The Strangest Labor Day

 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012 – The Strangest Labor Day

Strange, but true:  It’s Labor Day, and I’m not back in school to start off the new year.  Actually, it’s a good thing I don’t have to be there because I’m in no condition to work today.  That 24-hour bug I picked up – well, it obviously doesn’t know how to count.  I still feel like an empty shell of myself.  More troubling than the weak and tired feeling is the loss of appetite.  As a professional foodie (it even says so on my business card), do I qualify for disability payments?

But at least I managed to get out of the house this morning.  I had just a few errands that couldn’t wait.  First was to pick up the refill of Elliott’s painkillers at CVS.  When I ordered them last week, the pharmacist told me they’d be available Sept. 3, which was yesterday.  But today the pharmacist informed me that they wouldn’t be available until Sept. 6.  When she went to check on the computer again, the date was Sept. 5.  Okay, I thought.  Minor frustration, but I can deal with it. 

My next errand was to go down to Greenspring to 1. straighten out onging problems with the automatic payments for my mother’s Medicare Advantage insurance; and 2. visit my mother.  I found a surprise when I checked the mail in my mother’s room.  There was a letter from Verizon welcoming her as a new Verizon Freedom Essentials customer – for only $54.99 per month.  The only problem is that she doesn’t have a landline.  I cancelled it when she moved into assisted living back in June.  In any event, it took forty minutes of waiting to speak to a live human being to find out that the letter was sent in error.  Maybe that’s why I had no appetite when I finally got home. 

It was past twelve and I was feeling queasy, but I knew I should eat something.  The refrigerator was full of containers of leftovers:  roasted sweet potatoes and red peppers; sautéed corn with garlic and scallions; black beans; avocado and tomato salad.  I arranged a small spoonful of each on a plate and put it on the table.  I looked at it and thought, “dog food.”  That’s about how appealing it seemed to me.  It’s still sitting on the table. 

I’d better get over this malady quickly or it will put a serious dent in my staycation plans.