Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienatin’ here. It’s brrrrrrrr outside! Definitely soup and red beans & rice weather. Matter of fact today’s N.O.L. shall be ham and N.O.T. soup.
What happened to the night shift? Or has the place been down again?
Ok, off in search of some more caffiene and brekkie foragin’.
Later Y’all!
I’m home sick. Well, hotel sick.
No, not homesick, sick in the hotel.
For those who were looking for a ficus to hide behind, today is Navarra’s “national” day. I always take it off, well, not always but I can count on one hand how many December 3rds have I done anything work-related and have the thumb and one finger left. And two of those three days I got double pay for working on a holiday.
So when I interview for a job outside of Navarra, I give warning that I take December 3rd off. I’d told Sheboss every time vacations came up. Finally and after much moaning (she doesn’t say no, she just moans), Friday she got on my case so badly that I agreed to work today.
I’m the kind of person that’s the bane of the alarm clock industry. I only set mine when I have an early flight or need a reminder for something unusual. Today, instead of waking up at 5am feeling like ohmygawdIcan’tstayinbedaminutemore, I woke up at 8am, fuzzy headed and somewhat dizzy, but since it happened to be the day that I’d asked for and got denied, I figured that calling in sick was out: some people (men mostly, I swear most guys can be walking down the street with someone who moves like these and not notice) can be with me in the same room when I have this kind of sick and not realize there’s anything amiss, it definitely doesn’t show over the phone. So I called her to let her know I’d just woken up and would be lateish. I was later than I’d thought: at one point the bus got into a narrow street where a wide truck was unloading and we spent about fifteen minutes staring at the truck’s behind.
So I had breakfast (an orange and a bottle of water) during the day’s first training session, and then when we took a break half the team asked “are you all right?” before I’d even gotten out of the chair, because they’d detected a certain stiffness. Not all right at all: vertigo, visual interpretation problems, language comprehension and speech problems, not mucho fun at all. No going to the doctor wouldn’t help, it’s a neurological problem and there’s no pills for it. So after having been told that I HAD to come in rain, snow or shine because there was no way that today’s work could be done without me and how can you do this to me, I got sent home. Bet I’m not allowed to bill for it 
although I did work while I was there, oh well.
Funny thing is, this is triggered by “bad stress,” specially by arguments/trouble for stupid things. So it’s possible that if I’d been able to take the day off I wouldn’t have had to take it sick, which I know no HHRR person would ever believe but my neurologist does, so there.
I don’t know if that made much sense. Brain should be back in working order tomorrow.
Medical note: either it’s MS or it’s not. The symptoms match MS, but the brain scan shows no damage. If it’s MS, there’s no treatment and no cure (there is a pill I could take once a day for the rest of my life which might or might not do anything to lower the frequency of “episodes”, well gee, I’m taking a pass). If it’s not MS, there’s no treatment and no cure. In any case the instructions are “eat well, exercise, don’t smoke, don’t get drunk, avoid negative stress and when you have an episode take it easy until it passes.”
So I’m taking it easy until it passes.
Y’all get or stay better than I am right now, you hear?
Good morning all; up and caffeinating here too.
Gentle hugs for Nava and healing thoughts – hope it’s not MS.
I’m running late, so this is a drive by; will be back later on with more, hopefully. Happy Hump Day all!
midweek mrflblrf
blerg
I really don’t want to work today…
:: get well thoughts for Nava ::
Goddamn it. I wanted to sleep in tomorrow but I caved to someone begging me to help their friend with their grad school applications. The guy is someone I know from my college days, and apparently his friend is applying to American universities but doesn’t know enough English to figure out the online applications. :dubious: They’ve offered to pay me but it’s really more of a hassle than anything else, since I have a full day of classes tomorrow as well. I’m so bad at saying no to these things.
As for Irish Coworker, I’ve decided to just let things run their course. Either he’ll make a move or he won’t. Personally I just want to get laid, but not badly enough to give him any more encouragement than I have been. 
VWife just left for the vet to have Audrey put down.
I’m skipping work so I can go to The Trial Of The Century. Odds are that Sharon won’t show.
Rigs, I’ve stuck 22 people trying to get an IV started, with 4 successes. I’m rather ham-handed.
TTFN. I’ll let y’all know how court went.
Good morning, Mumpers!
{{{Nava}}} - I hope you feel better soon.
Poor Audrey. I’m sorry. Good luck with the trial, VBob!
I haven’t retained much else.
ReboSon came over last night and ate dinner with us (tacos, beans and rice) and we watched a movie. He’s a fun kid! 
Work beckons.
The rest of this week is going to suck. I have to get into a fight with both a credit card company and Financial Aid (again) plus I need to get a proposal written for a conference at the end of February. Which means I should probably pull out my first chapter and read it again so I can write a proposal for it.
I am taking a serious vacation over Christmas. Brain can’t take much more of this.
Mornin’. Up, caffeinated, muffinating. Still bloody tired. Didn’t get a single blog article written. Gonna do a few today but mostly try to take it easy 'cos I still feel like I should crawling back into bed for another four hours. Friday can’t come fast enough.
I got to see what happens to a bus when it needs to be towed. They use a really big freakin’ tow truck that looks like a rig with a big ass. And a large tow winch, of course. Kinda weird seeing a bus, all dark, being towed from the rear with its front marquee still lit, alternating “Sorry, out of service” and “Merry Christmas!” as if apologizing for the inconvenience to everyone stuck behind it.
VBob - Oh. hey, I think I missed it, but how did that confrontation go, anyway? Obviously not well since it’s being taken to the courts, but I mean did she try to deny it, or was she just defiant? Good luck either way but hopefully you won’t need it. She probably won’t be cleaning any more though, given her propensity to clean things right into her pockets. Sorry to hear about Audrey; for what it’s worth we went through pretty much the same thing earlier this year, except ours passed away on her own.
Hank - Um … how does this FOAF expect to succeed in grad school if by fudging the application he is effectively admitting that he doesn’t understand enough of the language to do so? I don’t think he has thought this cunning plan all the way through.
Nava - Of course, employers stating that they can’t do something without you and therefore you must come in to work is just their way of saying that they don’t want to have to fill in for you. They always seem to find a way to get by without you when faced without a choice, however. Sorry to hear about the troubles though – I hope it isn’t MS and just some sort of deficiency or imbalance that can be corrected if only Dr. House could figure out what’s causing it.
Bleh. Off to blog.
Well, it’s morning. Again. I was late to work because I couldn’t drag my butt out of bed before I needed to leave to get to work. Oh well. Boss is in New Hampshire today practicing recovering business after a disaster. Practice makes perfect, right? :rolleyes: Actually, I think this is practice for the practice, which is next week. Got to love corporate life.
So, I’m by myself today. Hopefullly nothing will go tragically wrong, and I’ll have a nice quiet day.
Me thinks that “moist stuffing” cannot possibly be stuffing at all. I cannot see being able to actually stuff a bird with something the consistency of soup. 
Perhaps it’s an odd form of dressing*, but it can’t be stuffing, unless maybe the turkey was sewn closed at both ends… Otherwise it would be all over the bottom of the pan with the “juices” that cooked out of the turkey.
Rigs, I’m glad everything is OK. My doctor ordered one of those for me. :rolleyes:
((VWife))
Feel Better, Nava!!
Good Luck getting laid, Haze. I don’t think I’ve ever wished someone good luck with that before…
Oh, Mindy, I’m looking for some good (and hopefully free) i-pod touch apps (mostly games). What do you recommend?
*Stuffing is cooked inside the bird while dressing is cooked separately. Yes, there is a difference, and my Grandmother and her Father made sure I knew it.
Morning all. It is Teh Brrrrr here this morning…by Flawduh standards.
I concur with everyone else that stuffing soup sounds bogus.
spicey, I was just thinking that I need to take some new goggie pictures while I have the daughter’s digital camera in my possession. Stay tuned.
mork, I cannot claim “generals” as a personal invention. It’s an oft-used euphemism on a morning radio show I listen to.
rigs, ain’t it grand to know you’ve got a “perfect butt?” 
spaz, aaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww!!!
I am making a premature resolution here today. I am going to schedule a good checkup for after the first of the year. It’s been far too long and trying to sleep last night with an aching hip makes it a priority. Though I suspect the doc is going to say I’m suffering from old age. :mad:
Tupug
Still no news here. KT drove in to work (instead of riding the van) just in case. There’d be nothing worse than getting laid off at 9 a.m. and then having to sit around until the van leaves at 5! (His job is > an hour drive out into the middle of nowhere so the company sponsors 3 van pools to drive out there from the suburbs.)
Fortunately, I’m pretty busy at work today so I don’t have a lot of time to worry!
{{Nava}} Hope you feel better.
My mom’s stuffing tends to be moister than most - bordering on mushy - but it’s certainly not soupy.
Sorry about the kitty, VBob. Hope the trial goes well.
Evening all. 9 days to go … woohoo!!!
I can’t keep up this week, so I’m just gonna drop this pile of hugs, yays, boos, :rolleyes:s and noogies here in the corner and y’all can help yo’selves!
Quick shout-outs to taxi - I hope KT keeps his job! and Nava - I hope it’s just a bug of some sort that’s done with sooner rather than later!
The producer chick from Judge Joe Brown called. Sharon agreed verbally to do the show, so the trial of the century will end in a motion to continue so we can change venue and jurisdiction.
Howdy, all. Feel better soon thoughts to the Nava, hugs to VWife, good luck with the trial, Bobbio, cute baby, Spaz, good thoughts on the job front for KT, taxi, good luck getting laid, Haze, and more snow thoughts for snowbunny. And blerg back to everyone else who’s blerging.
There, did I miss anybody?
I’m very blerg myself today. Went to bed early last night, got up late, and the only complaint I have about that is my back, which is seriously PO’d at me. I’ve had some muscle spasms in my left hip lately that have been causing sciatica, and every time I think I’ve got the spasms worked out and everything back to normal, it comes roaring back. I may have to go into the doc and get one of his magic injections that will give me at least a few months of peace. Although I really hate to do that since I tend to have a weird reaction to them and babble insanely for about an hour afterward; it’s very embarrassing since I can hear myself telling people all kinds of stuff I wish I wouldn’t, but I can’t shut my mouth up. So if it happens again, I think I’ll have Papa Tigs just stuff a sock in my mouth (he has to be there to take me home afterward). So I remain undecided.
I checked the Lidoderm order on the mail order pharmacy website, and sure enough, it’s for 270 patches. Wow and wow! It looks like the head doc in the practice actually placed the order (I see one of the PAs, who was a Navy PA for many years so has probably had more actual medical practice than a lot of doctors – she’s very good, and she knows me well and trusts me to not abuse the drugs she prescribes, which I appreciate since I don’t), and last time he did he ordered a dozen refills. So clearly he likes to go overboard. All I can say is if this is his new plan to screw the insurance company, I won’t complain since it means only one copay!
I guess I should go do something productive. Even though I don’t want to.
ETA: Oh boy, you’re going on Judge Joe Brown? That sounds fabulous! Do keep us posted so we can watch and heckle [del]you[/del] her!
Wow, Sharon is even more of an idiot than previously suspected–who the fuck wants to go on a tv show to display their larcenous, drug stealing habits? Good luck getting a job with that on your resume! Is there some financial advantage to going on this show?
I am disappointed. The weather people said it was supposed to be nice this week, but it’s not. It’s grey and chilly and the sun does NOT shine the way the little pictures say it will. I want my money back!
Blerf. Gotta go pick up auto partz. Whee. Be still my beating heart…
Am seriously pissed. Don’t use pronouns when seriously ticked the eff off. Got the second quarter grades of #1 son. Kid tests in the 99% on all standardized tests, is in the “gifted” program etc. All honors classes, except for pre-calc. Whatever. #1 son is officially on My List. He has not one, but 2 Ds: in pre-calc (which he should have an A in) and Physics. Oh, and Cs in everything else except broadcasting.
I am full of GRRRRR.
His last report card was a mix of As, Bs, and Cs. He himself was ticked because his B in pre-calc was not an A.
W. T. F.?
Lined up Ricki, the math tutor for him. Also called the school and have gotten the form to sign up for Parent Connection which allows me to see what assignments he is not turning in. He has no one to blame but himself. I tried it his way and this is the result. TH is nowhere to be found (typical)–not answering his cell and he doesn’t listen to his voice mail at work.
And the saddest thing? (ok and a selfish thing)–I was all set to sit down and write a bit of my murder mystery. For once, my world seemed a bit stable and I had no pressing chores/errands/power plays with TH etc. Yes, I know I can still write, but right now I’m too pissed off to write about the murder of --well, never you mind, you’ll just have to read it (eventually).
I want to kick something.
UGHHH!
On the plus side, I really like the spine doc my GP referred me to. I saw him yesterday to go over the MRI that was done last week, and he took the time to mark up the images with a grease pencil, showing what the actual problem spots are, and explain it all. No pat on the head and “get some rest and take ibuprofen” here!
On the down side, I have, in layman’s terms, a condition called FUB, or Fudged-Up Back. Stuff that’s plainly visible to anyone looking at the images is that my L5-S1 disc is squished flat as a sheet of paper and that some of the squish has gone into the spinal canal. Or, as the radiologist wrote “marked degeneration.” There’s also “degeneration of the L4-L5 disc with a broad based central protrusion” Another oddity is something called Schmorl’s nodes and Scheuermann changes - these are primarily inherited problems.
So… Thanks Mom and Dad for the bad genes. Hell of a birthday gift…
Treatment plan is mildly invasive - physical therapy won’t help a smashed disc, so next week, I go in for an epidural procedure. The hope is that the anaesthetic and cortisone will stop the inflammation and swelling so things have a chance to heal without needing surgery. OTOH, there’s no way to re-inflate the disc. At least things are moving quickly. Guess I can thank the overcrowded physical therapy clinic - the only reason I got in with the spine doc is that the PT place couldn’t see me until mid-December. Just as well - these problems aren’t resolvable with PT.