FACE TIME -- JANUARY 27, 2012
Fri., January 27, 11:36 AM
This week was better than last. Remembering that such things are possible is how you make it through. 
Did you hear this item from Nancy Giles on “CBS Sunday Morning”? Ya know what I love about Nancy Giles? She says what I say, but she usually says it better.
As long as we’re talking about forgiveness, let me explain what I was taught. (I am not spouting some new age dogma; this is what I was taught about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when I was a kid.) If you have broken one of God’s commandments, if you feel you have sinned against God, you ask His forgiveness. But if you have wronged another human being, you don’t fix it by asking God. You must apologize to the individual you hurt, and (sincerely, I hope) you ask for his/her forgiveness.
So…if you take money unethically, you have both broken a commandment and hurt another person. Aside from prayer, you need to pay back what you took. These “God-fearing,” Bible-thumping orators don’t do a thing for me. I cannot imagine that they believe the things they’re saying.
Monday morning began with my annual eye exam. It was good; the doctor did not bother with expanded tests. His logic is based on two things: (1) I can see, and (2) the nerves in my eye still look normal. As my daughter pointed out (she sees him every January too), it’s almost a social visit. “Let me show you the newest pictures of my granddaughters.”
Tuesday the U.D. and I shopped. She needs “retail therapy.” I just need some things. I replaced a shade for a lamp I like, and I replaced a lamp that I never liked. (My mother bought that lamp for my freshman college room; it may have been convenient for fifty years, but I decided I need furnishings that suit my own tastes.)
Wednesday I started a project that has been staring me in the face for years. Although my “living room” is theoretically 12 by 15 feet, in reality I have a path — narrow enough that a random wiggle can knock things down. I started breaking down empty boxes (“don’t discard them, we might need them”); pulling out books that we might as well donate; finding strange clothing that belongs to no one I know. Maybe I can at least make that path wider.
Thursday was bookmobile day. I had compiled a list of books that I want to read, books that I know are in the larger library system — but I forgot to print it out. “No matter,” says the bookmobile man, “I will give you my email address.” That should work well. Meanwhile, I found an Anne Perry I had not read. How did I miss it? It’s brand new. Good stuff.
I had hoped to do some food shopping Thursday afternoon. A little leisurely shopping was not to be, as the weather turned nasty and we rushed to finish before the rain began to freeze. If I don’t do at least some of the food shopping, I lose control of my regular diet, something I cannot afford to do. And my body tells me.
Food for thought: If your doctor prescribes a medication for your specific condition and the insurance company refuses to cover it because “it has not been specified for that condition,” who is to blame? The doctor, who hopes he is choosing the best treatment for his patient? The patient, who doesn’t have textbook symptoms? The insurance company, whose knowledge only goes as far as what was written when the FDA first approved the medication? Or maybe it should be the support group for that particular condition, whose members obviously have not raised a loud enough uproar about getting the help they need. And, oh yes, who is receiving all that money that the patient has to pay, not only for his prescriptions but for the insurance that is not insuring him? Is there anyone we can trust?
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