You Mess With My Mom, You Get Me!

A few days ago I wrote about the issue at the Nursing Home with the TV in my Mom's room which belongs to her roommate.  I had a suspicion the problem was being generated by the daughter of the roommate.  Today my suspicion was confirmed.  Apparently the daughter had to buy a new TV because the screen of the first TV went out.  She attributed it to the fact the TV was used too much.  Funny thing .....She did this before my Mom was even there!    Today when I walked in to Mom's room, the TV was moved at an angle away from Mom's side of the room.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!  Words cannot convey how pissed I was.  What a pompous little bitch (the daughter, not the roommate).  I can say that with certainty because I have met her.  I couldn't decide what kind of person she was in the brief three times that I had talked to her before all this hoopla, but there always seemed to be incongruity between her words and her actions.  I guess my instincts were correct.

This whole issue is so ridiculous my brain can't process it.  All I know is she is messing with my Mom.  Nobody messes with my Mother and gets away with it.  How can someone be so cruel to a 90 year old woman.  I never said anything when the roommates belongings encroached on my Mom's side of the room or when she got in to Mom's candy.  It really didn't matter.  Today it mattered and I turned into a stubborn 10 year old.  I measured the floor space and found the middle of the room.  Everything of hers that was on Mom's side was pushed over.  I'm going to rearrange the room (I have to get permission from Social Service first) so Mom won't even have to look in the direction of her roommates TV.  It's gonna be awesome when both TV's are on different channels with the volume up.

I know I should let it go and be adult about it; and I will in time.  But this is my Mother we are talking about.  My sweet never hurt a fly, give you the shirt off her back, Mother.  Every time I think about it I want to put my boot in daughter's ass.

Most people reading this are aware that my Mother is in a Nursing Home (which I hate).  She's seems to be doing well with their care.  I have my doubts at times, but I have to admit I try not to see the bad things.  They are short staffed just like everywhere which really sucks since their business is to "take care of" the infirmed.  Isn't that what you call an oxymoron?  I will say they do call anytime there is an issue; which I know is a requirement by law, but it makes them accountable.

I got a call yesterday. (My heart sinks a little every time they call because I never know if it's going to be bad news.)  The nurse proceeds to tell me that she thinks I should get a TV for Mom.  She was apparently watching her roommates and the aides went to turn it off and she yelled at them not to.  To back track a little, I didn't get Mom a TV when she first moved in because her TV was an old model and very large (space is limited).  Plus the roommate has at least a 32" flat screen placed right in the middle of the room.  There isn't really an issue of fighting about what to watch, because I don't think either of them care.  It's just company.  I figured if I brought in a TV for Mom it would be crazy loud and she wouldn't be able to work it anyway.  Since the large TV was there I didn't see the harm in her watching it.  I am assuming Mom's roommates daughter is behind this.  She actually put a note on the TV that states: "Turn off the TV if Irene is not in the room".  Underlying meaning:  don't let the roommate watch her TV.  Doesn't this seem a little petty? Or am I being too sensitive?  Uuuuuuugh, drama at the Nursing Home. 

I will get Mom a TV....anything to make her happy.  All I can say is her roommate better keep her damn hands out of my Mother's candy.  How's that for petty!

Do You Know The Shepawitz?

It was a busy weekend. The Shepawitz came to visit. "Who are the Shepawitz?" you ask. The Shepawitz aka the triplets. Nicholas still has a hard time with his "T's". Very funny and cute. Nicholas says Addy is his girlfriend. We're not sure how that will pan out. Technically she could be his girlfriend since they are not "blood" related, but both Julie and I think that we will try and discourage that relationship. Auntie Lorrie was here too! We had a good time just chillin. Our big outing for the weekend was going to Target. We all watched more than our share of Dora The Explorer. I'm a bad Nanu because when they asked for more Dora I told them she went on vacation. I didn't care what other cartoon we watched as long as it wasn't Dora. Again we were limited in our TV choices because guess what??????? Our Dish DVR wasn't working. We are now on DVR receiver #4. When the guys came out today they actually did some work outside on the lines which I think has been the problem the entire time. He supposedly upgraded our DVR with a different model. He said the one we had was a piece of junk. How reassuring. So far it's working. I'm a little bit happier too because I called and got a month's credit on my bill. I figured that was the least they could do.

Everything is quiet here now. I'm not sure what to do with myself. Julie is on the road back home. I hope the kids are cooperating for her. They were a little out of sorts when they left. I know how they feel though. It's always hard to travel and be away from your own bed.

I'm looking forward to going to Zumba, my pj's, a few glasses of wine and relaxing in front of the TV. The only thing that will be missing is the Shepawitz all sitting on my lap!

I'm Not Asking For Too Much...Am I?

If it weren't for the fact that I'm trying to deal with the VA and Medicaid for my Mom, this TV thing might drive me to the loony bin. The TV quit working last night, but it works today. Problem is I don't want to watch TV during the day. I reserve my days for staying on hold with the VA and Medicaid offices. I was on hold yesterday for a total of 67 minutes. I put the phone on speaker and carried it around with me from room to room while I waited for someone to answer. When they finally did answer it's was like starting all over from the beginning because everyone tells me something different. It's not necessarily that they give me wrong information, it's that they don't give me complete information. Every time I call it's like getting another piece of the puzzle. This is one of those 1000 piece puzzles with all blue sky. I'm at a stand still right now because Medicaid can't figure out if my Mom is eligible until the VA reduces her award and the VA won't reduce her award until she is approved for Medicaid. Really?????? How does this happen? I thought this only happened on TV to other people. But then again, how would I know that, my TV doesn't work. Mom's application for Medicaid should go through like diarrhea through a colon (sorry, being in the medical field that's the only analogy I could think of). My Mom has zero assets, zero savings and limited income from Social Security and the VA. It's a no brainer; however, somehow the government has figured out how to make it complicated.

If anyone reading this is close to having to apply for Medicaid for a loved one, my advice is to start ASAP. It takes time to sort through the bull shit. After all of this work I have put in, I may end up having to hire an attorney that specializes in Medicaid. That concept pisses me off.

I have to admit that I don't know much about the government run health care proposal. Short of reading the actual bill, I don't really listen to the arguments of Republicans or Democrats. I consider politicians to be a bunch of narcissistic individuals that want to promote their own agenda no matter how many lies they tell. I can't however, help but worry that if the health care system gets in the hands of the government it will be run like Medicaid and the VA system. We'll have to hire lawyers for our medical claims. I should have pushed for my kids to go to law school; at least they would have job security.

I'm happy, healthy and I have a great family. I don't want to be greedy, I just really want to be able to watch TV and know that my Mom is taken care of. That's all!

Zumba; It's Growing On Me

I went to my 4th Zumba class tonight. After the first class I wasn't really sure I wanted to try it again; however, subsequent classes have been much better. I think I'm getting the hang of it. It gets easier with each class. Even Queen L was dancing in my shadow. I was droppin it like it's hot all over the dance floor, shakin my money maker, flyin my freak flag, gettin my grove on, cuttin a rug, etc............... Be watching for me on Dance Fever...oh wait, that went off of the air in the 80's. What about Soul Train?




Update: TV not working again. yeah! :p

Again With The TV

I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but this horse is starting to stink. The DVR receiver went out on the TV AGAIN! I did all the requisite calling and trouble shooting over the phone. Dish wanted to send me a new receiver. I say "really? What are the odds that two receivers are bad?" My friend in India didn't understand the American terminology about odds, so I had to rephrase. He says: "We could send a technician out." "YES, PLEASE!" How exciting, a real person was coming to hopefully take care of the problem.

Orlando showed up at my door as scheduled. I explained the problem as efficiently as possible since all of the details are mind boggling. He replaced the receiver again (this is #3 in case you lost count). He surmised the problem was due to the fact that the initial installer hooked the satelite line through the surge protector which apparently is a no no. While he did a few more repairs and we waited for things to download, we had a nice chat. We discussed the bull shit that you have to go through to get to Dish customer service and the fact that the operators are located in India and/or the Phillipines. He said the operators have a standard script they read from. That's why when you ask a question their response usually doesn't fit the question. They can't deviate off script because in all reality they don't know shit.

Orlando and I became buddies. He left me the local phone number for any future repairs as well as his own cell number. He also showed me how to use some of the cool features. Then the best of all.....he spotted my old rabbit ears antenna and says: "You want me to show you something cool that I can do with them?" My first thought was that I hoped it didn't require him to use any of his body parts or mine.
When I was confident he was talking about doing something with them on the TV, I said: "sure!" He hooked up the antenna to the receiver and programed in the local digital channels. They now show up on the guide and the cool thing is that when the satelite goes out because of weather I can switch to the digital local channels and still get a picture. Orlando is my new TV guardian angel.

Everything is working at this moment in time. Whether it stays that way is up to the TV gods.

PS: If anyone has to call Dish Network for service, tell Raymond in India I said "Hi!" Tell him I won't be talking to him anymore because I got a new guy.

Technology

It's about 1:30am. I should be in bed, but I'm trying to wind down after setting up my new DVR. I should have let it go till tomorrow, but at around 10:30 I thought I would just set it up real quick and go to bed. I should have known better. I upgraded our Dish to HD with a DVR. It was great for about 24 hours and the DVR died. Not fixable, so Dish sent me another DVR to replace it. I got it all hooked up and went through all of the steps to get it up and running, then I had to call to have it activated. About 2 hours later I was finally done. I did however have a nice chat with Raymond from India. My satellite got activated from India, where according to Raymond it has been raining for the last 3 days straight. I also learned that he works the graveyard shift 1am - 10am. I was his last call of the day and then he was going home to bed. He's never seen snow before either, except in pictures. He complimented my voice. He told me I had the voice of a 20 year old. What a charmer. We had a lot of time for discussion while we waited for everything to download. Technology is so obscenely crazy good and so incredibly frustrating at the same time. After talking with my new friend Raymond for awhile, he transferred me to another department because I had some other bull shit to take care of. After I had explained what I needed from them and was put on hold for 5 minutes, they promptly disconnected me. Great! That's just great! I guess I'll call back again tomorrow after I've had a few hours sleep.

I have more crochet war information to share, but it will have to wait till tomorrow too.

Technology Is Great.....When It Works

Now I remember why I go to great lengths to resist new technology. When it breaks it really pisses me off. Mostly because I know it's something that I can't fix myself which requires talking to service people. I don't like dealing with service people especially when I get the impression that I know more about the problem than they do. I read the manual and sometimes it's pretty obvious that they didn't. That's why when I do run across someone that actually knows the product and what they are talking about, I get all gidy and I want to kiss them. I refrain from the kissing but I make sure I tell them how much I appreciate their knowledge.

Which brings me to my current problem. I have my beautiful new flat screen TV and I upgraded to a DVR receiver. The receiver was installed yesterday. Worked great, except Joe hogged the TV all day. He was watching football, but I really didn't mind because the picture was so awesome I just liked looking at it. So I get up this morning and the DVR is making a humming noise (no it didn't hum anything I recognized). It wouldn't turn on either. That's just great! Less than 24 hours and it's not working. I do all the normal troubleshooting things....still doesn't work. I break down and call Dish Network. The guy was pretty pleasant. I almost believed him when he told me that he was sorry I was having problems. Long story short, the receiver is toast. A lemon. After he had me go through the steps that I already did, he determined that the receiver would need replaced. Unbelievable! He starts processing my order for a new receiver and begins to tell me of the $14.95 return charge and some other charge. Just as I was about to throw an F bomb in his face, he says "I will waive those charges since this is a brand new receiver." Yes, yes you will.

Tuesday Best Buy is coming to install all the other components, which I am not sure I can even test out since there is no antenna connection. I probably won't get the new receiver until Thursday. Ahhhhhhhhh! I know it's not the end of the world and I am thankful that I am even in a position that I can have these things. It's just soooooo frustrating. I feel intimidated in my own house by my electronic equipment.

I was reading an article in a magazine (HD Living) which apparently I now receive. It was actually an article about a guy who recently moved from California to Ft. Wayne and wanted to upgrade his current home theater system. He enlisted the services of Audio Visual Lifestyles and $90,000.00 later he had his upgrade. $90,000.00 for a HOME TV! I guess if you can spend $90,000.00 for TV equipment you can probably afford to hire a repair tech for 24/7 service. Hell, you could probably hire someone to work the remote.

I need to relax a little, maybe I'll go do some yoga. I just hope my DVD player works.

Welcome To The 21st Century

We're finally moving up in the world to the current TV technology. Our old RCA box TV finally died and we purchased a 46" flat screen with surround sound and some other shit that I don't know what it is. I'm excited and scared at the same time. Excited because Joe doesn't have to use the binoculars to see the TV anymore, but scared because it's something else I have to learn how to use. I'm still trying to figure out my camcorder and telephone. Plus I'll have to teach Joe because he is a typical guy and won't read the instructions.

A giant man and his short chubby partner from Best Buy delivered my TV today. Kind of like Laurel and Hardy. The giant man was probably 6' 10" or more. Nice guys, set up the tv and did a little programming for me and left. The actual install is going to be next Tuesday. Then they will mount the TV on the wall and hook up all of the additional components. Problem #1: I forgot to call Dish Network to have our system upgraded to HDTV, so the picture currently isn't that good. Problem #2: I only get one channel. I know it's something to do with the program.........Wait! while I was typing this I just figured out what I need to do. Be right back.................................................................................
Problem #2 solved. I forgot that I need to use the remote for the Dish box. Duh!

Ok, so now I get all the channels but I still need the HDTV Dish hookup. I called Dish and they can hook it up on Saturday. Perfect, because then I will have all of the equipment there when Best Buy comes to install it. Now I have a new problem #2: I called Dish and told them I wanted HDTV hookup. All I heard after that was blah blah blah, blah blah, blah.... I was so confused I'm not sure what I agreed to. Good news though; since I am such a good customer she is taking $10 off of my bill for a whole year. WooHoo!

I long for the simplier times when a TV just had an on/off button. Sometimes I wish I was Amish. Then, I would be a really good carpenter and I wouldn't have to worry about electricity and all of the stuff that goes along with it.


PS Kenny, I took your advice and bought the TV you suggested. Can you please come back and teach me how to use it?