A String of Unspectacular Moments

Once again, my plans were slightly derailed yesterday. Instead of getting two CT scans, I waited patiently to be called back for the procedures, only to be told the machinery malfunctioned. The scans are now scheduled for a week later. And the following week, when I had hoped to set forth on a road trip, installation of a mini-split will split the week in two, taking my dreamed-of week-long highway excursion off the table. It’s not as if I had to cancel a vacation to the Amalfi Coast, but these little intrusions into my desired get-aways are beginning to grate on my nerves just a touch. And the interruptions in my short-term plans automatically intervene in my longer-term intentions. Such is life, though. It’s best to roll with the punches, I suppose, than to engage in losing fights.

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One of my brothers, hospitalized for breathing difficulties, learned that he needs a procedure that his “in-network” hospital does not have the expertise to perform. His  Medicare Advantage plan is, like many Medicare Advantage plans, extremely restrictive when it comes to many such procedures. He is in the midst of efforts to convince his carrier to cover the procedure; not a simple or easy process. My advice is, and always has been, to avoid Medicare Advantage plans if financially possible for precisely this reason. They are much cheaper than traditional Medicare, but when important needs arise, they often reveal that their low prices are paid for by inadequate coverage. Once again, a single payer system that covers everyone equally is what we should demand of our corrupt politicians. And then we should send them packing, preferably to the bowels of prisons from which they can never emerge again.

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With luck, I’ll visit Costco next Monday, after I drop off my car at the collision repair center and after Enterprise drops off my rental car at the same place. I have not yet been to the sole Arkansas Costco; I am looking forward to resurrecting my memories of why I liked Costco (back in Dallas) so much. I must remember to take an ice chest filled with frozen blue ice, just in case I come across frozen goodies (e.g., sea scallops) I cannot live without. While there, I hope to find a pair (or two) of eyeglass frames (with accompanying magnetic sunglasses) I can order. I will, of course, take my eyeglasses prescription along with me in anticipation of celebrating the availability of what I’m after. I hope nothing derails these plans.

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I can pardon everybody’s mistakes except my own.

~ Marcus Porcius Cato ~

That quotation is an unfortunate reality. I can easily forgive others’ mistakes, but mine seem so much larger and more unforgivable, so I do not even try to excuse them. Simply put, they shouldn’t have been made in the first place. I recognize, of course, that I can’t expect perfection in myself, but I desire it, nonetheless. I think the reason my mistakes are so troublesome is that, in hindsight, I always see that I should have seen them coming and, therefore, should have avoided them. Yes, of course, I know that thinking is evidence of madness. So there you go; I am mad.

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Today is Friday, the culmination of days of work for many and the commencement of days of frivolity for many more. For me, it is just another day; an unspectacular moment in a string of unspectacular moments.

About John Swinburn

"Love not what you are but what you may become."― Miguel de Cervantes
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One Response to A String of Unspectacular Moments

  1. David Legan says:

    I don’t catch ’em all, but this is the best of your work that I’ve read. We ARE here, and each of us is a Dufus. It IS complicated, and we DO soldier on. Your premise and conclusions are six-pack-worthy.

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