Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Restricted Substances

I got a text yesterday from my son. He asked me what my mailing address is. I looked at the text and thought, umm...no. Not only did he have an apartment in this complex a few years ago, he is on the lease for my apartment. There is no way that he doesn't know the address here. So, I gave him a call to ask what was up. It turns out that he did send the text. He had just forgotten what my apartment number was and was somewhere that he couldn't look it up. He will be 47 soon. The brain fog is hitting him early. 

My grandson's medication is extraordinarily expensive and while it isn't the kind of medication that you can just order online from Canada. But it has made him learn how to game the system for other medications that he needs.  Georgia is a shitshow medically, and won't allow a lot of medications to be sent there. They don't want anyone to be able to cut Big Pharma, or the insurance industry out of the picture. But it is legal for the medications to be sent to Alabama. Like I said, he is on my lease, so it isn't like we are doing anything untoward. 

There is a big part of this situation that makes me frustrated. Why on earth do we all have to jump through hoops and play games to get the medical help that we need?  I have friends who live in Canada who are thinking about moving here and I have asked them why. In all the years that I have been alive I never thought it would come to this. But they are young and building their family. You can't get pregnant here. It is dangerous. You can't get sick here. It doesn't even have to be a major illness to bankrupt you. A bout of strep throat will cost you hundreds of dollars before your insurance company will even begin to pay for it. And here we are, the country that exports medications all over the world, and we have to devise schemes to be able to afford the ones that we need to take. It's all a bunch of crap. And sadly, nothing will ever be done about it. 

The only upside of this situation that I can see is that my son will have to come regularly to pick up his meds. And that is a plus for me. But Damn it! This shouldn't be this way.

Cleaning Woes

My friend De is coming to visit again today. My home is mostly clean. It always is, but I scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen floor anyway. Generally, if someone walked into my home, I wouldn't be ashamed about how it's kept. It isn't hard with just me cleaning up after myself. This apartment is set up in a way that doesn't frustrate my efforts. 

I have a pile of laundry that needs to be done, but the laundry room has been out of order since the weekend. I should have taken care of it before then, but who knew. I hope they get it fixed soon. I really don't want to have to put my clothes in my wagon and walk them into one of the laundries near the university, but that may be what needs to be done. I wonder if I could get an Uber to take me.