I specifically tagged this with 'Car Fun' because I'm including Layla's review here. The review, much like Layla herself, just doesn't deserve a post all to itself. It's at the bottom if you want to skip down and just read that.
Migraine
I haven't noticed any migraine affect from the low dose Naltrexone (LDN). About the only side effect I've noticed is sleep related, but not in the way I thought I'd see. I'm sleeping more. My ideal sleep is 7 hours a night. I accept and used to get 6 hours a night. Lately, I've been getting between 4 and 5 hours a night and then napping 1 or 2 hours in the middle of the day. Well, since I started the LDN I've been sleeping around 7 hours at night AND napping 1 or 2 hours in the middle of the day.
Other Health
I had two referrals from my neurologist visit at the end of last month. One to another migraine specialist and one to a local counseling center for my depression. I contacted both of them with less than ideal results.
The counseling one finally called me back. They asked a bunch of preferences and besides saying I'd rather have visits in the morning, I didn't have any preferences. They said they'd review my preferences and contact me as soon as they had an opening that matched them. That was almost two weeks ago. It's pretty sad that I reached out to someone because I don't feel like I can go on without help, but they don't have time to help me. That doesn't really help with the whole self image problem.
The neurologist was even more frustrating. My neurologist said they took patients in without direct referrals. So I called them up and asked for an appointment. In this instance, I asked for a specific doctor, the one my neurologist suggested, and a specific location that works for me since he works out of three different locations. They called back and said they needed a direct referral. I sent a message to my neurologist on the electronic charting software and asked for a referral and they faxed one later that same day. And again, now almost two weeks later... nothing.
I know I can't just give up, but damn it is hard being my own patient advocate.
Finances
My long term disability (LTD) was approved through the end of this year. I'm not exactly sure what that means as I don't see my neurologist again until April of NEXT year and they'll want updated medical records to extend it.
Hopefully I'll be seeing another neurologist by then and I'll have those records available.
I should also add that I got the set up from the bank that's handling my car loan. My monthly payment is $471. I can easily afford that while I'm getting my LTD, meaning for at least a few months and probably for about a year. I had enough in my savings account to pay for the car outright, but then I went and bought a bunch of stuff for Layla as well as getting my new smart watch (more on that below). As is, it's close. I think if I make two or three payments, I'll have enough to pay it off, not to mention the 'extra' I save back since I make more money than my bills require.
Family/Friends
It's the seven year anniversary of my trip to New Orleans vacation with A & E. I got reminded of it via Google Photos as I took a bunch of pics on that trip. I texted some of the photos to A & E and they both seemed happy with the memory. I'm hoping that it reminds them to plan a vacation out this year as I'm not sure I should be the one pushing for it... even though I really want another vacation just to break things up. I'm afraid that the limitations set up by my migraines makes me the least capable of deciding where to go. Hell, my only requirement would be to have a chill dark quiet bar where we could sit and chat.
My brother B had his work schedule changed and it's now in effect. He not only goes to work earlier every day, he's now on a rotating "six days on, two days off schedule". As always he put a priority on college football with me and he has already requested and been approved for every Saturday off between now and the B1G championship. Go Blue!
Entertainment
It's funny how good television programs pull you in and keep you watching. Binging. I mentioned in the last update that I had four recent series all lined up and ready to go. Well, between then and now, I've finished watching all four of those seasons. All of them were good and I can't wait for the next seasons, although I guess the public disagrees with me and Disney's The Acolyte won't be renewed for a second season. The Bear, House of the Dragon, and The Boys, however, have all been renewed for new seasons.
I also finished off Suits. It honestly rushed the ending, but after the last two seasons I'd guess they were shut down suddenly. They did, however, set it up for another series to pick up where it left off and I wouldn't mind watching that as it reconnected the two main characters.
I'm now left to decide what to watch next. I have a LOT on my list, both with series that I need to finish off a season or two as well as new series that caught my attention but that I haven't started. The series that I need one or two seasons of include:
- The Witcher
- The Handmaid's Tale
- Battlestar Galactica
- Tulsa King (just started it's second season)
- Reacher
- For All Mankind
- The Morning Show
- Billions
- Supernatural
- The Rookie
- 11.22.63
- X-Men '97
- Terminator Zero
- Loudermilk
- 3 Body Problem
- Mr. and Mrs. Smith
- Lioness
- Succession
- Titans
- Hijack
- Westworld (technically I watched the first season, but that was long ago)
- The Americans (same as above)
- Counterpart
- Watchmen
- Mr. Mercedes
New Tech
My Pixel Watch 3 came in and it's lovely. We'll see how useful it will be as it doesn't have the trick that my TicWatch had. The TicWatch had a VERY battery friendly screen when it wasn't being directly used. It made the whole thing last days instead of hours. But that was also years old before better battery technology and modern processors were out. The Pixel Watch 3's always on mode just dims the screen and turns off anything that's constantly moving (like the seconds hand on a normal watch face). I used it one day starting at 90%. I went out with it, wore it for a few hours, and then returned and turned it off as I normally do while at home. The next time I used it, it was at 71%. If I had to guess, I'd say that it should last a normal day out if I were on vacation and would just need to be charged nightly.
I wanted the watch to be 'nice' again. The Ticwatch honestly looked and felt cheap even with a leather band. So while it was outrageously expensive, I bought a metal strap for the Pixel Watch. I say outrageously expensive because the watch has a specific way to connect the bands meaning I can't get a generic one. The one from Google? $200. I normally wouldn't pay half the price of a watch just for a strap, but again I want this to be a good experience and the metal strap really goes with the Pixel Watch aesthetic.
Like many things recently, the metal band was almost undone because of a migraine. As I'd expect, it needed some fine tuning on the fit. It comes with extra bits to stretch it out further as well as a tool to remove some bits to make it smaller. As it fit too loosely on my wrist, I had to remove several bits. The video online and the written instructions all showed a very simplistic method to remove the bits. But they require you to be able to concentrate on and see a very small area to get the tool in and pull back two pins. Then, one you have the pins pulled (twice to remove the bit) you have to connect the two separated parts back together. It looked like it should take all of five minutes. It took me an hour and a half. BUT, the result is a very good looking and feeling watch.
Writing
I've found it to be very difficult to write for the past couple weeks. I did push out a couple chapters, but they are the very definition of 'in between'. They're in between actual story elements and in between action points. I only have a couple chapters left in this part though and I'll be ready to publish the next arc to Fictionmania. As a reminder, this will mark the second 'part' of Gamer Gurl.
I retconned the first part to be named Gamer Gurl: Origins. I'm fairly sure I've landed on the name of this second part. Gamer Gurl: Evolutions. I think the story fits it well as Sadie is evolving on several fronts. I have no idea how I'll name the last part, but it'll have to fit with Origins and Evolutions.
Tiffany Fallout
Sadly, absolutely nothing has changed here. I still haven't heard back about my license plate and it's a pain in the ass to keep calling. BUT, I want the damned plate back. It's a custom plate that I paid extra for. If nothing else, I want to keep it as 'art' as I have all my old license plates, including the custom one I had for Nina.
I reached out to a lawyer. They were the only local lawyer that mentioned insurance disputes as a specialty and not just focusing in on Personal Injury cases. I used their online form to explain my problem and had hoped to hear from them a couple days later, but that as on September 6th. That's a week and a half ago. I think I'll give his office a call next. I'd like to say that he lost my business by not contacting me back, but again he is the only one that lists this kind of problem as one of his specialties. If I don't go with him, I'm just picking a different lawyer at random.
I figured out that the winter wheels/tires I had for Nina SHOULD work on Layla. The next time I'm out I need to stop by Discount Tire who takes care of that for me and make sure it'll work. Then, when it's time to change to winter tires, I can bring in those wheels/tires and have them store Layla's summer/all-season wheels/tires and take Tiffany's winter tires back home. Or, hopefully, give them to Discount tire for disposal as I'd rather not store them myself.
I was waiting for State Farm to finally list everything from the Tiffany/Layla changeover before I looked into switching insurance companies. Well, they finally did and I took one morning to look into options. Here's what I want, a single company to have my Auto, Renters, and Nursing insurance. The nursing insurance is the big hold up as almost every company offers Auto and Renters insurance. NONE of the major insurance companies offer true Nursing insurance. I'm talking about Nursing medical malpractice insurance. Progressive has something close for small businesses and Geico partners with a third party insurance company, but neither feels quite right. And looking at insurance companies that specialize in medical malpractice insurance, for doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, it seems that they don't offer the insurance when you aren't working. I may need to contact one of them to make sure of that. Regardless, I think I'll just move my auto and renters insurance, meaning I need to get real quotes from:
- GEICO
- Progressive
- All State
- Liberty
- Farmers
- Nationwide
- Travelers
- USAA
Michigan Football
Michigan looked like shit against Texas. They just don't have a good replacement at Quarterback. The system they use, run heavy, doesn't need some stud that can throw for 400 yards a game, but our guy can't even make consistent short passes to the tight end. And then there's the fact that we have young or new receivers which makes the whole situation worse. Add in offensive and defensive lines that need to gel and Michigan is mediocre at best. That's not to say that they can't get better, but Texas didn't need time to grow and they wiped the floor with Michigan.
To make matters worse, Michigan didn't even do all that well against Arkansas State the next week. Now, every time our Quarterback threw the ball, someone caught it. But three of the 14 times, it was the other team. He's out. We've gone to Orji as QB1 for our next game... .but Orji hasn't shown any ability to throw either. He's more of a runner. And in a run heavy offense, that's problematic as any defense can just stuff the box and stifle any runs we have, RB or QB or otherwise. Oh, and that next team? Yeah, that would be the USC Trojans.
Layla review
I'd normally put this in it's own post, but as this review will show... Layla doesn't deserve her own post.
The biggest takeaway is that Layla is a fine car that will get the job done. She is not special in any way beyond the fact that she is the newest car I've owned by year. I.e. as a 2021, she's 'newer' than my 2019 Lincoln Nautilus and 2019 Ford Mustang. BUT, that Ford Mustang (as well as my 2017 Ford Fusion Platinum and 2015 Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium) were all bought brand new. My 2012 Ford Focus Titanium was purchased as a one year old vehicle and that 2019 Lincoln Nautilus was two years old. Layla is three years old. So at the same time, she's the 'newest' and 'oldest' vehicle I've purchased in the last 11 years.
I've taken her on a few short trips and even taken her on a 30 minute drive to a nearby town for drinks with my old friend A (not A in Dallas). It's enough to get basic impressions.
She drives fine. She tracks true and straight. It's funny as her suspension isn't as supple as Tiffany's, which makes sense when comparing a Ford to a Lincoln. BUT since she has 18 inch wheels and Tiffany had 21s, she doesn't crash over small bumps like Tiffany did. So like her age, she's both more and less supple than Tiffany.
Her driving aids are fine. I'm not sure if its me, Layla, or the roads I took her on, but when I put her in adaptive cruise and let her 'take the wheel' with lane centering, she didn't do as well as Tiffany did. I honestly felt that Tiffany was doing as much driving as I was. Layla seems to let me do more of the driving and only 'suggesting' where to drive.
It's nice having the larger screen, but I primarily use Android Auto and that part of it is less than good. It's not bad, but it only takes up the top 2/3 of the 12 inch screen. Or a little more than what an 8 inch screen would. The problem is that it's screen size ratio is different. On an 8 inch screen my Android Auto had the music section take up 1/3 of the width of the screen on the left and the map take up the remaining 2/3 on the right. On this larger screen the map takes up 2/3 of the TOP of the screen while below that are two sections, half for the weather and half for the music. The music is both smaller and further away from me than it would be on the 8 inch screen.
That being said, the climate controls taking up the bottom of the 12 inch screen are cool and useful. The dials are well placed and the buttons on the steering wheel are fine. And Layla has Android Auto wireless built in and a better placed wireless charging pad when compared to Tiffany's system.
Everything else falls into how much 'worse' it is when compared to Tiffany. And, as I still feel I might have made a deal on one of the Titanium's out there, I want to compare these things to see if the Titanium would be worth the extra effort and/or extra money. Money wise, the Titaniums would probably be between $1000 and $2000 more.
Digital gauge cluster. GOD do I miss that. I didn't realize just how much information Tiffany was displaying for me. I had what music was playing, my digital speedometer, my trip odometer (including mpg and miles traveled), and the outside temperature. It would also move things around and show my navigation if I had a trip through the built in navigation or Android Auto. Layla has a centered physical speedometer that takes up almost all the space. I don't use that speedometer. On either side are 4" screens that can display different things. On the left I put a digital speedometer that I use instead of the big one in the center. It also displays the drivers aids (lane centering, cruise control, adaptive cruise...) and the fuel gauge. That same screen can also show the Trip odometer, but it's a sequence of four button presses to go to the trip oedometer and then another four to go back to the speedometer. One or the other. The screen on the right can either display the current music playing OR the navigation. Not both. The whole gauge cluster on Tiffany was a muted brown/bronze/gold color scheme. The Ford is a more gaudy blue and it just doesn't take advantage of the space provided. This, however, is something that wouldn't have been any better on the Titanium trim.
The fit and feel. I don't exactly remember how Fiona felt, but I know that she and Ginger and Isabella and Nina and Tiffany all had leather steering wheels. It got to the point that I wondered what a 'normal' steering wheel felt like. Well, it feels like a plastic piece of shit in comparison. They also all had quality touch points. In Tiffany, just about everything was made of leather or wood or high quality plastics. The Fords were mostly leather or high quality plastics with some low quality plastics. Layla is some high quality plastics with a bunch of low quality plastics. And while I bragged about it, I didn't think it would really matter.... but it does: the 'thunk' of the door in all my previous cars was satisfyingly chunky and thunky. Layla is tiny and tinny. I think this would have been improved in the Titanium but not been as good as Tiffany.
The music. The radio is just bad. Tiffany's sound system was better than either of my headsets, better than my phone, and better than my computer speakers. Layla is better than my phone, but just barely. Everything else is better than her. And she can't get all that loud before she starts distorting the sound. It's very clear that she doesn't have a sub woofer. That being said, it's passable. It's hard to remember exactly how each car sounded. I remember that Nina didn't sound as good as Isabella, but she had the engine noise that made up for that audio difference. Any Lincoln should sound better than the best Ford system and Tiffany specifically had the upgraded audio experience. I might not be able to jam out to the songs, but I don't think I'd have been able to do so in the Titanium either. The bass would be a bit better, but I couldn't jam out all that much in Isabella which I think is the best comparison I'd have. So a Titanium Edge would be better, but not much.
The seats. They're fine. Not as comfy as Tiffany but more comfortable than Nina. They're not nearly as pretty as Tiffany or Nina or Isabella, but they aesthetically fit in with the rest of the interior. The Titanium would be prettier, but not a huge difference.
Other small differences. The all LED lights would be nice, but meh. I don't have cooled seats, but I barely used them when I had them. I don't have front parking sensors or cameras, but meh. I don't have the ability to open the rear hatch with the sweep of my foot, but meh.
When I put everything out like that, I don't think getting a Titanium would be worth the extra time or money it would have taken. Regardless, it would feel 'less' than Tiffany which would always piss me off. When/If I get another nursing job and can afford something better, I'll probably get a year or two old Lincoln Nautilus and get all those features back. And I'd have done the same thing if I had a Titanium.
So, Layla is fine. She's not good or great, but she fit the bill. I might write more about Layla if I take a cross country trip with her or if I find out something new, but otherwise she'll just be a 'thing' that I have instead of something that makes me happy or proud.
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