The Kvetch Thread

My minor league kvetch....

I've accidentally signed and taken up a new tenant. A summer cold [cough] that appeared quite noticeably yesterday after work.

Haaak! Haaaak! acck!
I have a feeling he's going to be signing a long term lease in a studio department in my lungs.
Blerg!

No, I insist you get over this. This is posted in an xcatholic mode, with general understanding if you catch me at the right time, same with other stuff. Straighten up.

Cease that phelgming. Go to the doctor if you can't cease with this.

So, does the new person have a cat you are allergic to?

Natters at self. None of the above is properly kvetchy.

The new tenant is the cold virus invasion of my system. Not allergic to cats.

Not being able to responsibly (sans guilt for the lack of roaming space for the cat) have a cat or dog in my apartment is another kvetching topic of mine.

Oh, say, similar kvetches.

olga, I hope the weather behaved and that you got your gardening done.

osso, I confess I'm mystified. What's your kvetch? Psychology classes? I'm lost.

tsar, A summer cold is not minor league. I'm sympathetic to the hacking. Considering how humid it is, maybe the climate will serve as a vaporizer and help the cough break up. It hasn't worked for me, but I don't have a cold.

You touched on a major kvetch point for me. The absence of pets in my home. Major. Missing a pet like crazy. Won't have one. Can't afford vet bills. Allergic to cats. Can't walk a dog. And birds are not nocturnal except for owls. I've noticed that I'm paying a lot more attention to my plants. I guess they're better than nothing in the live thing category. Sigh.

My nails grow like weeds and are as hard as rocks. I'm sick and tired of clipping and filing, filing and clipping. Can't somebody come up with some kinda nail not grow thing--like a weed killer? Is there much call for this?

I was kvetching at Tsar, who has enough trouble without me piling on.
I see I was confusing. That is my way.

Dear goddess. Foofie has made a post with which I agree!


I am verklempt.

I was just responding to your post ...

It sort of did, Roberta.
It rained on & off.
We worked like hell during the off periods, then took breaks during the on downpours.
We achieved so much.
I'm very proud of us!

Now I will have to look for something new to kvetch about tomorrow!

kvetch, kvetch, kvetch (I usually call it bitch, bitch, bitch but here goes...)

We seldom use air conditioning because a) we live in the woods and usually have a cooling breeze or, b) in the event of a heat wave we're able to close up the house before it gets too hot and the shade helps keep the sun off the house. If the forecast is for an extended heat wave (more than three consecutive days in the 90+s) then I turn on the AC.

We lost two large ash trees in this week's storm that had previously provided lots of shade to the north side of the house. Even though it hasn't been exceptionally warm this week I've noticed that the house is warmer than it used to be. Mr B has been outside playing lumberjack since the storm and was working up a good sweat. I decided to turn on the AC to give him a cool house to escape from the heat. No AC.

The service guy came out yesterday and proclaimed the AC unit dead. Estimate for replacing it? $3700. ACK!!! The next protracted heat wave is expected to begin on Friday with at least five consecutive days in the 90s. We're gonna be toasty here in the woods.



2nd kvetch...
I've spent much of this week trying to navigate the morass of health insurance options for our family once our COBRA coverage expires in October. The state of IL has a COBRA continuation plan that allows people in our situation to roll over into a state run group plan so long as they do so without allowing their COBRA to lapse. Time to apply --- 90 days in advance, or NOW! Cost is between $16,000/yr to $30,000/yr for the four of us depending on the deductible chosen. Meeting the deductible can be upwards of $20,000/yr or as low as $2,000/yr but it all adds up to about the same thing -- $30,000+/year to have insurance for my family through this plan.

So... I start looking for a plan B. Private insurance. There are cheaper private options but they don't want me. I have too much risk of significant costs. My only option is to take the COBRA continuation program offered by the state. If I let that lapse then I'll end up in a high risk pool that's even more expensive. Cost for me is about $10,000/yr in premiums and deductibles. Private insurance for the rest of the family is about $11,000/yr.

Who needs air conditioning?

Sorry you're going through this, JPB. I had a similar problem last year, so I know how much it sucks.

So I developed an abscess under my tooth, and had to have it pulled. The dentist did a great job, but I have to eat soft foods for a few days. So what do I buy? All the stuff that I wouldn't dare eat otherwise, like cottage cheese and sour cream. Besides ruining my diet, the neighbors will smell me coming 100 yards away. I will create enough gas to solve the country's energy problems for years to come.

On top of that, when the dentist told me what it would cost for an implant, I wanted to plotz. So what does he think, I'm a millionaire or something?

JPB, Muttering dirty words for you. $3,700 for AC. That's one big unit.

Health insurance. A morass to end all morasses. You gotta have coverage. They've got you over a barrel. In a woid, oy.

Sending sympathies in your midwestern direction.

Phoenix, Ouch to the abscess. Ouch to the extraction. What's wrong with cottage cheese and sour cream. One of my favorite combos. Comfort food from childhood.

Plotzing from the fee. Not good. No, the dentist doesn't think you're a millionaire. In fact I doubt that he thinks about your money situation at all. Just sends you the bill and expects to be paid. Millionaire, hundredaire makes no difference.

Feh on doctor bills.

While we're on the subject, I may lose my Medicaid because I retired and am collecting social security. Fie on bureaucracy. I'm gonna fumfer around with the papers until the deadline. Maybe by the time everything is processed I'll be eligible for Medicare.

Isn't it enough that we worry about not being well. Worrying about the cost is almost as bad. There's something fundamentally wrong here.

What's wrong? Plenty is wrong. I spend a fortune on Lipitor to keep the schmutz from clogging up my arteries, and then I eat sour cream, which just makes the process go faster.

How can a poysin live without sour cream?

Such self-deprivation, Phoenix. You're one strong kid.

SO what is your position on pints of ice cream? My doctor would shoot me if she knew of my ice cream consumption.

Delicious ice cream = happiness vs. no ice cream = allegedly lowered cholesterol = ennui and sadness.

Literally... fat releases endocannabinoids, evidently. (As in, ice cream makes you high.)



http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/when-fatty-feasts-are-driven-by-automatic-pilot

(Let me know if you can't get at the whole article, it's an interesting one.)

Ice cream. Also a must. But usually I eat ice cream only in the warmer months. Sour cream is year round.

I say go for it.

You guys gotta remember that I was on a doctor-ordered high-fat diet for a while. I got spoiled.

I believe in essing what you want. You only live once. If it gives you pleasure, I say eat it.

Still mumbling about no sour cream.

I lost weight by eating less of what I like.

PHOENIX, what do you put on your potato latkes?

I wish all problems were this easy. Just DON"T TELL HER.