for my back pain. Awww Hell no! Tell me he didn’t go THERE! If I had a nickel for every time a doctor told me to lose weight I would have no money worries and would be living the life of the lifestyle’s of the rich and famous. I have back pain because I was in a car accident and had back surgery that didn’t fix my back. Also, I’ve lost 60+ pounds since October 2018. Funny, but my back pain hasn’t improved, nor has my knee pain. Another 50 pounds, 75 pounds isn’t going to improve my back pain, or my knee pain. I was in a car accident. I had back surgery. I also have a very arthritic knee. I have MRI’s and x-rays as my proof.

I am so INCREDIBLY angry about him telling me to lose weight. I am killin it! I am losing weight at an appropriate frequency. When you lose it too quickly it comes right back and then some. Then Dr Q tells me I should ride a bike. He’s a comedian, right? First of all, serious balance issues! Second, I was asked to use a recumbent bike in PT shortly after my car accident. I was on it for mere minutes and pulled something in my butt. I was incapacitated by severe sciatica-butt to ankle pain for at least 2 weeks. PCP ordered me to stop PT and I continued to suffer from sciatica for a couple of months because of that injury.

Dr Q doesn’t think I have Migraines. He thinks the insomnia is causing them. Really? He poo poo’d what my doctor prescribed and then tells me he wants to put me on a particular medication, but he wants me to check with my PCP and another doctor to see if they would ok it. I got home and Googled. Yes, I could have called my pharmacist, but she would have just Googled it too. Guess what one of the possible side effects is? 

🎶🎶Jeopardy🎶🎶 theme song.

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One of the side effects is seizures! See paragraph 2! Not going to be taking that medication. Nope. Premonition? I don’t know, but it was very vivid and scared the bjeepers out of me. There was no talk of new medications or side effects or seizures at or before I had the flash of the image of me having a seizure in my living room. 

So it is now over 4 hours since I left that appointment. I am still incredibly angry and my neck really hurts. I failed to mention that the PT place he referred me to employs the person who injured me twice at PT. If that woman calls my name at my first appointment I am hobbling out to my car. My spouse can ask if I could work with someone new. If not, PT is not happening. And yes, I hold a grudge when someone insists I do something in PT that I have no business doing. I suffered needlessly. Each time after I was injured I followed up with my PCP and he asked me why I did whatever it was that caused the injury. Each time I told my PCP that the physical therapist instructed me to do it. My PCP was not happy and told me I shouldn’t have done those things and he said that she had no business telling me to do those things.

I am still freaked out by the premonition and seriously need to calm down.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2019

More on vacation and other things

Don’t want to jinx it, but the entire family got along famously. And my sister bought us all lunch Friday  and before she left to return to work she hugged me. Yes, you read that correctly. MY SISTER BOUGHT US ALL LUNCH! AND HUGGED ME. She never buys and usually doesn’t hug me. It’s not because I avoid it or try to duck out of it, she just usually doesn’t. My spouse even noticed!

Did I mention everyone got along? It was a true miracle, one I hope continues. Even up until we dropped my daughter off at her group home! My daughter was texting me after I got home. I congratulated her on her appropriate behavior from Wednesday to Monday. A new world record! I told her to remember what she did so next home visit she can model the same behaviors. I also congratulated my son. 

My spouse says she wants to go back to the fair tomorrow! She loved it! Even though we did not get the entire fair experience, she loved it! We got there later than planned and headed to all the weird food places we wanted to try. They were spread out all over, making it time consuming. We missed a couple exhibition halls and the entire Bazaar area which is 10 times larger than the last time I was there. Would be nice to go another day and hit the areas we missed, the pig races too. So glad she enjoyed it. She already wants to start a piggy bank to save for next year. Lol!

My spouse and I are getting close to our normal pain levels. One night on a horrible hotel bed takes a long time to recover. We stayed at a major chain hotel. I’ve  stayed there many, many times over the years and never had a bad experience. The beds were basically taco beds with my spouse and I being the filling as we got into bed and rolled to the ditch in the center. Then we needed help getting out of the bed that sucked us in!  The bed base also had issues, unstable, creaky. There were other issues as well with the room phone and the hotel pool. I completed the survey emailed to me by the travel website I booked through accordingly. I also surfed to find how to give feedback to the hotel chain and notified them of our bad experience. I could swear the reply was from a bot, if not their customer service staff are morons. All my words were repeated back to me along with faux empathy. They gave me 10,000 rewards points on my rewards card. I looked up what 10,000 rewards points can get you. Basically a $20-$30 piece of junk that they claim retails for $30-$50. I’m sorry, did I mention my spouse and I have had our weekend ruined by the pain caused by a bed and mattress that clearly needs to be replaced? I’ve slept  on better beds/mattresses at the cheapest chains. I’ve been more comfortable camping! My spouse was expecting a free night hotel stay. Not so much. They actually had the nerve to email me back to ask if I was pleased how the situation was handled and if I would have the person who offered the 10,000 points handle my customer concerns in the future. That’s 2 big NO’s, and I stated my complaints again in that survey. No reply as yet. No matter how bad the hotel experience, I doubt that they give you a free do over.

Had a doozie of a conversation with our internet provider. I’ll give you a clue, they also do wireless and satellite tv. Got it? Yup. Our internet has been crap. That compounded by the fact that they took since November to finally bundle 2 services, and maybe they will finally get the billing correct next bill. Anyway, I get on the phone with tech support for internet and they tell us to reset the router which we had already done. They ask how many devices are connected to the internet. 5 at the time. He tells me to disconnect all but one. NO. I am not paying $64 a month to connect 1 device to the internet. What kind of nonsense is that? And besides, the speed isn’t going to be any faster with only one device connected when there is only so much juice (for lack of a better word) coming into my house. Right now it’s only going to go so fast, in this case go so slow. After an hour on the phone he finally books for a tech to come out Tuesday. I can’t wait. I can just sit and watch the show! My spouse is already loaded for bear and she is not gonna take any bullshirt. Last time they came out they said it was an issue on the pole. Mmm hmm. They think we are stupid. 

Scratch that ⬆️. Two out of 3 of us have a stomach bug. In trying to reschedule through their convoluted website I saw that we were charged for the the tech visit today so the rescheduled date is free. Ummm, NO. We are not being charged for any visit. At this point I don’t know if it’s a cancellation charge or what, but I’m not paying it. We cancelled an hour ago for the last appointment of the day. I am not going to get aggravated, my spouse will handle this. Oh, and they have us in their records as not having a security system. I guess the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. It’s all one big monopoly and they don’t share records? They sure do when they want to sell you another service. I can hear the tech already ‘well Mam, you have a security system so you need to upgrade and you can’t have 5 devices with that. Ummm, NO. We are not doing anything that will increase our bill. The well is dry. 

I Googled, we have “dog day cicadas” and the noise is maddening when you’re sitting on the sofa in the evening. Windows are behind the sofa. Not the 17 year cicada. We aren’t due for that until 2024.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2019

Sunday Stealing - Fewer Than 5,000 Questions

Fewer than 5000 questions

Hi! I'm your host 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. (Past hosts include: Our first - Judd Corizan, Mr. L, Kwizgiver and

Bud)  Cheers to all of us thieves!

A few questions from "The 5000 questions survey"

Here are this week’s questions from Sunday Stealing.

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

1. Have you read anything by C.S. Lewis?

No. 

2. What is your favourite movie with Jack Nicholson?

The Shining

The Bucket List (Kopi Luwak Coffee. Lol!)

3. What rhymes with 'orange'?

“Sporange,” an uncommon botanical term for a part of a fern.

4. Have you ever swallowed an object by accident?

I don’t think so.

5. Is your eyesight 20/20?

No way. I need my eyeglasses to find my eyeglasses.

I have worn eyeglasses since kindergarten. My first pair were horn rimmed eyeglasses. 

6. Have you ever had insomnia?

Yes – 

Every

single 

day 

since the car accident 3 years ago.

7. Does it bother you when people touch you?

I used to cringe when people hugged me. By people, I mean relatives outside my immediate family. 

I have reformed after likely ruining an older lady’s day at church. It was the “Peace be with you”, “and also with you” part. I’m used to shaking hands. She came at me arms stretched out. I didn’t know her and I was caught off guard. I’m pretty sure I gave her the stink eye. She probably waits all week for the hugs at church and I ruined her day. Since then I have come to expect the hugs at my church (which is too far away from where I now live. I really miss it.)

8. Is it better to get too much or too little sleep?

I think too much sleep is better. Unless the reason a person sleeps too much is depression. Sometimes a good oversleep can really help when you’ve gone days without getting enough sleep.

9. What gets your adrenaline pumping?

Stress. And hearing yelling.

10. Do you ever talk about yourself in the third person?

I talk about myself in the third person, probably only when I refer to my blog, Lola’s Diner.

11. What's your favourite radio station? What kind of music do they play?

My Sirius XM Radio subscription ends this week. I will be so sad to see it go. I have really been enjoying alternating between jamming with my son, and embarrassing the crap out of him. My favorites are the 70’s, 80’, 90’s, Pop2k, The Blend, and a couple other similar stations. I will have to go back to The Drive 97.1 WDRV. 

12. Do you believe there is anyplace still undiscovered in all the world?

If there is, let’s keep it a secret and leave it undisturbed.

13. Ever caught a fish?

Yes. I caught a couple of blue gills in northern Wisconsin. Surprised I caught more than a cold. My sister dumped the boat knocking me under the pier. Soaking wet head to toe and out on the lake when it started to cool off.


14. Were you ever in the first row of a concert?

Yes – quite a few times. Mannheim Steamroller. Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (with Donny Osmond). Robin Williams at a theater in Milwaukee. Several shows at Ravinia. I’ve had close to 1st row too. Harry Connick, Jr. AC/DC at Alpine Valley, numerous Melissa Ferrick concerts.

15. Do you have any autographs? 
I went to a book signing at Michael’s when Rosie O’Donnell’s Craft book came out. I also have several Cd’s signed by Melissa Ferrick. I don’t know if I still have my autograph book from when I was a tween. I once saw Bart Starr and Terry Anne Meeuwsen at Southridge Mall and got their autographs.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2019

Descr

Anne Meeuws

saw Bart Starr and Terry Anne Meeuwsen at Southridge Mall

Randomness - Super Mini Vacation

Going back home for the fair felt like it had been 20 years since I’d gone back. It’s actually 10 years. I had a heck of a time getting around because EVERYTHING changed. Nearly every street had lane closures. I had no points of reference and a lot of the main streets did not have street signs. Every block, every corner looked different. I had trouble finding the hotel, one I’ve stayed at many times. Everything around it was new and different and traffic barrels everywhere.

The muffler shop that I worked at, my first job, is now an Enterprise Car Rental location. AC/Delco where my Dad worked for 30 years is now a Meijer that my sister works at. I didn’t even recognize the entrance to the subdivision where I grew up. The trees were huge and full. The house I grew up in, the outside changed again with the new owners, a lesbian couple. Beautiful landscaping in the front and backyard, and a deck with a canopy and lots of plants and flowers. 

I’m pretty sure my transition to being my Mom is near complete. I no longer fear running into people I know. I chatted up the hotel front desk staff at check in and check out. I chatted up the CVS pharmacist who came to my rescue with a needle for my insulin pen. I’ve never been away from home since needing insulin and I completely forgot about bringing a needle. At the fair I walked up to a woman sitting on the bench around the tree that I took photos of the kids every time I took them to the fair and asked her if she could move so I could snap a few photos and I told her how I’d been taking a photo at that spot since my kids were toddlers.

Friday the house I grew up in was having a garage sale. I chatted up new owners, told them my Dad had the house built and that I grew up there. I got all the dirt on the neighborhood. Turns out my former drunken neighbor who was always trying to pick fist fights with my Dad is a hater. I know! Shocking! They’ve been having run ins with him on the regular. He making false accusations to the police about loud parties and the ladies calling the police because he still has that habit of working on cars until past midnight, revving the engines. They also had hate crime incidents. He threatened to kill the women in front of their 2 young children. They had to install a privacy fence because whenever he saw them outside he would yell nasty things at them. He was always a real piece of work. I guess things are just getting worse. She also told me about the feral cat poisonings. I already knew about that from the neighbor across the street who bought her parent’s house, who I am Facebook friends with. We talked for over half an hour. I didn’t get an indoor tour, but they did have company sitting under the canopy on the deck. And...they were holding a garage sale.

Thinking back to my 20’s I would never have chit chatted with service people (not that there is anything wrong with that, just because I was so incredibly shy and introverted, and I certainly would never have started a conversation with a stranger, let alone someone who was living in the house I grew up in, or me asking someone to move to snap some photos. This me, now...talking to these people is totally my Mom.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2019

Sunday Stealing

For the Queen's Curiosity

Sunday Stealing

Hi! I'm your host 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. (Past hosts include: Our first - Judd Corizan, Mr. L, Kwizgiver and

Bud)  Cheers to all of us thieves!

Questions from Durward Discussion.  

Thanks to Kwizgiver for the suggestion.

1.  What is the nearest book to you?  Your Kindle does not count.

That would be an Instant Pot Cookbook. Cookbooks are the only books I buy since I have a Kindle. I use Pinterest for recipes usually, but had to have that book.

2.  When was the last time you took a "me" vacation?

I don’t think I even know what that is. The closest thing to it would be when my spouse and I went camping in Galena. It was already reserved and paid for 2 nights. Both my kids were in the same hospital with the same illness. It was supposed to be a family camping trip. We stayed 1 night, watched a beautiful sunrise, complete with a rainbow over the lake and hot air ballons drifting by. Did I mention when we got to the site it was pouring rain? We had to hustle to get the tent up. It stormed and rained all night. We packed everything all up the next morning and drove to the hospital in time for visiting hours. 

3.  How many telephone numbers do you have? 

I only need one.

4.  If you could fix one thing in the public school system, what is the one thing you would do immediately?

Take the state lottery money and actually USE it on the school system as it was meant to be. 

5.  Are you a big tipper? 

Very, very rarely. There has to be a good reason

6.  Do you watch reality shows? 

No. I don’t like them.

7.  Who is your favorite sports team player? 

Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber.

 

8.  If you could travel in a spaceship to any planet, which planet would you like to visit and why?

Uranus. Because it’s funny to say. How many other gave that answer? I don’t think I would visit. According to a short Google read the closest habitable planet is 12 light years away, Proxima Centauri b, which revolves around Proxima Centauri in the Alpha Centauri System.  Science lesson concluded.

9.  When was the last time you sat in a church?

It was either a wedding or a funeral. My church is in Chicago and I have not found anywhere else I feel comfortable. I’m pretty sure God can hear me wherever I pray, and I’m good with that. I do miss the fellowship and the events.

10.  Are there any aspects of blogging that annoy you?

I think it’s near impossible to grow a readership. And have them comment. Since EntreCard there hasn’t been anything I’ve seen that comes close to connecting bloggers.

11.  When someone follows you on their blog or subscribes to your Facebook page, do you automatically follow and subscribe back?

I don’t even know how to see who my subscribers are. 

Lola’s Diner cc. 2008-2019

    

Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “clean/dirty.” Use one, use both, use ’em any way you like. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

____________________________________________

Clean

Wednesday was my birthday. Tuesday night my spouse decided to hand wash my new (to me) car. 

C L E A N

Not the way I do it, but I haven’t been able to clean it since I got it 2 months ago.

Thank you for your thoughtful birthday surprise!

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2019

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!