So last night the Prince asks me what I want for Christmas. Bah. I don't know. I know what I want - but from him? Let's face it, he's not exactly the person to tell my deep-dark secrets to.
But.
Now that it's safely past any "last minute shopping" frenzy that anyone could do, I think I'm gonna make me a greed list. Stuff I just WANT. Not need. Not even would use on a regular basis... I don't give a flying fuck about 'the true meaning of the season' as it relates to this post. I know it's very material. This is about greed, dammit!!
Just stuff that would be really cool to get. I don't expect any of it. Stuff like:
Like a laptop computer that I could use for computer graphics or games. Just something so that if I end up in the hospital again, I don't go stir crazy. Would be nice to have at work too, or on vacation.
Computer hardware. An optical mouse. A cordless optical mouse and keyboard would be even cooler. Imagine being able to type from a prone position without cords all over!! I want one or more of those cute little usb stick drives too. They're cute. They saved my butt when Bob the computer became Dead Bob the computer. More RAM for Norm, the new XP box.
More bookshelves. Ok, this is one I'd use all the time. The more, the merrier. My house is like a library anyhow - might as well do up a dewey decimal thing and actually categorize and shelve them properly, rather than just stacking them on any available horizontal surface.
Remodelled bathrooms. Mine suck.
Remodelled kitchen. See bathrooms - above.
A landscaping slave for 2 days in May.
A real - REAL leather jacket.
New washer and dryer.
Emerald and diamond earrings.
That would do for starters. All you multi-millionaire sugar daddies line up and take a number. Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received. Gotta go now - I'm sure this phone will start ringing off the hook any moment now...
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Making Someone's Day
I love it when I can make someone's day better. I used to love giving out paychecks back when I worked for the pharmaceutical company. Everyone smiled when I came around on Friday. It felt really good.
Today I got that chance again - in a different, but rather more spectacular way.
Early this morning - 9:00 or so - a man came to our door and said he had found some keys on the sidewalk by our door. Odd. We asked everyone in the plant and office, but nobody recognized them.
Jason went next door to see if they belonged to anyone at any of our neighbors, but nobody had lost any. He even went into the parkinglot and hit the "panic" button on the remote entry/lock device to see if he could locate the car. No luck.
So, we kept the keys on the desk by me - and figured we'd wait & see.
About 1:30 pm, a rather frazzled looking telephone company repairman came to the door and looked sheepish as he explained that he figured it was a long shot, but had anyone found any keys?
I looked him straight in the eye, smiled a little and asked if he could identify them. He looked shocked - then stunned - then hopeful, as he described the large blue plastic keychain bauble from the car dealership. I walked over to my desk, got the keys and handed them right over - he was all but happy-dancing in the lobby.
I told him to have a REALLY great day - and then Virgil came by, saw what was happening and told him to go buy a lottery ticket - it was obviously his lucky day.
*grin*
I still feel happy at having been able to be the one to make this stranger feel so very happy by returning his lost keys.
*smile*
Today I got that chance again - in a different, but rather more spectacular way.
Early this morning - 9:00 or so - a man came to our door and said he had found some keys on the sidewalk by our door. Odd. We asked everyone in the plant and office, but nobody recognized them.
Jason went next door to see if they belonged to anyone at any of our neighbors, but nobody had lost any. He even went into the parkinglot and hit the "panic" button on the remote entry/lock device to see if he could locate the car. No luck.
So, we kept the keys on the desk by me - and figured we'd wait & see.
About 1:30 pm, a rather frazzled looking telephone company repairman came to the door and looked sheepish as he explained that he figured it was a long shot, but had anyone found any keys?
I looked him straight in the eye, smiled a little and asked if he could identify them. He looked shocked - then stunned - then hopeful, as he described the large blue plastic keychain bauble from the car dealership. I walked over to my desk, got the keys and handed them right over - he was all but happy-dancing in the lobby.
I told him to have a REALLY great day - and then Virgil came by, saw what was happening and told him to go buy a lottery ticket - it was obviously his lucky day.
*grin*
I still feel happy at having been able to be the one to make this stranger feel so very happy by returning his lost keys.
*smile*
Monday, November 28, 2005
The pain...
The pain, in main, is mainly near my... spine. Ok, so it doesn't rhyme.
Tuesday afternoon at work, my back started to spasm. For no logical reason! I started to think back to all the "uh oh... I'm gonna regret this" moments of the past week....
The only 2 that come to mind are 1) helping Mom get out of the bathtub, and 2) bringing in the turkey from the car.
Now - the turkey himself wasn't enough - but together, I am willing to bet it caused this. Tuesday night was horrible. Couldn't sleep, the pain was excruciating. Wed. morning I called my chiropractor from work and got an appointment RIGHT after work. (I love this guy... :) ) He did the usual, ultrasound, some manipulating... Still hurt a lot.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, so no way to get help - Friday morning I broke down and went to the Urgent Care facility and got some meds. Vicodin (yay), Naproxin (nice) and Flexeril (SP?) - which is good. Three hours wait in the UC rooms, 3 meds. I wonder what I'd have gotten if I had to wait longer?
The great bit is that nobody yelled at me. Nobody gave me crap about my weight, etc. Every Dr. has agreed that I HAD to help mom out of the bathtub - couldn't just leave her in there!! So they are all cutting me slack. Yay.
Well, with the meds, the pain is down to a miniscule throb. Without them, it's still fair stiff and painful. Baking my ass for 20 minutes 3x a day is strange too. I never realized how LONG 20 minutes is, when you're flat on back with nothing to do. I tried to read, but the book is too heavy to support for 20 min.
Anyhow - I've gotten some better sleep, so I trudged in to work. Now I should probably DO work. *chuckles and leaves quietly*
Tuesday afternoon at work, my back started to spasm. For no logical reason! I started to think back to all the "uh oh... I'm gonna regret this" moments of the past week....
The only 2 that come to mind are 1) helping Mom get out of the bathtub, and 2) bringing in the turkey from the car.
Now - the turkey himself wasn't enough - but together, I am willing to bet it caused this. Tuesday night was horrible. Couldn't sleep, the pain was excruciating. Wed. morning I called my chiropractor from work and got an appointment RIGHT after work. (I love this guy... :) ) He did the usual, ultrasound, some manipulating... Still hurt a lot.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, so no way to get help - Friday morning I broke down and went to the Urgent Care facility and got some meds. Vicodin (yay), Naproxin (nice) and Flexeril (SP?) - which is good. Three hours wait in the UC rooms, 3 meds. I wonder what I'd have gotten if I had to wait longer?
The great bit is that nobody yelled at me. Nobody gave me crap about my weight, etc. Every Dr. has agreed that I HAD to help mom out of the bathtub - couldn't just leave her in there!! So they are all cutting me slack. Yay.
Well, with the meds, the pain is down to a miniscule throb. Without them, it's still fair stiff and painful. Baking my ass for 20 minutes 3x a day is strange too. I never realized how LONG 20 minutes is, when you're flat on back with nothing to do. I tried to read, but the book is too heavy to support for 20 min.
Anyhow - I've gotten some better sleep, so I trudged in to work. Now I should probably DO work. *chuckles and leaves quietly*
Monday, November 14, 2005
So much for Vacation...
Well, the party who was going to meet me during my layover in Atlanta had a family emergency and didn't show up. Made me angry, hurt, upset... but once I found out the reason, I kinda felt bad for firing off an angry e-mail. I need to check into getting a cell phone again.
Got into Orlando ok, my little blue bag made it with me, which is good. No problem with the rent-a-car, although they gave me a PT Cruiser, which is cute, but which I hated. Didn't use it all that much, though. So it wasn't a big issue.
The hotel was ok. Few things were a PITA, but essentially ok.
I made a huge pot of chili, a Lasagna and a pot of bean soup for them so that Dad doesn't have to struggle with cooking. Although! Talking to him some, it seems he's getting "into" cooking somewhat. That's a good thing. I bought him some crossword puzzle books too. Read on some website where those are associated with decreased incidence of several forms of dimentia... *crossing my fingers*
Mom (possibly) broke her hip while I was there - or the day before, we're not sure. She said she fell, and she was having a TERRIBLE time walking, but although one doctor said there was a "compression impaction" fracture, now the ortho surgeon says there is not. They want to do "therapy". I'm afraid she will keep trying to walk all over and REALLY break the hip big-time if she keeps her hopping and shuffling going on.
The altzheimers is bad. She has "flashes" of lucidity - but they are few, far between and very short. She remembered my name, remembered Dad's name - but forgot completely what her relationships with Dad and I are. Just calls us by our first names.
She keeps wanting to "go home" - back to Latrobe Avenue in Chicago. Unfortunately, the neighborhood she grew up in is now not a place she or anyone else like us would be safe. White Flight took that neighborhood down hard. It's a shame, too, because an awful lot of the houses there are just beautiful. The house she wants to go back to was a lovely 2-story pseudo victorian with a wrap-around porch, stained glass window in the entry hall and curving staircase with carved handrail.
Probably a crack house now. *sigh*
There seems to be a preoccupation for her with "the people" and with getting the right classes for school. Not real sure where all that comes from - perhaps it is just something to say as "filler" when she can't think of what it is she is really wanting to say?
As the day gets darker, she becomes more aggitated. She cannot tolerate the sight of her reflection in the windows - she thinks "the people" are looking in. I suggested to Dad that when the sun starts to set, he start closing the vertical blinds to keep her calm.
I also suggested that he start decafinating her. I know it's made a large difference for me, calming me down quite a lot. Since she drinks a lot of coffee all day long, it might help keep the anxiety down as the sun sets?
Well - I can't wait for Thanksgiving. THAT 4-day weekend I plan to ENJOY myself.
Sitting in the hospital all day one day, and standing on my feet cooking all day another - isn't really "fun".
Got into Orlando ok, my little blue bag made it with me, which is good. No problem with the rent-a-car, although they gave me a PT Cruiser, which is cute, but which I hated. Didn't use it all that much, though. So it wasn't a big issue.
The hotel was ok. Few things were a PITA, but essentially ok.
I made a huge pot of chili, a Lasagna and a pot of bean soup for them so that Dad doesn't have to struggle with cooking. Although! Talking to him some, it seems he's getting "into" cooking somewhat. That's a good thing. I bought him some crossword puzzle books too. Read on some website where those are associated with decreased incidence of several forms of dimentia... *crossing my fingers*
Mom (possibly) broke her hip while I was there - or the day before, we're not sure. She said she fell, and she was having a TERRIBLE time walking, but although one doctor said there was a "compression impaction" fracture, now the ortho surgeon says there is not. They want to do "therapy". I'm afraid she will keep trying to walk all over and REALLY break the hip big-time if she keeps her hopping and shuffling going on.
The altzheimers is bad. She has "flashes" of lucidity - but they are few, far between and very short. She remembered my name, remembered Dad's name - but forgot completely what her relationships with Dad and I are. Just calls us by our first names.
She keeps wanting to "go home" - back to Latrobe Avenue in Chicago. Unfortunately, the neighborhood she grew up in is now not a place she or anyone else like us would be safe. White Flight took that neighborhood down hard. It's a shame, too, because an awful lot of the houses there are just beautiful. The house she wants to go back to was a lovely 2-story pseudo victorian with a wrap-around porch, stained glass window in the entry hall and curving staircase with carved handrail.
Probably a crack house now. *sigh*
There seems to be a preoccupation for her with "the people" and with getting the right classes for school. Not real sure where all that comes from - perhaps it is just something to say as "filler" when she can't think of what it is she is really wanting to say?
As the day gets darker, she becomes more aggitated. She cannot tolerate the sight of her reflection in the windows - she thinks "the people" are looking in. I suggested to Dad that when the sun starts to set, he start closing the vertical blinds to keep her calm.
I also suggested that he start decafinating her. I know it's made a large difference for me, calming me down quite a lot. Since she drinks a lot of coffee all day long, it might help keep the anxiety down as the sun sets?
Well - I can't wait for Thanksgiving. THAT 4-day weekend I plan to ENJOY myself.
Sitting in the hospital all day one day, and standing on my feet cooking all day another - isn't really "fun".
Monday, November 07, 2005
VACATION!
Well, Thursday and Friday I am taking off work. Going to fly down to Florida and see Mom and Dad.
Stopping for a long layover in Atlanta, hopefully to see a few friends on the way down for an hour or so. Wish it could be longer, but I haven't a lot of time here.
Part of me is glad to be going. I need a break from home and work. But most of me is afraid of what I will find when I get down there.
Paul's constant harping on how bad off Mom is - and Dad's semi-confirmation - has me worried. I've told Aunt Lorraine about the trip, I'll talk to them when I get back. I'm just afraid of what I'll see, what I will find out. The unknown is so difficult for me. I feel like I've got it under control, that I know how I'll deal with it, having Mom not know me... but... do I? will I?
What I really want to do is go down there and do some cooking for Dad's sake, because he never could cook much... and try to spend "quality time" with them. If for some reason he doesn't want me there one of the 2 days I'm REALLY there (not-travelling) I will go to Disney or something. But I'd really rather be there with them.
I'm really afraid of what will happen to Dad if Mom does go. And I do believe that if he puts her in a "home", she will pass quickly, like Paul wants.
*sigh*
Growing Up Sucks.
Stopping for a long layover in Atlanta, hopefully to see a few friends on the way down for an hour or so. Wish it could be longer, but I haven't a lot of time here.
Part of me is glad to be going. I need a break from home and work. But most of me is afraid of what I will find when I get down there.
Paul's constant harping on how bad off Mom is - and Dad's semi-confirmation - has me worried. I've told Aunt Lorraine about the trip, I'll talk to them when I get back. I'm just afraid of what I'll see, what I will find out. The unknown is so difficult for me. I feel like I've got it under control, that I know how I'll deal with it, having Mom not know me... but... do I? will I?
What I really want to do is go down there and do some cooking for Dad's sake, because he never could cook much... and try to spend "quality time" with them. If for some reason he doesn't want me there one of the 2 days I'm REALLY there (not-travelling) I will go to Disney or something. But I'd really rather be there with them.
I'm really afraid of what will happen to Dad if Mom does go. And I do believe that if he puts her in a "home", she will pass quickly, like Paul wants.
*sigh*
Growing Up Sucks.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Temperature
Dayum, but it is COLD the last couple of mornings. It's really made me glad that I have a new coffeepot that makes utterly wonderful coffee, even out of Decaf beans.
This morning I had one tupperware cup of coffee in my left sweater pocket, one in the right, and my "going to work commuter cup" in my hands as I went out the door. And you wonder why I had to switch to decaf? :)
Tonight I am planning to work on getting some of the old files off the damaged computer and onto the new one. Hopefully this will be workable using the USB drive that my boss lent me, rather than my having to go buy a *choke* serial cable.
This morning I had one tupperware cup of coffee in my left sweater pocket, one in the right, and my "going to work commuter cup" in my hands as I went out the door. And you wonder why I had to switch to decaf? :)
Tonight I am planning to work on getting some of the old files off the damaged computer and onto the new one. Hopefully this will be workable using the USB drive that my boss lent me, rather than my having to go buy a *choke* serial cable.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
I hate computers sometimes
This past weekend would be one of them.
My OS on the main box (yeah, yeah win98se - deal with it) went tits-up and died. I suspect foul play. (Virii)
I've spent hours trying to fix it up, to no real avail. It's kind of like a great big electronic black hole right now. I can put stuff in - I can see it in there - but there's no way to get it OUT.
I'll work on it again later when I'm less angry over it.
Anyhow - a dear friend lent me the money to buy a new system. It's lovely. Big hard drive (for the moment - undoubtedly it will be MUCH too small eventually..) and speedy lil' processor. The only downside is that the OS is.. *gag**choke**barf* WinXP
I HATE XP
Tonite maybe I will be able to see about reloading some of my programs.
*smile*
My OS on the main box (yeah, yeah win98se - deal with it) went tits-up and died. I suspect foul play. (Virii)
I've spent hours trying to fix it up, to no real avail. It's kind of like a great big electronic black hole right now. I can put stuff in - I can see it in there - but there's no way to get it OUT.
I'll work on it again later when I'm less angry over it.
Anyhow - a dear friend lent me the money to buy a new system. It's lovely. Big hard drive (for the moment - undoubtedly it will be MUCH too small eventually..) and speedy lil' processor. The only downside is that the OS is.. *gag**choke**barf* WinXP
I HATE XP
Tonite maybe I will be able to see about reloading some of my programs.
*smile*
Saturday, October 15, 2005
More Plumbing Woes
Ok, so I got the drain apart from underneath, sorta. And there was some gunk in one of the pipes, so I took a coathanger apart and "goosed" it out into the bucket. Then I reconnected the pipes, ran a bit of water, and watched it go down. Yay, it went down.....
Into the bucket.
So I tightened the pipe fittings a bit more, and it still was pouring out... so I looked... and the drain lining - the one shaped sorta like a funnel? has cracks in it. Not just cracks, mind you - but cracks that I can see the daylight thru from underneath the sink. Not good. Wet.
So.
Now I have Susan telling me to use Duct Tape (Susan is from Tennessee, where everything is fixed with Duct Tape). I am thinking of going to Menards tomorrow and seeing what I can find in the plumbing department. And I am hating plumbing even more.
One good thing out of all this - when the sink had water in it, I was hearing some "glugg" kind of noises from the drain - so MAYBE the clog is opening up ?? One can but hope. I hate plumbing.
I really really hate plumbing.
Into the bucket.
So I tightened the pipe fittings a bit more, and it still was pouring out... so I looked... and the drain lining - the one shaped sorta like a funnel? has cracks in it. Not just cracks, mind you - but cracks that I can see the daylight thru from underneath the sink. Not good. Wet.
So.
Now I have Susan telling me to use Duct Tape (Susan is from Tennessee, where everything is fixed with Duct Tape). I am thinking of going to Menards tomorrow and seeing what I can find in the plumbing department. And I am hating plumbing even more.
One good thing out of all this - when the sink had water in it, I was hearing some "glugg" kind of noises from the drain - so MAYBE the clog is opening up ?? One can but hope. I hate plumbing.
I really really hate plumbing.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Plumbing Suxxors
My kitchen sink is 1/2 clogged up. It's a 2-bowl sink, and the left side is bad, the right side works fine.
So there's this tangle of PVC pipe under the sink in the cupboard, and the left side is now leaking. I've taken part of it apart, but no clog. Next I'll need to run something through the remainder part (it's all put together in a squiggly Y sort of deal to the outside drain), and try to loosen up whatever is clogging it.
I suppose it is stray noodles and beans that sneak down the sink when I'm draining them, even though I'm careful to NOT let them out. Some of them make a break for freedom and slide down before I can catch them. Probably a bit of grease too, although I throw bacon grease in the trash, not the sink!
I hate plumbing though. I like carpentry, and I am ok with electrical, but plumbing suxxors. I hope I don't have to go buy more PVC pipe. Do I have to get some tape or something? I HATE PLUMBING!!!!!
So there's this tangle of PVC pipe under the sink in the cupboard, and the left side is now leaking. I've taken part of it apart, but no clog. Next I'll need to run something through the remainder part (it's all put together in a squiggly Y sort of deal to the outside drain), and try to loosen up whatever is clogging it.
I suppose it is stray noodles and beans that sneak down the sink when I'm draining them, even though I'm careful to NOT let them out. Some of them make a break for freedom and slide down before I can catch them. Probably a bit of grease too, although I throw bacon grease in the trash, not the sink!
I hate plumbing though. I like carpentry, and I am ok with electrical, but plumbing suxxors. I hope I don't have to go buy more PVC pipe. Do I have to get some tape or something? I HATE PLUMBING!!!!!
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
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