UNLEASHED WITHOUT RESERVATIONS

 

Do you know how taxing it is for me to think up (clever) titles which will cajole you into reading my posts?

(I can't remember the last time I ever used the word "cajole")

I'm going to unleash another update, in an attempt to purge my multitudinous anxieties.

I'll save the worst for last - - which will be difficult, due to the fact that my worsts are numerous and seemingly endless.

I'm having so much pain in my back and spine that it's nearly intolerable. The pain is accompanied by screaming spasms.

This is all because of the fall I had last month. I fell directly on my back and my spine hit the concrete blocks that I use as steps to the back porch. I've had so many previous spinal injuries that inflicted permanent damage.

Consequently, I'm now hanging on to my walker for dear life.....

.....but I'm used to pain and agony.

I still haven't found anyone to fix the latest broken water pipe. All the helpful people haven't been helpful at all. Plumbers in rural Tennessee are rarer than hen's teeth......or Rachmaninov fans.

The house is infested with mice. I need about a dozen cats.

Or ten pounds of rat poison. It's quicker.

Let's have an enthusiastic drum roll for the latest disaster.

I was supposed to have three doctor appointments this month, and  a CT scan was scheduled for yesterday (Tues. the 20th)

The appointments are in Cookeville (a zillion miles away)....so I had to "book" my rides with a local transport company.

My CT scan appointment yesterday was for 9:30 a.m. This had me extremely worried because I'm not a morning person, and going alone in a wheelchair will be an agonizing humiliation.

So, I got up extremely early (3:00a.m.). It takes me forever to get ready and suppress my anxiety attacks. Making certain that I wouldn't miss my ride, I sat in the living room at 6:00 a.m. (waiting for 8:00 a.m.)

Shortly after 8:00 I got a phone call. It was the driver of my transit vehicle. She bluntly informed me that she wasn't going to pick me up. Since I live in a rural area, she was afraid that she would get stuck in the "soft ground" in my driveway.

I could hardly believe my ears. I was so completely stunned that I was rendered speechless. I finally told her I had an important medical appointment.

She said "Well, you'd better get someone with a truck to take you"

I thought -

Sure, lady. I'll wheel myself out to the highway and flag down a trucker.

She had no mercy. I was left high and dry.

I don't get upset very easily, but this unexpected disaster had me on the verge of hysteria. I grabbed the phone and cancelled all of my appointments.

Everyone I talked to was sympathetic. My Cookeville appointments are rescheduled for March and they will look into the transportation problem.

IRONICALLY

Two hours later, the FedEx truck came and delivered my latest orders right to my front door

No problems with my driveway.

Later that same day, a UPS vehicle came up my driveway and delivered an important package. No problems.

I now know why SOME (not all) of the FedEx drivers didn't deliver my packages. They were afraid they'd get stuck in my driveway.

I'm not an expert when it comes to rural "driveways", but I lived here for over nine years and nobody ever got stuck in my driveway.

I'm sure it could be a problem when there's ice or rain. Several years ago my car got stuck in mud halfway up the driveway during a torrential rain storm.

I have a LOT more to say, but I'll cut it short for now.

BTW

The above photo is my front "yard". The so-called driveway is on the right side of the picture.

I hope the driveway didn't terrify you,  Jon