On Turning the Big 30

I just realized how long it's been since I last updated my blog. My bad. So I was at work on the 19th... no big deal... then came home and heated up my lasagna for dinner. Went to heat up a second piece and the microwave was dead. Not what I wanted. How to start my birthday off with a bang. I am still blown away by the fact Dawn showed up with a microwave for me. She traded in my original present for this... since a microwave is pretty much a necessity for me. First up on my actual plans for the day was the chiropractor. I wanted to at least feel good for the day. It also gave me a chance to see mom. From there we went out to dinner. Mmm chicken and ribs. Can't forget the daiquiri either. And then I went to see Quantum of Solace with Dawn to round out the evening. It was a great day... and was relaxing.

Now I was supposed to go out on the weekend as well to finish off the celebrations but it just wasn't meant to be. Seems like everyone, but me, was sick that weekend. So those plans are still in pending status. Making it up is going to be a challenge since everyone's schedules vary wildly. Since it's now December and the holiday season I have a feeling it is going to be January before that happens. But I am now 30... and aging gracefully I might add. Helps that I am still carded virtually everywhere I go. *lol*

Evicting the Tenants from the Roach Motel

A while back I realized that I had some visitors at home.... in the form of cockroaches. I think I avoided blogging about it because I didn't want to admit there was a problem and I didn't want people to tell me I was going to need to call the professionals and then be finding somewhere for me and Azrael (who is currently stoned and passed out on the floor I might add... the wonders of catnip) to stay for a few days.

So SS came over and we moved everything out of the kitchen and let loose with the Raid. Sounded like a fantastic idea at the time. There was a problem with that thought though. All it takes is one to be left alive and with eggs and you're screwed. And those things are resilient. So part of the problem is that we moved everything out and there were roaches living in some of those boxes so we just put them back. As I discovered later they were also in the microwave. In the end we just reduced the number but didn't eliminate the problem.

After spending money and time recaulking as many cracks as we could find and can after can of Raid I was basically just cohabitating with the damn things. And I'm going out on a limb and saying that inhaling all those chemicals is not good for me or for Azrael. I will also say that the selection of pest control products in this town is horrible.... Online I found all kinds of other solutions but nothing locally.

Eventually you just get to a point where it's time to deal with it... It's simliar to when I had the ingrown toe nail and one morning I woke up and knew that it was time to go to the hospital and have them deal with it. I just knew it was time and if it meant leaving for a few days so be it. Now I should point out right about now that a few months ag (that's how long I had been dealing with it) the maintenance guy saw the traps and asked if I wanted them to deal with it. I said no and specifically said that it was because I didn't want to be staying elsewhere for a couple of days. Skip ahead and I just want them gone.... whatever it takes. So I call Orkin and come to find out that they don't spray and I wouldn't need to leave my home at all. Could I not have been told that a few months ago? So as soon as I found that out I told them to come in as soon as possible. In case anyone is wondering they use a gel treatment. It takes about a week for it to be working and I can definitely see the effect it is having. I love the thought at evicting those little bastards from the apartment. Well I suppose I am not really evicting them since they're dead but any ways. I want it to be me and Azrael.... not me, Azrael, and a host of other critters.

Sunshine in the Clouds

Thursday was another rough day. The calls were long and frustrating. It seemed like I needed help on every call. As I realized later I was putting unreasonable expectations on myself. Yes I have done tech support before. That doesn't mean that I can just walk into the job and be a superstar. Yet subconsciously that was what I was expecting. And so when the call took longer then I felt it should, or I couldn't figure it out I would get really frustrated. Yet really it was still just day #4. I should actually feel really good about where I am at... and not discouraged that I still need help.

It has just been an emotional week.... Thursday I also made the mistake of calling mom while on break. Now I had figured it would be an easy call. I just wanted a ride to the chiropractor on Thursday. I really didn't want to walk the 4km to the chiropractor and home. I thought she would agree being my birthday and all. Didn't quite go as planned. First she got mad at me because if my vacation was pushed back then I would be missing work on Thursday. I can't help it that I had made prior plans for my birthday on the assumption that I was going to be off. Now my night plans I could reschedule but I am not about to reschedule my chiropractor appointment when she only works i the afternoon twice a week and it has been about 6 weeks since my last appointment. Secondly, what is the point in arguing? As it stood at that point in time I was not working any ways. But then she started asking if I walk to work.... and implying that I could just walk. Don't manipulate.... Just say no. Lie and say you have plans. Tell me you would rather not. Whatever. So I ended up saying I would just walk and she started backpedaling. Now I had just wasted my break on this and just hung up. She called back but I was back on the phones already... not that I would've answered any ways.

It was a rough day. And in the end I went home and ended up in tears. Well I ended up in tears twice in one night... but only once for the frustration that the day itself held. I have been feeling completely overwhelmed. Then I listened to mom's message and it was what I was hoping for from the start... She was agreeing to give me a ride to the chiropractor and had suggested a birthday dinner as well. Could she not have just said that from the beginning?

Then I made the mistake of checking my bank account. Even after getting my bonus there isn't enough money. There is never enough money. I am sick and tired of being poor. That probably wouldn't have been enough to push me over the edge... but the combination of the day I was having and the fact I have my birthday celebration coming up brought on the tears. I've got plans next Saturday for my birthday and I am not even sure how I am going to pay for them. Stresses me out just thinking about it.

And so far everything I have said has been negative.... so the clouds... or rain.... But Friday I did get some sunshine in there. As soon as I got to work I was on the hunt for the manager. it was do or die time. I needed an answer. And Paul didn't know. Hadn't even been to his office yet. So off to the office we go. Still no word.... So he contacted someone and didn't get an answer immediately so he contacted their boss. Took about a half hour but I got an answer... And they see it as a benefit of the company and seem to think I am doing something for them. Makes me look good. So in the end my request was granted. Instead of being on vacation now my vacation will be the following week. So I get to make the most out of training, use the resources that are available, get the weekends off and have time after my birthday bash to recover... like a full week. Some good news.

Finally got some sleep too which was really needed. Slept for 9 hours last night. Most of the week I would sleep for a few hours and then wake up. Never really felt rested. Which made the week a lot tougher and a lot more draining. Sleep.... glorious sleep.... Made for a good day. And looking forward to another day off to rest. Well and watch the last Sprint Cup race of the season. Glorious R&R

Week in Review

Okay so the week is only about half over. But since I wasn't sure I would get to the post at the end of the week I thought I would post this now. Plus I am hoping the last couple of days are more routine. I might be on vacation next week. I know that you are now wondering what the "might" is all about. And I can think of at least one person that might have a vested interest in when I will be free. I always book vacation around my birthday. This year is no different. I booked it month's ago and it was approved. According to my current schedule I am on vacation next week. So what changed? Well I have been in training for the last 5 weeks. It has felt like a mini vacation. This week we went live and while the in class training has been completed the first two weeks on the phones is called TCC. Still not sure what it stands for but it means we have weekends off, time off the phones and most important floor support to assist us with our calls. I want to be there for all of that. Get a couple of weeks under my belt before going on vacation. Problem is that the week after is booked solid for vacations. Next week... or 2 weeks from now it would be no problem. But that week... not so easy. I talked to my trainer and he told me no. Then I discovered that TCC was only the 2 weeks and I really wanted to be there for all of it. So I talked to one of the managers on Friday. He thought it was a great idea and beneficial to the company for me to be there for all of it. But it has been a crazy week and so far the request has fallen through the cracks. Hopefully I find out before the end of my shift on Friday. Wouldn't want to make plans or anything.

So Monday was the launch date. *C*R*A*Z*Y* Basically Murphy's Law was in effect. "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." The IT department was updating the systems so there weren't enough desks. And then the main database system that we use crashed. Now normally I would cheer for time off the phones. But when it's the first day you want it to go smoothly. Instead that just meant the stress was heightened. It was a rough day but I survived.

Just in case work didn't contain enough drama then there was the stalker. Seems he had freaked out the day before on more then one person. Went as far as threatening suicide. So suddenly I had to deal with that... as if my day wasn't trying enough. But he had an appointment with the doctor the next day.... which resulted in what I would call a "Get out of jail free" card. Got a doctor's note to be moved to another team at work... where it will be less stressful. Don't even get me started on that one.

I was more stressed going into the second day then I was the first after everything that happened. But once I started taking calls I settled in and it was a much better day. And today was also a good day. As far as the calls go any ways. Tech support is a much better fit for me then billing ever was. So I am settling in. And yes it is challenging and will take some time to come together and for me to be completely comfortable with it.

Outside of the job I haven't been sleeping well. I am thinking that the lack of daylight is part of it... along with going live.... and the fact my routine seems thrown off. Or maybe it is the small feline that has taken to curling up with me at night and disturbing my slumber. But I love Azrael so I can't really get mad at him. Just hope that I can start getting some sleep.. or should I say sleep through the night.

Blogs & Berries

Blogger to date has not played nice with the BlackBerry. Thought I was going to have to wait for FireFox to come out for mobile devices and hope that it would allow me to blog. Today I downloaded the newest version of Opera Mini for the BlackBerry and here I am blogging from my phone. Just one more thing I can do from the phone. UPDATE: It is difficult to write lengthy posts on the BlackBerry. Well writing it is easy... but it is way too easy to actually back out of the post you were writing and lose the changes. After it happened twice on the next post I wrote I gave up and wrote it from the computer.

End of Training

So Friday brought with it the end of training. It was a sad day. I was really enjoying training. Or maybe that was the time off the phones, shorter days, long lunches, and weekends off. Well it's not even about the weekends off as consecutive days off. Tomorrow it's back to reality. Back to the phones I go. Fortunately, we will have people there to help us with our calls. Going to be interesting... But I am looking forward to doing tech support again. No more billing!!!

Some Things REALLY Bother Me

You know something has made me angry when I make the time to Blog about it immediately. I was reading an article today about how half of US doctors prescribe placebos. For all of you immediately thinking of sugar pills those were only used in about 2% of the cases. More often it was vitamins and things like that. And no that doesn't mean they think it's all in your head.

"One example used in the survey asked the MDs to assume that a clinical trial for fibromyalgia had revealed that subjects who received a sugar tablet showed more improvement than a no-treatment group. The survey recipients were "asked to rate the likelihood of their personally recommending this treatment to non-diabetic patients with fibromyalgia"; how often they recommend a therapy "primarily because you believe it will enhance the patient's expectation of getting better," and so on." Well over half said they would be moderately or very likely to prescribe the treatment.

So far so good... no anger yet... and then I made the mistake of reading some of the comments. And someone had this to say, "I thought it was also pretty amusing that fibromyalgia was used as an example, since its essentially a catch-all group for 'patient says everything hurts but we can't find anything physiologically wrong with them' " Now feel my wrath. As someone that has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia I really hate hearing someone say that it's a catch-all.... kind of reminds me of the thoughts I've heard about Borderline Personality Disorder in the world of psychology. The implication seems to be that it's not a real disorder. I beg to differ.

I am also reminded of my LOA when the doctor told me that Fibromyalgia doesn't really exist and it's all in my head. R-I-G-H-T!!!! Sorry just a little sarcasm there. I wish it was all in my head. At least then I'd have an aswer and a way to stop the pain.

My reaction is probably even stronger by the fact that I am in the middle of a flare-up. All of my muscles are hurting. I am not on any medication for the pain so I just have to suck it up and go on as best as I can. And now I need to get to work for another fun filled day.

What Me Work?

Since it has obviously been a while since I posted anything it's pretty much just been the daily grind. Nothing much going on. Everything pretty much is a blur. Without getting consecutive days off I really hadn't felt like I had any time off. After all every time I had a day off I had all kinds of errands and what not to do. With consecutive days off I usually try to get everything I can done on the first day (or even on the "Friday" night) and then the second day I rest. So that has definitely been taking a toll on me.

For the last 2 weeks I have been in training. I am loving it. Not only do we get consecutive days off but it's time off the phones. No calls... the work is pretty easy... and we have been leaving early. Too bad it won't last forever. *lol* But we do still have 2 more weeks to go of the in class training. Then we will be back on the floor. I am enjoying it while I can.

Don't Try This at Home

Been meaning to write this for a while... what else is new... I was on Yahoo one day, probably because it's my home page and is about the only way I keep up to date on news and there was an article about the Ig nobels. Think funny alternative to the nobel prize. It's real research and sometimes leads to the question, why on earth would you want to study that? So what did I learn? Apparently sperm will explode in Coca-Cola. They don't just die... the word used was that they explode.

It should be noted that they also said that it does not make for a good contraceptive because of how quickly sperm can swim. Well I am guessing there are other reasons that it doesn't make for a good contraceptive for other reasons as well. Just thinking about the acid content and the sugar content....

So what was the reason for the study? Women really were using Coca-Cola as a douche (That reminds me of a conversation at work the other day about the word "douchebag" and how someone didn't know what a douche really was... But I digress). I thought that was just an urban legend. Guess I was wrong. So that prompted the research. And as a side note apparently it will also kill the AIDS virus as well. I realize that a case of Coke isn't all that expensive but if you're looking for birth control does it not make more sense to just buy condoms and practice preventative birth control? What a novel idea....

Random Events

What a week... Yesterday I had an allergic reaction to something. Today I went to Wal-Mart and was walking down the pet food aisle minding my own business when suddenly I had a box fall on my head and hit me right at the base of the skull. I saw stars and suddenly had sharp pain both there and in the top part of my neck. Shopping should not lead to a concussion! Initially I thought that it had just fallen off the top shelf. Then the guy who was working on the overnight stocking crew admitted that he threw it over.... I think the company frowns on an employee injuring a customer. The excuse that he gave was that he still isn't used to people being there at night shopping. I was then reminded that they've been open 24 hours since the Spring so it's not like this is really that new... I didn't file a formal complaint (so far). I really just wanted to get out of there immediately. There was certainly an element of shock there. Both with the fact it was just so unexpected... not the kind of thing you expect to happen while shopping.... and the body's immediate reaction to trauma. I am fine now at least. It really wasn't serious but certainly was random.

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Ever had one of those moments where you thought you had written something only to discover that you were really just hallucinating? After reading an article on the front page of the paper the other day I thought I really had to update my original post now that they had made me angry... or at least somewhat defensive again. Only problem was that there was no original post on the subject. So now I have to start a little farther back.

Back in March there was an article in McLeans on the most dangerous places in Canada to live (according to the stats from 2006 any ways). Just in case you are wondering Regina came out as the most dangerous place followed by Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Prince George and Edmonton. P.Dot came out at #43. Just to put this in comparison Montreal was 19 and Toronto was 26. One of the big things that came out of this was the fact that P.Dot was #4 in sexual assaults.

Immediately following the publication there was an article in the paper where the chief of police and the head of the sexual assault crisis center were saying that P.Dot residents were just reporting it more... that the numbers really weren't any higher here then elsewhere. I think they even gave themselves a pat on the back for their awareness efforts and for people coming forward. Couldn't possibly be that it's happening more often here could it? To them that's not what the statistics show.

Now sexual assault is one of the most under reported crimes and there is no way to know what the real numbers are. I just have no idea how they can back up the statement that it is just being reported more here when no one knows what the real numbers are in any city. Logic (at least my logic) implies that it really is happening more here. After all the reporting rates are likely about the same in any given city. I realize that those people in the know want to contradict that.. and if they can even remotely provide proof that it's not happening more here and is just being reported more I am all ears.

So skip ahead to yesterday. The title of the article (I kid you not here) is "Sexual Assaults Are Rising, But That Could Be A Good Thing." So far this year 36 sexual offenses have been reported which is an increase of 28.6% from last year. Maybe it's me but that high an increase does not sound like a good thing in any way. The head of the sexual assault center admits that only 7-10% ever report it. So back to my initial question, is it really being reported more here or happening more here? The justification here was that the numbers are not necessarily increasing but people are more comfortable coming forward. Say what? I never wanted to go forward but I didn't want him getting away with it either. I felt obligated to do something... And it was certainly not based on education, awareness, or comfort level.

So if P.Dot was #4 after 2006 and they are saying that sexual assaults (or at least the reporting of it) are on the increase does that mean we'll be ranked even higher in future surveys? More scary stats include include the fact that 1 in 4 Canadian women will be sexually assaulted. If I am not mistaken that also mirrors the statistics for mental illness. 49% happen in broad daylight. 80% happen in the home. Lastly, 69% are victimized by someone they know.

back to the stats here... "The centre received 2,209 calls to its 24-hour crisis line in 2007, a jump from 1,600 in 2006. As well, counseling sessions rose from 930 in 2006 to 1,256 in 2007." Did I mention it's hugely under reported (as far as police goes)? Anyone else scared by those numbers? The population here is just under 80,000.

I am still thinking back to my own experiences, especially since it was 3 years ago this past week. Not only was the attack itself brutal enough but you would think that you would feel validated for going forward... for having the courage to do something... for fighting back. Every step of the process I felt like I was being victimized all over again. And since they were talking about being comfortable and what not with going forward how about the sensitivity of the police force. In the end I got a call saying, "The charges are being dropped. There weren't enough witnesses to pursue a case." I am sorry that it wasn't a gang bang or that we weren't creating a porno flick to help your case. But according to the initial article they have a good closure rate.... How many of those cases are tossed?

Perhaps they need to address the deeper issues and not just gloss it over... not make excuses and try to say that it's being reported more, unless of course, they can back that up. At least that is my take on it.

Strangers Have the Best Candy

Yesterday while at work I discovered the truth behind not accepting candy from strangers. Well in my case it was a Spinach dip... for me that might as well be candy since I don't eat a lot of sugary sweets to begin with. I didn't think twice about it. After all I like spinach dips and she made a fantastic taco dip the other day. Really should get the ingredient list for that. Any ways... this time it turned out to be a really, really bad idea. Within a few minutes I had an insta-migraine, pain going through my neck, and a tingling sensation in my arms and hands. My hands actually felt sort of numb. I kept thinking I was going to drop my phone or something because I had very little feeling in my hands. Typing notes was quite a challenge. As the adrenaline rush kicked in I could feel my heart race too. The smart thing would've been to leave... maybe even go to the hospital. Did I do that? Nope. I stuck it out as long as I possibly could... well until I had a ride home any ways. That was about 3.5 hours later. By that point I was regaining some of the feeling in my hands but was still in rough shape. 24 hours later I am perfectly fine. But it definitely sucked. No idea what caused it since I have no known food allergies but I did learn not to accept random food items from people, no matter how appealing it looks.

There's a Visine for That

Before work yesterday my eye started hurting. At some point when I was out today I remember thinking, "There's a Visine for that." I was hoping that it was just dry eyes so I made use of the Visine when I got home. I was wrong and it didn't help. I am hoping it's nothing and clears up in a day or two.

What's in a Name?

I was relaxing and enjoying my day off when there was a knock at the door. Now it's pretty rare for me to have company... And I certainly wasn't expecting anyone. I answer the door and a woman is there about the upcoming election. Well the election that hasn't even been announced yet. First of all I will say that she was there from the Marxist-Leninist Party. The emphasis was on election reform and changing things in Canada... while pointing to things that have lost favour with the public, like the military presence in Afghanistan. She wanted my signature as they need at least 100 signatures supporting a nomination to go ahead with it. I figured why not. And I am sure some people are wondering what I was thinking in that decision. For one I think that people should have choice and that maybe there should be more then the 3 top political parties. And really I was apathetic and was considering not voting this time around. It's about f*#$ing with them. They think they have my support but really I am just disillusioned and don't believe in what any of them are selling.

I would really like to know why they chose that name... I mean are they hoping that people just won't know what Marx and Lenin stood for? I am assuming that it's because words like communist and socialism don't tend to garner much favour. Even while I was signing my name I was wondering if I was suddenly going to wind up on a watch list. It was like a throw back to days gone by... not that I would remember those days since I wasn't born yet.

She even left me with a page outling their goals... beliefs... I am a little scared to read it. It's all about their rhetoric. Do I believe that there needs to be change? Yes.... But not this. However, I do think they should be given their chance... maybe even shake things up a little...

High School Confidential

The other day I was at work and it was time for lunch (not sure I should be calling it lunch when it's 10:00 at night but any ways) so I head off to the lunch room, heat up my cheeseburger, and then sat down at a table by myself. Within a few minutes my table was full. It reminded me o being back in high school..... only for once I was the cool kid that people wanted to be with. Just thought it was interesting.

The Changeover

I never thought that changing shifts would be this difficult... at least not going from open to close. Figured I would just go back to what I was used to and would be fine since I could sleep in. Maybe it is just because I am getting older but it's not so easy. Granted last night I really didn't have anything to do so my mind wasn't as active but by midnight I just wanted to crawl into bed and go to sleep. The problem is that tonight I won't be done work until 2:00 am. My whole sleep schedule is messed up. Last week I was getting up at 4:30 and this week it's more like I am going to bed then. By the time my body catches up I will be on a different shift again. I'm too old for this.

Instinct

Whenever I am in pain I find myself trying to crack the pain away. It's almost like it's instinct... after all I know that the effort is futile. The pain with fibromyalgia is muscular.. a deep tissue massage might help, but not cracking it. I recently discovered that I am not alone in this behaviour. I was talking to someone that has arthritis in her knee and it would seem that when she is in pain she does the same thing. I wonder why it is that we both try uttery futile ways to get relief.... even while knowing that it won't help.

Open to Close

My job has a revolving door of employees. I think it has the highest turnover rate of any call center in town. It's really not difficult to see why that would be. Employee satisfaction does not seem to rate high on their priorities. And why change when there are always new bodies that seem willing to take the job and bring in the money? There's always fresh meat. After my last job I think my idealism has long since disappeared. The thought of small changes that would make things better no longer enter my mind. After all it's just a source of frustration since nothing ever changes. So I have just resigned myself to that's the way it is.

Now one thing that gets to me is the lack of consecutive days off. Maybe it's because of the Fibro... or just who I am but I find I need two days to recharge. The first day to get things done and the second day to rest. But I don't get that, most weeks. Right now it just feels like I have an extended weekend but really that's little more then illusion. Frustration number 2.... this week I worked open shifts (6 am to 2:30 pm) and then next week I go to close (5:45 pm to 2:15 am). So sure Friday I finished at 2:30 pm and Sunday I am not back in until 5:45 but I also have to switch over my sleeping patterns in there. Talk about a shock to the system.

I must say that the 6 am shifts are not my cup of tea. I do not enjoy the alarm going off at 4:30 in the morning and leaving the house while it is still dark outside. I much prefer the later shifts... especially the evening shifts. Not sure how I feel about the closing shifts quite yet. Ask me that next week.

Putting My Feet Up

Must say that I really love my BlackBerry. Other then my pet peeve I have not posted about it. I can certainly understand now why they call it the CrackBerry. I used to scoff at it But now that I have one... wow.... I purchased a micro-SD card so it has now replaced my PDA as my MP3 player. It can do just about everything the PDA can any ways. Now the GPS is something that I would have to pay Bell for so should I actually need the GPS I'd likely use the PDA for that. I can sync it with both the PC and the Mac so the calendar and contacts are up to date. I've had a love/hate relationship with FaceBook but the BlackBerry has a Facebook application which is a trimmed down version. Basically I can check status updates, post on people's walls, and send messages which is all I really need. So I am always on it. Brian and I have email wars on it. I also have Google Talk but it doesn't seem to be working quite right... possibly because I'm still signed in on the Mac. Plus I have unlimited email capabilities. There are games, memos, and a number of other applications for it. Oh yeah and it's also a phone. Okay so now that you all know I love my BlackBerry that really wasn't the reason for the post.

My goal for yesterday was to go to the hospital right after work yesterday. Plans didn't quite work out that way but I did make it to the hospital... just a little later. Fortunately I had the BlackBerry there to keep me company. So I had music to listen to and was writing an email. Sort of made it all tolerable... especially since I was there for 3 hours in the end.

Since you may be wondering why I was there (if you haven't already looked at the labels any ways) I was battling another ingrown toenail. Was at the hospital about 6 months ago and all they did was give me antibiotics. So it never really got better and just got infected again. The nail doesn't seem to grow out... just into the skin. For the last two months I have been trying to battle it on my own with Epsom salt baths and just digging at it, trying to drain the infection. But with no luck... just a lot of pain. I woke up yesterday adn just decided that it was time. Maybe it was the fact it was hurting to walk... or the fact that it was constantly bothering me... or just the concern that the infection was going to get worse and cause more problems. So I went.

So I get put in one of the rooms to wait for the doctor. One of the other nurses comes by since she wants to put a patient in that room. After all there are only certain rooms that they can do sutures in. She asks why I am there and I tell her. The response, "I wonder if they'll even do anything." Things that a health care professional just shouldn't say. I had been there for about 2 hours at this point and I do remember the last time I went in for the same problem. I wanted them to do more this time... And I really don't want to have them doubting it. In some ways I felt like she was minimizing the complaint as well... since if they aren't (or might) not do anything then maybe I shouldn't be there.

So the doctor comes in. He wasn't going to do anything about the one since it's not bad enough. But the one that has been painful he decided to cut away part of the nail, which is exactly what I was expecting. First of all, when they decide to freeze it that really hurts. Fortunately he had prepared me for that. I won't give you the vivid image of them cutting away the nail. I will say that one of the nurses and someone else came in and they were talking about putting a picture up for kids to take their minds off the fact that they are being stitched up. My response, "I'm sure it wouldn't just be the kids that would like that since right now I'd rather be looking at a picture then watching him cut away my nail." Bandaged it up and I was on my way. Now since the toe was frozen I figured the walk home would be no big deal. I figured it would feel weird but that was about it. I was wrong. I think the anttistetic started wearing off partway through. But it really started hurting. By then I had no choice but to keep going though.

Fortunately I am off work until tomorrow night. I am under orders to walk as little as possible for the next couple of days. If nothing else it is forcing me to take it easy today and put my feet up. Not exactly something that comes naturally. I want to go run errands... do laundry... 101 other things... and instead I am updating my blog and taking it easy.

That Was Easy... Sort Of

The other day I went to load a web site on the PC. For whatever reason I have trouble loading it in Firefox and Safari didn't like it much either so that left IE on the PC. Should have been no big deal. Except that the computer was off... Guess I hadn't turned it back on after the last power outage. Go to turn it on. No dice. Test it with a different outlet and with a different power cable. Still nothing. The next day I was supposed to have plans but they got rescheduled so it was time to troubleshoot. But I really didn't want to start taking out components and shorting the power supply to test. So I decide to call Acer. Now finding a number for Acer turned out to bed quite a challenge. Their web site does not list a toll free number. Fortunately for me there is always Google. And the first page that came up was someone posting the little known tech support number for Acer.

Maybe it's the fact the number is virtually unknown but they answered immediately. Their version of troubleshooting was to verify that the outlet works. Beyond that it was time to send it in. That was it? Now just to put this in perspective I had the side of the case off the computer and was all set to roll up my sleeves and really troubleshoot it. Instead I spend the entire time sitting on the futon with Azrael curled up in my lap. Now I will say that he was having system issue so he had to transfer me to level to in order to set up the repair. 3o minutes on hold (not so fn when you're on a cell phone) and the level 2 guy just had me reset the power to the unit and then set it up for repair. Guess they really don't want the end users potentially damaging the system while troubleshooting. But for once I wasn't fighting with the company to get something accomplished. Unlike my dealings with another company. *Cough, Apple, Cough, Cough*

About the only glitch has been in shipping it back. I callled on Monday and the pick-up was supposed to be scheduled for Wednesday when I'd be home. Instead they scheduled it for Tuesday and Purolator got mad because there was no buzzer code included. I was supposed to be done work at 2:30 so my goal was to find a box ASAP and then call Purolator in the hopes that they just might be able to re-attempt the pick up. Of course I ended up leaving work late and then ran right into my stalker. I was hoping that he might be able to get the original box for me. An hour later he couldn't find it and had this mangled box. I'm not even sure Purlator would accept it and even if they did if it was damaged in shipping I wouldn't really be able to claim it. But since I was on a time constraint I called Purolator and was told he might reattempt the pick-up. My day had really got shot to hell... Now the plans that had been rescheduled were on Tuesday. I was pretty frazzled and not as relaxed as I would like to be. A nd the Purolator guy didn't come by. So after the dinner ad a movie Steve went home and I was off on the hunt for a real box. Went down to Zellers and pilfered a box from outside Price Chopper. They were going to use it as a garbage for their employees. Not any more. There were only a couple of items in it so I could still salvage the box. Perhaps their manaegment should invest in a real garbage can. So I get it home and realize that it is much bigger then I initially thought. I didn't have enough foam and bubble wrap to secure the computer. Went downstairs twice and on the second trip someone had thrown out an iMac box. Seemed kind of poetic actually. Sending back a box to Acer in the box for an Apple computer.

I called Purolator Wednesday morning and first they said the delivery would be for Thursday. Okay that's a problem since I am back to work and then corrected it to the same day. But then I was a little paranoid that the driver wouldn't show up at all. And then the waiting begins since you have no idea what time they will be there. Couldn't go anywhere. And I really didn't want to start anything that required any sort of attention in the meantime. About 4 hours later the guy shows up. But there is no information on the waybill as far as where it is beign sent to. He calls Purolator and Acer didn't give them that information and they definitely didn't tell me. So the Purolator guy leaves without the package. Time to call Acer again. 20 minutes later I have the information and the pick-up has been rescheduled yet again. And back to waiting. 2 hours later he's back for the package. There goes my entire day... pretty much. And the next day it was delivered to Acer. Now I am just waiitng for them to fix it and send it back.