Sticky wickets

I kind of felt bad for this one poor lady today.

I was picking up one of the clients from his workshop today. I had to help him fix something that was on the floor, and I got up from the floor in my usual FibroWay (stiff, lumbering). The lady who is in charge of his group is about 50-something, and she said, "You look like me getting up from the floor! Bad knees will do that, huh?" I said, "Yeah, I have fibromyalgia. That's why I have a hard time doing stuff like that." She kind of got quiet and blushed. I think she felt bad, but it's not like I wear a sign on my head, y'know? That's why they call it an invisible disease. :P Lucky me!

This is unacceptable!

There is a frigging FROST ADVISORY out for tonight. This is unacceptable. I am sick and tired of being cold, people!!!! To say nothing of poor Mr. Samoa, who had to sprint about the yard covering up flowers and hauling potted plants into the garage, because of the frigging FROST ADVISORY. This is just about enough, as I am more than ready to thaw out!

Lack of common sense

I participate on a well-known, large message board system which shall remain nameless, for reasons that are about to become obvious. On one of these boards, there is a woman who has taken to being extremely nasty to complete strangers, for reasons unknown. She might want to knock this off, because:

* Her username is her first initial and her last name. Her last name is one that is extremely unusual in this country.

* She has put enough information out that her first name and general location are well known.

Using this info and that top secret spy technology tool, Google, I ran a quick search. I came up with her workplace, which contained her office address, phone number, fax number, and work e-mail. I also came up with her home phone number. The only thing I didn't get was her home address, but that could be easily remedied with the above information.

So, she really needs to either a) knock the nasty off or b) really, really watch what information she puts out there. I'm not a psycho nor am I one of her victims, just a blogger running an experiment, but that might not apply to the next person who comes along. She has young children and the last thing they need is some loon turning up on their doorstep with a grudge to settle with Mom.

My point is, this doesn't just apply to her, it applies to all Netizens. Either watch what you put out there, or watch how you treat people, or best of all, BOTH! You don't know who is unstable out there, and it's best not to find out the hard way. Ask a lot of people who did just that!

Mother for sale. Cheap.

So I just posted about my cousin who is a survivor of breast cancer, right? Well, anyways. This particular cousin has started a tradition of having a BBQ on Mothers' Day, in the late afternoon. This means that everyone gets Mothers' Day-ed before it all starts. So nobody has a reason to complain. This is going to get important in a moment.

I received an e-mail from Cousin, notifying us of this year's barbecue. We accepted with pleasure, particularly as I have not seen Cousin since her dx. Cousin was hoping that Mom would attend, since she did not attend the last one. So anyways, I called up Mom. The conversation went something like this:

Me: So Cousin is having her BBQ.

Mom: Oh no!

Me: Well, we're going.

Mom: (something noncommittal involving a lot of eyerolling- how dare we want to socialize!)

Me: Mother, I have not seen Cousin since her dx. We are going.

That got Mother to see sense, though there's no way she'll go. Mother just doesn't want to socialize. OK, fine, whatever. To each their own. (And someone please tell Grendel that too, but I digress.) But then, she can't get it through her skull that other people might actually want to see their relatives/friends? Moreover, Mr. Samoa and I had best make sure that SOMEONE in the younger generation can at least recognize us in a lineup, since we have no kids and the Samoa side of the family is not exactly a beacon of functionality and brightness. Aaargh.

I worked

And nobody lost an eye. All residents were reasonably well-behaved and refrained from chewing on each other's limbs. :)

Went to Lowe's and got a bunch of petunias this PM. I think I am going to go back and get one of the special dahlias for the Komen breast cancer foundation that they had. My cousin is a breast cancer survivor and Caroline's mom did not survive it, so I think such a dahlia would be good to have.

If I never post again...

It means the bamboo got me.

I was walking the dogs through the backyard and I noticed there were all these green SPIKES sticking up out of the lawn. They had not been there yesterday! Upon closer inspection, it proved that they were shoots from the bamboo grove that serves as a fence on one side of the property. They were halfway to DD2's doghouse! So, I got to spend a delightful half hour cutting them down and cutting the runners back. I am pretty sure that new ones were shooting up as I was doing this. I was having some serious Day of the Triffids flashbacks. Is it a coincidence that the EPA declared a bunch of herbicides illegal just now? I think not! The bamboo got them too! (Could explain a lot about our current government, now that I think of it...)

It's after meeeee!!!!

Remember the weird little kid from yesterday? As it turns out, he apparently resides in Podunkville.

For those of you who may not remember, Podunkville is where I work. I went to the grocery today in the course of my duties, and was flailing my way through the bread aisle when I saw him. He was with an older lady who I assume was his grandmother this time. He was holding onto her arm and jumping straight up and down. Presently, he apparently saw something he wanted, but he didn't do the stereotypical "GIMMEEEEE!" He kept saying, "I want." in a rather conversational tone. Not "I want it", or "I want that", but "I want." Over and over and over. As in, "IwantIwantIwantIwantIwant". Fortunately for the populace, his grandmother was more proficient than his parents were at controlling him, and there were no more odd incidents the likes of yesterday.

Given his odd behavior on two separate occasions, I now wonder if my MRDD-dar may not have been off for once and he in fact had autism or something of the sort. Still, though. I don't let Gina stand on your shoes and drool on you, you don't have to let your kid jump at me, people. :P

Ooookayyyy

Now. As we all know, children do not have so much of the impulse control yet, and as a consequence they do, or express the wish to do, some extremely odd things from time to time. This is pretty much a known fact. HOWEVER. It also seems to me, that it is the duty and responsibility of the parents of said children to prevent their offspring from undertaking such of these odd things as may be potentially harmful to them. Such as talking to complete strangers. At a bare minimum, it might be wise to teach one's children that it is rather impolite to go running up to a complete stranger who is minding their own business reading a magazine, jump at them slamming both feet down onto the tile floor in a loud manner, and yell "HI!!!!" If for some reason one cannot contrive to teach them this, it might at least be wise to discourage them when they announce their intention to do same, rather than telling them, "OK, go say hi, honey!"

Sigh. At least when, rather than my immediately being overcome with raptures at the kyoootness of said child, I peered at him over my glasses and said to him, "Why are you doing that? I don't understand.", it did occur to the dimbulbs that it might be wise to remove the little dear posthaste rather than becoming indignant at my lack of rapture. The part that disturbed me was that it appeared to genuinely not have occurred to them previously that this behavior was inappropriate, as opposed to "But it's just wunnerful for my little pweshus to do that!!!" Somehow, the "know and don't care" is less perturbing than the idea of the existence of people who are actually so dumb as not to know better.

Oh, and? The juvenile perpetrator was not a toddler, who might reasonably be simply unable to process the concept of "stranger". This kid was about 6-7, well into the school age range. He also showed no signs of mental disability or such that might explain it, and I can normally spot those a mile away. We can guess who is going to turn up on the 10:00 news Amber Alert next...

Bleh, ouch, bleh

A whole lot of nothing today. My legs hurt. I would very much like to know why DD1 keeps scratching himself AFTER we put the damn flea treatment on him. I am tired. Another fun day in the life! :P

That'll wake you up!

So my parents came down today, for Chin Review and to go to dinner in Nextstate. Sounds normal, and like fun, which it eventually was. Since there are four of us total, we took my car, with Mr. Samoa driving.

So we're driving along the interstate, Mom and I are discussing something like eggplant futures in Pakistan, when I look up and notice there's a hill coming right at us. "Oh look", I thought. "A hill, coming right at us. What??? A HILL, COMING RIGHT AT US!!!" Mr. Samoa had drifted into the berm and was headed straight into the side of a hill! "SAM!!!" I shrieked. This jerked him to attention, and he steered back onto the road. He had fallen asleep at the wheel!!! :o I tactfully suggested that he might perhaps want to stop and get a Mountain Dew ("You're stopping and getting a Mountain Dew!") This was done, and the rest of the trip was uneventful. I do, however, believe that I lost about 5 years growth. :P

What is fair vs. being taken advantage of?

This is something I've been struggling with a lot at work lately. We are shortstaffed (again. Oh wait, I meant "still".) and we've been spread thin again. The Powers That Be have asked me to work on pretty much every weekend this month- I work Monday-Friday. I have been giving them one day of every other weekend. I struggle with some guilt with regards to this, because we have some emergency staff that are there All. The. Time. and I don't think they should have to be the only ones to suffer. On the other hand, I think TPTB need to get it in gear. One, they need to plan a little further ahead for Sunday morning than oh, say, Friday evening. People would be more likely to help if it didn't mean getting plans interrupted at the last moment. Two, they want people in there all day, every day, and people would be more likely to help if it didn't seem like every single day was a so-called emergency.

This sucks, because I want to do my fair share so that my fellow employees aren't run ragged either; the way I see it, if we all suffer a little then nobody has to suffer a lot. However, if I worked every day they have wanted me to I would have worked something like fourteen days straight. Um, NO. I already worked myself sick and into a perpetual flare once, never again. I need to quit that freaking job while I still have some shred of health left. Unfortunately, I've been having this same conversation with myself for something like a year and a half. :P

Puppy, now with free gift!

So Pumpkin, when he came to us, did not come alone. He came bearing a free gift. That is to say, fleas. :P Yup, you got it, a dog that cost over $1K came to us with fleas. I don't get it.

But anyways, we went posthaste to the vet and got Frontline. We'll get for the cats the next time someone gets paid. Fortunately, they don't seem to have them yet: DD1 had a few, but all dogs have now been de-flea'd. You know, we really didn't need the freebie...

This had better be over soon

The good news: I got the gnomes out of my throat. The bad news: They moved to my head. Right between my eyes, to be specific. This had better end soon, because I want out of the house.

Oh dear

You know a hospital is bad when...

Background, as always. We have two competing medical care systems in Bugpit County. There's Frederick Krueger Memorial Hospital and its associated clinics, and Van Helsing Clinic, which is building a hospital next year, but does not have one yet. Krueger Memorial is a scary, scary place. Highlights I've had/heard are when they refused to treat one of our residents on the grounds that "he was violent" (um, no he wasn't, and that doesn't make it legal to refuse him treatment if he were, but I digress), and when they refused to treat a girl who had been roofie'd because the nurses decided "she was just drunk". Meanwhile, the Van Helsing system is full of competent, professional people who are nice to you. I am not looking for KM to stay open after VH gets their hospital built. But anyways.

To get the razor wielding gnomes out of my throat, I had to go to the Van Helsing clinic when Mr. Samoa got home this evening. There was a short wait, and while we were waiting there was a guy with a bandage clamped over his arm and blood dripping down it. Presently he was called back, and shortly thereafter he returned, grumpy. His friend asked him what the trouble was. Turned out he had SEVERED AN ARTERY (aaaaa!) and was going to have to go to KM as VH will not be equipped to deal with such injuries until the hospital is finished. He very much did not want to. As his friend was dragging him out the door, I could hear him mumbling, "But I don't WANT to go to Krueger! They're crazy there!" I rather imagine he may have eventually wound up at Next State Over Memorial (we're actually closer to the next state over than we are the rest of Ourstate) or gone an hour the other direction to Zentown, where I grew up and where they have actual medical care too.

You know it's bad when...

Another shoutout, again

This one is going out to Mr. Samoa. I am not so good at expressing myself with the spoken word, so I wanted to put it here. I really, really do appreciate his going out of his way to get Pumpkin for me. He did not HAVE to spend a cool grand on a puppy to add to the already burgeoning zoo, but he did it anyways because he knew it would make me happy. I am very grateful that he is willing and able to do such things for me. I will demonstrate my appreciation as soon as the little razor-wielding gnomes get out of my throat. :P

Pumpkin is here!

He is laying curled up next to me on the couch even as we speak. :D He and Buster are getting on like a house afire, though there was some tension in the garage as, apparently, Pumpkin had claimed that for his own. The kitties are actually doing pretty well; it did not take them long to figure out that he is actually smaller than they are.

I would like to give a shoutout to Continental Airlines for their superb handling of the little chap, as well. They called about 45 minutes before the plane was scheduled to land to make sure that we were on our way and knew where to go. All we had to do was wait at baggage claim and they brought him to us, we didn't have to stumble around looking for the cargo area or anything. It is important to recognize great airline service since great airlines are so few these days!

Ecch

It is raining and I have cramps that feel like the critter from Alien is trying to escape via my spine. I think it's probably going to be an early bedtime tonight. :P

Finally!

FINALLY, after lo these many e-mails, phone calls, visits from men named Vito, etc., we have gotten a flight number and a travel schedule for Pumpkin from the breeder! He arrives at StateCapital International Airport at 8:42 PM precisely (well, mostly) on Monday. Final payment was shipped off via Express Mail today. Threeeee... morre... dayyys... and we'll be able to not worry about shipping a puppy from CA to Here any more!!! :D

In another "finally" note, this. I do the grocery shopping for the group home, and I have long suspected that food has been walking off and getting into staff's cars. I was both relieved and saddened to learn that it in fact has. The culprit was a staff that I would not at all have suspected it of. I am relieved to learn I'm not insanely underbuying, upset that someone would steal from the disadvantaged, and supremely disappointed in this person. Details would be identifying, but let's just say that this person has basically ruined her life over some lousy cans of juice and fabric softener. Not. Worth. It., people!!!

Still more updates!

So I went back to Wrong Ade today, in the course of my duties. (NOT to the pharmacy!) As I was going in, I passed the pharmacist on her way out. It was not the same pharmacist who was the ringleader of the nastiness posted in my original Wrong Ade post. Moreover, I could hear some of the talk coming from the pharmacy, and while they were as bumbling as ever, they were meticulously polite in their bumbling and there was no shouting of confidential patient information across the pharmacy. Methinks someone has joined the ranks of the unemployed. AND that there are now some people sporting a second asshole. >:)

Update on the update of the update

There is much to update tonight, so I hope I don't miss something!

First, Grendel got a job! She's apparently managed to sign on with a temp agency and they got her a temporary secretarial gig. She also finally got a brain and signed up for unemployment, which got approved. She sounds as egotistical as ever in her blog, but here's hoping that the folks in PA won't mind. I posted her a comment- "Congratulations! May you put your best foot forward." She did allow it through, which was good. I just hope she got the real meaning, which was more to the effect of, "Don't you EVEN DARE fuck this one up, or I will drive out there personally and kill you with my bare hands. " :P So, we shall see.

On the Chin front, we received the contract and puppy info packet today. We get the money order tomorrow and I hope to have it in the mail Friday morning. Should be receiving Pumpkin's travel itinerary tomorrow.

Live with It! is going very well. We have a fun group of posters and have not had to banninate anyone yet. ;)

Wow, I actually think I got everything!

Le update des Chins

Finally got ahold of the breeder by telephone. She is supposed to be booking his travel arrangements tomorrow, we should be getting the paperwork by PDF within the next few days, and he should arrive on Monday! Chin-spins for all!

Score!

I had one of the residents out at Wal-Mart doing clothing shopping. We bought a number of things, but we REALLY scored on the dollar rack.

Wal-Mart's dollar rack is a great place to be if you happen to be petite, which the resident in question is. Since they no longer receive a clothing allowance (love you too, Ourstate!) they have to stretch their every clothing dollar. We got two pairs of leggings and a really nice blue velour hoodie- FOR A DOLLAR APIECE! Total of three dollars! Alas, not everything we got cost a dollar, but we were pretty darn excited about that. :D

Shameless plug

I am very proud to say that I am now officially a hammer-wielding crazy (read: co-moderator) at a Brand Spankin' New Delphi forum dedicated to life with fibromyalgia, entitled Live With It!. You can find us here: http://forums.delphiforums.com/Livewithit/start

Anyone who stumbles across this, do visit us. We'll have the hot packs warming for you.

Wrong Ade update again

Quite an interesting turn of events!

Wrong Ade's cosmetics and other merchandise, and the clerks thereof, are not the problem, just the pharmacy. So I went in there the other day to get an iced tea. As I was walking in, I noticed a sign on the door. It read, "The pharmacy will be closed until [two days from that day's date, whatever it was]." I kind of went hm! While I seriously doubt that Wrong Ade gave a rat's ass about their having been rude to me, the part about "The BIRTH CONTROL or the HERPES MEDICATION??!!" I tend to suspect got their attention. Suspension? Termination? Who knows, but a girl can dream!

The concept of the Away message

You know, much as I love the Hawaiian Hottie, he is a bit dense. Sometimes more than a bit. I logged onto Yahoo Messenger this morning, and put up my Away message because I was busy. Two seconds later, he messages me. "Hey, I have some time if you want to talk." Good for you, HH, I don't have time! That's what an Away message is for! Guess that's a man for ya. ;)

Grendel Update 4/4/08

Still no job, apparently. Are we shocked? I thought not. :P

Some people scare me

So the Lipizzaner Stallions (www.lipizzaner.com) happened to be coming to our small town today. My mom had seen them as a child and had long gushed over them, so Mr. Samoa and I decided to go. We only lasted until intermission, for as it turned out dressage is not my cup of tea, and sitting crammed up in basketball stadium seats for two hours is not the fibromyalgia's cup of tea. (The horses, however, were indeed very pretty, and I got a nice stuffed horsie. ) But that is not the point of this blogging.

Intermission came, and Mr. Samoa and I were in line at the concession stand, being as we had had no dinner. We came to the realization that we were going to need to go get cash, as concessions were, well, concessions (i.e. a small Coke and a popcorn cost more than my grad school tuition) and they did not accept debit cards. I was griping about this, and I said something, I don't even remember what exactly, but the end of it was something about nothing costing less than $3.00. This part will be forever etched on my brain, because of what happened next.

Suddenly, I felt the heels of both my feet being squashed, as a booming voice shrieks right in my ear "NOTHING LESS THAN THREE DOLLARS? ARE YOU SURE!! THE NERVE OF THESE PEOPLE!! [or similar]" I turned around, and a woman with gigantic frizzy hair was literally standing on the backs of my feet, shrieking Right. In. My. Ear. about the cost of refreshments. Just carrying on about this. "Uh, ma'am, you're standing on me," I said. No response; I doubt she heard a thing, as she was too busy trying to relieve me of all hearing in my left ear. I tried to move away from her, and she kept moving with me, using her Outdoor Voice all the while. Mr.Samoa is not the quickest thing on the uptake, and he cheerfully chirps, "We could get nachos!" So, as she starts shrieking about nachos, I said, through my gritted teeth, "No. I do not want nachos. We are going to our seats. Now." I honestly think she would have kept following us if I hadn't dragged Mr. Samoa away from the line stat. It would appear that the local lunatic asylum had organized its yearly outing. :P * In the end, we wound up leaving early and going to Taco Bell for dinner, and got doughnuts for dessert. All was well that ended well. :)

*NB: I know it is the trend these days to attempt to explain away the behavior of clods by claiming the possibility of their having some sort of mental disability, mental illness, and the like. Nice try. I spend about 3/4 of my life around people with mental disabilities, and have mental illness running like the mighty Mississippi through my family tree. I can spot both a mile off. This was a bigger clod than the ones normally thrown at Ozzfest. Let's save the sympathy for those who actually need it, eh? :P

Addictive behavior

I never thought I had an addictive personality, but I think I was wrong. I have become addicted to shoes. In the last two weeks, I have bought three pairs. Crocs in particular have become like crack to me. Why couldn't it have been dollar store flip flops or something? :P

Zounds!

I don't know if I've ever told you all about Mr. Samoa's employment. Basically, he works for Fairly Major State University (from now on, FMSU) in a field best described in my father's words: "He told me what he did once, but I still didn't understand what he did when he was done." So, you can read the following with that background in mind.

Mr. Samoa is somewhere around the middle of the food chain in his department at FMSU. It's the underlings, then him and his friend the Mullet Recoveree (MR), then his boss, then his boss' boss, then the Head Bazonga. Well, it seems that his boss was scheduled to meet with the Head Bazonga tomorrow, and he couldn't, so tapped Mr. Samoa to go in his stead. I learned this tonight while I was minding my own business and watching Most Shocking, and Mr. Samoa chirps, "Guess what? I get to meet with the Head Bazonga tomorrow!" Like he's mentioning he's meeting a long-lost pal for lunch or something. I got up from where I had fallen off the couch onto the floor, did a few spins around the living room ceiling, then flew into action. I dug up Mr. Samoa's brown dress shoes and found a decent shirt, no mean feat since most of the ones he has are in the wash. (Steve & Barry's here we come again, I think.) So, I think he'll be presentable for the Head Bazonga tomorrow.

I would like to take this time to point out once again how very proud I am of Mr. Samoa's achievements. He probably doesn't believe me at 3 AM when I'm whacking him in the ribs and telling him if he doesn't quit snoring he's going out in the doghouse with DD2, but I am. He is a sociable and likable person (have no idea HOW he married me- people either develop an odd twitch or start discussing the weather in high-pitched tones, or both, when I come up) and so has progressed very well in his field. I am quite proud of him.

In Chin News, deposit has gone out. Tentative ETA for the little guy in our fair state is Monday the 14th. I am excited!

What do you say to this?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080401/ap_on_re_us/children_s_plot

I really, really have no words. Basically, if the link doesn't work, this is about a group of nine third-graders who plotted to kill their teacher. (Plot was averted.)

This just blows my mind. I really wouldn't think too much about it if it had come from high-schoolers, but 1) since when do 9 y/o's have that kind of plotting capability? 2) the idea of that age group wanting to kill their teacher is a bit disturbing. I mean, I had some shitty teachers (Mrs. W who was focused on the popular kids and didn't notice that I couldn't add and subtract, and Mrs. F who was determined to "put me in my place" because I was a smart kid, here's to you!) but I cannot say that it ever occurred to me to go Teaching Mrs. Tingle on them. It sure as hell didn't occur to me when I was that age! And I don't think it has to do with times being that different, either. Daisy, Mr. Samoa's niece, is that age exactly, and she doesn't have home advantages (attentive parents and the like) that these kids might not have either. And yet, I honestly don't think such a thing would occur to her, and she's certainly not capable of plotting it out if it did. It is going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

Happy April

I had something that I was going to rant about, but I have forgotten it. So I'll just post and say Happy April. No April Fools jokes, people! :)