Sighs of Relief
Sunday, October 23rd, 2022 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioIt was another glorious fall day today, with a high of 75F, but nice and windy! And we're right at that moment?.. where there are tons of fallen leaves on the ground everywhere?.. yet the trees are still very full and colorful?.. so...
We had that perfect autumn backdrop, up in the canopy... but it felt like a mild summer day... and we had WAVES of loose, colorful leaves, just washing down the streets, and across the yards!.. whooshing, whirling, and cartwheeling!
I LOVE THAT SO MUCH!
--<>--
My two sisters, one from LA, and the other from Connecticut, just happened to both have business in Chicago this week, and so they coordinated their own whirlwind, two-day visit to Aurora, for tomorrow and Tuesday.
Normally Dad & I go out to eat on Sundays, but, because we'll be out to eat with Colleen & Sheila on both Monday and Tuesday, we stayed home today. And because it was still a bit too hot to try working on the fallen tree... it was just a nice little Sunday out of time.
I vacuumed and cleaned downstairs, then took the dog for a good long walk, enjoying the windy autumnal vibe.
And later on I did my laundry, and we sat down and paid Dad's bills.
After doing all the math tonight, it's safe to say that we've made it through the financial bottleneck, and will be good to go for a while!
--<>--
All of the huge challenges that fell down on us through August and September... adopting the cats, the need to find & start a job, his hospitalization & subsequent weeks of home care visits, and... that damn gigantic tree falling over... are finally all resolving, here in late October.
Adopting Snoop & Prowly lead to immediate expenses I wasn't planning for, which then lead to the janitor job, which... I did land remarkably quickly, but... that two week delay in starting, stretched my funds VERY thin!
--<>--
Dad's hospitilization was one thing, but the aftermath was another! He was really defiant at first, trying to walk the dog and drive his car when he was under doctor's orders to do niether!
That was a problem, because, if the home care workers caught him breaking the rules, we could've been on the hook for the home care BILL!
And I SAW that bill!... and it was SEVENTY-FOUR-THOUSAND-DOLLARS!
$74,000.00 to have one nurse and two physical therapists visit him once a week for a month, to get his vitals and teach him little exercises.
Luckily, he has SILENT GENERATION health insurance, like none of us will ever know, that pays for goddam EVERYTHING!.. but he WAS threatening to fuck that up, this time around, with his defiance.
But he was only that defiant because he was off a bunch of meds*, and I had a hell of a time getting refills for those meds, for two weeks!
SOMEHOW, though, that all worked out and now he's walking the dog and driving his car like normal, and the home care program is done, and was paid for!
--<>--
The fallen Mulberry, which seemed like an insurmountabe problem at first, is now mostly under control, but the two different bars & chains, 20" and 16" cost me $80.00, which stretched things... kinda to the breaking point, for three days there, where we were just living off the charity of... Colleen & Sheila!
Their $200.00, and my emergency PNC credit card is what got us through last week!
--<>--
So... it's been a fairly harrowing few months!
And today has really been the first day, since August began, that I truly felt at peace... like everything's okay, and there's no immediate existential threats, or giant hurdles to leap over!
And, as I said in the opening, it couldn't've been a more scenic, and comfortable day... to enjoy a nice breather like this!
------------{=0=}------------
I know I'm not the only person who's been struggling, in 2022.
I quit the hospital back in January of 21... a few weeks before, "The Great Resignation," began to make headlines!
Thousands to millions in the US said, "Fuck it," in 2021, and decided to take their chances.
And like the pandemic, the supply chain issues, gas prices, and runaway inflation have been GLOBAL!
Everybody's flying by the seat of their pants these days!.. all around the world!
--<>--
The 2020s are a big mess, but... I think we'll figure it out.
Collectively...
Individually...
And sub-individually!.. with the help of these other conscous parties who reside in our skulls...
I think we'll figure it out.
------------{=0=}------------
With that, I probably won't write again until Wednesday night, because of the whirlwind visit from my two sisters, which begins first thing tomorrow.
°¦}
* It's not that he's on any brain meds. It's just that, when a person is 87, even missing a vitamin, or a blood pressure med can wildly throw off their body and brain chemistry!
Also, he had a catheter and foley bag for the first week he was back, which also, always, understandably, makes him cranky.
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
We had that perfect autumn backdrop, up in the canopy... but it felt like a mild summer day... and we had WAVES of loose, colorful leaves, just washing down the streets, and across the yards!.. whooshing, whirling, and cartwheeling!
I LOVE THAT SO MUCH!
My two sisters, one from LA, and the other from Connecticut, just happened to both have business in Chicago this week, and so they coordinated their own whirlwind, two-day visit to Aurora, for tomorrow and Tuesday.
Normally Dad & I go out to eat on Sundays, but, because we'll be out to eat with Colleen & Sheila on both Monday and Tuesday, we stayed home today. And because it was still a bit too hot to try working on the fallen tree... it was just a nice little Sunday out of time.
I vacuumed and cleaned downstairs, then took the dog for a good long walk, enjoying the windy autumnal vibe.
And later on I did my laundry, and we sat down and paid Dad's bills.
After doing all the math tonight, it's safe to say that we've made it through the financial bottleneck, and will be good to go for a while!
All of the huge challenges that fell down on us through August and September... adopting the cats, the need to find & start a job, his hospitalization & subsequent weeks of home care visits, and... that damn gigantic tree falling over... are finally all resolving, here in late October.
Adopting Snoop & Prowly lead to immediate expenses I wasn't planning for, which then lead to the janitor job, which... I did land remarkably quickly, but... that two week delay in starting, stretched my funds VERY thin!
Dad's hospitilization was one thing, but the aftermath was another! He was really defiant at first, trying to walk the dog and drive his car when he was under doctor's orders to do niether!
That was a problem, because, if the home care workers caught him breaking the rules, we could've been on the hook for the home care BILL!
And I SAW that bill!... and it was SEVENTY-FOUR-THOUSAND-DOLLARS!
$74,000.00 to have one nurse and two physical therapists visit him once a week for a month, to get his vitals and teach him little exercises.
Luckily, he has SILENT GENERATION health insurance, like none of us will ever know, that pays for goddam EVERYTHING!.. but he WAS threatening to fuck that up, this time around, with his defiance.
But he was only that defiant because he was off a bunch of meds*, and I had a hell of a time getting refills for those meds, for two weeks!
SOMEHOW, though, that all worked out and now he's walking the dog and driving his car like normal, and the home care program is done, and was paid for!
The fallen Mulberry, which seemed like an insurmountabe problem at first, is now mostly under control, but the two different bars & chains, 20" and 16" cost me $80.00, which stretched things... kinda to the breaking point, for three days there, where we were just living off the charity of... Colleen & Sheila!
Their $200.00, and my emergency PNC credit card is what got us through last week!
So... it's been a fairly harrowing few months!
And today has really been the first day, since August began, that I truly felt at peace... like everything's okay, and there's no immediate existential threats, or giant hurdles to leap over!
And, as I said in the opening, it couldn't've been a more scenic, and comfortable day... to enjoy a nice breather like this!
I know I'm not the only person who's been struggling, in 2022.
I quit the hospital back in January of 21... a few weeks before, "The Great Resignation," began to make headlines!
Thousands to millions in the US said, "Fuck it," in 2021, and decided to take their chances.
And like the pandemic, the supply chain issues, gas prices, and runaway inflation have been GLOBAL!
Everybody's flying by the seat of their pants these days!.. all around the world!
The 2020s are a big mess, but... I think we'll figure it out.
Collectively...
Individually...
And sub-individually!.. with the help of these other conscous parties who reside in our skulls...
I think we'll figure it out.
With that, I probably won't write again until Wednesday night, because of the whirlwind visit from my two sisters, which begins first thing tomorrow.
°¦}
* It's not that he's on any brain meds. It's just that, when a person is 87, even missing a vitamin, or a blood pressure med can wildly throw off their body and brain chemistry!
Also, he had a catheter and foley bag for the first week he was back, which also, always, understandably, makes him cranky.
