Tone Parsons

For those who haven’t been following along, let me give you the cliff notes for the past 8 years or so of my life.  This is a pretty long post, so I’m putting in a “more” tag (just click it to read the rest of the story).

October, 2000 - I was hired by a fantastic company for even more fantastic pay!  They have a fantastic culture, the benefits are amazing, and my position of Senior Applications Engineer is both challenging and rewarding.

June, 2002 - While doing charity work for Habitat for Humanity, I injured my back.  Actually, I was shoveling rocks and felt the disk at L4-L5 go crunch.  Intense pain began to appear in my left leg.

May, 2003 - After a great many tests and MRI’s, I went in for surgery.  They performed a discectomy on the herniated disk, removing the chunk that was pressing up against the nerve that went down my left leg.  The surgeon told me there may be complications from the procedure, as he had issues getting the nerve out of the way to cut.  I felt pretty damn good… for about 6 months. Read more

My eldest son turned 19 a few months back.  He’s got a job and finally got his drivers license a couple of weeks ago (who ever heard of a teenage boy who didn’t like to drive?).  The next obvious step was for him to save up money to buy his first car, which he did.

He had one particular car in mind, and had been searching Craigs List until he found it.  Last saturday, we drove out to Athol, Idaho to pick it up:  a 1968 VW Beetle.

As you can see, the body is in damn good shape for a car that’s 40 years old.  It also runs fantastic!! The interior and electrical are a different story.  So, the project began!

We went through the wiring (which is a spaghetti cluster of patches and re-wiring that makes little to no sense) and have it somewhat under control.  We’ve got the headlights, turn signals, running lights, gas gauge, and windshield wipers working now (they didn’t before).

Next, we need to get the brake lights, backup lights, and brakes in working order.  After that, it’s the suspension.  Once that’s all done, we need to get some good seats for it and it’ll be drivable.

The goal is to restore it to it’s original condition.  At the rate we’re going, it’ll be mechanically sound and ready for paint in about a month or so.

I’m really enjoying the time with my son working on the car.  There’s a lot of things I can’t do because of my back, so I’ve been explaining to him how it needs to be done and have been watching him do it.  It’s going to be a sweet ride once we’re done (and worth about 8x what we paid for it!!).

As I mentioned in my last post, there was an issue with my disability insurance.

They check my medical records once a month to see what my current status is.  Unfortunately, some bone head in the transcription department of my doctor’s office made a huge clerical error.  They put someone else’s information into my record: that I had been released to work.

This started a snafu of biblical proportions.  My insurance company called me to verify that I had been released back to work.  “Um… no” was my reply.  Of course, they didn’t take my word for it, put my policy on hold, and began an investigation on me.

I called my doctor’s office and they took huge steps to correct the issue (they went above and beyond to get this straightened out).  After a review of my case, my insurance company finally backed down on their stance that I was somehow cheating the system and put my case back into active status.

This was a huge relief on my part, as the money I receive pays our mortgage and all our credit cards.  My wife was completely stressed out over it (as was I).  I’ll tell you… dealing with a disability insurance company is a total pain in the ass… but it’s better than dealing with L&I!

On another note… I finally broke down and got a handicap permit for the car.  I didn’t want it, but the time has come to get one (walking long distances is a bitch!).  It does make life easier when we go to the Arena to watch the Spokane Shock play (they’re 12 - 1 this season…. that makes them Division Champions for the 3rd year running…. GO SHOCK!!!).

Oh… and on a side note, while dealing with my insurance company, one of their reps told me that it was perfectly legal to drive while hopped up on all the narcotics I take.  I told her that it wasn’t and it would win me a DUI if I was pulled over.  She assured me that prescription medications were exempt from that.  I guess she’s not familiar with Washington State law.  I wonder how many people have taken her advice and gotten burned (or worse, killed themselves or someone else)?