Gripe

Discussion in 'Personal Diaries' started by Ike Willis, Oct 19, 2015.

  1. Ike Willis

    Ike Willis Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2015
    Messages:
    2,460
    Likes Received:
    6,012
    Sunday evening I was watching the 5pm news and the TV went dead. All we get on every channel is the message 'This channel will resume shortly'. Well, it's 1:30am Monday and it ain't resumed yet.

    I was online awhile last evening until I got bored. Fell asleep somewhere around 7:30pm. Woke up at 12:30am. Got my 5 hours sleep in. Didn't think I'd miss not having TV, with all the trash shows that are on lately.
     
    #1
    Diane Lane likes this.
  2. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    14,881
    Likes Received:
    27,871
    This has been a stressful week for me as well ! A couple weeks ago, the water pump in the old Ford wagon started leaking, and Bobby had to disassemble everything and replace the water pump, This took several days; but we finally had the car running again.
    However, it still kept leaking water and antifreeze. Bobby thought that it must be a hose; so last week, we got another hose for the car. Naturally, he had to take everything apart again to replace the hose. Now it is back together, and it is still leaking really bad.
    There is one more hose (which looks perfectly fine) that we will have to order and then he can disassemble the parts once again and put in the new hose. In the meantime, we do not dare drive very far and only when necessary. We fill up the radiator, and carry about three gallons of water along in case we have to refill it after we stop wherever we were going.
    Seriously frustrating ! I sincerely wish that a better car was somewhere in my future; but we are just grateful to have a car at all, so I shouldn't complain.

    Then, on Friday, my son out in Eastern Washington called me and said that he had been having chest pains, and his doctor was sending him for one of the chemical stress tests. That night, he called me from the hospital to let me know that he was now IN the hospital !
    Apparently, when they did the echocardiogram, it showed serious issues with his heart, so they sent him straight to the ER, and then admitted him to the hospital. They said that he has already had at least one heart attack, and is in danger of more if it is not fixed.
    The next day, they did more tests, and he has one main artery completely blocked, and another one that is 50% blocked. They need to operate to fix it; but his back is so damaged that they said he can't lay flat on his back long enough for the operation and immediate recovery time.
    So, it ended up that they gave him some meds, and sent him back home yesterday afternoon, and hopefully, the doctor that he sees for his back can get that stabilized enough that they can then do the necessary heart procedure.

    I am so grateful that my friends and family have been praying for my Michael. The first thing that I did was to post it on my Facebook page and ask for prayers for him, and then called my friends who have a prayer chain at church; so my son has a lot of prayers in his behalf right now.
    His wife has also been having health problems; and neither one of them will be able to work now; so the finances are going to be tight for them as well.
     
    #2
    Ike Willis and Diane Lane like this.
  3. Ike Willis

    Ike Willis Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2015
    Messages:
    2,460
    Likes Received:
    6,012
    Wow! If it wasn't for bad luck, you wouldn't have any luck. I know what your son is going through. I had a chemical stress test 20 years ago. It was not a pleasant experience. My doc wants me to have one now but I have issues with my back as well. Can't lay flat. I hope things work out for you and son soon.
     
    #3
    Diane Lane and Yvonne Smith like this.
  4. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2015
    Messages:
    4,572
    Likes Received:
    4,041
    Sorry about your television signal, Ike, but at least you have the internet, and we're here, so that makes it better :).

    @Yvonne Smith I'm so sorry to hear about your son, Yvonne. Are they looking to do some sort of bypass surgery once they can stabilize his back? Hopefully they can do that soon. My dad had a triple bypass and was much much healthier afterwards. He was able to cut his medications, including his cholesterol meds, in half after that and was able to be much more active and also felt a whole lot better overall. I understand the difficulty about worrying about family at a distance, while also dealing with your own issues. I'll keep y'all in my prayers. I posted a link in the online earnings thread to a site where I participate in some research studies. It's another small one where you can earn a little, and I'm sure any little thing would be helpful right now.
     
    #4
    Yvonne Smith likes this.
  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    14,881
    Likes Received:
    27,871
    Thanks, @Diane Lane ! I did see the link in the earnings thread, and have signed up for it through your referral link. I am also doing the you.gov surveys that Ken mentioned earlier, and slowly working my way up to an Amazon gift card there.
    Hopefully, we are getting the car working right again this week. Bobby (bless his heart) has been struggling with this pesky leak for close to a month now, and it is worrysome to be driving the car and watching the steam coming out from under the hood all of the time.
    We have been filling it with water before going anywhere and carrying along several gallons so we can replenish the radiator any time that we stop.
    Yesterday, we got another hose, and today, Bobby is disassembling the water pump and surrounding hoses so that he can replace this bottom hose. We are hoping that this will stop the leak.
    This car hates to start in cold weather; so when it is cold in the winter, we usually can't drive anywhere anyway. I think that we need to put one of the little heat lamps under the hood so it will start better on cold days, maybe.
    Thank you for the prayers, too, Diane ! We sure need them right now.
     
    #5
    Ike Willis and Diane Lane like this.
  6. Ina I. Wonder

    Ina I. Wonder Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2015
    Messages:
    3,499
    Likes Received:
    5,715
    @Yvonne Smith, I just saw this thread, and I am so sorry to hear of your Michael's troubles. Like Diane's father, mine had a double bypass back in 1978, and it was as if he had regained much of his youth. Science has come so far that when your son gets his surgery, I just know he'll be OK. You know that I too will hold Michael in my hearts prayers.

    I can remember when my Michael would work on our cars. When he couldn't get things to work, he would get frustrated, and he would bang his wrench all over the thing not working. I don't know if it helped, but it would calm him down, and the car would get fixed.

    My love and prayers are with you, and your family.
     
    #6
    Yvonne Smith and Diane Lane like this.
  7. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2015
    Messages:
    4,572
    Likes Received:
    4,041
    Here's my current gripe. I'm trying to get assistance from a local group with one of my bills. I've tried this same group before, and they have never helped me. They just don't call back, or it seems the few times a month that I actually leave home, she calls. I return the call, then no call back. The need is documented, but there seems to be some sort of issue with this woman who manages the funds. It may sound paranoid, but I've been through this before, and the only reason I can think for this issue is that my stupid stalker is active again.
    I had that type of car when I was in grad school. It seemed there was always something wrong with it. I carried gallons of water with me every time I went out, and I'd always worry during night classes, because if enough leaked out, I might not be able to replenish it with what I had. I ultimately had to replace the radiator in that car. After that, it worked like a charm, at least with regard to that issue ;). Besides tires and brakes, my car is making a noise, and I have no idea what it means, and no money to fix whatever it is. I have my fingers crossed and am saying prayers for better days ahead for us all. I do the you.gov surveys, as well as a few other sites. If you're not already signed up, User Testing is slow these days, but it's an easy way to make some money, and you could probably make extra with mobile surveys, since you have an iPad. It's just https://www.usertesting.com and all you need is a cheap headset because you're making an audible recording of what you're doing. They don't require webcams or videos, which is one reason I like them.
     
    #7
    Yvonne Smith likes this.
  8. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2015
    Messages:
    2,880
    Likes Received:
    2,465
    Regarding that tv interruption, we have a positive experience with our cable channel. Our package is the cheapest since we are not much for watching movies so we have no Cinemax and other movie channels. But there are times that our cable connection has all the channels. We don't know if it is intentional (to tempt us) or just a flaw in their system. The all-channel state sometimes lasts for 2 weeks. It is continually like that, now we have it, tomorrow we don't have it. Our package costs 500 pesos a month and the full channel package costs 1,200 pesos. You can see how much we are saving.
     
    #8
    Ike Willis likes this.
  9. Ike Willis

    Ike Willis Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2015
    Messages:
    2,460
    Likes Received:
    6,012
    New gripe.
    I already have two landline phones, one in the bedroom, one in the living room. So, now I only get calls when I'm in the kitchen or bathroom. I don't know if my building manager will allow me to put in two more phones. And how do these callers know I'm not near a phone when they call? And why do they all hang up just before I get to the phone? And who are they anyway? If I knew their names, I'd punch 'em in the head.:mad:
     
    #9
    Joe Riley likes this.
  10. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    13,934
    Likes Received:
    22,555
    Ike, maybe a couple of cordless phones would solve your problem?
     
    #10
    Ike Willis likes this.
  11. Ike Willis

    Ike Willis Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2015
    Messages:
    2,460
    Likes Received:
    6,012
    Cordless phones might solve the phone problem. Now, however, I have a door problem. Most people will knock several times and wait a bit. Everyone that knows me knows I use a walker and it takes me awhile to get up and moving.
    There's this guy who lives in my building. He's a bit scrambled and gets a lot of crap from people. One day he asked if I could loan him some quarters for the laundry. I thought I'd be nice to him and gave him some. Now, he's at my door every day with something. His radio wouldn't work, nor his cell phone, and the other day it was his vacuum cleaner. His cell phone was an easy fix. He tried to put the battery in wrong. I got his vacuum working easy enough. Not only that, but if I don't answer the door immediately, he takes off down the hall, pounding on doors until someone answers. Worse yet, he's taken to not even knocking, but walking right in. Now I keep the door locked at all times. You can't talk to him. He's incoherent most of the time.
    Sometimes, it don't pay to try to help someone.:mad:
     
    #11
    Terry Page and Joe Riley like this.
  12. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    13,934
    Likes Received:
    22,555
    I hear you Ike, but when you set out to help someone, it's not always easy! Sounds like he has other problems, beyond your "pay grade"!;)
     
    #12
    Ike Willis likes this.
  13. Ike Willis

    Ike Willis Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2015
    Messages:
    2,460
    Likes Received:
    6,012
    So, my son came by for a visit Sunday afternoon. While he was here, there was a knock on the door. Son answered the knock. It was Buddy, the guy who always wants quarters for the laundry machines, that I wrote about in the above post.
    I guess Buddy expected to see me. When he saw my son standing there, he just stood there staring. Son asked him what he wanted. All Buddy could do was stare. Son left the door open and came back into the living room. I asked Buddy what he wanted. He just stood in the hall, still staring. Finally, after I assured him no one would hurt him, he entered and mumbled about quarters. I got some out of my quarter stash and he said he'd repay me, which he always does, then he left.
    My son, who has a beard and was wearing his camo hunting clothes, must have scared Buddy. Sometimes Buddy irritates the crap outta me, but I can't stay mad at him. Life can't be much fun for him.
     
    #13
    Babs Hunt and Joe Riley like this.
  14. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    13,934
    Likes Received:
    22,555
    Ike, the Buddy system has always been a good one!
     
    #14
    Ike Willis likes this.

Share This Page