It isn't me

Okay.  I know the confusion is not drug-induced because I did not take any Vicodin. I think TM has some drug-induced ideas, though.

I was a bit put off by "The Tree of Life".  I am sending you to Wikipedia because it explains the movie better than imdb does.

I would like to watch movies that do not need a program guide to understand what the heck is going on.

His work is considered masterpieces. They probably are and I am too thick to get them. Maybe another time.

Dab nab it!

I am going to have to see my dr. about the shoulder pain. It started last Friday. It seems to appear every other day. I thought perhaps it was caused from raking leaves. I last raked on Sunday. When it hurts I am completely incapacitated.

My poor little finger is not even an issue. The finger hurts not a bit. A little stinging here and there but nothing compared to this effin' shoulder pain. I do keep shutting the bandaged finger in my door. When I take the dogs outside, whoops - the finger gets closed in the door. It is because I am holding it out and away from my hand and I can't feel the door with this big bandage on  until the poor finger gets stuck. It is kind of funny and I always tell it I am sorry.

But cripes! I do not want to go through the ten office visits to get this shoulder diagnosed. I had to go through 3 doctors just for my finger. My GP sent me to an orth. He thus sent me to a plastic surgeon. I can only imagine how many appointments I am going to have to go to and take off from work, etc...

Today looks like a pain-free day. As I said  it seems to appear every two or three days. You know as soon as I make a dr. appt. it will disappear for a month or so. That may be worth it.

I am ticked off about not being able to fix my goodies for Thanksgiving dinner. And I have a baby shower on Sunday I am helping to host. I can try to make the food but I am afraid I will aggravate the shoulder. Sigh. I asked my daughter to come over and help. We will see if she remembers. She did come over for an hour last night and watched a movie with me. She has her own issue right now.

Besides, she is the one who had about ten moles cut out of her back a few years back. The stuck needles in her back to numb the area. She had to feel the tugging as they cut them out. That was  a freaking nightmare. Now she has new moles that she has to have looked at. Here she goes again. All the moles are benign so far, but they keep telling her they have to come out. She was only 14 and 15 or so when they did all of that. I can hardly complain about my surgery.

And to top it all off. I have been resting like I am supposed to. Now my lower back hurts like a bitch. It is rather comical, though. When I hobble outside with the dogs and walk around the block. I have my bandaged finger on one hand, I am trying to keep my right arm bent at an angle to keep it from hurting and I am limping and hobbling. My face is puffy from sleeping and I have not washed my hair. I am surprised somebody does not ask me if I have been in a car accident. That is about what it feels like.

I cannot stand to take any vicodin today. That sh!t knocks me out and makes me fall asleep in my tv chair. Thus causing me headaches and lower back pain.

I am gong to Advil it today. I need to go to the grocery store. I need dog food and fixin's for tomorrow's dinner. I cannot sit around another day. I am going nuts.

I hit ten yesterday, briefly

When I escaped to my TV chair, I was hovering between 4 and 6. I napped, when I awoke I was a full blown 8. I decided to get the Vicodin filled. This had nothing to do with my finger surgery. That sucker was still numb!

It was my shoulder. Do you know how many times people bump into your shoulder when you are in a store? OMG! I wanted to scream at them. I was still an angry 8. Waiting on the script to fill, I tried everything I knew to ease the pain. Breathing they teach you in Lamaze classes, distraction, counting backwards, relaxation breathing in and out exercises. I purchased a heating pad and an ice pack.

I finally got out of there. It was in the car that I hit the 10. Starting the key was impossible with my left hand and that huge bandage around my index finger. When I leaned over to fasten my seat belt it hit me. The dam broke. I only allow myself spurts of tears when I am in view of others. I got a grip and drove home. The moment had passed.

I slammed down a pill, cranked the heating pad up to high, stuffed pillows and blankets around me. I had water, remote controls and cell phone within reach. It took an hour but I was in dream land. The heat on my arm was heavenly. My head was in a fog and I was even nice to the animals. They all came running over to me and cuddling around me and I did not mind one bit. 

That was how I spent the rest of my afternoon and evening. I cut back to half a vicodin every 2 hours (all I needed) and a little Advil for the headaches. The RN told me I could take both - just not Tylenol with the vicodin.

This is not the movie I watched last night, but if you ever want to watch screwball comedy, I recommend "Fly Paper".  I enjoyed it so much I played it for family when they came in to stay overnight last week-end. They loved it. We laughed. It was a surprise to me, as I had no idea what it was about. Not a fan of Patrick Dempsey. Ashley Judd is okay. It was really the other characters that made the movie great anyway.

Just a matter of time...

...before the numbing wears off. Had the cyst removed from my finger this morning. I doubt that I will be typing much after the numbness wears off. My shoulder on the other arm hurts like a bitch. Raking leaves? I don't know. It kept me awake almost all Thursday night and last night. I could not take anything after midnight last night so it was very hard to dress and drive, etc.. (No, I did not try to dress while I drove - I mean separately.)

The needle that they used to numb my finger hurt like a bitch, too. Usually shots do not bother me.It would not be so bad if they kept the needle still, but no - they have to move it around while it is in there. Gawd!

I also hated being awake through the tugging and moving while they worked. Yecchh. Medical procedure is not one of my strong suits. You may notice how the iodine turned my entire hand orange. They painted me all the way up to my elbow.

I am full of coffee, have had some food and have downed 3 Advil. Both arms will be incapacitated. I guess I better rethink my dish contributions for Thanksgiving. Unless the shoulder stops hurting. I have a script for Vicodin but not sure when I will venture back out to get that filled. (if at all). My daughter works in a pharmacy - but they are very strict about relatives touching drugs for family. Rightly so. Besides she does not work at MY pharmacy.

Am going to go sit in my tv chair now and tune everything and everybody out. My finger is starting to feel like a tuning fork.

Safe yet?

Nope.

Somedays I feel like a nut

This week has been hell. I don't want to talk about it. This is why I have not posted. Sorry. I just want to crawl under the covers and sleep. See you on the other side. When the sun shines again.

Sable's good side

Here is our Sable without the white markings. They are on the other side. You can see a wee bit on her back. Nobody knows what caused the hair loss or white hairs. Stress - mange. No vet could tell me. The white hairs are very wiry. The patches of skin are dark and dry. We have had her for 8 years and she has had those markings the entire time. I am thinking she may have been traumatized when she was a younger dog.

Still no Jasper. I would think the vet would have some kind of answer/solution for me by now. I am beginning to doubt her. The only thing she says/does is put the catheter in - take it out. Jasper does not pee on his own so she puts it back in to empty his bladder. Poor kitty.

Movies - Water for Elephants. Eh. I do not care for R. Pattinson. It is true, I have never watched any of the Twilight series. I do not care for Harry Potter or LOTR, either. Whew. There! I said it. I love Star Wars  - does that count for anything? Then again, only the first three. I never watched the later ones. Sigh. Back to being a square. I did not like C. Waltz. I can barely tolerate Witherspoon.Water for Elephants was rated very high. I doubt that I will ever watch it again. Movies with animal and woman abuse turn me cold.

Grey land

Dreamers

By Siegfried Sassoon
 

Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land,.....

The big boy

I purchased another doggie coat for him. I'll be taking it back, too. Way too tight. Sable has a double coat of fur, she loves the cold weather. Slade bounces around enough but I think with the short hair he needs something. Especially when it is raining.

Sweet Jasper

My cat, Jasper is in the hospital. I came home from work Wed. and saw little bloody cat paw prints all over my kitchen floor. I remember when I got out of the shower that morning he was sitting on the bath mat waiting for me. Our other cat, Mr. Tibbs was about four feet away and I thought they were dueling. Jasper can fight, but he prefers to walk away.

The vet was closing when I called Wed. He was walking around and drinking water so I made the first appointment I could on Thursday morning. The vet said it was his bladder. He was urinating blood. She said she would have to empty the bladder asap. She would leave a catheter in for two days and if he peed on his own the third day I could take him home.

She said it was serious.

Oh you cruel, cruel world!

My happy, pink monkey face got socked right in the eye. My filter is like a spoiled little kid. I can't turn my back on it for one minute. My schools were getting random blocked. The filter told them the facebook category was blocking them. WTF? How can a category for facebook block dictionary.com? Stupid, stupid filters!

My head began to throb. At least the sore throat seems to be gone for now. Good riddance!

Much better morning

When I woke up I noticed that I had slept about 8 hours. Amazing! I did have a doggie present waiting for me. Oh well. I did notice that I forgot to turn the furnace back on - it was 63 degrees Fahrenheit in the house. Brrrr! I also noticed a headache (time change and being sick).  I clean up the dog stuff first. I turn the coffee pot on second and the furnace on third. I take two Advil What?! No sore throat!? What!? YAY!

Can it be? Can things be turning around? My filters are working and I do not have a sore throat?! Okay. That little pink monkey picture up there? That will be me today! What the heck is that? A banana peel on my head?

Need to retrain myself

The above photo is taken from the internets. Not my kitchen. Mine was much worse. Heh, heh. Anyway, I need to retrain myself. Why is it that when we have a dishwasher we tend to "waste" dishes? "Who cares?" I would ask - "use another plate/glass/fork....I have a dishwasher!"

Yikes. Dishwasher is  now leaking and I must stop using it until I get if fixed. IF I get it fixed. With just me in the house should I even bother? I finally got caught up on my dishes today. It must have been that extra hour, I don't know. I was kicking myself. I told myself 'Look  here,  you have to conserve dishes now. This is a P.I.T.A.' Well, it was more like a pain in the lower back because that is where it gets me with the height of my sink when standing washing dishes. Ugh! 

Six hours yesterday with the techs in California and I am happy to report that the filter for my area schools is functioning again! YAY! I called tech support at 1:00 p.m. They finally called me back at 3:30. While waiting I began to study the log files. I found that I could tell the exact hour that the filter began to have problems. I also noted this was the same hour that a filter tech had applied a hotfix to our appliance. I told them that and mentioned the fact that I had the numbers on reports to prove it, and "voila" they removed the hotfix and all is well. Okay...when I asked the tech for details he would not commit to removing the hotfix. He said that they removed a binary that was applied on the day after the hotfix. My ass!

Come Monday if all is working well, I will discuss this with my manger to see if she wants to lay into them or if she wants me to lay into them. I will have to fill out a customer satisfaction report. Funny thing. Sometimes when it is a problem that goes on like this they mysteriously do not send out an automatic survey. Heh, heh.

My brain is mush

Mush. I saw my dad eat it. I never touched it. Nevuh, I tell you - nevuh! It looks about as appealing as a blog of squishy lard.

Why is my brain mush? The next day after my awful day was worse. MUCH worse. On Wednesday afternoon when I was battling the fact that the filter could now access youtube and facebook did it ever ONCE occur to me to check to make certain that the filter was properly filtering AT ALL?!

I have been so focused on the two favorite sites for students that I did not think to check if the filter was even working.

Guess what? It weren't.

OMG!

I had a school call me at 8:03 a.m. Thursday morning.  I answered and I heard a whisper in my ear. Even with no student in earshot you just do not say it too loud. "My students can get to porn."

Somebody dropped a bomb on me. Well, it sure felt like it. I was already sick. Did I panic? Well...maybe a little. I called my manager and asked him to re-boot both boxes (we had nothing to lose at that time) while I called an emergency call to the company (located in California and just after 5:00 A.M. their time).

All morning we worked. All morning. I placed a few updates to my schools and staff to let them know how we were progressing (which we were not). Not at all. The software company tried this, they tried that. They escalated my problem to an engineer. They were literally scratching their heads. They were ! I could hear them over the telephone line. Scratch, scratch.

When a tech from a school district would send me an e-mail saying that all of a sudden his school could get out to facebook it took everything I had not to write back "Oh yeah, have you tried p!ayb0y.com?" Because after that I bet facebook isn't such a big deal any longer. LOL! Note: We had sent message to all the schools that we were experiencing filter problems, but some just do  not read their e-mails. They don't have time, they say.

Oh, sigh. When I left yesterday at 4:00 p.m. the filters were still not working. At noon my home site went down. Severe hardware failure. Was that the reason my filters were not working properly? They did not get the system back on line until after 8 p.m. last evening and I can go in to work today and test my filters. I will be holding my breath. Please let that have been the reason because I don't think my neck can handle another five to six hours on the phone with tech support.

I met about eight family members after work and immediately gulped down two cold beers. I ended up giving half of the third away and drinking water from there on out. I ate a meal, we had a lot of  laughs then I went home and went to bed.

Ready to tackle another day. Let's hope this one ends better.

Oh - let me gripe just a little bit. I have been with my organization for sixteen years and this one little pet peeve has never changed. When my organization's home office went down, did anybody call me (or my co-worker in another city) to let us know what the hell was going on? Oh, no. I had to call schools to ask them what the issue was. They filled me in.

To my organization's staff: "Thanks, guys". And they wonder why I cop an attitude. How many times have I given a school worker this stupid, dumb look when they ask me something that I don't know about my own organization. The school people always laugh. It is like my organization is this big joke. Nobody can believe that they do not tell us (me and the worker in another city) anything. Always the last to know.

I have complained - you betcha! I tried saying it nice, I tried being sarcastic, I tried whining. Still the same. My managers are very sensitive. You have to choose your words carefully when you try to make a point - so I just quit. They fly off the handle. They point fingers. They make excuses. They tell me I have a bad attitude. I've been through many meetings and arguments about this very issue. It gets me nowhere. I should just laugh it off. The problem with that is - it is not so funny when I would have spent another three to four hours troubleshooting with the software company trying to figure out what was wrong when all along it may be the hardware failure that they had. Nobody thought to call me and say "You know what? You may want to wait and see if this had been the problem all along."

I told the software company that we had a failure. That I did not know if it would cause this failure or not. We were to wait and see. I just hope the software company does not send us a bill.

I almost (I repeat almost) tore into the software people that this resolution was taking too long! That we should not have to be down that long. I am SO glad I did not open up that can of whoop ass on them. Maybe it was because I was sick. Maybe it was because I felt that would just anger them and delay the solution. Truth be told I was waiting until it was resolved and I had a couple of names to call and lay into them. I guess we will find out today if the fault lies with our equipment failure or if we still have an issue and will need to work with them all day again today.

I know one thing. The schools are in an uproar. This (there have been SO many more) is probably the proverbial straw. There are going to be repercussions to this latest disaster. I can feel it.

Sick

Almost everybody has it. Last week all I heard was hack, hack, hack. It just sounds awful. These can go on for days and what are they supposed to do? Report off sick for four days, six days? Not many folks can afford that kind of luxury.

Me? Not a dry hacking cough. I got the sore throat, headache and achy body. I would take Advil for the achy body but I can't swallow. Well, I can get two pills down but they don't touch the headache.

My gums in the problem area are a mess. I brushed with peroxide and now have a huge, swollen bump over the problem tooth. I want to take a sharp toothpick and just poke it because it itches so badly. But, I won't.

Work is so very stressful right now. The filter is a total wreck right now. Facebook and youtube. I cannot seem to win with these two sites. They are driving me insane. I have the company calling me again today. I feel as if I am that little dutch boy trying to hold back the angry waters with his finger. Except he was successful.

In costume... or not?

Last week a few of us had to work after hours to complete a job at a school. It just so happened to coincide with their Fall Festival (a.k.a. Halloween party). Schools are not allowed (or permitted) to use the word Halloween because of it's satanic theme. I am assuming that is the reason why. Or perhaps it is because if draws attention to a certain religion (Satanism) and schools are not permitted to celebrate events. If they have a Halloween celebration then they will have to plan a Christian celebration (what the heck is the Christmas party/concert?) Anyway....

My co-workers and I had been at it for a solid four hours and were a bit slap happy if you know what I mean. As usual nothing was working correctly and we were struggling to figure out what we could do to make it right. I was on the telephone (so I was spared) when a very (and I mean very) young fellow in a cop uniform walked into the office. A few remarks were made about the Fall Festival and his "costume".  The guy co-worker that was with us suddenly became quiet. The young fellow in the cop uniform said something but I didn't catch it. My female co-worker (it was her school) answered him and he left. It was about this same time I was finished with my phone call and she was laughing. I looked at them and said "What? Was he a REAL cop?"  She managed to squeak out a "Yes." The guy said "I thought he was a kid dressed up as a cop until I saw his gun."

Note to all Police Departments. Don't send the youngest on your force to Halloween events. Nobody would take him seriously. It didn't even look like he was shaving, yet - I swear! And, for the record - I doubt that I would recognize a real gun if I saw it. I am happy to report that my eyes did not get down that far. My Mama raised me right! He was just a boy, after all! But he was dead serious. There was no mistaking that look on his face. This young fellow meant business. I think he is going to make a fine officer of the law.

In costume

A co-worker gets into the spirit of the holiday by dressing in a "Clifford" dog suit. I can only imagine how hot it must get inside those things. She did not wear this all day. She was just trying it on. There was also a Curious George but nobody was able to snag pics of the guy that put that outfit on. I was nowhere around but another co-worker sent me this pic from her cell phone.

I am slowly seeing my neighborhood participate a bit more each year. I saw six houses with their porch lights on this year. I had an appointment and came home during the middle of the kids walking around. There was nobody on my street. I think I saw four goblins later while walking the dogs. The kids just do not feel it is worth walking down a street that only has a few porch lights on. I didn't even buy any candy.

The Boxer was mesmerized by the goblins. He stood and stared for as long as I let him. They were across the street and a safe distance away. He would not hurt a fly but he can scare the bejesus out of people when he runs up to them all excited.

I have been having tooth issues (or gum issues) again. This has been off and on since late July. I did something to a molar and at first I thought it was an earache. When the doctor's antibiotics did nothing, I turned to the dentist. His antibiotics either worked or time was the healer. I was okay for a little while. The tooth was still quite sensitive. When I went in for a cleaning at the beginning of October I told him I was still having issues. He filed the tooth down. I think he loosened the filling. It has been irritating me.

I was finally able to pinpoint the exact tooth for him. When I touch it, it is very sensitive. The gums around are all inflamed and itch like crazy. It drives me nuts. I do find that Advil (still my best friend) relieves the itching for a few hours. When I walk the dogs I can feel the blood thumping in that area of my gums. I have been rinsing with a hydrogen peroxide solution. It is like a mosquito bite. It drives me crazy and then I will take my toothbrush and just brush that area for about a half an hour. I know. Not the best thing for the poor gum line.

Glass, light and speed

So many of my schools are in a rural setting. They do not get cable television let alone fiber to their buildings. The state tried to establish a way to give them what the big (money-rich) schools could get. Somebody, somewhere believes that each child should get an equal education and opportunity.

We all know that is hogwash. If a child goes to a big school in the city, they are amazed at how little the rural school has to offer. And now it is more of an issue than ever. Funding cuts.

When it comes down to fixing the roof of the building or repairing the buses that transport the children, there is no money left over for renovating the building to accommodate fiber optics. Buildings built in 1908 do not have the electrical structure we need today to run all the electronics.

The students sit and wait while the teacher struggles to get their technology working. What worked fine for her class yesterday the teacher cannot get to work today. Without the projector or the video unit the class cannot get the benefit of the lesson plan.

Epic fail.

And before you go and say "Go back to the way we did it with books and paper and pencils" - please remember it is the school staff's duty to prepare our children to survive in "today's" world. They will be faced with scads of electronic devices and social networking and shared devices. They will not be reading a book or writing on a piece of paper with a pencil (unless they want to). They are going to need to know how to get a task done and at lightning speed.

The above photo is fused silica the inner core of fiber optics. Glass is technology's best friend. Advil is mine.

Establishing dominance

Sable really had to work to keep her reign as the King of the Hill. Belle really made her work for it.I love how our kitty Moose is hiding in the background.

This is the German Shepherd at maybe eight months? Sable comes in at 105 lbs. This Shepherd still has a lot of growing to do. She is SO long.

This is the best pic I got of her. All other pics came out as a blur.

This close

My daughter's beau was pleasantly surprised with a special event Saturday night at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park. My daughter stayed at his uncle's house sick with a migraine. They go to New Jersey every year for the zombie walk. 

Seeing Bruce would be an event of a lifetime for my daughter's beau. He took this photo with his cell phone.This was a benefit show for Boston College.