The Hurricane Named Confusion

At first, there was no help and now, I'm getting so much help its like standing in a hurricane. Information spills like rushing torrents from both sides now, and my poor rattled little brain is having trouble finding solid ground to stand on. I can't even begin to know their motives, let alone whether they even involve me. Insurance companies are supposed to have your back to some degree right? Granted this has not been my experience in every situation I've had to deal with them. In short, I only know what happens when you get screwed over. I am too damned tired to deal with shenanigans this time around. All I want is my car back. Seriously. I LOVE my Honda.

Currently I am driving a little Chevy provided by an insurance company, so I can actually get to work. And Home... another places I need to get to. Its like driving a tiny sedan... It should handle lighter, but it doesn't. Of course I'm biased. I've been driving a light weight little car for a while now. There's a real difference in how they handle, and its weird. I don't know how long its going to take for the Honda to get fixed. Hopefully not that long. I'd really rather not drive the rental more than I need to.

Ah yes, and then there was the doctor's visit. After the accident, my right hand was flopping around like a dying fish, and my left was steady as a rock. I was concerned, and so was the Sheriff who was on scene first. Enough to call for the EMTs. They said I was alright, but I should get checked out. Thus I found myself perched upon the exam table, while my doctor checked my shoulder over, and came to the conclusion that I've got whiplash.. just not in my neck, and its causing fine motor control issues with my right hand. Which means I can drive and do big things, but if I try to hold a pen or pencil, or use a fork/spoon, my hand falls back to doing the palsy maneuver. Writing is sort of a challenge as my hand jerks to a stop instead of flowing smoothly along like usual.

I was just going to concentrate on doing my job this summer. No need to worry about school in the fall, etc. In fact I had signed up for an Art class I'd been wanting to take for a while now because, gee, I've got some free time. Now I'm sort of concerned I won't be able to use the pencil like I usually do when I draw. I'm on anti-inflammatory medication, and am scheduled to do physical therapy to make sure the muscle heals right. My doctor seemed to think this was temporary, and I think so too, as its not doing the wobble all the time now. Just sometimes.

I've had so many experiences over the years that involve everything going down the crapper, that I'm really not even phased by this. So much so that one of my friends couldn't understand why I was so damned cheery about this. Life is too short to get worked up over this stuff. It really is. Its exhausting when you hang on to all that stress, anger, frustration, and fear. All that does is make you feel worse. I'm not saying don't be vigilant about getting things done right, but I'm saying ... let it go.

Eat a cookie. ;)

When Faced with the Choice of a Macaroon or Dog Food...

Just a word of warning to those of you who agonize when faced with very little time, and the choice to be selfish or generous... be selfish. Don't get the dog, dog food. Especially if she's not really in need of another bag for some days yet. These were the things on my mind as I left a little later than I expected to today when I left for work. To macaroon, or not to macaroon. There was only time to stop at one place before getting to work on time. Thus I was faced with a choice. Go to the bakery and get fresh squeezed lemonade and freshly baked moist macaroons, or go get my dog her dog food. Being a good owner, and knowing I'd feel guilty while eating and drinking such items, thereby rendering them imperfect, I went and responsibly got my dog her food.

And was rewarded for this by single-handedly catching a small speeding Subaru Imprezza squarely in my car's trunk. I had no idea that such little cars could reach speeds of Mach 1. There was literally 2 seconds for me to say, ".... oh sh!t..." before the little red speed ball whapped into my back end. Oddly, it was the Imprezza with bigger share of the damage. Its been a long weird day, filled with phone calls to insurance companies, parents, co-workers, the boss, and an auto body shop. Seriously though, I really could have done without my car scrunching experience.

Tomorrow will be fun as well. I get to see the doctor. Again. He can look at my shoulder, which is behaving oddly, and tell me,"Yep. You've strained it. Here, let me throw anti-inflammatory medication at you, and strap you into a sling for two weeks while your muscles recover." Personally, I think this man hates his job, because he smiles too much, and is afflicted with the false cheerfulness you find in an overworked Santa stand-in during the Christmas rush. Its like staring at badly installed veneers. I really need to find a different doctor.

After that, I think Dad and I have to go out to the auto-body shop and talk to them about the car. I'm hoping it won't take long to fix, because frankly, I love my little Honda. I was quite impressed with it. It didn't stall out when it got hit, didn't move forward very much, and kept me pretty damned safe. Strangely, I got hit right outside the Honda dealership I bought it from, and they were so nice. They let me sit in their waiting area while I made all the calls I had to, and checked out my car for me to see if it was safe to drive or not. Which it wasn't. The exhaust assembly is screwed up enough that it might fall off if I drive it.

So, do remember... If you have the choice of getting macaroons or dog food.... GO GET THE COOKIE!!!

FINALLY!!!

It only took me 15 years, but I have managed to get myself an AA degree in Liberal Arts. Most of that time has been used stumbling all over the scholastic chessboard trying to figure out what to focus my attention on. You see, I'm one of these exceedingly disturbed people who would be perfectly happy taking every class I can get my hands on for the rest of my life. Quite honestly I'm wondering if that's possible, because I'd love to have a BA in multiple things. Anthropology, multiple languages, History (and it doesn't matter which. I love it all), and a multitude of other things. I'm still sort of eyeballing Anthropology, or perhaps Archeology as a second choice, but I'm going to go after a BA in Japanese. Took me this long to finally find something that's got my undivided attention... at least for now. Currently I've switched from focusing on school and work, to work and finding a college that has a Japanese language program I like. Not as easy as it sounds.

Since I'm not doing classes all the time now, I've had time to read guilt free! Oh, how I've been reading... and I do apologize for not updating the page as I went, but since I had homework for a dreaded speech class, I was hiding that I was reading too. Silly? Oh yes. But we all have mental quirks, and mine tend to be stranger than average. So, here are the books I read when I shouldn't have been: "On the Edge" by Ilona Andrews, "The Reckoners" by Doranna Durgin (who I thought had quit writing YEARS ago), "Evil Ways" by Justin Gustainis, "Magic in the Shadows" and "Magic on the Storm" by Devon Monk, "Unperfect Souls by Mark del Franco, "Streets of Magic" and "Demon Bound" by Caitlin Kittredge, "Changes" by Jim Butcher, "Fahrenheit 451" Ray Bradbury, "Silver Bourne" by Patricia Briggs and "Tengu: The Mountain Goblin" by John Donohue. I think that does it... I think.... hmm. Okay this list neglects all the Manga series I re-read, and bought... and submerged in to save my sanity this last semester. I hate speech, and I almost literally became someone else in order to deal with it. Sanity saving in the same vein as when I read Piers Anthony's Xanth *trilogy*... hah. I think he's on book 38. But same sort of thing, because back then it was just after a large earthquake, and we were living in a 37 foot motor home in our drive way; our house having been red-tagged. Joyful experience I tell you. Joyful.

Today was sort of a lazy day for me, except for the hour I spent in the dentists chair this morning, where they said,"WOW! You take really good care of your teeth! I barely had to do anything!" This is the part were I beamed from all the praise. Then she said,"Except you'll probably need oral surgery to take care of that pocket near your molar." This is the part where I look like a kicked puppy. "Oh don't worry," she says catching my large fearful eyes,"they'll replace the bone your removed wisdom tooth disintegrated with sterilized pig bone, or cadaver bone." Here's were I stare at the woman in disbelief, while my overly helpful memory provides me with flashbacks to the last time I had surgery in my mouth... which was compounded by the fact that I react badly to certain antibiotics and anti-nausea medication that was prescribed... Lets just say that last June sucked. A lot.

So, in a stupor of resigned panic, I stopped at the local general store and got a nice relaxing horror movie. Yes, I find horror films relaxing. They're so damned predictable. Spooky music, que hero, que companions, que monster/nutcase.... dark setting, blood, gore... loud noises.. more screaming.. etc. No escape. I rented Pandorum, which had a surprisingly good storyline. Well acted, or rather as much as you could expect. I liked it, and would probably watch it again. Sort of like Pitch Black, which I liked as well. In fact I watched that too. Currently, I've switched pace a bit, and am watching a Goofy collection that I bought years ago, but never felt like watching it. It came in a nice silver gift case. I've always liked Goofy.

Curiosity = Octopus

Came across this on YouTube this morning while avoiding the paper I have to write. Which is dumb, because its a short paper. Its just the content that I have no real interest in writing about. Ah well. Anyway, I figured I'd just put this in for your enjoyment. Made me smile. ;)

I liked the music too. Cracked me up. ^-^ LOL!

If you'd like to watch the video without the side cut off, and all the words intact, click here and you should be able to see the whole thing.

... goofy octopus. LOL!

ps. thank you Mom, for showing me how to embed. Mom is the Grand Master of blogging.

When Teeth Wear Clothes

Today, I was up early to get to a school councilors appointment. It was not a good scene, as I felt awful when I woke up (the work of the cold-from-hell) and had a difficult time waking up, and staying that way. Luck was with me though, because I made it to school, checked in at the front desk, and got to a table before falling asleep for half an hour. The clock read 9:15 a.m. when I woke up, which was 15 minutes after they should have called me in to see the councilor. It seems their computer system was on the fritz, so the lady I was there to see never got notified that I was waiting for her. At least I was able to nap. There was a happy ending. All my paperwork for getting my AA degree has been turned in. It'll be a while before I get the actual sheet of paper though, because I missed the Spring/Summer deadline. Therefore I get to wait for Fall graduation. That's fine. There is no rush.

Afterwards, I went to a local place for lunch, then went over to the mall, which I haven't been in, in something like 3 years, to see what the remodel looked like. The place is now a rabbit warren, huge, confusing, and oddly more inviting. From there I went to work, and made the mistake of snacking on some almonds. I like almonds. I eat 5 or 6 of them, and I'm not hungry for hours. Which is good, because I'm generally so busy at work, that I don't have time to actually eat anything more substantial. Almonds are good for you anyway.

There is a downside however. Almonds have a little brown skin, which sometimes slides off the nut while you chew. Um... they're very good at getting stuck in between your teeth, in between your teeth and your gum line, and in my case, very good at adhering itself to one of the small front teeth. Not the ones right in front, but to one of the ones to the side. It must have been there for hours, because I ate the almonds right after I got to work. Yes, I feel like crap, but I did a lot of smiling today, and joking and... not one person said,"Uh, you've got a little bit of something stuck to your tooth there." Which would not have been so bad if we hadn't had a Friends of the Library meeting today. These are the people who run book sales to help fund the library. These are the people who volunteer to help shelve when we need help. These are the people who stop in just to say hi. And not on of them told me that one of my teeth was wearing a very becoming brown jumper. Even stranger, was that the Directer (yes, that would be my boss of bosses) was there for said meeting, and yes, I smiled at him too, and did he tell me that I have a little something on my tooth? Nope. I didn't find my little hitchhiker until I went to the bathroom, LONG after everyone had left and I'd closed up for the day. I was already having a bad hair day. You know, one of those days where you stuff your hair into a ponytail because everything else you've tried makes you look like you're wearing a wet rodent, and even the ponytail is a failure? I'm sure I looked like someone who'd stumbled out of the backwoods after having been hold up in a cabin for the winter. Yes, when teeth wear clothes, you know you've really reached your limits. Thank God I've got tomorrow off. I don't get paid, but I don't care at this point.

Maybe Saturday will be better. That's when I go back to work. :)

The Cold From Hell

I wish I was kidding when I say that. Unfortunately I am not. On the Friday before Easter, about halfway through my workday, I started getting a headache, which was quickly followed by tender skin, achy joints and the distinctly 'oh god, this is going to be bad' fever just to top everything else off. By the time I got home, my headache had flared to the point where I was having trouble thinking, and staying upright. Mom made tacos for dinner, and I ate some even though I was not in the least bit hungry. The next morning... okay, I don't remember much about the next 4 days or so, except that I had a fever, felt awful, and had a severe headache. When I say severe headache, I mean my entire head from the neck up. Ears, nose, entire cranium, and eyeballs all felt as if the nerve endings were aflame It was without a doubt the worst headache I have ever had in my life. You can't sleep, can't move, can't eat, can't drink. Which you eventually find is just fine, because you really haven't the energy anyway. I was positive I had bronchitis or some equally evil form of respiratory infection, and went to the doctor. He looked me over and declared that I had the worst cold he'd ever seen, and put me on some rather heavy duty decongestants to help get all the crap out of my head. (Dad would point out here, with surprise, that he'd though my head had been empty for years! Hah Hah Dad. Hah Hah.) Its working, but slowly. My left ear for instance feels like someone had jammed a disembodied finger into the canal and abandoned it there for unknown reasons. This of course is causing my throat to hurt, but overall, I am better.

Mom isn't. She caught the same thing I did, but she's got a sore throat, along with congestion, headache, probable fever and so on. She's been sleeping a lot, and drinking lots of fluids. This cold from what I've been told lasts for nearly 3 weeks. It creeps in slow and heavy like fog, lulling you into the belief that it'll burn off quickly. In reality it sinks its claws in and throttles you for nearly 3/4's of a month. I thought it was a flu, or some other such thing, but no. Its just a cold gone rogue. Forgive my language, but the damn thing is a real bitch to fight your way through, not to mention the recovery, which is NOT swift in any sense of the word. The cold is reluctant to let go of you, and fights you every step of the way. Thus my rather wimpy status. I come home, and fall asleep for an hour. Monday was really bad. I got home, sat down on the bed, went to check email on my laptop, and woke up 4 hours later. So much for getting school work done. :P

Anyway, I am on the slow road to Mendsville, while Mom is probably slowly getting better. If she's not better by the end of the weekend, I will have to force her into a car, and take her to the doctor. From what I'm hearing, not everyone is able to kick this thing before it turns into something much more ominous, such as a sinus infection, or in some cases, strep throat. Mom does not have a high opinion of doctors, so its always a struggle to make her go when she should.

Just updating. I'm not sure anyone reads this blog. I so seldom have the time or feel the need to sit down and chronicle my everyday life. But since Mom wasn't positing I figured I'd give everyone an update. And yes, our Buff Orpington is nearly healed. All the big holes are pretty close to being nothing but scars. Her feathers are even growing back in! :)

What Have You Done Now?!

A couple of days ago, I was passing from the living room to the kitchen and glanced down the hallway. And this is what I see.

Now, I ask you, would you begin thinking that she'd done something wrong? I get suspicious when she does things like this. Its like she turns on the cute switch to distract me from the fact that a couple of weeks ago she got into a garbage bag and ate chicken bones. I was not pleased. She goes and gets things out of Mom's bathroom, and cuddles with them in the hallway. Things such as ... the bar of soap, or a rubber ducky. And she loves used bounce dryer sheets. After finding one, she smuggles them upstairs to roll around on them. I find pieces of them here and there... and in her fur. I've come to the conclusion that her soul was destined for the body and destiny of a suave master British Cat Burglar, what with the absolute

penchant she has for sneaking the most obvious of items past us. She knows I'm not pleased, therefore she pulls things like this. I spend a great deal of time thanking the PTBs (powers that be) that she wasn't born with thumbs. Dear god, it would've been a disaster. Sure, she looks cute, and she'd probably get away with it, if her devilish nature wasn't also glaring at me.

Its January, therefore I'm due for a pick-me-up. For no particular reason I present you with this: