A Trying Tuesday

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OK, I am a pretty intelligent person. I always place well above average on IQ tests. My reading comprehension is very good. I normally can hold my own in a friendly debate as I have a good grasp of the language, a broad vocabulary, and I do a good job of staying current with world events and technology. But, to paraphrase Pogo, I have met the enemy and the enemy is US.

OK, it's not really the enemy, but it feels like it at the moment. And the US is U.S., as in United States .... well, OK, not the whole US, but the Medicare branch of it.

GAH!!!!

As you know, a while back I got my packet to give me information to make decisions about what parts of the program I want to enroll in. There was a problem in that I noticed that I had not successfully changed my name, but that was quickly fixed, and I got a whole new package with corrected documents and forms.

A few days ago I began to read the material. There isn't a ton of it, but there is a myriad of details. I read a while, and I noticed I was reading without absorbing anything. In other words, my brain had shut down and was not processing anything. I decided to try it on a different day when my brain was less distracted. I've tried it two other times, and always with the same result. I just wasn't getting the context of the information, and I desperately needed to do so in order to make my decisions.

So last night I decided that I would plow through it today, regardless of anything. I vowed to put that task ahead of everything, even .... gasp! .... blogging! It has been a tough day. I've worked/read for a while, and when I finally grasped a point or a concept, I sighed with relief and gave myself a little break to do something else for a few minutes. Through the day I read, then put in a load of clothes, read, unloaded the dishwasher, read, blogged for a while, read, ate lunch, read, made a couple phone calls, read .... well you get it. Finally, about 3:00 light bulbs lit up over my head, brightly, and blinking in grand triumph! At that moment, all the points of the day fell into place like a row of dominoes as each one connects with the one next to it .... click, click, click!! Angels sang! Car horns tooted! And either God clapped his hands in joyous relief or there was a sonic boom. OK, I'm pretty sure it was a sonic boom, but the timing was coincidentally superb!

Now it doesn't seem so difficult, but good grief, it took a hundred Clydesdales pulling together to get me through it (and no, that does not mean I was drinking Bud!). I know it isn't just me, because I've heard many other grouse about it. However, when I am feeling inept, it doesn't matter how much company I have in my misery! I'm very glad it is over, and I am filling out paperwork for the parts that require it. Come April 1, I will be fully covered. Whew!!

Problem: At 2:15 I realized that I had an appointment for a haircut at 2:00. Thank goodness, she is a great gal, and she simply rescheduled me for tomorrow.

Once I was on level ground with the Medicare stuff, I decided that the dogs really needed to be trimmed a bit. The weather was pleasant, around 50-52°, so I went to the deck with them, and each baby got a tummy shave (so they don't tangle when they lay down), a paw trim, and got a touch up on their faces (trim between the eyes, shortened the beards). They look much better.

I forgot to close the dog door, so they tracked in a bunch of hair what I was trimming, but I wasn't worried. I got the vacuum out and began to clean it up. Oops! Something was wrong. It wasn't picking up, and it smelled like burning rubber. I turned it over, and the belt had slipped off track and was burning up. It was too messed up to put back on. Sigh. It was too late to go buy a new one (I'd been meaning to do that for several weeks.), so I'll do that in the morning. In the mean time, I have dog hair all over the living room! I could go drag out the shop vac, but it is harder than hell to actually vacuum a carpet with that. This late in the day, I'm just gonna be a lazy housekeeper and take care of things tomorrow.

I noticed while the vacuum was upside down, how dirty it was inside. Well, duh! Think of what goes through there! Anyway, I cleaned it up while I had the chance. Nasty job. shudder. I'll be glad to get it back together again tomorrow and be back to normal. Normal? My house? OK, just think in relative terms. That kind of normal.

It's been a day full of success and frustration. I guess I should be happy that it wasn't all frustration, right? Hmmm. OK, I'm happy!

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