Activities that inspire: Organizing Goals and Resolutions for 2024

Life is never fair. Perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not.

Oscar Wilde

Basically, I don’t have any goals or plans — other than staying alive and doing what I do. I’m pretty comfortable in my space and aside from the problems of the world which I can’t fix — and the problems with Medicare, I plan on staying alive and enjoying my time.

Before I dive into photography, I want to talk about Medicare. I was awakened far too early this morning by a caller from Blue Cross who are my Medicare Advantage providers. They are the best of the bunch, mind you. All the others are worse.

She said my doctor needs to re-authorize my primary heart medication because it isn’t on their formulary. She also asked me “How long are you planning to be taking this medication?” Interesting question since I have to take it or I’ll die. I said “As long as my heart keeps beating.”

“Oh,” she said. Does anyone plan to take heart medication because it sounds like a fun idea? I asked her if the two valves that were replaced, the huge overgrown heart muscle that was carved up so I had somewhere for the blood to oxygenate, the bypass, and the pacemaker weren’t enough reason. How many reasons do I need?

Long pause. She said she’d just authorize it. “Good idea,” I responded.

Since I had her on the phone, I asked if there was any chance of my getting a proper inhaler to deal with my asthma. After a lot of shuffling around, looking through lists, the answer was NO. She said she understood my frustration.

I have a problem with that line. It sounds like my attempt to get a medication I need to breathe is merely frustrating. Rather like a kid wanting a toy mom doesn’t want to buy. Medicare’s decisions are life and death for all of we oldies. What I feel isn’t frustration. It’s closer to rage that I live in the only “modern” nation that doesn’t offer medical care to all its citizens as a right.

It was a long conversation. It wasn’t a fight or even an argument. More like an extended explanation of what is wrong with this “thing” we call a medical system and is anything but a “system.” It’s just a big old mess and I still don’t have an inhaler. Supposedly in 2025, they are doing away with the “donut” hole in Medicare, so when we use up our official allotment, we go straight to “It’s free! Yay!” This assumes the law goes into effect and whoever is our next president doesn’t abandon it.

Meanwhile, every time I am forced to watch one more Nikki Haley ad pointing out that 65 is too young for social security, I wonder if she has a clue how hard it is for anyone over the age of 50 to get any kind of job. Over 60? Good freaking luck. I can hardly wait for the New Hampshire primary to end.

So now, photography of which I have been doing rather more than I intended. Perhaps I do have goals, but I won’t know what they are until they happen.

These are the last of the winter Bluebird pictures. None of the others seem recoverable or they are exactly the same as the pictures I’ve already done. Processing these has been a learning process. It’s easy to process pictures that really don’t need processing. They are sharp, clear, bright. All they need is a little cropping, maybe removing something, and reducing it to the right publication size. These were work until I finally figured out the which steps to take to bring the pictures out of the fog. Having learned it, I don’t think I will easily forget it.

One of the most important things I learned was to trust the camera and the lens. It’s a great camera and a wonderful lens. Even with all the mist and fog, if I can get any kind of edge or any semblance of clarity, I can make the picture work.

So, in the end, making these terribly foggy, murky photographs look good enough to publish taught me a lot of about a process. It’s never going to be “quick,” but it works. I have the tools, I just need to acquire a bit more patience.

Categories: #Birds, #gallery, #Health, #Medicare, #Photography, Anecdote, bluebirds, Medical humor, medication, Quotation

Tags: #Photography, birds, Blubird, Health, humor, Marilyn Armstrong, Medicare