This GD post about sums up my day today:

[Systematic Chaos]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5170986

Hopefully, it can only get better from here.

I'll post again tomorrow when I get back from the doctor, assuming I make it at all.

[auntAgonist]

1. You have so much strength

Kirk, I don't know how I would handle all that you are going through. I followed both your threads.

:hug:

aA

[Systematic Chaos]

2. I've just been through a couple of whirlwind busy weeks.

I'm really sorry I didn't get back to you on this sooner, but before I start a new thread sometime in the next few days I thought I'd at least stop in to let you know that, for the first time in wa-a-a-a-ay too long, some good things have been happening with us. First and foremost my disability has been approved, and while the monthly amounts barely top the equivalent of a minimum wage job, the stress which has been lifted off our shoulders has caused a night-and-day change in our collective outlook. We can cover the basics now, as well as some of these dreaded co-pays, and still have money left over to live just a little here and there and treat ourselves to some fun things that we enjoy like our EverQuest 2 subscriptions and Netflix.

Additionally, I'm now with a new wound care team (mainly because, as I have said before here, while my old doctors were mostly great the hospital they were associated with is one of the shittiest in town and I made up my mind I'd die before I went back), and the new wound doctor was far less pessimistic about the condition of my left foot than my primary doctor was. I still have some awfully ugly toes and all, yes, but immediately under the bad tissue is the sort of shade of red we need to see. It's just a matter of getting the weight loss ball rolling again and decreasing the overall stress on my system, and then I still have an excellent chance of healing up on my own.

I'm still hovering just a pinch above my low from late last year of 480; I was right around 482-483 a couple days ago. My 40th birthday, which I was kind of dreading - midlife crisis and all which never really took root since honestly, I have a lot more reasons to be happy now than I ever did at 30 or even 20 - has come and gone and I'm still the same old fun guy with the crazy sense of humor. My shoulder pain continues to be a very serious and debilitating problem, but I'm doing all I can to try and "dig deep" and not let it get the better of me. Otherwise, I'm doing everything I can to keep my spirits up and have faith in myself and my ability to overcome.

[justgamma]

3. Thanks for posting, SC.

I was starting to get worried about you. I was looking in the lounge to see if you had posted anything lately. (That is one scary place sometimes)

Your new doctor sounds good if he is optimistic about your wounds.

Getting the disability must be a great relief.

You can do it! You just stay the same fun loving guy and I know you can do it. Attitude is everything. With all you are going through, I've marveled at the way you keep up your determination.

:applause:

[supernova]

4. So glad things are looking up for you two

:hug:

That's really good that with all the setbacks you've had, you've essentially kept off the weight that you lost. :thumbsup:

I'm sure once you feel like moving more (thank you spring/summer!) it will get even easier. ;-)

[Systematic Chaos]

5. And so it happens again! (Paratransit rant #2)

Ah, yes. My 40th birthday. Everybody only gets one of those and historically speaking once you've had yours, your days of youth are over and it's on to middle age. Hey, I don't mind... at least not until Paratransit comes along, yet again, to completely and totally fuck up a dinner Jeanette and I had planned for weeks ahead of time.

To make a long story short, due to the ridiculous way the driver's manifest was arranged, we finally ordered the driver to take us home rather than to the restaurant after being nearly two and a half hours non-stop on his bus, and he still was nowhere near the neighborhood across town where the place was. When we finally got back home it was 7:50 in the evening, and our ride home at the restaurant was set for 8:34. Mind you, we were picked up just a few minutes after 5:00! I don't believe he would have made it to the restaurant by 8:34... or if he did we might have had 10 minutes to walk in and take a deep whiff of the smells of what we wouldn't be eating tonight before jumping on another bus to get home who knows when...?

What sucks about this the most is that when Jeanette called these dipshits up and arranged the rides, she plainly stated that we wanted to be at the restaurant by 6:00. We expected to have over two hours to sit and eat and enjoy a couple margaritas. But noooooo. And then the driver was asking if we wanted to reschedule our ride home for a later time. As if I couldn't wait to see how badly they could fuck that up as well.

We ordered pizza tonight. We'll sit home, play games on the computers or our XBox and just try to forget what happened tonight. But seriously, how can this company be so consistently negligent and lax? They just raised all of the fares by a considerable amount due to when Diesel was running over $4.00 per gallon. Now it's back to around half that, so they can't be that strapped for cash. What? Did Bushit and "Big Dick" Cheney show up at the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada's main office and give a fucking motivational speech? Hell with my 40th birthday dinner... what about all the people who use this service for dialysis and other lifesaving medical treatments? I got off that bus shaking like a leaf from taking my blood sugar medications and then proceeding to be without any food or liquid for nearly three hours while being jounced around like a bingo ball in a hopper. How sick have other people gotten? I have to wonder how many people throw up or mess themselves from being trapped for hours just trying to get from point A to point B?

Do yourselves a favor, everyone. Stay the living fuck out of Vegas for any reason! This town doesn't need your support or your tourism. I'd rather they just nuke it and start over about now. I'm telling you, the same level of incompetence and bullshit that pervades this public transit system is in all walks of life in this city and why I didn't figure that out years ago is anybody's guess. Minneapolis and Phoenix both made infinitely more sense and were so much better arranged than this place. I'm gonna shut up now and quit going on about shit that doesn't matter. Dinner will be here soon and Jeanette will be back with cold drinks. I just had to get this off my chest real quick while I was here alone. Thanks for reading. Peace out.


Edited for grammar