Tuesday Down

Well, Monday night I stayed up all night blogging and reading other people's blogs. So when I finally went to bed around 6 am I figured I'd probably miss the 7:30 am appointment for my car.

Especially when I realized my alarm clock was broken. Broken just enough so I couldn't change the alarm time. Which was set at 8:30 am.

So I figured this was a Message, and I'd better go with the flow.

When I got up, ever so groggy, and called the mechanic's, they were wonderful. We have this really extraordinary place here that kmom found through a neighbor. They are very good, very reasonable, and ethical from head to toe. Just amazing.

I had to vacuum that car inside before I took it in. I HAD to.

So I did.

Finally, around 11:30, I arrived.

They called me a cab to get back home. For once, every single person I know here is either out of town, in the hospital, or interviewing for a highly desirable job. So, cab it was.

Except their stupid dispatcher kept sending the cabbies to the wrong town, and then cancelling the fare without actually calling the mechanic's back to let us know.

It took 3 tries and 1 1/2 hours, but the cab finally arrived. Luckily, I did NOT fall asleep by then.

The Saturn is being made roadworthy, and getting its 60,000 mile checkup, and it's only got 64,000 miles! Good job k! Needs brakes, rotated tires, new windshield wipers, oil change, air filter, spark plugs, transmission filter, timing belt (which runs everything now, apparently, and the alternator was definitely acting up.) A few other things. And wouldn't you know it, just YESTERDAY the cruise control gave out.

For a person with really bad foot problems, a person who has to drive with at least one foot elevated on the dashboard to prevent the Poor Mr. Foot Blue Cantaloupe condition...well, cruise control is a way big safety issue. Driving-wise and health-wise both.

Since I was late, the mechanic's request to the dealer for the cruise control parts was late; and the dealer is out of stock. Means, no fix on that until Friday...and then only if we're lucky.

I'm cutting it closer than I wanted to. Way gone are the days when I'd drive straight through. It's about a 24 hour drive. The Event is on Sunday.

So...tomorrow, middayish, I'll pick up the car with everything done but the cruise control, and hope and pray the parts will arrive Friday am. If not? I'll cross that bridge then.

For everything else? It's a little under $600.

Yikes.

An excellent price, looks very fair to me.

However...

We're straining Mr. Budget to the limit here. But Walter's getting good enough miles, and says he'll be able to get a payday advance if we need it. So, I think we'll squeak by just fine. Hopefully I'll have enough to get some fuel on the way up there, huh? At today's prices no less.

Tomorrow at 8:45 am was supposed to be my ID doc appointment. This would be hard without a car, and because I'm on overdrive getting ready for my trip. This afternoon we found out the referral that was supposed to be good is not. I'll spare you the gory details.

But since we've already suffered terribly at the evil hands of the new Medicare HMO and the idiot primary's incompetent staff - including one day where I waited at the ID doc's for FIVE HOURS for the idiots to do a one-minute task - I've made it clear that without all the correct papers done before the appointment, I'll cancel and reschedule. No more waiting for the one and only person, in a staff of around a dozen or more, who even remotely knows how to process a no-brainer referral. And half the time I call for her, they tell me, --Oh, she's not coming in today...

I cancelled the Wednesday morning ID doc appointment.

I instantly felt Aaaaallll Better! So I'd guess it was very much the Right Thing to Do.

See, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. No way could I fit a 24-hour hospital stay in before I leave on my trip. Not only that, I think I'd feel safer getting my first IgG booster in the hospital as well. I think it's serum-based, which is a big red flag for allergics. And I haven't even found a qualified doc for that yet, much less actually seen them and heard them say, --Why yes. Sure we'll do an IgG shot. No problem!

No rush. I think this week's doc time will be better spent turning up an allergist/immunologist before I go. Simply finding one who really IS an immunologist, as opposed to a doc who just adds that word after the word *allergist,* is not easy.

I have a lot of yard work to do, to put my babies to bed before leaving them during a drought. And housecleaning. And even packing. It used to take me maybe an hour to pack, at most. Now, 95% of it is just medical supplies, and I need to get that done just right. So I'll start a couple days before, like many perfectly reasonable travelers do anyway.

I'll stay on overdrive for a while, maybe through Sunday I think...but I want very much to keep you all updated, because this is some really great fun I'm planning here.

Fun is GOOD.