Garry has so much trouble with telephones, between not being able to hear and not understanding the phone itself — and of course, he has always hated telephones and refuses to answer them — I am on permanent communications duty. Right now, there is much commotion about getting Garry’s replacement hearing apparatus organized. This ought to be easy, but it isn’t. It’s bureaucracy times three and that’s merely to make an appointment with an audiologist.
The thing is, there are a few things I need to do for me too. I never quite get to me. By the time I’m through with all the calls I’m making for Garry — and that was half a dozen in the two hours since I opened my eyes this morning — I’m already tired.
On the “up” side, Garry got his driver’s license — not the “real” official ID, but the regular driver’s license. Anything else would be harder and he was unwilling to even try even though he really had all the paperwork he would need. I understand. Most people are opting out of getting the “real ID.” This isn’t because they are immigrants. They are just regular people who don’t feel inclined to expend that much effort for something that used to be simple.
And now we are in the medical insurance loop as we ramp up to Garry’s getting replacement hearing apparatus. You can’t get prices until you place an order, but how can you place an order when you don’t know what you need or how much it will cost?
So here is my question.
WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE SO DIFFICULT? WHY IS EVERY EVENT AN AGONY OF PHONE CALLS AND ANSWERING HUNDREDS OF IRRELEVANT QUESTIONS?
Life can be difficult enough. All this “technology” is suppose to make life easier, but I’m not seeing “easier.” I’m seeing everything getting more and more complicated and involving even more technology. Whatever happened to calling someone, asking a question and getting an answer?
Whatever else I’m planning to do, I’m stuck in a quagmire of dealing with Garry’s hearing — and I still need to deal with me and my issues. I frequently feel like I’m so busy taking care of everyone else that there’s no time left to take care of me.
And somewhere in the back of my brain I’m hearing my mother saying the same thing. I think what I need is a wife like me. Every wife should have a wife who would then probaby need yet another wife.
So goes that long trail of wives doing for others. There’s no end in sight.
Share this:
Categories: #Health, #Photography, Anecdote, Humor, Life, Marriage, Relationships
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
“every wife should have a wife” Very true that!
and I hear you, when issues with tech surface, one wonders whether it really is worth the trouble, especially when the issue is the presence of tech, in the first place. sigh.
LikeLike
At least, as none of these people will be answering their phones over Easter you can get some reast and get back to it next week.
I’m confused about these ID’s though. What is the difference between what Garry has and the official ID? What does one do that the other won’t?
I know from watching cruise videos that many Americans can cruise without a passport if they are going to the Bahamas at least. I find that very odd. I am pretty sure we need one even for round Australia cruises because we go into international waters.
When Naomi went to Hawaii last year for her cruise she had to get an ESTA to get into the USA. We had a devil of a job figuring it out online. I had to have several goes before I could submit it for her. Luckily I think it is still good for this years trip.
LikeLike
Just blame it all on Trump. He decided our usual means of ID wasn’t sufficient to weed out those aliens. It has made it extremely difficult to get the “real ID” that sometime in the future will be required to get on an airplane or enter a federal building. But we aren’t going anywhere and if we win the lottery, we’ll hire someone to go take care of it for us.
It’s really stupid. It isn’t culling aliens. It’s just making it far more difficult to do something simple — ESPECIALLY for women who were married more than once — or worse, married overseas because you have to prove each name change. If this doesn’t convince women to stop changing their names when they marry, I don’t know what will do it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fandango just posted about getting his documents and it is a rigmarole. It would certainly catch me out as I reversed my Christian names in the 1970s before I got married but have no documentation to prove it. It sounds like the “normal” ID will be all but useless in the end.
LikeLike
No, you just won’t be able to fly and actually, you can easiy get a passport which requires much less documentation — and THAT is accepted absolutely everywhere.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Getting a passport is easier than getting official ID! Wow. Getting a passport is fiddly for me because I travel on a British passport. I have to do it online and then send my ID documents to England and they send back the passport. Australian ones are easier, you can do it at the post office but friends tell me that the form is tricky, if you make a mistake they will send you back to the beginnng.
LikeLike
Yikes. Its amazing that more of us don’t give up more often. I’m the one who mostly ends up making the phone calls or sending the emails as Liz now has trouble following/understanding what’s going on. Now that my phone talks directly into my hearing aids, its much easier than it once was.
Good luck getting stuff done. And maybe your stuff gets done first on odd dates and garry’s on evens.
LikeLike
It shouldn’t be this complicated. But EVERYTHING has gotten stupidly complicated and there’s no gain in it for anyone. People make up what they think are “appropriate” ways to do things which seem to have nothing to do with reality.
Garry’s not feeling well and neither am I. We haven’t gotten any time to just recuperate and we really need some time off. And some SLEEP.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes, its probably a good idea to just give your self time to recover. It took me close to a month to feel back to baseline after covid, and Liz was several months. (of course, getting sick out of the country didn’t help, as antivirals weren’t available–oops, didn’t consider that in the travel plans) Take the time you need to heal. Sleep is your friend!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We had a lot of stuff scheduled and there’s a lot of pressure to get it done — especially my teeth because if I don’t deal with them, they are likely to break. I’m just not sure I’m ready for all the drilling serious work they have to do. All I want to do is sleep. We are both incredibly weary. I’m glad to hear that this is common because I’ve been feeling like a slacker. I just have this feeling that if I don’t get some well-needed rest, I’m never going to feel better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Trust your gut Get the rest. Overdoing now is likely to prolong the whole recovery process
LikeLike
Oh my God, it’s so true. Endless reiteration to a dozen people and not the information you require because you can’t make an informed decision based on what you can or want to afford it pay. Not I hear you.
LikeLike
It’s a giant circle. You can’t do this because you have to do that, but you can’t DO that which is why you are trying to do the other thing — and you keep spinning until you are exhausted and without hope.
LikeLike
So, where is MY sister wife, my PA to help ME? 😉 😦
LikeLike
I’m beginning to see the point of having multiple wives. I could use a few spare wives.
LikeLike
Hi Marilyn, these are lovely photographs. Technology has its pros and cons. When it works properly it is great. Unfortunately, there are often glitches.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s not just the technology itself. The technology is neutral. The problem is the way it is being used which often makes NO sense at all. It wasn’t meant to eliminate human intelligence but to amplify it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, you are right. Last night I was reading a poetry and the last few poems were a comparison of a poem written using Chat GPT and the same idea written by the poet (rather a good poet). My goodness, what a difference. Chat GPT cannot write poetry.
LikeLike
Yes, we definitely need sister wives or personal assistants to keep up with it all
LikeLike
I just want someone to come in and take over. And don’t wake me until I feel better, please.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s nuts. I had to deal with several calls to a courier company and a giant pile of emails just to get a measly $36 credit for THEIR mistake!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Instead of making life easier, all this technology is making it much worse. You can’t just ask a question. You need to email them, them send another email that explains the first email and on and on. The only two places I can actually still call directly are our family doctor and BlueCross. Everything else is insanity. And since Garry doesn’t, won’t deal with this stuff and who can blame him — I feel like I’m on a merry-go-round that never stops
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙁🙁🙁
LikeLike