May 2008

The upstairs neighbor is busy tonight, trundling his furniture to and fro, apparently with very large people still sitting in it. (I am going solely by the sound of it all, mind you - there might be skiing elephants, or rolling rhinos, or perhaps he is stripping the flooring with a hand axe.)

That’s okay, however, as I am listening to MASH episodes at full volume to cover the noise.

Viva la neighborness.

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How much does it cost to spend an hour and a half in the ER?

2905.48. That’s not including the doctor who bills separately.

I have two choices according to the hospital. Pay lots of money each month for nine months, or a little each month for three f’ing years. I’m making a third choice; when i get my tax refund next year, it’s going to whittle down the bill.

I make one thousand more per year than the max to qualify for the poor people’s program that pays the bill for you. I am poor but not poor enough; I am too broke to afford this but not broke enough to get help. Welcome to America.

Moral of the story: when you don’t have insurance, don’t leave home or do anything to increase the risk of injury that might need medical care.

Last Saturday I hiked 9 miles in 90F weather, on exposed ridges at ~7000 feet elevation.

Sunday I slept most of the day. I think that the four liters of water I drank on the hike did not offset the heat exhaustion. Not Good.

Still somewhat tired this week. Not wanting to get up for work in the mornings. Thinking I’m too old p’raps for pushing myself into the out of doors.

But! Tioga Pass opens tomorrow. I may yet go backpacking in Yosemite.

Yesterday, the word “layoff” was dropped into a staff meeting.

The guys who did my oil change wouldn’t rotate the tires - said I needed new ones. Went to Costco, where the guy said I needed two, not four. Bought two. Now I can’t pay my therapist.

Woke up tired, got allergies, went through the day a zombie, and it just went out of control from there.

Today had better give me sunshine and hypoallergenic daisies.

I am planning a two night backpacking trip to the coast over Memorial Day Weekend. Since I am a member of a hiking group on meetup I posted an all points bulletin looking for a hiking buddy. One person from the east coast, someone I don’t know, responded.

Seema, want to come? We could all meet for the first time!

Meetup is an odd webspace. You go online and then spend most of your time in the flesh with the group. This is a Good Thing. Unlike Myspace or certain other online dens of … whatever people do in them.

Finally rented. Wasn’t impressed by the characters. The plot was so concatenated that the characters suffered. It turned into “Lyra the Cranky Lying Girl Who Gets To Do Whatever She Wants.”

Also, movie!Lyra is a bona fide Mary Sue, complete with her own theme song. Other characters stand around talking about how wonderful and awe inspiring she is, and the end credit music was enough to wake me up.

I want a bear with Ian McKellan’s voice, however.