Campfyre Stories

I was going to write about trying to find my polling place and getting lost.  I was going to write about how my polling place had record voter turnout for a mid-term election.  I was going to write about the kid in the cafe who was so proud of voting for the first time, but didn’t grasp the concept of being informed before you press the levers.

I was going to write about the election itself, about the concession speech used by a losing incumbant to further bash his opponent after the muddiest campaign I have ever seen.  I was going to write about the hypocrisy of the people who have strong views and opinions and do a little dance when the Dems take the House, but do not vote.  I was going to write about the election of criminal incumbants and the opponent who thanked person one and person two, saying "These three young men…"

I was thinking about all of those things and even composing entries in my head, but I changed my mind.  I’m just glad it’s over.  Can we move on now?

Just do it.  I don’t care who you vote for or why, but please please vote.

Mid-term elections have notoriously low voter turnout, so just by voting your voice counts a little more than it otherwise would.

Tell ‘em what you think.  Keep the good ones, oust the bad ones and, if you don’t like the major party candidates, remember that third parties are much more viable at the state and local levels.  Just make a statement, make a stand, vote for whoever you believe in.

I mentioned this last week, I think, that I have this weird mobile pain in my leg.  Well, after suffering consistently for a little over a week, I started mentioning it, hoping to get some thoughts on what it could be.  My mother offered a helpful suggestion and after doing some research on the web, I self-diagnosed Restless Leg Syndrome and decided to see a doctor to have him confirm it.  Keep in mind that my sleep has been interruped and I can’t sit still for more than about an hour at a time.

Well, I went to the doctor on Saturday, explaining what was wrong and what I thought it might be and he broke the wretched news to me.  RLS is a disease of exclusion and I’m going to need to see an internal Specialist to rule out every other possibility that is actually diagnosable.

Which would be fine, except that my contract ends in about 5 weeks, meaning that unless my current contract agency places me again, I won’t have this same insurance for much longer.  I don’t know how the pre-existing condition condition works with the insurance companies and whether or not it counts as pre-existing when it’s in the process of being diagnosed.  Also, if I find a good Internal Specialist, there’s no guarantee that my next insurance plan will cover him, so maybe I’ll need to get a different doctor.

The likelihood of my having some other problem (some of which are more severe) is pretty unlikely.  I have most of the conditions that cause RLS and I don’t have most of the symptoms that go along with the other diagnoses.  Basically, I’m looking at a lot of tests and a lot of doctor appointments to confirm what I’m already thinking is wrong.

So the doctor gave me a prescription for (non-narcotic) painkillers and told me to take them before bed so that I can sleep through the night without waking up in screaming pain.  They last about 6 hours, which is about enough to get me through ’til morning and there’s one refill, so it should hold me until I know what my insurance situation is going to be…  I can still feel the problem in my leg, though.  It just doesn’t hurt, or maybe I just don’t care.  The feeling doesn’t go away, just the pain, which is a very odd sensation.

Blah.  I really hate having something wrong with me, but it’s even worse when I try to do something about it and am told that the steps I need to take are ones that just don’t fit the timeline in which I need to do them.