This vid is a real eye opener. Teachers have really changed since I went to school. The thing I found disturbing is that our tax dollars just bailed these jokers out. Have to say, I’m happy I don’t have kids – placing my children with people like this in any position of authority would give me nightmares.
WC
The $400 Enema
Yes indeed, I am the proud owner of same. No, wise guys, not for me…for my dog. It all started last weekend. My little dog Maggie is very cute and hard to say no to, so when Roomie and I were chowing down on some ribs last Saturday, I consented to give her one small rib bone.
I knew I shouldn’t have done it but those puppy eyes always get to me and she’s such a sweet little pup, I love to make her happy. So off she went and chewed and chomped to her heart’s delight.
The next day she wasn’t feeling so good and I regretted giving her the bone because she was clearly having trouble doing her business. So I massaged her belly and gave her a little vegetable oil and things seem to right themselves later in the day. And that was the end of that. Or so I thought.
A couple of days later I could see she wasn’t herself and was in distress – by Tuesday night she was having trouble walking and I became very worried. The next morning we took her to the vet for an enema. Much as I knew she wasn’t going to like it, I knew it had to be done and that she would experience relief from it, so we went.
What is it about vets that makes them want to scare the daylights out of you when it comes to your pets? Before I knew it, he had talked me into giving her xrays because God forbid there might be some maniacal, foreign object in there that could cause her to spotaneously self-combust. And three xrays no less – this dog weighs 20 pounds and fits in my lap – he needed three xrays?
So I wait hours for them to call. Funny that he was so concerned that she needed xrays yet she sat for three hours before they could get to her to do them? Anyway, he finally calls and reports that there are no foreign objects in there but she’s pretty impacted. Hmm…now isn’t that what I said? So I told him to please do the enema. Still, he wants to explore the possibility that she has some sort of hip or back problem which is causing her not to be able to squat which is the source of the impaction. Now hip the upsell compulsion of this guy I say, ‘let’s try the simplest solution first and see where that leads, shall we?’
He finally agrees to give her the enema, then insists she’ll need some subcutaneous fluids (in my distress I didn’t realize he wasn’t really talking fluid for her system, just fluids for her skin????) and of course they’ll have to watch her and examine her poop when it comes out. Again, like a fool I say okay.
I am to pick her up between 4:30-5:00 pm. So I arrive at about twenty to five and then proceed to wait for forty minutes. Still distressed, growing more worried that something else is wrong because they aren’t just bringing her out. Finally I ask what’s taking so long and I’m told they are cleaning her up and I have to wait to talk to the doctor. I had had enough so I told them I didn’t need to the doctor and to just bring me my dog.
Okay, they agree then present me with the bill (oh yeah, since I didn’t have the money Roomie has covered the bill, which I’m to pay him back for). “Here’s your receipt,” the receptionist says and hands it to me. Four Hundred fucking dollars? I heard myself say “What??????? Are you serious? Oh my God!!!!”
$49 for the office visit (in which he scared me to death) $186 for three xrays (3 xrays???) $68 for an enema (really? to put water up her butt, $68?) $59 for subcutaneous fluid (again fluids for her skin?) $23 for observation (if they were observing her, why did she need cleaning up before they gave her back to me? and $2 for this $5 for that, etc.
So, let me get this straight. My dog is constipated, I bring her to the vet for an enema, and she gets xrays, fluids that don’t hydrate her, a watching fee in which she doesnt get watched and so on? What should have cost about $100 ended up costing $400?
Live and learn I guess. And no, we wont’ be going back to that vet. Ever again. I understand that people have to make a living but to exploit people’s fears about their pets so you can pay for your Mercedes is just wrong. What happened to the vet who actually just cared about the animal and solving the problem at hand?
I wonder, if this free national healthcare thingie going to apply to my pets? What a world!
WC
Raining Ashes
Well, just when you think that maybe the earth is tired of offering fuel to the insaitiable beast, it isn’t. More pictures. I’m hot, stressed, my skin itches and I wonder if I will ever stop smelling and breathing smoke.
By the way, these pictures were taken by me from my front yard.
Pray for rain, will you? Right now and for days it’s been raining ashes, but I much prefer the normal type of rain.
Must Watch this Vid!
Just when you think the government has gotten as invasive as they can, this comes along. I urge you all to watch this. You won’t freeking believe it.
Annie
Insomnia or I Wish to Hell I Could Sleep…
Yup, I’ve got it and I’ve had it most of my life. My mother said it was because I was born a night owl, whatever the hell that means – apparently it’s genetic or something. But unlike the fact of being ‘trained’ out of being left handed as child (lest I grow up to be a maniacal killer or something) there wasn’t any Dr. Spock on this.
When I was kid, I used to just daydream at night when I was supposed to be sleeping. I’d imagine myself in all kinds of mystical and magical places. From William Tell’s dinner table to the Taj Mahal. I led a rather exciting life in my imagination as you can probably guess. And just as I began to her the chirpy little birds begin to wake is when I would finally drop off. Only to be shocked awake by Ma yelling for us to wake up. Breakfast was waiting, school was waiting, life was waiting. Me, I was nodding.
I also used to try reading under the blanket with a flashlight. That didn’t work out too well because I could never really get the right angle on the flashlight and we had those weird blankets that had that kind of open weave so the light was just broadcasted in a kind of prism pattern on the wall and could easily be seen at the bottom of my door. Then Dad would be grumbling about how kids ought to be asleep. Other times I’d sit in my window and watch the moon, as though it would do something like a little Fred Astaire number or perhaps a song. Ever wake up with you face on a cold window sill on a winter morning? Nope, not a pretty sight.
As a last ditch effort I would sneak out to the livingroom with my lame blanket, jack up the thermometer and sleep on the floor next to the heater vent. Something about intense heat could always make me nod off. As a teen I slept my way all the way through American History and Civics – who knew I’d grow up to be a rabble rouser and a political junkie???
Over the years I’ve more or less come to grips with the fact that I just don’t sleep all that much or all that well. Which for a while worked. Still I could never give up the ghost of finding some solution to it. I started running in order to help my sleep dysfunction – it did help and was really great for my thunder thighs and big ass – but then a car accident messed that up. Don’t you love it when a driver on crack doesn’t see you and forces you and your old Buick through a red light? Mighty exciting. Well then, talk about not being able to sleep – yeah that took couple years to get back to sleep after that but I must say the xrays of my reverse vector neck were quite pretty.
Eventually I kind of found a system of getting some sleep. A certain combination of vitamins, cutting back on caffiene, drinking more water, exercise and watching really boring television seemed to work pretty well. Some nights I could manage to get as much as seven hours.
Then there were those good years when all of sudden I could actually sleep for no reason at all. Those were fine but when they started and when they ended I couldn’t tell you. This year hasn’t been good for sleep. Too much excitement. Too many changes and this and that. But especially these last few weeks. It’s a good excitement and I’m happy about it but is it right that happiness should keep you up nights? That just seems unfair if you ask me.
Anyway, feel free to leave any tips, tricks or remedies you may know of – I’m desperate, and will try just about anything. Meanwhile, I’ll try crawling back into bed and see if I can just pass out from exhaustion.
Bone Tired
Ever hear the term? The first time I did was from my friend Vicky who explained it to be an exhaustion so utterly deep that it went right on down to the bones. Okay, so if you looked that up in the dictionary you would see my dragging ass pictured there. I. Am. Bone. Tired.
I have had many long and romantic dances with insomnia in my life and after a while had come to accept that there would always be periods in my life where I simply couldn’t sleep. No matter how many vitamins I took, potions I drank or exercise I did. No tips or tricks have ever had any lasting workability and I think I’ve tried them all. Even booze, an old favorite isn’t a good one for me because it makes me so dizzy that that keeps me awake.
But I have to say of all the insomnias I’ve had, this week quite possibly gets the prize. Between the shit that is flying here and there, I’ve also had some particularly intense and great conversations with friends, a creative jag that has had me scribbling over anything that could even remotely considered a writing surface and then there was a massive canibal incident in the frog swamp that got me going.
I know you folks haven’t seen much of me around – and for that I am sorry. I keep meaning to get by – wanting to read and inter-relate but by the time I get to it, my eyeballs are bleeding and my head is stuffed with mental cotton candy. I’m hoping tonight is the night I actually get some sleep. That I’m not wondering around the house again at 3a.m. just like a zombie out for their nightly bloodfest.
Cuz, let’s face it, things do seem better when you can actually comprehend the world around you.
Anyway, like the saying goes…’if you see something dragging, don’t step on it, cuz that’s my ass.’
bAd BlOg dAY…
Take this blog
and shove it
I don’t know why
I love it
It drives me
up the wall
I might as well
just crawl
my endless rants
just fall
like acid drops of gall
and I won’t
just play ball
So I’m tagging
up the hall
With gra-feet- tee
Take this blog
and shove it
I’m sad from
dreaming of it
Am I now
above it??
Below it???
Tell me if you
know it…
My words are all
just nothin’
No fruit inside
the muffin
My mind can’t
stand the huffin’
Cuz I don’t get
no lovin
From no-bod-dee
Take this blog
and shove it
Find a box
and stuff it
in the drawers
of fluff-it
Cuz mine are
more than empty
And nothin’s
gonna tempt me
to spew,
to sputter
to simmer
or stew
gone…
copyright 2008
The Hunt is On
Hey Everybody – well, I’m sad to say that the fun and games are over and it’s time for me to actually go get a job now. So, you probably won’t see much of me for the next few days or maybe longer. Wish me luck.
Annie
Agent Update
Hi Guys,
Well, I didn’t want to say anything until I had something to report. A few weeks ago, I received an email from one of the agents I’d submitted and my gut clenched, expecting it to be a, ‘no.’ To my surprise they requested the full manuscript. To say I was jazzed puts it mildly.
Like a good little writer, I printed off a fresh copy of the manuscript, wrote a letter on my nice stationary and sent it off. The weeks passed. About a week ago, I emailed the agent toe ensure they received the manuscript. She assured me they had and they were still in the ‘review process’ and would let me know when they had decided. Again my hopes were bouyed and I allowed myself to be happy about it.
Today, I received another email and as it turns out they said, no. The language was politely vague and the bottom line seemed to be that they didn’t fall in love with the book like they wanted to. Now this was a little weird because there was another rejection on a story I submitted that used the same language. Apparently this is the new no. I didn’t fall in love like I wanted to with the story. Apparently, my book isn’t a good enough lover. Maybe it needs more foreplay? Or should rent one of those love making videos and learn a little new technique? I dunno.
So, it’s back to the drawing board and more submissions. Arrrggghhh.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know and say thanks for all your good wishes and prayers which I knew were there. I really appreciate your support and interest and it makes a difference to me, more than I could ever say.
Annie
I Want a Do-Over!
This past week at work has been unbelievable. Besides the usual sniping, blind-siding employees that seek to ruin my life – it seems the whole fricking universe wants to get into the act too.
Okay, Monday was okay and Tuesday started out okay but then – somebody asked me something which I needed to check on the Internet. Ooops. No internet. Crap. Have everybody check their computers to see if they are having the same problem. Yep. We’re all screwed for that. Oh well, life goes on.
A little while later, somebody said the fax wasn’t working. I noticed a message saying the cartridge was low, so I sent someone to go get a new one. Nope, that didn’t fix it. Hmmm.
I called the IT guy we use and told him the problems we were having. Naturally, he insisted in doing one of those ‘let me walk you through it’ things that never work. So, he said he’d come over. He arrived later and checked this and that and nope, we simply did not have an internet connection.Crap.
So then I spend an hour trying to figure out who the provider is because nobody knows. Since we have an Earthlink account which we pay every month, I assumed it was them. After an hour on the phone with them I realize that it probably isn’t them. Is the bookeeper any help? You know, the one who is in charge of such things as vendors – uh..duh…nope. I grab the phone bill and discover yes, my dear friends at AT&T provide the service. Okay, we go through the whole bullshit routine with them. You know the one, where the Tech guy on the other end of the line just knows it’s a user problem? Sweet. And he’s asking me which line it is – we have 15 lines mind you. And I’m thinking ‘how the hell should I know? they installed it, why can’t they just look it up on the computer?’
Finally the guy figures it out after forcing me to read a 20 page phone bill. Ah yes, it’s the fax line. So, let me get this straight – my dsl is on my fax line and so that then means they are both out, right? Crap! At least I have my backup fax line. Ah…no…that one is out too.
When can they come to fix it? Tonight at 7 p.m. What? We’ll all be gone by then you dope – this is a business, not my house, which should be pretty obvious since I have 15 phone lines, doncha think?
Okay, tomorrow between 9 & 1. It sucks but I can live with it. We just need to hang on until then. Oh by the way, the receptionist just told me the credit card machine doesn’t work either. Okay, call the company. Shit, you need an internet connection for that too? And guess what? Most of our transactions are on credit cards. So now the receptionist is writing down numbers and other pertinent info so she can run the charges the next day.
So, Wednesday I call up the company to get an update and make sure they are really coming. Guess what? The tech guy tells me that it’s actually a bigger problem and my repair ticket has been canceled because it’s actually a whole grid that is out and it will take days. Days! Probably not til Monday.
So, long story short – we spent the rest of the week without internet, faxes or a credit card machine. And I don’t even know if it’s going to be working when I get in this morning.
Oh yeah, and the doc told me she’s going on vacation in two weeks and we’ll just have to reschedule all the patients and make the associates take care of things.
Oh yeah, and the bookeeper actually twigged that if we don’t get things fixed we may not be able to do payroll on Tuesday.
Oh yeah, then there was this crazy patient who had filed some stupid ass complaint and so we had to run around trying to find stuff that we could fax…ah…er…send over to the board, so they would know she is just a nut job who threatened to off herself at the office a couple of months ago.
Oh yeah and the attorney who is (bumbling) handling a legal case of grand larceny for us – is calling me every two minutes from the police station to help him with stuff I gave him months ago.
Yep, a do-over. I deserve one and need one. Or at least have things back to normal. Wish me luck – I just know I’ll need it. Crap!
WC
Anita Rodgers Mystery Writer 