The washing machine is making ominous groaning noises when it spins. I was trying to fix it without opening it up its guts this morning mainly by wishing the sound would go away while I petted it nicely and whispered it sweet nothings which was unsuccessful. I propped my feet on the spinning machine and took at good look at my COVID toe. It’s not really a COVID toe – I’ve never had covid. I dropped a 30 pound weight on it at the beginning of the pandemic and broke it which meant I was not working at the hospital in March. It also meant the entire toenail became bruised. I wonder if the toe nail will grow out first or if the pandemic will end first. It looks like I have another 9-10 months on the toe. That sounds about right for the pandemic too.
UMD dental school was the first place we went to who did not take Edda’s Medicaid which is her secondary insurance. I couldn’t believe it. I tried to insist that they scan it in so they would have it on her record, but they insisted that they didn’t take it and that they weren’t allowed to scan it. I was like – this is the University of Maryland? The public university of the state, right? And you won’t take the state’s insurance? The appt was really cheap ($70 for the exam and the x-ray), so maybe they are already a subsidized Maryland medical system? I dunno.
I started taking Spanish lessons about 2.5 months ago. I found a teacher who lives in Ireland. She speaks seven languages. She’s from Spain and I realize now that that was a tactical (or strategic?) error as I should have found a teacher from Mexico b/c of regional differences. (I just discovered that they don’t really conjugate you (plural) in Mexico, but they do in Spain). But now we are too far in and I like her and I think I entertain her as a student. I also found an internet friend in Baja Mexico that I’m practicing with – we do a language exchange. It’s strangely entertaining. I’m really no good at this. I keep telling myself that I need only 1,000 words, there has to be room in my brain for an extra 1,000 things. That doesn’t seem like too many. I’m entertaining my patients even more. I had a spanish speaking -only older lady a few days ago who held my hand and looked at me and said you speak spanish! And I laughed and laughed.