The knees are functioning well, but it looks like the balance issue on the left side may be a forever thing. The surgeon had to take a lot of bone and other tissue, so I can’t feel much between the lower third of my thigh and the upper half of my leg. They did the test and there are breaks in the nerves that are fairly normal, but it’s also normal for these to repair themselves to some degree. Mine are still broken. So I still need the cane in cases that I would be walking or standing long enough to get tired or when there is a lot of rough ground which is almost all the time in Haifa. I can walk without Qwenthryth, but it takes a lot more out of me and I reach my vertical limit much earlier than with her.
Because of the continuing issue, a car has had to become part of my gear. Since I’m unable to drive at night at all, and during the day barely, due to my eyesight, Shai is also now kind of part of my gear, a symbiotic organism in more than an emotional sense. He’s my pilot. Hopefully we will have the car by the beginning of next month or so. I hope.
I am thoroughly grateful and enjoying living in a country that at least currently has some real support for people with disabilities. The government is paying for part of this car. Yes, in Israel, if you lose a leg or have to replace both your knees, they will pay for part of your car. It’s not enough to make it easy, but it is enough of a chunk that if one has a reasonable consistent income, it’s not a life ending burden. One would not need to starve to drive.
So there is some benefit to my mobility rating changing, but my disability rating, which is for some screwed up reason separate here, is staying the same. There is nothing in the law here that covers a double replacement, and even what they have doesn’t take anything into account except ability to stand or walk at all, and bend angle. I can get low. The problem is getting back up without falling over or risking it. There’s nothing for balance issues unless the problem is neurological.
Hopefully we will be able to change that. We have a new crop of people with long Covid, some from the 2, and some who after the research have realized they’re experiencing long 1. A few of them have balance issues caused by vascular problems and nerve damage in the legs. Neuropathy and nerve damage needs to go on the books. It’s not even something that is undetectable. The test is 20 minutes.
So the system here, while it doesn’t leave most of us totally screwed, still has some work than needs doing. Some of its policies are a bit backwards, behind the science, and some outright ableist. One of the very backwards things is penalizing someone for being a “housewife”. They say it’s based on whether or not someone is working, but there is no male equivalent. It is assumed that someone’s husband magically does not suffer at all from their spouse, if she is female, being unable to work outside.
There is a lot that could be improved here, but I am grateful for the little bit that is good. We have to keep working to make it better.
On the websites front, now that things aren’t as broken, I’m trying to make it pay at least a little more than occasionally. There’s mission stuff that needs funding and then there is the rest of my life concerns. So I’m working on getting more into what would be my day job if the pain meds didn’t require napping. This means refreshing my knowledge. Fortunately, I’m still working on building HTML versions of all of my sites, so I have what to practice on. After that, I’ll be exploring all the new CMS’s out there. I want my clients to have options and be able to reach into those options and tinker.
Meanwhile, it looks like I need a new bank. The one I was with was bought by another and the new bank doesn’t send cards even internationally by registered mail. So my cards will just keep getting stolen on the way. I don’t have access to any money in my account. So if someone wants to send me anything and make sure I get it, there’s Paypal, which I use to fund my clergy stuff, or Western Union.
American banks are so behind the times. It’s really insane that today most either don’t understand why to send things by registered mail or don’t have the ability to activate a card internationally. So now I am shopping for a new bank. After almost 25 years I have to change because wealthy people who can do whatever they want don’t think to maybe expand the capabilities of services they own to fit with the current situation of people their services are supposed to serve. Such simple things, and “we can’t”.
Well, I need to find a bank that can.
So go click something in the main nav bar. I have a couple of new sites, and have been updating some of the old ones. Browse around and tell me what you think. And yes, sane Yeshua followers, I am building a category for funeral and new mom food in Auset.net. I will be adding some recipes used by people here to bless families welcoming and grieving.
