Found out some not-so-great news today as well as some totally fantastic news but I’m not sharing the fantastic news just yet and when I do it will only be with Aly. Gotta laugh to myself knowing how pissed the termites would be if they knew about it, LOL.

Yeah, it isn’t every day you wake up to learn you won an appeal you didn’t even know about that’s going to get you over 20 grand. Tom didn’t want to tell me until he knew the outcome, but he hired a lawyer from some legal group and that’s what the “phone interview” with Unemployment was really all about. Funny too, because just last night I was warning Tom that just like you sometimes have to fight for prizes to get delivered to you when you win sweeps and contests, you have to fight the government as well. I knew they would do everything in their power to string things along or deny us all together with or without being so overwhelmed with tons of claims, but especially with all the extra claims. That’s exactly what happened a while ago and Tom was right to keep his mouth shut about it since I would have worried even more. Maybe we should have appealed Oregon’s decision, but we weren’t in a position to hire a lawyer back then.

You know, if the fucking government would stop giving so much of our money away, it wouldn’t be so overwhelmed when it came to taking care of its own. We shouldn’t have to fight for this shit. I’m glad we won, of course, but sometimes I wish we weren’t from here or at least not white.

The lawyers, who win 95% of their cases, agreed to work on a contingency and only get money if they won the case. Well, they won! Our wonderful government was going to stiff us probably because he maxed out the system and was owed the most you can get per week on Unemployment here which is $450. Plus, there’s the stimulus part of it to be factored in that you can’t get unless you’re getting Unemployment (guess there are two types of stimulus deals). He was so relieved to win because if he’d lost, he’d have to get one of those $15 jobs with Amazon or something like that and risk getting sick and maybe even dying.

Instead of having to go to work and possibly die for it, we’re going to get more than when he was working, believe it or not, for the next 6 months, since he’s unlikely to return to work anytime soon. We actually have to be careful not to make too much money otherwise we could lose it. That’s a first! Yeah, having to be careful not to make too much is a refreshing breath of fresh air. I’m still in shock.

It’s weird because it’s like where the economic crisis damn near killed us, this pandemic is causing us to profit. I just hope there isn’t some nasty catch to it we can’t see. Like how we were blown out of our minds to get such a great offer on the Phoenix house only to eventually leave me wondering if something up there only had us get such a great offer because it knew we’d need the money fighting to get into the new place with the way they kept fucking up on us and then the legal bullshit that soon followed. Well, hopefully there’s nothing sitting up there saying, “I better have them win a decent amount because they’re going to need it when I get done picking on her health.”

As it is, taking care of my teeth is going to be more expensive than we thought but I’m pretty confident that going with a root canal is likely to be my best bet in the end. I don’t know what kind of pain I may be in for but if I don’t do anything at all, I’m guaranteed to get infected again.

Even getting a pull costs more money than we thought. That would be around $500, and that office is closed now. They’re only doing emergencies where they simply pull the tooth with Novocain and nothing else. They said they would rather not pull the tooth at all, and recommended the root canal, so we trust their judgment and that it must be the best thing for me since they lose money by saying they would rather not pull it.

The bad news is that it’s going to cost around $1,600 for a root canal. Dixie said she’s had three of them and that they weren’t as bad as she thought, just expensive. Looks like I’ll probably be able to get nitrous oxide too, but it won’t be just one appointment like Dana told me over the phone. I go in Monday morning for a consultation before the actual procedure. They could have gotten me in this afternoon, but Tom explained I couldn’t make it due to my sleep disorder which the person he spoke with probably didn’t get. The doctor would know what it is but I’m not so sure about those that answer the phone. Doesn’t matter, though. I get in when I can get in.

Anyway, we have to pay half up front and they’ll accept payments for the other half.

I was doubly annoyed, though, because the doctor is male and has a name that appears to be Middle Eastern or Indian because they have the accents from hell. Really tired of having to deal with foreigners who don’t want to conform to the American accent or at least try to! I’m fucking American, so why would I want an Indian treating me?

But then I looked the guy up, and despite his name, he’s from Canada. So that should be easier to understand even if it still wears a dick between its legs. Personally, as long as they do the job right, they can have whatever body parts they want and be from wherever. I just want to be able to understand what the hell they’re saying and have them be competent.

Anyway, we’re relieved and happy about the settlement in which the lawyers will only get $1,700. We’re guessing the payments will start coming at the end of the month. It’ll amount to nearly 30K in half a year and that’s a lot for us! I’d love to take the money and run to Florida but there’s no way we can put the house on the market with this fucking pandemic going on that seems to have no end in sight anytime soon. I still worry about being trapped here, so I hope Tom is right when he says they’ll have a vaccine around the time we’re ready to move.

I’m still a little worried about the lump in my neck as well as my nails, but not so worried about my female parts.

I removed the nail polish I swore I wouldn’t bother with for the rest of the year and my nails still look like shit. But maybe it’s more than just nail polish, though. Given that I’m also getting a band of redness under my wedding band, I’m starting to wonder if it’s some kind of contact allergy and if it’s some product I’ve been using that’s causing it. This could be anything from my tea tree mint shampoo to conditioner to different lotions. At least this isn’t in a sensitive spot and I only feel a bit of irritation. Nothing even close to maddening in any way.

I was surprised to learn that by age 50 most people have lost a total of 12 teeth, including their wisdom teeth. By age 75, 26% of people have lost all their teeth. I didn’t know this! So I guess I’m kind of normal after all since I’ve lost 7 so far. Those are the ones I’ve had pulled. This doesn’t count the bridge, the few crowns I have, and the root canal I’m about to get. One of the pulls, though, was an impacted baby tooth.

Aly told me she didn’t care for her teeth very well when she was younger and believes that steroids and other prescription drugs damaged her teeth. It was $2,400 for her upper dentures. She has a few missing teeth down below but nothing worth getting crowns or bridges for yet. She misses her real teeth.

I’ve had lots of pets, yet none have ever or will ever make the impression on us that Tinkerbell made. She was truly extraordinary in every sense of the word. Despite my anxieties over my teeth and my relief over the appeal, I’ve shed some tears for her tonight. I still miss her so much and I feel so guilty about the way she died and having to suffer under the shitty circumstances we were in at the time. If Tom’s belief is right about there being an afterlife where we’re reunited with our pets, I hope she’ll forgive me for the way I handled her in the end, even though I would think most people would understand.

Even though I told Alyssa I wouldn’t send any more messages since she clearly didn’t want any kind of friendship with me, which is her right, I decided that since it’s highly unlikely she’s even picking up my messages (and this is true since she could always disable notifications) I would use our Messenger chat for a voice journal. I won’t discuss anything too private, of course. It just amuses me to think of the very, very, very off-chance that she may actually hear them. Or maybe even her kid or future grandkids someday. Most likely no one will ever hear them but until voice blogging is as common as text blogging, why not use it for that?

My first-ever homemade scalloped potatoes are in the cooker now. Was a bit of time and work to make but I didn’t mind. The mandolin saved some time, though. The ingredients came today, and I swear this is the biggest onion I ever did see! Didn’t use most of it.