Rome, Ga., USA, Sept. 19, 2010 -- I'm still in Rome, Ga. My original timetable had me flying back to Spain tomorrow -- Sept. 20.
But the Veterans Administration (VA) bureaucracy is a force to be reckoned with.
What has happened so far? I had my initial doctor's appointment on July 29, and had neurology and audiology appointments scheduled for August.
The neurology exam was to see what permanent damage my three minor strokes in Russia had done to me. I nearly fell out of my chair when the doctor found no neurological deficits! I certainly wasn't aware of any, except I walk and talk funny, but that is apparently because of my loss of depth of vision from my poor eyesight combined with the natural effects of old age. But the strokes did no permanent damage! Almost too good to be true, but I'll take it.
My audiology exam showed that I have lost some hearing -- not enough to warrant a hearing aid but enough to make me say "huh?" a lot. In other words, no big deal. Kidney, heart, intestines and asshole are okay.
The only thing left is my eyes. I finally got an eye examination here in Rome on the 29th of August. It showed that I am now legally blind in my left eye -- can't see dick-shit out of it -- but still have 20/40 out of my right. The clinic said they would fax the results to the VA in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta.
The following week I flew to Seattle to see my friends and housemates Bruce, Marco, Sydny, Patrick, Chris, David G., Scott F., Bill B., and Derek J. It was a real gas seeing them again. Sydny had flown from New York, where he is in the film business; and Marco from LA, where he is still in the touring a capella singing biz. Of course, I cried when I saw them. They were such dear friends and I love them so much.
After three or four red wines at a potluck Sunday night at Bill B.'s, I passed out -- as did Bruce -- at Bill's, and we had a great time shooting the shit on Monday morning. Bill actually invited me to live at his home, but David G. warned me: Maybe I don't want to live there after all, though It's only a block from the House of Beatrice in which several of us lived on Capitol Hill till I went to Russia in 1997.
Okay, I trust David infinitely. Can that idea!
The weather was paradise. After cooking in Rome and West Virginia in the 90s and 100s, the daily temps there were in the 60s, and nights sometimes down in the 50s. For somebody who doesn't like hot weather, it was perfect.
When I came back to Rome and called the VA on the 13th, they had no record of my eye examination. I called the eye clinic. Yes, they faxed it but they would fax it "again." I called the VA again Tuesday and they had received the fax, but a doctor comes in just once a week to schedule appointments. So I will call again tomorrow and try to find out my operation schedule.
In the meantime, I've called United Airlines. They would postpone my return tickets BUT I had to have a date, so I re-scheduled for six weeks, which will be about the 1st of November, and should give me enough time to have the cataract operations even by the VA schedule.
In the meantime, hosts Bob and Jeannette are being amazingly patient and continue to treat me with utmost civility and friendship despite the Mark Twain observation that fish and houseguests start to smell after three days.
I've had e-mails from my fantasy Maxim in Russia saying that he made two B's in his first two exams and passed his English exam with a "5", or A. But he won't know until the 24th of Sept. -- next week -- whether he's been accepted into grad school. I don't want him to go into the Russian Army. It's so cruel, and there's so much hazing, and he's such a fine, sensitive kid. I shudder to think what could happen to him.
I've also had e-mails from Artur, another young, sweet, sensitive student, but one I don't have fantasies about. He's into the guitar, composing, and singing, and sent me some lyrics to his songs to edit. The words are rather good, though of course I have no idea what the music's like, although Artur said his band -- for which he is the lead vocalist -- is having some recorded and he will send them to me. We'll see.
I've also been in touch with Sasha (not his real name), who came to New York for advanced study in chemistry several years ago and is now working in a lab near Toledo. I had thought maybe I would stop and see him on the way home from Seattle, but when I hadn't heard from him, I came on back to Rome. He's talking about coming to visit me in Rome. I so hope he does. It would be so refreshing to see him again and have a little bit of Russia with me for a while.
Bob and Jeannette went to a wedding in Atlanta this weekend, and I tried to jerk off this morning to naked photos of Misha. I couldn't come! Does this mean my dick doesn't work any more? If you don't use it, you lose it, but maybe if I have the real thing+.But will that ever happen again? Big question.
The truth is I'm bored in America. Was I equally bored, or less bored, in Spain? It's something I have to look at. Maybe I won't come back to America to live after all.
Stay tuned!
See also related pages:
Chapt. #305 - I'm not dead yet; Eye exam scheduled
Chapt. #303 - Back in Norteamerica - to stay?
