Story 10March2023: All Medical

I am writing the blog early Saturday morning. I had a dream I could not breathe, and I awoke wheezing and that awful drowning feeling. Next, I got out my inhaler, and that stopped the tightness, but now that I got it into my head that I am having breathing issues, lying down and trying to sleep just is not going to work. Thus I am up at 6AM writing.

I have coffee and a bagel and start writing…

Saturday started with me not going to work. I am still tired and have logistic issues with Susie and the medical stuff. I have learned that I cannot do everything all the time and something has to be given up to do something else; life for me is a choice and exchange. I can’t do Zoom meetings and follow along at work and get Susie to an emergency ultrasound for a blood clot. So I took a day off from the shoe company.

I made coffee, liberal Equal Exchange coffee in a French Press, and toast. I read my emails and started to cover all the items I had missed. I ran Quicken and updated all the balances with transactions. I have it download all Amex, US Banks, and Paypal transactions and assign the expenses (most automatically) to categories. This also connects to my deferred compensation, assigns changes to Susie’s IRA (a mutual fund), gets my stock and cash from banks and investment houses via more connections, and connects to Rocket Morgage to get the balance for the house loan. Thus I have a near real-time evaluation of our Finances. I do the manual updates for the end of February for my 401K, which I only update at the end of a month (this includes updating the loan balance against the 401K being paid back at 7.5%). I have set house and Air Volvo values based on market values. I do not have an evaluation included for the more speculative stock options from Nike. I can see my net worth and track every buck going and going.

All this work, something that touches my love of organization but not my messy nature, is to ensure that I have a clear picture of finances, and now I have to pay large medical bills and then have the IRS and local taxing authorities refund me a considerable amount of what I pay in. Adherence to the process and having transparent transactions clearly assigned categories make this easy to follow for me and any auditor. I generally use electronic payments for recurring bills, but medical expenses are manual checks, so they are easy to prove and track.

I caught up on Quicken and added more things I need to file; I need to take some hours to assemble the paper close to January and February 2023. I have a hard copy every month, knowing that paper impresses auditors and accountants. I have a hole punch and tabs for notebooks. Even the little paper receipts go into a pocket by month. Old school to the max.

After all that paperwork, I call Metro Ambulance and set up an account and credit card (AMEX) for on-call service. This way, transfers can be done by Alligiance Seniro Care LLC (the hummingbird house), and I will just get billed. Next, I called the imaging at Legacy Good Sam in Portland and got a surprisingly convenient appointment for an ultrasound for Susie at 5PM today. I called Metro Ambulance back, and they did not have the means to transfer Susie (all booked), and I disappointedly called back the imaging, went on hold again, and finally moved the appointment to Monday.

I do not want to lift Susie into the co-pilot seat with a possible blood clot. I would rather pay for a lift. So I called Metro Ambulance back, and they said they could not schedule that until the afternoon as they needed to get their schedule planned for the next day. So I will call back to see if they can cover Monday. Hmm.

I shower, dress, and bring my Apple to track medical stuff on the Legacy myChart application. For example, I get all the test results in the minute it is posted. I travel to the post office first. I have a signing required package, usually from Europe, but I cannot remember anything outstanding. So I bring the notice with me. The parking is short at the post office (this is a post office that does not sell stamps and provides just a pick-up service), but there is a short line. I got a heavy, slightly smooshed box from the UK, full of metal figures. It is my figures for The Dark Tower: Accused by Set adventure Kickstarter. I ordered $100 of various hard-to-get figures (some named), all in metal, with some requiring assembly, that match the adventure. Unfortunately, they were so late that I forgot about them–more items I need to paint.

I head to Susie’s place from the post office. Susie is in her recliner in the living room, watching Judge Judy, asleep. Jennifer had to feed Susie as her right arm was not working well. Susie did not eat much and is warm to the touch but has no fever. Susie moves to her bed after we call Leta. Susie and Leta had a short call, with Susie distant or out of focus. Susie agrees to start taking Tylenol after I push her on that.

Susie sleeps on and off while listening to Elton John (she made a face when I suggested Mick Jagger, so she is not that out-of-focus). I sat next to her in the same chair I spent a night in and pulled up her table as my desk for my Apple. I send updates on my phone (using my Nike email) and my Apple for FaceBook and Text. I read the news on the bank failures, including detailed discussions about the errors at the SVB made before it failed.

My mother and Corwin would contact me about these issues, worried that it was the beginning of the end.

FYI (skip if it feels I am man-splaining): Banks have bought low-interest financial instruments without hedging for a sudden increase in interest rates. Thus deposits are now backed by illiquid assets (oops), and their loan portfolios are low-interest payments as they were made in the low-interest rates of the last few years (oops). Hedging costs money and requires care and feeding by an expensive staff of experts, so from what I have read, the banks did not spend the money to hedge their risk (oops). Apparently, enjoying high profits from the low-interest rates (nothing makes money like paying near-zero and charging 7-22%), the banks ignored the apparent cause of low-interest rates (the pandemic and the war Ukraine impacts) would fade. Inflation shows its face as the economy restarts, and that (look at history) causes a leap in inflation rates (plus the shock of fossil fuel price jump from the European war), forcing a sudden interest rate explosion. This is History and Finance 101 and Banking 101: Events cause interest rates to spike. SVB fails at its depositors, chasing better returns, jumped (Silicon Valley Banks is a high-tech bank that allows easy transfers) to better returns, forcing SVB to sell treasuries at a discount to cover these withdraw (as they pay lower interest rate than current and are discounted by the difference, painful) and became insolvent overnight. An old fashion run-on-the-bank. Do the too-big-to-fail banks have this issue (yes, they do), and do they have the cash from other businesses (credit cards charging huge rates) to cover deposit activity? That is the question. Buckle-in as saying that many USA CEOs were not greedy and careless is almost an oxymoron now. It is not the end of the world, but many rich folks will look pretty stupid (again).

Returning to our story, I called Metro, and they could not help us on Monday either. I am beyond eye-roll at this time. So Jennifer, the live-in nurse aide, and I agree–I will transport Susie; I am The Transporter. Susie will rest until we leave at 3:45. I head to lunch at Red Robin while Susie sleeps.

At Red Robin, nearby, I get a call from David and Michelle Smith; they have no power and decide to head to their house on the coast. They thought to stop by and see Susie and will be there in thirty minutes. My lunch, a split chicken breast spiced with a salad, is quickly eaten, and I pay using their machine, so I am out fast, back to the hummingbird house. I get there just before Michelle and David gets there. We met in Susie’s room–Susie was profoundly asleep and did not wake. We must wake Susie for her meds and soon get ready to leave. Susie is happy to see David and Michelle. They go, and we get Susie ready. Jennifer puts Susie in Air Volvo, now Air Medical Transporter Volvo.

Susie is a bit surprised as she has lost the thread of what is happening today; the plan has changed a few times(!). I explained we were headed to Good Sam for imaging for her arm. She is happy to be out in the car, and we have a slow traffic heavy trip into Portland, but we have plenty of time, so Susie gets to view everything. I skip the tunnel and cross over to reach the medical center by passing by Providence Park and Kells. Susie is happy to see everything in Portland (our last trip together was two Novembers ago), and we are soon there, about 45 minutes before the appointment and 15 minutes ahead of the plan–excellent. I got help from the valet and unloaded Susie without issue. We get checked in, the folks being surprised I did all the paperwork online for a same-day appointment.

We wait twenty minutes and then are escorted back to the ultrasound, and the gal says they can keep Susie in the wheelchair (yay!). Unfortunately, the process does require two folks as Susie cannot hold her arms up, and they manage to bruise her more. The conclusion is there is no blood clot, but there is a hematoma in her arm muscle from bleeding. If it gets worse–ER. I later sent this info to hummingbird house as I got the test results before we even reached hummingbird house.

I load Susie into Air Medical Transporter Volvo, and Susie slips on the seat. I had to grab her, and that was not a happy moment, but it was not too bad. Susie is safe, and we arrive, and Jennifer, now off duty, unloads Susie for me.

Susie rests in bed, and Louis, Jennifer’s husband, is on duty now, making dinner and caring for Susie. Jennifer got Susie in bed, checked the new bruises, and showed them to me. Tests suck.

I head home after a while; I am tired. But, at the front door is a blessedly happy box from NYC Zabar’s. Bagels! Joyce Hill sent me three bags of bagels from NYC. Thanks, Joyce. I have a poppy bagel for dinner. I rest. At 10, I just need to do something.

I reorganize the office work table to do electronic work. I move the ship and various models to the floor along the wall (I already have drawer cabinets in the garage to hold this stuff. I plan to have three set-ups for working (painting figures, building models, and electronics in the office), and I can move things in and out of cabinets to change my direction). Unfortunately, I am not quite there. I manage to reset and sit down to be completely distracted from today’s messy adventures and start working on a box to hold speakers and an amp.

I mix a bit of 15-minute epoxy cement and attach some two-inch speakers to holes I cut in a paper box I bought years ago for another project. I raided my supplies in the garage and found more things I would need. The physical stuff is done with the speakers mounted and the amp on brass standoffs screwed in place through the bottom of the box. A hole is provided to plug into the amp. Just need to do power and switches. I found my collection of voltage regulators and a 9V battery connector. I have everything if I can see it, as it gets messy after years. I need to purge out the old Raspberry Pies computers and old technology microcontrollers and put away some of the cool stuff now in boxes in my drawers in the garage.

Now relaxed and distracted, I go to bed at 11:45 and quickly fall asleep.

Thanks for reading.

Music that keeps me going (I have lined to it before): You Can’t Stop the Beat.