Durrati and I have been chit chatting about our respective medical woes for a while now. We’re both due to hit the operating table next week, him on Monday, me on Tuesday. I’m getting a hip replacement, finally. Durrati is getting the first of two operations, a stent in his neck, the second one to be put in on February 2. Here’s what he told me:
They will enter through an artery in my thigh with the camera and stent (a balloon like device that will open once it is in my neck) and hopefully restore the blood flow to my brain — no wisecracks please — and if there are no complications I should be able to return to work in two weeks after each operation. If I was in a desk job one week might do it, but since my job involves driving and lifting the Doc is going to prescribe two. Fingers crossed - if something goes wrong and I lose this job I don't know what I'll do. As it is my boss has promised to hold my job open for me for the two weeks each time.
This is a dreary situation. Durrati had a good steady job for many years as a cook, but that blew up when the facility was purchased by a mega corp. The new broom sweeps clean and out he went, at the age of 60. But he’s a survivor, he picked himself up and got a job driving a truck for the local utility company. The good news is that he likes it, the bad news is that it’s one of these crum bum jobs where they keep him at 32 hours a week so they don’t have to pay him benefits. So, he’s got no sick leave, vacation, nothing to fall back on. And he’s going to lose a month’s pay, if not the job altogether, so he’s freaking, understandably. Plus, it gets worse. He’s not working directly for the utilities company, he gets paid through a temp agency. So they get paid a huge percentage of his earnings, and no raise after three years. He told me he would be making one and a half times what he makes if the utility company was paying him directly.
But wait — there’s more. He was making $300 a month selling his plasma, of all things, and that became a no-go this month, because of the stents. So there’s $300 every month that was coming in for the past two years and now that’s shot. $3,600 a year is a chunk of change for people in his and my income bracket. If I lost that much money suddenly, it would make a difference in my reality, I’ll tell you what.
You know from reading durrati’s work here, that he’s a stand up guy. He’s a veteran. He was in the Navy for five years and sailed five of the seven seas. He’s self educated, and impressively so. He’s better read than I am. He took it upon himself to read the classics. Most people don’t bother. For that matter, most educated people don’t bother. I remember an English class in college where “Moby Dick” was assigned reading and my fellow students resentfully dragged themselves through it so they could pass the exam, nothing more. Durrati read it with joy.
In all events, friends, the man is sitting on financial bedrock, looking at two operations in the next month and he needs our help. He only needs to raise $3,700. That will take care of the missed month from work, the missed plasma sales for the past two months and the next four, until he figures out a way to supplement his income again.
His PayPal is durrati@mail.com. Or, if you want to help him make up for the $300 he used to make monthly, you can become his patron on Patreon and contribute a small amount each month to support his writing. Or, if you want to write him a check, you can get his snail mail address by kosmailing him.
Durrati’s been a member of this community for eight years and has made a huge contribution here. He’s a proud man and didn’t want to ask for anything, but he was beside himself with worry and so I persuaded him to come talk with the community. Oh, and he can’t ask his father for money. Dad died in 1986.
Will you help? Any donation is welcome. Thank you.
PayPal durrati@mail.com, or Patreon
Thursday, Jan 17, 2019 · 3:12:32 AM +00:00 · ursulafaw
Friends, $826.36 raised so far, with $25.25 pending. We’re going to do this!
Now, while you’re here, let me share an anecdote from yesterday. Durrati and I both got kosmails from somebody on this site I didn’t know. The kosmail I got offered me $250,000 “on an Amex Card” so what does that mean, I’m getting a high limits credit card? Durrati’s kosmail said that he was going to get $25,000,000, if he would just contact this guy’s lawyer in Nigeria.
Did anybody else get these kosmails? Because I couldn’t take the time yesterday to report this issue to the admins, with my pre-op and all going on. Durrati didn’t report it either, but this person, Michael, is bojoed.
Thursday, Jan 17, 2019 · 4:57:49 AM +00:00 · ursulafaw
The latest total is $1,812.37 plus five patrons! All right! It’s almost midnight in the eastern time zone, where durrati is, so he has folded, but I am in California and I will be running this little kossack telethon all night if need be. I’ve arranged for one more update in an hour, and then the next one will be early morning. Mush! Gee! Haw!
Thursday, Jan 17, 2019 · 1:14:24 PM +00:00
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ursulafaw
Heeeeeere’s the latest update! $4,735.37 on PayPal and ten patrons!!!
Durrati was on his way to work but checked in long enough to give me the figure. He’s walking on sunshine, needless to say — no small feet, in a winter state in the east, right now, but he’s doing it!
Friday, Jan 18, 2019 · 12:08:20 AM +00:00
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ursulafaw
The latest figure is $5,742.10, plus some donations coming via snail mail. Our man will probably hit $6K or quite close. On a request for $3,700, that is exceeding generous and kind, but then that’s what this community is.