Friday, June 16, 2006
Time enough at last.....
No, the apocalypse has not arrived (at least I don't THINK so.....I haven't watched TV in several days, heh heh). And I can still read just fine (for those of you who know which "Twilight Zone" episode I'm referring to). But my hardwood floors are being worked on right now, which leaves me stranded upstairs with actual time to blog. It's a pain in the ass to do all this stuff to the house (and I'm spending money like water), but I have to admit it's gonna look great when it's all done.
Holy guacamole! So much has happened since my last update that I'll have to repeat what I did before with a summary followed by as much description as my hands/sore neck and shoulders will allow. And I'm even foggier now than before, so I cannot guarantee that what follows will be intelligible, heh heh.
Sooooo:
June 7: belated birthday party and lots of cleaning
June 8: handyman, day 1
June 9: handyman, day 2 and physical therapy
June 10: can't remember, but there was probably cleaning involved
June 11: ditto, plus I had to give Chip an allergy shot (ewwwww!)
June 12: got estimate for floors, set up date to list house, had EVERYTHING removed from first floor
June 13: put car in body shop, got rental, dental work
June 14: aquacise and phone calls
June 15: appointment/errand day from hell
Today: bug spray and floor polish
Went to a place called (I think) Texas Roadhouse June 7th for my brother-in-law's belated birthday. I ended up getting him a Blockbuster gift card from Walgreens because I had no time/energy to shop. The restaurant was great! The waiter checked with the cook to make sure my food would be safe before he placed my order. They have 6 oz. filet steaks there that are TO DIE FOR! Very tender. I also had mashed potatoes and salad.
My neighbor/friend came over on Wednesday to scrub living room and dining room walls and mop the hardwood floors. I worked (carefully) on the bedroom walls and baseboards and the kitchen pantry doors. Some areas wouldn't come clean where the oils from Chip's fur had actually become part of the paint!
The handyman guy was here Thursday and Friday. He did lots of stuff: patched up the chipped sinks, re-sealed the tub faucets that had come loose, re-sealed the loose countertops in the bathroom and kitchen, re-painted the medicine cabinet, filled nail holes and applied touch-up paint all over the house, replaced the toilet lids, replaced the damaged windowsill and sealed off where it had been leaking, touched up the banisters, made sure all the towels racks were secure, applied caulking where it was needed, fixed the sliding glass door latch, waterproofed the fence, etc. He even mowed and edged the lawn and pulled weeds! The house is looking much more presentable now.
Somewhere around this time, the ants came to my back porch for a party. I'm not kidding....I went to let Chip outside for a potty break, and there were HUNDREDS of ants right by the sliding glass door! It looked like one of the plagues on Egypt, for heaven's sake. I'd had the house professionally sprayed not quite a month ago, and there was a 90 day guarantee, so they came back today and re-sprayed. I think it should work this time. The last thing I want is to have a night-time showing on the house with a sea of ants to greet potential buyers.
Over the weekend, I managed to get the living room and dining room finished at least with my neighbor/friend's help. She also scooped poop and cleaned the outside of the sliding glass door. She was gonna do the outside windows and front door too, but it got dark too soon.
On Monday, the hardwood floor guy came by to assess the situation. I opted to touch up rather than completely re-sand the floor as some areas still look new and I don't have the time/money for sanding. For some reason, I thought that they could just touch up the dining area so I would only have to move the table and chairs into another room, but then, I found out that in order to get the floor to match properly (they are going to tint the sun-faded areas), they have to do the ENTIRE floor at once! That means taking EVERYTHING off the kitchen, dining room and great room floors. Ack! The work was scheduled for today, so I started to make some frantic phone calls. The only day I could get enough able-bodied friends and relatives avaialable at the same time to move the furniture was Monday night. This was ok as it gave me a chance to clean the enormous dust bunnies that were hiding under the china hutch and entertainment center, but it also means I was without a TV or stereo. So no "Boston Legal", "Lost", "My Name is Earl" for me (at least they were all reruns, heh heh). I threw all my laser discs, vinyl albums, remaining videotapes, music cassettes and music CDs into boxes and had them taken upstairs so they wouldn't be affected by the heat (it has been over 90 degrees nearly every day). The furniture was put in the garage, and I just parked the car in the driveway. Thank goodness I had enough stuff in storage already that there was room for the remaining stuff from downstairs. Still haven't quite lined up relatives to move the furniture back in on Sunday (everyone's got various obligations as you would expect), but we'll see how it goes. I did fiddle around with the last remaining TV in the house (it's in the bonus room) and discovered I can sort of get one of the stations to come in, if one doesn't mind watching "Family Feud" with a lot of static. Even better, I have a VCR hooked up to it (I was using it for the instruction tape for the Gazelle machine), so I can watch the few videotapes I have upstairs. I watched "The Green Mile" in bits and pieces, finishing today. Excellent.
With the floors being ready for foot traffic by Monday, I have decided that the house will be listed on Tuesday come hell or high water. I can't believe it has already taken me this long just to get the place fit to sell. I'm still not done cleaning (I still need to clean the hutch once it's back in the kitchen, need to spray the outside of the first level windows with Windex, and do last-mintue touch ups to carpet, master bath and kitchen)! But I should be ready by the 20th for sure.
Once the house is on the market, I have hired a cleaning service to come in once a week to keep it nice for showings. I simply can't clean fast enough to have it ready on spur of the moment whenever someone wants to take a tour. It will take all my energy just keeping myself alert enough to be able to drive someplace during showings.The cleaning people will be coming by on Thursday mornings, so I asked my realtor to not do showings during that time. It should take them about two hours each time. They send three or four people. I warned them about Chip. I'll probably put him in the garage so he won't be in the way.
Got ANOTHER filling and crown Tuesday, and I'm not done yet! I need one more crown in three weeks. I'm trying to get as much done as I can while I can because Dan's new employer doesn't have dental insurance. We're gonna see about continuing it on COBRA for as long as possible. Between the nerve pain in my face and the TMJ, it hurts like a son of a you-know-what.
Well, there was one benefit to this whole car wreck thing. One is that I got to drive a Toyota Camry LE for a rental! Sweet! It glides like a dream. I would love to buy one except even the used ones are about twice what I could afford.
Went back to aquacise Wednesday for the first time after the accident. My neck and shoulder still hurt, especially when I have to turn my head all the way in either direction, when I type and when I talk on the phone, but they are better than they were the first few days after the wreck. Don't know how I will feel once I go off the muscle relaxants and the extra anti-inflammatories, though. I could use a few visits to the massage therapist and possibly a chiropractor.
Well, I did manage to get approved for SSDI, but the long-term disability company has decided to limit my benefits, so I'm gonna come up about 300 dollars short a month of basic living expenses at some point. The LTD guys have decided that:
a) I have somatoform disorder (yeah, right!)
b) my fibromyalgia consists entirely of "self-reported" (not objectively proven) symptoms
c) my Sjogren's and other health conditions are not disabling
d) I can work a sedentary job as long as I spend less than a third of the time typing (they couldn't deny the carpal tunnel problems)
I contacted a lawyer Wednesday who specializes in LTD insurance cases. Actually, he's the partner of the lawyer who helped me win my SSDI case. He's gonna help me decide whether I have a strong enough case to fight the LTD guys. On the one hand, company has two bogus tests that "prove" I am not as sick as I say I am, plus a new clause in their contract that limits claims based on "self reported" symptoms. That clause has not been successfully challenged in court yet, so I may be SOL. On the other hand, I have the federal government saying I'm disabled, an impressive list of doctors who agree, and a lip biopsy, endoscopy, EMG, sleep study and blood work (thyroid, glucose, CRP) that cannot be disputed. Sent the lawyer all my correspondence from the company as well as a copy of my policy. I also enclosed a list of all my docs, two pages worth. I shouldn't have any problem getting the rheumatologists to vouch for me as they have been doing so all along, as have my gastroenterologist doc, my ENT and my primary care doc. What we need though, is to refute the "Independent Medical Exams", both the Functional Capacity Exam and the neuropsych exam. I think this can be done since I've been going to physical therapy for three months for my right SI joint, and I've been going to a licensed clinical psychologist for a year. Both can vouch that I am not faking and that there is no way I could hold down a job. The big sticking point might be the "self reported symptoms" clause in my contract. It may take years and megabucks to fight that. I will only proceed if the lawyer thinks it will be worthwhile.
Haven't lined up a new rheumatologist yet. There are only four in Sioux Falls covered by Dan's new insurance. I've been asking around on message boards as to whether any are particularly good with Sjogren's/fibromyalgia (a lot of rheumatologists won't even take fibromyalgia patients now), but have gotten no response. I may just pick one at random next month when the new insurance kicks in since the wait to see one is so long that I will probably have sold the house by the time the appointment rolls around. I wonder if there is a way online to check a rheumatologist's credentials?
The two Sioux Falls houses we are interested in are still for sale (there were three, but when we found out how low our asking price on our own house was gonna be, we had to eliminate the most expensive one). Dan hasn't arranged any tours with realtors yet because we can't make any sort of offer until our home is under contract. He'll probably start going to open houses and stuff in a few weeks. Right now, he needs to focus on buying a car because he has no transportation except his parents and friends. If only our Saturn wasn't totaled in January! Buying the current Saturn took up quite a bit of savings we'd been saving up for a second car. All we can afford right now for a second car is something at least 10 years old and/or high mileage. I'm hoping we can at least come up with something that runs for a couple of years.
Yesterday was the appointment/errand day from hell. First, I had to go see the sleep specialist because he had cancelled the previous one at the last minute. I am going to try a few new sleep aids and continue to take the Baclofen periodically when the muscle stiffness/spasms get unbearable (and when I don't have to be very functional, heh heh). While I was at that appointment, the body shop called and told me my car was ready, so I had to go return the rental Camry and pick up my Saturn. That gave me about an hour to go home, check more voicemail messages and sort through the snail mail and then go to my therapist appointment, which had also been re-scheduled due to a conflict. After that, I needed to get my dad a Father's Day present, send the lawyer the paperwork he'd requested, and get some cash so I could get some lunch before I passed out. I did Boston Market: rotisserie chickie (yes, I'm evil and eat the skin), roasted potatoes and cinnamon apples. Then I went to my last appointment, physical therapy that had also been re-scheduled because of a conflict. I was sure my legs would collapse out from under me while I did my 10 minutes on the treadmill, but I made it despite massive pain levels. But my legs did sorta turn to jello while doing other exercises, so I had to cut it short and go back to doing stretches. This was my last visit, so I'm gonna report back to the physiatrist on Monday. I wish I could get the injections in my back repeated, but that will have to wait until after I move.
Ooh, ow, ugh. Hurting and dozing off. Will check back in when I can.
Holy guacamole! So much has happened since my last update that I'll have to repeat what I did before with a summary followed by as much description as my hands/sore neck and shoulders will allow. And I'm even foggier now than before, so I cannot guarantee that what follows will be intelligible, heh heh.
Sooooo:
June 7: belated birthday party and lots of cleaning
June 8: handyman, day 1
June 9: handyman, day 2 and physical therapy
June 10: can't remember, but there was probably cleaning involved
June 11: ditto, plus I had to give Chip an allergy shot (ewwwww!)
June 12: got estimate for floors, set up date to list house, had EVERYTHING removed from first floor
June 13: put car in body shop, got rental, dental work
June 14: aquacise and phone calls
June 15: appointment/errand day from hell
Today: bug spray and floor polish
Went to a place called (I think) Texas Roadhouse June 7th for my brother-in-law's belated birthday. I ended up getting him a Blockbuster gift card from Walgreens because I had no time/energy to shop. The restaurant was great! The waiter checked with the cook to make sure my food would be safe before he placed my order. They have 6 oz. filet steaks there that are TO DIE FOR! Very tender. I also had mashed potatoes and salad.
My neighbor/friend came over on Wednesday to scrub living room and dining room walls and mop the hardwood floors. I worked (carefully) on the bedroom walls and baseboards and the kitchen pantry doors. Some areas wouldn't come clean where the oils from Chip's fur had actually become part of the paint!
The handyman guy was here Thursday and Friday. He did lots of stuff: patched up the chipped sinks, re-sealed the tub faucets that had come loose, re-sealed the loose countertops in the bathroom and kitchen, re-painted the medicine cabinet, filled nail holes and applied touch-up paint all over the house, replaced the toilet lids, replaced the damaged windowsill and sealed off where it had been leaking, touched up the banisters, made sure all the towels racks were secure, applied caulking where it was needed, fixed the sliding glass door latch, waterproofed the fence, etc. He even mowed and edged the lawn and pulled weeds! The house is looking much more presentable now.
Somewhere around this time, the ants came to my back porch for a party. I'm not kidding....I went to let Chip outside for a potty break, and there were HUNDREDS of ants right by the sliding glass door! It looked like one of the plagues on Egypt, for heaven's sake. I'd had the house professionally sprayed not quite a month ago, and there was a 90 day guarantee, so they came back today and re-sprayed. I think it should work this time. The last thing I want is to have a night-time showing on the house with a sea of ants to greet potential buyers.
Over the weekend, I managed to get the living room and dining room finished at least with my neighbor/friend's help. She also scooped poop and cleaned the outside of the sliding glass door. She was gonna do the outside windows and front door too, but it got dark too soon.
On Monday, the hardwood floor guy came by to assess the situation. I opted to touch up rather than completely re-sand the floor as some areas still look new and I don't have the time/money for sanding. For some reason, I thought that they could just touch up the dining area so I would only have to move the table and chairs into another room, but then, I found out that in order to get the floor to match properly (they are going to tint the sun-faded areas), they have to do the ENTIRE floor at once! That means taking EVERYTHING off the kitchen, dining room and great room floors. Ack! The work was scheduled for today, so I started to make some frantic phone calls. The only day I could get enough able-bodied friends and relatives avaialable at the same time to move the furniture was Monday night. This was ok as it gave me a chance to clean the enormous dust bunnies that were hiding under the china hutch and entertainment center, but it also means I was without a TV or stereo. So no "Boston Legal", "Lost", "My Name is Earl" for me (at least they were all reruns, heh heh). I threw all my laser discs, vinyl albums, remaining videotapes, music cassettes and music CDs into boxes and had them taken upstairs so they wouldn't be affected by the heat (it has been over 90 degrees nearly every day). The furniture was put in the garage, and I just parked the car in the driveway. Thank goodness I had enough stuff in storage already that there was room for the remaining stuff from downstairs. Still haven't quite lined up relatives to move the furniture back in on Sunday (everyone's got various obligations as you would expect), but we'll see how it goes. I did fiddle around with the last remaining TV in the house (it's in the bonus room) and discovered I can sort of get one of the stations to come in, if one doesn't mind watching "Family Feud" with a lot of static. Even better, I have a VCR hooked up to it (I was using it for the instruction tape for the Gazelle machine), so I can watch the few videotapes I have upstairs. I watched "The Green Mile" in bits and pieces, finishing today. Excellent.
With the floors being ready for foot traffic by Monday, I have decided that the house will be listed on Tuesday come hell or high water. I can't believe it has already taken me this long just to get the place fit to sell. I'm still not done cleaning (I still need to clean the hutch once it's back in the kitchen, need to spray the outside of the first level windows with Windex, and do last-mintue touch ups to carpet, master bath and kitchen)! But I should be ready by the 20th for sure.
Once the house is on the market, I have hired a cleaning service to come in once a week to keep it nice for showings. I simply can't clean fast enough to have it ready on spur of the moment whenever someone wants to take a tour. It will take all my energy just keeping myself alert enough to be able to drive someplace during showings.The cleaning people will be coming by on Thursday mornings, so I asked my realtor to not do showings during that time. It should take them about two hours each time. They send three or four people. I warned them about Chip. I'll probably put him in the garage so he won't be in the way.
Got ANOTHER filling and crown Tuesday, and I'm not done yet! I need one more crown in three weeks. I'm trying to get as much done as I can while I can because Dan's new employer doesn't have dental insurance. We're gonna see about continuing it on COBRA for as long as possible. Between the nerve pain in my face and the TMJ, it hurts like a son of a you-know-what.
Well, there was one benefit to this whole car wreck thing. One is that I got to drive a Toyota Camry LE for a rental! Sweet! It glides like a dream. I would love to buy one except even the used ones are about twice what I could afford.
Went back to aquacise Wednesday for the first time after the accident. My neck and shoulder still hurt, especially when I have to turn my head all the way in either direction, when I type and when I talk on the phone, but they are better than they were the first few days after the wreck. Don't know how I will feel once I go off the muscle relaxants and the extra anti-inflammatories, though. I could use a few visits to the massage therapist and possibly a chiropractor.
Well, I did manage to get approved for SSDI, but the long-term disability company has decided to limit my benefits, so I'm gonna come up about 300 dollars short a month of basic living expenses at some point. The LTD guys have decided that:
a) I have somatoform disorder (yeah, right!)
b) my fibromyalgia consists entirely of "self-reported" (not objectively proven) symptoms
c) my Sjogren's and other health conditions are not disabling
d) I can work a sedentary job as long as I spend less than a third of the time typing (they couldn't deny the carpal tunnel problems)
I contacted a lawyer Wednesday who specializes in LTD insurance cases. Actually, he's the partner of the lawyer who helped me win my SSDI case. He's gonna help me decide whether I have a strong enough case to fight the LTD guys. On the one hand, company has two bogus tests that "prove" I am not as sick as I say I am, plus a new clause in their contract that limits claims based on "self reported" symptoms. That clause has not been successfully challenged in court yet, so I may be SOL. On the other hand, I have the federal government saying I'm disabled, an impressive list of doctors who agree, and a lip biopsy, endoscopy, EMG, sleep study and blood work (thyroid, glucose, CRP) that cannot be disputed. Sent the lawyer all my correspondence from the company as well as a copy of my policy. I also enclosed a list of all my docs, two pages worth. I shouldn't have any problem getting the rheumatologists to vouch for me as they have been doing so all along, as have my gastroenterologist doc, my ENT and my primary care doc. What we need though, is to refute the "Independent Medical Exams", both the Functional Capacity Exam and the neuropsych exam. I think this can be done since I've been going to physical therapy for three months for my right SI joint, and I've been going to a licensed clinical psychologist for a year. Both can vouch that I am not faking and that there is no way I could hold down a job. The big sticking point might be the "self reported symptoms" clause in my contract. It may take years and megabucks to fight that. I will only proceed if the lawyer thinks it will be worthwhile.
Haven't lined up a new rheumatologist yet. There are only four in Sioux Falls covered by Dan's new insurance. I've been asking around on message boards as to whether any are particularly good with Sjogren's/fibromyalgia (a lot of rheumatologists won't even take fibromyalgia patients now), but have gotten no response. I may just pick one at random next month when the new insurance kicks in since the wait to see one is so long that I will probably have sold the house by the time the appointment rolls around. I wonder if there is a way online to check a rheumatologist's credentials?
The two Sioux Falls houses we are interested in are still for sale (there were three, but when we found out how low our asking price on our own house was gonna be, we had to eliminate the most expensive one). Dan hasn't arranged any tours with realtors yet because we can't make any sort of offer until our home is under contract. He'll probably start going to open houses and stuff in a few weeks. Right now, he needs to focus on buying a car because he has no transportation except his parents and friends. If only our Saturn wasn't totaled in January! Buying the current Saturn took up quite a bit of savings we'd been saving up for a second car. All we can afford right now for a second car is something at least 10 years old and/or high mileage. I'm hoping we can at least come up with something that runs for a couple of years.
Yesterday was the appointment/errand day from hell. First, I had to go see the sleep specialist because he had cancelled the previous one at the last minute. I am going to try a few new sleep aids and continue to take the Baclofen periodically when the muscle stiffness/spasms get unbearable (and when I don't have to be very functional, heh heh). While I was at that appointment, the body shop called and told me my car was ready, so I had to go return the rental Camry and pick up my Saturn. That gave me about an hour to go home, check more voicemail messages and sort through the snail mail and then go to my therapist appointment, which had also been re-scheduled due to a conflict. After that, I needed to get my dad a Father's Day present, send the lawyer the paperwork he'd requested, and get some cash so I could get some lunch before I passed out. I did Boston Market: rotisserie chickie (yes, I'm evil and eat the skin), roasted potatoes and cinnamon apples. Then I went to my last appointment, physical therapy that had also been re-scheduled because of a conflict. I was sure my legs would collapse out from under me while I did my 10 minutes on the treadmill, but I made it despite massive pain levels. But my legs did sorta turn to jello while doing other exercises, so I had to cut it short and go back to doing stretches. This was my last visit, so I'm gonna report back to the physiatrist on Monday. I wish I could get the injections in my back repeated, but that will have to wait until after I move.
Ooh, ow, ugh. Hurting and dozing off. Will check back in when I can.
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