Had an unbelievable restaurant experience today. There’s a place in town that became a favorite almost as soon as it moved into Mint Hill a few years ago. Every time I’ve been thinking about trying it out, the parking lot was full. Today, at 4:45pm, all of the handicap parking spaces were empty! Of course, I pulled in. Before I got out of the van, five more vehicles pulled in. I felt a need to rush in the door.
I was rather surprised by the clientele. Never before have I seen three power wheelchairs (not scooters) in a restaurant at the same time. Then again, I don’t usually dine at a diner at 5:00.
So, while the waitress was taking my order another waitress came over, going, “Ohhh! Isn’t he cute!”
My waitress stopped her and said, “You’re not supposed to pet.” I was shocked! Then to me, “I bet you get that a lot. I bet its really annoying.” I was nodding enthusiastically. By the time my dinner arrived, the waitresses were stopping customers from “harassing the dog.”
You bet I’m going back! Gave my waitress a good tip, too.
Drove up to my bro’s place today. Kept telling Benny that he was going to have a good time — running, playing with the other dogs, etc.
Bro’ and I were in the vineyard looking at all the buds popping out. I glanced around to see where Benny had wandered off to.
He was definitely having a great time. His feet were waving in the air so enthusiastically!
Ohhhh Noooo! He had gotten under the electric fence into the cow pasture! Groan! He was green and the fur on his ruff was standing in spikes!
It took a while to get the hose on him (he’s not a fan of water). Vic added lots of shampoo. Benny wasn’t terribly cooperative.
I had a couple of old towels in the trunk, dried Benny with one. The other, Vic spread across the back of Benny’s seat in the van.
What a long drive home! Fortunately, my eyes didn’t water too much so I could see where I was going.
Thankfully, there’s an exterior door in our Master Bath. I closed the door to the bedroom and blocked the dog door so Benny had no chance to go anywhere other than the shower.
Done two loads of laundry. One for the towels after his bath and the other for the towels in the van (along with my socks). One of the towels looks like it is permanently stained.
His collar and seat harness got hand washed. Hopefully enough.
Lisa will be here in the morning. We’ll be cleaning my chair — Benny shook just after being hosed.
Through it all (I must compliment Sara), she kept her lunch down. The other ladies of the house were fortunate enough to be in bed with severe allergies. And their dogs were inside with them.
After spending 35 minutes on hold waiting for Social Security to answer . . . “Around March 7,” means seven to ten days. Oh. It was only seven days later. I should call back on Thursday afternoon if I haven’t received the payment by then. Okay . . .
Instead of saying, “Thank you,” and hanging up, I asked if this was the way each of the monthly payments would be made. “No,” she explained.
So, apparently while she was explaining, she had been looking at her computer screen. And, Surprise! “We’ve already sent the payment to your bank — twice. Your bank keeps sending it back.” Huh? No explanation, I just needed to check with my bank to see what’s wrong.
While we were talking, she confirmed my bank account number. And . . . my account number has A LOT of zeros in it. Somewhere along the line, not all of the zeros made it into the system.
My first Social Security payment has now been direct deposited into my account! Yay!
Now, I just have to wait two more years to qualify for Medicare coverage (Or, should that be two years from the date I applied for disability which was eight months ago? Who knows? Shrug.). Whatever, that’s assuming that there’s no health care reform between now and then.
Anybody ever heard of a web site that has “hours of operation”?
Check out the right hand column — http://www.socialsecurity.gov/onlineservices/
Of course, I only noticed this because I was trying to access it after hours.
Since I haven’t written on Social Security for a while . . . I applied for disabled widow benefits shortly after Lew’s benefits were cut off in June. I tried to wait patiently, knowing it takes quite a while.
When I hadn’t heard from them, on January 4th, I called to sign up for just plain widow’s benefits (since I was then qualified). After 45 minutes on hold, I found out that there was a note in my file, if my application for disability was denied, they would automatically process the widow benefits. Cool. I sat back and waited.
Day 180 was approaching. It says all over everywhere that I would hear from them within 180 days. So, when Day 180 arrived, I checked the mailbox hourly. Okay, I would be patient for a few more days for the mail. This just had to be a good sign. If I had been turned down, they would have told me so a long time ago.
Day 182, the phone rang. My paperwork was too old to process, we had to start over. They mailed me the forms giving them permission to get my doctors’ records.
So, of course, it dawned on me — they weren’t going to process my paperwork for widow’s benefits unless they declined my disability application. Another six months? And how long after that? I called Social Security. They made a telephone appointment for me three weeks away.
A few days later — Do I really need an appointment to apply for widow’s benefits? I called Social Security. They took my application right then over the phone. When I asked them to cancel my telephone appointment, they said I should keep it so I could get an update on the status of my disability application.
On appointment day, they called a half hour early. Fortunately, I had gotten up early and my brain was awake. They interviewed me for widow’s benefits, again! Sigh. At least this time, the interviewer was able to tell me the amount my benefit would be and when I could expect my check. Yay!
The day the check was to be direct deposited . . . A week later, I called Social Security. “They’re calculating the amount of your payment.” But they already told me over the phone!
A month later, I got a letter in the mail telling me to expect a letter in the mail.
Four days later, I got a letter in the mail! I had been approved for disabled widow’s benefits! Yay! My first payment would include the last three months that I was qualified to receive. Double Yay!
The day the check was to be direct deposited . . . Its now a week later.
I told my gynecologic oncologist that I’m not strong enough to go through what Lew went through. “If the ovarian cyst turns out to be cancer, just refer me to Hospice and we’re done.”
My regular gynecologist wanted to take it out. Fortunately, the oncologist understood and said we could talk about surgery later. The cyst is now about three inches. We’ll rescan it in a couple of months to get an idea of about how fast its growing. Since there isn’t an accurate test for early ovarian cancer and since I’ve got a bad history for colon cancer (they’re related) we’ll be doing genetic testing. If I have the genetic marker for colon cancer . . .
I’m struggling with depression. Having to force myself to go for drive-thru groceries or run errands. I had to ask to be rescued three times last week — had to call a neighbor to dig me out of the mud hole I had dug myself into, called AAA to change the tire that had a screw in it, and, well . . . you get the picture. I can’t take care of myself pity-party. I turned 60 today. I’m withdrawing from my friends — even making up reasons to be mad at them. I’m not returning calls.
At times, I seem to go in the other direction. I’ve started baking bread so I’ll have something to beat. I highly recommend it. I began thinking about going to a dog conference in NYC in a couple of weeks. How’s that for brain dead? Going north in February?! And last minute plans? And I haven’t flown since I’ve been full time in a wheelchair!
Social Security Disability finally called me after total silence for six months. My paperwork is now too old to process, we have to start over. But since my disability claim is pending, it complicates the process of completing the paperwork for widow’s benefits.
I’m angry.