I started writing this probably when I learned my work fate. The title in the unsaved script was “Sanguine.”
That quite the correct word for how I’m feeling after what happened to me yesterday.
So this is going to happen, and I’m not terribly worried about it. The optimism implied by “sanguine” isn’t really there. It’s a change, and I’m okay with it. I’ve done what I can do, and the change needs to happen.
Despite arguments otherwise, nobody can actually control the weather.
I’m very much comfortable with the idea that I’ve done the right thing, and things will turn out okay.
So, I spit that out in April of 2025. It’s taken an awful long time for it to all be resolved.
But, finally, Thursday night it was.
How does that make you feel?
Spent. But ready to see what else the rest of the year has in store. I do still need to figure out some money stuff, but my original assumption about what I was going to have to deal with is pretty much true. It’s actually better than I thought it’d be just a few months ago. I will get COLA increases, but they’re only on the portion I have to get from Social Security. So, fixed chunk of insurance money each month, then the increasing Social Security disability payment. I get Medicare some time in 2028, but it’s really irrelevant as all my MS care is being covered through my participation in the clinical study.
After that, Medicare would be a supplement to whatever insurance comes from my wife’s job.
Things get better.
I’m not sure that the feeling could be described as optimistic. That’s not quite right, but I can’t think of a better word.
What else to do?
- Figure out TV and Intertubes. The complex where we live is basically giving up on its old copper wire connectivity. My building has something like 25 separate apartments. Okay, the copper was probably sufficient when it was installed in 1999, And the wires inside the units, themselves, aren’t in great shape. When we moved in, there was always weirdness with the TV in the front room. We didn’t really want the cable modem out there, so that got moved into the bedroom we use as an office, but the TV out front still didn’t work. The
ComcastXfinity guy came out, tested the signal, and couldn’t figure out what was going on. Until he pulled off the wallplate, and found that the cable inside the wall was basically severed. Call the community’s maintenance department to get it fixed; that’ll be four weeks. Screw it. We’ll just use a WIFI device. So many people, myself included, missed what was happening technologically with wireless networking. Bubuhbut they’re keeping me from getting Netflix on my parents’ cell plan!!1! HOW DARE the evil guy tear up Net Neutrality? So, the community is going to have shared WIFI all of the residents. To use it, you’ll have to pay $50/mo., but that’ll be rolled into new leases. And the next time the walljack quits working, oh well. Use WIFI. Your TV service is delivered over the Internet, anyway. (Random aside…. Totes-didn’t-do-evil-Co’s browser now marks WiFi as a misspelling if I don’t capitalize the whole thing….) - Speaking of TV, that’s been the other things I’ve been trying to figure out. I’ve been an AT&T Wireless customer since I had to switch to buy an iPhone 3G. My mother’s house has AT&T fiber. Yes, there is a CATV provider, but I’d have to pay to have a line run from the box on the street. And AT&T bought DirecTV. The streaming product is so so much better then it was when I tried to get it for our last apartment in Norfolk. I bought service for my mom’s house, and am satisfied with the quality. I also might use it to watch Saints games during football season. The folks in the house barely use it, and I’d planned on cutting it off when the promo pricing expires next spring. Ehh…fuck it. They’ve got an app now for our Smart TV. Maybe we’ll just go with that for home, and update the service location so we get DC channels instead of Biloxi. Except that the app doesn’t work on the TV after it’d finally been released.
ComcastXfinity would allow me to consolidate everything into one bill, too. Though it comes close on the offerings, Hulu doesn’t completely cover everything. YouTube is the same deal. So. Discussion to be had. Leaning towards going with Xfinity Stream, then adding on an AT&T hotspot to serve as backup to what I anticipate will be subpar community WIFI. *cringe of discomfort typing that in all caps* - Fantasy football. I joined a Yahoo regular league. I almost feel like I ought to let it do an auto-pick draft; maybe I’ll do that for the other leagues I join. Need to figure out a Pro pick ’em league. Also wondering about College. But it’s happening. The Saints looked good last night. The For(mer)skins not so much.
I’m fading already, and need to make some phone calls. So, prompt…
Write a letter to your younger self.
What do they need to hear from you right now?
Dear Sean, stop being so cautious. You will screw up. Stop trying to be perfect. You’re going to miss out on things because you’re worried about being embarrassed. Your time to do fun, interesting, things is incredibly short. Eat the oyster. Maybe don’t just say no to drugs.
Alright. Until next time…