I’m a TOm Hanks fan. I’m not a stalker, and I’m not a card-carying member of his official fan club, but I love his movies. I suppose the only one I’m not terribly fond of is “Sleepless in Seattle.” I watched “You’ve Got Mail” this afternoon before it was time to make dinner, and we’ve seen “The Green Mile” recently. “Apollo 13” is playing as I write this.
I understand that Hanks has been given the role of the main character in the “Da Vinci Code”, which is coming out this Spring. I’ll be one of the people who go to see it within the first week.
Organization
You have to read what Cop Car has to say about her “quilting” room. I was so into that post that I left a book-long response, and it seems that I have more to say about it.
I think, Cop Car, that we are simply in a season of our lives when organization becomes important. I keep thinking that I don’t want to leave confusion for others to deal with, but as I work my way through things here, I’m discovering the pleasures of living a simpler life.
Oh, Bummer!
Our refrigerator has died. It’s taken it’s sweet time, but the refrigerator died a couple of days ago and now the freezer portion is going. I didn’t realize the fridge wasn’t working and made myself a sandwich from the leftover meatloaf, Friday. By evening, my stomach was upset. I’m taking Augmentin for a finger infection, and between the two, my stomach was a mess most of the night.
Dear Husband realized that if he wasn’t proactive about it, he’d loose the chance to go to Sailpalooza on Saturday, so despite the the fact that I was starting to look and feel peaked, he dragged me to Se@rs to shop for a new refrigerator.
We purchased our first side by side with water and ice service to the door. It will be delivered on Sunday! We emptied out the refrigerator Friday night, storing the acidic condiments in a Coleman chest with ice. They should be cold enough for two days to be safe. Unfortunately, we ended up throwing out several hundred dollars of refrigerated and frozen foods.
I took Elegante Mother out to lunch today, and this evening we made a pot of Minestrone, from mostly canned goods. We’ll have eggs, fruit and toast for breakfast, and then Elegante Mother and I will be attending a bridal shower at noon at a local Italian restaurant. I suspect that we’ll do pizza or take out Sunday night, and then restock the fridge on Monday.
It’s been much easier to get through three days without a refrigerator than I expected.
Short Shorts
Short Shorts
No, not the kind we wear. It
More Shorts
I’m working back wards this morning. I have another post ready to go that’s on my personal computer, and I can’t get to it. Now, the thing that will make later readers just crazy is that they will see “Short Shorts” first in line, just as I intended it to be read, followed by this post……but those of you who are around now, will only see “More Shorts.” Sorry about that…..
Ticked off
Today I had appointments with the dentist and the neurologist. The dental appointment went fine. I was in and out in a flash, and on my way to the second appointment.
I was 20 minutes early for the visit, so I resigned myself to a wait. I could see the doc conversing with one of his assistants, so at least I knew that he was at the facility. While I waited, the appointments secretary called me to the window. She is an overwhelming woman, larger than life, and simply large, and she has this faintly false pleasant demeanor that forces you to smile back and be nice.
I have to tell you, I ended up not being nice.
I was asked to read and sign and date two pages of information. One of the pages listed all the new charges that had been instituted. If you cancel your visit 24 hours or less prior to the visit, or miss a visit, they charge $50. If you call to have a prescription renewed over the phone, they charge $25.00. Completion of any type of form (insurance, letters to school or employer, etc.) cost $100.00, and Insurance company authorization calls by the doctor (for tests, admissions, etc) are $100.00 per call.
Only 58% of his patients paid their bills last year, so now, if you wish to see the doctor, you pay a set fee up front, BEFORE you see the doctor. They no longer accept personal checks, and requested a credit card. I offered them one, and they said they didn’t take it. I offered another, and asked what happened when a patient didn’t have a credit card. I was told that those who wanted to see the doctor managed to “discover that they had a card.”
I was incredibly insulted. Because my doctor doesn’t know how to run a business, he is treating me as though I am out to bilk him out of his fees.
The doctor kept me waiting. He didn’t take my blood pressure or my temperature. He asked me what drugs I was taking, and whether the one he prescribed working for me. We spent less than five minutes on my health care. He then spent 20 minutes of my time trying to explain why he has had to make the changes.
I told him that he was likely to loose patient this way. I have always paid in full at every visit, and my checks never bounce. I told him that the quality of MY health care shouldn’t suffer because others are not paying their bills.
The bottom line is, I spent $125.00 for five minutes of health care and a one year prescription for the drug I need for pain control, and wasted 40 more minutes of my time. The doctor is in so deep, and is so defensive, that he can’t hear what you say to him any longer.
Needless to say, I’ll have to look for someone else to help me with this part of my health care.
To be fair, I know that the health system needs a major overhaul. I know that insurance has had a hand in ruining many a practice, and it seems that the economy is now helping others to crash. We need improved guidelines that give both the doctor and the patient what each needs.
We need a miracle.
Chives
My chives are growing!
And where there are chives, I bet there are crocus. I’ll have to go look.
We had a couple days of rain, and the lawn is greening, and perennial weeds are perking up. We have crocus and Darwin tulips that will bloom early. I’ll try to get pictures of them this year. The daffodils are ringed around the front gardens. I think I’ve divided them often enough to have some in every garden.
The iris will start up soon, but we won’t see any blooms from them until mid-May, and the peonies will follow in late May or early June.
I love the anticipation of this time of year. I love the warming of the temperatures, but the still crisp days. It’s the best time to garden.
We have a plaque that says “To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow.”
There’s hope!
March Came In Like A Lion….
….awhipping up the water in the bay.
Then April sighed, and said good-bye,
And along came pretty little May.
I know it dates me, but that music was popular when I was a kid. I can envision the classroom and the teacher.
The weather in Northern Illinois brought that music to mind. I’m sure you’ve heard about the tornadoes that struck the Midwest, through Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I’m sure there were other states involved. Most of the damage in Illinois was in the central area around Springfield, but we have our share of downed trees and branches.
We still have high winds two days later. I have chosen not to sit at our personal computer for a few days because the table it sits on is next to a wall of glass. On the other side of that glass is a very old grove of trees that are being whipped around by incredible gusts of wind. The noise of the wind is not the “freight train” sound of a tornado, but close.
And it’s cold….colder than it was in parts of January. Maybe it’s just the wind-chill factor. The sun is brilliant, but the winds blow away any warmth that develops.
I’m ready to hear April’s sigh.
More Good News
I’m happy to tell you that my niece has had her surgery for breast cancer, and everything seems to have gone well. Her tumor has been removed, and they’ve found that only the first lymph node had been affected. The advances in surgery are so incredible that the only sign of surgery will be a small dimple, where the tumor was removed.
It’s been a difficult week, waiting for her to be able to proceed. I’m sure it was a hellish week for her. I don’t deal with waiting well. My often joked-about prayer is “Dear Lord, please give me patience, NOW!” Well….SHE was patient. She coped, and she has come out of this well.
Ruh Roh!
I really should have started a new category and named it “Raccoons.”
I was sitting with the guys in the living room Thursday night, watching a sci-fi movie. The volume was up, and there was a lot of fighting on screen. I was sitting near the windows, at the west end of the room, at the computer.
I heard a noise, and my heart stopped for a second. “DH, mute the sound!”
We sat there, our heads cocked, quietly listening.
“I thought I heard a raccoon on the roof.”
Now, you know we have a brand new roof, in part because the raccoons had chewed their way into the attic last year. I’m more than a little jumpy because half a dozen of them are still living somewhere in the grove. It’s been such a warm winter that they haven’t hibernated as usual, and we see them nightly under the bird feeder.
So….we’re listening, and my stepson looks over at the window and laughs. There’s a raccoon climbing up a ladder not three feet away from me.
Dear Husband has been cleaning the bees out of the sofit. The windows at the end of the living room run from about two feet off the floor up to the cathedral ceiling. There’s a one foot spacer in the center of the window wall that has brick on the outside. DH left the extension ladder leaning there and a raccoon decided it might be a way to the roof. We’ve cut down all the other branches that might give them access (we think).
I’ve suggested to DH that he might want to put the ladder back in place so that he can clean the muddy raccoon prints off the upper windows.