Ramblin’ On!

Yup, I’m a gonna ramble tonight. The mouth sores are starting early; I was hoping the slightly acidic root beer and OJ would help keep them away. Maybe I’ll just keep the candidiasis at bay. Ya think?

The hiccups are still disconcerting, especially with the cough! *sigh*

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I was up at 5:00AM, had breakfast, got on the computer for a while, and was tuckered out by 8:00. So, I was ensconced in my recliner—thanks again, Amy—when I got a call from a friend. Not was I was expecting! Apparently he’s going through some trouble and needed to talk. I was honored that he thought of me to call. I’ve had some experience in his situation, but somehow that just isn’t enough, sometimes. All I could do was ask some questions, make a few suggestions and basically just commiserate with him. I hope that I helped.

Why can’t people just learn to Coexist? Is that too much to ask?

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I have been receiving my Short Term Disability (STD) benefits from my place of employment. I noticed that payments were being removed from the check but I didn’t pay too much attention to them. I had other things on my mind. So I assumed my insurance payments were being withheld. I was wrong.

My STD term was for 13 weeks. It’s been all of that, now. I think I just received my last check. So I contacted my HR rep to see what was going to happen and how we were going to handle it. The answer I got back shocked me.

First, let me say that I haven’t always been a real big supporter of my company. With my previous work experience, there were many things that I could have improved for them. And I actually offered to help. Probably my biggest complaint was their Management By Rumor style of communication. Remember that game where you tell a secret to the person next to you and then they tell the person next to them, and so on, and so on? Once the secret completes the circle the last person tells the group and everyone is amazed at how much the story changed. Yup, that one.

But they are coming around on that!

Anyway, I got a reply. It seems that work has been covering not only their portion of the insurance, but mine as well! They said that we’d work out something in the way of an affordable repayment plan when I come back to work. My place of employment just took a big jump in my estimation, especially after the next two statements: “We will not discontinue your insurance, we will continue to pay the entire premium. This is something you certainly don’t need to worry about right now, we would never cut off anyone’s insurance when they need it the most.” (Emphasis theirs!) As cynical as I am, this was certainly most unexpected and very much appreciated. Maybe there is some good in the world.


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I ran out to the grocery store to get a few things. I picked up a replacement and fixed the kitchen faucet spray nozzle that I broke last night. That was pretty much it for the day. After a late lunch, I was plumb tuckered out. Spent the afternoon in the recliner under a sleeping bag watching old NCIS episodes.

I get a kick out of Ben’s cat, Mousebane. He knows when I’m not well. Sometimes I try just to block it all out and just “grump” through it. Some of you know what I mean; I just put my head down and try to bull through. But when Mouse starts jumping up in my lap and insisting on attention, and then purring and spending an inordinate amount of time “kneading” his paws on me, the sleeping bag, etc. I know something is up.

So he’s been pretty attentive lately, which only exacerbates the situation by calling attention to my discomfort.

But he certainly caught my attention tonight. He had been on me in the recliner when I needed to get up for an ice cream cone and to make a rest stop, not necessarily in that order. When I got back, he had crawled up into the warm spot in the recliner, so I had to disturb him. Now, normally he doesn’t take my place unless I’m feeling bad. Just another indication that he knows what’s going on.

So I removed him gently to the chair next to me and got settled. He immediately climbed back into my lap. That’s the third thing he does when I’m feeling bad; he gets right back on me. So there I was, having to defend my ice cream cone, and get him settled down.

But he got even with me. Some time later, he got up and threw up twice on the sleeping bag. It was either that or on the carpet, and I figured in my condition it would be easier to wash the sleeping bag. Which reminds me that I should go check the dryer. So, while trying to stay away from kitty emesis, I got the bag down to the washer.

Now, I’m just finishing up the dishes I got dirty last night, typing this up, and getting ready to head off to bed.

One last item tonight. Remember the chili fiasco? Well I’ve been paying attention to the dates on the food in the cupboards. So I was looking at some of my Mexican condiments, my Mole, Sofrito, Adobo, and Pipian. I noticed that some of them were out of date, so I decided to toss them.

Now, I’ve always thought that the recycling craze was kinda funny. You buy stuff in glass and then you throw it out into the recycle bin. These condiment containers reminded me of my youth, when the jars your food came in could actually be reused for household purposes. These jars are just like juice glasses, so I washed them out and put them in the cupboard for when I don’t want as much to drink. Am I still making sense?

Well, my last visitor stopped by the blog about a half an hour ago; time to get this wrapped up and posted. I suppose everyone is getting ready for bed and work tomorrow. It’s been 3 months since work for me, and it looks like it’ll be another 3 months considering the surgery.

I’d rather be working!