Week Ending 8/25

 I can decide if I'm relaxed or frustrated.

It's been a week for resting. The new room arrangement is working very well. I'm sleeping better in the bedroom and relaxing well in the spare room. I've been doing a lot of resting, though I did manage to get a game of Age of Sigmar in with D. 

I ran into on problem that is rather personally serious. Since updating my Sims game, I've encountered a critical bug. The two main characters of my Wyrd Tales stories - Miranda and Mariah - are broken, perhaps lost. This is... crippling... both in terms of my story and myself. My Wyrd Tales stories, and the games, behind them are my lifeline. They are heart of my days. Without them, I am lost.

Fortunately (in an odd way), after a week of experiments, I've found that it's a know issue and so being worked on by the development team. I managed to write a short story, which I will start posting this coming Wednesday, despite having on minimal art for it. I already have most of the art for about 80% of my next story, which I'm working on. That gives me some time to hope the bug gets fixed or find a work around. Meanwhile, I've spun up a couple of side games that, I hope, will help keep me sane.

Sadly, even by my standards, I'm still very tired and crashing easily. So, I haven't been able to do as much as I hope.

Honestly, it's rather as I expected and said when I got back from my trip... I'll be resting for August. Still on track.

Onward

Week Ending 8/18

 Well, I said last week that I'd be spending this week (and next) recovering from my trip. I was right.

Pretty much spent this week resting, being frustrated by how tired I am and resting some more. Still, I do have something to share.

I am married to the most amazing woman. I can't thank or praise Juno enough for all she does for me.

Just yesterday, in response to a mad plan I came up with, Juno completely reorganized my old office into a spare bedroom. Let me not understand this. She took a room that was so full of stuff you had to leave to turn around and turned it into a comfortable space. She organized and sorted through things. She moved furniture (I still have no idea where the table I used as a desk has gone) and reordered the entire space in exactly the way I had envisioned it. All while I was dozing and watching movies in the other room. 

She did this for me, because it would help me.

My wife loves me. I can't say it plainer than that. She loves me and I am lucky beyond words.

Onward

Return Trip

 Technically, the return trip was this week, not last, but I'm including it for completeness...

Honestly, it was kind of anti-climatic. We got up at 2:00AM again, drove into Burlington, and checked into our flight. I personally credit Gary, the nice man at the Delta counter, for the fact that our flights went smoothly from there. Because they did. Gary even got me an upgrade to Comfort+, which was nice and meant I didn't have to walk halfway down the plane to get to my seat. 

None of our flights got canceled.

The only hiccup was that my wheelchair wasn't waiting for my in New York, but they sorted that out pretty quickly. 

We got home about 2:00PM yesterday and have been resting ever since.

The cats have forgiven us for leaving them for a week, with only the cleaning lady to look after them. 

All in all, we got home.

Mom

 We really won't have gone through all of this if not for mom.

I've mentioned before, my mom has cancer. Technically, I think it's her third cancer (though based on the genetic testing they did it appears to be the same cancer... it's just spread). This time it can't be gotten at through surgery. She tried chemo and ended up in the hospital with a horrible reaction. We had a long talk with her doctor (I was on conference call) and discussed options. Strangely it wasn't a hard decision in the end. Quality of life is more important than quantity. She really can't do the chemo and have any kind of quality of life.

So, she'd not going to do the chemo. Which means, eventually, this cancer is what will end my mom's life.

One of the reasons we went to Vermont, the big reason, was to see my mom. Maybe for the last time, face to face. That adds a melancholy tone the whole thing. 

Now, the paradox of this is, she actually feels really good right now. She's not dying tomorrow or next week. She's a bit more tired than usual and, thanks to the first round of chemo, all her hair has fallen out... but she's happy and she's still very much my mom. 

I got this great picture of her and D our first day visiting her. That really sums it up.

We got spend a couple of days with her. D even spent one night at her place, and they got to hand out and watch movies together.

I also got to meet with, and talk to, the Home Hospice people who will be looking after her. They seem like good folks. I think she'll be in good hands. Again, it was weird because we were talking about all this end-of-life stuff... but she's just smiling and happy and doing well.

So, it was (and is) melancholy but still, she makes me smile.

I love my mom.

Vermont

 Eventually, we did actually arrive in Vermont. 

Nominally, my dad had invited us out, offered to let us stay with him and even paid for the trip. I really can't thank him enough for that.

However, I had warned him that I would probably spend most of the trip lying in bed, reading a book and looking out at the mountain. I also warned him that we'd be spending a lot of time with my mom, who is sick (more of that later). He said that was OK and we should come.

So, we did... and I pretty much nailed it.

I spent the week (less two days of hellish travel) laying bed, reading a book and looking out at Vermont.

This is the view, from my dad's place, our first morning there (for better or worse, the trees block the view of the mountain).

If I'd had my laptop, I could honestly have spent my life there, looking out at that view, reading books. Sadly, I don't have the money to pay for doing that... and if I think Jasper is a small town, it's a teaming metropolis compared to Lincoln.

Still, it was a nice place to spend a couple of days.

I didn't really get to talk to my dad much. I'm torn on whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. He hasn't gone fully MAGA, but he is much more conservative than I am. Our few small conversations involved him trying to explain that sea levels aren't really rising and that refugees are faking their resumes (because if someone really was a doctor from wherever, why was he a janitor in the US). I think I made it pretty clear I wasn't receptive to those positions and the conversations died quickly.

Otherwise, it was nice to lay around, read and look out at that incredible view.

PF Changs Wants Me Dead

 A side story from my little air travel debacle.. 

While we were waiting 11 hours in Detroit, it transpired that I got a little peckish. Juno said she'd seen a PF Changs nearby on the concourse and suggested she could get me some Chinese food. I like Chinese food, and while I'd had a bad experience with a PF Changs in the past, I thought... what the hell. It's been years and it was in another city. Give them another chance.

People wonder why I don't like to give second chances. Stuff like this is why.

So, after a while, Juno returns from the PF Changs (which turned out to be like a half mile down the concourse) with a container claiming to be Mongolian Chicken and rice. It did actually have rice and so bits of breaded chicken in a brownish sauce that might have had a passing relationship with being sweet and spicy. 

The second piece of meat I picked up, was shrimp. In fact, there was a lot of shrimp in my Mongolian chicken.

I am allergic to shellfish. Shellfish allergies are potentially fatal. 

I explained this to the nice young manager at PF Changs (I think he was young than D) who refunded our money. That, at least, was handled well.

So, you ask, what was my previous bad experience with PF Changs.

Exactly the same thing. Exactly. The. Same. Thing.

PF Changs wants me dead. 

Delta Airlines, 0 Stars, Do not recommend

 So, our story begins at Are-You-Kidding-Me O'clock last Monday morning (or Sunday night by any reasonable standard)... 

We got up, piled into the car and Juno drove us an hour and a half to the Louisville airport, arriving at 4:00AM for a 6:00AM flight. She parked and D walked me over to a nice seating area where I could wait while they checked in. A minute later, I hear Juno's voice from across the airport - "WHAT?!"

Yup, our flight had been canceled. To be fair to Delta, just this once, they had messaged Juno around midnight to let her know but she hadn't checked her texts before we left. 

Our 6:00AM flight was now a 6:00PM flight and we were faced with either waiting 14 hours in the airport or driving another hour and half home and then driving back down in the afternoon. Juno was all for driving home and coming back, kindly concerned that I really couldn't sit around in an airport for 14 hours. D was freaking out and insisted he couldn't handling driving home and then back again the same day. I came up with the brilliant, or possibly idiotic, idea... let's do neither. Let's get a flight tomorrow and go home now, get a decent night's sleep and face the whole thing fresh. 

In retrospect, it was a horrible idea.

So, Tuesday we're back at the Louisville airport, this time at a sensible hour for a 10:00AM flight. Juno has sworn off scheduling 6:00AM flights for family holidays. They get me a wheelchair and roll me down to the gate. Our plane is actually there, and we fly to Detroit.

Which is where Everything Goes Wrong...

So, first, while we're waiting for our connection the Detroit a nice young fellow in airport livery asks if we need the wheelchair I'm sitting in. It turns out they don't have enough available and a flight is arriving that needs some. Well, I say, I'll need it board my plane but that's not until 3:00PM, which is two hours yet, so you can have it as long as I get one back. So, now my wheelchair is gone.

Then our flight is delayed... and delayed again. 

Then it's canceled, to the general outrage of the 70 or so people waiting with us.

They will later claim it was canceled due to weather. This is a lie. The weather was perfect in Burlington and sure, it was raining in Detroit but only for about 20 minutes. No other flights got canceled. No one believes it was a weather.

The poor kid working the gate in desperately trying to manage 70+ angry travelers, insisting that everyone just needs to give it a few minutes and Delta will automatically rebook us. Amazingly, they do... for a 6:00AM flight the next day, flight to New York City with connection to Burlington. 

Yeah, not happening.

So, Juno gets in line and waits to talk to the poor kid about other options. As I'm sitting next to gate, I get to listen in on people in line ahead of her... including a nice pair of couples also insisting on getting to Burlington today. They have a plan... fly to Albany, NY and get ground transportation to Burlington. The poor kid at the gate goes for it and I text Juno and suggest the plan. 

So, now we're booked on a flight to Albany... at 10:00PM... on the other side of the airport.

Juno asks about getting my wheelchair back. Luckily, some porter who was passing with several has just stopped. The gate agent tells Juno to just grab one of those. She does and, with D pushing, we're off to our new gate. 

Long story slightly less long, we ended up spending about 12 hours waiting in Detroit. Apart from the wheelchair we basically stole, I got no accommodations for my disability despite Juno talking to Customer Service and explaining my needs. Juno had to cancel out rental car and schedule another one.

Ultimately, we arrived in Albany around midnight. By some miracle, so did our luggage. We got the second-to-last rental car in Albany, got a hotel room and snagged about 4 hours sleep before setting out on a 4 hour drive my dad's place in Vermont.

So, to sum up... Delta canceled our flights twice, because it was more convenient for them to do so. They offered no practical accommodations for my disability while I was stuck in Detroit. We had to pay additional money for a hotel and rescheduled rental car and we got to Vermont two days late.

Yeah...

Never flying on Delta again, and I have a couple of complaints for file with both the airline and the federal government about the airline.

Week Ending 8/11

 Ooof...

OK, first sorry for the delay in posting this but it was a Very Long Week and we've just gotten back. 

Literally, we went to Vermont last week and thereby hangs a tale. Actually, thereby hang several tales and rather than make this one really long rambling post, I'm going to make this several really long rambling posts which will be linked bellow. 

So, buckle up friends... 

• Delta Airlines, 0 Stars, Do not recommend
• PF Changs Wants Me Dead
• Vermont
• Mom
• Return Trip

So, yeah, that's the story (stories). Where do we go from here? Well, I'm planning on napping... for probably the rest of August. 

Onward

Week Ending 8/4

So, this week's big news was my check up at the doctor's office.

I do need to back up just a little though. Pre-appointment, I went over to the local Urgent Care clinic to get some bloodwork done. Among other things, we wanted to check on my blood sugar and see if this whole new diet was still working. I'd had bloodwork done a couple of months ago, for Juno's health insurance, which showed that it was working, and my blood sugar levels were down. 

That was good... because after the nice young blood tech at Urgent Care called over the older expert blood tech, they both declared that they couldn't find my veins. They wanted to send me over to the hospital to have them try. Luckily, after a quick call to my doctor, it was agreed that the earlier bloodwork was fine. I didn't need to go have the hospital stick me with needles. 

The big news came from the doctor herself. She gave me a Look and asked - "How did you lose 20 lbs?"

OK, I knew I'd lost a little weight, but I was thinking 5 lbs, maybe 6 lbs. 

20 lbs! I freaking lost 20 lbs!

By the way, the answer to my doctors question is Portion Control. I'm just eating less food. The trick is to use smaller plates. Well, I did also cut out soda, candy, cake, cookies, doughnuts, potato chips, fast food, processed meats, a couple of other things I can't think of right now... but mostly, I think it's the Portion Control.

So, the good news is the new diet is working. 

The bad news, I need to keep doing it. 

Onward