Oh, lovely lovely rain. And dreary overcast skies and cool temperatures. I love the Northwest! Last week was just too hot for so early in the season - I get angry enough at the end of July and through August. I had all the windows open when I fell asleep last night, and I actually got cold during the night. Yippee! (And yes, I know that I am a freak.)
A sign that you spend a bit too much time online: When you constantly refresh, wondering why you aren't getting more of a response to something that you posted. Then you realize that it's because your friends actually have lives. No, no. that is not the sign of too much online time; the sign is when you feel faintly smug at that realization.
Chatted with mom via aim, and luckily she verified that I am supposed to actually take four pills at once from one of the medications I got yesterday. It's got weird directions: take four pills once a day for four days, then take three pills once a day for four days, then take two...it goes on.
A sign that you spend a bit too much time online: When you constantly refresh, wondering why you aren't getting more of a response to something that you posted. Then you realize that it's because your friends actually have lives. No, no. that is not the sign of too much online time; the sign is when you feel faintly smug at that realization.
Chatted with mom via aim, and luckily she verified that I am supposed to actually take four pills at once from one of the medications I got yesterday. It's got weird directions: take four pills once a day for four days, then take three pills once a day for four days, then take two...it goes on.
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I think that most people who know me know how I feel about the abuse of assistance programs. Too many people see them as a lifelong program, instead of one that allows you get your feet underneath you and improve your situation. California paid for my mother to go to nursing school, and ensured that she and I had a roof, food and medical care for the duration. We were on that program for almost two years, until her graduation and getting her first job as a nurse. After those two years, she never used the programs again but they were there when she needed them and allowed her to fulfill a lifelong dream while still being able to take care of me. For that, they will always have my graditute.
With that being said - I love WIC. I have never used it (duh - no kidlets!), but have many friends that were helped greatly by the program. One of the reasons that I like the system so much is that I think that it would be difficult to abuse. Oh, I'm sure that some people manage it - but I doubt that it is easy or overly lucrative.
As I understand the program, the family receives vouchers for specific food items each month. Basics such as milk, cheese, grains, etc. There are no WIC voucers for Twinkies, or lobster. This program exists to help pregnant women and small children be able to afford the basic nutritional needs that are vital during the developmental stages. Poor nutrition during this time period can cause repercussions that last a lifetime. I may not have kids, or even like the majority of strangers' kids that I see running around; but, I cannot imagine how heartbreaking it must be for a parent to work hard at a job, care for their children and still worry about their family getting enough calcium or such. I don't think that WIC magically takes away all worries for their children's nutritional needs - after all, it only provides for specific food items and it would probably be impossible to actually feed a kid solely from WIC. But, considering the cost difference between wholesome and healthy food staples and cheap junk food, it has to make a huge difference in dietary options.
Then there are food stamps. You can pretty much get anything at a grocery store with food stamps. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a person with an entire cart full of junk (chips, soda, candy) pay for it with their food stamp card. And then there are the people that buy lobster and filet mignon. Gah. Seriously - put it back and buy something a little less outrageous with that money that was given to you. But, I also don't think that anyone using food stamps should be humiliated or forced to purchase strictly staples for preparing every meal from scratch. Nor should they never be allowed to get anything for treats for the kids or themselves. Candy, cookies, pasteries, etc. should be catagorized differently and each account should have a discrectionary amount for that catagory. Someone that gets $250 of food stamps, for example, might have $30 that can be spent as they choose on "fun food".
But I don't see any real way for the program to allow oversight without a huge increase in administrative costs and overly arbitrary guidelines. Which means that those that use this program for the intended purpose and with common sense are going to continue to bear the stigma from those that abuse it.
Wow, this really got rambly and kinda ranty. I blame medication.
With that being said - I love WIC. I have never used it (duh - no kidlets!), but have many friends that were helped greatly by the program. One of the reasons that I like the system so much is that I think that it would be difficult to abuse. Oh, I'm sure that some people manage it - but I doubt that it is easy or overly lucrative.
As I understand the program, the family receives vouchers for specific food items each month. Basics such as milk, cheese, grains, etc. There are no WIC voucers for Twinkies, or lobster. This program exists to help pregnant women and small children be able to afford the basic nutritional needs that are vital during the developmental stages. Poor nutrition during this time period can cause repercussions that last a lifetime. I may not have kids, or even like the majority of strangers' kids that I see running around; but, I cannot imagine how heartbreaking it must be for a parent to work hard at a job, care for their children and still worry about their family getting enough calcium or such. I don't think that WIC magically takes away all worries for their children's nutritional needs - after all, it only provides for specific food items and it would probably be impossible to actually feed a kid solely from WIC. But, considering the cost difference between wholesome and healthy food staples and cheap junk food, it has to make a huge difference in dietary options.
Then there are food stamps. You can pretty much get anything at a grocery store with food stamps. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a person with an entire cart full of junk (chips, soda, candy) pay for it with their food stamp card. And then there are the people that buy lobster and filet mignon. Gah. Seriously - put it back and buy something a little less outrageous with that money that was given to you. But, I also don't think that anyone using food stamps should be humiliated or forced to purchase strictly staples for preparing every meal from scratch. Nor should they never be allowed to get anything for treats for the kids or themselves. Candy, cookies, pasteries, etc. should be catagorized differently and each account should have a discrectionary amount for that catagory. Someone that gets $250 of food stamps, for example, might have $30 that can be spent as they choose on "fun food".
But I don't see any real way for the program to allow oversight without a huge increase in administrative costs and overly arbitrary guidelines. Which means that those that use this program for the intended purpose and with common sense are going to continue to bear the stigma from those that abuse it.
Wow, this really got rambly and kinda ranty. I blame medication.
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Dear VA Pharamcy people,
You have just handed me a paper bag full of drugs. And not a lunch bag sized one - no, a full sized bag. Of the six drugs that I am supposed to take daily, every single one of them states that it may cause drowsiness or dizziness. At this point, I think that you can leave off the warning to not operate a motor vehicle while taking these. I'm going to be lucky to be able to find my damned motor vehicle in about an hour.
/>Love,
The drugged up chick
The lesson here kids? Do not wait a month to see a doctor when you are having an allergic reaction. Especially if the medication that you are taking to try to take care of the pain and itching is the same damned medication that the doctor thinks that you have developed an allergy to. Not only do you end up with pills out the wazoo, the doctor gives you a rather stern look.
On a different note, I stopped at Uwajimaya on the way home from the hospital. Got some edamame, pork dumplings and ginger tea (vicadin tends to make me a bit queasy). I know that some of the little old ladies in there at 9 in the morning were laughing at the silly redhead trying to figure out what things were. I know that I missed out on some delicious things simply because I had no freaking clue as to what they were. If only I knew someone that could go with me and tell me what the different items were. Perhaps someone that was familiar with Japanese foods. Hmmm......(and yes, that was a hint, Mari)
Crap - my feet just went numb.
You have just handed me a paper bag full of drugs. And not a lunch bag sized one - no, a full sized bag. Of the six drugs that I am supposed to take daily, every single one of them states that it may cause drowsiness or dizziness. At this point, I think that you can leave off the warning to not operate a motor vehicle while taking these. I'm going to be lucky to be able to find my damned motor vehicle in about an hour.
/>Love,
The drugged up chick
The lesson here kids? Do not wait a month to see a doctor when you are having an allergic reaction. Especially if the medication that you are taking to try to take care of the pain and itching is the same damned medication that the doctor thinks that you have developed an allergy to. Not only do you end up with pills out the wazoo, the doctor gives you a rather stern look.
On a different note, I stopped at Uwajimaya on the way home from the hospital. Got some edamame, pork dumplings and ginger tea (vicadin tends to make me a bit queasy). I know that some of the little old ladies in there at 9 in the morning were laughing at the silly redhead trying to figure out what things were. I know that I missed out on some delicious things simply because I had no freaking clue as to what they were. If only I knew someone that could go with me and tell me what the different items were. Perhaps someone that was familiar with Japanese foods. Hmmm......(and yes, that was a hint, Mari)
Crap - my feet just went numb.
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One of the cats just barked.
I'll wait so that you can grasp the full wrongness of that statement.
Meow is to cat as bark is to dog.
Sheesh.
If you'll excuse me, I have to go explain some things to my furry friends. Honestly, screw this gender confusion thing - my pets wind up with species confusion.
I'll wait so that you can grasp the full wrongness of that statement.
Meow is to cat as bark is to dog.
Sheesh.
If you'll excuse me, I have to go explain some things to my furry friends. Honestly, screw this gender confusion thing - my pets wind up with species confusion.
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Okay, I get peeved with people driving those oversized trucks and SUVs in town. What is the purpose? And it seems as though half the time, the person behind the wheel has absolutely no idea how to manuever something that large safely. "Well, I haul a lot of equipment", "I take it up in the mountains", etc. Fine. But would someone please explain to me the point of a LOWERED dually? WTF!? As near as I can tell, any justification for the huge ass vehicle was nullified as soon as you lowered it to six inches off the freaking ground. You sure aren't 4-wheeling in that thing. And, can you really safely haul anything like that?
So, honestly - what is the point?
So, honestly - what is the point?
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Okay, I know that I just made an entry about people being in too big of a hurry. Is it too much to ask for a little common sense and a modicum of courtesy? If you are buying coffee for every single person in the office, where would you go to do it? An actual store (perhaps even with a drive through), or the kiosk inside of a grocery store? Guess where one woman chose at 0700? Not only was she buying about eight drinks during the middle of the rush, she didn't even seem to have the slightest bit of organization about it. By the time the she finally got finished monopolizing the entire staff, the line was over to the bakery case.
Bitch.
Bitch.
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I feel like I have reverted back to my white trash roots with a vengence.
I was out running errands, and on the way back to the house I was driving by the local Dollar Tree. Now, I haven't been there lately so I decided to stop off and just take a look around to remind myself of what types of things they have. I may be a bit of a snob in some things, but when it comes to things like scrubbing sponges or plastic tumblers I fail to see how the ones in the other stores are actually better than the Dollar Trees.
So, I am wandering up and down the aisles, taking mental notes: "Hmm. Must remember that they have their summer bbq stuff in and snag some non-perishable condiments and seasonings. Oh, look. Maybe some potpourri and a couple of little glass bowls for around the house." You know, the usual things when you are just browsing.
That is until I got to the back wall of the store. Sometime in the 5-6 months since I have been there they have added a full length freezer/cooler. What what what?! Dollar Tree is selling milk! Ha ha ha! Who would buy their milk at the Dollar, wait, is that pizza rolls? Hey, cool. They have pizza rolls. And those utterly fake baked potato thingies that I secretly love. Oh, oh, and frozen dinners. And popsicles.
I swear, I could almost hear the hounds under the porch start howling as the rain pelted the trailer roof. I am so ashamed of myself. But not ashamed enough to avoid them the next time that I am making a run for snackies. So, neener neener.
I was out running errands, and on the way back to the house I was driving by the local Dollar Tree. Now, I haven't been there lately so I decided to stop off and just take a look around to remind myself of what types of things they have. I may be a bit of a snob in some things, but when it comes to things like scrubbing sponges or plastic tumblers I fail to see how the ones in the other stores are actually better than the Dollar Trees.
So, I am wandering up and down the aisles, taking mental notes: "Hmm. Must remember that they have their summer bbq stuff in and snag some non-perishable condiments and seasonings. Oh, look. Maybe some potpourri and a couple of little glass bowls for around the house." You know, the usual things when you are just browsing.
That is until I got to the back wall of the store. Sometime in the 5-6 months since I have been there they have added a full length freezer/cooler. What what what?! Dollar Tree is selling milk! Ha ha ha! Who would buy their milk at the Dollar, wait, is that pizza rolls? Hey, cool. They have pizza rolls. And those utterly fake baked potato thingies that I secretly love. Oh, oh, and frozen dinners. And popsicles.
I swear, I could almost hear the hounds under the porch start howling as the rain pelted the trailer roof. I am so ashamed of myself. But not ashamed enough to avoid them the next time that I am making a run for snackies. So, neener neener.
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What the hells is everyone's hurry? There is no reason for you to be whipping in and out of lanes on a crowded freeway, almost causing collisions and scaring the crap out of everyone near you. When I got to the exit lane, you were a whopping two car lengths ahead of me. Ooooo, you showed us!
That cashier in the grocery store or coffeeshop? Her goal is not to ruin your day by making you wait an entire (gasp!) minute to buy your coffee or frozen pizza. Her goal is to help the customer that she is with now, and yes - sweet little old ladies that need things done a little bit louder and slower are legally allowed to be in *your* store. Keep up your fucking attitude and how you will deal with life at that age will be a moot point.
Seriously, is there some entity that goes around chopping off body parts of someone that is running late? Why is everyone freaking the fuck out at the prospect of waiting in line, or taking a couple of minutes to get something done right? Yes, there are times that waiting in a crowd or standing that long on my feet would be an issue for me (as several of my poor friends and family know). Hey, maybe now is not the time to stop and pick up my caffiene fix, or whatever it is that I was planning on getting from the store.
I just can't help but feel that at least some of the "free floating anxiety" (read, asshattery) could be resolved if people would just take a deep breath, ask themselves if this is something that is really worth being such a douche over, or even take some responsibility for their own time-management and leave the house five minutes earlier.
That cashier in the grocery store or coffeeshop? Her goal is not to ruin your day by making you wait an entire (gasp!) minute to buy your coffee or frozen pizza. Her goal is to help the customer that she is with now, and yes - sweet little old ladies that need things done a little bit louder and slower are legally allowed to be in *your* store. Keep up your fucking attitude and how you will deal with life at that age will be a moot point.
Seriously, is there some entity that goes around chopping off body parts of someone that is running late? Why is everyone freaking the fuck out at the prospect of waiting in line, or taking a couple of minutes to get something done right? Yes, there are times that waiting in a crowd or standing that long on my feet would be an issue for me (as several of my poor friends and family know). Hey, maybe now is not the time to stop and pick up my caffiene fix, or whatever it is that I was planning on getting from the store.
I just can't help but feel that at least some of the "free floating anxiety" (read, asshattery) could be resolved if people would just take a deep breath, ask themselves if this is something that is really worth being such a douche over, or even take some responsibility for their own time-management and leave the house five minutes earlier.
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Yes, I know that the Starbucks is rather busy at 8 in the morning - especially considering that it is an industrial area and they are one of the main stops for people heading in for their shifts. Yes, all the parking spots immediately in front of the store are taken. Sitting smack in the middle of the lane will not change this fact. Oh, and see those three arrows that are all pointing in one direction? That means that you are not only being a stupid parking vulture, you are also trying to enter through the exit only. Even if someone were to try to leave and open a parking spot there are two problems: 1) the parking spots are slanted, and it would take a hell of a lot of maneuvering for you to get your car into the spot and 2) you are blocking the exit! Where the hells are they supposed to go?!
So, yes. I will sit in my car and stare at you until you finally clue in to the fact that you are a giant asshat, put your car in reverse and proceed around the lane like everyone else to enter the parking flow. And even if that means that someone else might come along in the 15 seconds that takes and use that parking spot? There are a lot more spots in the back. No - not in the bank where the spots are specifically marked for bank/ATM use only. No, not directly in front of the other businesses that have signs in front of each spot that specify that there is no Starbucks parking allowed. More parking in the back! Oh noes!!1! That means that you will have to walk and entire 30 feet and be utterly inconvenienced. Suck it up, buttercup. The world is not ran for your convenience.
It is ran for mine, thank you very much. And someone's doing a damned sucky job at it, too.
So, today is a totally mixed bag.
I woke up to a cat skull trying to invade my skull via my eyesocket. Wolverine was under the impression that since the sun had woken up, I must do so also. Then, while putzing around on the computer, I hear the garbage truck go by and realize that I had completely forgotten to take the trash can to the curb last night. So, I stop and put $45 freaking dollars in the car to fill it up, and proceed to crawl down 26 trying to get into Portland. After I get to work, I go to the smoking area to have a pre-work ciggy and manage to knock over my full venti mocha all over the ground. I get back inside and decide that I must have more caffiene and even break room coffee will work - so I end up emptying the pot and having to make a new one. No big. I start another pot to brewing (cause I am just that type of person!), but didn't realize the different configurations on the airpot brewer and managed to have the fresh brewed coffee end up all over the floor and counter - I wasn't there for the show, but I hear that it was quite spectacular. Not the best start to the day.
And then the trainer announced that we were going to go out on the floor for shadowing. Spent almost the entire six hours sitting with two different people, listening to the conversations on the stealth headset (or split one for you kill-joys out there) and typing up all the information for the calls that came in. It is either really sad or a wonderful indication of how working there will be that after the first set I realized that my day had pretty much swung around about 170 degrees.
I woke up to a cat skull trying to invade my skull via my eyesocket. Wolverine was under the impression that since the sun had woken up, I must do so also. Then, while putzing around on the computer, I hear the garbage truck go by and realize that I had completely forgotten to take the trash can to the curb last night. So, I stop and put $45 freaking dollars in the car to fill it up, and proceed to crawl down 26 trying to get into Portland. After I get to work, I go to the smoking area to have a pre-work ciggy and manage to knock over my full venti mocha all over the ground. I get back inside and decide that I must have more caffiene and even break room coffee will work - so I end up emptying the pot and having to make a new one. No big. I start another pot to brewing (cause I am just that type of person!), but didn't realize the different configurations on the airpot brewer and managed to have the fresh brewed coffee end up all over the floor and counter - I wasn't there for the show, but I hear that it was quite spectacular. Not the best start to the day.
And then the trainer announced that we were going to go out on the floor for shadowing. Spent almost the entire six hours sitting with two different people, listening to the conversations on the stealth headset (or split one for you kill-joys out there) and typing up all the information for the calls that came in. It is either really sad or a wonderful indication of how working there will be that after the first set I realized that my day had pretty much swung around about 170 degrees.
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