I am attempting to transfer to a different SMI Clinic Provider Network. (I have been having trouble with this due to frequent stonewalling and miscommunication with “my team.” Like most experiences with my SMI provider, it has generally been extremely exasperating.
I called to get an update on the transfer, and was told that no one had done the transfer because they thought I had decided to stay with the current provider. I am not sure how they came to this conclusion, since I have been very vocal in my dislike of the current provider. (Very, very vocal.)
Now, as near as I can figure, this miscommunication is probably mostly my fault. I initially picked a clinic that was further away than I initially thought. I called to see about getting transferred to a clinic that was closer to where I live, with the network I’m transferring to. I thought everything had been arranged correctly, but somehow “I want a transfer to the other provider but I want a different location than the one I initially picked,” was turned into “actually, I don’t want to transfer at all!” Again, I have no idea how anyone there could have come to this conclusion because I have been VERY VOCAL about not liking the network I ended up in. At least, if they were confused, they could have called to ask? Except they didn’t do that, because they (almost) never do that, which is yet ANOTHER reason I can’t stand my current provider. So I have reiterated the location I want to go to, and I’m going to call again with more complete information. (And to see if they sent the transfer packet yet. I am going to guess, “no.”)
Then later, I get a call from the clinic asking about the transfer. And they tell me that I haven’t filled out the annual treatment plan stuff. Which is weird because I’m pretty sure I did do it for this year? Of course, I could be wrong? My sense of time is…odd, and I am easily confused. So, I’m attempting to get a new appointment. (I haven’t gotten a notice that a ride was scheduled. It’s something that I’m going to have to check on tomorrow.)
A few months ago I had to cancel my chiropractic appointments because I had a bunch of things come up at once. (All of them had to do with reapplying for various services, renewing my lease and so on.) Today, I was able to schedule more appointments. Next step is going to be arranging rides for the appointments. Since it’s been a few months my back is pretty much at square one. (That is, my pain has gone up to six or seven, and standing is excruciating.) What’s wrong with my back? I am not precisely sure as I tend to have trouble remembering medical terms. But basically it’s a disc degeneration problem. (I also have arthritis in my knees! I am very crunchy!) Chiropractic has proven to be more helpful than physical therapy in some respects. After a few sessions, my back was noticeably less painful and I was able to stand for longer periods of time.
(I stopped going to physical therapy because the physical therapists decided they didn’t want me to continue going there. I am not entirely sure why, but it may or may not have to do with me being Autistic in Public. That is, I was too weird for them in that I liked doing exercises in a certain order, and was noticeably upset if a different order happened, and so on. Lots of little things that added up, so the person in charge went “well, you’re very self-motivated so you don’t need to be here!” I pointed out that I needed the specific location/supervision in order to maintain a routine, and she said I should just join a gym. Note: I can’t afford a gym and was only able to go to physical therapy because Medicaid covered it.)
I finally got around to buying an entry card for my apartment complex’s exercise room. They have a bike, two treadmills and one of those stepper things. I am going to have to get used to the controls, which are super annoying and finicky. (And if you stop for longer that a few seconds the machine shuts down and goes back to the beginning when you start moving again. Very. Annoying.) They also have a rack of barbells! The lightest weight is five pounds. I’m going to start making regular trips.
I have been making flatbread! The recipe I found uses baking powder as a leavening agent. I have yet to find a way to make the flatbreads Perfectly Round. Also, I can’t figure out if I’m kneading too much or too little.
I had to get a couple of food boxes toward the end of August/beginning of September because I tend to run short toward the end of the month. (And I hadn’t been on EBT in a while.) I ended up with a lot of beans, lentils and split peas so I ended up making So Much Soup, and So Much Chili. I have decided that Soup is probably the best way to have something quick and easy to prepare on hand. I also signed up for EBT again. I am hoping this eventually prevents the “completely runs out of money at the end of the month and can’t get groceries,” situation I keep running into.
I want to make baozi. (Steamed buns with fillings.) I have a steamer basket, and many of the ingredients/equipment necessary. But I have not yet made baozi because they are somewhat intimidating. (For me, anyway.)
I needed to replace my old fan, which was dying. (It was making a terrible rattling noise and was literally falling apart.) I bought two replacement fans, one for the bedroom and one for the living room. I also bought a new TV antennae in a vague hope that this time I’ll be able to watch PBS. (PBS doesn’t come in very well where I live. It is Very Annoying since it’s pretty much all I watch.) I managed to find the Perfect Spot that would pick up my PBS stations…but in order to pick up two other (non-PBS) stations It needs to be about five inches higher. So there are now two little shelves by the window, across the room from the TV set! (And those little shelves were another thing I bought.) Next step is securing the cord in a way that isn’t absolutely hideous.
Writing has gotten done! Mostly meta posts and book reviews but I have been working on Lord of the Black Mountain. I am nowhere near completely chapter twelve, but I’m making some headway. (I’ve also been working on the worldbuilding/plotting and I had to re-make my map because the old one was accidentally deleted during my war with One Drive.)
I was also working on a different original fiction project that will not be appearing on Royal Road because it is extremely Grotty. (Grotty is my special term for “extremely disturbing themes and also sexual content that is also disturbing.”) Now, granted I have seen one work on Royal Road that involved an extremely horrifying forced pregnancy, and another work where characters are blithely eating sentient nonhumans who in turn are eating humans, and you can tag for explicit sex but there is a “no erotica” clause in the TOS. And what I was working on was in fact porn! So I have no idea where or how I can serialize it.
I have gotten the audiobook version of Witch King by Martha Wells and it brilliant. The guy reading it was really good. I also got audio books of Books of the Raksura and All Systems Red. (It should be noted that Audible has a point/credit system where one point=one book. The only book I paid for directly was All Systems Red.) I am slightly less impressed with the guy reading The Cloud Roads than I was with the guy who read Witch King.
At some point I am going to post my current reading list. I have not been able to get very far into Tsalmoth, even months after the fact. (I keep getting distracted by other books, including various galleys I’ve been reading for the blog.) Tsalmoth is a tough read because Brust is really hitting hard on the “well actually, Vlad was callow and immature and this is largely why Cawti/Vlad was a trainwreck,” buttons. Another book I’m stalled on is Hands of the Emperor.
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