Update August 15, 2021

 Well that was an interesting six weeks!

Health
I had an appointment with my doctor.  It was a bad day overall as I had a migraine that day, but he was cool.  Some quick labs that looked good, a promise to keep up my FMLA, and more or less letting my two big health issues be monitored and cared for by the two specialists.  

I finally heard back from my Neurologist on the next step.  He said I could either up the dose of the Depakote again, or I could try Nurtec.  Nurtec has been out for a little while and is evidently good at treating a migraine once it starts.  This wouldn't be a replacement for the Depakote, it would be a replacement for the Elitriptan.  BUT, if it was effective, it can be prescribed as a preventative medication and has shown to have good results there too. 

Getting that med from the pharmacy is another story.  They first denied it because I have to try and fail two triptan medications.  My Neurologist had only prescribed me Elitraptan before, but forgot that I'd tried Sumatriptan years ago.  Sumatriptan, or Imitex as its better known, didn't work worth a damn for me.  It made me violently vomit about 10 minutes after I took it.  And if you've never vomited while experiencing a full migraine, then you are lucky indeed.  Anyway, once I told him that it was in my older medical records, they put an appeal in and it got approved.  But even though he'd sent it only to my mail order pharmacy, they listed it as a local pick up.  So this weekend I had to send a request back to the neurologist to put the prescription into the pharmacy again.  By the time I get this it will be almost nine months since I last saw my Neurologist and 4 months since I told him the upped dose of Depakote wasn't working.  Let's hope it works.  

I explained how my back hurt so bad before, during, and after my vacation, right?  Well, while it's not 100% better, it is A LOT better.  I personally chalk that up to changing from Nina to Tiffany, but I'll get more into her smooth ride later.  

Finances
Umm... fuck.  

Getting Tiffany wasn't bad.  $36 more a month is nothing.  But I wanted to get the warranty.  That was just over $2000.  Then I had to get new tires that cost me $1500.  That nearly maxed out my primary credit card.  Then I wanted to get the cargo cover that should have come with Tiffany... $150.  Then a new personalized license plate... $100.  As long as I'm at the secretary of state's online office, lets renew the drivers license for $20.  New interior duster... $30.  Break the USB port inside and the rear windshield wiper... I'll have to wait until next week to see how much those will be.  

I always do this with new cars.  Its like getting a new phone... so many little accessories that add up quick.  I actually have a trash can in my Amazon cart that I'll probably not get and I think I'll drop the monthly washes (more on why below) so that will save some cash.  But fuck, it feels like a LOT of money.  

Family/Friends
Big news from my brother B.  He's moving on with his life.  I knew he was working in the background by paying off bills and catching up with other financial problems, but after almost two years he's ready to take the next step.  He contacted the credit union where we got him his car loan and got approved for a car loan all on his own.  Its nowhere near as good of a rate as I got him, but it will be HIS loan and will help improve his credit that much faster.  Now he's looking for a used car that his wife can use to scoot around town.  As he has an hour commute like me he'll still use the 'nicer' car but then again he might find a nicer car.  Like I said with Tiffany, it's a sellers market and there isn't a lot around, especially when you put B's priorities into play.  He's the one that wants a Chevy.  And I mean that's about ALL he wants. 

A midsize/compact car?  Cruz.  Midsize car?  Mailbu.  Fullsize?  Impala.  Big SUV?  Traverse.  I imagine if he wanted a truck it would be a Silverado.  

Anyway, I got him into a Buick before (by telling him it was the same thing as an Impala), so maybe he learned.  

A car is one of the last things he needs before moving back out and getting his family together.  His wife and kids currently live with his mother in law and his wife can use her vehicle.  That could still happen, obviously, if they moved out but it would be a big hassle and a pain.  But two cars?  That makes it easy.  

And evidently B has been looking for a place for the past few months.  Sadly where cars is a sellers market, there just ISN'T much of a housing market.  B's credit isn't ready to get a mortgage yet and there aren't any houses in town to rent.  I don't mean there aren't any good ones... I mean there aren't any to rent.  It probably has a lot to do with the eviction moratorium as some people who aren't paying their rent (that has nothing to do with COVID) are now living rent free.  Once the moratorium goes away they'll get booted, along with those that could really use the help.  

So next up?  Apartments.  My brother has never been a fan of apartments where I love them.  I'll admit though, that finding an apartment with at least three bedrooms is a tough find.  Ideally it would have four bedrooms so his two boys could each have their own room, but that's neigh impossible.  Next up is a mobile home.  B has had bad luck with mobile homes.  He bought one years and years ago and left it without paying for it.  It was a huge hit on his credit and he really pissed off the property owners.  He now can admit that buying one is just a horrible idea as you don't own the land, the depreciation is extreme, and you just end up paying more for less.  

Renting a mobile home, however, is almost as good as renting a house.  You don't have neighbors sharing walls, you get private parking, you have a lawn and other outside space.  And renting it would mean you aren't making a long term commitment.  BUT the local mobile home parks that have mobile homes to rent are...strange? All but one want possible renters to fill out a credit application.  That's a hard hit on your credit.  That doesn't guarantee you a rental, it just puts you in the line.  It might be a month.  It might be six months.  It might not happen.  There's one exception to that and B has been calling them non stop to make sure he's their first call when something comes up.  Well... he got the call this past week. 

They have a four bedroom home coming available and he's being given first look.   The only thing about the park that gave B any hesitation is that they were right across the street from his old park.  And they bought out the old owners, so they own both properties.  They might have the records of him abandoning his mobile home.  But it's worth the risk.  

So he goes to see it and it turns out they've rebranded the parks into one name.  When the agent started driving him to the home it not only was in his old park, it was four lots down from where his mobile home was.  Talk about a bad karma feeling.  The rent is $100 more than he wanted it to be and the home isn't the best.  Obvious repairs are obvious which to me means the maintenance crew is less than capable.  BUT, this is the first thing he's seen that's possible, within his price range, and available all at the same time.  He only plans to be out in a place like this for a year or two, so it would make sense to suck it up and get through this housing market fiasco when he can.  

He just saw it yesterday and said he'd sleep on it.  You never know, when I write my next 'update' I might have one less person at home. 

Oh, and my other brother R had a company picnic.  I guess they chose a picnic for their quarterly meeting where they get everybody together because it was outside (fucking COVID) and they could also just have fun together.  And by fun I mean both an open bar and weed.  Yes, the executive in charge of this housing commission uses edibles and doesn't mind if her staff responsibly partakes.  And yet my employer, the department of corrections, won't even let us smoke.  Fuckers. 

Work
Work is hell.  Work is getting better.  I'm still behind on everything and just can't seem to get any traction.  There is always a scheduling nightmare to fix that takes half the day.  And tomorrow I couldn't get a volunteer for a shift so I put myself up for it.  I know it gives me a lot of points with the staff, but it really is going to fuck with my work week.  That's hours of working in the clinic that I won't get for my own work... which as I said above, I'm already behind on. 

The getting better part is real though.  I have two LPNs coming out of orientation and they both like to pick up overtime.  I have another in orientation that's a state employee and will be eligible for being mandated.  I have two RNs coming off of medical leave in a couple weeks and another coming back from the other facility next month.  And finally Friday night I hired an LPN that's going to school during the week and wants to work as much as she canon the weekends.... so she'll be pulling 16 hour days one one weekend and 8 hour days on the other.  That's six overtime shifts I won't need to fill!  

I got a strange call the other day.  This is from my fellow supervisor.  I think she was being honest and just feeling out what I thought, but she might be doing a subtle push.  There's an opening for a nurse manager at one of the facilities in my home town.  I'd be back down to a 5 minute commute.  I'd have new responsibilities in a new environment and new people to meet and impress.  

But does taking a job like that mean I'm giving up on my current facility?  Admitting I couldn't get good at it? I don't know.  This just happened on Thursday and I haven't given it much thought.  I know I'd hate to screw over my boss and co supervisor... but then again my boss screwed me over by not getting us our third supervisor.  I'd hate to screw over the staff though... they admit they like my scheduling and miss me when I'm gone.  That would suck. 

It's something to think about.  I have a few more days if I want to put my application on.  You never know, I might not get it.  

Entertainment
Oh man, six weeks of stuff.  Let's cover some of this quickly.  My brother purchased some movies that I really enjoyed.  Starship Troopers, Alien, and Aliens.  I watched Suicide Squad and thought it was much like the first one... great Harley Quinn movie without nearly enough Harley Quinn in it.  Not much else when it comes to TV and movies.  

I haven't played to much more at the computer.  Buying Tiffany was a true time sink and most of my free time went to that research, buying process, and learning about her after the purchase.  

Music wise, there was some good ones:

Dua Lipa Levitating

Miley Cyrus Midnight Sky

Whenever, Wherever by Shakira (and the Spanish version Suerte)

It Gets Better by Swedish House Mafia

All good songs, but I'm really digging the It Gets Better.  That song THUMPS! 

I finished Loki.  Good series.  I watched the first episode of What If...? and liked it.  Can't wait for the Zombie one!  

Telling J
I mentioned that J and I went to Detroit for a mini vacation in my last update post.  We did and it was fun.  Its the first time I drank since... San Fran?  Maybe a beer here and a beer there, but nothing major.  Well, when we were done for the day we hopped in Nina and started driving home.  We knew there was good food between us and home so we figured we'd stop in this quaint little town that evidently has a great brewery.  I even got street parking right in front of the brewery.  Which means we didn't have to walk far to see the sign stating that they were closed due to staffing issues.  Fucking Hell.  We're both hungry and wanting to sit down for a drink, so we do some quick googling and find out they have another brewery.  It did, in my defense, strike me odd that a town this small would have two brewerys, but hey I didn't put to much thought into it.  

It wasn't a brewery.  It was a distillery.  They made their own spirits (vodka, whisky, rye, gin...) and made special cocktails with them. They didn't, however have a kitchen.  In my defense, I hadn't eaten all that much since breakfast and even then I only ate half of my corned beef hash, eggs, and pancakes.  Lunch was a hand full of fries.  So by the time I got to this distillery, I had NO food on my stomach.  Two strong cocktails in and I was beyond buzzed.  I wasn't fall down drunk... which is where I like to get.. but I was certainly drunk.  

J was also feeling the affects.  So once we were done we went to the towns local BBQ joint to get some food.  And of course while there, ordered a few beers.  I don't remember how the conversation got there, but I was talking about a tattoo idea I've had.  It's a Janus head, except one side would be a stylized version of 'me' and the other would be a feminized version of 'me'.  It would be my own 'two sides of self'.  But one of my fears of getting it is explaining it.  It's not too subtle, so people would realize something is up with my gender, gender preference, or gender identity.  

So I told J about it.  I told her about the tattoo idea and what it would mean to me.  That it would be an artful outward expression of the fact that I'm queer.  I even explained, probably more in depth than the discussion about a tattoo warranted, that it was both a gender identity as well as a sexual identity.  And she rolled with it!  She was fine and cool and acted like it was no big deal.  I swear, once I heard my own voice saying the things I was saying, I figured she'd be disappointed. 

I think she even made a gesture toward that side of me.  Her music tastes are almsot always fairly hard rock.  Modern hard, thumping rock.  But while driving home she put on some Miley Cyrus.  In fact that's where I got Midnight Sky... she played it for me!  

Anyway.  I know I'd told A about this before ending our friendship.  I didn't tell A and E on our vacation, but now at least someone knows about 'me'!  

Tiffany
Okay, it's way to early to go into a full review, but I need to give some more info about Tiffany.  Her ride is just what I wanted.  Practically the opposite of the hard ride that Nina had.  Her seats are incredibly cushy and it is SO comfortable to drive her.  I won't know HOW comfortable until I take her on more than an hour long drive, but I'm thinking she'll be a perfect highway cruiser. 

The lane centering feature I was so hot about... meh.  She still tends to bounce between the lane markings if left alone.  I really can't leave her to drive, which is what I was hoping for.  That being said, it IS a more casual drive on the highway.  I normally drive with my hands on the wheel.  They're in the 9 and 2 position.  I know... not 9 and 3 or 10 and 2.  My left hand sits lower on the wheel while my right sits higher.  Anyway, on longer drives I'll mix it up between the three versions of that.  Driving with both hands on the wheel, with just the left on the wheel, and just the right on the wheel.  They all offer their own fatigue.  It's not bad and nothing I've directly complained about before, but it's something that does contribute to driver's fatigue.  Well, with the lane centering I can rest my right arm on the center (cushy) arm rest and loosely grab the wheel at the 4 or 5 position.  And I mean LOOSELY.  I tried this with the lane centering off and I honestly don't feel that I have enough control, so it's a big improvement.  

Her stereo is amazing.  The Revel Ultima lives up to its name.  I'm hearing more out of songs that I know and listen to often.  The songs with a bass line (like the 'It Gets Better' above) sounds good while at the same time I can go to a podcast or talk radio without changing the sound settings and it sounds just as good.  Something that surprised me is the Sirius/XM radio.  I've had that in a lot of cars and generally just let it go.  Even at the low low price of $5 a month which I've been offered, it wasn't worth it.  But this time I took the time to program my favorite channels and ended up with 12 music channels and 3 news channels to listen to.   I love Lithium the most as I practically know every song on there and can sing along with most of them.  But Classic Vinyl, 90s on 9, Symphonic... I love em!  I get a three month trial and can sign up for another three months for $2.  I'm fairly sure I'm going to do that to see if I enjoy it for six months.  If I do... well, then it's a value proposition.  What exactly is it worth?  I know its NOT worth the $20 a month they want... but it might be worth $5 or $10.  

Keeping Tiffany clean might be a struggle.  I've taken her through the wash twice.  The first time I got out and dried her off like I would have Nina.  Get the glass perfectly dry (I hate seeing the water spots on the glass!) then dry off some of the chrome and the paint where it will be obvious.  Well, the spoiler above the rear windshield seemed to collect water and keep spitting it slowly down.  I dried and dried and dried, but each time I came back there was spots going down the rear glass and the rear hatch.  The next day those had dried into water spots.  Grr.  The second time I ignored drying her to see how well air drying would work.   The back was a train wreck with a LOT of water spots.  Now, understand that I have a fairly high expectation of cleanliness and am used to getting Nina washed twice a week.  I probably don't need to do that with Tiffany... but at the same time she's classy and should be clean.  

The real problem came up on the second run through the car wash.  Part way in and I heard a snap above or behind me.  When I got out I saw that my rear windshield washer arm was pointed straight back, so I got out to put it back on the glass.  Unfortunately I only thought it was pointed straight back... it was in fact gone.  I had been ripped off leaving just the part that's actually screwed into the motor and glass.    I asked the washing guys and we quickly found it, but it's not repairable.  It's not meant to be removed that way and there are some internal clips that are missing.  And to make it worse, those pieces are difficult to remove without a special tool.  And I most certainly don't want to fuck with my rear glass.  

The arm assembly goes for $70.  I figure that will be a repair bill of around $300 at the dealership.  BUT at the dealership I might get them to fix the USB port that I ruined and that should come under warranty repair.  We'll have to see how well the dealership treats me now that I have a Lincoln instead of a Ford.  But like I said when looking for Lincolns... my dealership is a Ford dealership that happens to sell Lincolns, not a Lincoln dealership.  

I'm on my third tank of gas.  I had a 15 gallon tank in Nina and got around 300 miles out of it.  I have a 18.5 gallon tank in Tiffany and get... yeah, around 300 miles.  But I figured its time to try the sport mode.  The regular driving mode for Tiffany is what you'd expect out of a Lincoln.  Cushy.  She can get up and move, but she's not in a hurry when you push the pedal down.  And her suspension is a little soft to take around corners with any hurry.  Maybe sport would be in between Lincoln cushy and Mustang harshness.  So, I tried it.  

I turned it on while driving down the highway at 60 mph.  Unsurprisingly, there was no noticeable difference.  At least not in the driving feel.  But when I pulled up the tach... it won't actually show what gear its in... I could see that it was shifting me down from 8th gear (its an 8 speed transmission) to 7th.  Yeah, I was likely far closer to the power band and would have more oomph if I jabbed at the gas pedal, but that would kill my already bad mileage.  So I turned it off.  

When I got into town, I still wanted to try it.  It wouldn't be for cruising to and from work, but it might be fun for some 'spirited driving' as they say in the brochure.  HOLY FUCKING SHIT!  A 330 horsepower twin turbo V6 cannot make a 4500 pound vehicle into a sports car, but it got DAMNED close!  It firmed up the suspension making it possible to take corners at speed, it changed the gearing so that the car stayed in the power band, and it changed the gas pedal response, making less pedal still push the car faster.  It was VERY impressive and I think I'll use it quite often!