Here’s one of my rants: people who use these abbreviations without having any idea what they mean. The US is on Daylight Saving Time until this Sunday, when we return to Standard Time. Therefore, no one should be stating a time as EST, or CST, or PST for most of the year. But many people do, and when you try to explain it to them they just don’t get it.
Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time, so I guess Arizonans use MST all year round, but the residents of other states in the Mountain time zone don’t.
Except for the Navajo reservation, which does observe Daylight Savings. Except for the Hopi reservation surrounded by the Navajo reservation, which does.
Conspiracy theory time: Someone in the marketing department of Pepperidge Farm (or the multinational megacorporation that owns the name for now) used this as a proof-of-concept: announce a one-off promotional product with limited time, limited availability. If it doesn’t crash and burn, you’re golden: for the cost of some unique packaging design and production, you get a significant uptick in product sales.
The kicker is that the marketing guys buy up the lion’s share of the “new” product and sell it on eBay at an enormous markup.
Due to the rather insulting way in which I was passed over for a promotion at work, I’ve decided it’s time to get the hell out of there. At least I get to keep my current position, and there are some very promising (and oddly specific) job postings in my field, but geez this is going to suck.
As recounted in the thread Ow! My Spine!, I have been having back problems. I saw an orthopedic specialist a while back.He prescribed a course of methylprednosolone. I had to delay starting that because the local pharmacy I was using at the time slapped a sticker reading “Important! Use only as directed.” They did not provide me with directions on the use of the medication. I called the orthopedist office and left a clear message with an actual human being, I eventually received a return call. As usual, I was unavailable to take the call because I was working. The doctor’s office left a voice mail. It containeed no useful information. I was going to make a second call, when I finally saw that the directions for use were not printed on paper, but directly on the plastic blister card containing the pills. I completed the course of that medication.
When I told my beloved that the doctor had prescribed prescription strength naproxen, she did a quick search. She found that the combinaton of naproxen and one of my psychiatric medication can cause bleeding problems. Previously, a gastroenterologist prescribed something for my acid reflux. Both he and the pharmacy failed to notice that a possible interaction between the medication he prescribed and one I was already on (One that I had listed in the medications I was taking on a form in the gastroenterologist’s office) could cause a fatal arythmia.
I called the orthopedist’s office again. The first time I received a call and a voicemail discussing the other issue I had mentioned, but nothing about naproxen, Yesterday, I called again. Today, I received voicemail saying that they had gotten my message and leaving a number to call. That might have been useful, but the number they left was the main number for the office- the same number I had already called!
You would think so. However, neither the gastroenterologist nor the pharmacist picked up on a possibly fatal interaction. So, apparently the price of prescription medication is eternal vigilance.
One last mini-rant to close out October. This one really gripes my soul.
Every winter here when the rains begin in earnest as they did on Tuesday, my phones go out. I’m confined to land lines only due to a rural location that has no access to a cell phone tower. (One of my free amusements is watching guests or tradespersons whip out their phones while here and find they have no service. This is almost inconceivable to some.)
So my phones have been out since Tuesday afternoon. Naturally, I’m awaiting call-backs from a few crucial people. One is my doc’s office to help with some paperwork I must timely complete. Another is a SHIBA representative to help figure out which Medicare Part D drug plan will be my best choice for 2025.
Let’s not even discuss how access to emergency assistance is impaired whenever this happens.
Sometimes these outages last for a couple hours. Often, they last for days and even weeks.
Big Phone Company’s unspoken slogan: We don’t care. We don’t have to.
Someone I met just one time has died “tragically but peacefully” a well respected neurosurgeon who had a really really really sweet natured soft spoken, patient and accommodating bedside manner. Super talented surgeon highly praised and recommended he was married with four kids still living at home. I feel so bad about this, such a nice nice man who fixed up and healed my loved one. Of course the obit sends creepy suicide vibes up my spine, say it isn’t so!
My beloved cat is gone. I can’t wander into the Mumper thread, and I can barely go into work.
I was already dealing with a pile of shit, and now the only thing that made me smile is gone. I’ve wandered the neighborhood - at least if I saw his squished body, I’d know - but not even that.
I’m going to think good thoughts for you real hard. One of mine was missing for almost a week and came home one morning really early and meowed loudly at the door. So I will be thinking real hard for you to have a happy ending.
First there was the much loved cat who went walkabout when I was stopped in a strange town while en route for a move. He slipped out an open door and was gone overnight from a place he’d never been before. We were heartbroken we’d have to leave him behind to continue on our journey. But just as we were about to give up on him, he strolled into view. He just wanted an adventure, I guess.
Had a cat disappear from here on the farm and I thought he was a goner. Two months later, he turned up as if no time had passed at all.
