I finally made it to my first year working at my new Wal*mart. Now I can get medical coverage through them so I decided with my age being over the halfway point it might be time to find a new family doctor. I have medical coverage through the military, but this backwards town has no idea what a military I.D. card is, what it’s good for or how to file claims. In the past (12 years ago!) I had a really good doctor…for about 6 months until he quit the practice and moved away. I talked to some of the people at work and almost everyone had an opinion. I finally located a doctor that takes both of my medical cards now. Her name is Elaine Lewis. So I made an appointment for the time I knew I would be out of college.
Today was my first appointment. I got there early and filled out the forms. Within a few minutes I was back having my blood pressure and pulse taken. I knew the results before I started….I have high blood pressure. I have been occasionally checking it at work for free, and it runs in my family anyway so it was no surprise to me. From all the reading I’ve done, I knew it was something that needs to be looked after.
The doctor came in and went over my history. She had several recommendations. The first is that I start taking a baby aspirin a day. The second is that I get a bottle of Glucosamine / Chondroitin and take it as recommended until the bottle was empty. Then stop taking it to see if I felt any different. From the internet and through Elaine, I learned this may help my joint pain…. She said it helps some people and some people it So I’ll try this to see what happens. She also told me I could take 2 Aleve twice a day.
Finally she prescribed a low dose High Blood pressure medication which she wants me to take until my next visit in June. Before my next visit, I need to fast for 8 hours for blood work, etc. I guess I’ll also have the yearly things coming up….pap smear and mammogram…Yuck! I’ve never been one to take a lot of medication…Now I’m up to at least 3 pills a day.
And she told me to stay off roller skates….which leads me to…..
Now for the other recent news: about 2 weeks ago today when I went to college my 1998 Ford Escort wagon was driving okay all the way there….Between classes, I went out to start it and it made an awful rattling racket and would not stay running. I locked it up and walked the mile or so to my next class.
After class I called AAA for a wrecker and started walking back to the main campus. A fellow student picked me up and took me the rest of the way. When we got there the wrecker was already backing up to my disabled car…..and there was this huge puddle underneath. The 37 mile tow seamed to take forever but I REALLY am glad I opted for the Gold membership. The shop I take my car to is about a mile from my house. They told me it would be the next day before they could even look at it. Now I was left with a dilemma…how to get to and from school and work. I only had 6 days left of school
My sister-in-law stepped up and let me use her SUV the next day as I only had my photography class. During the class, the shop called and gave me the bad news….my car’s engine was blown. They would get estimates on the repairs and give me a call later….Bad news….a used engine would run $2000 and a new engine would run $4500! The mechanic told me if I could afford either, I’d be better off getting a new car…..GREAT!
I talked to my sister-in-law and was able to use her car on 3 other days. One day she took me to school and a fellow art student let me ride home with him….The jerk that I had given a ride to the entire semester didn’t even volunteer to let me ride with him.
Getting to work was another problem. The first night my sister-in-law took me to work. I walked the 2.5 miles home at 11 p.m.. The next day I went to work I walked to work. I had the “brilliant” idea of buying roller skates to get home…..Let me make this perfectly clear….God did not put enough padding on my backside……after the 3 time I fell on my butt and braced my fall with my arm, I decided to take the skates off and walk the rest of the way….The next 2 days I rode my bike both ways….even in a light drizzle.
I called my mom and we talked for awhile. She said she would send me $700. I was able to come up with an additional $200 to put a down payment on another vehicle. Monday when I came back from school, I used my sister-in-law’s SUV to go car shopping.
Once again, several people had suggestions for me…I listened to my son and went to a “Buy here, Pay Here” company that one of his friends used. They told me to use their name. When I got there I found some really nice people. They had 2 cars they would work with me on. The first was a Mustang Convertible….nice car, but I know it would get me in trouble and the convertible would require a lot of maintenance in our area….not practical in the winter time either…So I settled for a 2003 Dodge Neon.
It’s not a bad car. Has a CD player and good radio. Haven’t figured out how to use the cruise control yet. no owners manual…but I can buy one and only 1 key….That’s a problem since I have locked my keys in the old car at least 4 times! A duplicate key cost $70! (I’m told they have a chip in them and cost twice that at the dealer) But I can have a door key made for about $3….so I’ll get one made. I didn’t have the entire amount for the down payment so the dealer made some adjustments to my payments. For 10 payments, I have to make an extra $30 on the payment, and when I get my overage check from Summer session in school I pay the rest.
The good thing is unlike my previous dealership, this one reports to the credit bureau, so as long as I make payments on time, my credit will improve.
Now whenever Wal*Mart calls me in, I can no longer afford to let it ring. I have to pick up extra hours whenever I can. My husband is supposed to get a refund of his 401K he had through the job he got fired from because he didn’t have enough in it to keep it; which I filed for so he wouldn’t be able to hide it from me. It will be for over $1200 which I’ve already told him I am getting half of since he doesn’t seem interested in looking for a new job.I’ve been struggling to make ends meet as it is. Now I have a car payment and increased insurance as I have to have full coverage now. He can give up some of his income to help.
New Car, New Drugs, New Outlook….
I waiting to hear what my final grades were for the semester. I know I have an A in English, and I’m hoping for an A in all the other 3…I’m not sure about Art as I did have to work with an idiot….Who failed to show 4 of the last 5 classes….I repainted almost everything he had done. In the end, everyone including the teacher agreed it was all my creation.
The best news of all was the idiot failed all of his classes and I have been told he won’t be returning to college. At least I have that to look forward to. Summer semester starts May 20th. I’ll have 3 classes; Math, English and Sociology. Wish me luck!
