The New Year

It's been an eventful first week of the new year.

As I write this, a plumber is cutting holes in our wall, looking for a leak that has apparently been going on for weeks and weeks. The house we live in is a mishmash of good and bad work, some of it done by professionals, some of it done by amateurs. In an amateur move, an old water heater was left in a closet and a new furnace installed in front of it in such a way that it blocks the old water heater from being removed. I think the water heater was never emptied or the pipes going to it never turned or capped off, so that water has been sitting in the heater all this time (who knows how long, but long enough for it to rust and spring a leak). This plumber doesn't seem to think it's the water heater--and anyway, he can't get to it without taking out the furnace, so he's trying to get around it by going through the bedroom closet wall that the leak soaked (along with the wood floor).

I wonder what this is going to cost us. (Though insurance may cover some of the cost. We'll see.) [An update: The plumber found the leak in a hot water pipe that goes to the master bath. It's old plumbing--the plumber said it's "illegal" now to install that kind of plumbing or pipes or something--I don't know, Dave's the one talking to him--but he thinks he'll be able to repair it.]

Speaking of insurance, I had to pay my surgeon up front and after the surgery our insurance will reimburse us (ha ha ha).  She is not inexpensive. This surgery is largely considered elective (it could be argued that it's not in my case) and elective surgery is expensive and insurance does everything possible not to pay for it. I also have to pay for the hospital up front (which includes the anesthesiologist and cost of the OR and my overnight stay). But the hospital charge is actually less than the surgeon's fee, believe it or not.

We also bought plane tickets this week. Round-trip and refundable, of course, just in case something happens. And I have yet to book a hotel room for us.

Last month being Christmas,  we spent more than we usually do. But I think that this month is going to put last month to shame.

Have good things happened? 

Yes, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the news. We're so fucked in this country right now. It is just depressing how much damage is being done, but much destruction. I have never been so disheartened by people just not caring how badly things are going--or worse, reveling in it.  

I try not to look at the news, but it seeps in. I'm glad we don't have a television--I watch shows online and that mostly allows me to bypass any network news stories. I've made it through five and a half seasons of The Waltons. I was never a Waltons fan. My paternal grandparents used to watch it, mostly my grandmother when I was a kid, but I thought it was so incredibly boring. But now as an adult, I'm finding it fairly interesting. It was made in the 70s about the 20s and 30s, but they deal with a lot of stuff that's still relevant, everything from menopause to sending young men off to war and the impact that has on families to mental illness to ecology and conservation. I'm actually enjoying watching it now. 

What else? I'm not sleeping well, but that's not news. I'm up now only because there's a stranger in the house and my brain goes on high alert then. If not for that, I might be sleepin since I got a little less than three hours of sleep between 11:30 p.m. and 2:20 a.m. That's not enough.

What am I doing to stay awake? Writing this, of course. I sewed up some new quilt blocks (economy blocks). I journaled on paper. I ate a lot of stuff, too, a piece of toast with sunflower butter at 7:30 to take my meds, then a sunflower butter sandwich for elevenses and just now at noon, a bowl of leftover potatoes with Quorn nuggets. Overeating is a function of being nervous about the stranger in the house, worry about money, and being tired. Once upon a time I would have had a coffee (or six) and a cigarette, but those avenues are closed to me now, so instead I binge. 

I'd LOVE a big bag of very crispy and salty potato chips right now, but we don't have any, so I had to make do with leftover potatoes and some Quorn, so at least it was salty, right? 

The plumber's gone off to get a part and I'm sure to have his lunch and then will be back to finish fixing the mess. Hopefully he'll be done by the end of the day. After that, we'll have to dry everything out somehow and arrange to have the wall fixed. 

Happy New Year.