Category Archives: My Woes

Jury Duty

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I might have jury duty tomorrow. Did you know that while pens, pencils, plastic utensils, and jewelry are allowed in the assembly room, knitting needles and crochet hooks are not? I’m not exactly sure how knitting needles are more lethal than a pencil (unless they’re spy knitting needles that are actually hypodermics (and how cool would that be?!)). I’m considering taking yarn and knitting on pencils just to be obnoxious. OK, not really. I’d probably get arrested. (“What are you in for?” “Knitting.”)

Also, the “quiet room” is currently closed. That means the only place to wait is in the general assembly room, where they will show movies.

I got a broken wing

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Shoulder: still hurts. Saw doctor. Said “It hurts when I do this.” He said “Oh.” Sense of humour is not strong in that one.

Anyhow. I have a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon for a cortisone injection.

… in December….

Like, a month from now.

For what will probably be a 15 minute visit where I tell the guy “it hurts when I do this” (and then he’ll say “So don’t do that.” because dude, if an orthopedic surgeon doesn’t know that joke then this world is more hopeless than I thought.)

So I ask you, dear viewing public (all four of you), what do I do if between now and then the pain gets unbearable? Can I go to the ER or an Urgent Care place and beg for help, complete with documentation that yes, it’s a real problem and I’m waiting to see someone so they’ll know I’m not a junkie looking for a fix? Or do I do my usual thing of just complaining loudly and often and working through the pain? Or (possibly the best option): see the urgent care guy while complaining loudly and often and annoying Kitti.

Because honestly, it hurts a lot. It’s no longer a “it hurts when I do this” thing, it’s a “it hurts all the time and it hurts more if I do this.” Most of the time it’s an 8 out of 10. Sometimes I forget how much it can hurt and I use my arm like a normal human being and then it’s a 10 out of 10. If I’m not really careful when I’m asleep (think about how difficult that is) we’re talking a 12 or a 13 of pain. I’m tired because I’m not sleeping well because the pain wakes me up. I’m tired because I spend the entire day hurting. I’m starting to stress out my other arm because I’m over-using it.

And for the first time in my life I hate having manual car windows and seatbelts because reaching back to get the belt hurts like hell and winding down the window is uncomfortable.

Have we been “Chosen”?

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Kitti thinks it’s significant that the Ghost Cat walked in unasked and started making himself at home. I really don’t know if I’m ready for another cat, especially one that looks so much like Robin.

It is a sweet cat and he does seem pretty insistent on moving in, though. But the vet bills! The food! The socializing of multiple cats!

I suspect Buddy/Ghost is better with multiple cats than our current cats are. Anime and Rita hate each other. Rita doesn’t seem to be thrilled with the idea of another cat coming in, either — she liked Robin well enough but they weren’t exactly what you’d call “friendly” or “social”. Buddy/Ghost also seems to like Cardiff. Of course, Rita seemed to like Cardiff too until she moved in….

While I’m not opposed to getting another cat, I’m not sure it should be this cat. We’d talked about maybe getting a kitten from BARCS or another local rescue … but not until November, when Kitti won’t be working full-time and can be there to help keep it out of trouble or stop it from getting beaten up too badly.

Kitti says “Well, we could get him and still get a kitten…”.

Have I ever mentioned that Kitti is not really a pet person? Seriously, they annoy him more often than not. There is something seriously wrong in the universe if he’s the one suggesting multiple adoptions and I’m the one saying “wait, maybe not”.

If the world ends soon, it’s not my fault. But I did try to warn you.

Things I Have Recently Learned About FedEx

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  1. Home Delivery is Tuesday through Saturday
  2. If Monday is a holiday the Home Delivery staff is off on Tuesday
  3. The FedEx driver that covers my neighborhood needs either a GPS or lessons in reading
  4. It’s really hard to prove that you didn’t get something

On the 25th FedEx delivered an order from Keurig to my house. It was K-cups of iced coffee because Kitti and I have been drinking it like crazy and it’s not something I’ve been able to find in stores. The tracking information said it was delivered. It wasn’t there when I got home, so I did the usual thing of checking to see if my neighbors took it in, rifled through the junk mail to see if a delivery attempt notice was left and the package was mistakenly noted as delivered, and eventually resigned myself to the fact that the package had been left on my porch and someone walked off with it. I made myself feel better by imagining the thief opening the box only to find four dozen tiny cups of coffee grounds and being really disappointed.

On the 27th I reported it as lost and waited for FedEx to get back to me.

Also on the 27th my mom bought a violin for me. A kind-of expensive electric violin. She paid extra for Saturday delivery. Saturday morning I was up about 9, hanging out in the living room with the dog, doing nothing. When mom came over around noon she asked if I’d gotten it yet. I said no, figuring that they just hadn’t delivered yet. Mom went online and showed me the delivery confirmation that said it had been dropped off at 9:45.

I have a dog. If someone DOES come up the steps (even if they’re going into the house next door) he wanders over and sits by the door in case it’s someone coming to our house. Not in a watchdog kind of way. More in a “I just met you and I love you” way. Anyhow. Me. Dog. Living room. Door? No. Kitti and the dog went out for a walk sometime after 10am, so if something had been left on the porch they would have seen it.

So mom called in and reported it as missing. Yes, we checked with the immediate neighbors. We even walked to $MyHouseNumber on the streets parallel to mine in case the driver just got turned around in the one-way streets and left it on the wrong block. No luck.

BOTH things are tagged as “Delivered: Left on porch.” FedEx has to get in touch with the driver and have him (or her) go back to where they delivered it. They aren’t working today because yesterday was a holiday (See #2 above). I don’t really know what good that’s going to do. The driver will go back to where he (or she) delivered it, say “that’s the house” and how will anyone know it’s actually my house? Will someone go with the driver? If the driver realizes they screwed up the first time and goes to my house on the re-check and says “that’s the house” whilst pointing at my house, how can I prove he (or she) didn’t deliver there the first two times? “See this empty spot? This is where the coffee isn’t. And over here? That’s where there isn’t a violin.”

I’d already ordered more coffee before we knew the violin was missing. It’s also being shipped FedEx. I wonder if it’ll ever show up, or if I’ll be out the price again. More importantly, I hope mom can get a refund on the violin and the shipping cost.

My Seafood Allergy! Let Me Show You Them.

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Let me start this off by making one thing very clear.

I AM FINE. PUT DOWN THE PHONE, MOM.
I AM NOT AT THE HOSPITAL. I DON’T NEED A DOCTOR.
DEATH IS NOT LURKING JUST AROUND THE CORNER

Death is actually sitting in the dining room having a nice coffee and some cookies.

Seriously, I have a really insanely potent allergy to seafood — fresh fish, shellfish, saltwater fish, things that contain ground up bits of fish scales, etc. Most people just scoff and think I’m exaggerating. Rather than eat a tuna sandwich or smear cosmetics containing fish oil on my face to prove them wrong, I just shrug and hope it never happens to them.

I know about this allergy. I have always had this allergy. I know I cannot come into contact with anything that contains fish oil (I’m looking at you, Omega-3 enhanced products), including topical things (like cosmetics/soaps/shampoos that contain certain kinds of seaweed).

This is the important thing: I know I’m also allergic to skin contact with fish products (incidentally, you should feel bad for my cats).

Anyhow. The filter in my fishtank has the usual intake tube that has a grate to keep the fish from getting sucked up. The bottom feeder either objects to this device (I suspect she’d like to murder her roommates because she’s getting really large and would like the place to herself), or possibly she likes the fact that poop will get stuck to it, and she eats the poop. In either case, the grate device occasionally gets knocked off. Usually I take the net and get the part, turn off and unplug the filter, and lift the whole thing out to reattach it.

Not tonight. No. I couldn’t find the net, so I just reached into the tank, grabbed the grate, and popped it back onto the intake tube.

In the fifteen seconds or so it took me to talk to the kitchen to wash of my arm, my tattoo itched a little. While I was washing my hands and arm I realized it felt a little weird. Like all the lines were raised. This tattoo is a few years old, too, so it’s not like it’s newly-damaged or still-healing skin).

Oh. Right. Fish tank. Shed scales. Microtraces of fish protein. Contact reaction. Brilliant job, me.

Honestly, I should change the name of this blog from “A Strange Day” to “Could’ve Been Mensa” or “Ways in which I Fail at Life”.

But, like I said (PUT THE PHONE DOWN, MOM!), I’m fine. Antibacterial hand soap and a quick swipe of hydrocortisone cream and it’s not even raised now.

Five bucks says that my mom’s the first comment and that she says “You Know How I Worry” or something to that effect. ;)

Getting CLEARer?

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Another support call to Clear this weekend. This time because I was getting a signal, but still couldn’t get anywhere online. The tech support guy was actually helpful and was genuinely confused that I was somehow managing to be online and yet not online at the same time.

They’re sending me a new modem to replace my current one. The new one is a newer model, not just a duplicate of the one I have. The tech promised me that this one has a better internal antenna and should improve the ability to hold the signal. Failing that, he said that while Clear can’t officially condone this sort of thing, some of the hacks out there that help you attach an external antenna to the modem do actually work and help. Another option is to build a weatherproof box and put the modem outside.

This was my Speedtest result on the 11th of October:
speedtest result = fail

We’ll see how things improve.

Idlewild

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Idlewild is supposed to be playing the Bowery Ballroom the week of Thanksgiving, but so far the tickets haven’t gone on sale and the show hasn’t even been announced on the Bowery Ballroom’s website. Idlewild released the information, so it’s not just speculation and wild rumour, but the lack of further information is making me nervous.

I’d really like to reserve a hotel room sooner rather than later, because that is the week of Thanksgiving, and it is New York City we’re talking about, so rooms are going to go fast and be expensive.

I hate waiting. It makes me angsty.