Tuesday, May 31, 2005

F*ckin' blogger

I typed half a post.

Then something happened. I got up off my chair, delt with it, and came back to my post. I hadn't finished it, so I hit "Save as Draft".

You'd think that would "save it as a draft post" but no. It deleted it completely.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Doctor Visit.... May

I went to the doctor today. Good-ish news.

For those of you that haven't been around in the last six months, see this post. I had some encouraging news, of a sort. My doc did not change my meds, but I did have to explain why I wasn't taking the shots anymore. I swear, it took me three times to explain that it wasn't because of actually having to give myself the shots but because of the nausea.

My T-cell count was mostly unchanged. 160. My viral load was WAY down. 132 copies.

*Mikell Celebrates*

Whooooo Hooooooo !!!!

Percentage is up, from 12% to 19%. That's all doctors are looking at anymore. T-Cells hide, percentages don't. If my percentages keep going up, my T-cells should, and then I'll be able to stop taking the Bactrim again. Remember, Bactrim (and drugs like it) are only taken by people who have less than 200 T-cells.

I went to the VA clinic, as usual. Can I just bitch about that for a minute?

I arrive 30 minutes prior to my appointment as required, though I don't know why, there is no paperwork to fill out. My doc comes and gets me, because the nurse is in a "meeting". Usually, the nurse comes to get me, takes my BP, my Temp, weighs me, and asks me all the mundane questions. "Are you still smoking?" Yes. "Do you want to quit?" No. How much do you drink per week?" (At this point, I feel like I could say 24 Beers a day and it wouldn't matter). Then he makes me sit and wait for the doc. Doc usually gets me within 15 minutes or so.

Then I spend about 20 minutes with the doc, and all he does is look at his computer screen. He doesn't put his hands on me, which really bothers me. I've been POZ long enough to know that he should be feeling my lymph nodes and stuff, if nothing else. Then he refills my perscriptions, electronically.

This is where the problems start, in my opinion.

I take my little ID card and walk into the Pharmacy. The first thing you have to do is walk up to the little machine that gives you your number. Or, I should say, numbers. You get two copies of one number. Then you wait to be called by the pharmacist.

And you wait.

And you wait some more.

Today wasn't so bad. I waited 30 minutes to see the pharmacist. If this had been Eckerts, I would have gone across the street to Walgreens. 30 minutes is too fucking long just to see a pharmacist my friends. If the VA clinic didn't have a captive audience,they wouldn't get away with it.

When I finally saw the 22 year old pharmacy-person (I am not really convinced that she was a Pharmacist, since all she did was look at the computer, ask my Full Name and SSN - for verification, repeat what drug I am allergic to (not that it matters, since I wasn't prescribed the allergic drug in question) I asked how long it would be. She said another 30 minutes. I growled and walked away.

I went to my car and smoked. When I was done, I walked back to the waiting area and noticed that my perscription was already done. Less than 10 minutes.

The question I kept asking myself? "Why did it take longer to see the 'Pharmacist' than it took to put together my scripts in a non-threatening little brown bag?"
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I can't wait to go camping tomorrow. I'll see you all afterwards. Have a good Memorial Day Weekend.
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Oh. And BTW... any of you out there that are now suggesting that the people who still have George W. Bush stickers on their cars should take their kids down to the military recruiters instead of college should remember one thing.

Those people are still waiting for George W. Bush to reinstate the draft.

Now. Shut up.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Weekend off...

So this weekend is Memorial day. I'm taking off early on Friday. TheHusband and I are going down south for a bit of camping fun. I'll spend the entire weekend doing the same things I do here at the house, except laundry. That will be waiting for me when I get back.

TheHusband takes it easy. He doesn't worry about anything while he is there. Stays up late... gets up late... wait. Sounds exactly like a weekend here at the house.

I'll come home with a sunburn. I always do anymore. I spend way too much time NOT being in the sun anymore. But I still love to go down there. We have a 30 foot camper in storage about a 2-1/2 hour drive from here. We'll leave here, hopefully, in time to drive down there, get set up, and play Bingo. Bingo is a big deal at Gay Campgrounds.

One of our cats is missing. Pica... our Bi-Polar cat, as I call her. We miss her terribly. She wandered off one night. We've posted "Lost" posters, with only one call so far.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Sorry, I've been busy...

I've been neglecting just about everything lately. So much to do. Get one box emptied only to be eyed by five more waiting for a place to be put away. Oh... the guilt.

My cats have finally gotten used to the new place. They spend more time outside now, and I don't even worry about them. When they stay out all night, they just wait out front for me to get up in the morning. Since I come in here waiting for the coffee to perk, they just meow at my window until I open the front door for them. It isn't easy finding my keys before I've had my first cup of coffee in the morning.

So we tried to sell the house with that on-line advertising agency. What a waste of money that was. I tried to tell the Husband that, but he didn't listen. And he is not one to like it when I say anything near "I tried to tell you..." so, I try not to. Eventually, he signed a contract with the Real Estate agent who helped us get this place. She said she'd have a contract within two weeks, and take the hassle out of our hands. She'd only charge us 2%.

The first person that showed up after that, which we'd aranged with the Ad-agency, she showed it to. She had a contract with them within two days. It was supposed to close two weeks later. It didn't. They needed more time (well, their lender did). So we extended.

Included in the extension letter faxed to theHusband was a change in the contract from 2% to 4% for doing the job. I wasn't happy. She didn't even bother to explain it to him in advance. She said she was only doing it for 2% because she was really only "writing" the deal, which made sense to me, but it was "too much work, schmoozing everyone trying to get the deal closed" so she needed to up her take. I'm not happy with her and I'm not happy with theHusband for going along with it. It feels unethical. You, as an independant contractor, should not change the price of a job at the 11th hour. If I'd have run my business that way, I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did.

TheHusband says I should let it drop. And I do, but should I be asked by anyone in the area what Agent to go with when buying a house I'll suggest her. But if they are selling? I'll tell them I don't know anyone...