It’s not directly related to the weird snowfall in Florida’s panhandle. Pensacola got about eight inches. I live near Orlando. We got no snow. The temperature is in the low 40’s F.

That’s not extremely cold. And, I was raised near St. Petersburg—not the one in Russia. The Florida one was named after the one in Russia, though. So, I’m over Florida heat. This weather is Heaven to me. Although, I confess to being sick of having to cover my plants. Yeah, I know, that’s nothing compared to people having to shovel their way out their front doors. I also confess to possibly enjoying the shoveling. I need to work out anyway.

I’m not sure where my weird feelings are from. I’ve had two consecutive days off. I’ve been a sloth. I’ve need the sloth-dom. I work 9 am to 5:30 pm tomorrow. I’m not feeling the urge to go. I know that I need a vacation. A staycation would suffice. I need to unplug and diffuse. I need to regroup and execute some plans. I need life improvement. That could hurt some people, and I’m not looking forward to that.

My world turned especially stressful in October. My roommate has not worked since she lost her job in July. So, I’ve been paying all the bills—even though I didn’t return to work (from my knee surgery) until 10/21. I’m so glad I listened to most of my friends telling me to sign up for my social security benefits a year and a half early. We would have been fucked without that money.?I’m sick of hearing, “You know, if you would have waited, you’d get all of it.” That is such bullshit. Wow, I could work almost two more years in a meaningless but necessary job for an extra $200 a month. Or, I could get run over by a bus, or get a nasty disease and die before I reach the full age.

Instead, I’m going to spend extra time and effort into trying to get paid for writing and photography. Plus, I want to start a fun side gig walking dogs, and sitting with kitties for Wag and Rover. Right now, my Rogue (Poyndexter) isn’t cooperating; he needs a new alternator. I have a mobile mechanic who can come replace it, but I need the money to get the part and pay for his labor. He’s amazing. He can fix anything (almost), he’s honest and does great work. Even the employees at Advance Auto Parts store in nearby Tuskawilla, know and respect him. I was there last week and got an estimate on the alternator. It was $473. The clerks there said I could get a better deal online. Andrew, the mechanic, said I could get one for between $100 and $300. I have $120 set aside.

Since my roommate still isn’t working, and seemingly wants to live in a hospital room at AdventHealth in Altamonte Springs, I’m driving her Honda. I’m grateful for the loan, but it’s making me really miss my Nissan. There’s limits on this, however, as the car could go away.

Rose, the roommate. That’s not her real name, but it’s who she wants to be in my posts, is financing her CR-V at the astounding amount of $500 a month. Since she’s not working, miracles have been supplying the money. Thus, at some point the repo-person could pay her a visit.

So, October was fun. Not. Two days after returning to work after five months of being on leave for surgery and Unum (the HR company) incompetence, I began a bout of what I thought was diverticulitis. A month later, when Rose got discharged from her, about 17, 18th hospital stay (since 5/30. She’s up to number 30 now), I announced that I could no longer wait for her to come home to care for her cat that I did not want to leave alone in a dark apartment for days. I just couldn’t do it. So, I continued to suffer for her cat, who is very sweet and affectionate, but is a little hellion.

Thus, when she returned home a bit after Thanksgiving, I went to the ER at AdventHealth in Altamonte.

I was extremely happy to learn I had colitis, and not diverticulitis. The PA told me that diverticulitis is always caused by an infection. That’s counter to what I’ve read on websites like the Mayo Clinic, but hey, I’ll take it. Also my colitis was not ulcerative, and must likely was acute. I also had a UTI. Damn, didn’t even get it the fun way-by having lots of sex. Oh well,

They filled my veins with an antibiotic, and nourishment, and sent me home after sending a prescription to my pharmacy. It was after 1am when I got home, so I got the meds the next day.

This isn’t even everything I’ve been dealing with, but it was all a huge stressor.

I’ve experienced other fun (not) happenings since October. We almost got evicted twice. Rose’s brother actually paid our rent for one and a half months. My Florida Blue Obamacare health insurance ended on 12/31. That’s scary because I’ve had it since January 2017. It’s never been more expensive than $99.44 a month. I’m Medicare bound on February 1st. That’s going to cost $185 a month, and it will be deducted from my Social Security benefits.

I’ve had no insurance coverage for January. That means I’m probably going to owe the CPAP provider a big chunk of money. They will have to take a number.

I just signed up with an Aetna Medicare Advantage plan on Thursday (1/16). I’m so glad I went through a broker. Navigating Medicare information is bewildering and overwhelming even for intellectually gifted people. I have to switch my prescriptions from Walgreens to CVS to keep getting free meds. Today I had to deal with how much I’ll have to pay for my CPAP machine for my sleep apnea. Aetna will pay 80%. You know what Florida Blue paid? One hundred percent! So, I will most likely be switching providers there. I’m not heartbroken. Apria Healthcare provides my current CPAP machine, and they were the company that refused to replace my machine when it had reached that five year event. That led to a full year’s worth of sinus infections for all of 2023. You can be psychopathically anal about cleaning all the external removable components, which I am, but you can’t kill all the bacteria, because it also lives INSIDE the machine, thus the need to have the CPAP machine replaced every five years.

I only got my replacement CPAP machine a year ago after my primary care physician sent Apria, a nastygram. Two days later an Apria rep knocked on the door with a new machine. They didn’t even ask for the old one back. I still have it. I guess when I swap providers I’ll just drive it over to the Orlando office. Since I’ve been using the new machine I’ve had ZERO sinus infections. Go figure.

There is so much more I’m navigating including looking for a new domicile, and looking for government assistance to help me out. I’m not sure how long that’s going to be available with this pack of losers occupying the White House and Congress.

That’s a whole other ball of stress and anxiety that I don’t have the energy to describe. I have to make my dinner anyway.