It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Monday, November 14
Proof that ol’ Sparrow will whine about absolutely anything – as we need further proof – can be found in the fact he was whining about the heater at the New Front Desk Area (NFDA) being up and running again…Recall the first couple of nites it had not been and it was chilly both nites, with yours truly bringing a sweater in last nite…(For convenience’s sake, we left it at the hotel.)
Actually, we’re not whining too much…It was nice not having to use the space heater at the NFDA but crap, you break out the sweater and dammit, you want a suitably cool temperature…So we went and checked the thermostat and it was at a very appropriate – not to mention disgustingly comfortable 70 degrees…You can’t wear your cardigan in this heat, of course, so we bumped it down to 67
The big news is, while counting drawers, we came across a five-dollar bill that had a stamp from a website that tracks currency…I am not making that up…These kinds of things are not completely boring – if you’re into tracking official US currency, and who isn’t really??? – and with more enthusiasm than the task probably deserved, we dove in tracking it…Our last one was a while back and it turned out it had made its way around the Midwest before ending up in a hotel cash drawer and another time the last check-in had been in Miami.
Anyway, we went to the website and entered the serial number and it correctly stated that the bill was a fiver from the 2014 series and we eagerly dove in on entering it and reporting its current location, but we were foiled…We were able to enter the location and some notes on the condition of the bill but that was it; when we hit the send button nothing happened…We did two or three more times before we got the point and gave up and the five-dollar bill was put back in
There was some action at the veterans service office (VSO) today…Ken stopped by and there was also no small amount of contact with Glenn.
Ken is commander of the Legion post in a town south of here, and we’d see each other regularly at district meetings and he came by to file a high blood pressure claim with the VA…He’s been taking medication for it for years but it recently became the latest presumptive illness for Agent Orange exposure…Well, Ken was in Vietnam so the VA presumes he was exposed to Agent Orange, so it should be an easy claim to be approved.
Ken said he got off easy in ‘Nam…He worked a stockade hosting American GIs that couldn’t comply, at least until someone found out he could push some paper – always a danger in the service – and he was moved to the supply tent…He told a story about a guy there who was bound and determined to earn a Combat Infantry Badge – an award that shows you’ve seen combat – and he wormed his way into temporary orders with a combat unit…I’d’ve sworn he was going to finish the story by saying the guy got killed but no, the unit actually served as a mortuary preparing the dead for the trip home and he said eff this noise after two days and went back to working at the brig.
Glenn is the one for whom we’re trying to secure housing for and there were several messages from him waiting for me…Since Glenn is demonstrably longwinded and we were only scheduled for a half-day today, we called him back right off, rather than listen to his messages because weren’t in the mood to have a stroke…It turns out he wanted to come by to talk about his Agent Orange exposure.
Glenn was in the Navy, on an aircraft carrier and he is recovering from prostate cancer – another Agent Orange presumptive – and I told him sailors are presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange if they were within twelve nautical miles (a nautical mile equals 2,000 yards, more or less) of the Vietnam coast and Glenn said he didn’t think that was the case but some research showed his ship was within twelve nautical miles at the end of 1969, a time he was on board…I then told him he could come in Wednesday and we’d file a claim and here’s why there’s always something with Glenn: he couldn’t commit to a time because he wasn’t sure what time he would be done enjoying the complimentary breakfast at the hotel he’s staying at…He also told a woman from a HUD program he couldn’t talk to her right then and to call him back and he’s hardly grabbing the bull by the horns with the non-profit we’re working with to find him a place to live….Jesus H, we have resources for you, but you’ve got to put yourself in a position to succeed and after what seemed like nuclear arms treaty negotiations, we settled on a 1000 appointment on Wednesday.
Sparrow’s Sleep Log: 1530 Monday until 2130 Monday…6.0 hours for the day and 14.0 hours for the week, both solid totals.
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The Diary of a Nobody is a novel. All elements are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Anything else is a coincidence.
It was inspired by the 19th-century British novel of the same name.
Coming soon! Gaylon’s books in actual book form!
