The Husbear has mostly recovered from his bout with the flu. I am finally starting to feel a lot more mobile. Hard to imagine one could get tired of lying on the couch, but I’m pretty darn past that point.

I wonder if this guy makes house calls? I bet he could make me feel better.

lick to embiggen

I have no idea what to even do at a gym to think about looking like that!

But back to what I was writing about….

This is the first time I’ve been seriously sick since I left the employ of Wal-Mart. And the first time I’ve had to pay for medications that weren’t covered by health insurance in some part. Holy crap! Non-insured medical and pharmaceutical costs are horrific. $65 for one office visit (discounted because I paid cash), $120 for the Husbear’s medications, and $165 for my medications. I’d hate to think how empty our wallet would if something serious happened! Or how maybe we’d be refused medical care because of that.

I know some of this is the Husbear and my own “doing”: we are both self-employed. That’s one of the trade-offs that is hard to offset by being your own boss. But health insurance should not be one of the things that you have to trade away. The Husbear hasn’t had health insurance since we’ve been together, which for the most part hasn’t been a problem because he rarely gets sick or injured. I lost my health insurance when I chose to become self-employed.

It’s not that we haven’t looked for health insurance that covers visits and medications. It exists. But not at what I would consider any “reasonable” price. It seems you have two choices: either pay “low” premiums for what I would call “disaster coverage” that covers only catastrophic situations, or pay extremely high premiums to cover regular visits and medications. And don’t even get me started on dental or vision. No wonder so many people in this country don’t have health insurance! At least the self-employed people. Or people who work for small businesses that cannot afford a group health plan to offer their 10 employees.

I know all insurances are really just a gamble, but the older we get the better our odds are that we will need it. Any suggestions from any readers out there? Is anyone who my blog self-employed and have decent health coverage?

First, the pictures we took during Southern Decadence are viewable in our flickr “Southern Decadence 2009″ photo set. I was going to post some of them here, but since they’re all over there already, that’s just as easy. Because I’m lazy.

Now that we’ve returned from New Orleans both the Husbear and I are ill. He has the flu. His symptoms started Monday night—our last night in New Orleans—which made for an interesting 11-hour car ride home the next day. Mine started after we returned home. I have the flu, strep throat, and an ear infection. Triple whammy for me, and I was the “good” one this trip!

Back to lying on the couch I go drifting in and out of consciousness.

I found this extremely funny:

For some reason I mentally set this up as a piece of fabric that was attached to a spinning ceiling fan. The cat decided to play catch.

I feel like that on many occasions….

I’ve been sick since Sunday (it started Saturday, actually). I went to work Monday, but have been out since then. I feel a little bit better today than I have, so I guess that’s a good sign.

I feel like someone stuck a bottle brush down my throat and had their way with it.

And not in a good way.

I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post. I definitely have a lot to think about on how to proceed.

I’ve not really got anything new to talk about, but thought in the sprit of Sorted I’d report about the weekend.

Halloween was a non-event, as always. It has never been a holiday that I’ve been a fan of, like ALL holidays. (I know, revoke my gay card!) I worked at the tattoo shop that night then went over to my Buddy’s for a drink and went home. Exciting.

Saturday night some friends invited me to see a band I had never heard before—Bonepony. Incredible. They’ve been around for a long time, but have never been in the spotlight that I could find. I’d have a hard time narrowing down their sound, but it’s a mix of rock, country, bluegrass and folk. I had a great time and ended up buying some of their CDs—probably one of the better music purchases I’ve made in a long time. Go find them on iTunes or in another venue and give them a listen. And a big thank you to Goose and Leah for inviting me to see them.

I’ve been ill since Sunday. Feels like the flu, but seems to have passed rather quickly. I’m feeling somewhat better at the moment. Not sure what it was, but it was rather unpleasant. Hopefully I’ll sleep through the night tonight and be able to go to work tomorrow.

Let’s hope this week doesn’t leave me feeling like this:

lick to embiggen

Actually, I’d like to feel like this every now and then.

LOLcat attempt at 2001

Well, I think it’s funny….

It has been a long week and now the weekend is over. I have been sick since we returned from Dallas. Today is the first day I have remotely felt better. Remotely. Whatever I caught has kicked the crap out of me (not literally, for the most part).

Oh, and I miss my buddy…

Erik and Eric

He is dealing with some heavy things right now. I just want him to know I’m here for him.