We have no gas. We have no water. That means we have no heat and the toilet can’t be flushed. Citizens Utility says they’ll have service restored sometime today, but we have no idea exactly when. I’m working on the dregs of leftover coffee from yesterday. The temperature inside the house is at 64 and continues to fall. At least we have power. A problem at a substation caused approximately 36,000 people in Northeast Indy to lose power yesterday. AES says that all power has been restored, but this is the second time this week the city has been hit with a major outage.
Instinct says to abandon the house until the utilities are restored. We can’t do that for a couple of reasons. First, someone has to be here when the gas is turned back on. They have to make sure things don’t go boom. Second, we can’t afford to leave. We can’t afford anything. I secured a gallon of milk and a bag of cat food before everything went sideways yesterday. I hope that’s enough to see us through the end of the month because there’s absolutely nothing left. Never mind that G’s 16th birthday is the 26th and Thanksgiving is two days later. We have to work with what we have.
If you want to help, and I seriously feel bad about asking, our request is that you send any help through either Venmo or CashApp. Please do not use Zelle as that could impact my social security. My Venmo is @C_I_Letbetter and CashApp is $ciletbetter. Kat’s Venmo is @Katherine-Franson85. Any amount of assistance is appreciated.
Yesterday was a zoo even before the utility outage. My doctor’s office called shortly after 8:00 and asked if I was still having problems with the headache. Of course, I was, as I still am today. But instead of the referral to Neurology I had requested, I was told to go to the hospital. Now. So, we went to the hospital, dashing any hopes Kat might have had for a quiet morning. Fortunately, the waiting area was empty when we arrived allowing me to be seen quickly. They drew blood and ordered a CT scan. I could have told them the results without going to all the trouble. The CT scan showed no signs of hemorrhage, injury, or tumor. The bloodwork was all completely normal. Three and a half hours, plus drive time and considerable expense were wasted to make the insurance company happy.
We got home just in time for Kat to down a couple of slices of leftover pieces before heading to the salon. I waited for the milk and cat food, then went to bed not having any idea that our utilities were already out.
Then, the insurance company finally called. No, this wasn’t the call I had requested last week. This was a call that was supposed to happen in July. The representative was horrified when I explained my situation, contacted her supervisor, and promised that a case manager would call “within 24 hours.” Naturally, by this time it was after 2:00 on a Friday afternoon. We both acknowledged that it would likely be Monday before I would get a call. We’ll see if anything happens.
Fortunately, Kat’s sternly worded email to Eskanazi Health had more impact. She now has an appointment with her PCP on Monday. She had a rough night with a couple of serious bouts of coughing. She and Tipper both were up eating at 3:30 AM. We’re hopeful that her visit with the doctor will shed some light on whether she’s making progress or not, and give her some assistance with the pain.
Meanwhile, my head still hurts like crazy. I’m keeping the room relatively dark to keep it from getting any worse. Nothing OTC helps and Tylenol is rough on the kidneys. My kidneys are already fighting for life because of the chemo and diabetes. There’s no point taking anything else that might compromise them, especially when it’s not going to work. I did finally get the referral to Neurology, but when I called, the automated system asked for an extension. I don’t know anyone’s extension, so I hit 0. That resulted in another recording saying that the “network operator” was not available. The next message said that the backup operator was not available. Please call back. No chance to leave a message for anyone. Perhaps they took the afternoon off. I’ll have to try again on Monday.
Could things get worse? Oh yeah, they always can. Weather forecasts for next week show temperatures plummeting on Wednesday and a possible chance for the first snow of the season on Thursday. Back when people in this region measured snow in feet, not inches, they understood how to drive on the white stuff. It’s been 13 years since we’ve seen that significant of snowfall, however. In the interim, a whole generation of new drivers have gotten their licenses without knowing how to drive on snow and ice. They don’t respect the elements and end up endangering the lives of everyone.
Perhaps it is a good thing I don’t fly. A bullet struck a Southwest jet preparing to take off from Dallas Love Field headed for Indy last night. No one was hurt, but the plane did have to return to the gate and was taken out of service. I’ve not heard whether a replacement was found last night or not. As of this morning, there isn’t an update as to where the bullet might have originated and whether the passenger craft was a target or not. I expect this kind of news from Haiti, where the airport has had to close due to gang violence. Such an event here is extremely unusual.
No, I did not attempt to watch the much-hyped game of patty-cake between a greasy influencer and an elderly champion. We canceled our Netflix subscription a couple of years ago when the price kept going up every time we got a new bill. Even if we had the service, which suffered from an overload of people who slowed down their lives to watch the train wreck, I still wouldn’t have tuned in. I find events such as this to be debased and gratuitous, appealing to the lowest and least desirable of human traits. Yes, I’m definitely looking down at those who watched.
Meanwhile, The daughters of Malcolm X sued the CIA, FBI, and NYPD over his assassination. There’s no way this doesn’t get nasty. The fact that the FBI and CIA kept extensive files on black leaders they considered “potentially troublesome” is widely known at this point. That most, if not all, of the persons involved in the 1965 assassination are likely dead by now, only complicates matters. Conjecture isn’t admissible in court. Written documents are, and if the daughters have enough of those documents, from whatever sources, an FBI gutted by a vengeful president could take a serious hit. Buy your popcorn now.
All week long, scientists at every level and in every field have been wringing their hands over coming changes to various organizations tasked with the research that keeps us all healthy. There are conflicts of interest with everyone who’s been nominated thus far. We can only guess whether they’ll all pass the rigors of Senate approval, but the president-elect has threatened retribution if they don’t. You might want to buy an extra box of that popcorn.
This is where we’re at this morning. Everything in my body says it’s time for a nap, but I don’t dare just in case Citizen’s decides to show up. My head is screaming at me. I know it’s Saturday and there’s no question that the outcome of the IU/Ohio State game will reshape the college football landscape, but something’s going to have to improve before I can handle watching any of the games.
Critical Help Needed
We have no gas. We have no water. That means we have no heat and the toilet can’t be flushed. Citizens Utility says they’ll have service restored sometime today, but we have no idea exactly when. I’m working on the dregs of leftover coffee from yesterday. The temperature inside the house is at 64 and continues to fall. At least we have power. A problem at a substation caused approximately 36,000 people in Northeast Indy to lose power yesterday. AES says that all power has been restored, but this is the second time this week the city has been hit with a major outage.
Instinct says to abandon the house until the utilities are restored. We can’t do that for a couple of reasons. First, someone has to be here when the gas is turned back on. They have to make sure things don’t go boom. Second, we can’t afford to leave. We can’t afford anything. I secured a gallon of milk and a bag of cat food before everything went sideways yesterday. I hope that’s enough to see us through the end of the month because there’s absolutely nothing left. Never mind that G’s 16th birthday is the 26th and Thanksgiving is two days later. We have to work with what we have.
If you want to help, and I seriously feel bad about asking, our request is that you send any help through either Venmo or CashApp. Please do not use Zelle as that could impact my social security. My Venmo is @C_I_Letbetter and CashApp is $ciletbetter. Kat’s Venmo is @Katherine-Franson85. Any amount of assistance is appreciated.
Yesterday was a zoo even before the utility outage. My doctor’s office called shortly after 8:00 and asked if I was still having problems with the headache. Of course, I was, as I still am today. But instead of the referral to Neurology I had requested, I was told to go to the hospital. Now. So, we went to the hospital, dashing any hopes Kat might have had for a quiet morning. Fortunately, the waiting area was empty when we arrived allowing me to be seen quickly. They drew blood and ordered a CT scan. I could have told them the results without going to all the trouble. The CT scan showed no signs of hemorrhage, injury, or tumor. The bloodwork was all completely normal. Three and a half hours, plus drive time and considerable expense were wasted to make the insurance company happy.
We got home just in time for Kat to down a couple of slices of leftover pieces before heading to the salon. I waited for the milk and cat food, then went to bed not having any idea that our utilities were already out.
Then, the insurance company finally called. No, this wasn’t the call I had requested last week. This was a call that was supposed to happen in July. The representative was horrified when I explained my situation, contacted her supervisor, and promised that a case manager would call “within 24 hours.” Naturally, by this time it was after 2:00 on a Friday afternoon. We both acknowledged that it would likely be Monday before I would get a call. We’ll see if anything happens.
Fortunately, Kat’s sternly worded email to Eskanazi Health had more impact. She now has an appointment with her PCP on Monday. She had a rough night with a couple of serious bouts of coughing. She and Tipper both were up eating at 3:30 AM. We’re hopeful that her visit with the doctor will shed some light on whether she’s making progress or not, and give her some assistance with the pain.
Meanwhile, my head still hurts like crazy. I’m keeping the room relatively dark to keep it from getting any worse. Nothing OTC helps and Tylenol is rough on the kidneys. My kidneys are already fighting for life because of the chemo and diabetes. There’s no point taking anything else that might compromise them, especially when it’s not going to work. I did finally get the referral to Neurology, but when I called, the automated system asked for an extension. I don’t know anyone’s extension, so I hit 0. That resulted in another recording saying that the “network operator” was not available. The next message said that the backup operator was not available. Please call back. No chance to leave a message for anyone. Perhaps they took the afternoon off. I’ll have to try again on Monday.
Could things get worse? Oh yeah, they always can. Weather forecasts for next week show temperatures plummeting on Wednesday and a possible chance for the first snow of the season on Thursday. Back when people in this region measured snow in feet, not inches, they understood how to drive on the white stuff. It’s been 13 years since we’ve seen that significant of snowfall, however. In the interim, a whole generation of new drivers have gotten their licenses without knowing how to drive on snow and ice. They don’t respect the elements and end up endangering the lives of everyone.
Perhaps it is a good thing I don’t fly. A bullet struck a Southwest jet preparing to take off from Dallas Love Field headed for Indy last night. No one was hurt, but the plane did have to return to the gate and was taken out of service. I’ve not heard whether a replacement was found last night or not. As of this morning, there isn’t an update as to where the bullet might have originated and whether the passenger craft was a target or not. I expect this kind of news from Haiti, where the airport has had to close due to gang violence. Such an event here is extremely unusual.
No, I did not attempt to watch the much-hyped game of patty-cake between a greasy influencer and an elderly champion. We canceled our Netflix subscription a couple of years ago when the price kept going up every time we got a new bill. Even if we had the service, which suffered from an overload of people who slowed down their lives to watch the train wreck, I still wouldn’t have tuned in. I find events such as this to be debased and gratuitous, appealing to the lowest and least desirable of human traits. Yes, I’m definitely looking down at those who watched.
Meanwhile, The daughters of Malcolm X sued the CIA, FBI, and NYPD over his assassination. There’s no way this doesn’t get nasty. The fact that the FBI and CIA kept extensive files on black leaders they considered “potentially troublesome” is widely known at this point. That most, if not all, of the persons involved in the 1965 assassination are likely dead by now, only complicates matters. Conjecture isn’t admissible in court. Written documents are, and if the daughters have enough of those documents, from whatever sources, an FBI gutted by a vengeful president could take a serious hit. Buy your popcorn now.
All week long, scientists at every level and in every field have been wringing their hands over coming changes to various organizations tasked with the research that keeps us all healthy. There are conflicts of interest with everyone who’s been nominated thus far. We can only guess whether they’ll all pass the rigors of Senate approval, but the president-elect has threatened retribution if they don’t. You might want to buy an extra box of that popcorn.
This is where we’re at this morning. Everything in my body says it’s time for a nap, but I don’t dare just in case Citizen’s decides to show up. My head is screaming at me. I know it’s Saturday and there’s no question that the outcome of the IU/Ohio State game will reshape the college football landscape, but something’s going to have to improve before I can handle watching any of the games.
And I’m now out of coffee. Please, help.
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