The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2018

[furmonster mom]

We've lost another great man. Rest in Peace, Stephen Hawking. He was 76 years old.

Iconic physicist Stephen Hawking best known for his work on black holes

Stephen Hawking - Wikipedia

Margret

He left us on pi day...

 

[LTS3]

Why are some people such inconsiderate idiots? I was just watching a woman clear the snow off her car and the small snowbank around the sides. The snow removal crew had plowed earlier and because this lady's car was in the way, the crew plowed around it and did a pretty decent job, too. The entire section of parking spots was completely cleared of snow except for around this car. So now the lady just pushed all the snow from her car to the parking spaces on either side of her parking spot. I can just see the guy who parks in the spot to the right going

again. After the storm last week he wasn't able to park in his spot because the lady pushed all snow off her car and from around the car right into the middle of his parking spot. She could have used the shovel to carry the snow across the sidewalk to the grassy area in front of her car.

 

[Mother Dragon]

Perhaps he needs to return the favor and make it obvious that he was returning it.

 

[Margret]

View attachment 222722

I'm not really religious or spiritual, but this brought a tear to my eye.

Mine, too.

"Religious" and "spiritual" can mean many things. I'm an atheist (I don't believe in gods), and an agnostic (I'm not stupid enough to think I can prove gods don't exist), and a Unitarian Universalist (we have no creed that our members must believe in - basically we think it's the proper job of a church to help each of us to determine our own path, and then walk it to the best of our ability), and a spiritual person.

I've heard "spiritual" defined this way:

The original meaning of "spirit" is "breath."
Anything that makes you want to keep breathing is a spiritual practice.

So pulling out the laser pointer and having a rousing game of "Red Dot" with your short furry family member is a spiritual practice. Or re-reading your favorite book. Or going to the beach, or the mountains. As my current minister says, her greatest competition on Sunday mornings is from the Cathedral of the Blue Dome.

Margret

 

[LTS3]

If that were my parking spot, I would have taken a picture of the lady's car with all the snow from her car in my spot and sent it to the property manager to complain. It's just rude to put all the snow from your car into someone else's cleared out parking spot

 

[tallyollyopia]

Do you have a backpack or a large purse? During the summer when the rain was warm I would bike to work. I'd take old plastic shopping bags and wrap up my work clothes, spare set of cycling clothes, hand towel, deodorant and comb. I would be walking in the building soaking wet but a quick change in the bathroom got me dry. I would use those same shopping bags to bag the wet stuff so they wouldn't soak everything when I carried them home. You could walk to the dentist and I'm sure they have a bathroom you could use to change. You would only need the one set of clothes, towel and toiletries.

Back when I had a car, I'd keep a change in it for just that very reason.

I called and talked to my dentist office this morning. Due to the wet weather and the really cold weather tomorrow we decided to re-schedule for next Wednesday. The dentist answered the phone when I called. He told me he did not want me to risk falling on ice walking to my appointment tomorrow for a cleaning. We moved the appointment for next Wednesday. I was going to call cab but he told me it was fine to wait a week. I love my dentist. It is only going to be in the mid 30’s today and tomorrow lower 30’s. I have ankle issues and would rather not walk around on icy pavement if I don’t have to. It is supposed to get back into the mid 40’s next week. My hubby also was concerned about me getting there safely. He has a mandatory meeting tomorrow afternoon and could not leave early.

At least he's looking out for you!

I just had a discussion with my insurance agent, who is a new daddy, about days like this. This is what I told him.

"Parenthood is the most intense OJT program in the world. The pay is nil, the hours suck dishwater, but the benefits and perks are ASTOUNDING!"



Nah, I still think She is menopausal. She's evidently having hot flashes, followed by cold flashes, and crying FLOODS at the drop of a hat!



Well...for all the reasons that @artiemom and others have mentioned, and because we tend to take off and wander down every conversational goat-path on the continental US!



One good thing... some parrots live to be 80+ years old...

SO...I thought I wouldn't be here today. My provider went down yesterday, and was supposed to be down today as well, but HERE I AM! I was going into TCS withdrawals. Do you guys realize what a huge part of my life you are? Well, yes. HUGE. I am semi-disabled (I can walk limited amounts), I have no car (vertigo...driving days are done), and my limited budget doesn't allow for cabs too often. Most of my neighbors are people that I would not be comfortable spending much time with. I come here to connect, and talk, and laugh...and sometimes cry. THANK YOU ALL! You are a big part of my world. NEVER EVER forget that!

I think I mentioned a few months ago that I had finally found a forever home for Patrick, my all black foster cat, as he had been with me for 3 years and I had almost given up hope that he would find a permanent home. Well, it did happen, he now lives in Tracy, CA, east of San Francisco. However, I had hoped that the new parents or mom would at least keep in touch for a little while telling me how he was adjusting, what his new home was like (how many people (children), other cats, dogs? a yard whatever). I have heard NOTHING at all, even inquiring several times and contacting @catwoman707 who had started the ball rolling. Now where does that leave me? How can I know that everything is ok with Patrick? I'm not even sure just who has him. For all I know this was a scam to get hold of a black cat for nefarious purposes. I have not seen any posts by @catwoman707 in a long time. Does anyone have any info about her or about Patrick? I was asked all kinds of info about me, my real name and phone # but none has been furnished by @catwoman707 or anyone else. I am worried sick about Patrick and am wondering how he is.
I am putting this out as a warning to anyone who needs to find a new cat parent for their beloved foster cat. Don't let your kitty go so far away from home, insist that you know where they are going and that you can have access to their new parents. I have many pictures of Patrick, here's my favorite:View attachment 221752

I'm sure he's fine. His new pet parents are probably too busy pampering him to take time away to contact (maybe).

Thank you! How sweet of you. I just try to be utterly myself at all times...and that can get pretty odd on occasion! I have a weird sense of humor, and a lively sense of the rediculous!

SMALL RANT, IGNORE AT WILL!

Today I had to go to the office to re-certify for my rental assistance. That means I had to talk with my manager. I have no respect for the woman after she threw my rent money orders in the trash a few months back, but I can almost always deal with her. Today, she stomped on my last nerve. For the first time in 10 YEARS she is insisting that I re-certify Hekitty as an Emotional Support Animal. I was told when I first did it that it only had to be done once. That wouldn't be so bad, but the doctor who originally certified her died three years ago. Now, Dr. DeSantis won't mind doing it at all for me, he and I have had talks about Hekitty and what she means to me before, BUT the group he works with charges $10 for each form they fill out, and he will have to fill out TWO this time! THEN it got absurd. There is a blank on the form where you are supposed to fill in anticipated medical expenses for the coming year. I did, and NOW the woman wants me to back up my answers with RECEIPTS FOR THINGS THAT HAVEN'T HAPPENED YET! I pointed that out to her, and she just looked at me and said, "I still need those receipts." I'll give her the ones from last year, and she can suck dishwater for the rest. I need a drink. A stiff drink. Maybe several.

Dealing with idiots is hard.

I just glanced at my calendar and realized that, 16 years ago today, we brought home a tiny little pup. He was more than "part of the family", he WAS family. He died last fall.
We feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to be his family, his stewards and his care givers for his time on earth. We weren't mad when he died, but thankful we were his and he was ours.
It's not "just a dog" or "just a cat". It's a bond, and a show of humanity, and proof that while our human species might be losing our minds in some respects (see the news), those still exist that have compassion.
As Ara11 said on her thread with the wonderful Puma, it was "his time" but not "our time". They could live to be 70, and it wouldn't be enough.
Anxiously awaiting to see this little one again some day. Such a cool, fun, smart, and entertaining little dog.

I hate it when people try to say things like, "Why are you upset? It was just a pet!" Yeah, and that's just the path my foot takes you flea-ridden !

I don't know how you all remember the adoption day or litter birth day. I can't even remember the year I got any of my cats.

I only know Montressor's and Midway's ages now because I know Montressor was 2 and Shadow was 4 when we got him, and Montressor was 7 when we got a 3 year old Midway. I recently found an old photo that gave Shadow's actual age. For years I misremembered the date and thought they were all two years younger than they are/were.

If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't know if the pictures weren't time/date stamped in AWM's phone. She took some the day the kits were born, and they were huge.

2634.jpg

• tallyollyopia
• Jun 25, 2016
• 1

Seriously, look at their size compared to their mother. I was so shocked she hadn't needed medical attention when I saw them!

I wish I knew more but I don't, all I can send is lots of encouragement.
I think seeking out a second opinion is a wise choice. No matter how much we "like" our doctors or how good we think they are, sometimes things get missed, and that's not blaming or pointing fingers at a lawsuit or malpractice claim. (Artists have the same thing happen to them. They paint or draw something and don't see the flaws until they put the piece away, drag it out 6 months later and then the mistake jumps out at them. It's why breeders sometimes become "kennel blind" to their own stock and don't see faults that others see as obvious.)
The only thing I can offer (it's really, REALLY unpopular) is checking your diet. Eat a lot of fresh, real foods. If you're a meat eater, don't be afraid to integrate heart meat into your diet if you can stomach it.
When we had a pet suffering from heart problems, a diet rich in natural taurine helped.
I don't know if this helps much, but I hope it doesn't hurt.

Personally, I listen to my body. If my body says, "I need starchy foods," then I eat starchy foods. If my body says, "I need green vegetables," I eat green vegetables. I think learning what your body is telling you it needs is more important, but it could be I'm just weird.

 

[tallyollyopia]

I am ranting about the weather. Another snow storm is on its way which is not unusual for Ohio but for some
reason this season has really affected me. I feel if I have to be inside for one for minute I'll go crazy. I tried
sitting on the deck and read one day last week when it was in the 50s but just not warm enough.

Cabin fever. Hits us all.

And I am sorry but you won't get a yes or no from me. Ever. I tend to go off on a tangent. IF that's an issue...sorry ain't changing that. It's best to gather all the facts before one makes a decision=sometimes we share our experiences to help those who are asking for help to see they have CHOICES. It's not always yes or NO. Kapesh?!

Ok to change the subject...some photos of my lovely weather...
My truck is my best friend today.
View attachment 221818

View attachment 221819
View attachment 221820
The snow is so pretty. Just think it will be melted and gone in a week.

Love the pics.

Ugh, so one place we were looking at sled pets but it raises the rent by $150 every month. I can understand an additional pet deposit but raising the rent as well seems like gouging.

This may be a stupid question, but what are "sled pets?" And how do your pets qualify?

My grandmother lived in a mobile home. It was beautiful and I always loved going there. I could never understand the term trailer trash. Her home was really nice. I like looking at the trailers at the home shows too.

Please, allow me to explain as there are several examples of people who live in trailers that are, and examples of those who are not. For the moment, forget about your grandmother and her undoubtedly well kept, well managed home in a relatively quiet community (my grandmother lived in one as well). Now, imagine a person, or group of people, who is/are not keeping their places well kept, are not keeping quiet, and are engaging in unsavory (and most likely) illegal practices. There tend to be a lot of drugs floating around that have nothing to do with either doctors or legitimate ailments. There will be trash everywhere; inside and out. The law will be called, possibly as much as one or three times a day. That, my dear, is "trailer trash." This is not, however, to be confused with perfectly reasonable trailer parks where everyone is just working hard to make ends meet while providing for families (elderly parents, pets, and/or children). (One man I met was obsessed with his potted roses; they each had a name and, apparently, a personality.)

Darn....here we don't put up with that nonsense. We had someone with suspicious activity and we called the cops daily-I guess they moved their pot sales elsewhere as we don't have the amount of traffic. in my park you have to pass a back ground check and criminal check. They are very fussy about who they let live here. Elderly and families/working class folk are allowed. No low income housing or renting allowed here. Kind of helps keep it a nice neighborhood. You could move up here lol.


There are drug sections of this area where the normal houses are-mostly government funded housing sadly. I would love to see the riff raff run out of our town-they cause so much trouble. One of the dirtbags tried to hot wire my truck one night-they got the scare of their lives. I had the cops here with sniffing dogs=the little jerk ran to his friends house and he was a minor-the cop said I couldn't press charges but I scared the shit out of him-as he ran away like the hounds of hell I yelled out at 3am "I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE YOU LITTLE ______!"

Evidently these 2 little criminals had already broken into many of the businesses in the area-it was a morning I was going to the flea market-I got home at 11pm didnt' lock up=left at 3am only to discover someone in my truck and some kid standing in my yard-you know I could have scared them worse=bet they didn't expect a hot p-ed off woman to come out at 3am yelling and screaming at them. Especially at 3am. This was in 2008? or so?

the cops told me these two knuckle heads have been to juvie jail and trouble for a long time-Told me their mothers bailed them out of jail all the time-never let them get punished for bad behavior. That really burns my butt!!!

that's the time many of my neighbors updated their doors/hallways to increase security-cameras, cops drive through-no more issues since then-guess the kids told their looser friends I would come after them....darn straight I would! I hate THIEVES!

That actually reminds me of back when I was working for the Fast Food Place That Will Not Be Named Because I'm Afraid They'll Sue: I worked as a porter, which meant I was working nights. Another point of clarification is that both RB and LS (IB didn't live with us at the time) were in high school, and we've never locked our doors. (Seriously--I didn't even see a house key until after I was an adult and tried to launch a house sitting business.) One day I got up to get something to drink (I do, and have for a long time, kept a plastic bottle that I fill with Kool-Aid in the fridge) and there was a strange man in the kitchen. I wake up slow, so it took a moment for me to realize--hey, stranger in the house. So, I turned to him and asked (please remember I'm face-blind and this is a legitimate question that I used to ask all the time until I discovered it annoyed people), "Do I know you?" I then opened the fridge while I waited for him to answer and he said, "No. Ah--I'm here for LS." I grabbed the bottle, closed the door, and took a gulp before saying, "She's at school." "Ah--thank you." Then, as I was taking another drink I realized--there's a grown man in my kitchen and he says he knows my Little Sister. I turned to him and said, "Hey, wait a minute--" and he ran. Nothing was taken, nothing was damaged, no harm done and I still have no idea who that was.

If it was just pot, I could deal. I don't smoke it and neither does John, but I don't care if other people do. But around here, we have a huge meth problem.

Always a bad thing. Maybe renting a trailer? There are some nice doublewides, if they're available.

One of my eternal rants is Sudafed. Sudafed worked wonderfully, so well that people weren't ending up with sinus infections that would require a doctor's visit and antibiotics to get over it. Sudafed PE barely works, and now people are ending up at the doctor's all the time with sinus infections. My last workplace from late fall to early spring most of the people would come in and say they were just diagnosed with a sinus infection, and they got them repeatedly during the six months. Just last month my husband had a fever for 5 days due to a sinus infection. I find it really, really hard to believe that the Mexican cartels that are smuggling the bulk of meth into the US are crossing the border to buy Sudafed, crossing back over to make meth and then crossing a third time to sell it. I think the campaign to make Sudafed hard to get was waaay exaggeratiing the possibility of drug production and simply was a planned moneymaker to get more dollars out of people's pockets and into the health care system.

Isn't it interesting how, when someone makes things "safer" for the public, it involves denying a resource? Points to ponder.

I completely agree, but there are to a o f "cookers" around here. They've passed a law in this town making it illegal to possess Sudafed without a prescription. Sri, here's my question: how enforceable is that? I could go a couple towns over and buy Sudafed - for a cold, of course. If I got pulled over and searched for some reason, could they really press charges for me having a single box of medication that was legally purchased 30 miles away?

If it's anything like the liquor laws down here--very enforceable. Then again, the laws I'm referring to are statewide, so I don't know. Either way, don't get caught.

Happy news article today.

Galveston teen receives sweet surprise after helping elderly customer at Waffle House

That was great!

I was updating one of my references on my ongoing job search. She was previously my supervisor before the company moved the facility out of the lab's control last year and in the process removed her from the supervisor position. So she knows very well what goes on in the facility. I was telling her all of the crap that is going on right now. She's pretty surprised that all of this is going on and that no one really cares. But I don't think she really understands. First she agrees that I need a new job. Then she says I can stick it out until the summer when the two guys in the lab (who previously worked for her) will both be on paternity leave and then she has a "feeling" that neither would return after that (based on conversations she had with them.... a few years ago) and things would be just fine once the two guys leave for good. The two guys have nothing to do with why I'm looking to leave the company. I don't think she understands that or that I am NOT planning to stick around until the summer. I've tried explaining to no avail

I'm kind of irked at her anyways because she's the one who got me into this mess in the first place by misleading me what the position would entail and how great working with the lab is compared to the position I was in at the time. A few months after I started she apologized for telling me what she did because she's been wanting me on her team for years and didn't want to miss another opportunity to have me. So thus all the lies about what the job was, how great the lab is, blah blah blah. Looking back, she even had those two guys in on the whole lie, too. I suspect that she made some kind of deal with the two guys, that if they help convince me to take the job that they would be able to do more lab work and less work in the facility because that's what happened.

I'm not even sure if I should use her as a reference now. If she lied to me about how great the position is, why wouldn't she lie and embellish my qualifications and experience for a potential position? Then, if I fail to meet those embellishments at a new company, that looks bad on me.

I applied to two more jobs. One might be a little too far to get to by public transportation, especially on weekends and holidays when public transportation is limited

A good reference is better than no reference at all, and a bad reference worse than the other two. Good luck!

This be your kitteh right now:
View attachment 222026

SO...small rant(ish)

I called Social Security today to make an appointment to go in and switch from my SS to my deceased ex's SS, which is a good bit higher. I NEEDED to do that because I got a statement from them saying that as of next month, they would be taking my Medicare premium out of my check, lowering it by $134, and I want to feed myself and Hekitty! SO...I was talking to the nice lady, and she told me that the first person I spoke with had given me incorrect information, that since I had remarried before age 60, I couldn't claim the ex's SS. My heart dropped into my shoes. THEN she told me that they had received notification from the State of North Carolina that, since I am on Medicade and my income is under a certain level, the state will be paying my Medicare premium! WOOOO HOOOO! I'm actually a bit better off this way. SO...the rant became a celebration, and they lived confusedly ever after!

Hello, all.

I've pretty much been off-site since I shattered my right wrist on February 20th, and now that I'm able to get back (at least a little) I thought I should give everyone an update.

I seem to have really lucked out in a couple of ways. First, this hit just after I got really good medical insurance, for the first time in over a year, so this isn't going to bankrupt us. And second, it appears that I received a referral to a marvelous hand and arm surgeon.

Surgery was on Wednesday. They put a nerve block in the arm so that for several hours after surgery it was paralyzed and felt like it was somewhere other than where it really was (seemed kinda surreal) and I still need to try to keep the arm above heart level to reduce swelling, which is the major reason I'm only back on-site for a while tonight, after which I plan to disappear again until the tendency to swell is pretty much gone.

However, I'm regaining range of motion in my fingers by the hour, it seems, as well as wrist strength. In fact, the biggest problem right now is the temptation to overdo, because the wrist feels so good.

The "cast" I'm wearing now is a single piece of fiberglass on the inner surface of the arm, padded with gauze and held in place with a couple of Ace bandages; it's smaller and lighter than the "splint" they gave me in the E.R.. The surgery was done with a single incision in the back of the wrist, and it feels to me like I'll not only have full range of motion in the fingers but something very close to full range of motion in the wrist. I've no idea how this could be, but I'm certainly not complaining.

My follow-up visit with the surgeon is on the 19th (i.e. a week from Monday); I'll plan to post a further update then, and I hope to be regularly back on-site before then.

Signing off now, until the swelling is down.

Margret

And I hope you feel better soon!

 

[tallyollyopia]

So if anyone can explain my two cats to me right now I'd greatly appreciate it.

Last night I picked up some catnip, first time in a couple of years. I think it's pretty potent stuff, I don't see any stems or stem pieces. Today opened it, I took off the safety seal in another room, recapped it, and still when I walked in the bedroom Montressor jumped up and ran to me in a manner that makes me believe he smelled it despite the cap.

Midway has never shown the slightest interest in catnip so I put out a little plate for Montressor only. Montressor was a really happy kitty. I was packing my backpack for work when I heard a dangerous warning sound from him. I turned around and Midway apparently decided that he was interested enough to check it out. He was at the plate and Montressor was in anger mode. He lashed out at Midway with a claw attack, and it wasn't a spat in the cat colony whack, this was serious cat fight whack which luckily didn't connect. He then hissed at Midway, and his body language said that he was ready for a fight and willing to fight. I solved the whole issue by locking Midway outside the bedroom until Montressor was done with the plate.

But still.....it's catnip. It's kitty marijuana, not kitty cocaine or kitty PCP. Why would a submissive 19 year old cat decide to start a serious fight with a bonded companion cat over catnip?

Some cats are mean drunks. I know Ra is, and that's why I won't allow the stuff in the house--he's easily the biggest of the cats and could easily injure the others.

I just found out that my grandmother had a stroke last night.

I'm going to work anyway, nothign I can do from 3000 miles away.

Mamanyt1953 Move it one board at a time to the place you're puttin git, not an entire drawer.

Back home.

It's apparently pretty major, but I guess doctors won't talk about a long term prognosis until after the first 48 hours. I'm not sure if it's her right side or left side that's affected, my mom (who gets confused easily) said my grandma could wiggle the fingers on her right hand, but said that she is blind in her left eye. I was able to talk to my grandma, she sounded pretty good, she also said that she could wiggle her fingers and toes. Still, if that's all the movement, it's gotta be bad. I'm hoping that her clear coherent speech is an indication that her mental acuity wasn't affected, but I have a terrified voice in my head worried that just because she can talk doesn't mean that she'll retain the memory.

I won't be able to go home. I can't afford it. Even if it was just me and I left the husband and kid behind, that's still too much.

Stroke patients heal at different rates. Talk to the family you have over there; there are plenty of programs like Skype and whatnot that will let you speak in person, and provide what support you can.

Silly cat video. It's titled "How my cat lets me know she wants to come in."

Spot does it too!

Another Nor'Easter!!!

This time 12-18 inches

I am on the borderline of this prediction

right on the coast

Aedan has his 2 month checkup today. I'm excited to see how much he's grown but I'm probably gonna cry when he gets his shots.

It will be okay!

I just spoke with Grandma. She says she's having a little memory problems, but I couldn't tell that from talking with her. She remembered my husband's name even though she's never met him. Her speech is not slurred or anything that would indicate face paralysis. She says that she can lift her right arm and her right leg now. She says that she gets super emotional and cries whenever she sees or talks to family, so maybe there's some damage to the emotional center or self-control part of the brain? She said when it happened she was reading FB and she was able to manage to call both my dad and 911. My dad said they were able to use the clot busting drug within the 4 hour window, so I'm really, really glad that she could make both those calls.

Joyful news!

So work vent.

I am by no means perfect, and sometimes my attempts at doing things properly at work fall far short of the expectations, but I try. I'm getting pretty convinced that some of the newer coworkers aren't even trying.

We have a lot of items where either clothes have become separated from their tags or packages have been damaged. New tags need to be generated for the clothes, socks and underwear have to be gathered together and matched to what remains of the packaging, and anything that doesn't matched has to have an item number written down and prepped for salvage/defective. Last week I had a few minutes to work on the backlog, and I found that the printer was not connecting to the network. If it won't connect, then I can't print. Sometimes this happens but only lasts a couple of hours, so I figured that if it didn't work my next shift I'd swap it out. I had things that were obvious salvage/defective and I didn't need a printer for that, so squished that in and moved on.

My next shift, I asked the person I was relieving if the printer worked. She told me that it hadn't worked for days, and that's why no one was working on the backlog. Wait, what? She knew for days, and she hadn't bothered to tell our direct manager or the store manager on duty about the loss of network connection and she had been too lazy to carry the printer to the same cabinet we get our walkies and our portable computers and get a new one?

This same coworker has a tendency to leave a huge bag of trash under the desk at the fitting room and even though she's usually at the desk when I relieve her, several rooms are always full of clothes, like she had not been clearing them at all during her shift. On top of that, the clearance racks are at the fitting room and it always looks like several tornadoes went through it. This happens often, not every now and then. It's like she doesn't give a crap about keeping the area looking neat.

Since I didn't have time to work on the backlog that shift, I took the printer up with me at the end of the night. That was Thursday. I expected that someone would say "Hey, where's the printer?" and then walk up to the cabinet we get our equipment from and grab a printer. If they didn't, I'd grab one on Saturday. Well two hours before my shift on Saturday I found out about my grandmother. Saturday and Sunday was a combination of apathy and numbness. Absolutely nothing got an emotional reaction from me on Saturday, and only one thing did on Sunday. I went in, I did what I was told to do, and that was that. Anything involving initiative, like grabbing a printer, nope not possible.

I was off Monday, able to work to my usual level today. When we trade the phone, we also relay information about what's going on. There was a pile of hosiery and packaging on the desk and I asked about that. My coworker (and not the one who leaves trash under the desk and knew for days the printer didn't work, a different one) had the cajones to tell me that she was told to repackage the items and put a discount sticker on them but she couldn't do it because there was no printer. "You don't have a printer?" "No, it's been missing for a week."

So let me get this straight. You were told to do something, and you chose not to do it because you didn't want to have to go fetch a printer, and you think that saying there wasn't a printer there already is a reasonable excuse? And you think it's so reasonable of an excuse that you apparently aren't worried about this conversation getting back to our boss?

And there was trash under the desk.

I try to keep the fitting room neat, and by extension women's general wear clothing neat. But it's getting harder and harder to want to try. Some things take a long time to fix and get right, but very, very little time to maintain. But no one will maintain what I fix and make right.

That backlog of stuff? Final week of February I had 5 days off in a row. Before my final shift of that mini-vacation there was no backlog. I was closing pretty regularly, and people would just dump stuff on me even though they were supposed to do their own stuff, but I would find a way of getting it done. Came back after 5 days off, 2-3 feet of bar space had untagged items and a basket roughly 3 ft by 4 ft by 6 inches was full of packaging and loose underwear and socks. I almost cried when I saw that. I really did, I felt that all my hard work to maintain the room was for nothing and it was really upsetting. If I could afford it, I'd have quit on the spot.

I was told to clean the closet. I did. Part of that was taking three shopping carts filled with fixtures (shelves and hanging bars and pegs, things like that) to the fixture room and putting them away. If I manage to take a picture of the fixture room and post it, you guys would faint. It looks like a hoarder is running the room. There's a little path winding through the stacks of shelves and bins full of shelves and bars and boxes of pegs and mounts, usually wide enough for me to walk through, though some areas I have to turn sideways because my hips won't fit. The place for your feet is only about 6 inches wide most of the way, and every now and then you have to step over something. Things are just randomly piled up, and while there is some sense of order, you still have to dig through layers to find exactly what you are looking for. The back 10 feet of the room, there is no path, there's just piles of different fixtures. That place scares me. I am not exaggerating when I say that if something falls on me I am dead because there is zero way EMTs could get to me in time to save me. I'm not the only person it scares, most people just drop off tubs of fixtures outside the room and leave. But I put away all three carts' worth. I was told that fixtures would now have to go immediately back, and they would not be kept in the closet anymore. I had just finished the closet and one of my coworkers comes trotting up with some shelves and starts to carry one to the closet. I said no, fixture room, and she said "You put them away then." I stood my ground, she seemed genuinely surprised that one of the managers had said no more fixtures and took them away. However guess what? Fixtures are in the closet and I've found two shopping carts full of fixtures placed out of sight near the fitting room. At some point I'll have to empty those carts. But why is it that it builds up until I do it?

Same thing with the shopping carts full of stuff. Everyone is supposed to do their own putting back overstock items. We're not supposed to leave it in a corner in men's. Three days after the boss told all of us, it was back. I would need about an hour to do it, because it's not my stuff, it's everyone's and they keep adding. But I don't have an hour available that I can remove myself from the floor.

We just launched a new brand, denim based style, and we are supposed to be keeping the folded jeans in perfect order. It takes me a long time to get it right. But if I'm working several days in a row, each night the upkeep is easy and quick because most of it stays in order. I just have to fold the stuff customers unfolded and look at the stacks to see if they are size order or if a size 16 has migrated to the top of the stack, and look for the occasional wrong style when a customer found something better and left the original choice on top of a stack. If I'm not scheduled for two or three days, it is a complete disaster. It's obvious no one tried to maintain it, and often it looks like a coworker just dumped a pile of folded jeans in an available spot rather than putting each in their respective right spots.

It's just so frustrating.

Hearing my coworker say that she didn't do something she was told directly to do because there was no printer there has pushed me past my breaking point. Tomorrow I'm going to make a list of my complaints concerns, formatting the list and practicing what I want to say. My boss does not work tomorrow. She does work on Thursday though, and I'm planning on going in on my day off and have a long talk with her. If people were trying and good intentions meet retail environment, it'd be one thing. But lately....it's just laziness and I'm not paid enough to be my coworkers' maid.

I sympathize, I really do, but I have a couple of quick questions for you: 1) You mentioned that they're new employees, are they told where this stuff is when they're trained? If not, it might be a training issue, and not a working issue. 2) Never mind, just had the one. Remember to be as clinical as possible and good luck!

 

[tallyollyopia]

I had to chop that into way too many bits. Talk later--bed now. Have a good day everybody!

 

[arouetta]

Personally, I listen to my body. If my body says, "I need starchy foods," then I eat starchy foods. If my body says, "I need green vegetables," I eat green vegetables. I think learning what your body is telling you it needs is more important, but it could be I'm just weird.

Usually I can do that, but right now I can't trust my body, because these cravings are artificially generated side effects. Parallel examples, I'm guzzling water even though I don't have kidney disease, I have frightening EKGs even though I (hopefully) don't have a bad heart, one time I was not pumping out near enough thyroid hormones even though I don't have hypothyroidism, and for a while I was having hallucinations even though I don't have psychosis. I've been very fortunate, but many people on antipsychotics have really high blood sugar even though they don't have diabetes. And a lot of antidepressants make guys who don't have ED unable to have one. These medications save your life, but they also tell your brain to do some pretty wacky stuff to your body.

The craving of salt is ridiculously common with lithium because it is a salt, it's just not a sodium based salt. I'm not craving it, I just can't taste it now. I am craving sweets, and that's also documented though not as common, they think the pleasure center of the brain is involved. It's not what my body needs. Those 10 pounds can attest to that. The medication that is keeping me functioning normally is more like a shotgun than a scalpel, and it's affecting the entirety of the brain.

 

[arouetta]

I sympathize, I really do, but I have a couple of quick questions for you: 1) You mentioned that they're new employees, are they told where this stuff is when they're trained? If not, it might be a training issue, and not a working issue. 2) Never mind, just had the one. Remember to be as clinical as possible and good luck!

"New" is a relative term. They were not there when I went on FMLA in November. They were there when I came back from FMLA in December. That's well long enough to notice that printers are below the portable computers (okay, smartphones) and to notice that the log where we sign out equipment has a printer sign out column, and to have performed price change and check out a printer for that.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Happy news article today.

Galveston teen receives sweet surprise after helping elderly customer at Waffle House

What a wonderful story!! <3

 

[1 bruce 1]

My little Robbie was a mean drunk. He would lay on top of the kitty litter and smack any of his brothers that got close to it.

Two of my girls are mean drunks, and one of the boys spends his entire trip LOVING the crap out of everything, even his homicidal sisters.
He LOVES the floor. He LOVES the rug. OMG the BRUSH Love you, wall! Love you, chair! Love you, lamp! Love you, book case!...etc. It's so hilarious.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I hate it when people try to say things like, "Why are you upset? It was just a pet!" Yeah, and that's just the path my foot takes you flea-ridden !





Personally, I listen to my body. If my body says, "I need starchy foods," then I eat starchy foods. If my body says, "I need green vegetables," I eat green vegetables. I think learning what your body is telling you it needs is more important, but it could be I'm just weird.

LOL!!! I'm laughing so hard at your "path" comment I can't even xD

And yes, I vote listen to your body when it comes to foods.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Some cats are mean drunks. I know Ra is, and that's why I won't allow the stuff in the house--he's easily the biggest of the cats and could easily injure the others.

Hekitty can be a mean drunk. Of course, being Hekitty, she can also be a mean sober on occasion. If she wants her catnip, it is generally better to let her have it and let the chips fall where they may!

NOTE TO SELF: Do NOT eat a hunk of cold ham with your fingers and attempt to do find adjustments with your touch pad.

 

[Alicia88]

Cabin fever. Hits us all.



Love the pics.



This may be a stupid question, but what are "sled pets?" And how do your pets qualify?

Pretty sure I was trying to say allows pets and my phone wanted to be dumb.

Aedan was feverish and crabby for the last few days. I called the doctor because he got up to 100.4 at one point. The shots are totally worth it, but I still don't have to like them.
We were looking into getting John a TDAP booster, but we can't find any place that still has his shot records. Very frustrating cuz the health department won't give the shot without them and they're a pertussis outbreak 30 miles away. Aedan just had his first TDAP and I'm afraid he could still catch it from John if he gets it. And with him working at a gas station, it seems risky.

 

[segelkatt]

This is a rant, you don't have to read and there will be some who think I am just mean. I don't understand why people these days have all these illnesses and health conditions. Is it because they were not recognized way back then or are people diagnosed with all kinds of stuff that they don't really have but make the doctors and pharmaceutical companies rich? Or is it because people eat so much junk that is loaded with chemicals, vitamins, additives etc and even small children are given vitamins to "make them healthy"? When I was in elementary school there was one girl who had childhood diabetes, two who were considered "slow" but did everything everybody else did and this in a class with 48 students, one teacher and no teacher's aide. Now it seems that half the kids in a class have some kind of mental or physical problem. When I was in 4th grade suddenly a bunch of kids returned from summer vacation sporting brand-new glasses, including myself as I was already sitting in the front row but could barely make out what was written on the blackboard. Myopia due to a lazy eye has plagued me ever since. Broken bones were rare and surgery due to appendicitis or tonsillitis were even rarer. Grandparents lived in their own apartments until one of them died at which time grandma or grandpa came to live with one of their children and provided childcare services and spoiled the grandkids and taught the grandkids things for which the parents did not have time, usually some kind of craft such as knitting or whittling. If the old person started to forget things or displayed strange behavior it was just put off as "old people become peculiar" and it was left at that, they were not loaded up with drugs to "make them normal". No "nursing homes" or some other place like that where old people are warehoused. When they came to a point where the family could not take care of them anymore they were usually so far gone that they were at death's door, were admitted to the hospital and passed away pretty soon thereafter. From what I can see that is the way it is still done in the very poor neighborhoods or out in the country.
I do realize that there are cases of mental problems as there always have been, but the sufferer was not catered to and every whim that entered their heads was excused and tolerated. I see it in my two grandsons who are on the spectrum: the older one still lives at home, his mother just let him do whatever, the younger one is now on his own in another state, by the time she had her second child she was too busy with the older one and his tantrums to let the second one get away with the same behavior. Now she is trying to catch up with the things that should have been done when he was very young and is having a hard time as he is set in his way and still has tantrums when he does not get his way. Like many on the spectrum he is very intelligent and could be helped with some drugs but resists taking any because at one time he was prescribed some that made him walk around like a zombie and now he does not want to try any others. You can't make him take any because he is an adult and will quote the law. At least he is so far now that he is considering getting a job. When he was in the hospital for many weeks after a severe auto accident he noticed the orderlies and what they did, such as taking patients to different places within the hospital and questioned them about their jobs, so he now thinks that would be a good job for him. I hope it works out, it would get him out from under his mother's feet.
Physical problems have always been with us also and people dealt with them as well as they could and still do. My own daughter had a severe heart defect but I did not cater to that either. She was expected to do what she could and not to even think of using it as an excuse to get out of things she did not want to do. Her cardiologist said she did not even think of herself as "disabled" although she legally was, that he congratulated me on job well done of raising her, that too many parents with a child like her tend to protect them from everything and end up with a spoiled rotten kid.
But then there are those that I question if they are real, mainly allergies that don't show up until it becomes "fashionable", or a diagnosis of mental disease in adults calling for ever more powerful drugs when that person had been doing quite well over all until someone diagnosed them because he/she was a little peculiar. Now under all those drugs of course they become even more peculiar, possibly irrational or delusional. A pox on the pharmaceutical companies and their bought physicians. Just ranting.

 

[Margret]

And I hope you feel better soon!

Thank you.

Surgery was a week ago yesterday. My "cast" is more like half of a cast; a 9" by 4" piece of fiberglass formed to fit my inner arm, from the palm to a couple inches beneath the crease of my elbow, padded with some foam and 2 or 3 layers of gauze, and all held together with 2 Ace bandages. My fingers are completely free - it was awkward, but I managed to endorse a check yesterday with my right hand, and I'm touch typing right now. I can move the wrist without pain (and I've no idea how that works, because there's now a metal plate in the back of the wrist holding the bone fragments together), I'm beginning to be able to put weight on the wrist (cautiously, of course), and I can feel it growing stronger by the hour.

I've entirely stopped taking the heavy-duty pain meds; I'm currently on 1 or 2 ibuprofen every 6 hours or so. I could still take an opiate, if I needed it, but I don't need it. I'd be able to drive right now if I didn't have a stick shift. The price I'm paying for the quick healing seems to be a need for extra sleep; I'm happy to pay it.

I can get the laptop into my lap using my right arm to help support it (too heavy for the wrist to be involved yet), which is the only reason I can get on TCS, since none of my other devices work well with the site.

The cast should come off and therapy begin in another two or two and a half weeks, at which point I switch to a removable splint; I'm hoping that will allow showering without having to use saran wrap to protect things, and that it will allow driving. Therapy for the wrist would be much easier if I could drive myself there. I have a follow-up with the surgeon on Monday, followed by a visit to my PCP; I should know more after that.

Margret

 

[1 bruce 1]

On my mind now is my asthma kitty. WHAT THE HECK is causing these flare ups? He had another hospitalization last night, 24 hours, and is home doing well but within 20 minutes of being home, he coughed. I'm going insane.
We dust like crazy. We have a HEPA filter, a humidifier, no carpeting. I wash blankets very often two times a week in a very gentle, hypoallergenic detergent. No one smokes indoors. No one uses wood fireplaces or anything. No oils, fragrances (no febreeze or candles or tealight burners) and we only (and I mean ONLY!) use a very dilute solution of white vinegar and water or murphy's in a dilution to 10:1. The only litter I've found that doesn't send him into a fit (or make him avoid the box, probably because the dust is more than he can bear) is pelleted. I don't mind the litter but I HATE the non clumping factor as I used clumps to see if anyone is passing small amounts vs. normal size clumps. Even so the boxes are uncovered. I'm so frustrated, I feel like I'm going insane.
I'm having his prednisolone compounded with flavorings as he's decided pred laced food is something to be avoided, good news is he's gained back the weight he lost and is holding steady at his normal weight. I HATE prednisolone but I hate the idea that my cat might suddenly be unable to breathe when I'm not around.
I had a horrible nightmare last night that I came home to find him panting and unable to breathe and couldn't locate his emergency meds and was watching as his tongue turned blue then black. I woke up freaked out. I know, it was just a dream but it woke me up so violently, I was happy knowing he was at the vets (24/7 staffed) and was in good hands, but I still didn't fall asleep for a good hour after =(
I'm just so defeated. I can't figure this out. A cure would be great but I am not looking for it, I just want to find his triggers and eliminate them so he can be happy.

 

[Willowy]

I don't understand why people these days have all these illnesses and health conditions. Is it because they were not recognized way back then or are people diagnosed with all kinds of stuff that they don't really have but make the doctors and pharmaceutical companies rich?

I'm going to assume you're about my mom's age and answer that way . TBH I think it's because people had much smaller social circles back then. If you didn't know someone personally, you never heard about them, and even for people you knew personally, it was considered rude to discuss their problems. Now you "know" a whole lot of people and hear about their every issue, because of the Internet.

Also, a lot of special-needs people were institutionalized back then. One of my friends had an uncle who probably would have been mainstreamed nowadays. But they sent him away when he was 3 when they could no longer pretend he was developing normally. Raising your own special-needs child "simply wasn't done" back then, according to her grandmother.

Or they just died because there was no treatment for what they had.

And a child's needs weren't taken into consideration at all. One of my mom's friends has a brother who is on the spectrum. His father beat the crap out of him every time he stimmed or melted down or otherwise behaved "abnormally". Until he was basically afraid to move. He learned to be very well-behaved. Also grew up with crippling self-hatred issues and C-PTSD, and attempted suicide quite a few times. . .but who cares, as long as he was well-behaved :/.

I think it's better now. Not completely, granted, but much better for those of us who can't pretend to be perfect all the time.