At this point I want to give a quick update on the status of my problems with Kindle. Emails are now going back and forth between me and Kindle Support. They've now made it perfectly clear that their policy is to replace a defective Kindle with a refurbished one. However, they said they are making "a one-time exception" and they will now replace my defective Kindle with a new one.
However, there's always a catch, always a complication. I had to order the new Kindle and it will be charged to my credit card. Then, when the new Kindle is delivered and the defective Kindle and the refurbished Kindle are returned to Amazon/Kindle, they will then credit my credit card for the cost of the new Kindle. That sounds very frustrating and stressful to me, but I'm going that route.
The new Kindle is supposed to be delivered in a few days. I'm sending the defective Kindle and the refurbished Kindle back to them. Then we'll see if I get credited as they claim. If I had disposable income so I could just blow off $259 then this would be no big deal. But since my husband is retired and on a fixed income and I'm disabled (but not qualified to receive any disability benefits) and not able to work, we are on a very tight budget. Such is the economic status of so many people in this currently depressed economy.
I'm not complaining here about my disability. I consider myself fortunate to have reached the age of 58 and still pretty much have my health and I'm still able to walk. My disability is a degenerative back condition, which includes chronic spinal fractures, herniated and bulging disks, and permanent nerve damage.
On top of that, I have osteoarthritis in my spine, hips, knees, hands, basically all my joints. So that means constant pain, 24/7, which is somewhat manageable with pain pills and anti-inflammatory pills. The pain never goes away. Sometimes it's less and sometimes a whole lot more, kind of like having a toothache, only the ache and burn is everywhere, and on occasion it still affects the sciatic nerve in spite of having had the surgery to relieve the pressure on the sciatic nerve.
I did have back surgery in 2004 on L4 and L5 for herniated disks and to relieve the pressure on the sciatic nerve. I was working at the time and luckily had medical insurance that paid for most of the $25,000 surgery. Before the surgery I could barely walk. After the surgery my ability to walk has greatly improved. I no longer have to drag my left leg. I can't walk long distances, mostly just around the block. If I decide to push it and walk around the mall a bit, or take a short walk on the beach, then I pay for it afterwards with a big increase in the level of pain. Even sitting upright in a chair with my feet on the floor is very painful.
I spend most of my time with my feet elevated, either on the couch or in my recliner. In addition, I have to be careful what I lift, which includes my grandkids. I also have to live with a continuous burning pain down my legs and into my feet and toes. It's amazing what you can learn to live with when the need arises.
Mind you, I was always active and very athletic in my younger years. I played baseball and football with the boys, also played tennis, water-skied, snow-skied, hiked, back-packed, roller-skated, ice-skated, surfed, swam. It wasn't until 2002 that I suddenly started experiencing all kinds of pain and was finally diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
For the next two years, as the pain increased and my ability to walk decreased, I was just told that it was my arthritis "flaring up." I finally had to force my doctor to allow me to have an MRI and that's when I found out my true medical condition. Needless to say, it was a shock. I don't know of any family members with my same condition, so not sure who I inherited it from. My doctors say it's inherited and not caused by my former active lifestyle.
I've been told that I will eventually end up in a wheelchair. So some days I look longingly at those sporty motorized chairs. I envision myself down the line racing around in a fire-engine-red motorized chair. Hey, you have to look at the lighter side of things like this. I've been reminded enough times by my Mom that "God doesn't give you any more than you can handle." So apparently I can handle a lot?
I want to clarify the "not eligible for disability" thing here. Though I worked for over 33 years of my life, Social Security says I don't have the correct number of work credits in the right time period to qualify for Social Security Disability. In the years they're counting, I have 19 of the 20 required credits. All my other work credits don't count as they're too old. You see, I pretty much haven't been able to work since my back surgery. So then you ask, what about SSI? Nope, Social Security says I don't qualify for that because my husband's income "exceeds the income limit for SSI." Huh? Believe me, our income is very very low, but apparently not low enough.
There's also another complication in all this. I can't get real medical insurance because of my "prior medical conditions" which means my back, spine, nerve damage, anything to do with bones, joints, nerves and arthritis. So all I've been able to obtain is Major Medical Coverage, Hospitalization only, with a monthly premium of $180 and $1,000 deductible, only pays 80% of approved costs, and it doesn't cover any of the excluded medical conditions. Also, there's a clause that allows the insurance company to cancel my insurance at any time with no notice, even at the time I try to use that insurance.
So really, I'm paying for coverage that I don't really have, because if I ever try to use it, most likely the insurance company will cancel my policy on the spot. I don't have the money for another surgery when the time comes, so surgery just won't be an option. Anyway, I guess this makes me one of the $50.6 million Americans who don't have medical insurance and most likely won't until I turn 65 and get Medicare, assuming we still have Medicare by then.
I know my husband and I are not unique in all this. So many of us "Baby Boomers" are caught in this situation. Retired, just enough money to get by, but nothing extra. No real medical coverage for me and being disabled I can't work and even if I was willing to put up with the increased pain, no one would hire someone with my medical problems. Not to mention there's no jobs available, because the economy is currently in a big slump.
My husband, being 65, finally has Medicare, so we're covered in that respect. He's even taken on a part-time job to try to offset the rapidly rising costs of food, insurance, utilities, repairs. We've gone so far as to cancel our home phone service with AT&T and replace it with Magic Jack at $19.95/yr. Magic Jack works some of the time and some of the time it doesn't, but the cost makes up for the inconvenience. Such is the way we "Baby Boomers" have to live nowadays. But I'll save more of that rant for another day.
That said, since I got my Kindle and started using it on July 1st of this year, I've really enjoyed having it. I have lots of time on my hands and reading is one of my greatest pleasures. The Kindle is convenient, light-weight and easy to hold in my arthritic hands. For this reason I was looking forward to getting it and greatly disappointed when it started malfunctioning. I'm hoping that this issue with Amazon and Kindle will finally get resolved to my satisfaction, meaning a new Kindle that works. So I'll keep you all updated on how this goes down.
On the other hand, if you want a Kindle and can afford the expense, then go for it. The Kindle is great when it works and not great when it doesn't work. I'm not pleased with the Kindle warranty policy of replacing a new/defective product with a used/refurbished product. I wouldn't have bought my Kindle in the first place if I'd realized that.
I've never heard of that kind of warranty policy before, not with any electronic device I've ever purchased, from a TV, camera, DVD, washer, dryer, refrigerator, or even a computer. In most cases, a new product works like it's supposed to work. But that's why you buy an extended warranty, "just in case." Only with Kindle, the warranty, extended or otherwise, means a used/refurbished product as a replacement. By the way, I suggested they just take back my defective Kindle and refund my money, but I was told that Kindle doesn't do that. So I still continue to say, buyer beware.
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