Real Life and What's Happening...

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I’m sitting in a parking lot waiting for my mother-in-law to get done with a pre-op consultation. My wife has end of month for work and is swamped. I volunteered to take her, like the dutiful son-in-law that I am.

Most of 2019 was a good year. Crazy busy but good. This 2020 can suck it. I’m already wishing it was over. Only a few things keep my sanity: my wife, my daughter, you guys, and my hobbies like my video games. I think back to when I had a doctors appointment about ten years ago and my doctor, intuitively, asked me if I had anxiety. I said yes and she asked me if I wanted “something” for that. I said no because I wanted to act like some tough guy who could handle it by doing self-help. I sometimes think I should go back when this all settles down. It runs in the family on my mom’s side, so this is one of those genetic gifts I got.

I think this heat might be getting to me!!:clown:
This is pretty much the only sane place I've found on the internet. This is my Xanax.
 
I stopped taking it because it basically made me a zombie. It worked to dull my senses a little too well.
I've never taken it but if you were to consider it again that seems to me like a dosage issue. I have several bi polar friends who've both been professionally medicated and self medicated. They described different medications curves and the pros and cons. Some have nice gentle curves where doubling a dose might predictably double the impact. Others have quite steep curves where 10% more or less can be the difference between doubling and halving impact. Not to mention the whole variety of drugs that need to build up in a system before noticable and/or reliable impact.
 
Thank you so much for that advice. I'm glad things are working out for you (or, I hope they are). That's a lot to deal with.

As bad as what I dealt with was it was preferable to what you are dealing with. We had a scare years ago with my wife when she found a lump. Thankfully it turned out to be benign, but that was the longest month in my life. I hoping for the best for you.
 
I've never taken it but if you were to consider it again that seems to me like a dosage issue. I have several bi polar friends who've both been professionally medicated and self medicated. They described different medications curves and the pros and cons. Some have nice gentle curves where doubling a dose might predictably double the impact. Others have quite steep curves where 10% more or less can be the difference between doubling and halving impact. Not to mention the whole variety of drugs that need to build up in a system before noticable and/or reliable impact.

Minecraft with a toddler curled up in your lap works wonders too. :heart:
 
Damn you lucky bastard, swimming is one of my favorite things to do and I can't go to the gym to get my fix.

Fuck, this whole Covid-19 thing has made me reconsider the wisdom of going to the gym because even the classy ones are filthy with germs.

Ditto I love swimming and having my own pool would be a dream for me so I know where Edgewise Edgewise's partner is coming from.

I'm also used to swimming in the Pacific ocean and icy mountain rivers so have to admit the idea of a pool heater never occured to me.
 
I'm also used to swimming in the Pacific ocean and icy mountain rivers so have to admit the idea of a pool heater never occured to me.
I loved swimming as a kid, not sure when I stopped. I would have murdered for a pool in grade school.
 
well turns out Kaiser only covered 1/3rd of the bill from my time at Mount Hood, so I'm on the hook for over 4 grand. No idea how I'm going to pay that back on top of my other debt

You can negotiate a lot of medical bills. They eat so many of their private pay bills that they will often take what they can get, lump sum partial payment, $10 / month forever etc. When I worked for an ambulance company one of the billing ladies told me they had an elderly lady who had been paying them something like $1 / month for years. In that case it was more about the woman wanting to pay her debts. The company would have let it go, because $1 / mo wasn't going to make or break the company and was probably more trouble than it was worth.
 
Last night was the first time we have gone out in months. The Uber was a ridiculous 80-something bucks each way for 4 people but in the end it was worth it and pretty much everyone but Mrs Savage got absolutely smashed. I woke up hung over to find that Mrs Savage had Starbucks ready and, without any prompting from me, thoughtfully prepared a Father's Day feast of my dad's favorite meal. She has never met my father nor is she religious but she believes that we should remember dead loved ones through symbolic gestures like preparing their favorite meals and leaving a spot for them at the table.
 
I sometimes think I should go back when this all settles down. It runs in the family on my mom’s side, so this is one of those genetic gifts I got.
I went when my anxiety started threatening to turn into outright paranoia. Glad I did. It should have been two years earlier. It was affecting my work, my relationships and how much I was drinking.

It's so much easier not having to fight my own mind into a submission hold before starting the day.
 
I'm discovering the joys of Handbrake and DVD backups. I keep finding that my old movies that used to be free in Amazon or Netflix are increasingly being charged for. I finally broke down and started ripping my DVD/Blu-ray collection. So satisfying to have it all on a little personal media server.
 
You can negotiate a lot of medical bills. They eat so many of their private pay bills that they will often take what they can get, lump sum partial payment, $10 / month forever etc. When I worked for an ambulance company one of the billing ladies told me they had an elderly lady who had been paying them something like $1 / month for years. In that case it was more about the woman wanting to pay her debts. The company would have let it go, because $1 / mo wasn't going to make or break the company and was probably more trouble than it was worth.

I plan on making payments each month, but it won't be much (it will be more than 10 bucks a month though). Given my total bill was over 60 grand, this amount and the 50 I owed Kaiser isn't horrible (other than the cost of health care in the US is just fucking outrageous, yet too many people think a public healthcare system would be worse)
 
well turns out Kaiser only covered 1/3rd of the bill from my time at Mount Hood, so I'm on the hook for over 4 grand. No idea how I'm going to pay that back on top of my other debt
Hi urbwar urbwar I was in a similar situation when I first joined the Pub. I was shocked at how much my insurance didn't cover, it was a real kick in the balls. Anyway, @ Toadmaster Toadmaster gave some good advice. Research your state laws regarding medical debt and negotiate a deal with your creditors; apparently there are so many people out there who just blow off their medical bills that hospitals/practitioners are happy to work out an arrangement (at least that is how it was explained to me when I did it). I am pretty certain that this is the last fucking thing you want to be dealing with right now but avoiding the issue will hurt you in the long run.

Also be prepared to deal with some rando medical bills you never heard of popping up out of nowhere for the next year or so.
 
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I plan on making payments each month, but it won't be much (it will be more than 10 bucks a month though). Given my total bill was over 60 grand, this amount and the 50 I owed Kaiser isn't horrible (other than the cost of health care in the US is just fucking outrageous, yet too many people think a public healthcare system would be worse)


My wife was in the hospital 2 years ago for her gall bladder, several ER visits, surgery and a couple days in the hospital (complications so not the usual out patient job). This was the first year after we switched insurance companies. We got the bill for something like $130,000 and freaked.

A little further reading turns out they they were just showing us what the cost would have been without insurance. Thanks for the free heart attack.
Still ended up paying around $2000 and I have a good insurance plan (well an expensive one anyway :shock: ).
 
My insurance covered 1/3 of the bill, plus they did cover the ambulance ride. The reason why I owe what I do is because this bill is for a hospital that isn't part of my healthcare coverage It's a Legacy hospital, and I have Kaiser). Considering my bill from Kaiser was over 40,000, and I only paid $50, it's not all bad. It's just my finances are tight since I have a loan I'm paying off from buying a condo 4 years ago, so that and my HoA fees eat up a good portion of my monthly income (not to mention my other bills). I will likely talk to them when I can about it
 
Sorry, no time to provide a fun music link today. This will probably be my only post today as I am busy with work things.
Well you made up for it with the shirt.

I think it's time we start rating these shirts. I'm going to give this one an 8/10 because it makes you look a little like a tiki idol, which is cool.
 
Emergency Room visit last night, asthma attack, severe enough to worry me. The first time I've had one that frightened me since I was a kid. In fact, I've only recently had asthma return in the last couple of years, but never very severe. May be tied to a sinus infection. They did test me for Covid-19 and that is awful and miserable may be a little slow on posting stuff this week.
 
I have no idea why Instagram keeps pestering me to follow Cardi-B. I guess it involves some sort of paid placement.
If you ask me, Cardi-B sounds like a brand of OTC blood pressure medication.
 
Emergency Room visit last night, asthma attack, severe enough to worry me. The first time I've had one that frightened me since I was a kid. In fact, I've only recently had asthma return in the last couple of years, but never very severe. May be tied to a sinus infection. They did test me for Covid-19 and that is awful and miserable may be a little slow on posting stuff this week.

It is! Get better soon.
 
Most of 2019 was a good year. Crazy busy but good. This 2020 can suck it. I’m already wishing it was over. Only a few things keep my sanity: my wife, my daughter, you guys, and my hobbies like my video games. I think back to when I had a doctors appointment about ten years ago and my doctor, intuitively, asked me if I had anxiety. I said yes and she asked me if I wanted “something” for that. I said no because I wanted to act like some tough guy who could handle it by doing self-help. I sometimes think I should go back when this all settles down. It runs in the family on my mom’s side, so this is one of those genetic gifts I got.
Do it. Totally. Self-help works fine for some people, but not for everyone, and there's no shame in saying "I tried this but it didn't work".

Amongst other things, I'm on sertraline (Zoloft for americans) and I'm able to function a lot better now than I could last year without it; the change in my mood tracker numbers was dramatic. Some days are still better than others, obviously, but I really dread to think how I'd be coping with COVID and isolation without it.
 
I think it's time we start rating these shirts. I'm going to give this one an 8/10 because it makes you look a little like a tiki idol, which is cool.
9/10 - A succinct evocative review with a novel topic

7/10 - lovely color
5/10 - Quite short and lacking the depth of classic Edgewise shirt reviews.
 
6/10

It's a lovely shirt, but the color takes it almost completely out of the Hawaiian shirt category. The pineapples save it with a strong suggestion of tropicality. The fabric looks a little on the heavy side, which means it hangs nicer with fewer wrinkles, but may be a bit warm for a sunny day in the middle of the Pacific. This is the kind of shirt I would wear in the early autumn when I wasn't ready to let go of summer.

I don't review cats.

(There, Séadna Séadna, thorough enough for ya?)
 
7/10

A very pleasant floral print. It's unclear to me what kind of flower it depicts, though, because the designer chose a monochrome color scheme. Would have preferred something with a more colorful pop, but I am still transported as if by an island breeze as I behold this bright tropical print.
 
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