Feet and Fraud

I finally got to see a foot doctor about my right foot which has been misbehaving since January. To say I was underwhelmed with the doctor would be a vast understatement. Before I get into details, I should say that I’ve been seen by numerous doctors in the UMASS system over the past nearly twenty years and this is the first one I have found lacking. He kept me waiting in the examining room for more than thirty minutes and sailed in like I was some sort of inconvenience. I got the definite impression from him that he didn’t believe me about the pain. In the end he diagnosed me with having extremely high arches, even going so far as to pointing it out on the x-ray. I said I understood, but I’d had high arches my entire life, which had included 27 years in the infantry and jumping out of a lot of planes.

If the problem was my arches, then why wasn’t my left foot (blessed with same) not hurting at all. I could have been talking to a wall as he had apparently diagnosed me before he entered the room. He seemed definitely distracted and wanted me on my way as soon as possible. I got a referral to physical therapy which hopefully will help. I’ll probably blow off the follow up with this clown that he scheduled for August as my arches will still be high. Again, this is the first bad interaction I’ve ever had with a UMASS doctor but very frustrating as I was hoping for more of an answer than my foot is the same way it’s been for 68 years now.

If that wasn’t enough I got home, picked up the mail, and checked the monthly credit card bill. At that point I was glad I hadn’t been seeing the doctor about a heart condition. I quickly scanned down to the charges trying to figure out how my Favorite Panamanian had spent $5000 more dollars in the last month than I realized. I found that I had paid for a flight to and back from New  York to San Francisco for some clown named Manfred. Yep, stolen credit card number. I was freaking out as I called USAA, but they were fantastic, canceling the card, assuring me I wouldn’t be responsible for Manfred’s flights, and sending me a new card within two days. I love USAA as I’ve heard horror stories from others who’ve had to work through a maze to report fraud. Yep. USAA rocks.

I forgot to chronicle how the weight loss has been going in my last post. Today’s weigh in, 13 pounds lost towards 25-pound goal. The easy part is probably over now.

In my A-Z watch, four fell since I last posted, all keepers, Wonka (new addition), movie just charms the hell out of you; Independence Day Resurgence, interesting to watch right after original, better than I remembered; Infinite, underappreciated Wahlberg action, sci fi flick; and Inglourious Basterds, one of best Tarantino’s ever, loved the history melting finale.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course