Thanksgiving struggle

Thanksgiving is hard for me.

This is no surprise to my family, but I have been trying to figure out why.

I have much to be thankful for, I know, and I am. It may even outweigh at the one bad thing. It is really bad, though.

I think the problem is that family is a key part of the holiday, at least for me. It is for others, too, but normally there are distractions.

Thanksgiving has the meal, sure, but happy chatter is part of the meal. And try as I might, I can’t hear the jokes and news and stories. 

Listening fruitlessly has two effects. First, it is really tiring. It also makes me want just want to be alone.

But I need to be with my family.

Hence, my struggle.

Denial, not the river in Egypt

 My insurance company cares for my health. They say it right there in the two rejection letters they sent last week. 

“We care about your health,” the letters say.

I am sure, then, that the rejection of the power chair is an indication that they know my medical needs better than my doctor and physical therapist. 

I am also clearly misreading this sentence: “Many of the features also exceed the minimum specifications for your mobility needs.”

If I didn’t already know that they care about my health, I might assume from that line that they care about only money and just want to pay the minimum. 

But I know they care. They say so.

They also deny an order for a shower chair to replace one that is almost 15 years old.

Apparently, the ability to  shower is a convenience.

They do suggest I talk to my doctor about care options. 

I suspect lounging in bed 24/7 is a good option without a power chair.  Spit showers, as one  grandmother called them, or never going out are options for no shower chair.

It’s a good thing I know they care because they sure sound mean.

The Boss and I don't see eye to eye

One of my hopes for next year is a rapprochement b between me and Bruce Springsteen.

It’s not like we’re enemies. That would require him to know I exist. 

And it’s not like I am finding his music suddenly jarring. It is still awesome.

He has just made some choices I don’t care for.

It started his Super Bowl ad. Yes, it was about unity. It was still for an automaker.

The bigger problem involved the opening lyrics to Thunder Road.

A kerfuffle erupted online this summer about whether it was “The screen door slams, Mary’s dress sways” or “The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves.”

Apparently, it is nothing new.

But this time a New Yorker writer reached Springsteen’s manager who said it has always been “sways.”

So they’ve been lying to fans for 40-some years, because the lyrics with the album, CD, on his website and in his official book of lyrics. The website has been changed. Presumably, the others will in future printings.

He still lied to fans.

The  rapprochement might take a while.

 

What’s a few dead monkeys?

I  got an email the other day asking me to apply for the next phase of that drug trial I took part in in 2020. It was vague about a many things including start date, so I talked to a friend who works on drug trials who told me that in this kind of trial, you definitely get the drug and you take it for a long period. 

I liked that. 

I decided to email the study coordinator a few questions and when she didn’t respond, I looked the study up.

Turns out, they’re being a little optimistic.

The  FDA has a hold on the drug because of deaths of nonhuman primates at high dosage levels.

My neurologist suggested I go ahead and sign up to apply because it’s not like I am promising anything.

So I did. But geez, haven’t these medical people seen Planet of the Apes?