The Wonderful Land Of Blog And Apocalyptic Weather

 I just did a Post Purge and inadvertently got carried away a bit and dumped a popular Post still being read quite a bit, my apologies.  *Ooops*  Sometimes it happens, since I assume older Posts are Stale and don't like to keep many Posts Archived anymore.  I don't always check Stats to see what's still getting a lot of Reads, I should first.  I know I'm catching up on Blog Reading and fell way behind in visiting fellow Bloggers, my apologies about that too.  It wasn't a lack of Interest so much as a lack of Time to sit here Reading and falling deeply down that Rabbit Hole, which happens when I'm doing a Blog Marathon Catchup.  *LOL*  Before I know it I've whiled away Hours Online if I'm not Careful to limit my Time here in The Wonderful Land of Blog.  *Smiles*  Hey, it beats a lot of the Real World these days, No?  *Eye Roll and Snicker*

United Healthcare, which is my Medicare Advantage Plan Choice and preference, has been doing excellent follow-up with me since I got released from Hospital.  They offer more Services that I don't Need, so, that is refreshing that those Services are provided if I'd of needed them, but, luckily, I don't.   Since I do have a 3 Generation Household I find that the Kiddos can do anything they'd send someone to do on my behalf if I was struggling with it.   Usually the Cavalry ain't coming so honestly, it was nice to actually get some follow-up Care offered without even having to ask for it.  Yes, I know their CEO was the unfortunate Victim of that horrible Assassination, but, I've always had great experiences with United Healthcare for me and for Family Members who have it as their Provider, no Complaints.

The G-Kid Force had United Healthcare for many Years on AHCCCS provided by Social Services and got excellent Care for their chronic Healthcare Needs also.  So, I've always kept them as our Carrier every Open Enrollment Period and even switched The Man over to it when we realized he could get an Advantage Plan coverage of his choosing thru Medicare at no extra Cost as well.  If you are on Medicare and haven't explored Advantage Plans in your area, you should look into it.  They provide so much more than Regular Medicare does and for us, it didn't cost a Penny more in Medicare Premiums AND we get Quarterly U-Card Money Loaded to use on Non-Prescription Needs.  They send you a Catalog of what you can use your U-Card for.  They Load $50 Quarterly and $25 every time you agree to a Healthcare Home Visit.  Which is way more convenient than going in to an Appointment at a Doctor's Office for Wellness Checks.

We use ours for Non Rx Meds and Adult Hygiene Products, Family Hygiene Products or Diabetic Care Products we Buy from CVS Pharmacies.  It Saves us a lot of Money on things we'd otherwise have to Buy on our Dime.   The Man has a Card and I have a Card so combined, the Benefit of just that U-Card has been so helpful in deferring Costs that would otherwise hit the Budget and strain it more if we didn't have what United Healthcare Advantage is covering for us, beyond just being a Secondary Healthcare Insurer.   TriCare For Life {Retired Military Healthcare} isn't so good as it used to be and won't cover a lot anymore, and notoriously stiff Providers so much that many won't even take and accept it now.  Not Pharmacies or many Civilian Doctors.  TriCare wanna just be the Secondary Insurer now and have Civilian Insurers be the Primary that Pay Out on Claims.

So, it was funny tho' coz the Nurse on the United Healthcare Aftercare call was a Southern Belle named Bree with a thick Southern Accent and the habit of ending every sentence on a High Note and being so Polite it was Saccharine and seems a tad bit disingenuous.  *LOL*  She also talked to me as if I was Five, mebbe becoz they knew I was a Stroke Survivor, I dunno?  But, it does come across as condescending, patronizing and offensive even tho', Bless her Heart as they say in the South, I'm sure she never Intended to be.  *Bwahahaha*   Bree was very Sweet but she talked Slow and Loud, as if perhaps she thought I was Retarded now, or Hard of Hearing, I'm neither. *LOL*  I know, I used the Forbidden Word, but, amusingly, that's what came to Mind while she was doing my Follow-Up Interview over the Phone.  She thinks I'm Retarded now, OMG!!!  *LMAOROTF*

  Now, that said, when you get to be Old, many Younger people do Talk to you like that, it's Annoying, don't do it!  You can still Talk to us like we're a Grown Up. *Winks*   Even if you were Five I wouldn't Insult you by Talking Down to you and Patronizing you like that!  I always Talked to my Kiddos like they were Normal Human Beings and not in some Phony Condescending Voice dumbed down to an Idiot level... no Baby Talk.  I used regular Words and if they didn't know what that Word was or meant, they simply asked me and got an Education and Answer during our discussions.  It Works, they were at an advantage when they began their actual formal Public Education.  People always told me they were Old Souls and so Mature and Engaging for their Ages.  They could hold their own with Adult Conversations.  They only had Developmental Delays due to extent of their Disabilities, but not becoz they were Stupid or had been treated like they were Morons.

 You can be Academically challenged with Learning Disabilities or Mental Health or Developmental ones and still have Quality of Life and Intelligence.  Along with decent Function in Life, if people quit underestimating your Abilities and Function, Fixating instead upon your Disabilities and are dismissive or condescending to you.   The same with our Elders, some may need some extra Care and Understanding due to Cognitive Decline that is Real, but, Treat them with Respect and Dignity and don't go overboard on Patronizing, Please, it's Offensive, and, also Hilarious and makes YOU look like the Idiot while doing it!  *LMAOROTF*  My Mom always Laughed when people would speak Louder to her becoz English was her 2nd Language, as if that helped her Understand better.  *Eye Roll and LOL*

  She'd ask me if they didn't know it made them look like a Moron?  *Bwahaha*  I'd have to often interject and tell them she Hears you AND Understands you, so let's use your Inside Voice with her, shall we?  *LOL*  Yeah, you have  to say that kind of thing to a Child... shouldn't have to with a Grown Ass Adult.  *Eye Roll*  If  you don't Understand her, I'll Translate, but, we'll do it all in a Normal Respectful Tone and Voice, Okay, let's be Dignified and Respect everyone's Dignity!  *Winks*   I didn't say she wasn't Deaf, becoz she actually was in one Ear!!!  From a Childhood Accident where she got run over and dragged by a Car for Two Miles when she was Five, coz her little Dress got caught up under the Vehicle and the Wealthy Perp said he thought he'd only hit a Dog when he went before a Magistrate!  Witnesses had to literally run after and stop the Guy or she might have been Killed!  Cars weren't plentiful in those Days so only affluent folks even had them.

  She had her Face sewn back Together on my Nanna's Kitchen Table by a Country Doctor using a Lantern!  He did an exceptional Job, very little Scarring or permanent disfigurement.  But she said Gravel would come to the Surface of her Skin for Years after that, like Shrapnel!  But, Mom could Read Lips from across the Room, so you didn't have to Yell Louder for her to Understand you, she could tell you what you'd said even if she couldn't audibly Hear it.   And anyone not Talking in their Inside Voice just looks like a Fool after all.  Mom was great in a Crowd, she could Eavesdrop from across the Room and tell you what anyone facing her was saying.  She did despise Mumblers tho', impossible to Read a Mumblers Lips and even the Non-Hearing Impaired can't understand what the Hell they're trying to say.  We had a loud House due to Mom's Deafness tho', we Listened to Radio and TV Loud and just didn't realize it.  *LOL*

When I went to pick up Princess T from Work they had a 1982 Country Fashion Crissy Doll in her original outfit, just one missing Shoe, excellent Condition for her Age, she never looked played with, but, no Box.  She'll be Resold in our Case, I've Sold Crissy Dolls before, some from 1970 and some New Old Stock in Original Box, they can fetch a lot since she was a Popular Doll and Toy of that Era.    They had some 1950's Dolls but I don't carry a lot of Dolls unless I know they're particularly desirable, they can be a Hard Sell sometimes.  I had a lovely 1950's Darling Debbie Doll that took me forever to find a Buyer for and my last 1971 Mrs. Beasley Doll took a long time to Sell too.  I still have a 1972 Otis O'Brien Ventriloquist Doll that has languished too long.  I don't want Vintage Toys languishing in Inventory.  

Coz too many Customers let their Feral Kids Manhandle them if they're not in a Locked Case.  Even if they have a high price Tag and Date of when they were Issued making Value and Collectability quite obvious.  So many Modern Shoppers don't seem to have any Shame or Respect for Store Merchandise and things they have absolutely no Intention of Buying.  I do Wish if a Customer gets caught damaging Merchandise or letting their Kids play with it in the Store without Purchasing it, they'd be required to Pay for it, but, that's never gonna happen.   Thus, why they act the Fool in Stores and don't have Control over their misbehaving Children who assume anything and everything not theirs can just be played with and touched or broken without consequences.   I always instructed my Kiddos to Look with their Eyes, not their Hands.  They were not allowed to Touch nor handle anything we weren't Buying or considering for Purchase, period.  And I led by Example and Behaved like a Responsible Adult.

I also got a Bagged Lot of the 2021 Disney Doorables, which I wasn't familiar with but Princess T was.   There were about 30+ in the Bagged Lot for Five Bucks, a Quick Turn in the Showroom Sold Individually.  Kids like to Collect the Tiny Hoards of Lines of Toys like that which Trend.  These are a Cross Collectible since the Miniature Series has all of the Disney Popular Cartoon Characters and Special Editions, Hundreds, mebbe even over a Thousand Characters in the whole Collectible Series, of coarse.  I think the Doorables Line is already up to Series 10, with Special Edition claiming to be Rare and Ultra-Rare. *Eye Roll*  We'll now see how Popular this Line is with the Kiddies?  *LOL*  Online I saw Parents saying their Kids were up to over 500 different Characters with zero duplicates... so... they're clearly willing to Buy that many for an infatuated Kiddo whose rabidly Collecting them and Fixated.  *Smiles*

  Glad The Force is now Grown and I can pass a Toy Aisle these days without spending a small Fortune and extorted.  *LOL*  So, anyway, I see my Primary Doc in the Morning, I'll see how long she suggests I stay out of Work and focus on a Recovery?   I don't know that I'll really feel up to it by Friday, it's Tuesday now and I Tire so easily doing practically nothing.  If I have any Day with actual Activity in it, then the next Day I'm spending the whole thing in Recovery Mode it seems.  I told Work I wasn't going in on Friday and to have someone Cover for me.  I just feel very drained of Energy and want to focus this Week on my Recovery still.   Sales are shit right now, but, I don't Care that much whether I get Comped any Rent or not.   I think until the New Lunatic Fringe Administration is sworn in and people wait and see how bad it's gonna be, they're just not wanting to spend Money they don't have to, and I Understand that Sentiment, I Share it in fact.

My spending will come to a grinding halt for the next Four Years if that's what it takes to move thru his Insane Clown Posse's ineptitude.  If everyone does that it would send a clear Message that couldn't be ignored coz the Business Sector would start losing Profits and thus losing their shit and putting Pressure on and tightening the Screws to his Presidency.  He's Transactional enuf to realize that when the Money of the Elite begins hemorrhaging becoz of his incompetence, he'll have to shit or get off the Pot.  They bought and paid for him and who he chooses to appoint in Positions of Power, so they have expectations of that Investment.   Those Heavy Hitters will not tolerate hemorrhaging Money with his Foolishness, that's theirs to lose, even if they have an over abundance of it. 

 They'll put his Ass in Check and on the Line in a Heartbeat.  He seems oblivious of how Expendable and out of Time he actually is.   He's almost 80 and in serious decline, they will replace him and probably always intended to, even before this Term ends.  He's a demented War Mongerer whose making absurd threats of War with ALLIES already!!!   He himself was a Cowardly Draft Dodger tho'.  And has shown nothing but contempt for our Military and Veterans.   And it seems to me his last Press Conference had gone so far off into Cuckoo Land that it should disturb and concern even his most rabid Supporters at least some, unless they've gone off into Cuckoo Land so deeply themselves that nothing sounds remotely Crazy to them anymore?   I mean he was blaming Wind Turbines for Killing Whales now... yeah, Straight Jacket Time and perhaps a shot of Thorazine in the Ass to Calm him down coz he's going completely over The Edge, and do we really wanna do the Free Fall with him??!!!  *LOL and Eye Roll*

   And speaking of Time and Money, and being out of either, I was watching a good Movie on regular TV that I didn't catch the beginning of and couldn't watch the end of either, dammit, coz I hadda pick the Grandkid up from Work.   Called "In Time" {2011} starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried.  It was a Sci-Fi Futuristic flick where Money is Time and the Wealthy can Live Forever.  The Poor rarely have more than a Day's worth of Life left in Time after Age 25 when their Timeclock is Activated... and literally Live only Day to Day.   The Movie's Topic is quite intriguing and different, even tho' it had parallels to Real Life in so many ways, just a Futuristic Spin on it.  I'd like to watch the whole thing from beginning to end.  So I will look for where I can find it replaying on Cable TV or NetFlix.   They do things on repeat all the time.

I am concerned about my Brother in Cali, he's only 40 Miles from where that Apocalyptic Fire raging just outside L.A. is.  It was only 700 Acres uncontrolled with 80 mph Winds when I called him to see if they were Safe and before we ended the Call it was up to over 1,800 Acres, it was moving that fast!  It was up to almost 3,000 Acres with zero containment and embers starting fires everywhere else about an Hour later with gusts of 100 mph Winds, causing Fires even further inland!  They'd already evacuated Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena, Pasadena and Santa Monica by the time I went to bed and it was only 20 Miles from Downtown Los Angeles and a 2nd Fire in Eaton Canyon was then up to over 400 Acres too!   The Evacuation Orders and Warnings are vast and my Brother is in very poor Health and has serious Respiratory Illness.  He was Calm, they have these Fires all the time now, but he might have been trying not to worry me, knowing my current Health Status? 

Anyway, it was hard to watch coverage, but I wanted to keep informed.   I don't know if my Brother is Well enuf to make it to Arizona to stay with us should he and his Lady need to Evacuate?  They also have Dogs, who I know they would need to take with them, as all Pet Owners would, which complicates finding suitable placement.   I can't even recall how many Dogs they have, we have Acreage, so could accommodate them like we did for Tyson the Pit Bull that The Grandsons had.   But with my Brother's considerable Health Issues that have intensified recently, he shouldn't be making any long Trips anymore or even trying to.  Marcie, his Partner, is in her 70's and would have to do all the Driving, and Evacuations have not played out well with a Fire moving that fast, people have had to get out of their Vehicles, abandon them, and RUN for their Lives.  My Brother and his Lady could not do that at all.   So yeah, I'm gravely concerned about their Safety.

I'll keep Touching Base with him.  I'm also Touching Base with my Niece in Oklahoma who said she plans to try to get The Young Prince from New Mexico and drive the U-Haul with all his stuff to Arizona at the end of the Month.  Her Birthday is January 30th so she'd like to spend it here with us since she's Single and has no Kids, isn't close to Bio Family she  has in Oklahoma.   She has a Younger Sister who still lives here in Arizona and is one of her Siblings I haven't seen in Years.   So, she asked if it would be Okay, while she's visiting us, to invite the Sister and the Sister's Boyfriend to come for her Birthday, which would be great.  Her Youngest Sister has turned out well, like this Niece has, their Middle Sister however has unraveled her Life considerably and distanced herself from functional Family.   Alcoholism out of control will do that and destroy Families and Relationships.  It grieves me since that Sister had a very good Life, used to have a prosperous Career, was Married to an Attorney, and Lost Custody of her Young Twins and Lost her Job due to her Substance Abuse.

I Pray she can successfully reign in her Addiction and be in prolonged Recovery, but so far, it hasn't happened.   Her Sisters are very Supportive of her, but, they can't do it FOR her and they all have the Children's best interest in Mind as the Priority, even if she's too sick to realize they're better off with their Dad.   So, naturally, as most Addicts do, they blame everyone and everything else for how their life has fallen apart, becoz facing themselves and having accountability isn't possible until they get Clean and Sober.   I'm glad her Sisters are Guarding their own Hearts and Lives becoz Codependency can become an equally destructive Path.   Tough Love is difficult, but, it's necessary, Behavior Tolerated is Behavior Accepted.   Our Family has struggled with all of this with various Loved Ones so we have compassion for other Families that are.  There's a lot of collateral damage when someone is an Addict and actively Substance Abuses.   It knows no demographic, anyone can be at Risk for developing Addictions or knowing someone who has.

 

The Young Prince has coordinated with The Niece for an End of Month Move back Home, so, we're Hopeful it goes as Planned without a hitch?  We'll keep Christmas up for him, since, I'm sure his Christmas sucked.  I'm so Grateful for The Niece taking one for the Team to go get him for us coz I can't now, not an option anymore.   Nor would he, or the rest of the Family, want me to try to or expect me to with the current Health Issues I'm Recovering from.   Most Days just getting thru the Day without Naps and limiting activities to practically a standstill, is about all I'm able to muster.   And it Sucks the Big Kahuna, but, it is what it just is and I'm rolling with it as I Need to right now.  I'm looking at Silver Linings tho', my Mind doesn't constantly Race as fast as it has all my Life anymore Post Stroke!   With having Adult ADHD, OCD and being Bipolar, I've never had my Mind or Body slow down this much and tho' it Feels foreign and Weird to me, and takes some getting Used To, it's not a Negative and I'm seeing it as a Positive!  *Smiles*  Perspective and Attitude is Everything my Friends.

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Blessings, Love and Light be Yours in the New Year already my Friends, we'll get thru this... Dawn... The Bohemian