I did a good thing today. Faced with 50 days before I can see a specialist to deal with the genetic Parkinsons that's kicking my ass, I stopped by my local clinic and walked out with a prescription for dopamine. I told the doctor straight up that I take no meds and proud of it, but I need this one.
He initially said that taking it could skew the official diagnosis but I told him that if it worked, it would validate it. He smiled, and agreed. Doctor visit with my medicare advantage: $10.
I had them send the script to my local Walgreens and I went home for a bit so they could fill it and found Steph waiting, so we drove down to Alabama for lunch. When we got back they didn't have the drug in stock, not until tomorrow, and it costs $85 for a sixty day supply. I gave them my medicare advantage card and, $10.
This is the lowest level of dopamine dispensed. I'll take it and I would be thrilled if the tremors settled down in the slightest. Armed with 49 days of dopamine consumption history I will see the neurologist on Dec 11, and we can tweak the dosage from there.
My neighbor brought over a piece of wire from a new grain silo he's wiring. Then he drove me to the site and let me climb inside to shoot a video.
The wire is the diameter of a dime and it's a bitch to bend.
All of my latest toys have arrived, they've been installed and connected, and everything works great.
I've placed two wifi hubs behind my main tv in the living room driven by ethernet from my office, where I sleep, and wifi no longer emanates from there because it's off.
One hub drives my Echo (pre-original) along with the house smart devices like lights and coffee. The other hub provides internet to my phone, tablets, smart watch and the Ring camera mounted outside facing the street.
When I walk outside now my screens start buzzing and my wrist starts a knocking. I am so glad to have made it to 2020 and still have the smarts to pull this off!
I've developed a technique of breaking down my day into simple words or catch phrases:
Lewisburg: The name of the small town to the east that received the Amazon package destined for me in Lawrenceburg. I called that post office today and spoke to a great guy who confirmed that my new Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 that should have been in my hands Sunday was totally out floating around the universe.
Ashley: The Amazon rep I contacted who called me back from a Seattle prefix but was actually in Uruguay. Sweet voice, great English, it felt like a date and then she ordered me a new watch, be here tomorrow.
MonarchC: Riley and Brian's website https://monarchc.com is now on security steroids and the url is ready for business cards. Brian's wife is working on content.
Fifty Two: The number of days before I can see the neurologist. Tremors are worsening, quality of life is going to hell and I need drugs now. I'll be melting on the sidewalk as a quivering blob of mush before Dec 11.
My neighbor Daniel drops by on occasion to get his Piper Time.
There was a time when my programming skills were in very high demand, right out of college in 1971 thru 1992 actually. I made and spent a ton of money, helped form several startup companies and it was quite a ride.
Then I got into transportation up in Seattle and code went dormant for 15 years. As I was leaving town to Idaho with Steph I had started writing code again and I never stopped.
Isn't life funny? I never thought I would end up alone on a little dead-end street in a small town in southern Tennessee. Still creating, occasionally on the cutting edge, and it all means very little in the broad scope of the world.
I'm also old enough and wise enough to know that life is where you land, either live and enjoy it or suffer and die.
Sometimes you need to walk down to the creek and take a deep breath. Of whatever you have in hand.
I expect the stuff I buy online to arrive when promised and because I'm an old impatient man I get pissed when it don't. I bought that smart watch from Amazon on Saturday for a Sunday delivery and according to the USPS site it was dropped at their facility in Lewisburg, TN at 0520 Sunday morning and it's still there now on Monday morning.
Amazon tells me sorry and if it doesn't arrive in a couple of days, to ask for a refund. Screw that, if my buddy the postman Richard doesn't put it my hands by 1100 this morning I may just slam the brakes on it now.
Then I called the local neurologists office to make an appointment and she told me December 2 is the soonest. I'm sure she detected the shock in my voice as I asked huh? and it turns out several nearby neurologists have recently gone under, and they absorbed all the patients.
Oh well, another Monday morning in Tennessee in 2020 and I'm just glad to be alive!
Update: Nope, so I contacted a customer service rep at Amazon and got this:
I am escalating the issue to the concerned team. We will try to deliver it as soon as possible. The new deadline for its delivery is Tuesday, October 20, 2020 12:00 AM (PDT). In an unlikely event, if you don't get it by the deadline then you can contact us and we will help you with a full refund or a replacement.
So tomorrow by noon. Do you really think this person has a "concerned team" that's going to strike fear in USPS and demand they find their customers package and get it in his mailbox quickly at any cost?
It's just a carefully crafted phrase that plugs in current date and order data generated by possibly the press of a human finger, or perhaps not.... It was followed by the leading question: Sound good?
God help me, I just want the damned watch!
Go big or go home. My new Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is arriving today and I can't wait to introduce her to my Samsung S20+. The FDA has approved the companies EKG and blood pressure apps so it's like having a doctors office on your wrist.
I went with the bigger one: 45mm, GPS, Bluetooth, black and I've got a new band here waiting.
It's really amazing how life fluctuates over a lifetime, and most of my 74 year memories are still at my disposal. Thank you god.
I've been dumping my daily life out to the internet with two blogs since June 6, 2011. I was down in Vegas hanging with Riley and Jess when I created BusDriverJim. That wonderful blog spanned 7+ years of my life in Teton Valley, ID and then I moved here to Lawrenceburg, TN and started this blog which is now into it's third year.
I've also written a huge amount of code while hunkered down here in Tennessee. Creativity has erupted in the last couple of years and I am proud of the work.
I never thought I'd say this but half of the photos I shoot these days are on my phone. My smart S20+ does great in a lot of situations but sometimes I just need to take my digital out for a walk strapped into my 16m Sigma lens with the f-stop pumped to max while the ISO kisses 100. Know what I mean?
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