Albert's Place

Someone commented on a Facebook post I read earlier about the Fleetwood Mac album "Tusk", saying it was publicized as being the first digitally recorded and mixed album. According to the first CD reissue of the album, which I bought back in the 1980's, that statement is WRONG...

When I went to Ochsner LSU Shreveport Monroe yesterday to get my flu shot, I went to the main building to go to the walk-in clinic. Turns out they've moved the walk-in clinic out to the former "Med II" building on the other side of the emergency room.

That might explain why I got an appointment change in the mail a few weeks ago for my primary care doctor next month, telling me to go to the fifth floor of the main building. My primary care doctor WAS located in the Med II building previously.

I wish they'd notify people when they decide to play "musical chairs" with the various departments!

When he was alive, I remember Dad saying more than once, "You pay for what you get."

Yet, whenever a repair on the house was needed, or we needed a new piece of furniture, he went for the cheapest he could get.

Here I was thinking the mail was EXTREMELY late today. Because I had outgoing mail, I put the flag up on the mailbox. Looked out the window from time to time, flag was still up. Turns out the mail carrier didn't put the flag down after stopping at the box. Geesh.

I've been an updating fool so far this week. Yesterday Skype and Trillian, Today, the monthly Windows patch.

While I was out earlier today, just in case I can't get out on election day due to my health issues...

Got yet another letter of rejection concerning my Social Security disability application. They say they've reviewed my medical records, and don't see where I wouldn't be able to work. This is bull.

I'd have to take random days off monthly for the dilation procedures (that alone would probably put off any employer). I wouldn't trust myself to eat anything the entire day UNTIL I got home from a job (even if I could find a job that would put up with me having to take random days off) because of the dizziness/blown out vision I occasionally get after eating since the surgery, and the doctors haven't nailed down the cause of yet. Lifting anything over 20 pounds gives me pain/soreness in my abdomen area since the surgery. Even mom has noticed I'm having more trouble remembering things than I did before the surgery and having to have procedures EVERY month since the surgery.

I've only ever done manual labor in the past, wouldn't be qualified for a "light" job like at a desk or anything similar. My typing skills involve one finger while looking at the keyboard.

Guess I'll just hope the disability firm I'm using can eventually get an appeal going, otherwise I might as well just wither up and blow away.

Really unsure what is up with my memory after the surgery. Before the surgery, I could remember things fine. Now, however, seems I forget one minute to the next. I put the laundry out yesterday. Mom asked if the stuff was ready to be folded a couple hours later. I had forgotten I put the things in the washing machine, so they weren't even in the dryer yet.

Today, since I don't drive near as often as I used to, I figured I better crank the truck and let it run a while, so the battery wouldn't run down. Cranked it up a little after 11am and came back inside. Decided to go check the mail around 1:30pm, and when I opened the door and heard the truck running, I realized I had forgotten I started it earlier.

After eating today, I got the dizziness/blown out vision again. Lasted an hour or so. Changed my bed linens this afternoon, had to stop twice during the process due to lightheadedness.

Thinking the forgetfulness MIGHT be residual effects from having to be put under anesthesia once a month for the esophageal dilations. Not sure though. Neither are either of my doctors.

It's nearly October. Shouldn't it be cooling off some by now?? Still having to "dress lightly" around the house...

While rewatching "The Brady Bunch" episode "Sorry, Right Number" this evening, it occurred to me that the premise of the episode wouldn't work if it were filmed today. All the kids would probably have their own mobile phone, instead of tying up a landline...

Got a call a few minutes ago from Myler Disability, but couldn't hear anything but those damn three-beep tones repeating over and over again. Called them back, left a message. Thinking this Straight Talk home phone service ain't all it's cracked up to be. The beeping thing has happened a few times when people call. They call back, it clears up. Annoying as fuck though. May need to switch back to an internet based VOIP service.

Didn't bother watching the Gubernatorial debate. Will be voting for John Bel Edwards. He expanded Medicaid. I'd never be able to afford all the medical treatments I'm having to get without it. The ads those other two clowns are airing on television is more than enough to turn me off them.

Well, this Friday the 13th is starting to SUCK. Luckily, my next esophageal dilation procedure was rescheduled a few days ago for next Wednesday. However, after eating a bit of lunch, I got the dizziness/blown out overbright vision again and had to lay down a while. After I got up, mom came into the room about an hour ago and said she called Uncle Barrett (who is somewhat better now after his heart procedure) to drive her to the emergency room. She is running 102°F fever.

When it rains, it pours. :-/

Is it any wonder I'm "lightly dressed" today?

Went to my appointment this morning to get my eyes checked for any diabetes issues, will be contacted later if they find anything. Friday, the post-op appointment for the previous esophageal procedure. Then Monday, follow-up with Barnette at the Med II clinic concerning my occasional lightheadedness and blown out vision (and to see if he'll fill out a paper related to my SSI application), then another esophageal procedure next Friday.

I just can't seem to stay away from the hospital these days.

In other news, Uncle Barrett was released from the hospital after spending about a week and a half in due to his heart issues, but cousin Truett is now IN the hospital according to Uncle Floyd because he was experiencing chest pains. Seems the entire family is falling apart all at the same time.

Linda Hamilton says she’s been celibate for 15 years. My first thought was ONLY 15 years?? I've got her beat by 7 years, but unfortunately not by choice... just no opportunity has arisen.

Nothing here since a couple months after my divorce was finalized in 1997, when my first girlfriend from my elementary school days randomly stopped by the house, and things randomly turned from one random thing to another. We never got to that "stage" when we dated. Haven't seen or heard from her since, so it was ENTIRELY "random". Also, she was apparently married at the time she visited. The timing of her visit makes me think she may have read the divorce notice in the newspaper.

Since I'm mostly "soured" on having a "relationship" after the divorce, I had seriously hoped she might have become a steady "friend with benefits", but as with my usual bad luck, my hopes were once again dashed. Still hoping to eventually find a friend, someone I actually KNOW, to have "benefits" with. There's a few I've went to school/worked with over the years I'm currently in touch with online whom I would hook up with in a heartbeat if they were interested or not happily married, but after all these years, I'm quite sure it'll never happen. There are also a few I've met "online only" since first getting the 'net in 1999, but even if there WERE a chance, they live too far away.

Also, I'm curious how well I'd "hold up" under the circumstances, since after the esophagus surgery, I haven't had the energy I used to. :-/

Egad! Look at the high for this coming Saturday!

Got to feeling all lightheaded with "blown out over-bright" vision again after eating, so once again, tested my blood sugar and blood pressure, as per doctor instructions. This time, blood sugar was 177 mg/dl, blood pressure was 143/112, pulse 119. Wrote down the measurements. Have an appointment with him next Monday.

Being a Leo, for me it wouldn't necessarily need to be "hardcore". I've been in a rather lengthy "dry spell"...

I may need to go back to making ALL my Facebook posts "Friends Only". Woke up this morning to another of those fake scantily clad woman profiles, this time a "Rosaline Mills", account created on August 30th and with no friends (a sure clue the account is fake), hitting the "Like" button on 51 of my posts.

I reported it to Facebook and blocked it. My "Block" list has been getting VERY long over the years.

Valerie Harper

-------

1939 - 2019

No matter HOW many times I untangle this cord (and YES, I need to DUST!)...

Uncle Barrett asked mom to bring him some clean underwear to the hospital. When she went to his trailer to check on his dog, she looked for clean underwear, but all of it was in the dirty clothes hamper. So, she brought it home, and she and I washed all of his dirty laundry.

Follow-up to my post on August 16th...

I posted the picture of the "I Dream of Jeannie" DVD I assumed was suffering from bad "disc rot" the other day on Home Theater Forum. One reply I got said, "It 'looks' like an off gassing issue that is reversable." First time I had heard the term "off gassing". I had previously tried wiping the disc on the front of my shirt, and since nothing about the appearance changed, I assumed the damage was between the layers. The person who replied linked me to a disc cleaning product. Since I'm low on money at the moment, I figured I'd just try using a non-abrasive cloth along with the spray liquid I use on the LCD TVs and computer monitor. After applying strong pressure and wiping a few times in a circular motion, surprisingly the disc looked like a brand new DVD. I put it in the player, and it now plays fine again.

I just find it strange that only the ONE disc in the set developed that issue. It is a four disc set in a slip cover, discs one and two in one snap case, discs three and four in a second snap case...

Got three pieces of mail today. One from Social Security with forms to fill out and send back. They have already been contacted by Myler Disability about my claim.

Another was from Myler Disability, a form for my doctor to fill out. Guess I'll have my primary care doctor fill it out. Might be easier to get to him than Dr. Alley, who did my surgery. I have an eye appointment at the hospital on September 4th, so I'll stop in to the Med II clinic that day also, to see if the doctor will have time to fill out the form.

Lastly, an envelope from the Louisiana Department of Health, saying my Medicaid has been approved for another year.

In the living room, I have a 4k capable television hooked to a 5.1 A/V receiver. What was I watching on it this evening? Old episodes of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In", originally shot on late 1960's era videotape, mono sound, on DVD.

Mom seems to be the person to drive people to the hospital lately. She has been driving me there for the monthly procedures, and this afternoon she is gone to take Uncle Barrett to the emergency room. He was running a fever and he said he was feeling dizzy and had stayed in bed nearly 15 hours. He's been having some heart issues, mainly been getting treated at the VA hospital in Shreveport, but mom is taking him to Ochsner LSU over in Monroe, where she and I both get treated.

UPDATE (8/25/2019): Mom made it home from driving Uncle Barrett to the emergency room a little after 11pm last night. Doctors let him come home, but have set him up with a cardiologist at the hospital. He is feeling better, but will need another procedure on his heart soon.

Went to bed early, but up again around 12:30am. Damn loose bowels caused me to soil the bed in my sleep. Now having to wait for the bed linens to wash and dry. Will be up at least a couple of hours more. :-(

There was a Casper Mattress ad on the "This Week in Tech" podcast. Someone in the chat room said "My mattress moans".

That made me think... the mattress I currently sleep on hasn't ever experienced any "moaning". :-(

This evening, since nothing major was on television, mom and I were watching episodes of "I Dream of Jeannie" on the DVDs I've owned of the series since they were first released in 2007. We finished watching disc 2 of season 4, so I put in disc 3. The "Sony Pictures Home Entertainment" logo came up on the screen as normal, followed by the menu. I selected the first episode on the disc, "The Case of the Missing Master, Part II". The "FBI Warning" came up as it should... then NOTHING. I went to the menu again, tried "Play All Episodes" instead. Still nothing. Ejected the disc from the machine, put it in again, Same results as the first time.

Removed the disc and looked at it. At first, thought it had smudges on it. Wiped it off and put it back in the player. Same results as the other two attempts to play it, so I put a different DVD into the player to see if it would work, since I thought the over 10 year old Sony player might be finally on the fritz. The other disc I put in played fine. Once I got the "I Dream of Jeannie" disc in some proper light, I could tell that those weren't smudges after all. From the pictures I've seen online, I quickly diagnosed the problem as "disc rot". This was only the second or third time I had watched the set since I bought it over a decade ago. The fourth disc in the set still looks fine however.

So far, this is the first DVD I've encountered in my collection to develop this problem. However, I have a few hundred single DVDs and DVD sets I've bought and haven't re-watched yet since first buying them, and I bought my first player in 1998. There could be more with the problem I just haven't run across yet.

Yes, I'm careful how I store my discs, so this has to be a result of the layers on the disc not being properly sealed back when it was manufactured.

Woke up last night drenched in sweat again. Still not sure exactly what causes that. I keep forgetting to ask the doctors, since it doesn't happen EVERY night. Had to change my sheets this morning as a result.

At the visit to my primary care doctor yesterday, I again brought up, how sometimes after I eat, I get dizzy and my vision gets all "blown out". He said next time that happens, to test my blood sugar and blood pressure. I told him I didn't have a blood pressure monitor, so he prescribed one. He said he gave instructions to the pharmacy to pick a brand which might be covered by my Medicaid plan. Well, when I went to pick it up, it wasn't covered, so cost a little over $30 after tax.

I'm thinking that money might have been wasted. Firstly, I didn't remember that mom has a blood pressure monitor (she hasn't used it in a few years). Hers is one that goes on the wrist. The one I got today goes on the upper arm. Secondly, the one I got today has yet to give what I would call an "accurate" reading, even though I've closely followed the instructions that came with it. It keeps reading numbers like 83/49. If my blood pressure was that low, I probably wouldn't be standing. When I used moms meter, it was around 123/88, which to me sounds more correct.

I've sent an online support ticket to the company that makes the blood pressure monitor, "Microlife" to see if they have any other suggestions besides what is included in the book that came with it.

"Package Mystery" I posted about yesterday is now solved. It was a large envelope from Myler Disability with the paperwork I needed to physically sign and date for them to start working on my disability claim. Although why USPS had it listed as from "Rapid Enterprises" on the Informed Delivery website is still a mystery.

It's 97ºF here currently (3:00pm Sunday). "Feels Like" temp is 109ºF. Back of the house, where I'm currently located, isn't as cool as the front of the house, since the air unit isn't centrally located, so avert your eyes. I may start stripping soon.

WTF is this? Got a notice this morning in my "Informed Delivery" email from the postal service that a "package" is supposed to be arriving tomorrow, from some place called "Rapid Enterprises". I haven't ordered anything. I currently don't even have MONEY to order anything even if I wanted to!

Out of curiosity, installed ICQ for the first time in AGES and logged in. Surprisingly, several people I friended on the messenger in the early days of LiveJournal
were still in my list, but alas, no one was online.

I don't think they put enough lubrication on the tube they ran down my throat during my esophageal dilation this morning. Out of all the times I've had the procedure done, my throat has never felt this sore and dry before.

Also, the guy performing the anesthesia for the procedure started administering it a bit too early. One of the nurses stopped him, because they hadn't yet put the plastic bit in my mouth they use to put the tube through. Seems everyone was in a "hurry" this morning for some reason.

After today's "diabetes class" at the hospital this morning, I've decided not to attend another one. There have been TWO so far, once a month, each lasting THREE HOURS each. So far, they haven't really told me anything I didn't already know, and the woman "nutritionist" who takes over from the RN about halfway through is annoying as fuck, with her nagging "in your face" personality. I found it ironic that the nurse mentioned high stress can affect blood sugar levels, yet the nutritionist does a very good job at raising my stress levels.

Also, I had another appointment at the hospital at noon for an EKG, for the balloon dilation procedure on my esophagus tomorrow morning. Alerted the "Annoying Nutritionist" I had to be out of the class before noon today as a result. She shrugged it off and said, "They're pretty easy going in that department, they won't care if you are a little late." Needless to say, I had no intention on being late. The diabetic class was scheduled for three hours, starting at 9:00am, but was obviously going to run longer.

Around 11:39am, the "Annoying Nutritionist" discovered she didn't have some papers she wanted us to fill out about our "diet and exercise goals", and she was going to have to leave the room to get them out of her office. I took that time to "make a break for it". Told the person next to me I thought that it would be a good time for me to go to the restroom. I left the room and went on to my EKG appointment.

After getting home, there was a new addition to the "My Chart" online website from the hospital, for yet ANOTHER class scheduled for September 19th. Yeah, Ochsner, good luck with THAT. I'll obviously go for all my actual MEDICAL appointments and procedures, but that freggin' "class" can go fly a kite!

The esophagus surgery and the diabetic class I've went to at the hospital (got another "class" tomorrow, a follow-up from the first one a few weeks ago) are "conflicting" in a way. The diabetic nutritionist expects me to be eating three square meals a day, around the same time each day, and with certain proportions of TYPES of food. Since the surgery, even the surgeon said, since my stomach is now smaller, I'll be looking at eating a little bit scattered throughout each day, instead of regular sized meals three times a day.

The diabetic nutritionist will just have to accept the fact. I haven't really seen the point in the class my primary care doctor is sending me to anyway. Three hours of a day of someone telling me a bunch of stuff I pretty much already know.

Got woke up from a nap by the phone. It was a recording from the pharmacy saying my Metformin refill was ready. I'll wait and pick it up tomorrow afternoon after I get through with THREE things at the hospital... the follow-up diabetes class, an EKG the doctor who did my surgery has scheduled, then a stop by the lab for blood work my primary care doctor wants me to get before my August 13th appointment with him. Then Friday morning, I have to be BACK at the hospital early for the monthly balloon dilation procedure.

Sometimes, I feel like I should just pack up and move into that place, as much time as I've been spending there lately. :-/

On the "bright side"(????), with the bruises and scar on my face, I'll have a "falling" report this time for the anesthesiologist before they find a vein for the IV Friday morning before my esophageal dilation procedure, after my dizzy spell getting out of bed and my head hitting the corner of the nearby desk the other night.

Had a LONG "question and answer" session on the phone with the legal representation a friend suggested for my SSI application this afternoon. Also filled out a couple of email forms they sent and I replied to. Hopefully I'm getting the ball rolling on my disability claim, although I know, especially on the Social Security end, that this will be a lengthy process.

Got a call back a while ago from the place a friend, Michelle Murphy, suggested I contact about trying to get SSI/SSDI benefits, since I've been denied both. I didn't have all the info they wanted handy, since I wasn't expecting the call, so they will call me back tomorrow afternoon. I now have all the info close by for when they call.

With the health issues, I'm doing nothing on a Saturday evening except sitting here at the 'puter.

Heck, who am I fooling. It's EXACTLY what I did every Saturday evening BEFORE the health issues cropped up! :-/

Got a dizzy spell last night after getting out of bed to go to the bathroom. Might have raised up too fast. Took a tumble into the corner of the computer desk near the bed and hit my face. It's the first time the occasional dizziness since the surgery has made me fall.

Three things I've noticed not until after the surgery on my esophagus that I've yet to get a straight answer on from doctors:

1) Blown out vision (over brightness) and lightheadedness occasionally after eating.

2) Abdominal soreness (not pain) after using the riding mower to cut the yard (haven't dared to try a push mower, those spots remain tall).

3) My hair isn't growing near as fast as it did before surgery. Haven't had to trim my hair as often as before.

Something strange is afoot. Got locked out of my Facebook account, had to make a new password. Also, got a warning that someone from the Claiborne,LA area tried unsuccessfully to log into my Google account. Made a new password there also, even though I don't use Google for anything "vital".

Having an issue with one of my medicines. Refill on Lisinopril (for my blood pressure) was denied after the pharmacy faxed the request in. I called the Med II clinic after getting home from the pharmacy, was put on hold while the person who answered the phone checked on it. When she came back, she said that, yes, it was denied because it showed a prescription from a different source. I have no other prescriptions for that medicine. She said they would contact the doctor, and for me to call back in the next day or two.

Meanwhile, since I only had two pills left, the pharmacy gave me three more, which means I now have enough to last until Sunday. If this isn't straightened out before then, guess I'll be doing without the medicine until my next appointment at the Med II clinic on August 13th.

This alone is enough to raise ones blood pressure!

Not trying to sound all "doomy and gloomy", but with these health issues, and the way I feel body wise most of the time, if I were to win the "Publishers Clearing House" lifetime prize, I don't think they'd have to pay out very long.