Age Rage

I had to run errands over lunch in downtown Salt Lake, so while I was out I stopped by the local Carl Jr’s to grab some fast food and get back to the office. I was surprised even though the time was about 12:30—right in the middle of lunch hour—the place was not too busy. This Carl Jr’s I always an experience since it is the “downtown Carl’s” which means this restaurant services the homeless an vagrant of the city. The clientele are always colorful if not frightening. But I amazed at how many middle class families are also in the establishment at any given time during the day.

I elected to pay for the meal with cash. I was pretty sure I had the almost five dollars it would the cost would be. I make my order and begin digging out the change from my wallet. I have a couple of paper dollars and I have couple dollar coins and assorted other coins. Then it dawned on me I really do look like a homeless guy, at the homeless fast food place, in my oversized red jacket in my power wheelchair hunched over searching for change. The little Hispanic teller who was waiting on be finally became exasperated and took a deep breath and grabbed what change was showing and said,” I am sure you have just enough” and handed number and I was sent over to wait round with all the other derelicts. Not

long my order came up and I rolled forward and grabbed my lunch which off course came with the receipt. I stowed the receipt into my backpack and headed back to the office eating my Green burrito on the way. It was later when I got back to the office and was going through my pockets and I came upon my receipt. The kid had given me the “Senior discount”. I must be looking this old anymore because I keep getting the Senior Discount! I know I should just accept the place where I am in life and enjoy getting my discount and just stop gripimg.

Christmas Miracle ?

Because I run the Sales Bank, our part of the website which allows people with assistive technology (used) a place where they can list their used technology for sale, trade or donation, I see first what is going on the “big board”. As some of you constant readers are away the lift in my van has been wearing out or sometime. We patch a part there and improvise a piece here but little by little the lift is wearing out. A new lift would be roughly $5000.00 obviously that is not going to happen, so I have been keeping my ear to the ground hoping a useable lift would be come available.

Monday I took the call. An older gentleman called with a lift he wanted to give away, GIVE AWAY!! I called my installed, Justin, who pretty much assured me that the lift should fit into a full sized van like I drive. The lift is three years old and for me this is practically new. The lift is a Ricon split lift, which means the platform portion of the lift actually IS split down the middle and fold up so when the lift is in the “up” position, people who ambulate can actually climb into the van through the lift. The split platform is a nifty feature but much more nifty is the whole thing is free. The installation will run close $500.00 but that is doable; just means no Christmas this year but for me.

I have accepted to do this project, albeit with a few twinges a guilt, but I am forcing my self through the guilt rationalizing like mad: this lift will provide dependable transportation allowing me to continue working etc,etc. Hopefully Justin can pick up the lift today inspect the product then if acceptable we’ll drop off the van and Justin feels he can take out the old lift and install the replacement in one day! We might be driving the lift van this weekend. This ould be sweet indeed.

I just Want My internet

As I approached the train station this morning for my ride into work I could see the electronic Time and Date read outs were flashing and displaying wrong time and date . “ This is not good.” I thought to myself, but a train had just passed a few minutes earlier so I knew the trains were running and I hoped, on schedule. This could be a “Black Monday”. It is being called “Cyber Monday” from the Christmas shopping angle would it not be interesting if there was a huge cyber crash today ?

I killed my laptop last night—actually I just killed the resident personality when I finally took the step and formatted the hard drive and of course I pretty much lost everything. I may even have lost the material I had backed up on the external drive I got last week! I was naïve thinking an easy format was possible. I seem to have lost my USB ports so I will be reloading software I can find or down loading drives off the INTERNET to try to make my laptop useable again. Oh yeah I also lost my router connection on my laptop which means no NET connection. So I cannot down load the software I will need until I am back up. I just hope I can get my hands on the CD Rom I need to find the connection.

I found this morning, on returning to work, interviews for Marianne’s position are to be Wednesday and Thursday: ten applicants and I shall be proctoring either the computer competency part of the interview or the writing portion of the interview. The only drawback is I have a lunch meeting with old staff members at 1200 at McgGraffs across the street. It’s pre-holiday lunch. The last interview of the morning is over about 11:30 ad the next is 1:30 so I think I can fit a quick lunch in there safely. It looks to be a busy week.

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving was surprising great. I was a bit of a mess as the hour scheduled for the dinner approached(12:30) and people began to arrive on time and we were still putting dishes into the oven for cooking. I had been up since six and helped Dianne prepare the bird and throw the beast into the oven. A smaller beast this year not even twenty pounds but, I insisted large enough to feed the twenty family members who had RSVPed. I had made the coffee, cried threw chopping of onions and celery and I was doing fine. Dianne was upbeat committed to enjoying the experience this year. We were having just immediate family, two generations Dianne, myself, our offspring and our two granddaughters—is that three generations? So three generations. Just my family, no mom or dad person, brother or sisters, aunts or uncles or cousins just my family and the event was good. We had enough food, pie and Kristy’s red jello. Aunaka had made a great game the whole family was able to play and enjoy. Jasmine and Mark brought a game offspring we did not get round to playing: Killer Bunnies. We want to get the whole family together again so we can play Jasmine’s choice.

Perhaps the best part of the afternoon was that all the kids washed the dishes freeing Dianne or me from the task. True, we had made a point to use as much disposable as possible. Paper china and plastic cups we had but I also thought we had plastic eating utensils—we did not. So there was a pile of pots and pans and silverware. Even with starting the meal at 12:30 pm and shooting to get people fed and out as soon as possible we finally got the last of the guest out round 4:30. The afternoon had been great visiting had taken place, real interaction and the dishes done and garbage taken out we were left lone. Dianne went down for a nap and I watched a video.

Friday I stayed home from the office. I cannot say I did anything productive but play round in my computer room and try to build my courage to format my laptop. I have been working on a project all weekend to take all my bank statements I have received since I resumed banking about ten years ago and put these statements in order and three hole punch them and place them in binders. I did it. I must still have a pile of these statements some where but I got all I had punched , sorted and stuck in a binder. I have to admit I learned a lot about myself and how I have spent money the past decade.

Yesterday I actually ventured out and shopped for groceries. I have yet to consider Christmas shopping. There has been so much discussion regarding Black Friday I am going to wait till at least December before I do any shopping just out of spite.

I cannot put it off any longer. I better go and format my drive…wish me luck.

Frozen Turkey

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am sitting in the office “cooking down” the clock till I can go come for the holiday. Most the other staff have left the holiday and the Boss and myself are then only ones left. We have to have someone here until five as the time of operation states on our business cards and PSAs. Someone has to be here. I expect the boss to leave before 5:00 leaving only me, ‘alone again naturally’.

Lunch was really strange in the city today. It’s always seems strange to me to be in the city the day before a major holiday. I took a late lunch and I noticed the building were emptying as upper management and bureaucrats began to disappear for the holiday. Since my batteries have become so unpredictable I rolled up to the train and took the train round the corner to the mall to see what was available. I have hankering for some Long john Silver’s. But I had not counted on the construction going on downtown. The sidewalk I needed to get to the accessible entrance to the mall was blocked off my construction stuff. It’s beautiful today but cold as heck, I had taken off without my gloves, I was cold so, So I started a bee-line back to the office. Knowing I still had to drop off my weekly letter to my Mom, I knew I would be passing the downtown Carl Jr’s and I figured I would stop by and snag a burger or something. It may have been my imagination but the streets seemed to have been taken over by the homeless even on the train there were homeless guys sitting on the seat facing me. Many of these hobo looking guys were carrying a huge frozen Butterball turkey. There were lugging round huge 20 pound or more frozen rocks of turkey protein with a dazed look on their faces as if they had won the lottery.

Even if the hobo had the skills how would they cook their bird? Maybe they would stand on the corner, like scalpers, and offer the turkeys to last minute shoppers looking for a deal—perhaps they were planning on letting their bird thaw and then tonight cruising the fast food joints near the liquor store and get a couple gallons of grease and deep fat fry their bird tomorrow in Pioneer park or just maybe they are using their bird o parley their way into an invitation to a family who would trade cooking the bird and the rest of the meal to this provider for his bird. Maybe they just took the birds because the birds were free…and when you are broke and down and out you take anything free and figure out what to do with it later.

Board Meeting

I’m OK it is mid afternoon before my quarterly board meeting and usually by now I am ‘sweating bullets’ all nervous about the morrows board meeting. But not this time, I am cranking through my stats-and the stats are down but I am not bothered I have learned, we will by. I have found a good graphic which describes the visits to the website and I am preparing my quarterly Activities page with phone traffic. I still have to put some information together regarding projects I am either doing or plan on doing in the next quarter. I just have to make sure we have candy for the refreshments, my board loves refreshments.

I arranged to have this board meeting during Thanksgiving week to increase the probabilities that as few of the board members would show as possible and also to have the my board meeting out of the was so I might enjoy the holidays. In the past I have always had the board meeting the first Tuesday after the first of then year and I always fretted over the holidays especially knowing I had my board meeting the first week I get back from New Years. Not any more.

The last couple of weeks have been beautiful Fall weather, temps in the upper sixties, and plenty of sunshine –that ends to night however at 6:00 with the arrival of out Thanksgiving storm—rain for sure and maybe even snow and temps of only high forties. I guess its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Doubts

My lap top has been ailing for some time. I call my lap top Colossus from the 70's television movie about two computers which take over the world. My PC then is name Guardian—any way Colossus has picked up a couple of viruses and other things along the way and now is always being hijacked and is just plain slow. After Mark brought Guardian back to life last week and now have two working systems. I realized it was time I needed to re-install the operating system on Colossus and give the unit a new life. I have not done this yet because I would need to back everything up and this has been intimidating. Mark just looked at me and said “come on dad it's time. Get yourself a USB hard drive and just do it.”

Inspired by Mark's words I checked a couple of places yesterday and finally purchased a 250 GB Free Agent Drive by SeaGate. I figured 250 is big enough for my back-up needs. I brought drive home and last night I began backing up my ` laptop, the process is a bit timely but have backed images,music, and videos files everything else will either be reinstalled when I 'nuke' Colossus or I will install as I need the applications opting to use new up-to-date version of the software lost.

I started reading my XP Home book and I'm a bit more confident still what if I screws everything up...

24 Hour Rule

It has been twenty-four hours since Amy from Express Recovery dropped the $459.00 bomb on me. I have had some time to process he phone call and visit with Dianne about the all since Dianne handles this kind of stuff at out house. Dianne just asked that I start getting as much information together as I can regarding the bill. I have found that my “24 hour” applies on just about everything. I always give an upsetting issue twenty-four hour before I really consider any action I might take.

I called the hospital this morning at my break and found out that it was not the hospital who had sent me to collections. I was encouraged when I finally got someone, in billing, to pick up the phone. I was momentarily encouraged when the lady in the billing office said they had not sent me to collections and if they had, the hospital has heir very own collection group and I definitely had not been sent to them. The lady then informed me that most likely the doctor who had treated me was the person who had sent me to collections.

So, I called Amy back at the collection agency, and she sounded just as perky today as she sounded yesterday and sure enough it was the ER doc. I cannot believe I have to pay separately for each of this medical experience. How can they o this…is their goal to complicate a persons life as much as possible? Now, I have to go back and check and check to see if I even got any notice from the ER-doc for services rendered. I do not remember seeing anything. I think I am going to be battling these guys for months if not years to come. But, I have to admit, Amy was pretty cool. She helped me set up a ‘payment’ plan. I will make payments as I work with my insurance carrier to see if we can get this mess worked out. Hopefully if we can get the insurance folk to be responsible they can compensate me for any payments I might make.

My cousin called this morning an my van should be finished by 5:00 o clock but I am not going to pick the van up today. If I get the van at all this week it will be tomorrow, I can deal with only so many financial matters at one time—I am giving my van 24 hours and hoping for the best.

ARRRRRRRGHHHHH!

Remember last summer when I had to go t the Emergency Room because my then primary physician would lift me from my wheelchair to the exam table because moving the crip was too much bother and the doc essentially forced me to the ER and I did. I went like a dummy. Insurance had been working pretty good for us and I figured ‘what the heck?’ Well today I got called by the collections people for the hospital—seems the insurance people denied my claim because the event was non-emergent. Some post-adolescent dorkas named Amy called—and I answered and now the collection department has got me. This cannot end good.

Nickle and Dime

I am currently in the middle of a bit of a make over for my power wheelchair. This make over is the recommendation of my stint this Summer and Fall at the Rehab unit. When the durable medical boys are finished with me I’ll have new arm rests for more stability with new padding( the sales guy thought was very special) and I’ll have a new Roho cushion. Roho is the cushion built from magical rubber “fingers” of air to keep your but free of pressure.

As of last week these items are beginning to finally arrive and had the arms put on my chair necessitating that I go my durable medical provider so they can install the armrests. My van also entered the shop this morning with what I thought was a radiator issue but just found out is the water pump and will be in the $400.00 range. This is a major hit but I guess is survivable, all things considered. I will at least have option in the bad weather coming this week. The point being that I am taking public transit to the vendor to have the work done which I did. When I got there the vendor was shocked that I did not have my van with me. He actually thought I was just having someone drop off my chair—so I think he could feel he could work on the chair at his leisure and not have to have me, the consume, looming down his neck. Plus he would not have to worry about getting me out of my chair and storing me somewhere during the refitting. In the old days leaving my chair was never an issues. Just sidle up to a chair, any kin of chair, and “jump” from on chair to the next and I was happy as a clam. Not anymore. When I tried the transfer I started slipping between the two chairs and I was a sad crawdad. Finally a couple of shop guys came out and threw me in to one of the chairs littering the floor where I remained for the next hour.

I sat there quiet watching as one older couple after another came in looking for a walker, or a power chair of one sort or another as the sales guys pounced on them and then started the “up-sell” almost immediately. The old guy did not have a chance. The “suite” smelled medi-care or Medicaid “blood” like sharks in the ocean. The sales shark was not even good at it either had them in his teeth and proceeded to chew. The shark actually spit one out for time being when he realized that the old guy did not have a precipitation from his doc. It was ad as he sort of separated the old teamster from the shiny red Jazzy 1170 and gently backed the Jazzy back onto the showroom floor, promising it to the senior when the senior had complied with all the requirements.

Fall Daze

Its a beautiful Fall afternoon. A gift. A warm blustery day as a front is pushing it self in with falling temperatures and the promise of rain for tomorrow. I am alone today and tonight. Dianne is at the cabin with Auni Bridget and Gabe. I don't go to the cabin, especially in the winter because the cabin is two hours away, with copious amount of snow and most of all not wheelchair accessible. I am a homebody I guess—which might not be fair to Dianne who spends most of her time at home during the week. I am glad the kids take her to the cabin so she can have a change in venue.

I spent a major part of the afternoon next door visiting with Al and Lanae, outside on their driveway. The visit was great and I am afraid it may be the last for a while as the inclement weather moves in. This saddens me a bit but such is the cycle of life and the seasons.

The wind has been brisk enough to assist many of the trees in our neighborhood dispatch the last of their leaves. Our plum lost most of its leaves leaving a rich red carpet on our lawn. Down the street there are patches of brilliant yellow under other trees and orange under yet others. The house is quiet, I turned off NPR a few minutes ago and the hum of the lap top keeps me company. I need to spend some time in the computer room working on Guardian, my big system but other then that this has been a quiet holiday Saturday along,, again, naturally.

Don't bother me...

I did not sleep well last night. Auni was over—though that had nothing to do with the quality of my sleep—just old guy stuff. But because of my lack of sleep I was a train zombie this morning, I had the dead eye stare which said “don\’t bother me”. I had my huge paperback collection of Orson Scott Card and I tried to hide in this tomb but I am sure I was not fooling anyone.

The stop after mine Mr. J got on the train. Mr. J. must be 85 or maybe even older, but he is a young 85 and quite spry. Mr. J is dressed in tans and browns nice shoes, great socks, slacks, white \shirt and tie , sports coat and a hat worn jauntily to one side. I once new another fellow who was aged and dressed similar, in Boise and the Boise guy was very interesting and bought me a lunch the first I ever met him.

I found on the first contact I ever made with Mr. J that he was dressed and heading in to Salt Lake at this early hour to do temple work—this is a quasie form of recreation for old Saints. I was deflated. I had much more interesting fantasies for this old guy. He seemed happy go lucky and we had a fairly interesting discussion.

It could have been me, it WAS probably me, with my ‘don’t bother me face’ and my diving into my book trying to be as asocial as I could be. Mr.J tried to make contact at one point drawing attention to how bad I was rocking with the train and perhaps I should sit another way. I just smiled and said something—not rude but limiting and returned to my reading , letting the train throw me all over the car only now accentuating each rock and roll the train made as it crossed its uneven rails. Mr.J was quiet till he got to the temple and got off but right before the senior left the train he turned to me and glared and said something like “ when you get off till the driver the electronic sign at the 45^th street says May—its November they need to fix this, you tell the drive”. Having said this, Mr. J made a sharp about face went to the back of the train and left the train.

I swear the conversation was like something from a Stephen King novel. I had just nodded my head in response to his command. Each station is equipped with an electronic sign reading month, time of day and time till next train arrives-and any other bits of information “train central” feels the transit consumers need to know. Everyone once in a while they mess up but people survive and the trains come and trains go. Maybe it was safer for the old guy to unload on the sign then it was to deal with me in my sleepy dark mood. Ether way I told the driver nothing when he let me off at the End of the Line…I sure wish I has taken the guys picture.

So Long Marianne

Marianne is leaving! She came in to my office the first of the week right after she informed my boss, that she was leaving at the end of the month. I have to admit I usually I really am only marginally interested when fellow employees decide to move on one way or another but with Marianne leaving I suddenly start feeling wave of anxiety, separation anxiety.

Marianne has been on board in our office for about two years. I don’t think I was too hot on her when she first came on board. She seemed arrogant, controlling and possibly condescending. But Marianne worked, very hard. Even though she was a pain in the butt sometimes the effort she put in on the office made a major difference. Marianne really does not get mad and we have folks in our office who sometimes can get under your skin but I have not seen Marianne

Really blow her top like I have with other front desk people. Marianne

actually has real negotiating skills, she is not frighten of drug crazies zombie street people who wander into to our office from time to time.

Marianne has a naivety which serves her well in communicating with state division heads, executive directors, consumers with developmental disabilities, their staff and parents. Marianne is also always learning—I think this is what I like best in the woman’s make up. there have been times when she has not know something, she should have known coming into this position. I can tell this from her questionsand mistakes she will make over and over. However, she will doggedly find the answer and become the office authority on this particular area.

So we are back to square one at the office and the boss and I both sorta feel that it will be along time before we find someone who can fill Marianne’s shoes.

On No Another Advisory Board Meeting

I just realized I am supposed to have a board meeting the twentieth of this month. The 20^th is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I know this is a horrible time to try to get anyone one for a meeting but I am going to try because I want to get the board meeting out of the way and not hanging over my head for the holidays. The downside of this is having to dump my data and get the data presentable in two weeks with a National holiday squashed right in the middle. I also have to get “meeting Notices” sent out as well as agenda. If I focus, I should be able to get these items in the mail by tomorrow evening( Thursday). I doubt anyone will really show but I’ll have crossed all the bases and will have the meeting done.

Ho HoHo…

Weak!

This is me-an Americian turkey!

People are returning to the office. The boss returned from vacation last night and Marsha returned this morning too. The sounds of an office are filling this office again, copy machine grinding out copies and actual people to send phone calls to people dropping by to see the director. I am glad I was here when the boss got in yesterday—straight in from the airport. I sort of think Marianne was going to pick her up but Marianne’s daughter was sick leaving the boss to cab in from the airport. So there are three of us in today ad two out and I sense or I think I sense the boss beginning to grind her teeth.

The official word from the University Rehab Center is that I am out of visits, insurance visits that is. I am sure the Rehab Center would love to have me if I just rolled in and plunked hard American cash-soft as it is. Today was to be the first of my two weekly visits, at three o clock, actually the visit is at four but I must leave by three to take the train up the hill to make it by my 4:00 pm appointment. I actually emailed my therapist yesterday and this morning when I had not received a reply. I finally got a reply a few minutes ago which basically said “ see you in January”. This is cool with me I think we had progressed far as we cold go for right now. I also think we were beginning to tire of each other. I was also getting nervous at the amount of medical leave I was using. Even though I have the ‘ sick leave’ to burn I hate being away from the office and the phones as much as this dip into rehab has demanded that I be. Hopefully, if and when, I re-enter rehab after the first of the year I will have someone else hired who can cover the phones for me when I leave the office.

Finally, today is Election Day and my dirty little secret is I did not vote! I have some great excuses which include, they moved my polling place and I have not found the new, I cannot find my voter registration card, my wheelchair van is broken, the train caught fire this morning and this election is a small election. We have only one referendum and nothing much else to consider. Dianne said she would find the polls and vote or both of us. I cannot believe it how much I am noticing those quirky little badges they peel off their giant roll, at the election hall, and past on your shirt when you come out of the booth and you let em do it with a huge Gomer Pyle grin, proud as Pete that you did your duty. The first time sense Dianne and I got married. What this means I cannot say except that I am a poor American today. I did not do my duty an I guess I am just going to have to live with that.

Yawn

Its November 5^th tomorrow’s Election Day, Thanksgiving is three weeks away and it 59 degrees out side my window. I was out at lunch running round up town and I could have sworn it was Spring. There’s a couple of big conferences in town lots of interesting folks walking past my windows. I need to be doing a million things but I just cannot seem to get movtivated. Maybe I am suffering from Setback malaise. The dull sleepiness the body suffers in the Autumn as the body adjusts to the difference times and perhaps more important adjusting to the change in daylight. I will feel that I am going home later because of the darkness of the eve even though I have put in the same amount of hours as I usually do.

Strange

It's not that I could have done any better it's that, it was just weird. Last night was the going away dinner/party for the Russians. The Russian docs have been i n town for their week and they flew back to Izhevsk this morning Standard time. The Russians like to party a lot and they have a party whenever they can think up an occasion to have any kind of celebration.

Last night's celebration was to be a dinner party. The event last Saturday night was a nice dinner party. Lots of cold cuts caviar vodka wine and various soft drinks. The dinner was held at a local apartment complex common house jut right.

Last night was totally different. We got the email early in the week the event was to be held at Totem's a private club on the North West side of Salt Lake at 7:00 P M. I have been to Totems in the past almost twenty years ago. A mix of country western and national forest: lots of logs. The place just seemed odd to host an event for our Russian friends. Dianne had become close to these folks in the events she had been instrumental in putting together and wanted to see them off. I was indifferent but in my goal is becoming more social I put forth the effort to go.

Totems is much larger then I remember. In a side of town I rarely go in daylight even less after dark, Totems is a private club meaning you can smoke and order liquor with your meal should you desire. However Totems still has the appeal of national park as and cowboys. It's a dressed bar, albeit a big bar, is still just a bar.

We were almost the first to get there , a couple of the doctors had been dropped off and were sitting in the midst of three rows of tables with table clothes and place settings. This was at 6:55pm and by 7:10 there had assembled a small crowd. A lot of hand shaking and hugging went on and ogling , as the group tried to take in the “opulence” of the logs, beer signs and working class folk sitting at the bar.

Sergey, one of the local docs hosting the Russians, gave a review of the week's events—every thing seemed to drag. I was getting hungry and there was no sign of food. Finally it was revealed that the dinner was to be prime rib, no ordering off a menu.

Two waitresses, which I later realized were bar maids, tried to take the salad orders—they were monstrously slow and Dianne and I were on the end of the end table. All during the pre-meal and now the meal there was a rumbling coming from what to be a curtained stage. I knew the sound it was band getting ready to perform and sure enough half way through the wait for dinner they started their mix of country rock and good ol' rock and roll. Good old LOUD rock and roll. Needless to say any verbal cultural exchange ended.

The prime rib was cold by the time I got mine I has to ask for steak knives three times before the knives finally arrived. I wolfed mine down like any survivor would thankful for the protein. We stayed till 9:30 then grabbed our coats and booked feeling safer each mile South and East we traveled. We had done our duty but boy was the duty weird.

Brain Surgery

It's past noon on Saturday--the laptop is working a little so I will swiftly post. I want to get into the big PC, who will no longer boot, and try to erase the CMOS. some of the Internet searches I have found indicate this may take of the issues I am having. The laptop I am afraid I am going to just have to nuke! I do not want to attempt this until I have Colossus running again--then I'll nuke Guardian.

Day of the Dead

Its Day of the Dead celebration for Mexicans. I guess Day of the Dead is big holiday South of the border but the folks up in the consulate upstairs are working. I stopped in after lunch and visited with my new buddy, Jose, and the consulate looked like they were about ready to party. I believe the shut their offices down at 3:00 p.m. I noticed big pink bakery boxes in their back room.

I am the only on the office this Friday afternoon and actually I would be gone too if my therapist had not called yesterday afternoon and left a message that I need not come in today for my physical therapy. Seems there are questions regarding my insurance. I should have a number of visits more but heir accounting is currently all messed up. So here I sit, charging my battery, watching the clock and getting ready to leave.

Trick or Treat

I had to stop at a shop on the way home from work, last night, which took me a block away from the from my train station. I have to admit I was a bit preoccupied; the evening was growing late though the sun had not yet set, a cool wind had come up making the evening colder then I would have preferred. I was scurrying through the buildings and block of the ‘metropolitan’ of downtown Salt Lake to the train station. Halloween night and I had noticed a few who had braved public humiliation and were out on the sidewalks as rock stars, slashers and cartoon characters…one Bob Square Pants. I pulled my jacket round my face in my best Dickens characterization and headed into the wind. I was heading west to war main street and came up on regent Street. There was a SUV type vehicle blocking my path of travel. You know people will pull up past stop zone and block the crosswalk? Well I did not pay much attention and accelerated my chair hair and went behind the SUV.

The pavement is very rough in this section of town, blacktop has been layered over blacktop for decades it seems and causes a wavy surface on the street. As I went behind the SUV I felt my weight shift as I negotiated these blacktop waves and I rounded the SUV I felt myself(chair) brush against the bumper. There was a bit ff a “thud” but I was OK and I was then on my way. I had a nagging feeling that all was not well, but I sped on my way, had a train to catch.

As I sat at the corner of Second South and Main street a guy, nicely dressed in a yellow dress shirt and slacks and asked if he could have my name—I thought he might be a reporter or something. He read my name off my ID packet I wear round my neck and also noticed that I worked for the State. He was very cool about the whole thing but I did have a weird feeling. Finally asked what he wanted the information for. Of course he is the driver of the SUV whose bumper I ran into. He went on to tell me that I had injured hi rear bumper and that was going to have to pay for the repair to the bumper. I was blown away so I just sit looking stupid on the corner of Second south and Main Street. I was the deer in then head lights. I even gave him my stupid business card. He was very nice about the whole thing but very serious too. I could not think of anything to say but I was sorry. I went round the vehicle and yup, sure enough there was a scratch. The SUV had that rubber like stuff on the bumper and that was what I had scratched. If the bumper had been regular chrome I doubt I would have left a mark of any kind. The guy said “of course I’ll have to get the bumper fixed.” Who knows what that means. I mean a bumper ? Holy Cow who fixes a bumper!! A two inch scratch! True I was preoccupied I should have been paying more attention on the street so the did cause me to brush the vehicle. I could try to fight the claim if it gets to the point where damages are levied against me. But what can I fight? I did it I hit the bumper—I have no defense except absent-mindedness. Maybe he was just trying to scare me. Maybe he was fed up with these no account, above the law street vixens who run Willie Nellie all over the down town sidewalks cutting people off, hogging the sidewalks and ramming cars. Well this one is going to pay for the scratch in my bumper. I probably will too…another expensive lesson. When will I learn?