A Long Day

I debated calling this entry The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, but I have no idea what that movie was about, so I may be suggesting a comparison that doesn’t fit. But the words themselves are right.

The Good News – I ordered a new wheelchair today, or more accurately I signed the document saying I wanted a certain chair, and the order will be submitted tomorrow. Cost $4300, all of which supposedly my insurance will cover.

The Bad News – Jasper had 3 teeth pulled today. We noticed he was eating less last week. He’d run up at dinnertime all eager, but then just look at the food and walk away. He was clingy with us, but would seem to slap Fforde with little provocation. I looked up side effects of his medication, but usually it causes an increased appetite. So, we weighed him, and he had lost half a pound! We had already decided to call the vet first thing Monday morning, but I played around with the internet and found that cavities or toothache can cause the exact symptoms Jasper was having. And he hadn’t had his teeth cleaned in over 3 years. So, when I made the appointment for today, we also planned to have his teeth cleaned (and Fforde’s too) even if that wasn’t the cause of the loss of appetite. Bingo! One little front tooth was loose. One premolar had a cavity, and one back molar had an abscess. Poor kitty, he did have a toothache. The vet couldn’t tell from the exam at all. He must be feeling better though, he’s eaten more this evening than several recent days all together. But we have to keep watch over him, and he’s now on antibiotics.

The Ugly? – Between vet visits, and going to the medical supply place, and some errands, and home to talk to the gardener and do 3 loads of wash and pay bills – I also had one long visit to the bank. It seems that we’ve been hit by a bank fraud scheme, where supposedly someone tries to give us money (in a way that seems totally plausible I might add – being contacted about lost funds) in order to cause the check to bounce and consequently get our bank info. It’s incredibly sophisticated and names of 2 well known banks are on the check. They didn’t ask for personal info, like bank account numbers or SS#, just to verify your address which they already had. I’m still finding it hard to believe this is bogus, they were that good. Tomorrow I’ll be giving all the papers to the fraud department of our bank to let them sort it out. I may send the same papers to the other big name banks too. It is seriously weird, and a bit scary as well. Apparently what saved us from getting caught in their scheme was that when we tried to deposit the check, we had enough money in the account (several thousand) that we didn’t overdraft. A week later our bank told us the check was no good, but we hadn’t spent the money, so no notification went back to that source. Honestly, I still don’t totally understand it. It was a lost fund supposedly from Jim’s employer from 1981 – 1987, probably that should have made us suspicious – that’s a long time ago. But you see, recently we found other lost funds for Jim in the CA state unclaimed office (probably where the scammers got our info) that’s from even longer ago. When an agency called trying to help one of the big banks find owners of accounts (their story) they gave their names, phone numbers for me to call back. It was not the usual way a scam sounds.

Anyway, all together it was long day. Not much of it was disability connected, aside from handling the chair purchase – that was about 1½ hours of time. Nope, today was taking care of chores, running the house and finances, and taking care of my babies. And in the end, everything is ok – Jasper is going to be fine, and a financial crisis was averted. Tomorrow though I want more time to read my new book!