Interlude with (another) Sunset

My sister's 15-year-old dog, Trapper, headed to Rainbow Bridge this morning. This is the first time in my entire life that I've been in a house without a dog.

2013's running out of pets to kill, and it still has two and a half months to go...

Bright and Shiny Objects

Fall continues to trudge its muddy boots on the waning pages of the calendar, bringing with it some wild weather (including a recent tornado), morning fog, evening chills, and all the rest.

It also brings autumn leaves, fairs, festivals, and other shinies.

 This year, a large local fair featured an exhibit entitled Luminasia, a "modern take on Chinese lanterns." I wasn't interested in the fair, but I was intrigued by the exhibit... though not enough to pay what they were asking to enter, on top of the fair admission. It proved so popular that they extended the run past the fair, and offered a two-for-one ticket deal on Amazon Local. That got our cheapskate tails out of the house and down to the fairgrounds.

There were two sections: a traveling Asian-themed display, on a local retention pond, and one custom-built for the area, with local sights rendered in 3D silk-and-light displays. They ranged from the 60-foot Space Needle replica to smaller butterflies perched on tulips, from totem poles to an apple orchard and a fanciful rendition of the underwater remains of "Galloping Gertie," the doomed Tacoma Narrows bridge.

I took three cameras, on my usual photographic theory of throwing enough crud at the proverbial wall that something had to stick. Surprisingly, even without a tripod, most of the pictures came out okay. Of course, the 70-foot dragon boat got a fair bit of my attention... I even got several close-ups of his head. The whole family enjoyed the outing, so it was well worth the price.

Luminasia isn't the only shiny new thing in my life this fall. It was on this trip that my old clamshell cell phone went AWOL, due to a cruddy holder I've been meaning to replace. I searched all over, two or three times, everywhere I'd been before finally giving up and calling the company to report it missing. Being a cheapie prepaid plan, I lost my minutes and my phone number, but there was nothing to be done about that. Besides, I'd been meaning to order myself a better cell phone for my birthday - I figured this was the Universe tweaking me in the tail to do it.

Guess what turned up, impossibly, after I'd placed my order.

Oh, well... I just got my new phone set up, and I think I'm going to be happier with it in the long run. It's not new, and it's not top of the line, but it looks like it'll do about everything I wanted. It even has an MP3 function, though I'm happy enough with my GoGear I don't expect I'll use it. (But never say never, I suppose... I never thought I'd want to upgrade my cell phone.)

If nothing else, the new phone is much shinier than the old phone. And I've always been a sucker for bright and shiny objects.

Interlude with Sunflowers

My sister went in for another scan and test today. She's still in pain, she's still far too tired, and they still don't have any real answers for her. So, while I'm waiting to hear what's going on with that, here are some sunflowers, from a recent trip.

UPDATE: Well, they ruled out some stuff she was afraid she had, and have a few more answers. So that's good. Now, to see what can be done about it...

Summer's End

As summer draws to a close, the salmon remind us that life is a constant struggle, in a world that batters us, knocks us back, and does its best to wash us away and leave our carcasses for the bears.

Yes, life's still rather lemony right now. Why do you ask?

My sister has been having some health problems for a while, but, without an income, she's been reluctant to seek help. When she does, she winds up at the walk-in clinic, which tends to dismiss patients of little means and no insurance.

Everyone offers advice - you qualify for this, you can get an appointment here - but nobody offers actual help. No, she's tried, and she doesn't qualify for this program. Yes, she's called repeatedly, and been told she can't get in to that place. If she were a criminal, she'd be getting health care for free. If she were a drug addict or an unwed mother, she'd qualify for something. But since she's simply broke, nothing. Ironically, it's her health issues that have kept her from getting a job to be able to afford health care. You'd think she'd be worth more to the state as an employable citizen capable of earning an income and generating tax revenue, but apparently not. It's an impossible cycle, a game that's nigh impossible to win. I guess people like her just shouldn't exist, according to the system.

Meanwhile, her problems keep growing, until she finally wound up with a pain that's kept her from sleeping for nearly a week. The walk-in clinic sent her for a scan (at three grand out of pocket), then - determining that she didn't have a kidney stone - they shrugged and sent her on her way.

To cut a long story short, she's spent the day at an area ER, in the hopes of finally getting access to health care that she desperately needs. This place is the only one in the area that still does a sliding pay scale and offers charity programs. Last I heard, from relatives in the waiting room, is that she finally got in to triage after a long, long wait. No word on whether anything's being done to help her.

I've been there, myself. Almost eight years ago, I was there, in an ER, broke and sick, waiting and wondering what was going to happen to me, and if I was going to bankrupt the family for having the audacity to inhabit an imperfect body without the financial means to repair it.

I got help, eventually. Here's hoping my sister does, too.

UPDATE - She managed to get on the hospital's charity program. So, while she still has to deal with bureaucracies and paper tag and other frustrations, at least she's in a position to receive help, which is something.The pain is still an issue, but at least someone seems to be listening.