Tuesday afternoon

A busy day so far.  Wrote the last entry, went and got my check, put $15 (5.05 gal)  in my tank (I can drive to the store but walking is a bit much at this point) and drove over to Safeway and filled my prescription for generic Vicodans (and it wsn’t nearly as costly as I thought it might be- less than ten bucks (for ten caplets)).  I thought, well, enough with the stoicism, gimme one of them!  I hadn’t eaten anything yet, so I bought a deli sub and sat in the van (I’ve got water in the van, so I didn’t have to buy anything) and ate my sub listening to the radio I bought two weeks ago.  I also bought some 400mg vitamin E and took two of those- really helped my during the recovery from the car wreck- all those scars don’t actually look too bad.

I came home with the paperwork from yesterday and called the doc suggested, but he’s out of town on vacation and the closest appointment is 4 weeks out.  Can’t wait that long, but the girl suggested another doc, whose name is on the list they gave me yesterday too, so I called that office and set up an appointment for tomorrow afternoon.  The receptionist sounded more than a little surprised I have no insurance (one of the many working Oregonians who doesn’t, yo) and told me it was $100 up front to be seen and billed accordingly afterwards.  I’ve got a broken foot that needs to be taken care of, so call me a dummy for not calling anyone else on the list and price shopping.  Besides, I plan to ask the boss nicely for the hundred bucks, and not so nicely will point out the liability assumed by having me drive a defective vehicle that didn’t pass state inspections 4 times.  K* thinks it’s a good sign he told me that the other day before I used it- shows that he’s pretty up-front about it, if not overly conscientious about keeping his business vehicles legal….  I’ll call him in a couple hours- it’s 2:15 now, so, 4, I think.

I came back from being out and about and checked my mailbox downstairs and found the paperwork my SS lawyer’s assistant sent me – the application for a waiver on filing fees for the 9th Curcuit Court of Appeals.  The senior partner of what seems to be one of the top SS firms in the city is personally taking my case, so I guess I should feel flattered and confident the things will finally go my way.  (the wreck was in april 98.  The four years we say I was unable to work run thru 2002.  It is 2006 now and likely will be 2007…maybe even 2008 before this ends- ten years.  No fucking wonder I am so poor)

Anyway, I called the assistant during her lunch and it was a bit before she called back to walk me through the forms I need to fill out- expenses etc to show that I’m indigent and that the filing fees are too much for me (which is true, especially since I’m out of work for awhile).  I mentioned my recent job injury as a reduction in take-home pay (if not outright loss thereof) and she says we’ll attach that to the forms – I’ll write that attachment and fill out the forms and send them off tonight.

If the boss doesn’t come thru, well, I’ll have to cancel that doctor appointment and really do that comparison shopping- bills are due, and the bank is overdrawn, so I should give them at least that…  What I mean is that these are rather desperate times.  I don’t especially wish to drown.  I will strive to keep my cable access so I don’t lose this window.  The library and their computers are maybe ten blocks away, but gee, there’s nothing like the net at 3 am, lol.

*

I lost touch with my brother for 18 years and only in the last year or two have managed to re-connect, albeit, tenuously.  When we reconnected late in 04, I sent him most all the paperwork he needed to claim his share of our father’s money that the state was holding for his heirs – us.  The vultures missed some stocks and they got turned into cash at some point and sat in a bank somewhere gathering that compound interest. I got my share in 2002 and bought paid for my bachelors degree, which I had gotten in 2000 but hadn’t paid off fully.  (I owed the school directly – never took any school loans).

Anyway, I had sent him the forms, and in January I talked to him on the phone.  He had just completed them and sent them off and I told him that the state was required to respond in 120 days – by May or so – and he said then that he would sent me a good piece of it, because I had helped him a lot ($) in the past.  There have been more than a few times this year that I would have welcomed anything he sent me, and most especially now. 

I have not heard from him since March when he sent me a b-day card.  I made a card for him at Christmas, but it got returned as being wrongly addressed.  He’d given me two addresses…  I have been meaning to write him again, send the card from xmas, and enclose a few pics of me (and K*), but have managed to sluff it off for months now…  I will write him again and hope to hear from him, because now would be a really good time to get money in the mail.

We’ll see.  Meanwhile, the Vicodan (generic) is working very nicely – (foot?  huh?  hurts?  huh?) and I should get around to finishing these financial statements.

(and how depressing are those???  I am like, dirt poor, apparently)

I’ll stay with this job a bit longer out of loyalty and etc. but the time for this job has passed.  It does not pay nearly enough.  I’ve got the degree.  I should get some use out of it and dig myself out of this hole.  And thrive.

*****