I’ve been debating if I even want to share this. It’s kind of annoying and kind of embarrassing. However, with ample spare time right now, I guess it has put me more in the mood to gripe about my life. It’s also kind of a long story, but I will do my best to try to keep it short.
This tragic tale of misadventure started all the way back in early 2020, when I got into a car accident. At the time, I was working out, taking a quick nap, then working out some more at a martial arts school, then quick shower and meal, then rushing into work.
Now, I am not a fitness buff. My cave brain just somehow thought I could replicate the same type of workout schedule that I followed when I was in my 20’s. It also did not help that my work was short-staffed, and as an essential employee who often had to stay over, especially after Covid shutdown, I was often times staying over for 12 hours or more. What all this added up to was a very tired guy who dozed off quite a bit as he drove home.
Now, like any other smooth-brained men out there, I was also no stranger to driving home tired. So, it did not occur to me that this was a problem at the time. All I had to do was to get home in one piece, take a quick shower, and I can head right to bed. At least, I thought that until one day, I accidentally dozed off one too many times and ended up slamming into a neighbor’s parked car.
The good news is nobody was hurt except for bumping my head I guess. In fact, I was the only one there at the accident. While the vehicle wasn’t totaled either, the insurance company decided to write it off completely, because I was driving a Prius at the time. It turns out that hybrid engines are actually quite expensive to repair and require specialists. And with the looming Covid shutdown, they decided the easiest thing to do was just write both vehicles off. Ok.
That same year, DMV caught wind of it, and decided that I needed to submit a full medical report to make sure I wasn’t on drugs or was intoxicated. They must have read the report stating that both vehicles were totaled, so it must have been severe. Hence the likely over-reaction. No problem though. Except for caffeine, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do anything interesting as far as I know. For heaven sake, I drove a Prius.
Unfortunately, while the medical check-up came up empty on those fronts, it did also reveal that I went from pre-diabetic to full-blown type 2 diabetic. While this was news to me, DMV decided that that must be the cause of the car accident, and from then on, it turned into an entire rigamarole where I had to constantly submit medical reports to make sure I was still somehow fit to drive.
A quick tangent if you will. Apparently diabetes come in two forms, hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic. The former is the one that would cause one to faint behind the wheel, with the blood sugar being too low. However, I am and have always been the latter. It’s still not a good thing, but the point here is, sheer male stupidity aside, my form of diabetes would not cause me to faint behind the wheel.
Fast forward some more to 2023, it all went well for a while, and I even had my diabetes under control. Unfortunately, when both of my medication and medical check-ups lapsed when I changed insurance and doctors, that’s when my real nightmare with doctors and the DMV started to really flare up. I had to find a new doctor that would take my new insurance, which would then take months to set up an appointment. My diabetes also went out of control during this time. So, this new doctor told me to set up appointments with four other new doctors for a full medical checkup, and each of them required separate appoints that also took months to setup. It was insane!
Through this ordeal, my driver's license had finally lapsed, and I was no longer able to legally drive. However, I did finally find a doctor that understood the difference between hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic, and that it would not cause me to faint while driving. In fact, he was the one who voluntarily told me that, without me asking about it, and gladly signed me off to be able to drive again.
Alas, the DMV remains unconvinced. They sent back a reply stating they want that doctor and I to participate in some kind of “hearing” whatever that means, to prove my fitness to drive. After filling out said hearing request, the DMV has been silent for nearly a month now, with no hint whatsoever as to when or even IF they will ever get back to me, and if so, in what ways.
Until then, I am mostly stuck at home. While I am a bit of a homebody to begin with, the walls can still feel like it will close in on me sometimes, in what feels like another round of personal Covid lockdown. Now that the weather is starting to cool, I will try to go out and jog or something, but other than that, it’s just an uncomfortable feeling being stuck at home the whole time.
So that's where I am right now, and why I suddenly have so much time on my hands. However, I would like to end this on a more upbeat note, and it would be the fact that, because I have been SOMEWHAT financially responsible, I do kind of have enough passive income to float on by without having to actively work due to my current inability to drive.
I’ve often fantasized about retiring early. I just never thought I would be forced into trying it out right now through this mandatory staycation.
Mandatory Staycation
September 22nd, 2024 at 04:35 am
September 22nd, 2024 at 05:37 pm 1727026659
September 22nd, 2024 at 08:24 pm 1727036684
September 23rd, 2024 at 04:09 am 1727064579
As for driving tired, after the accident, I made major changes to my lifestyle. I cut back on the workouts (which I had to anyway due to Covid shutdown) and I started saying no to overtime. Yeah, I should have done that before, but I guess sometimes us guys still have to learn the hard way... before we learn haha.
September 23rd, 2024 at 09:35 pm 1727127333
September 23rd, 2024 at 11:57 pm 1727135872
September 24th, 2024 at 07:35 pm 1727206517
I did like hybrids years ago, but that was when battery technology was in its infancy. It's very mature (though still improving), and full EV is really the better way to go today.
September 26th, 2024 at 04:56 pm 1727369808
September 28th, 2024 at 06:11 pm 1727547117
rob: Yeah, I completely understand the DMV's position here. It's just that they asked me to be cleared by a doctor, and I did what they asked of me, but they are still holding out. America, especially where I live, is just built for people with cars. Not having the ability to drive really does make everything so much more difficult and expensive. Haha, a wife would help I am sure, but as it is right now, I am single.