Numbers Do Matter

 I'm One Post ahead that hasn't yet Published and is already done and waiting in the Queue.  Whoop Whoop!!!   I feel so accomplished, coz I've really done bugger all due to the Heat and Fatigue, except, to get a Blog Post finished and start this one.  *Le Sigh*  But, it's SOMETHING, so, we'll Celebrate that as an accomplishment, Right?  *Winks*  The Daughter hung up one of my colorful Gypsy Buntings from Wall to Wall in a Corner of The RV Garage Mahal, it looks so good but she scared me how far up The Tallest Ladder of Death she dangled to do it!  

 Plus, it was too Hot in there, like a Sauna, so I made her Stop and do more when it Cooled some.  What if you fall out from Heat exhaustion... or just fall... says I, nobody will know and you'll Cook Alive in here!!!   So, she obliged, but has gone back in Tonight, she's on a Manic High I think and can get so much done when she has that much Manic driven Energy to dispel.  *Smiles*  Plus, I do appreciate it coz it's not like Yours Truly is getting much Done, I'm taking long Naps every Afternoon and when I Wake back up it's almost a Brand New Day... or it IS actually a Brand New Day!  Then my Sleep Cycle is all jacked up and interrupted.

The Man's Follow-Up with his Cardiologist Post-Op is Friday Morning and then I Work Friday Night, so I do Hope it goes well?   His Leg where they went in looks fine to me, but what do I really know?   Plus, we'll have to discuss the next Surgery to put another Stint in to the other clogged Artery he has that they couldn't do in Surgery No. One.   Since Surgery No. One took Three Hours longer than it should have, and they couldn't do both Arteries coz he ran out of Table Time and clearly there was some complication, I am concerned about Surgery No. Two.  Plus he was In-Patient during Surgery No. One and they're talking of doing Surgery No. Two Out-Patient, I don't know about the Wisdom of that?!

I'm wondering if our Insurance just won't want to cover another Days long Hospitalization?  That's always a possibility with Insurance Companies, Cheaping Out and putting Insurers at Risk to save a Buck for themselves.   So I have a lot of Questions and not a lot of Answers yet.  And, my Anxiety until this is all behind us is heightened becoz he is Medically compromised and fragile, we know this for a fact, he can't even get a Doc to perform Elective Surgeries or Preventative Medicine Surgical Procedures to check out things, becoz he's too high risk.  Now, this one isn't Elective, it's Necessary coz a blocked Artery needs to be unblocked or you risk a Major Heart Attack if it shuts down completely.

And at least this Surgery is less invasive than unblocking Arteries used to be back when he had his Double Bypass to unblock a couple Arteries Years ago.  He's on Heart Meds, Cholesterol Meds, Diabetic Meds, etcetera, coz he has that Hereditary High Cholesterol that just runs in his Family no matter what they Eat or what they do for Lifestyle improvement.  Sometimes Genetics is just against you in some areas if there's Family History making you susceptible to whatever it is.   His Family as a Collective are long lived tho' and tough as Old Boots, so, that's in his Favor.   Only my Mom's side has that in their Favor, my Dad's side certainly didn't.  So I got that 50-50 chance of Lucky Genetics passed along to me. 

Anyway, depending on how his Appointment goes dictates whether I'll be going in to Work or calling in and asking for a Fill-In at the last Minute?  I'm already a Fill-In and I know they're struggling to find any of us who can do it consistently and juggle our other Obligations when people can't or don't show up for their regular Shift.   Which is why none of us has accepted a Regular Permanent Shift in the first place.   I don't think my Friend Richard is ever coming back, who I'm filling in for?  He's got a long Recovery from having had Heart Surgery AND a Liver Transplant all at once!  He wants to come back, but you don't just bounce back from that and he's still got the same comorbidities that caused all that in the first place.  And, he doesn't behave and it's questionable whether he will even with this Scare?

I don't want to permanently cover for Richard and had figured he wouldn't be coming back soon, if ever, but, had figured at some point they'd find a permanent replacement for him by now?   I think he still desperately wants the Shift and they want to act like they'll hold it open for him indefinitely, but I don't wanna fill-in indefinitely while that illusion, or delusion, is being played out.   Granted, I bounced back from a Stroke, but, it took Six Months and I knew I couldn't return to even any temporary Work until I fully Recovered.   And tho' I feel 100% able to perform my Duties there now, I'm just not interested in being on permanently and too many folks are needing filling-in for lately too.  Some are legit in decline Healthwise, or on Vacation, but many are just unreliable, flaky and inconsiderate.

If I never know Who I'm working alongside, it can become problematic too.  And lately you never know 'til you actually get there!  Coz there are some folks I truly enjoy working with and there are others I don't wanna work with at all.  I have zero tolerance for the habits, personality or poor worth ethic or lack thereof they have.   I don't like Lazy Co-Workers and Slackers, it's a Trigger for me actually and if you are one, we're gonna have us a Situation.  *Winks*  Why do a Job at all if you don't intend to Work and have absolutely no consideration for your Employer or your Co-Workers?   Anyway, I've been fortunate lately that the Shifts I've filled-in for have had people I like working with who do a good job and are pleasant Co-Workers, good with Customers, and have a Work Ethic.

I've been watching the Spin on the Economy, Tariffs, Trade Negotiations on all the different Channels.  It's as if most are trying to soothe the Public into thinking they shouldn't panic about any of it.  Listen, Interest Rates aren't being lowered for a fucking reason and it's not coz Powell and his Team are incompetent and don't know what they're doing.  And just becoz a few huge Companies are killing it in the Stock Market isn't indicative that the Smaller ones being Traded are at all.  And the full effect of Tariffs isn't being felt yet becoz most Companies are absorbing it for now, but cannot sustain that and will be passing the Tariff Tax on to Consumers later on this Year.  None of the Negotiations being made are binding with Trade Partners and Donnie Two Dolls is notorious for tossing out big exaggerated Numbers that aren't remotely accurate.

Yes, the Extortion and Shake Downs has worked for him personally.  And whatever Money is being funneled in from existing Tariffs that American Companies are paying isn't being monitored by any checks and balances I know of with any modicum of transparency.  Where it's going, whose benefitting from it, how much it actually is, how it will or is being Spent, all a big Mystery and we know the Administration is blatantly Corrupt and breaking Laws Daily to benefit themselves.  Insider Trading for example is Off the Chain.   Now, it allegedly goes to the U.S. Department Of Treasury and enters the General Affairs Budget and from there it can be used for essentially anything.

  And he already had to use Twenty-Eight BILLION in Relief Payments to compensate Farmers for their Losses affected by his Tariffs and Retaliatory Tariffs by other Nations.  So a lot of that Revenue could end up just being spent on Bailouts from the Fallout.  And it's an unreliable Source of Revenue.   And when inflated Costs Tariffs WILL Create are passed along to Consumers, it's likely they'll cut back on spending.  Companies may have to resort to laying off Employees or shrinking their Businesses, scaling back their Exports, and their Imports.  And the Bottom 20% of American Earners lose a significantly bigger percentage of their income than the Top 1% due to Tariff Taxes.  Folks will be forced to spend only on necessities and not non-essentials.  Numbers do matter.

  

The Man has been really good about taking it easy Post-Surgery, I think it gave him a good enuf Scare that he's behaving more than usual.  And, he knows he needs to stay stable in order to have the Second Surgery that is necessary to open the other clogged Artery.  The stronger he appears, the sooner they can get that scheduled and done.  I will ask his Cardiologist about any added Risks that doing it on an Out Patient basis might pose?  Since he is a high Risk Patient and Medically complex, I just don't know I wanna whisk him right Home only Hours after getting out of any Surgery that could post a fatality if the Angio-Seal Fails!  It can and then you have literally Minutes before you Bleed Out.  And tho' we're close to the Hospital, Minutes is a brief Window to Save someone's Life... it could take Minutes for Paramedics to even arrive.  If you're already IN the Hospital everyone is right there to respond.

 

My Granddaughter could be a Hand Model, I swear.  *LOL*  I haven't had a Pro Mani or Pedi in a long time, when you're an Insulin Diabetic the Pedi isn't recommended.  I do miss having my Nails done as a Mani coz tho' some of my Natural Nails grow fast and strong, not all of them do, right now I only have Four long pretty Nails, and Six shitty looking ones... and Three of the pretty ones are only on my Left Hand.  *LOL*  My Toenails are terrible due to Diabetic complications where I've had to have some Medically Removed and they never grow back right after that.  But, you can't afford Nail problems either becoz you could end up with Amputations with lower extremities when you have Diabetes.  So, I'd rather have ugly Nails than no Feet.

Tomorrow being the 1st of the Month is a relief.  Finances have been so tapped and tight due to higher expenses, that it's tougher to make the Ends Meet than ever before on a Fixed Income.   For the first time in a very long time I've had to Negotiate with our Utility Company, using their Summer Moratorium, to make Payments on the inflated Utility Bills due to Climate Change Record Temperatures driving Utility Costs way up.  Plus, all the Utility Companies gave themselves a 15% increase in what they Charge, which isn't Helpful either... since, they have the Monopoly, you don't have alternatives really.  They even have skewed Solar Energy in their Favor and all the Utility Companies of Arizona got Fined for violating Solar Related Regulations and Antitrust Laws. 

 Most of the Public doesn't understand how that screwed them over as the Consumer and exploited them illegally.  I got a huge Refund when I owned Solar on the Villa McManse, coz I caught APS violating Antitrust Laws myself and Called them Out on it.  So they Paid Out without a Lawsuit, to me, but probably not to anyone who didn't recognize what they were doing?   After that I vowed not to buy Solar again, which is expensive, until the Utility Companies aren't screwing over the Solar Customers in their Favor and the Industry isn't so corrupted.  Solar works splendidly, better than expected, but if the Solar Companies and the Utility Companies are corrupt in their practices and their disclosures being Honest and accurate, it's highly problematic.  The Daughter's Old Boyfriend got out of the Industry as a Solar Installer becoz he knew how corrupt the Industry was in intentional misinformation to Customers.  And it's a shame coz I liked our Solar Unit a lot.

I enlarged a Vintage Milkcrate Bookcase to hold about 16 more Books in The RV Garage Mahal.  I got more Books than a lot of Bookstores and tho' I Purge some, I always find new ones I find secondhand at great prices, Decor and Cookbooks mostly, I like the Visuals, and the Inspiration it provides, not so much of an avid Reader.  *LOL*  And, Hardcover good Books have good Resale Margins in the Showroom, so when I find good duplicates, I get them to Resell.  The Bookseller Pickers hit all the secondhand Book Markets too, so ya gotta beat them to it.  You see them with their hand held Scanners scanning all the used Books.  They fill up Shopping Carts with used Books, so must have a good Business going on, probably Online Booksellers I suspect?  Some can be pretty aggressive in the Book Aisles.  But, if someone bogarts an Aisle and gets to be where they strongarm and monopolize it, I can push back quite effectively and they've always backed down.  I don't like aggressive greedy Shoppers, it's not necessary and it's rude.

We've got Optum calling about The Man's new Meds and I know we don't have Part D with our Medicare Advantage Plan and Optum isn't contracted with United Healthcare anyway as far as I know, so it's confusing.  Regardless, you can't have Part D Medicare if you have TriCare, so, Medicare would never be providing us our Meds, so they don't even need to know what they are.  And we learned they called the VA too, which, I have no idea Why?  So, VA called us to inquire, we don't know why they'd be calling them at all?  Medicare just covers our Medical, not our Prescriptions, he gets his from the VA exclusively.  So, we just refused to talk to the Optum folks about what they don't even cover for us and told the VA we didn't ask them to contact the VA on our behalf and ask questions either.  

There's so many Scams and companies defrauding Medicare and Medicaid out there that I'm leery about anything anyway.  And when it comes to Meds we only Talk to Express Scripts, which is contracted thru TriCare, or the VA, where only The Man qualifies for his Medications, I don't qualify.  And I don't want some random Branch of any Insurance cocking things up and interfering... things are convoluted enuf.  And I don't want The Man talking to anyone coz he gets confused with his TBI and his Dementia to where he shouldn't even be answering the Phone, but sometimes he still does.  I've had him agree to things that he doesn't even know what he agreed to and then had to sort it out coz I didn't know he took a Call!!!   No matter how many times you tell him NOT to Answer the Phone, he forgets and Answers it if he beats everyone else to it, like a Child would.  Then I usually have to step in coz he's talking away with some Rando on the other end!!!   Lord have Mercy!!!

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Summer Vibes from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian