Best Of

And the hits just keep on coming. State Farm adjuster called to say that he "received the pictures" and that "work has been completed." Say what? Unless there were an army of elves working nonstop 24/7 since last Thursday, that can't possibly be the case. Got the final settlement docs of what was done, and something is fishy—there are entries for wallpaper (there isn't any), painting of chair rails & cove moldings (also nonexistent), window shades (missing as of Thursday), blinds (nope), drapery hardware re-hung (double nope), the range and kitchen fridge installed (not so as I saw) but no mention of basement fridge or laundry pair. No mention of water line run to fridge either, as I kept insisting and was assured would be done. Claim that cedar shakes were painted—it must take quite a bit of skill to reproduce the look of peeling paint. (Crew chief said that was not in the specs). There are basement windows still with busted frames and torn screens. Pre-restoration specs and now the summary both claim that the deck was rebuilt, but all I could see is re-painting. I am meeting with my own plumber to get water pressure to the 1st floor tub & shower (problem predated the fire) but also to replace the sink faucet in that bathroom—which had worked during the project (I know because I used it) but now is busted. Contractor/public adjuster says I should talk to him tomorrow—I'm skeptical of turning over State Farm's check for work that may not have been performed as charged. Then there are the two massive piles of junk (primary BR and living room floors) that need to be winnowed out & removed before I can even buy a bed, much less have the boxes of stored stuff brought back. Den furniture (stereo rack & bookcase) are sitting in the middle of the dining room. Old fridge in basement (that we never used and contains the previous owners' pots & pans) supposed to be carted away but still there. If by some miracle the kitchen fridge and stove were reinstalled over the weekend, do they even work?

In the meantime I can cart stuff from the garage here (which I removed from my car before going to the body shop) back to our own garage; and I will load up all the winter coats from here and hang them in our own hall & den closet. I know the outerwear that was cleaned and stored no longer fits (too small for Bob, too big for me). Tomorrow will be a good day, once I get back, to start packing up sweaters & heavier sweats).

Also had to go online and prove my identity to the IRS so they can direct-deposit our pretty-large refund; and also filed an online appeal of our estimated market value ($950K—what are they smoking at the Assessor's office?) for our 2025 property tax. The 2024 estimate was $580K—did having the fire improve the market value? Went over our AmEx bill and found that AT&T is charging me $250/mo for "U-Verse" (which I don't have) and DirecTV is charging me $180. (For awhile the latter was part of AT&T). Then there's the matter of reinstating my ISP & cable (and buying a mesh network).

And of course, aside from the herculean effort it will take to broom-clean this place (not to mention how much over & above our pet deposit we'll be dinged for re-felting the pool table & some scratching on the sofa), is the looming dread of not being able to lure the kitties out from under the beds (low clearance, too heavy to lift) so we can take them home. At this point, this place is the longest they've lived anywhere since they were rescued in Jan. 2024. I am about to discover the upper limits of what Taskrabbit can handle.

(Friends are of no use here—they're at least as old and in no better shape than I am; and family is back East).

Thursday I have an online shrink appointment for "medication management;" and Friday (our anniversary) is my mammogram. Talk about scanxiety—not so much what they might find but if they do, how I'm gonna deal with it with everything else going on. If the system's shrink is dedicated to minimizing prescription of controlled substances, I will find one outside the system—maybe one of the psychiatrists at Bob's hospitals can see me as a "one-off" private patient. We're not hurting for money, but annual fee for membership in a concierge medical service costs more than country club dues (not that we'd ever join a country club) or a new car.

Yay Chris on the chest scan. Praying tomorrow goes well too. Wow !!! There is SUCH weather going on everywhere it seems. Global issues which some admins don't wish to publicize other than it is not happening. But we get to live it anyway some way.

Speaking of weather — we went to Mt. Vernon — no a/c in my car because no one added the needed Freon. Okay. It wasn't great but passable. By the time we left Mt. Vernon, and it was a lot hotter yet it was a much more un-satisfactory ride home. We went to Walmart to pick up a prescription I needed. I could feel the heat, but once I walked into the inside cart area and got hit with a huge blast of a/c air (which felt like heaven at first) but almost as suddenly it seemed to have sucked every last iota of energy I had. By then we were in the 'greeting' area and I had to stop and bend over the basket — just needed a moment to give my legs a chance to recognize I needed to keep going. The pharmacy was just around a corner and there were benches. I knew I could buck up and make it there, if I gave my legs time to realize we had to keep going. We were able to make it and sit down — sure was a good feeling.

Soon a lady and young fellow came along and began to check on us producing three big bottles of cold water. I was fairly un-comfortable as yet but the addition of sitting down with water did make me feel given some time I would be okay. Took about a half an hour but I finally felt much cooler and while not bursting with energy able to do my business. The lady and young man stayed with us till we got up. Frankly, I've never needed attention in Walmart for anything and the fact that someone took charge of Dh and I so quickly was a surprise. Then again, they really don't want or need people falling out on trips to their store.

I will be fine. Just needed to go to Mt. Vernon to get a prescribed medication, because they needed to be sure of what I really needed. Some of the medications I take make you liable to pick up yeast infections easier than the law ought to allow. Sigh !!! So all that for one pill. It's nice that handling the yeast only takes one pill and I can sure be glad of that, but wow — a lot to go through for one little pill.

Just read the report. Unchanged chest ct scan. Now for the important one tomorrow.

We are having a series of thunderstorms sweeping through the area— about two inches when all is done. I had to keep my eyes on the screen of my phone so I wouldn't bother my drivers. Predicted to be a bit quieter tomorrow, then another inch each day Weds and Thursday.

I should have realized it was stormy weather coming in yesterday that triggered all that pain. Not that it would have helped. Temp dropped from 86 at noon to 72 at 4:00.

I have been in a bad place emotionally lately. I have that appointment with the ortho tomorrow!! Called the nurseline yesterday, she went immediately into triage mode, I stopped her and gave her the details, I just needed some encouragement and medical advice for getting through the next 38 hours. Feeling a lot better now.

As you can see, I solved the double letter problem.

I have the lung scan later today, but it is likely to show no change.