LIVING WITH MCL

It was 37°F this morning! Too cold to do much of anything except stay in bed, which I did until 6:30 AM. I've noticed I've been finding it more difficult to find things to write about lately. Not sure the exact reason, but I suspect the fact I have little if anything to do, results in me doing even less. One thing I know for sure is, I do need to solve this problem soon. I've been trying to read more, but the only thing that seems good for is falling asleep. :) (I've never been much of a reader, even when I was in school. I've been fortunate most things just seem to come intuitively to me.) I have been spending more time on the lymphoma and myeloma message boards, reading about all the trials and tribulations of others in similar situations. That can be pretty disheartening at times, but at least it provides some comfort in knowing Edie and I aren't in as bad of shape as many others. Still you can only do so much of that before it becomes overwhelming. Oh well, ...

This all began at the beginning of the month when I decided I could no longer continue working because of my MCL. It was little things at first, but lately the problems seem to be mounting. Even when I thought I had one problem solved, it really wasn't. But it really got started about a week ago, when I broke one of my good wine glasses putting it into the dishwasher to drip dry [in retrospect I shouldn't have done that, since it really didn't fit], after which I broke one of my jars of green tea, as I was taking it out of the refrigerator, spilling nearly 100 grams (enough for 50 cups) of gyokura (the expensive stuff) on the floor. Then on top of that, yesterday I discovered Verizon screwed up my cell phone charges, all having to do with the number change I posted about 10 days ago , and I don't know if I'm going to be able to easily [or inexpensively] rectify it to my satisfaction. It's enough to make a grown man cry! [help]BTW, anyone know anyone at Verizon t...

Like I said in my previous post, this no longer working thing is proving more difficult than I had anticipated. It's the quiet, and the lack of a need for urgency that seems to be the most difficult getting used to. No more emails or calls from Becky, Pat, Bud or vendors asking for my expertise. Heck they don't even call or email me just to say hello. It's just dead, and I'm left to my own devices to figure out how to spend my time. One thing I've come to realize is I'm spending way too much time in front of the TV and computer, so today I decided to try and avoid those two things as much as possible. And so far I think I'm doing OK. It's just past 5 PM, and I've managed to avoid the TV completely today. I haven't been quite as successful avoiding the computer, but I'm working on it. After all, I still have bills to pay, and I have to keep up with my blog of course. Plus my phone comes in quite handy for doing a number of things I used to do ...

So far this not working thing is proving more difficult to get used to than I anticipated. It's not like I'm bored, as there are lots of exciting things to do, like reading, watching the plants grow in the back yard, or better yet following the news on the internet and TV as chaos and lunacy slowly permeates throughout the world and especially the US. It's that I feel there's something missing. After working for the same company, through all its turmoil, and essentially the same people for over 20 years, now there's a void I am finding difficult to fill. At one time, we were a happy [and sometimes dysfunctional] family. (That of course all changed when Precision Castparts Inc took us over in Oct '09.) Now, no one calls any more to ask for my advice. Even Becky, who I was the closest to, has seemingly forgotten me already. It's like losing a family member, or maybe in this case, getting a divorce. Yeah, I know, eventually I'll get over it. I just wish so...

I'm starting to feel a lot better about my decision. Yesterday, I managed to retrieve my company telephone number for my own use. It wasn't easy [or cheap], Verizon customer service sucks, but it is done, and then this afternoon I sold the Camry. I definitely got my moneys worth out of the Camry (248,000 no hassle miles), and even if I had given it away, I still would have been way ahead of the game, but I got $1,200 for it‚ and that's with a cracked windshield and a passenger side door that only opens from the inside. (Those were the only things wrong with it.) And best of all, I don't have to worry about getting a parking ticket in front of the house anymore, because I forgot to move the car on street cleaning day. Now the only obstacle left is getting Social Security disability approved, which is proving to be a little more daunting then I expected. There seems to be a few more documents to fill out then there were 2 years ago when Edie filled out her application. [n...

Well today I decided to announce to my realm of aerospace that I would no longer be performing my duties as the Director of Quality and Metallurgy at Arcturus Manufacturing. It wasn't exactly how I planned it, but when the controller at my company called asking about my application for state disability, it just sort of mushroomed into that. This isn't something I decided on the spur of the moment though. I had been contemplating this for several months, but now that it's done I'm starting to have some doubts. Arcturus has been a part of my life for over 25 years, and now it's all over? Even one of the guys in the shop called, indicating how great it was working with me, and telling me how much he had learned from me. I'm sure it was just platitudes, but now that I've made my intentions clear, and I assume everyone else at the company now knows it, the reality of it is starting to settle in. It's just so hard to imagine. It all seems so final. I did want ...