Bag of Randomness for Friday, August 25, 2023

  • Doesn’t it bother you when I don’t make a daily weekday “Bag of Randomness” post? Does it throw off your morning and make you feel that your routine or day is off? Well, I feel that way when I don’t make a daily weekday post.
  • Well, today is the day, it’s time to have my third surgery (second of the year) on my back. The first, a fusion, was done in 2018. If you count my neck surgery from two years ago, then I guess you can say my spine will have been operated on a total of four times within five years.
  • Take the over – Bookies taking bets on Trump’s weight and whether he’ll wear MAGA hat in mugshot during Georgia surrender
    • Betting site BetOnline.ag is placing the betting line on Mr Trump’s weight at 278.5 pounds, well above his weight of 244 pounds in 2020 recorded by White House physicians.
  • More than 100 chaplains urge Texas school boards not to hire chaplains
    • More than 100 chaplains signed a letter urging local Texas school boards to vote against putting chaplains in public schools, calling efforts to enlist religious counselors in public classrooms “harmful” to students and families.The letter was issued just days before a bill allowing public schools to hire school chaplains becomes law in Texas, the first state in the country to pass such a measure. The legislation, which had been pushed by activists associated with Christian nationalism, gives the state’s nearly 1,200 school boards until March 1 of next year to vote on whether to employ chaplains.The letter was organized by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and Interfaith Alliance as well as the local advocacy group Texas Impact.
  • Georgia Man Arrested for Stealing His Neighbors’ Entire Front Porch
  • Money is tight right now. Not only am I doing that juggling act of stretching a paycheck because pay periods don’t line up after joining a new company, but the divorce decree states I have to insure my kids and there can’t be a gap period. The thing is, I can’t benefit from using my new company’s health insurance until I work 30 days, then coverage will start on the first of the following month. I also have to factor in today’s surgery, counseling visits, visits to other doctors for other things, and my prescriptions. I think I’m making this convoluted. Let me try to simplify. I’m covered by my old company’s health insurance until the end of August. The kids and I will not have any coverage for September, so I need to find insurance to cover us for all of September. My new company will begin to cover me and the kids starting in October. I can shop around for insurance, but I fear a screwup and confusion with medical billing juggling three insurances. So, I think the least stressful or complicated way is to take advantage of COBRA. That means I can extend coverage using my old company’s plan, but I have to pay for it in full.  As an employee for my old company, they paid a huge chunk of it and I paid the other portion, but they won’t pay now because I’m no longer there. COBRA will cost a little under $1,500 for one month. The cost of it makes me want to shop around, but I have a feeling using another insurance for a month will be a headache or disaster waiting to happen. Even though it’s the most costly route, I think I should go with COBRA considering medical billing for my surgery, prescriptions, counseling visits, and whatnot. Also regarding money, managing this website costs me about $200 a year. I may be doing it wrong or there’s probably a more affordable way to keep it up and running, but to keep things simple in my head, I just stick with this one company to keep everything in-house, even though it may be cheaper having my domain at one place and my hosting at another. What’s the point of me saying all of this? Money is going to be tight for a while and I’m considering using something like GoFundMe to help me pay the $200 to host this site and to keep you entertained. But then again, I feel bad asking for help for a hobby.
  • Man, I sure made that last bullet point convoluted.
  • As I said before, the physical recovery is challenging, but going through it alone without a loved one or family around makes it much harder. On the flip side, it’s an opportunity to build up emotional strength, work on dealing with adversity, and take a step towards resiliency. But, if all of this is considered an emotional workout, can I take a break and at least get some water?
  • My job change coincided with the significant changes at The TICKET. It all kinda works out for me, though. It’s not fun listening to the station from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. During that time, I can really focus on my new job (and squeeze in some blogging).
  • I never buy shoes online because I want to try on my shoes first. However, I saw that DSW had a 20% off sale and they gave me a birthday coupon. With certain folks telling me I need to treat myself more often and work on self-care, and since I’m working on trying new things, I thought, why not? There’s only one shoe that fits me perfectly and feels as if it were already broken in right out of the box, a Merrel hiking shoe with a wide width. The only problem is that I don’t think they are stylish. When I was married I loved the feeling that I no longer needed to dress to impress. I could choose comfort over style. But now, I’m trying to be mindful of what I look like. All of that to say, DSW sent me two left shoes in two different colors. Here’s a photo, and for some reason I added my bunny to the photo.
  • For the longest time, I thought DSW stood for Dallas Shoe Warehouse. It’s actually Designer Shoe Warehouse.
  • Recently I had a date I was really looking forward to, but it became a major letdown. Messaging each other through the dating app was great, they were substantive and flirtatious. There was a lot of chemistry between us. But when we met in person, it was as if we never communicated. The fun, kind, and flirtatious woman I was messaging online was stoic and businesslike. Per the conversation, she’s been divorced for about the same time as me but put dating aside until now, and I was her very first date. After we agreed we weren’t going to start a relationship, we then had a lot of great conversations critiquing each other’s online profile and how we initially acted towards each other at the start of the date. It was neat (and an honor) to talk to someone who was willing to put her guard down.
  • I’m doing better but still stuck in the doldrums.
  • The average lifespan of a domesticated American cat has risen from seven years in the 1980s to nine years in 1995, to about 15 years in 2021. We dog lovers are jealous.

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