Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease

My co-worker had to take off on Monday for some reason - illness, I guess.  So, as I said then, I went into work a few hours late and closed for her.  Closing sucks, by the way.  I fucked it up royally.

Anyway, yesterday at work, this same co-worker was talking about how she wants to attend a funeral for her cousin’s baby.  She thought the funeral was tomorrow, so she didn’t make any plans to change her work schedule (she, like most of us, is not working tomorrow).  It turns out the funeral is today.  She was talking to me about it, and after thinking for a minute, I offered to come in early for her today so that she could attend the funeral.

I was supposed to be in from 3-8pm.  She’s supposed to work from noon-8pm (close).  Because I’m on the schedule as a Pet Counselor, my schedule WILL end at 8pm if I come in at my regular time.  Since I’m coming in 3 hours early, I leave 3 hours early.  In theory.

So she’ll get to go to the funeral, and I’ll get off of work while the sun’s still out.  Everybody wins.

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By the way, holding a dog with ringworm so that he can have samples taken off for study has got to be one of the most disgusting things I’ve done at work to date.  It topped the poo-covered thermometer.

The dog was in good enough spirits, though, so I didn’t have to hug it - I just had to grab his collar and keep his head from twisting around so that he wouldn’t try to lick the vet while she was taking the skin scrapings.  So there’s something, I guess.

I get to wear my “old” scrubs today, since my scrubs from Wednesday have kitty upper-respiratory-infection goo on them, and the ones from yesterday have ringworm on them.  Exciting stuff, yeah?

Since I supposedly have a suppressed immune system (I say “supposedly” because that seems to be a common conception of fibromyalgia), and I’ve been tired lately, etc., I fully expected to wake up this morning having to actually go to the minor med to get anti-biotics for my hands.

Well, it turns out that my freakish powers of super-healing have not completely left me in the past few years.  The photos from last night didn’t show the red color of my hands, making it look as though all I had were little scratches…but trust me when I say that they looked a lot uglier in person.

This morning, the webbing of my hand is a little sore, but the cuts themselves all over my hands have faded significantly.  Neat!

I expect they’ll be gone in another couple of days.

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And what of Sophie and Dammit this morning?  Well, Dammit never stopped being affectionate, so him being all over me is nothing new.  Sophie, on the other hand, was quite irritated last night.

This morning, she’s back to “normal”, which is to say that she’s being a total sweetheart to me, and still hating Dammit with the fire of a thousand suns.  She’s currently curled up on her side next to me on the bed, with her paws drawn up to her face.  Yes, that is a Sweet Valley University book next to her.  I have a boatload of books like that for when I can’t get to sleep at night - I read them until I’m drowsy, then I toss them aside and go to sleep.  They enhance my prescribed sleeping pills very well.  Don’t judge me.

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The sunburn wings I posted about a few days ago have faded, but not without a fight…they’re itching so badly that all I want to do is find a fencepost to rub my back against until the skin is gone.

I can’t reach them with my hands (otherwise they wouldn’t be there in the first place, as I would have been able to reach them with the sunblock), and the only  thing I have that would reach back there (effectively solving the problem) is my shower brush.  I guess I’ll give them a good scrubdown when I get ready for work in another hour or so.

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I’ve been seriously lacking in any content that’s outside the scope of O GOD MY LIFE…for that, I apologize.  This place started as a realm for me to talk about current events and my foray into Second Amendment-related things, and I’ve been woefully remiss in doing that.

I don’t have the money to buy ammo right now, I don’t have the time to go shooting, and I don’t really have time to troll teh intarwebs for news lately.  My job doesn’t allow me to carry concealed (or at all, really), and because I wear scrubs, it’s not like I can do that, anyway.  So there’s pretty much no gunnie news in my arena right now.

I’m going to be in BFE with JB’s family this weekend, and will probably try to get some plinking time in…it’s been too long.

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In the realm of my health, things are holding steady.  I’m really tired, and I don’t feel like I’ll ever be able to catch up on sleep…I’m going to have to try another sleeping pill, I’m sure, when I go back to the doc in a few weeks.

The good news is that I haven’t had a seizure in a while.  *knocks on wood*  I don’t know why, and I don’t care.  It’s just nice to not be jerked awake in the middle of the night, only to have been awakened to stare at whatever my head is pointed at, with no way of moving until the seizure has passed.

I haven’t been swimming in a couple of days, but I hope to remedy that tonight.  Since my hands show no signs of becoming infected, I’m not afraid to expose them to the pool water.  I need the exercise.  Somewhere in the back of my mind is the thought that perhaps my exhaustion is, in part, a result of all of the swimming I’ve been doing, but really, lying around doesn’t make me feel any better, so I might as well DO something.

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We’re watching my nephew on Tuesday and Thursday nights for my sister, as she has band practice on those nights.  Nephew just looooooooves the pool.  We’re teaching him how to swim, albeit slowly.  We’ve put a lifejacket on him, and have been toting him around the deeper parts of the pool, and he seems to be enjoying himself.  He’s a little nervous to lean back in the water, but he trusts us, and we have no intention of letting him get hurt, so it’s all good.

It’s neat watching him branch out and do new things.

It almost makes me want a kid.  Then I think about the other stuff involved in raising a child, and I change my mind again.

Sophie and Dammit had a vet visit today.  Dammit’s was a vaccination booster set with a comprehensive examination (because he’s old, has health issues, and I’m putting him on the Wellness Plan that I get for free by working at Banfield), and Sophie’s was a vaccination booster and a regular exam.

I got them to work, and set about weighing them in their carriers and then weighing the carriers without the cats to get the cats’ actual weights - with me on that one?

Dammit was first, and while he was a bit whiny, he went into the kennel with very little trouble.

Sophie was next.  I weighed the carrier with her in it, then took her back to the kennel to lock her up so that I could weigh her carrier.  On the way in, she got a bug up her ass and went nuts, and bit me on the right forearm, close to the elbow.  Ouch.

She made such a racket that all of the vet techs who weren’t working with clients came over to see what in the world had made that noise.  They saw Sophie, and were like, “Uh, you’re holding her during the examination, right?”

And yes, I’d already planned on it.

At around 7:30pm, the vet finally got around to Sophie’s exam.  Dammit did swimmingly, and they’d done him first because they’ve worked on him before, and they know he’s a good kitty and that he’d be done much more quickly.  He was so good…I’m so proud of my kitteh.  :-)

The head petnurse went to get the cat gloves (they’re MASSIVE) and a towel to put on the exam table.  Because Sophie’s so small, and the gloves are so big and inflexible, I opted not to use them.  I figured I’d be bitten, but I’d rather be able to hang onto the cat and get things done quickly than have to basically squash her against the table and risk losing my grip on her a million times before the first vaccination was even completed.

I’ll save you a lot of the description, except that a crowd gathered to watch Sophie’s innoculations, and many clients at the front desk inquired as to what in the hell could be making such a noise.

And, of course, my hands got fairly ripped up.  Sophie’s completely declawed (front AND rear paws), so all of it was from her teeth.

Company policy states that I was supposed to immediately take myself to a minor medical center and get anti-biotics in the event of a cat bite, charging it all to workman’s comp, but seriously?  I have other shit to worry about, and my shift wasn’t over yet, so I bypassed that option since none of the bites are puncture wounds.

I did get the number of the company’s insurance place, though, so that if I wake up and my hands are swollen and painful, I can still get them checked out and taken care of on Banfield’s dime.

We had to wrap Sophie’s head up in a towel to get her last vaccination done, and we ended up stuffing her, towel still around her head, into her carrier to await the end of my shift, when she would be taken home.  She growled and snarled and hissed for a good while after her exam was over.

She’s nearly back to normal now, and is even letting me pet her (albeit for short periods of time…her back and hips are still sore from the vaccinations).  I am not, however, letting her in my room while I’m sleeping for at least a week.  :-P

With the Wellness Plan for Dammit, the visit ended up costing me just over $50.  Without the plan, it would have been over $300.  I can’t stress enough what a relief it was to NOT have to pay $300…because I don’t even have that in my bank account.

That was the good news.

The bad news is that the kitties have to be back for their booster shots in three weeks.

I plan on sedating Sophie.  And I might give those gloves a try.

If your swimsuit forms an “X” on the back with the straps, this means you have four quadrants upon which to slather sunscreen:  top, bottom, left, and right.

If you have a friend present, it is not completely out of the question to ask them to help you apply sunscreen to the places you cannot reach.

Otherwise, because your arms just don’t bend that way, you will end up not being able to apply the sunscreen to the inner portions of the left and right quadrants.

You will end up with strange “sunburn wings” as a result.

This is not attractive, and even less comfortable.

This has been your Summer Advice for the day.

Carry on.

I got this in an email forward from my grandmother last night - I thought it was cute, and wanted to share it with you all.

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AN OLD FARMER’S ADVICE:

-Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.

-Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

-Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

-A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

-Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled.

-Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.

-Forgive your enemies.  It messes up their heads.

-Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

-It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.

-You cannot unsay a cruel word.

-Every path has a few puddles.

-When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

-The best sermons are lived, not preached.

-Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen, anyway.

-Don’t judge folks by their relatives.

-Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

-Live a good, honorably life.  Then, when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

-Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t bothering you none.

-Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

-If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.

-Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

-The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every mornin’.

-Always drink upstream from the herd.

-Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

-Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.

-If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.

-Live simply.  Love generously.  Care deeply.  Speak kindly.  Leave the rest to Heaven.

-Don’t pick a fight with an old person.  If they’re too old to fight, they’ll just kill you.

Life’s not terribly exciting for me right now, but it’s not boring, either.

I’m either working, trying to catch up on cleaning and/or animal care, or sleeping, which is why my online presence hasn’t been very prolific.

JB’s house-sitting for some pseudo-family members (the woman was his aunt by marriage, but she divorced JB’s uncle, then married this new guy, but she still considers herself JB’s aunt, and we certainly don’t mind), and they have a nice pool, so I’ve been getting some low-impact exercise.  I’ll swim for about two hours, which wears me out nicely.  I’ve noticed that even though I’ve only swum (that word looks so weird) a few times, I no longer get foot cramps when I flutter-kick.  So that’s an improvement.

Work’s still going well.  I got a call about 20 minutes ago from my boss asking me if I felt comfortable closing, because the gal who was supposed to close can’t make it in today (I was supposed to only work from 11a-6p).  I told her that I was still unclear about a couple of things, but that if I had some sort of reference, I’d be okay.  I then asked her if I had to be in at 11, still, if I was going to be there until close (which is supposed to be 8p, but often ends up being nearly 10p because of all of the after-hours work that needs to be done), and she said no, that I could come in at 2p, which is awesome, because that means I can go swimming again before work.

It’s the little things, yo.

We have some epically crazy people bringing their pets to us.  They provide a fair amount of amusement on slow days, and on busy days, they’re easier to dismiss, so it all works out.  I have yet to have a boring day at work.  I love it.

I’m still not sleeping well.  I have a feeling that’s going to be the sticking point of my treatment.  It seems to be a really common problem with fibro, though, so I’m not holding out hope.  I’ll be happy to just get some sort of rest - sleeping a full night hasn’t happened in long enough that I’m kind of used to it.

JB has kindly offered to take the parakeets (we bought another one the other night, so we have a female and a male) and my geckos to the place where he’s staying this summer, so that I don’t have to worry about their care.  He has more time to take care of them right now than I do, so I’m pretty happy with this arrangement.

The cats are still with me.  I’m totally fine with that.  I would miss my bubbies if they weren’t with me.

Speaking of which, they both have a checkup on Wednesday.  Sophie’s not been to the vet since I’ve had her, so this ought to be amusing - I’ll be at work, so I can help hold her and whatnot.  Good thing she’s declawed.  Dammit’s just going to be depressed that he’s at the vet again, I’m sure.  Poor guy - he’s been to the doctor more than I have in the past year.

I’m going to go swim some laps so that I have time to shower and clean up some things before leaving for work.

I hope everyone had a good weekend, and is having a good start to the week.

Billy Mays was found dead in his home this morning.

He was 50.

I was contacted back by Kris, who was apparently out of town and unable to answer emails last week.

He apologized for the trouble, and told me that if my refund has not processed in the next three days (I’m giving it until Tuesday, because PayPal can sometimes be weird about wait times), to let him know.

Rusty posted about this situation, and said he was surprised at how calm I’ve been about all of this.

There are several reasons for me being as such:

1.  I am on an anti-depressant.  A very effective one.  It just so happens that, in addition to making my mood generally more “up”, it has also made me waaaaaay more tolerant and patient.  I have work stories to prove this.  Many, many stories.

2.  I’m busy, and if I spend too much time worrying about one thing, I’ll forget to deal with something else.  This situation just isn’t that important in my “big scheme of things” list, because…

3.  I’m aware that this company is new, and that they’re still trying to iron things out.  I’m aware that, when I accepted the offer of the 50% off coupon, I ran the risk of losing my money for whatever reason.  In talking to Kris, I very quickly came to the conclusion that this is NOT a scam company, but that an unfortunate situation occurred, and I just happen to have been the victim of circumstance.

My refund is on its way, and I may try to make another purchase from them at a later date (you know…when I have money again).  I’m going to re-instate the link on the sidebar.

The costs may go up, but I’m going to strongly suggest that Kris start using UPS.  At least they have an automatic insurance option, and you can track the packages to see where, exactly, things went wrong.

So that’s the end of the saga.  Hopefully it’s not the end of my dealings with Knives Infinity, but I sincerely hope that all future transactions will go a little more…smoothly.

Customer Service is the only thing I can rate on, and I’m going to give an A- for this one.

UPDATE: Entry here stating the resolution of the situation.  Everything’s fine - it wasn’t a scam, I used PayPal, and it’s been worked out.  No worries - link has been re-established, and I will be ordering again (with a different address, just in case) in the near future.

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I told you guys I would update you with the order process and whether or not I could recommend them, so I’m going to go ahead and do that now.

I ordered a knife on May 14th.

I have not received the knife, though the company says it was sent.

Kris, the owner of the company, was very good at answering emails with concerns, and at communicating what he was doing to try to find out what was going on.

The knife was possibly lost in transit.  It happens.  Regardless, I don’t have it, but I paid for it.

Two weeks ago was the last I heard from Kris.

Today, I emailed him to ask for a refund, since obviously we were getting nowhere with the “what happened?” portion of the communication game.

I’ll let you guys know what happens.  My initial impression was positive, but it’s doing a nosedive right now.

Until I get a resolution (either a refund or a replacement knife), I’m removing the link from my sidebar.

You know that whole, “pick a date for your bill to be paid” option that so many websites have?  Like, cell phone bills, energy bills, internet bills, etc?

Well, our energy company, MLGW, has that option.  And I decided to utilize it.  And they decided to ignore it.

So instead of the bill coming out tomorrow, when it was supposed to (where I would have deposited my paycheck [which is happening this morning] and been able to cover it), it was taken out yesterday.

And then all of the money I spent on pet supplies and food in the past few days came out, and resulted in several overdraft charges.

So now the negative balance on my bank account equals my paycheck.

Failtacular.  Truly.

SO.  I will once again extend the offer of paintings or photographs.  Check out my Flickr page (there’s crap as well as good photos - send me a link to one you like, I’ll print it, mat it, and send it to you for $15 plus shipping), look at Zazzle (prices are as listed - I get a small commission on those items) email me and tell me a story, and I’ll paint an abstract interpretation (I have better paintings than the ones I posted photos of - they’re just on my walls right now - prices vary according to the size of the canvas and the amount of paint used, but shouldn’t realistically be more than $75-100 for a 16×20 canvas - 9×12 and 8×10 shouldn’t be more than $20-40).  I will be adding more photos to Zazzle for the blank cards products, and I have a few more t-shirt ideas, as well.

The beginning of a summer job is always iffy as far as paychecks go, and at least I didn’t get the horrible situation of last summer, where I wasn’t even put into the system until a month after I started working, but I started in the middle of a pay period, so I’ve been working for a month, and this is my first paycheck, and it’s not awesome, because they haven’t been scheduling me good hours.  Thing are picking up now, but it’s been a rough few weeks.

ANYWAY, things should settle out fairly soon, but until that time - I would like to offer items up for sale.  Seriously.  If you feel the need to hit up my tip jar, I will send you something, anyway.  It’ll just be a surprise.