I know it's been a long time since I've blogged, so here we go.
Reflections on 2010
Well here we are folks at the end of another year, so the time has come to reflect on the year past and to think about the future.
All in all, it was a far better year for Vanessa and I than 2009. Many great things happened for both Vanessa and I. First and foremost, and of course this is not in chronological order, Vanessa was finally awarded her SSDI! We also got a new car (to us, it's very old but worth fixing up - after all it is a Cadillac), and we got 2 of the cutest, craziest kittens ever :) Plus, I got a new wheelchair and Vanessa finally got one. G*d willing, this will be our last Winter in the Midwest - and after today's severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings in nearby counties, I will be doubly thankful. Yes friends, thunderstorms and *tornadoes* on December 31st. G*d's way of saying "Get the hell out of here"? Either way, we are moving back East, hopefully in the Spring. We are concentrating on North Carolina. Cool, a new type of BBQ, hehe. To all my Route 66 friends here in the Midwest, it's been a lot of fun but it is time for us to settle down. Our heart is on the East Coast. We hope everyone has a happy, prosperous, and healthy 2011.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Happy New Year
To all my Jewish friends and family on here: That time of year again is fast approaching. I wish to you all, including myself, L'Shanah Tovah Tikatevu. To my gentile family and friends, it means, may you be inscribed in the book of life for this upcoming year. As is also part of our tradition, now is the time to forgive and ask forgiveness. I hereby forgive those who have hurt me and wronged me, whoever those people may be (you know who you are). I also ask forgiveness from those I have hurt or wronged, (unintentionally, of course).
As a side note, my dream of moving back East has been delayed by about 6 months. So I guess it won't happen until after the "other" New Year.
As a side note, my dream of moving back East has been delayed by about 6 months. So I guess it won't happen until after the "other" New Year.
Monday, May 31, 2010
We got our car and boy are we tired
Well, as the title says, the long wait for a car is finally over. We went to Indiana by bus to get the car. We are happy to have the car, but oh what a weekend!
It all started well enough. The tickets were paid for on line so the reservation was made and all set. Since we needed to leave at 5:00 AM and had to be there by 4:00 AM, Vanessa had called a taxi cab company and made a reservation for them to call us, to make sure we were awake and that they would be arriving soon. Well, we get up at the time we thought we should (2:30 AM). Well, 3:15 and no call. Guess what? The person who took the reservation at the cab company had PM and not AM. Oy Vey! Good thing she called. They sent a cab immediately and we were on our way.
We get to the bus station, and get our tickets/boarding passes. The staff, from the ticket takers to the bus driver, were all friendly and helpful. When the bus arrived, we boarded. The nice thing was, they had a step stool of a sort (a small metal box, really), that looked like it came from under the bus, making it easy for everyone to board the bus.
We get to St Louis (our transfer point), later than planned but that was OK because we originally had a 2 hour 55 minute layover before the next bus. We were both hungry and ate at the deli that was in the terminal (the prices were higher than the Arch). Then comes the time to get on the second bus, and so we did. At least, we got on the right bus, anyway, but that's when the trouble started.
This lady, who we didn't know at the time was the bus driver, must have taken her nasty pills that day. She barked orders at everyone like a drill sergeant. Vanessa and I just did whatever she said just to stay out of her line of fire, and we took off and headed for Indiana. I told my friends the time they needed to pick us up. It's a good thing I called them (Thank goodness for cell phones). This driver was over 45 minutes late, but that was nothing: Here comes the really bad part. I tell the driver that I need help getting off the bus because the bus is so high off the ground that I couldn't get down safely - that last "step" was far too steep. Instead of saying, ok let me get you someone who can help, she spouts an attitude, acting in a very rude and unprofessional manner. When Vanessa (who was already pissed at this point) explained that I was disabled, the driver started SCREAMING at me! I said, ya know what, fuck this and got off the bus but it was a struggle to do so. Vanessa made it abundantly clear as we walked away what she thought of the driver ("What a bitch!" and similar phrases, and more than once, loud enough that those around looked in Vanessa's direction).
We met my friends, and we headed for the town nearby where they live to go out to dinner. To borrow from Billy Crystal, "The food was wonderful, and the portions were ENORMOUS!" After dinner they showed us around the town. After that we headed to their house and got the car ready, and started heading back home.
The directions from the web were perfect and we were well on our way. They are very close to Illinois, so we had crossed the state line rather quickly. We decided to take US Route 50 all the way to St Louis. Big Mistake there! First off, there were precious few gas stations. Worse, there were precious few motels. We had to drive back to almost St Louis before we found something. No offense to my friends on here from Illinois, but your state stinks, literally! Our noses took an odoriferous assault from just about every source you can imagine: petroleum byproducts, dead skunks, manure, etc. Good G*d, people! Get a few million Glade Plug-ins. :-)
Apparently I hadn't had enough water to drink, because once we did finally try to sleep in the motel room, I was hit with the worst leg cramps imaginable (dehydration will do that, especially if you have kidney dysfunction of some kind). Needless to say I spent most of the night trying to walk off the cramps and drinking lots of water. Eventually they subsided, and we left to continue our journey home. I think another problem was the seats on the buses were not completely comfortable for me and that made me cramp up. Also, it was extremely cold in the room and neither of us thought to turn the A/C off.
The rest of the trip was really nice. We were going to take I-44 all the way back because we were wiped out from the night before, and just wanted to get home as quickly as possible, but we couldn't resist making a few detours to check out some sites on Route 66. About an hour outside of St. Louis, we visited Meramac Caverns (turns out we were too early, but the drive through the area was pretty anyway), but returned to I-44 when we were finished there (we aren't familiar with that stretch of Route 66, yet). Further down the road, we got onto Route 66 for a while and went through Cuba, Missouri, where a number of attractions can be found: the whole town is practically painted with murals, then there's the "Missouri Hick BBQ", and the Worlds Largest Rocking chair -- it was BIG! We got home in about six hours (including all of the above stops), and went straight to bed - do not, as they say, pass "Go", do not collect 200 dollars.
The bottom line is we now have a beautiful car, a Cadillac yet. To borrow from Billy Crystal again (and this time I think I got the quote right), "Nothing makes a man feels good about himself when he's sittin' behind the wheel of a big-finned gas suckin' bastard that takes up two parkin' spots." Most importantly, we finally met two friends that I've known online for over ten years, and I really enjoyed that part of the visit.
It all started well enough. The tickets were paid for on line so the reservation was made and all set. Since we needed to leave at 5:00 AM and had to be there by 4:00 AM, Vanessa had called a taxi cab company and made a reservation for them to call us, to make sure we were awake and that they would be arriving soon. Well, we get up at the time we thought we should (2:30 AM). Well, 3:15 and no call. Guess what? The person who took the reservation at the cab company had PM and not AM. Oy Vey! Good thing she called. They sent a cab immediately and we were on our way.
We get to the bus station, and get our tickets/boarding passes. The staff, from the ticket takers to the bus driver, were all friendly and helpful. When the bus arrived, we boarded. The nice thing was, they had a step stool of a sort (a small metal box, really), that looked like it came from under the bus, making it easy for everyone to board the bus.
We get to St Louis (our transfer point), later than planned but that was OK because we originally had a 2 hour 55 minute layover before the next bus. We were both hungry and ate at the deli that was in the terminal (the prices were higher than the Arch). Then comes the time to get on the second bus, and so we did. At least, we got on the right bus, anyway, but that's when the trouble started.
This lady, who we didn't know at the time was the bus driver, must have taken her nasty pills that day. She barked orders at everyone like a drill sergeant. Vanessa and I just did whatever she said just to stay out of her line of fire, and we took off and headed for Indiana. I told my friends the time they needed to pick us up. It's a good thing I called them (Thank goodness for cell phones). This driver was over 45 minutes late, but that was nothing: Here comes the really bad part. I tell the driver that I need help getting off the bus because the bus is so high off the ground that I couldn't get down safely - that last "step" was far too steep. Instead of saying, ok let me get you someone who can help, she spouts an attitude, acting in a very rude and unprofessional manner. When Vanessa (who was already pissed at this point) explained that I was disabled, the driver started SCREAMING at me! I said, ya know what, fuck this and got off the bus but it was a struggle to do so. Vanessa made it abundantly clear as we walked away what she thought of the driver ("What a bitch!" and similar phrases, and more than once, loud enough that those around looked in Vanessa's direction).
We met my friends, and we headed for the town nearby where they live to go out to dinner. To borrow from Billy Crystal, "The food was wonderful, and the portions were ENORMOUS!" After dinner they showed us around the town. After that we headed to their house and got the car ready, and started heading back home.
The directions from the web were perfect and we were well on our way. They are very close to Illinois, so we had crossed the state line rather quickly. We decided to take US Route 50 all the way to St Louis. Big Mistake there! First off, there were precious few gas stations. Worse, there were precious few motels. We had to drive back to almost St Louis before we found something. No offense to my friends on here from Illinois, but your state stinks, literally! Our noses took an odoriferous assault from just about every source you can imagine: petroleum byproducts, dead skunks, manure, etc. Good G*d, people! Get a few million Glade Plug-ins. :-)
Apparently I hadn't had enough water to drink, because once we did finally try to sleep in the motel room, I was hit with the worst leg cramps imaginable (dehydration will do that, especially if you have kidney dysfunction of some kind). Needless to say I spent most of the night trying to walk off the cramps and drinking lots of water. Eventually they subsided, and we left to continue our journey home. I think another problem was the seats on the buses were not completely comfortable for me and that made me cramp up. Also, it was extremely cold in the room and neither of us thought to turn the A/C off.
The rest of the trip was really nice. We were going to take I-44 all the way back because we were wiped out from the night before, and just wanted to get home as quickly as possible, but we couldn't resist making a few detours to check out some sites on Route 66. About an hour outside of St. Louis, we visited Meramac Caverns (turns out we were too early, but the drive through the area was pretty anyway), but returned to I-44 when we were finished there (we aren't familiar with that stretch of Route 66, yet). Further down the road, we got onto Route 66 for a while and went through Cuba, Missouri, where a number of attractions can be found: the whole town is practically painted with murals, then there's the "Missouri Hick BBQ", and the Worlds Largest Rocking chair -- it was BIG! We got home in about six hours (including all of the above stops), and went straight to bed - do not, as they say, pass "Go", do not collect 200 dollars.
The bottom line is we now have a beautiful car, a Cadillac yet. To borrow from Billy Crystal again (and this time I think I got the quote right), "Nothing makes a man feels good about himself when he's sittin' behind the wheel of a big-finned gas suckin' bastard that takes up two parkin' spots." Most importantly, we finally met two friends that I've known online for over ten years, and I really enjoyed that part of the visit.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Scammed by the state of Missouri
OK, now I'm really pissed off.
As many of you know, we lost our T-bird in October of 2009, due to a catastrophic engine failure. So, a few days after we finally got home, we called our insurance agency, to let them know. They first told us that we would have to come in and sign off to officially cancel it. Um, hello? We don't have a car anymore! Anyway, the underwriter (the big conglomerate who keeps most of your premium payment) kept billing us, and eventually the insurance lapsed after maybe two months, give or take.... THEN they sent us to COLLECTIONS for like $35 - an amount they billed us AFTER we asked them to cancel the policy.
What the fuck ever. We'll pay it when we get another car, we thought.
So, now fast forward to today - as most of you probably also know by now, we are buying a used car from a very dear friend and should be acquiring it in about 2 1/2 weeks. I had Vanessa call our old insurance agency today... Guess what? They want us to pay through the nose (to the tune of almost twice as expensive) because the corrupt state of Missouri says they can penalize us for not having continuous insurance coverage! Yes my friends, this is literally government of Missouri legislation! Forget the fact we explicitly asked to cancel the coverage and didn't even HAVE a car since October of 2009!
To add insult to injury, the insurance agency told us that our first underwriter doesn't even write these kind of "non-standard" policies, and they were the cheapest. They also told us that our most recent underwriter, the one who had the chutzpah to send us to collections, won't take us back because of that. Then the agency told us that if we wanted to avoid the penalty, the best option in this state would have been to switch their low cost "no car" policy. In other words, pay the underwriters for the right to LOSE A CAR in the state of Missouri!
I can't fault the agency because they were always good to us, but these underwriters... Jesus H. ben Joseph in a fucking handbasket! Can we say legalized extortion?
At any rate, we'll be going with a different agency - their underwriters found us a rate that's somewhat cheaper, with the possibility that the rate will go down in cost after six months.
Government reforms? "I fart in your general direction!"
As many of you know, we lost our T-bird in October of 2009, due to a catastrophic engine failure. So, a few days after we finally got home, we called our insurance agency, to let them know. They first told us that we would have to come in and sign off to officially cancel it. Um, hello? We don't have a car anymore! Anyway, the underwriter (the big conglomerate who keeps most of your premium payment) kept billing us, and eventually the insurance lapsed after maybe two months, give or take.... THEN they sent us to COLLECTIONS for like $35 - an amount they billed us AFTER we asked them to cancel the policy.
What the fuck ever. We'll pay it when we get another car, we thought.
So, now fast forward to today - as most of you probably also know by now, we are buying a used car from a very dear friend and should be acquiring it in about 2 1/2 weeks. I had Vanessa call our old insurance agency today... Guess what? They want us to pay through the nose (to the tune of almost twice as expensive) because the corrupt state of Missouri says they can penalize us for not having continuous insurance coverage! Yes my friends, this is literally government of Missouri legislation! Forget the fact we explicitly asked to cancel the coverage and didn't even HAVE a car since October of 2009!
To add insult to injury, the insurance agency told us that our first underwriter doesn't even write these kind of "non-standard" policies, and they were the cheapest. They also told us that our most recent underwriter, the one who had the chutzpah to send us to collections, won't take us back because of that. Then the agency told us that if we wanted to avoid the penalty, the best option in this state would have been to switch their low cost "no car" policy. In other words, pay the underwriters for the right to LOSE A CAR in the state of Missouri!
I can't fault the agency because they were always good to us, but these underwriters... Jesus H. ben Joseph in a fucking handbasket! Can we say legalized extortion?
At any rate, we'll be going with a different agency - their underwriters found us a rate that's somewhat cheaper, with the possibility that the rate will go down in cost after six months.
Government reforms? "I fart in your general direction!"
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Yom Hashoah 2010
Today, Sunday, April 11th 2010, was a very memorable and emotional day on many levels. We were invited by a new found friend at our synagogue here in Joplin, MO, to go with her to Overland Park KS to attend the commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, aka Yom Hashoah.
After getting on the road to Overland Park, which is a suburb of Kansas City, MO we made it up there with time to spare. There was initial doubt as we more or less got a late start. Emotions ran high during the service, with me and several others, including my wife Vanessa. Part of the memorial had them light Six candles, each reperesenting one million of the Six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. They also requested certain people to stand when the candles were lit. The first candle was lit and people who were actual survivors were asked to stand. They did. The 2nd candle was lit and the people who they called the 2nd generation, or what I called first generation American, were asked to stand. I stood. I stood for my parents who were longer with us and for other loved ones who are no longer with us. I stood so all who were not there could be honored and remembered. There were songs sung and speeches made. Some of the songs were The American National Anthem (which I still say should be G*D Bless America) The Israeli National Anthem (Hatikvah, which means hope) and the Partizaner hymm, both in Yiddish and English. We also watched a film about survivors who were videotaped as witnesses.
After all this, the service was moved outdoors to a monument to those who perished. There were some closing remarks, and the Mourner's Kaddish, which is a prayer honoring the sanctity of G*D and life.
After the service had concluded, we decided to look for, and found a Kosher Subway Deli. “It was like coming out of the wilderness, to find there was a promised land.” :)
After getting on the road to Overland Park, which is a suburb of Kansas City, MO we made it up there with time to spare. There was initial doubt as we more or less got a late start. Emotions ran high during the service, with me and several others, including my wife Vanessa. Part of the memorial had them light Six candles, each reperesenting one million of the Six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. They also requested certain people to stand when the candles were lit. The first candle was lit and people who were actual survivors were asked to stand. They did. The 2nd candle was lit and the people who they called the 2nd generation, or what I called first generation American, were asked to stand. I stood. I stood for my parents who were longer with us and for other loved ones who are no longer with us. I stood so all who were not there could be honored and remembered. There were songs sung and speeches made. Some of the songs were The American National Anthem (which I still say should be G*D Bless America) The Israeli National Anthem (Hatikvah, which means hope) and the Partizaner hymm, both in Yiddish and English. We also watched a film about survivors who were videotaped as witnesses.
After all this, the service was moved outdoors to a monument to those who perished. There were some closing remarks, and the Mourner's Kaddish, which is a prayer honoring the sanctity of G*D and life.
After the service had concluded, we decided to look for, and found a Kosher Subway Deli. “It was like coming out of the wilderness, to find there was a promised land.” :)
There are still good people around
The other day, I went for a haircut. I went to a barber around the corner. It was a unique challenge getting into the place with my wheelchair. The regular front door had no ramp of any kind and I almost gave up, but there was another door that was level with the ground and I went in through there. I found the barber shop, which was quite small, and asked her the price. She told me she had 2 prices for clipper cuts and sissor cuts. There was an older gentleman sitting in the chair getting a haircut. In addition to asking about me, I asked about Vanessa. Her hair is very long. Not Crystal Gayle longm but long. What we were going to do was have her hair cut, and donate the hair to the organization that makes wigs for cancer patients. She does not take plastic, so I said I would get some cash and return. Upon hearing this, the gentleman actually paid for my haircut. I was pleasantly surprised, and grateful for that. There are still decent people in this world. The Kaballah would say a spark returned to G*D that day.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Vanessa's health issues 3
Sorry in advance for the strong language. What the fuck is going on in the medical profession? What's with this G*D damned prejudiced against the morbidly obese? To that end why isn't the government stepping in to end the use of poison like High Fructose Corn Syrup in food, that's mostly responsible for the pandemic of morbid obesity?
I know I'm venting but I have reasons to vent. We just now got a call back from her Cardiologist's office. Her cardiologist, Dr Shawn Sabapathy (you can look this guy up) says that she is fine for now, even though he said a few days ago that he wasn't entirely satisfied with the quality of the echo, and that at most she should start having yearly echoes done by our family doctor. In the meantime, he does not want to do any more tests, not even an angiogram, and he thinks she should wait a year for that next echo. In a year she could be dead from cardiac arrest for Fuck Sakes! I should point out here for the record, that her biological dad, who was thin as a rail, died of "Severe aortic stenosis" at around age 50.
To make this totally ridiculous, he even said that, after being told she suffers from productive coughing after exerting herself, he said"oh that happens to everyone" , then suggested it was just post nasal drip.
We never got to discuss this next issues with him. She periodically, though not much lately, suffers from sudden shortness of breath while resting. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, she'll suddenly get short of breath. as if she had just come in from running. Her chest would get sore and she would feel it all the way to her back (as if you drew a line straight through the body). The last doctor she discussed this issue with, sent her to get an echocardiogram, and that's where it was determined that her aortic stenosis was deemed moderate, as was her aortic insuffiency. Everything in this paragraph happened prior to her seeing her current GP and the cardiologist.
Apparently the cardiologist is not the type of doctor who wants to be confused by the facts. Everytime she goes to a doctor, it's the same story, almost like a mantra: lose weight, you're too fat. Then why won't someone fucking pay for Roux-en-Y or better yet lap band! Especially if she has a genetic predisposition to obesity. At least her GP put her on some meds to fight the obesity. Difficult to say whether or not it's working, but it seems to be.
I know I'm venting but I have reasons to vent. We just now got a call back from her Cardiologist's office. Her cardiologist, Dr Shawn Sabapathy (you can look this guy up) says that she is fine for now, even though he said a few days ago that he wasn't entirely satisfied with the quality of the echo, and that at most she should start having yearly echoes done by our family doctor. In the meantime, he does not want to do any more tests, not even an angiogram, and he thinks she should wait a year for that next echo. In a year she could be dead from cardiac arrest for Fuck Sakes! I should point out here for the record, that her biological dad, who was thin as a rail, died of "Severe aortic stenosis" at around age 50.
To make this totally ridiculous, he even said that, after being told she suffers from productive coughing after exerting herself, he said"oh that happens to everyone" , then suggested it was just post nasal drip.
We never got to discuss this next issues with him. She periodically, though not much lately, suffers from sudden shortness of breath while resting. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, she'll suddenly get short of breath. as if she had just come in from running. Her chest would get sore and she would feel it all the way to her back (as if you drew a line straight through the body). The last doctor she discussed this issue with, sent her to get an echocardiogram, and that's where it was determined that her aortic stenosis was deemed moderate, as was her aortic insuffiency. Everything in this paragraph happened prior to her seeing her current GP and the cardiologist.
Apparently the cardiologist is not the type of doctor who wants to be confused by the facts. Everytime she goes to a doctor, it's the same story, almost like a mantra: lose weight, you're too fat. Then why won't someone fucking pay for Roux-en-Y or better yet lap band! Especially if she has a genetic predisposition to obesity. At least her GP put her on some meds to fight the obesity. Difficult to say whether or not it's working, but it seems to be.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Vanessa's health issues 2
Hello. Well we heard back from the Cardiologist and waiting to see what he wants to do next. As we suspected would be the case, the Echocardiogram she took was inconclusive. In fact, the technician said that in general, they have trouble getting good images sometimes with big people, and that was the case here. Vanessa suggested to the nurse that an angiogram seemed like the next logical step. They are not sure what they want to do next, so we are waiting.
The echo-cardiogram did indicate an enlarged left atrium, a slight thickening of the wall of her left ventricle. There is a murmur which has been described as moderate. The nurse did say very plainly that he wants to keep an eye on her aortic stenosis (that is the reason for the prospective valve replacement mentioned in the first post). but he made no indication of when he wanted to see her next. It is noteworthy that she was diagnosed with the aortic stenosis with it when she was a young child, and was thin as a rail at the time.
One of the reasons we have been considering a 2nd opinion is because in her last visit to the ER, (a little over a month ago) the ER doctor, aside from recommending weight loss, also strongly recommended a stress test. This cardiologist, however, refuses to do one, despite this recommendation. He claims she's too fat (presumably she is too fat to be put on a treadmill).
The echo-cardiogram did indicate an enlarged left atrium, a slight thickening of the wall of her left ventricle. There is a murmur which has been described as moderate. The nurse did say very plainly that he wants to keep an eye on her aortic stenosis (that is the reason for the prospective valve replacement mentioned in the first post). but he made no indication of when he wanted to see her next. It is noteworthy that she was diagnosed with the aortic stenosis with it when she was a young child, and was thin as a rail at the time.
One of the reasons we have been considering a 2nd opinion is because in her last visit to the ER, (a little over a month ago) the ER doctor, aside from recommending weight loss, also strongly recommended a stress test. This cardiologist, however, refuses to do one, despite this recommendation. He claims she's too fat (presumably she is too fat to be put on a treadmill).
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Vanessa's health issues
Update on Vanessa: We went to the cardiologist, who said 1) he doesn't want to do any tests on her (though he later did an echo and ekg) 2) he said no doctor would do a valve replacement on her heart (which she was told she will soon need, by another dr, 3 years ago), and 3) blames it all on her weight, even though she's had this heart condition since birth.
We're going to demand a second opinion. The dr, btw, is a foreigner, either Indian or Pakistani. Wonder if we can demand an American doctor? Sorry to sound racist peeps, I mean I have nothing against Indians (2 of my nephews are Indian), but it's been my experience that most doctors from that region have the wrong attitude towards things, especially how they treat American patients. Telling us that no doctor will do the surgery, tells me that's he's given her a death sentence. I refuse to accept that!
We're going to demand a second opinion. The dr, btw, is a foreigner, either Indian or Pakistani. Wonder if we can demand an American doctor? Sorry to sound racist peeps, I mean I have nothing against Indians (2 of my nephews are Indian), but it's been my experience that most doctors from that region have the wrong attitude towards things, especially how they treat American patients. Telling us that no doctor will do the surgery, tells me that's he's given her a death sentence. I refuse to accept that!
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