A Frustrating Day

Last night I made good on my New Year’s resolution to clean out my mail cabinet. I had over 600 messages that I had to check and to either discard, file or respond to the messages. Until the wee hours in the morning, I diligently checked each message and made a good choice. I even discontinued some of those automatic generated e-mails. Thus, it was with great anticipation this morning that I turned my computer on, planning to start with a clean slate and have a productive day updating my genealogy files.

Now you probably have surmised where I’m going with this. Oh yes, I had a clean slate alright. In fact, it was so clean I brought up AOL with an error message that it loaded improperly. Good old AOL. They never let you down. My AOL wasn’t loading properly. What did I do except clean out my mail? How does it go? The best laid plans of men and mice go awry? Something like that anyway.

I tried my old computer. I had the same error message on that computer. I tried Bill’s computer, which is on the same network and the other two computers. I thought that maybe, just maybe, it’s at the source of AOL. But no, I could bring up my AOL account properly on his computer. No errors. Same network, different results. What could I have done wrong?

Here is what the problem was. I don’t have the Quick Read blurb on the mail in my AOL box. I checked my PC Filing Cabinet. My saved message showed a Quick Read description but if I went back into the file, all I saw was a blank envelope for that date. To the right of the blank envelope, it was all white space. What in the world now? Is this some kind of nefarious scheme to keep my Computer Guy in business for the New Year? I mean I like Tom and all but I'm at the point now where I'm going to have to put him on my payroll.

So what to do? I thought I would take the bull by the horns and uninstall AOL from my old computer and reinstall it from the CD-ROM I have of AOL version 9.0 (I had 9.1 on my computer but I don’t really need that version.) This took awhile to do but I was able to bring up my AOL account, minus all the mail I had saved on my hard drive. Not to worry though, I see a folder on my desktop that says “AOL Saved PFC.” Okay. Now what do I do with that? At least I can access my AOL account now and see with the Quick Read feature and see who sent me e-mails.

Next I took on the new computer. I uninstalled AOL 9.1 and reinstalled 9.0. I wasn’t so fortunate AOL, nothing happened. I suspected I would have a problem because the new computer operates on the VISTA system. Oh how I wish I took my friend Larry’s advice and got a Mac. AOL, Windows, Vista……….it all adds up to frustration.

To say I was spitting mad is an understatement. What to do? I asked Bill if he wanted to go for a ride on this sunny Sunday afternoon. He did. Off we went. Anywhere, just to get out of the house and this frustration and into the cold fresh air.

First we stopped at Big Bob’s and got a bucket full of sand. Bill needs that to fill in the deep indentation on our front lawn that the Ryan Home folks left when they installed the sod after repairing our drainage problem.

Next, we stopped at the American Legion Post 28 to put Bill’s name on the calendar for the American Legion van to pick him up and take him to Wilmington for his appointment at the Veterans Administration Medical Center two weeks hence. We used to call this in to Ron Robinson, the van coordinator but he choked to death on a piece of food a month ago and no one has taken his place as coordinator. We were told we had to appear in person at the American Legion clubhouse on Route 24 and Bill would personally have to write his name on the calendar.

Of course we had another hurdle to jump over before we could do this. We had to have a key to get in the American Legion club house. We had one but who knows where that is now? We never go there because of the smoking. The American Legion posts are private clubs so smoking is permitted and do they ever take advantage of it. We arrive at the entrance and ring the buzzer. Someone lets us in. As we expected, the place is full of veterans and their women folk. Drinking and pool playing is in full swing. And yes, it was a smoke filled hall.

We ask who to see to get a key. We’re directed to an office in the back. The gentlemen veteran in the back office checked his records and told us we had keys issued to us. We agreed that we had the keys but we don’t know where they are now. He says he can give us new ones for $8.00 a piece. It was a deal. He made up new keys for us and I gave him a $20 bill.

We leave the American Legion Post 28 club house, reeking of smoke and alcohol. Just like the old days when we used to go to the 247 Bar in Philadelphia. Ah sweet memories. Well, at least we accomplished something today. And, as an extra bonus the gentleman told us the name of the new van coordinator. But we’re keeping the keys just in case of another emergency.

We left and drove leisurely back home. Bill saw that I had a phone message from a friend. I called the friend. He wanted to know if I wanted to dine out tonight with our usual Purple Parrot group. However, this night we would be dining at the Stoney Lonen restaurant in Rehoboth Beach. The Stoney Lonen is known for its seafood dishes. I don’t do seafood but I like my friends. I think I need a night out to get de rattled. It’s been a tough day.

Veteran's Care

A short time ago, I returned from the Veterans Medical Center in Wilmington, Delaware. My appointment today was with the urologist. This was a followup to my kidney stone problem. Again, I was very impressed with the quality of care that I receive from the Veterans Administration. About ten years ago, I applied for my Veterans Administration card as insurance in case I was left without medical insurance. At that time I didn't that it was likely that I would ever find the need to use the Veterans Administration for my medical care. Little did I know. In 2001 I changed my job where I was covered with full medical care to a consultant job with no medical care insurance. Fortunately for me I had medical care with the VA which enabled me to work as a consultant. Also, lucky for me that I applied to the VA for medical care, because when the Bush administration took office, one of their first actions was instruct the VA to stop advertising medical benefits that was available for veterans. Subsequent actions by the Bush administration was to erect a series of roadblocks and hurdles to discourage veterans from applying for benefits. However, the Bush administration overplayed its hand when they proposed an annual $2,000 "membership" fee to apply for medical care. Of course this was patently unfair because one of the promises made to me when I joined the Army in January 27, 1960 was that I would have "lifetime medical care if necessary." The Bush administration was putting into practice the "starve the beast" theory. Basically the "starve the beast" theory is to cut taxes so much that then the government would have the excuse that their isn't enough money to support government programs like VA medical care. The political outcry was so great, that the Bush administration had to retreat from this proposal. However, they did lower the income eligibility of veterans applying for benefits. Thus, even less veterans could apply for benefits. My two brothers and several friends of mine who are veterans could not apply for benefits. Since I had already applied for benefits before the the Bush administration came into office, I was grandfathered into the system. I've had my share of bad breaks in my life but this is one of my good breaks. Not only do I have medical care but I have received the best medical care in my life. Ironically, all the years I had great medical coverage when I worked at my various banks, I only used it once. However, once I had my VA coverage, I had several medical issues. I had to have two operations. Various tests. I was worried about the quality of medical care. My worries were in vain. I have always received the absolute best medical care. Today was another example. As a followup to my kidney stone emergency this past January, the VA scheduled me for several tests. They have put me on medication to help avoid future kidney stones. They have tested me for my current condition. One of the things I really like about VA medical care is their preventive measures. Rather than waiting for something to happen, they take preventive measures. Also, their record keeping is excellent. My appointment this morning was at 9 A.M. The doctor saw me at 9 A.M. I didn't have to wait in a cubicle for an hour or more before the doctor quickly came in, looked at papers and mumbled something and leaving without even looking at me in the face or even talking to me. The doctor who saw me this morning sat down with me, looked at me and talked to me without being rushed. He carefully went over my records and shared this information with me. He gave me his sound and reasoned advice. I think the difference in doctors (VA versus private practice) is that the doctors in the VA don't operate on how many people they get in and out. In other words, they don't operate on volume. Of course the downside is that the VA is short of doctors. Many times I have been treated my nurse practitioners. Their care was also good but lacked the experience of a doctor. Another thing I enjoy about using the VA medical facilities is that I share a ride in the American Legion (Post 28) van with other veterans like myself. That makes a big difference. Instead of being shuttled off to a side office (like I was in private medical practice), which the doctor attended Mom and the Kids, I'm with a bunch of old geezers like myself. That means something to me. In fact, it means a lot to me. As a result of my tests this morning, the VA has scheduled me for a CT SCAN-RAD next month. I just hope I don't have to have my prostrate check again.