Sad

RIP, George Carlin. It's definitely a little funnier in heaven today.

Now, get your shit away from my stuff.

Live Longer?

If this is true, I know some people who will live forever.

Weirdness in the news...

Okay, am I the only one who assumed that the chicken was alive?

It just keeps getting better and better...

Well. Hello. Kinda took a little break there. *ahem* Much better now.

Yeah, except for a few things. You know...this getting older crap? Ain't for sissies.

I went to a cardiologist/lipidologist just to try to get a baseline on my heart health. I probably haven't mentioned that I am planning on living forever and wanted to make sure my plan was going forward as I had hoped. They did a blood test and an ultrasound on my neck...to check the blood flow in the arteries.

He said that it didn't look too bad...maybe the start of a little plaque buildup, but I am taking some meds that are good for protecting the heart (enalapril, toprol, lipitor) so that was good. He naturally said the horrible 'lose weight' phrase. (Why does everyone have to say that? Why can't I just once hear. you look great except you need to put on a few pounds. Here's a brownie.)

Then the good news: not diabetic.

Then the bad news: pre-pre-diabetic. How aggressive do you want to be?

Well I mentioned I have a 5-year old son that I was hoping to see get past kindergarten. Then there is also the 'living forever' plan.

So he switched the lipitor to crestor and added metformin. Great.

I also went to see an orthopedist to see why my hip hurts like hell. The verdict? Osteo-arthritis. Great. The treatment? Hip replacement. Wonderful. Surgery scheduled for August.

I just got all the great genes in my family, didn't I? Let's see...

fat genes...check...

cataracts...check...

high blood pressure...check...

endometriosis...check...

arthritis...check.

Now I just need to wait for my prostate to go bad.

2 * 30 = Frustration

Why is it that people can't think for themselves? Or take action proactively? Maybe I just don't suffer fools gladly.

I needed to refill a prescription. I was burned the last time when I refilled this prescription in that they only gave me 30 pills. The prescription was for me to take it 2 times per day which when I studied math would come out to 60 pills for a one month prescription. They blamed it that time on the insurance company, e.g. "the insurance company will only pay for 30 pills at a time" said the idiot behind the counter. Much arguing ensued about 'a one month supply' etc., hassle in coming back twice a month, HEY IT'S NOT SPEED OR BARBITUATES...IT'S BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINE!!!.

Two weeks later (yesterday) I needed to refill the prescription again. I had called our insurance company and they said that they will gladly pay for 62 pills per refill. Armed with this information, we stopped at W*lgr@@n's again; the drive-thru, of course, because I was too lazy to get my fat ass out of the car and walk the 200 steps to and from the pharmacy.

The discussion went thusly:

Me: I need to pick up a prescription for me.
Idiot Behind the Glass (IBG): Okay.

(a few minutes later)

IBG: Okay that will be $5.00
Me: (handing over credit card): Okay. Can you check the quantity please?
IBG: There are 30 pills.
Me: There should be 60. Two times 30 is 60.
IBG: The quantity says 30.
Me: Again, 2 times 30 is 60. The insurance company says they will pay for 62 pills per month. The doctor says to take it twice a day. How can I take it twice a day if you only give me enough for once a day? May I speak with your supervisor?
Pharmacist IBG: The quantity says 30.
Me: The doctor says twice a day. Can't you multiply 2 times 30?
PIBG: I can only give the quantity that it says to give.
Me: Can't you think for yourself? Couldn't someone call the doctor to clarify the discrepancy? Why is this so hard?
PIBG: Get your doctor to re-fax the prescription.
Me: Give me my credit card back and credit the $5.00 back to my account. I am not paying for half a prescription.

Now we have to go back again.

I am surrounded by idiots, fools and incompetents.

Weekly Word Challenge: Pure & Regret

For this week's Weekly Word Challenge, I had some trouble with regret. I was looking for something that said 'regret.' It was difficult to find a picture that personified 'regret.' Then I saw how people we showing regret and realized that people were posting pictures of things that they regretted.

Well, that is still a problem. I don't really regret too much. I am generally pretty satisfied with most of my decisions and don't really 'regret' too much. Sometimes I wonder what might have been different if other things had happened, but I don't really regret much. I wrote this once for a high school reunion:

I don't generally look back on things. I try to concentrate on moving forward toward the future rather than gazing back on the past. With that being said, though, there are times when I wonder where I might be if I had done things differently, but I would not give up where I am now to go back and try again.

Okay, this is what I got for 'regret'

I regret we left most of our furniture back in Florida.

And this is what I got for 'pure':

Pure, clean water

Next week is Entrance & Penultimate.

More In the News

How's your Russian?

Donkeys doing time.

The new (old) Harry Potter?

And, finally, sure gas is expensive but be sure to check behind you before trying to pay using a controlled substance.

HALLELUJAH!!!

Today I believe there is a god. From my bank account:

5/15/2008 Transfer From Savings $150.00 Balance: $2,792.85

Doesn't look too bad? Our mortgage is $2702.36 a month. That left us with $90.00 to live on until I get paid on May 31. Food, gas, etc.

Umm...yeah. What do we have in the freezer? That is gas for two weeks...assuming it doesn't go up another $0.30/gallon in the next couple of weeks. Where is the nearest food bank?

Just logged on today and saw:

5/16/2008 ACH Deposit US TREASURY 220 - TAX REFUND $7,419.00 Balance $10,211.85

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God has changed his name to Uncle Sam.

But at least now my family won't be fighting over nearly-rancid walnuts in the cupboards and stale Cheetos under the sofa cushions.

Please, Enlighten Me

So what do you think of this? Quite frankly, I don't really care. I have no problem at all with gay marriage. If two people love each other and want to publicly declare that love through a ceremony, hey, knock yourself out.

James Dobson says that this is a threat to traditional marriage. I'm sorry? How is it a threat? Is there some kind of Marriage Quota that I just haven't heard about? That after, say, a million ceremonies are performed then that is it for the year? Please, enlighten me. I really don't understand.

I found something from Dobson that said "How about group marriage? Or marriage between daddies and little girls? Or marriage between a man and his donkey?" Well, first of all we have laws against polygamy/polyandry so I really doubt there will be too much of a problem with that anytime in the near future or, well, anymore problems than we are currently having anyway. As for the other two (little girls and donkeys), marriage laws all say something about an 'age of consent' so I think children should be fairly safe. And since human rights are reserved for, well, HUMANS, I think all the donkeys are safe too (like I care if someone wants to marry a donkey...just don't ask me to come clean your livingroom).

Some will then say that young people will not get married. Um, what? How does encouraging more people to get married make young people not get married. The increasing average age of marriage in the Netherlands is cited (the Netherlands legalized gay marriages in 2003) to illustrate this 'danger'. Ooookaaaay...marriage age has been declining in the Netherlands since the 1970s so this argument doesn't really fly either (I can't find the citation for this...I was looking at it a few minutes ago but didn't copy it...crap).

So, please, enlighten me, how does gay marriage threaten traditional marriage? I really want to know.

Weekly Word Challenge: Earth & Seven

I have decided to start doing the Weekly Word Challenge. Why? Hey why not? Usually you would post on a Tuesday, but I just found it yesterday so I spent part of the day yesterday looking for photos that fit the words. Anyway, this is what I found.

Earth

I noticed my shadow on the ground at E's soccer practice...Earth.

These are the trees and arborvitae that surround the soccer field. Earth again.

Then last night after we got home I noticed how the wind created these ripples in the holding ponds in front of our house.

Seven

While my son was in his piano lesson, I noticed this number on one of the portables at the school.

These seven kids in baseball uniforms were near where my son was having his soccer practice (I put little black marks on their faces...didn't want anyone saying they could identify the kids...). I also noticed the pattern on the soccer ball, but someone got in the way of my shot and I was too lazy to chase the ball to get another shot so I looked for another seven, and...

...noticed the mark on my camera lens...7.

Wordless Wednesday: Shark Boy

Yep. That's a tooth right behind his baby tooth. His first permanent tooth.

Found Today on the Internet

I'm sorry, but that ain't art.

And wouldn't a legless lizard be a snake?

I think I'll pass on this.

You knew alcohol was involved, didn't you?

And finally...I wouldn't, but it's for science!

WTF???

...it's snowing...

In the sewer again

Okay, I can't help myself. I have to dive into this sewer again. First of all, this headline really skeeves me. It just brings to my mind the same thoughts that wrenched the land from the Native Americans ("we're civilizing them!") and attempted to steal the French language from the Acadians of Maine. It's for their own good. They don't know what's good for them.

It is so ethnocentric of these so-called 'experts' to say such a thing. Just because you may consider it 'abusive' doesn't mean it is.

As for girls being mothers at 18 (or younger), look at your local high school. Is CPS going to take high school girl's babies away from them? What about the Amish? They have (some) similar beliefs. Is the state going to take their children away? Look to your own genealogy. I have many ancestors who were married by age 16. Now you will say that times have changed. But these communities are, in essence, still living in times where being a young mother was not uncommon.

Again, I am not saying that marrying a man 30 or 40 years older than you is a good thing. I am certainly not saying that girls should marry at 13 or 14 (hey give them a chance to grow up first!!). I am not saying that I like plural marriage (although when the laundry has piled so high that it hides a small Buick or when dinner needs to be prepared and I just want to sit on my butt and watch American Idol, I like the idea of a sister-wife or two), but it is what these people do. It is their heritage and culture. I think it is wrong to make wholesale generalizations about groups of people, be that these religious nutcases or a racial stereotype against the guy behind the counter at 7-Eleven.

And they still haven't 'identified' the girl who brought the law down on this community. You'd think that if she were so afraid she would find a way to slip a note to someone or whisper in someone's ear. Like her lawyer, or someone. Anyone.

CPS makes up their own rules. And then they break them. At their whim.

And to our sorrow.

My take

Seeing all this press about the religious cult nutcases sect whatever brings back some kind of bad memories.

Now don't get me wrong, I am certainly not in favor of child abuse or girls marrying at age 14 and having children at 15, 16, 17 or 18 years old (with men old enough to be their grandfather in some cases) but isn't there some kind of middle ground? Before you remove all the children take at look at which children are truly in danger. Most DCF/CPS/whatever have guidelines that say that the child must be 'in imminent danger' of abuse, neglect or abandonment. I don't think all 416 children fall into this category. If you must remove the children, remove the girls between 12 and 16 and let the little ones stay with their mothers.

I am sitting here watching at some guy speaking about how "concerned" CPS is about the welfare of the children. I don't believe that at all. I also find it suspicious that they haven't been able to find the woman who made the alleged phone call that brought all this mess down on these people.

I would not put it past CPS to have made it all up.

I feel sorry for these people. They cannot beat CPS. This will not end well for those mothers.