Cold out this morning

2/15/07 Thursday
It is cold out this morning, about 20 degrees. We are at the end of the firewood I cut last week, probably don’t have enough to last the day. I’ll be getting the chainsaw out and cutting more of the mulberry tree down. There’s still lots of dead left on it. I do want to save the big branches to saw out some lumber I can use for making cabinets and other things. I can get some wood from Chuck and Lillian’s place also but probably won’t do that today.

The highest priority for today will be to get the handicap driving status document to the Midland courthouse so those charges will be dismissed. Then I’ll go to the Department of Pubic Safety to get my handicap license plates. It will be a relief to have those, especially for the days my control of the right leg are diminished. The strange thing about that is there are some days it is fine and I am as spry as a teenager. Well, not quite but still have no noticeable effects. In Toledo there were some at the Cedar Creek church that thought I was faking because I sometimes limped badly and some times didn’t. Just to make it worse I can be fine walking to my seat but when I sit for a while the numbness increases so that when I get up the limp is bad, then it clears up as I walk on it. I can see how it could make people question. Of course they were real busy gossiping and judging so were looking for things to point their self righteous fingers at. If you look hard enough you’ll find something, or at least interpret what you see to match what you desire to see.

While I fear being subjected to this again and more to see Cherie again hurt I must be careful not to do the same thing. Because of this fear I watch for it and may wrongly interpret others actions accordingly. It is always hard to achieve balance in these things. In general I will follow my creed of living a life I am proud of, thus if anyone wants to be judgmental I have nothing to be ashamed of and they can “Kiss my ass”. Umm…would that be an attitude problem? Yeah I suppose so but it protects a little from the pain and depression that generates.

While in Midland I need to get some rat poison. I had hoped Skittles would clear them from underneath the house but that didn’t happen. This morning I heard the nasty critters chewing under the bathroom. Cherie said she heard the same thing in the bedroom closet. I suppose that because I sealed up the outside opening to the crawl space they are trapped and looking for a way out. Of course odds are there are many ways they can get under there in this old house. I hate using poison but it seems to be the only option.

I guess that’s it for my list of things to do, at least for now. I seem to be doing well, running my average of seven on the bob scale. Time to post, get dressed for twenty degrees, and go out to sharpen the chain saw. Cherie is going with me to Midland so will let me know when she is ready. That gives me an hour or so.

OK, just checked yesterday’s entry and saw that I planned to go back to the VA hospital in Big Spring and straighten up the prescription snafu. Like I say this journal serves as a memory.

I so enjoy the “Mapstats” software. It lets me know where visitors are from and also what search phrase they used to find me. I see some hilarious Googles. This morning someone found this blog when they googled “just hemorrhoids, flat stools”. Hey, whatever increases my readership right?

It’s 8:00 now and I am beat. We got allot done today and probably put more than a hundred miles on the truck. The first thing on the agenda was taking care of the handicap placard issue. I decided that we would go to the courthouse first with the notarized document signed by the doctor figuring that would suffice. Cherie said we should go to DPS and get the handicap tags and placard first but I overruled her and we drove to Midland. Going into the courthouse I proudly presented the document only to be that wouldn’t work, I needed to bring in the placard. “I hate it when you’re right” I turned and teased Cherie. “I love it when I’m right” she retorted smugly as she primped in mock glee. I love that woman and we so enjoy life together. “OK, let’s go back to Stanton” I said and we headed off.

In Stanton we quickly got the plates and placard, having an enjoyable discussion with the clerks while doing so. With that done it was back to Midland. Again there was not a car in the parking lot. After the zoo we had been used to in Toledo this was like going on vacation. Cherie can’t get over how nice everyone is in the court system. In Toledo you have to pass through a gauntlet of metal detectors and police just to enter the building. Then they all act like you are some kind of criminal to be shown no respect. Oh they’re correct by the book for the most part just have a veiled attitude, sometimes not so veiled.

We were done lickity split and out of there. We were going to stop and a Mexican buffet we had noticed on the way into town. There were lots of cars and trucks in the parking lot so that usually is a good sign. After getting done we went there but the parking lot was packed with vehicles parked down the street. I know they must have been great but was not up to fighting a crowd so we went to another place we saw that looked small and not expensive.

Going in I could see they catered to the downtown business professional crowd so it wasn’t going to be a cheap quick meal. “What the hec, we’re here so lets eat” I told Cherie. It was a great meal and wasn’t bad on the price but there was no lunch menu so we basically had a full dinner. That was twenty five bucks so it was our night out only during the day. Actually we’ve already had our once a month eat out at someplace nice so this was splurging outside our budget. We’ll live.

Doctor King, the doc I saw at the VA yesterday, called while I had been driving to court. I handed my phone to Cherie when it rang as I don’t like talking on it while I drive. Learning it was the doc I pulled over to talk. She said that in order for me to see the neurologists in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I needed to have an MRI and EEG done. She was kind of apologetic about it which I can’t figure. It was “If you don’t mind” and “I hope this is OK” stuff. Hell I’m grateful for any medical attention and would jump through hoops if they asked me too. I conveyed that to the doctor and then told her we were heading in to see her anyway about the prescription. I explained my perception of it too her and she did her side. Basically it was a failure to communicate well. She had no problem resolving it and even offered to give me larger doses of the medicine. I turned that down telling her the dosage was adequate but I just wanted less Tylenol. Man have I changed. There was a time I would have manipulated for as much narcotic as I could get and now I was turning it down. That’s a good thing.

We went into Big Spring to pick up the corrected prescription and also to talk with the Disabled Veterans rep about what services were available to help me get the farm going and thus off of the disability pension. I also asked about what I could do about getting Cherie medical service. I know the VA won’t provide that but hoped for some direction. When Cherie gave up her job to come here with me she also gave up her insurance. Now we can’t find a doctor who will see her without insurance unless she pays a HEFTY price up front for each office visit. That’s hard on the $900 a month I get on disability. This is a high priority for us. It is important for her to have a doctor especially with some of the problems she has like high blood pressure. She needs a doc just to prescribe the medicine for that.

We will work on that. After getting home I got the saw out and cut enough dead wood out of the mulberry tree to last two or three days. Cherie looked at the trailer license plate. We never got it registered after we had bought it in Indiana and had kept the same plates that were on it when purchased. They expire this month. Tomorrow we go into town and have the title transferred to our name as well as getting Texas plates for it. Then we will be totally legal. Glad she noticed that cause it had long since escaped my mind.

That’s it for now. I’m tired so will call it a night. Here is a picture of the clear sunset that is a perfect end to a day that was pretty clear headed for me.