Comic Con Sweepstakes

Most of yesterday was used up getting help for my various problems (food stamps, help affording Medicare, etc.).

I still have more papers to fill out and get in right away. The woman there said I would get food stamps, but she didn't know how much.

I have just a short section of the Christmas present hood to kitchner together, and then block it. The purple shawl has the knitting finished and has to be blocked. The lavender Shetland lace shawl is knit and needs to be blocked.

As you can probably tell, I'm not real fond of blocking. But I have a steamer, which makes the whole process a lot less painful. Actually, I have a pile of other stuff to block, too, and I should do it and get some of it up on my Etsy store.

Photos of that will happen real soon.

In the meantime, I have forms to fill out, documents to get copies of, and mail out, along with some books to pick up at the library.

This Friday, the SciFi Channel will be showing Tru Calling in their daytime rotation. There are some great episodes being shown, notably the end of the series, where the plot starts to thicken. Don't miss it!

Speaking of Friday, later in the day they will show Joan of Arcadia and the next episode of Doctor Who. I think this is the next-to-last episode of the series, so I hope you saw last week's episode, Turn Left. It's shaping up to be a fabulous finale!

And the SciFi Channel sent me a text message this morning and let me know that there's a Comic Con sweepstakes going on right now. It sounds great. I've already entered, and I don't know why I'm lowering my odds of winning by telling everybody else.

For any of you who are lucky enough to be going to Comic Con, here's the schedule for SciFi channel stuff.

My friend, John, will be there, but he'll be spending all his time on panels, etc. Being a guest at a con is fun, but it has it's limitations, too. I hope he gets to see some of the con.

Traffic Jam

I got a call from Holly yesterday, asking me to look up information about traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

A big section of the West end was completely closed (both ways) yesterday evening due to an accident that I can only assume must've been really massive to close it down in both directions.

Although, you never know. I was once stuck in a traffic jam on I-95 South of here where there was an accident that closed traffic both ways. The accident was only on one side, but the other traffic direction had been closed to provide a clear spot for a chopper to land to airlift out injured motorists. I wish the accident had never happened, but watching the rescue operations (particularly the chopper) was fascinating.

And why is this relevant, you may ask?

My granddaughter, Malaia was stuck in the jam. She called her mom after being stopped long enough for other motorists to decide to get out and walk around, etc.

I was checking with Holly, and she still hadn't arrived in Baltimore as of pretty late last night. I'm assuming that she did get home, and that she is all right. Sitting in traffic, even for a few hours is so much better than having arrived at the site of the accident just in time to be in it. I am unbelievably thankful that she wasn't involved in the actual accident.

I expect to at least get the knitting on the shawl done today, but there isn't a photo yet.

Today, I gearing up for a visit to Social Services in Prince William County. I know my county was named after someone else, but it's such a trendy name at the moment.

Someone there will be helping me get some information about Medicare, and how to control some of the costs. There will also be someone examining my application for food stamps. I hope the food stamps get approved. It will defray some of the other expenses that are happening. I'm also going to ask about getting dental help, although I don't have a lot of hope about that. Don't forget the donations button in the sidebar.

I have all my information together, and will just have to deal with getting out of here early enough to catch the two buses I'll need to take to get there tomorrow.

If approved for the food stamps, what I'll actually get is an ATM card that will get my food stamp money deposited once a month. It's possible that I could get some or all of my Medicare expenses paid. I have mixed feelings about that.

I've been going to a clinic which I won't be able to go to if I get Medicare. The clinic gives really good help. The usual medical system in the US is the pits! I think of most doctors as "pharmaceutical salesmen." 

The doctor I saw at the ER is a perfect example. He looked at my ear and my throat, then listened to my chest, prescribed almost $200 worth of drugs and billed me $300! And didn't prescribe enough drugs to really get rid of the problem, only to shift it back to a chronic condition. So, for close to $1,000 (ER bill, too), he kept me from being seriously ill, but allowed me to be chronically ill. 

Around the turn of the millennium, the statistics for the previous year listed the eight highest cause of death in the United States as "doctors in hospitals."

The US medical system is terrible.

I hope you're having a great Monday!