End of the World. Beginning of a new one. The Life of Amberwolf.

[amberwolf]

I forgot to mention that a couple o fnights ago I woke from another nightmare to find that I broke off another front upper tooth, the one betwen my front right incisor and that canine. It doesnt' hurt unless I get something ice cold on it, so no big deal, and it already had a big hole in the enamel in front anyway, so it was due to go anytime. But it is inconvenient cuz that now only leaves the front right incisor on the top row of my whole front, except for the canines. So it's annoying.

More problematic is the weather changes we've been having are making my joints hurt more, and the knot in my left hand (which looks like a piece of Bonnies' tooth in the x-ray from a while back) swelled up more and got tighter, causing teh whole hand to be harder to use without pain across those tendons/muscles. It made doing the work on the bike and trailer yesterday a royal PITA.


I am tyring to decide now if I can afford to commit the large portion of my paycheck (I think it's about $120/month, IIRC) to the most basic insurance thru work, since we're about to be able to change our signups in the once-a-year time to do that, or if I can't afford insurance and end up just having to pay the "poor tax" that obamacare is going to force instead.

I'm sure I won't qualify for any "government help" in this regard, because of the rules changes previously passed here in AZ that make any single white male ineligible for such assistance. Unless obamacrap has forced them to change that rule, which I doubt, then I'm stuck with either paying thru the nose for something I wouldn't be able to afford to actually *use* after I pay the premiums (because of the deductibles and copays that I'd have to pay before the insurance will do anything for me), or paying the government's poor tax instead.

The poor tax is, at least this year, going to be a lot cheaper than insurance thru work, from what I have heard so far in our meetings at work, cuz it's only aobut 1% of my income. The insurance will defintely be more than that, just for premiums, not counting acutally using it for anything. But in future years it will increase, and end up costing more than the isnurance does, to try to force us all into hte rotten bureaucratically-nonsensical insurance game.

Typically I don't need any sort of care and when I do it might be a max of a few hundred dollars, usually a lot less, but that's still cheaper than paying 12 months of $120 premiums, which is $1440 a year! And that doesn't include, again, the deductbiles and copays and whatnot that I'd have to pay before insurance kicks in.

And because of all the new rules and stuff in obamacrap, the insurance itself costs significantly more than before, and does less for that money.

It's just not fair that they are going to tax those who can't afford insurance. I knwo the're not *calling* it a poor tax, but that's what it amounts to. Just let us choose ot live without care if we don't want it.

We put a patch of artificial grass about 1/4 that size on the patio for Oliver and he loves it.

I have a tiny little patch of it on a potty tray I got for I think about $10, just about 2' x 2', maybe a little bigger (just exactly big enough for Tiny to climb on and squat, really), but she won't use that tray cuz it's too tall--about 4-5" high. She *does* use the clay-type kitty litter in the kennel tray, cuz it's only an inch high, and to her it's the same as dirt.


I think if I had a big enough piece of it she'd happily lay on it, evne if not use it for potty.

I'm sure it's the same there as in California: The police cannot arrest for a misdemeanor that wasn't committed in their presence. If the neighbors witness he's in the yard, the neighbors have to make the private persons arrest. Which I'm sure they won't do.

I'm the type to figure out how to be there waiting for the guy, get pictures, etc. Caught kids in my backyard taking my bikes (To bring back when they're done breaking things) and oh the LIES they start telling. Once caught, twice caught, they still keep coming back. No, never had them arrested. Funny how the parents have no trouble with their kid being a hellion, but when a victims complains. . . .

Yeah, you're probably right. But I don't understand why they couldn't just tkae the witness statements and make an arrest anyway. They do it for vandalism and robery and breakins to occupied residences (but when no one happens to be home) and other things all the time; why not for theft on unoccupied property because of a fire? Makes no sense to me!


Anyway, I'm just ranting cuz I'm still upset about it. If I could I would stay there and catch them in the act, to at least get photographic evidence and call the cops right then. I don't know how to do citizen's arrest but I should look that up, and see what the limits of my "authority" would be, how far I could go to restrain them until police arrive.

You don't have to move back into the house that burnt. If you are happy in your new place? Stay there. If you want to move far away to a place with bad weather? For $400 a month you can be my neighbor. 3 bedroom upper apartment in the house next door for rent November 1st. Buffalo NY.

Well, I'm *not* happy in my apartment, *because* it is an apartment, mostly. It's too small (1br) and of course has no yard, etc etc. Plus it's too far from everything, with the only exit on Thomas, which is a VERY busy and dangerous road most of the time. (there is also a *gate* on 23rd Ave, which is relatively calm and quiet, but it's always locked as it is only a "fire dept" gate. The only pedestrian gate that is not chained closed is on Thomas as well, facing into the "visitors parking" area, coming from the building section west of me. Both pedestrian gates on my building section are chained closed now, both the one that goes into the visitor parking area and the one that goes to 23rd ave).

There have already been two stabbings at the complex; I don't remember if they were ultimately fatal or not--it doesn't really matter, since they happened in the first place. Security is a joke, cuz even though they keep locking gates and stuff, people keep leaving open the remaining one cuz they're too lazy to use their key to reopen it when they come back. Plus, someone keeps deliberately breaking the automatic car gate, so it ahs to be left open all the time, for more than a week or two at a time until the repair crew fixes it. Then a week or two later, it is broken again.

Even if all the gates worked and were kept closed, it wouldn't keep anyone out--these buildings have wooden boxes around all the utility stuff on the outer walls, and are just tall enough to both allow a typical person to climb up on them and to allow that same person to use them to climb over the gates and fences, wherever they abut the buildings (since they chose to use the buildings as *part* of the fence/barrier, instead of putting the fence away from buildings and trees to keep people from being able to easily climb over it.

I *like* the house where the fire was...or rather, I like the place it's at. I liked the house that *was* there, and I still like the backyard (front isn't really a yard yet, and is going to take years to re-become one, to grow back all the things I want and had there). I might end up liking the house tha'ts being rebuilt there, but I won't know till it's done and I'm back there. I don't want to leave that place, because there are many more good memories than bad ones.

The problem is right now everything is traumatic, and more bad things keep happening. Because of the looters i feel very insecure when I am there alone, and I was already emotionally unstable whenever I was there alone. With Tiny there it's LOTS better, and once I can actually be living there it should be fine, because I will not be a visitor at my own place anymore. And I can also *do* something about anyone I catch in the yard.

 

[bigmoose]

I have to commend you Amber! Tiny has made a world of difference in your life. You understand yourself, so press onward. Your goal is in sight... just a few more months, and things will begin to return to normal. All the best to you and Tiny!

PS: Sure enjoy the pictures of her.

 

[amberwolf]

I am trying...it's tough most days, but Tiny helps tremendously. If it were not for her, I doubt that I would still be around right now.

But it will get better...slowly but surely.

 

[RoadWrinkle]

Amberwolf,
You don't have to move back into the house that burnt. If you are happy in your new place? Stay there. If you want to move far away to a place with bad weather? For $400 a month you can be my neighbor. 3 bedroom upper apartment in the house next door for rent November 1st. Buffalo NY.

If you are getting nightmares still, maybe you should AVOID moving back to the location at all. No start like a fresh start, IMHO.

 

[oatnet]

I'm sure I won't qualify for any "government help" in this regard, because of the rules changes previously passed here in AZ that make any single white male ineligible for such assistance. Unless obamacrap has forced them to change that rule, which I doubt, then I'm stuck with either paying thru the nose for something I wouldn't be able to afford to actually *use* after I pay the premiums (because of the deductibles and copays that I'd have to pay before the insurance will do anything for me), or paying the government's poor tax instead.

Obamacare is federal (and in AZ is run by the federal government since they opted out), so those wacky laws AZ keeps passing don't matter; the level of support is based on income levels, not racial bias. if your finances are tight enough that you are not sure if you can afford insurance, then you are eligible for the highest subsidy.

There is a lot of hype out there discouraging people who need it most - check and see how obamacare actually impacts your situation.

-JD

 

[mark5]

amberwolf, if you want you can see what health plans are available to you in this table:

https://data.healthcare.gov/widgets/ba45-xusy

Filter by state and county, e.g. AZ and Maricopa, to narrow it down. Then press the row number at the far left to see a plan's details.

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/health-health-care/obamacare-guide-part-3/nZzCK/ says:

Individuals earning between $15,302 and $46,021 can qualify for a discount, as can families earning between $31,155 and $93,700. Subsidies are available up to 400% of the poverty line for individuals and families on a sliding scale based on income. Kaiser Family Foundation has a calculator where you can see if you will be eligible for health care subsidies based on family size, age, etc.

Playing with the subsidy calculator for state Az and claiming a low income showed another possibility:

Your State is Expanding Medicaid

States have the option to expand Medicaid coverage to everyone under 138% of the poverty level. If a state expands Medicaid, most of the costs are covered by the federal government under the health reform law. Because your state decided to expand Medicaid, your income (which is under 138% of the poverty level) makes you eligible for the program. Medicaid coverage varies from state to state, but out-of-pocket costs are generally very low. Tobacco use is never taken into account in Medicaid eligibility.

(11490 x 138% = 15856.2)

 

[Dauntless]

If you are getting nightmares still, maybe you should AVOID moving back to the location at all. No start like a fresh start, IMHO.

Or maybe they'll end when he's home again. Old sayings are often true, such as wherever you go you take yourself with you. It might just be that once he feels his life is back in order, it'll all be okay.

I'm currently having math nightmares, which I assume will end when I stop struggling with math classes.

 

[amberwolf]

Re: Insurance: I am still trying to wrap my head around options for things. I am also stil lhaving a lot of trouble trying to access websites about it; they must still be being hit pretty hard--I can sometimes bring up a page but it won't finish loading, or links on it don't work, etc. Some of them arent compatible with my browsers or my older computer won't run htem, etc., so those I either can't use (like the one linked by mark5) or will have to borrow someone else's computer to view. My workplace has it's own site for options there, and I'm still tyring to read thru that. They've given us three weeks starting last week to either sign up or decline, so I guess I have a bit less than two weeks to try to understand my options and make up my mind.

Most likely I'll have to give it a pass and decline and pay the poor tax, cuz I have so much else on my plate that I am literally getting dizzy trying to figure out what all this stuff means and how or even if I can get any sort of assistance. I have been completely unable to get thru to any of the phone help lines to ask questions--it's either just busy or I get put on terminal hold, and I can only call from work because of that (not enough minutes on my phone to waste for that, would cost more than the poor tax to replace them if I did).





Nightmares: I can only hope the nightmares and stress go away when I am back "home", but I doub tthat they will ever completely go away. It's not just the place, it's the events--even if I were in the "perfect" and "secure" place, I will always be reminded of the events that caused these nightmares, and that will keep them coming, even if only occasionally, probably for the rest of my life. I still have them about other previous horrifying or stressful or terrifying events, and this is, even including the year of hell I went thru with my mom's last year and her death, the worst thing I've ever been thru. If it werent' for Tiny, (and my friends here on ES, OHBB, a few other internet places, and locally) I really doubt I would have made it thru it at all.


Speaking of Tiny:

She finally did have another siezure this morning, about an hour ago
(8:03am), but it was nowhere near as bad as that first one. She was
curled up on top of the blankets in front of me as we both woke up
from a nap, and I was scratching her chin, and she was doing her usual
pushing her chin into my hand and wiggling it around to get the right
spot, then she raised her chin up like she wanted further down on her
neck, but then she kept arching her head back further and further and
I saw the blank look on her face and knew it was a siezure.

Then her bladder let go (we hadn't been out for a walk in more than a
couple hours so there was kind of a lot of it), and she relaxed
completely, then began waking up from the siezure a few seconds later.

So this one was only about 10 seconds long, if that. She recovered a
lot more quickly, too, and though she was not as excited about going
for another walk shortly afterward, she was still pretty into it once
we got out there.

She seems to be ok again right now, back to normal.

Somehow this time it was not completely horrifying...just "something that happened". I guess I've accepted it's part of who she is...which is surprising to me since this is only the second one. Maybe it's because it wasnt' as bad as the first, and she didn't go all dead-limp like the first time?

Anyway....life goes on.




I've been trying to relieve stress (when Tiny doesn't want attention, which is infrequent but she has moments she'd rather just go lay on the tile by herself) by playing with the guitar from Thud; I'm still no good at actually making music with it but it is soothing to try.

I need to get a pic of it, but I sort of finally have a music setup again, thanks to Hora (on OHBB) and GoodWill thrift stores, and Thud (on Endless Sphere). I don't yet have the music computer over here at the apartment, mostly because I don't yet have a MIDI interface for it, but also because my LCD monitor I'd picked up from GW a few months ago suddenly died (backlight goes out after a few seconds). I can fix that, but haven't had the chance to try anything other than capacitor swap, which didn't help.


But the older Emu6400 from Hora has a sequencer in it, which at least lets me noodle around and record things, though I have not yet learned anything about it's editing functions.

For a keyboard, I am using a little cheap 4-octave (I think) keyboard-only unit found at GW, that actually has velocity sensitivity, which was a big surprise to me given it's uber-cheapness of design/manufacture. It doesn't even have a brand name! :lol: But it does work, and it can be battery powered or AC-outlet powered, and has a plug for a sustain pedal so I can use the one I hacked together out of an old pedal setup for a game controller, with a switch from a mouse in it.

I'm only using headphones right now, just so I don't disturb neighbors, so I don't know how Tiny will react to the music.

I somehow seem to have lost my MIDI cables between Bill's house and hte apartment, which I don't understand, but I still had the joystick MIDI interface so I cut it's IN and OUT connectors off with as much wire as I could get, and spliced them toghter to make a MIDI cable to hook the keybaord to the Emu. It's short but it works. Then I did find one of my old AT-style keyboard extension cables, so now that makes it long enough to be practical.

The laptop I have does not have a joystick port, unfortunately, so I cannot hook anything up to it to use my computer-based editing/etc software, so until I get the monitor fixed, and the computer over here from Bill's, I can't do anything with my Cakewalk/SONAR stuff.

But I don't have to really do any of that anyway, since mostly it's just to noodle around on and record stuff that happens to come out. Nothing worth it so far...I hear lots of stuff in my head but I almos tnever could get tht out right even with my whole setup I had before the housefire anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

The big ASR88 keybaord is still at Bill's, as I don't have room at the apt for it and it doesn't work right or reliably anyway, so no point in having it here. Hoefully i will only be her efor another couple months and then be able to move back to the house, at which point I'd have it all there to mess with whenever I had time.


For now, though, at least I can mess with the guitar from Thud just to make sounds, and the GW keyboard and Hora's Emu to make some sort of music when the muse actually strikes hard enough to make me do it.

 

[amberwolf]

Well, Tiny was super-excited to see me when I got home tonight--so much so she must've been waiting at the front door, which is unusual cuz usually she's sleeping on the bed in the other room when I come in, and is all muzzy and slow to wake up as I come in---half the time i get to her before she can figure out to get up and come to me, and that's after I manage to get the bike in the door and parked (which is rather difficult and takes up to a couple minutes, cuz I have to center it in the doorway, then work it up over the ~4" riser to get it in the door, and the motors don't help at all, and the heavy back end is in the large pointy gravel off the sidewalk at that point cuz the sidewalk is curved around it instead of straight into it).


Anyway, she was all excited and stayd taht way thru dinner and hten most of the walkies, and was just tuckering out and laying down when I left to go use the wifi to check email (mostly to see if the vet check had been scheduled yet), and check ES and post my update.

Now *I'm* tuckered out too and am gonna go lay down pretty soon.

 

[mark5]

Re: Insurance: I am still trying to wrap my head around options for things. I am also stil lhaving a lot of trouble trying to access websites about it; they must still be being hit pretty hard--I can sometimes bring up a page but it won't finish loading, or links on it don't work, etc. Some of them arent compatible with my browsers or my older computer won't run htem, etc., so those I either can't use (like the one linked by mark5) or will have to borrow someone else's computer to view. My workplace has it's own site for options there, and I'm still tyring to read thru that. They've given us three weeks starting last week to either sign up or decline, so I guess I have a bit less than two weeks to try to understand my options and make up my mind.

If you make less than 15856/year you can qualify for expanded Medicaid.

The link I posted with Maricopa health plans, you're not missing much at all if you can't read it because the cheapest plans are:
Health Net CommunityCare HSA Open Access Bronze 40%/40%/$5000
139.09 Premium Adult Individual Age 27 - 237.04 Premium Adult Individual Age 50*
Health Net CommunityCare HSA Open Access Silver 20%/20%/$2000
158.99 Premium Adult Individual Age 27 - 270.96 Premium Adult Individual Age 50*

The Kaiser Family Foundation subsidy calculator says this about getting a subsidy:
"In general, employees who are offered insurance through work are not eligible for subsidized exchange coverage, so long as their insurance meets specified requirements. You would only be eligible for subsidized exchange coverage if your income is between 1 and 4 times the federal poverty level and you would have to pay more than 9.5% of your household income for your own coverage through the insurance offered by your employer."

Anyway the Affordable Care Act is a horrible mess right now, no point in trying to apply, and who knows what'll happen in the future.

 

[amberwolf]

Thanks fro the info; i've still got to keep chekcing into it all cuz i have to decide waht to do within a week an d a hafl--pay the poor tax or pay thru the nose fo rinsuracne i almost certainly will never use, and absolutely will cost me much more than jus tpaying cash for what little i would use it for would cost.



Tiny's vet check happened today, after a last minute schedule notifcaiton, and they are runninganother urine test (maybe we'll be lucky and this one won't take three weeks to get results for ). Same vet clinic as last time (Alta vista, I think it's called) cuz it's thru the rescue group and I guess that's just where we ahve to go. Divffernt actual vet, though.

Her itchy ears turned out to be a yeast infection so we have drops and rinses for that. she dosn't like it beut she tolerates it easy enough.

since she had this seizure wihtin two months of the previous, and in all likelihood she's had others that no one was present to witness both before i got her and after, they put her on phenobarbitol as a lifetime med, twice a day, and we'll be going back for blood tests in a while to make sure the odasage is right, i guess. but at least the pb should keep her from having more siezures if they are caused by epilepsy, which is the most likely cause at this point, according to the vet, though it could be almost anything, unforutantley.

if nothing else, tiny wil lsleep better with the pb making her drowsy.

anyway, maybe i'll sleep better, too, if it really does help her, which i won't know positively ever--i'll only kno wif it *doesn't* help her and siezures continue.

anyway, life goes on, and tiny and i keep helping each other thru it.

 

[Solcar]

That news of AZ xpanding Medicaid sounds good.

That pb for tiny was a good idea, I think.

 

[Ypedal]

Been a while since i checked the thread..

Regarding the ear infection, if it's a yeast issue, Sandy has had a problem with it since puppy, i go to the vet, get prescription for " Surolan ", alternate days with surolan, next day flush with over-counter solution.. repeat until i run out of surolan... the ear gets better but never completely cured.. so i keep with the flush ever few days when i catch her picking at it... for the last 12 years.

A few weeks ago, neighbor told me someone at her work had a dog with same problem and they started giving their dog Acidophilus ( pharmacy, Bulk Barn, health food stores all have it ) one a day, it's a probiotic, helps digestion and also helps Yeast infections.. so i tried it... her ear is loooking better than it has for the last 12 years.... still not 100% cleared up but well on it's way !.

 

[amberwolf]

That's a thought. Worth a try, anyway.

For now, I have medication (forgot the name) from the vet for Tiny's ears, and we'll see how it works after the couple of weeks it's prescribed for. She doesn't like me putting it in there, but she LOVES the ear squishies she gets while I massage it around in there. :lol:


She is definitely made sleepy by the Phenobarbitol they prescribed for the siezures, though when it's getting closer to her next dose time, she is a LOT perkier than she was before. Not sure if that's cuz she's getting more rest or becuase of something else, side effect, or what. She wants to go on longer walks, now, though, so she has more energy and is more interested in the walk itself now, compared to before the PB but shortly after the antibiotics ran out for her UTI. (that was probably her most energetic period, the last week of antibiotics to about a week after they ran out).

But after the walks, she really snoozes hard--even her snoring doesn't wake her up, whereas it used to when she snored in a certain way she'd wake long enough to move and stop or change it. Doesnt' bother me, but it did her, I guess.

She's getting the first dose just before her last morning walk, usually around 730-8am, and her next dose after I'm home from work (typically 930-1030pm, dependin on my shift, presently). I'm doing it this way for now so that I can be there for a while after she takes it in the morning, and I can see how she reacts to it, in case there is a problem. Eventually I'll shift over so it's 12 hours apart, wherever that's possible with my work schedule, once I am certain she's not going to have a problem from the meds themselves.


So far the main side effects are just the tiredness/sleepiness, and she drinks a LOT more water than she used to. I hvae to fill her (big!) bowl up every day. Normally I just change the water in it each day and there's little of it actually gone--but now it's usually at least 3/4 empty when i do it each morning. And she's using the litter tray a LOT more, too, because of it, so I expect I'll probably be using a whole $10 30lb litter bucket every week at this rate, maybe every week and a half.

She also begs more when I'm eating (she doens't acutally get anything, but she sure enjoys trying), and keeps going back to her food bowl looking for tidbits taht aren't there.

All of those are the most common side effects of PB, AFAI can find, so not any big worry on that front, I guess, as long as it stops the siezures. (which we'll never really know if it does, unless she has another one to show that it doesnt' stop them).






On the house, I stopped (at least momentarily) two would-be looters on my way to work Friday midday. I happened to be riding by when I saw two older (40s?) very weathered-looking people, a man and a woman, on bicycles in the alley, standing there and looking into my yard pointing at things, looking like they were getting ready to go in the yard. So I turned around and stopped, and got the celphone out to take pictures of them, but by the time the phone bothered to respond to my keypresses (cuz it is REALLY slow a lot of the time--not always, just when I really need it to NOT be, it'll take 3-5 seconds to respond to a single "button" press (screen touch)), they were already riding out on the road and away from me, and the picture happened to snap just as the woman passed the man and was not visible except by her shadow and part of the bike and her green/yellow jacket. Then the camera took another several seconds to get ready to take the next pic and they were gone around the corner by then.

I then just rode on to work, and they were just going around the next corner then, same direction I go to work, so I "followed" them slowly, until they changed direction again to go off somewhere else, and I really did have to go to work instead of just following htem hoping to snap a pic, cuz I can't afford to be late to work.

They did seem perturbed by me taking the pic, and even more by following htem, so maybe they wont' come back--but probably they will, or already have. If they do climb the fence, I hope they fall on something pointy.

 

[The fingers]

Report their description to the police, for casing the property and suspiciously leaving.

 

[bigmoose]

Amber are you in contact with your house's landlord? Does he give you status updates, like when you can move back in?

 

[amberwolf]

Report their description to the police, for casing the property and suspiciously leaving.

I was going to call right then, at the time, but realized I didn't have time beofre having to be at work. After I got to work I dind't have time until lunch, and I realized that calling would be pointless--if they won't do anything even when they catch the looters with stuff taken from the property, and witnessed by neighbors both within hte property and actually taking the items in question, then they probably wouldn't even actually take a report on these two characters.

So I didn't bother wasting my phone minutes or my lunchtime on it, since that is the only effect calling them would have (in addition to spending a bit more of our tax dollars on wasted operator time).

Amber are you in contact with your house's landlord? Does he give you status updates, like when you can move back in?

No. I have called and left messages, or texted, a few times, about various things, and sometimes I get a response, and someitmes not. I never got a response about the 220V not working. Very occasionally I'll see a work crew, or one of them, at least, there working on it as I go by on my way to work--but I don't have time to stop and unlock the gate and go in and get their attention and ask stuff. I only go by just to satisfy my curiosity on progress of rebuilding and looting, since it is on the way to/from work anyway.

Mostly I don't even bother trying to call them, and haven't in a while even before the 220V question, and not at all since then.

Realistically, they'll get it done when they get it done, and me pestering htem won't change a thing or speed it up. They already know that my lease at the apartment is thru December, expiring about two months from now, so that's the present deadline I myself have. If I can't move back in by then, I have to try continuing here on a month to month basis, which will be (probably much) more expensive than the >$600/mo it is right now (including utilities, which are figured separately from rent).



Tiny's UTI test results came back, and she has TWO different infections, so they are culturing to be sure they give us the most effective meds for each.

Her "hungries" caused by the siezure meds are still getting worse, and are probably gonna continue for a while, most likely, based on other people's experiences I've read of. But she isnt' actually starving--she just thinks she is cuz the PB increases liver activity and metabolization of food. She's sleeping WAY more than before, also "normal" for this adjustment period. She sleeps much harder than before, too, and is actualy hard to wake up sometimes. Once awake, she's groggy for a while, but sometimes then gets overactive for a short while, not exactly hyper, although it might be considered hyper for *her*.

The hardest part to watch is that she is not fully coordinated all the time, which is also "normal" for these meds, and is supposed to go away later on. But it oculd take weeks.


For now, we just do what we can, and live with what we have to. :|

 

[amberwolf]

I think she had another siezure (in her sleep) last night; there was a wet urine spot on the bed where she'd been sleeping, and her back end and tail were wet with it too. No way to know, though.

Still waiitng on vet results.

Then a little rant about our "healthcare reform" :
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=54324&p=816558#p816558

 

[amberwolf]

They were working on the house when i went by yesterday on the wya to work (see my CrazyBike2 thread for the details on the various problems I'm having with the bike itself). There is now some wall stuff up on the studs of teh back room, and the roofing part of it seems to be getting there, too. Dunno about the inside but there was a full crew there going in and out and whatnot, so I'm sure stuff is happening inside too. That's about the only bright spot from yesterday.


The bike's Cycle Analyst is fried, and AFAICT a hall in the HS3540 is also fried, and the 12FET *might* be--still gotta test that on another motor. Still have the front motor and controller working, so not stranded but....

Got a week's vacation starting saturday, meant to fix other problems and to work on stuff at the house, not to fix this.


However, I can't even do the house stuff till the rear motor is fixed, or at least till I have high-power startup ability for towing Tiny in the trailer, using the front motor, cuz I can't stay there to do anything without Tiny there, and I can't haul her there on only the 6FET/9C combo (it barely gets the bike itself moving from a stop).


And I still can't create an account at the federal healthcare site so I could see what my options are for insurance, and the option thru work has to be picked by Friday. I can't get thru on the phone either, during the times I have at work when I'm off hte clock but the phones arent' already in use--I'm on hold for the entire time I have been able to try, each time. (cant' use my celphone as I can't afford those minutes to be wasted that way.) At this rate, I'm gonna have to decline coverage entirely, and pay the poor tax instead. (which is probably what I'd have to do anyway, but since I cant get the info to find out, I don't even get to choose between work's offering and anything else--all of the stuff I *can* see without creating an account shows it's even more expensive than work's offering, and nothing I can find tells me if I actually qualify for any discounts, subsidies, etc., except for a phrase in the FAQ section that says that if my work offers insurance then I *don't* qualify for any kind of discounts regardless of my economic status, AFAICT.


Anyway, all these problmes on top of each other is making it damned hard to think or sleep much, and all that is on otp of Tiny's medical issues and all the nightmares I have about that and the fire and the other dogs I lost in that, and the looters at the house, etc.


So...pardon my self-pitying whiny self at the moment. I'm sure things will get better....

 

[mark5]

AZ Medicaid childless adult enrollment should resume in January. Wrote about it here.

Revised, friendlier 3-page short form Health Insurance Marketplace application is here:
http://marketplace.cms.gov/getoffic...s-and-articles/publications-and-articles.html.
You can use this rather than fight with the federal website trying to create an account.

A CSV file of the health plans available in Maricopa county is here. Same data as the link I posted earlier but a subset. Supposed to be the same data as the federal website would show you except the website wants to show you price with subsidies included so you don't get sticker shock. If one does qualify for a subsidy, one must buy the plan through the exchange. Otherwise can't claim the subsidy.

 

[dnmun]

i have looters going through my house too. know how you feel. my neighbors run them off when they see them.

 

[dogman dan]

Re the poor tax, I think the fines are now put off till march 30. Hard to say if what you read in the paper is accurate. Hopefully by Christmas you will be able to get on a website easier and get enrolled.

 

[amberwolf]

I griped aobut hte insurance thing more detail in the Health Insurance thread.

Going back to the house to do more stuff this week, with Tiny, as soon as I get halls to fix the rear wheel on the bike, one way or antoher. some on order frm Mouser, should be here today or tomorrow. Can't find the ones at the house until I am acutall already there with Tiny, which I can't do until I get halls to fix it, so....

Getting a lot more rest last few days with not having to be at work (vacation, last of the year cuz of holiday cutoff), will be going bakc to work next Monday so have almost a week to go. And even that much isn't enough to do even a fraction of what I woul dlike to accomplish.


Weather looks like it is possibly going to get windy and rainy this week, so I may be doing my rides and wokr at the house in those conditions. Tiny won't like it any more than I will but it's gotta get done.

Forgot if I already said but got tiny's UTI meds Friday from the rescue people; Amoxicillin. Two big capsules every 12 hours, so I just drop them in her dinner or breakfast, and so far she's just gobble dthem up with the rest of it.

 

[amberwolf]

Spent most of today working on Crazybike2 trying to deal with the rear wheel problems--first the fried hall, then discovering the wheel was royally screwed up (more spokes broken, rim coming apart) so I basically can't use it even if I fix the hall problem, until I put it in a new rim with new spokes.


I also spent a little time before all that trying to fix my LCD monitor for the computer. I ordered new capacitors for it that should get here with the new halls for the motor, but they're not here yet. So having seen some dead electronics (DVD/VCR player) on top of the trashbin at the apartments while on walkies with Tiny, I took it back to the apartment to disasemble for useful parts. it had a couple caps like what I need, so I pulled htem first and tried them in place of more of the bad caps in the monitor, to no avail. No idea if it's cuz there are stil other bad caps, or if these are also bad, or if other things besides the caps are dead, too. I'll find out oafter the new caps get here and I have time to instal them, I guess. If I'm lucky my little oscilloscope hasn't been stolen from the house (in one of the sheds) and I'll be able to pick it up this week to take back here and use it to test stuff in the monitor's backlighting power supply, which appears to be what is wrong (since it turns the backlight off after only a second or less, once powered on). I couldn't tell much with a voltmeter so far.




Regarding the house itself, I still haven't made it there because of the motor thing, and needing ot haul Tiny with me to be able tos tay there any lenght of time. However, tomorrow I am jus tgoing to go anyway, with Tiny, and hope the existing motor doesn't fail and that it's enough acceleration to get us out of poeple's way fast enough for them not to be too impatient and run us over at lights and stop signs.


The landlord said that the city has now decided that the place looks too trashy, so it has to be cleaned up. Well, if I hadn't been abandoned there by Tannon months ago, it would have been cleaned up that very day...but I havne't been able to find people that could help since then, cuz the few that could/would help either physically can't do it or don't have trucks or both, and I couldn't coordinate any time between those that could help and those that had trucks. After a while I just gave up, and figured I'd do it msyelf once I was back at the house, after repairs were done. I knew I couldn't do it during the vacations I might manage to get, and I couldn't do it during the hot months, even if I could've stayed there long enough at a time to manage doing it, emotionally.


So...the landlord said he'll take care of getting rid of anything I don't want, as long as I first tidy up the stuff I'm keeping and move it all inside the sheds (or at least out of sight, or between them, or whatever, so he knows what is and isn't to be trashed). That simplifies things enormously, although it means I don't get to take any of the recyclable stuff to recyclers and earn anything from it, which I had hoped to do.


Another friend that also needs help with some stuff is going to help me with some of the moving things to be kept, since there is not all that much of that--the hardest part is moving all the crap out of in fornt of each shed, then the crap piled inside the fornt of each shed, to get to the space left for actual things to be kept in there, neaten that up some, then cram everything I can inside the sheds.


The one problem this will leave: Without the large heavy "trash" items to pile in front of the sheds to block looters from getting into them, I'll probably lose yet more stuff before I can move back in. So far, it seemed to have been working to deter them from the sheds, by having the piles of stuff in front of their doors. Didn't sotp them from stealing lots of other stuff from the yard itself, of course. I have no idea what to do about that. Probably nothing I *can* do, short of quitting my job and sitting there with a shotgun day and night, and having friends bring me food and water for myself and Tiny.

 

[amberwolf]

Tiny has decided now that cigarette butts are yummy treats. She'll spit them out if I catch her at it and tell her "drop it", but very reluctantly. It's pretty easy to avoid her nabbing them on walkies, but when we are in the doggie park, unless I go over every square inch of the whole thing before I let her off teh leash, there's about no way to stop her from finding several of them, since apparently at least two people (at least two different brands of cigarettes) are leaving their butts all over the doggie park (and are probably some of the ones leaivng their doggie's poo, too, if lack of caring of the one thing is any indication of hte other).


She doesn't try to eat the doggie poo, thankfully, nor the cat "cookies" occasionally left there (cat poo is easy to tell--it's almost always partly buried under a pile of gravel/dirt, as the cats always at least try to bury it, while the dogs never do).


At least she hasn't decided that all teh tree bits and seeds are food, nor the garbage some people leave strewn about their cars like beer bottles and cans, car parts, fast food wrappers and bags and cups, antifreeze and oil containers, rags, etc.


She's less wobbly than she was to start with, from the siezure meds, but she still has the munchies and thirsties like crazy. Those thirsties are causing a fair bit of problem, cuz with the Amoxicillin for the UTI, her pee is pretty stinky, and the tireds she has from the meds means she often doesn't wake up when she's REALLY got to go pee, or else she doesnt' manage to hold it in while she does get up...so she is leaving a lot of wet spots (some of them huge puddles) on the floor and on the bed. The floor is no problme--it's tile, and I can mop that up easy. But the bed....that's an issue. We wake up with her back end all wet and stinky at least once a night, sometimes multiple times. And most of the time she's snuggled up against me when this happens, so then both of us need a shower.


The bed itself used to have a plastic cover over it, but that's pretty torn up now, since she's big and evne with trimmed claws and sheets on the bed the plastic is still very thin and crappy and tears under her weight, so the mattress has to be left uncovered with teh fan blowing across it to dry out every day, after I spray it down with Simple Green (all I really have that will help...the other cleaners I know would do better are too expensive to go get until I can find a better solution ot preventing more wet spots).


I have a second spare cover I'd like to put on the bed, but it has to first completely dry out...and right now that can't happen cuz it'll take several days to do so from one wet spot, and new ones get added every day.

So the best compromise I have is to take what's left of the original cover, which isnt' torn up yet on the bottom side, and just lay it on the bed during sleepy time, udner the blankets and sheets, and hope it doesnt' get holes in it for a while. then pull it up when I'm not acutally sleeping on it, wash it off in the shower, and let it dry for the day.


the ohter problem is that I can't afford to wash the blankets and sheets in the coin laundry every day, so basically i have to wash them in the tub, then hang them around the apartment to dry. Most of the time, they're mostly dry by bedtime again, but not usually completely. That's annoying. Plus it takes at least 30-40 minutes to do the washing and wringing out.

Then I have to close the bedroom door to keep her off the bed when I'm not there...and that's not happy cuz I know she really really prefers to sleep on the bed a lot, now that it is not so hot that the cool tile floor is more preferable like it was in summer.



She does still use the potty tray....but it just isn't helping in this case cuz of how much she drinks before bed. So I am thinking I may well have to start restricting her water intake a few hours before bedtime, until morning. I REALLY hate to do that, but it might be the only solution for now. I definitely don't want to keep her from sleeping on the bed with me--I need her there sometimes, and it's a huge comfort ot wake up to her being snuggled up next to me, after the usual nightmares. Plus I can see taht *she* prefers sleeping up there with me now, cuz I don't have to call her to bed, she comes in there when I go now, and also anytime I'm laying there reading or typing (like when I type up these posts before going out to find wifi to post htem).


Regarding potty trays, she hasnt' been transitioning to the new litterless one well at all this week, though she did use it ok for a couple days before that. Now she won't use it at all, though I can easily call her up to stand or sit on it, so I know she's not afraid of it anymore like she was when I first got it, due to it's height off the ground.

Since it has fake grass on it like the doggie park does, i had hoped she'd take right to using it...but it just isn't big enough, I guess. So I will have to find a bigger piece of fake grass and build a standoff lattice for the big kennel/crate tray I'd used with teh clay litter, so she can use that as she did before. She'll use the tray fine even without litter on it...cuz it is big enough for her, I guess. But even if I put that tray under the litterless grass tray, she won't use it now, for whatever reason. She'd rather go pee on the floor if she is desperate---though nromally she'll come get me and show me she needs to go out.


I just have to figure out what to use under the grass as a standoff. Best I can think off off the top of my head is the diffusion grid off an overhead fluorescent light fixture--the type that has 1/2" spaces between the cross grids, and is about 1/2" deep, often chromed plastic.