Rant #3,431: Wonderful World

Yesterday was kind of a strange day for me--

Super busy in the morning, super slow in the afternoon.

In the morning, before I went to the doctor for blood work, I was on the phone for about an hour trying to clean up a bit of a mess that my son is going through related to his Medicaid.

I have called his supposed Medicaid counselor several times, but my calls have not been returned.

I spoke with another one of his counselors, and I was told to keep on calling.

A total waste of time.

Then I went to the doctor, told I was in good health, gave blood, made a few more future appointments ...

I was told that the blood work will be used to see if my prostate numbers are good, and I was told that they had risen, but were actually OK, the last time.

Then why was I told to take all.of the tests I went through, and were supposed to go through--but had to postpone when my car was supposedly stolen?

I never received much of an answer.

Why go through needless procedures that, thank God, I evidently don't need?

Let's see how my numbers are ... as I said when my car was towed, God works in strange ways.

I came home after my doctor's appointment, did what work I had to do, and then--

Nothing.

It is kind of unusual for me to have no writing and/or editing to do on  Monday, but that is how it was yesterday.

So I took advantage of the day, doing all.of that digitizing of records that I wanted to do--

And although it took me nearly three hours to do it all, it was relaxing and a lot of fun.

I guess that is how retirement is supposed to be, but that thing with my son's Medicaid is concerning me to no end--

Especially when I can't get anyone on the phone to speak to me.

I cannot tell you the countless hours I have spent--and wasted--making phone calls to a variety of government agencies during the past nearly five years of unemployment/inactivity/supposed retirement.

There were days I literally wasted, in entirety, making phone calls to these agencies, and to other entities that I needed to to get things in my family's lives on the straight and narrow.

But I often found that to get to the straight and narrow, you have to get through lots of zigs and zags.

And I have also, unfortunately, learned the bard way that you have to be able to convincingly say, "If you do not do what I am asking you to do, I will sue you."

People jump when you say that.

I hate to pull out that "rabbit in my hat," but if I have to, I have to.

Even the stupidest, most ignorant people I have dealt with during the past five years unsderstand what that means.

And when I waste all.of this time on the phone, yes, I do continue to wonder what retirement is.

That is why yesterday, at least for a few hours, I actually had some fun.

I haven't had much fun the past nearly five years, so I really enjoyed it--

Realizing that today is another day, and I might not have that experience again for a long, long time.

And as I end this Rant, let me say an "R.I.P." to one of our great actors James Earl Jones, who passed away at age 93.

He was popular and prolific, and I will always best remember him in "Field of Dreams" as Terence Mann.

And what a voice! To think that as a child, he stuttered so badly ... incredible.

One of the true greats ... he will certainly be missed--

As will Ed Kranepool, one of the New York Mets whose career spanned generations, who died at age 79. 

I was not a Mets fan, but this guy stood out as a decent baseball player and an even better representative of the national pastime.

He was at a few of the Rochdale Village Athletic League award breakfasts that we had in those early days of my old community of Rochdale Village.

He and temmate Ron Swoboda attended those breakfasts, so I am sure that I shook hands with both of them.

Funny how baseball runs through both Jones and Kranepool.

Maybe they will run into each other on the basepaths in heaven.