Another New Year

May it be better than the last.

My lack of postage the last month has had several reasons.

First, a certain existential weariness in the aftermath of the November elections.  I'm mentally bone tired, if that makes any sense.  I know we've got to keep fighting, but right now I need some serious R&R, and failing that, at the least some lengthy down time before I get back into the fray.

Second, I've had the bug that's been going around New England this last month.  I think it's the flu, but since I got my shot, I'm just not feeling well, even if I'm not feeling sick.  And my children have both had the same thing.  Add in younger's foot issue, and then costochondritis from coughing so hard, she's been out of school since early December.  At least we're trying her on some naprosyn and starting PT and she's (supposedly) going back tomorrow.

And then there is elder's anxiety/depression/panic issues, which are exacerbating her migraines, as well as a new school with lovely newer light fixtures, which hum at a pitch that irritates her as well as the florescents, which also are a migraine trigger....  We tried two of the older anti-depressants which usually help with migraines, but they didn't help much if at all, and the side effects were too much to deal with.  So then her doc tried her on Prozac, and we found that she is one of those folks whom Prozac turns into a ball of weepy despair.  She saw her Neuro yesterday, and we're trying gabapentin now, which works for her aunt for depression, and which is also supposed to be good for migraines for at least some.  I also need to get her some wrap around sunglasses which aren't too dark to wear indoors to try to block the worst of the florescent light.  She has an initial evaluation appointment with an MSW Monday week, and then we have a PPT the Thursday after.  Oh joy.  At least the kid is bright and if she puts her mind to it, once we get the headaches, anxiety, panic, and depression under control, she shouldn't have any real trouble catching up, since she too hasn't been to school since early December.

Work is work, quite slow right now, but at least they've gone away from having everyone choose two "goals" for the year.  Totally pointless, and sometimes counterproductive to actually doing the job you were hired for.  I got a whopping 1% raise, but had to drop the health insurance, since they dropped the lower cost plan, and our premiums for the higher plan would have been equivalent to the maximum out of pocket for the year with Tricare.  Since we'd still have had co-pays and stuff, it just didn't seem worth it, especially since we didn't know what was happening on the tax front.

And speaking of taxes....  From the point of view of the family fisc, the continuation of all the Evil Bush Tax Cuts which Only Help the Wealthy(tm) has been a good thing; their expiration would have cost us another $30 to $40 a week.  I understand the SS tax going back to it's original 6.2%, which I wouldn't mind half as much if I thought I might actually ever see a penny of it coming back to me.  However, from the point of view of a concerned citizen, I'm appalled that we've passed $40 of new taxes for every $1 of cuts, with unspecified (and therefore never will happen) cuts to be discussed sometime in the future.

And then last weekend the MacBook died.  I opened it up from sleep mode, the screen flashed on for a split second, and then nothing.  I turned it off and turned it on again, and the same thing.  I don't know if it would work hooked up to another screen, though the drive itself seems OK. Thankfully there were only two or three files on it which I hadn't recently backed up to another device, and while ones I want, they aren't crucial, and I can recreate them.  So I went out and spent way too much money on a new ASUS Core i5 laptop with a 15 point something inch screen.  I am happy.  Now I just have to arrange with ATT to get the landline back at the basic, pay extra for any calls, level, and have the cable company drop the TV and phone, and up our cable internet speed, which should save enough per month and then some to pay for the computer within the 18 months/no interest period.

And now back to do some more before I head out to pick up elder child for her voice lesson.....