random thoughts - Day 2,025 (Thursday) - fixin' to snap

Right around the time I was feeling like I might be able to get into a groove and relax and enjoy some of the free time provided by unemployment, forces are activating to make sure that doesn't happen for even a minute. Welcome to my world.

There are several physical factors at play, and they aren't playing nice. First, my right glute hurt. Then, the right side of my neck hurt. The timing of the neck thing is fuzzy because it's a decades-long, recurring condition, often exacerbated by stress. The stress leads to jaw clenching when I drive and when I sleep. Things hadn't been too bad recently and I missed a few nights of using my night guard, which may have been the first misstep, bred of comfort and cockiness. So, yeah. 

The latest version of the neck pain is also the worst and longest lasting. It spread to the upper shoulder area (not unusual) and by last Saturday it was moving into tricep area (never before). By Sunday, it was in my armpit and I considered visiting an urgent care office, but didn't, partly because it hurt too much to drive. Now, everything hurts and I'm ready to snap.

On Monday I reached out to my primary care physician. The office said I could schedule with an orthopedic, and I found an office a couple miles from home. The orthopedic office requires a referral even though my health coverage does not. There was back and forth with the PCP office and on Tuesday, they were provided the fax number and said a referral would be sent that afternoon. I waited a couple hours and called the orthopedic. No referral.  

On Wednesday I was busy with other things like gathering dance costume components, lunching with family, and then discovering my auto insurance has a payment due next week and I didn't receive an invoice. I couldn't access the bill through the company's portal because it said I'm not a named insured on my auto policy for which I am the only owner and the only driver. During a phone call, a rep emailed me the invoice, which I later noticed still has the old address. Super fun time-consuming, soul-sucking stuff. The address is now sorted out and the premium will be lower, which is a bright spot more like a fun sparkler than an explosion.

This morning, I called the orthopedic and there was still no referral, so either something was messed up or the PCP was sending it by pony express instead of fax. I opened the PCP patient portal to send a message and saw that the referral had been sent. To me. On Tuesday. There had been no system notification about a portal message and I wasn't looking for one because it wasn't supposed to come to me. 

There were instructions about printing the referral and taking it to the appointment. Except there was no appointment yet because they need the referral before they will make the appointment. Also, I don't have a printer. I called the orthopedic with the updated status and asked it I could email it. They said I shouldn't have to be involved at this level and they would call the PCP and straighten it out. They called me back later and scheduled an appointment. It's next Tuesday. There is little confidence I will last that long without totally blowing a gasket.  

In addition to the shoulder pain, today, while wearing a wool sweater over a base layer, I was freezing. Around suppertime, I decided to abandon the self-imposed challenge and turn on the furnace, which worked when the building inspector checked it in July. When Mass Save came in August to do an anergy audit the tech put on a new thermostat face and said I just needed to slide the lever over to "heat" to turn it on. Sounds simple. Tonight, I slid it to heat. Nothing happened. The manual was consulted. Buttons were pushed. The oil tank is 3/8 full, the thermostat is new and there is no heat. Now in addition to closing out the sixth consecutive day of big pain, I'm also cold and pi**ed off on several different levels. Yay. If only rage would make me warm instead of more tense.

And tomorrow, instead of dealing with my 401k plan transfer, I can chase down the Mass Save technician or customer service or whoever and find out what is wrong with the stupid thermostat. Sounds like another fun day on the phone. Can't wait.