It never ceases to amaze me how people who are not medical doctors, have not performed a physical examination of me, and have not read the medical records can diagnose from afar that I am physically able to do what I say I cannot.
There are multiple written diagnoses of my condition, diagnosing the ailment I "claim" to have, dating back to 1988. The doctor who initially diagnosed it called it a "classic case": onset after a severe virus and never got back to normal. I could not be a hypochondriac, because I was describing symptoms that had not yet been published for the general public to know about.
There are multiple doctors who believe that I cannot work full-time, or even half-time. In fact, I was told in 1988 that it would be better for my health to work part-time, but I continued to work full-time for another 12 years because as the sole or primary breadwinner, I couldn't afford to cut back. That I continued to work full-time for 12 years may have contributed to my continuing to deteriorate to the point that I can no longer work full-time.
I do run my own business, and have for 5 years, which allows me the flexibility to work when and where I can, so I do not appreciate the false accusations that I'm a non-productive member of society. I am, however, a member of society who does not earn enough to be self-supporting, due to the limited number of hours I can work, and therefore, am eligible for disability benefits. (Legally, under Cooper v. Bowen, 815 F.2d 557, 561 (9th Cir. 1987), a disability claimant need not "vegetate in a dark room" in order to be deemed eli- gible for benefits. The standard applied is whether the claimant can either work full-time maintaining adequate attendance, or earn an amount defined as "self-supporting". I can do neither.)
The expert-recommended treatment for the condition is rest, not physical exercise such as housecleaning. There are MANY disabled people who can sit to use the computer but not stand to clean ... and, this assumes that you know whether I use the computer sitting up or lying down.
People who have no evidence of how many housecleaners I've had in over the last five years (including a live-in for a couple months), how little those cleaners have accomplished, how many contacts I've made to cleaners who do not want to do the heavier cleaning that I cannot manage, how many churches and schools I've personally contacted trying to get someone either as a volunteer or for pay. But they're sure that I have not done anything to get the house clean. Not that I fired housecleaners for spending four hours accomplishing almost nothing, not even the tasks they were specifically instructed to do, but that I've never hired anyone at all.
How long does it take you to remove everything from your fridge, see what's still good, and wipe down the shelves? According to my last hired cleaner, four hours. And the next day, I found a loaf of green bread that proved she didn't take out everything as she claimed. What was she doing after the first 15 minutes when I said I needed to go lie down before I fell down? Your guess is as good as mine, but we can be pretty sure that she wasn't continuing to clean as diligently as she did while I was standing over her. Should I continue to pay her four hours pay to accomplish 1/2 hour's work, or do I have your permission to terminate her employment and look for someone who will accomplish four hours of work for four hours of pay?