Wiz, I'm so sorry you can no longer work. I know how much you enjoyed your job and you were good at it.

I'm glad you got approved for SSDI! That news must have come as such a relief to you. Many have to wait so long to get it. I got it on the 2nd try, which is typical. I hope that by having the SSDI, you can relax some and take care of you.

I really miss my co-workers, we had so much fun together. Once when I stopped in to see them they were asking me to help them with problems with sales they were working on. They really valued my presence even though I was much older than most of them.

I'm trying to find other means for socializing now since I miss that from work.

Wish I could help with socializing, but I've never been good at it, and it only got worse when I moved to GA and then with MS I basically live as a shut in. Maybe there's a community center near you? Or something that allows for freedom in hours as a volenteer... our library used and might still have a group they called friends of the library, they held fundraisers to help out the library for expansions and adding computers and such. Meetings were only an hour long once a month or so, and the fundraisers were only I think 2 or 3 times a year... selling off old books, bake sale and some fair like event. And it was all done on a "help as you can" basis.

If you have friends from work that you're close with maybe see about a book club or something, crafting circles... I dunno... kind of terrible at things like that. Depending on your and the age groups of your friends you could even try hosting D&D games or bridge... my experience so far is giving folks a good reason to eat drink and be merry tends to have people coming over to visit. If you brew it they will come . And some people also still enjoy good old fashion "tea", light meal and some interesting tea selections, a deck of cards and either having plenty of gossip or inviting the best gossipmonger you know can be a fun way to wile away a Friday afternoon.

And there's generally always the fall back to national social clubs like the Lions Club, Red Hats Society, Kiwanis, Masons... etc. Most churches tend to have some social groups, and even offer Sunday schools where they're always looking for volunteers. It won't be quite the same as the 8 hour days 5 days a week, and health might keep you from being one of the most active members, but still gives a good reason if you're part of a group to struggle that extra little bit to make it to a short meeting on a bad day.

About all I can think of, and mostly stolen from what my parents do to stay socialized (except D&D that's more the 40's something scene retro games and booze!) I more prefer my interpersonal relationships to be internet based , and yet I don't even use Facebook go figure .

I did join a book club Starz. It's at my local small library. They choose a book (usually a women's title or romance) once a month then meet the last Friday of the month. I can get really exhausted easily though so I take a nap in the afternoon before the meeting.

I love the women in the group, they're funny and gossip more than they discuss the book. And booze. They bring booze and snacks to the meeting. It's just hilarious.

I don't even care for stories like this normally but I'm reading them to be in the group. I like historical fiction or books about other parts of the world so I can learn about other cultures.

Wiz, that's hilarious! Sounds like my kinda book club!!

I can almost see a book coming out of this book club experience. It would be a hoot! Woman enjoying her life in the work force gets diagnosed with an auto-immune disease and has to stop working. She doesn't want to become a hermit so she looks for socialization outlets. Finds this book club and it all seems innocent enough until she goes to a couple of the meetings and finds out that this is just a glorified cocktail party!! The women there come from all sorts of backgrounds an social levels. Some get into mischief after the meetings (due to the booze they consumed while discussing the book) and the others rescue them.

I think it would be a best seller!!

I still hadn't received a letter from social security so I called them again on Friday. Apparently the person I spoke to must have been lying to me. They show that my application is still pending, needing further information.

Why would a person do something like that? Did it just look too complicated to her to investigate so she was just trying to get me off the phone? I don't get it.

They sent me to an extension of a person in charge of my case so I left her a voicemail message. I won't hold my breath that she will get back to me.

I'm so confused by everything right now.

Wiz, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with such incompetence. It's frustrating especially when your quality of life is affected by someone else's mistakes. I hope she gets back to you promptly.