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My doctor's story, electricity woes & other miscellany

August 25th, 2017 at 03:04 pm

I went for my physical the other day and spent an hour-and-a-half with my primary care doc. She's actually an APRN, but I prefer her to the doctor.

We always have such a nice conversation; I actually consider her more like a friend. She's about my age, and when I went in to see her she told me a terrible story about something that happened last summer.

She often talks with her neighbors. There is one family with 2 boys. One day, the husband walked outside and hung himself from a tree. One of his sons found him. He had lost his job. Perhaps there were other factors as well. She said he didn't seem depressed.

A terrible story. She said it affected the whole neighborhood. Once all the emergency personnel were there, the body was left hanging for hours because they didn't know at first if they were looking at a possible crime scene. Luckily it was in the backyard. Two months later, the wife put the house up for sale and it only recently sold. The family never returned. I guess the subject came up when I asked her how her summer had been going and her reply was, well, much better than last summer. Which of course prompted me to say, why, what happened last summer.

I don't understand how someone could do that, knowing one of your kids might find you. And really, what job is worth taking your life over? I guess there could have been other factors as well. Maybe they were deeply in debt. Who knows?

Aside from that bit of news, my physical went fine. She agreed to include tests for Vitamin D and B and folate in the bloodwork since as a vegan I want to make sure my supplementation is working. Plus the D is very important for MS people.

In other news...
Here in Connecticut, electricity is deregulated, which means many different providers can vie for your business. Eversource still provides the actual infrastructure of poles and wires and such but the actual electricity can apparently be provided by other companies far away from this state.

So back in April I saw an offer from Pedigree in Texas for a lower rate than what I had; it was a fixed price for 4 billing cycles. I prefer to lock in for a longer period, but that was one of the best offers I saw at the time on the state website which aggregates all such offers.

So each month since May .... that's June, July and now August....I've checked my next electric bill and have seen the new rate is not showing up on the bill and I'm still paying my old, higher rate.

Each time I call they say they will fix it, expedite the order, etc. etc. This time I was feeling aggravated and said I would call the state DPUC. Then she put me on hold to talk to her supervisor (I hadn't asked) and she came back and said they would give me a $50 gift card for my trouble. I agreed to accept the card and while they didn't say it was in exchange for NOT calling the state utility commission, that's sort of what it felt like.

It's okay. I'm happy to get the gift card and can wait another month, but gosh, I hope they can figure it out.

Yesterday I went to visit a small art gallery and Japanese garden about 40 minutes away. I've been there twice before, and had wanted to bring my mother there when she was already in assisted living, but the summer was so hot in 2015 there just didn't seem to be the right time, and then she passed before I had the chance.

The garden was as I remembered it although it seemed not quite as well maintained as it was before. Japanese gardens are generally pretty small in size, maybe just a few acres, but are supposed to be perfectly manicured, with every view carefully curated. Perhaps it was the time of year I visited, spring vs late summer, or perhaps they are lacking in volunteer help. The place looked a little scruffy. I got a few nice pix nonetheless, which I'm unable to share since this site is not well maintained either.

I got a call back from one of the assistants of the neurologist who is doing the insomnia/mindful meditation study. I had spoken to him at the last lunch/lecture program I attended and told him I had a strong interest in participating but no one had called me back to schedule the next step. So his assistant explained they are waiting to get the Fit Bits because they want to hand those out at the appointments. They have only found about 25 of the 90 participants they're looking for to date, and the program starts next month. So that alleviated my concern they might inadvertently gloss over me. I feel I've been pretty pesty calling them about the study, but you know how these things can go. I could get left off a list by mistake and then I'd lose out.

Does one's body begin to fall apart at the age of 58? That's what it seems like. Recently my right knee felt very tight and stiff and the last time I went for a walk it was clicking inside the knee with each step. It was just a little sore but I wondered if my knee is wearing out! And last night I noticed my left thumb all of a sudden felt stiff. It could be arthritis but weatherwise, it's very, very dry (and pleasant) now. My mother's arthritis used to really become a problem when the weather was changing.

Probably arthritis, as I said, but at the same time, I tend to do stupid things. Like yesterday when my father came over so I could review with him what the letter from his attorney said in relation to his house sale. (They email correspondence to me since he doesn't use a computer.) He came here right from driving back from the Jersey shore, so he was stiff from sitting in the truck for 3 hours.

He said let's sit outside, and I decided to carry the 2 chairs down the stairs so he wouldn't have to climb the stairs. Stairs are not his friend. He sighed with relief when I brought them down but I lifted the one chair (not lightweight aluminum) with a singe finger (my middle finger) because I was holding the lawyer's paperwork, a cold drink for him and something else in my hands. So I lifted this entire chair with a single finger, thinking it would be fine. But afterwards, it felt numb and it still feels a little numb today.

Today I'll be cooking my 2 cold salads for tomorrow's lunch here and generally cleaning the downstairs. My beautiful white snowball hydrangeas are in full bloom now so I will be sure to cut some of those for the table.

7 Responses to “My doctor's story, electricity woes & other miscellany”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1503675429

    Suicide cannot be explained fully, but if he were in his right state of mind he likely wouldn't have done it. But he wasn't. Prayers for the family that has to live with that experience the rest of their lives.

  2. ceejay74 Says:
    1503688708

    That's a terrible story. An acquaintance of mine discovered her boyfriend's body after he committed suicide, and I feel like her life (money, health and overall happiness) have just continued to go downhill in the ensuing years. This happened over 5 years ago, yet when she started a GoFundMe recently for medical bill and back-rent woes, she called it "Survivor of Suicide." It hit me then that suicide is a devastating event for the loved ones who have to get past it after the person has taken their life.

    I get "pops" in my joints (especially knees) from time to time, and they seem to work themselves out after a while. I feel like every year it's something new though! I have a slightly painful fluid-y feeling lump on one of my elbows and I'm like, "That's different!" And my front lower tooth chipped the other day, which I thought I could live with, but it just chipped some more today! Now I feel like I have to go in and have it looked at. Sigh.

  3. Liberrygrrl Says:
    1503694164

    My ex-husband committed suicide in 2013, I now worry about our son. Research reports that children of suicided parents are at higher risk of doing it themselves. It's so common that people know someone who has. My ex-gf's son also did it in 2008. So painful to be left behind...

  4. PatientSaver Says:
    1503701266

    I'm so sorry, Liberrygrrl. I understand your concern.The suicide itself is a tragedy, but suicide also has lingering, long-lasting effects on those who knew the person. It's a final, definitive act that robs loved ones of a chance to make things right or do things differently. How incredibly sad.

  5. Laura Says:
    1503713879

    Desperate people do desperate things. There is sometimes no understanding to the rhyme or reason, or lack of it. Tragic for all involved.i

  6. LuckyRobin Says:
    1503775923

    Watch your knee sharply. If the clicking becomes ongoing you may have a small tear in the miniscus starting.

  7. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1504206921

    I am so sorry to hear about that terrible story. I hope that your friend and her neighbors can move forward and not think of only the negative.

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