Unfortunately, just after my last entry in 2004, I came down with a horrible wish-I-were-dead-because-this-thing-is-lasting-forever flu like type of illness. As if that were not enough, I also injured my left arm in some way so as to cause constant shooting nerve pain shooting which lasted for weeks. It finally began to improve last week, and I had hopes of catching up a little, but the pain was still aggravated by typing or by doing any kind of repetitive movement. I am finally now able to update.

So, to catch up on a bit of the continuing saga...

I finally got out to see my dad this week on Wednesday, the first day of the snowstorm. Going out there wasn't really all that bad since it wasn't rush hour. We exchanged Christmas gifts and visited for a while and then left to return to the city. Getting back into the city was uneventful. We were surprised at how clear the traffic was, in fact. However, once we got back into the city, the snow started up again, and the streets had not really been cleared as well as they should have been considering the amount of snow we had already gotten.

We decided to drop by an auction which was happening that night since we were passing that way anyhow. We saw a couple of good books which Chuck wanted to bid on. It was about 3:15 and the auction did not start until 6 so we decided to go home and drop me off. We got about 7 blocks in about 20 minutes and then we realized the folly of going home and returning, so we decided to just go back to the auction, and grab a bite at the greasy spoon across the street and wait for the auction to start. This time it took us 30 minutes to go about 3 blocks, because rush hour traffic was well under way.
Anyhow, we did make it back, registered for the auction and eventually Chuck did get the books. By that time it was almost 8 pm, so we checked out. A lot more snow had accumulated, and we had one tense moment when the ignition would not turn in the car, but then it did, and so no problem, we went home. Traffic was a lot better since everyone was well on their way out of the city by then.

Day over, everything fine. Ready to relax, finally.

~~~

On Thursday morning I had a 10:15 appointment at C00k C0unty which is where I have to go now for major medical care, since I have no insurance anymore. It took 5 months to get an appointment with the orthopedic department there so that someone could look at my knee which keeps locking up. I had to be there an hour early to register.

Thus begins yet another chapter in the never ending soap opera drama of our life. This episode is titled: "What have we done to deserve this?"

We had lot of new snow dumped on us overnight. So we allowed a lot of extra time to clean the car, shovel out the parking space, if necessary, and so on. Chuck went down to clean and shovel and as I got there, he hit me with that bad news, the car ignition was frozen up, and probably not with ice. It simply would not turn at all. It had obviously given its last gasp the night before.

Of course, I panicked, because really did not want to loose my opportunity to go to the doctor, and public transportation was not looking so propitious in light of the snow. So, I called my daughter in a panic. Luckily, she was home because it was her day to work late. She drove over and loaned us her car for the day, and walked back home, and took public transportation to work. I'll guess be dog sitting for her again next weekend without any complaint.

I'll skip the long story of C00k C0unty, because I want to write it up in more detail soon. Let's just say that I made it on time, but, even though they are efficient, time is not of any importance at some level, because they are so overcrowded. If you ever had to wait in a military facility, just double it or triple that time.

Chuck had come with me, and we just couldn't decide if he should go back and deal with the car and then return to get me later on, because as sure as he left, I would probably be called next. So he stayed with me. However, he did call our mechanic, who said that there was nothing he could do immediately anyhow because his parking lot and driveway were iced in, and he had to get it plowed before he could even start business for the day. And our car would be a towing problem. He also said that even if we got it in on Friday, he probably couldn't get the parts 'til Monday anyhow. So we just ended up sitting there worrying a lot about what to do.

We finally got back to the studio around 3. We couldn't borrow my daughter's car because she needed it. So we looked around for a rental for the week, because we really do need a car most days, and the mechanic was now saying that he really couldn't get to our car until Monday. Fortunately, I negotiated a good rate for the car rental based on quotes I got from Expedia for competing dealers.

So, at last, back to business, not as normal, but only a little crippled. We stayed at work 'til 8pm and finally went home exhausted from the days trials.

~~~

Then, today, as if all that happened yesterday was not enough...

More bad news.

The nursing home just called to say that my mother-in-law has become almost completely unresponsive and is really in very bad shape; so bad that her doctor suggested that she go into hospice care. We knew from visiting her that she definitely was not having any quality of life at all. She barely recognized us. Chuck discussed it with his brother and they both agreed. We were all going to meet tomorrow morning with the hospice people to discuss the details.

But, two hours later the nursing home called again and she died today.
Even though everyone has been expecting this, it is still hard.

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