Helloooooooo

Nope I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I simply started my new job. How is it going you ask?? Well, if you are a physician you need to take heed to what I am about to say. Since the day I graduated from college I have worked in some area of medical care/testing. I have worked with physicians that are outstanding and some that scare the crap out of me. This post really has nothing to do with their intelligence..it has to do with their mouths, and what is in them when they are talking. For the past 10+ years I have transcribed records dictated by you. As you know these are medical/legal documents and I take pride in knowing that I have been providing you with these documents that cover your butt should you ever be reviewed or, god forbid, sued. But, this is a two way street, see, you have to speak in a language that I understand. If English is your second language then try to use the words in such a way that they sound remotely like English. It took me quite a long time earlier this week to realize that "puhdud" meant period. There is a growing list of words now that are new to me...well not really, I know the English versions of those words but your version, not so much. Taking a breath now and then, or even pausing when you come to the end of a thought is a nice touch. Also, if you could refrain from eating the double whopper and Slurpee while talking, that would be nice too. Oh, and when you belch or fart, yeah, I can hear that too. I have been spoiled for the past 10 years with clients that I have known forever and I know what they are going to say before they even know. I specifically targeted, ok profiled--I admit it, physicians that I knew locally. I still love you guys. Last night one of you sent me work that was so quick and easy that when I calculated what I made using an hourly scale...it was hovering around $30 an hour. I love you Dr. S. My new job is with a big teaching medical center. The cases are fascinating and much more involved than my local, FMD, Ortho, Uro etc. These patients are the sickest of the sick and my morbid personality really enjoys all the details. I am sick, I admit it. The other thing that you non physician people need to know is simply TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOURSELF! I have spent the last 3 days listening to list upon list of illnesses that could be prevented, or at least postponed, by not smoking, not gorging yourself with fat and actually moving your body around a bit each day. It is CRAZY how many 50 year old's are in horrid enough shape that they are ending up in ER's all over the place with total blockage in their main coronary artery (they call it the widow maker for a reason people). Even after all these years it still blows my mind that people recovering from heart attacks still choose to smoke. (I sometimes wonder if a head CAT scan would be in order to see if they actually DO have brains). So, if I only pop in a few times a week for awhile, this is why. See, I get paid by production (kinda like the 9 year old working in the factory in Bangladesh) so my little fingers are flying on my keyboard for 5 hours each day and when I am done....well, typing a post isn't high on my list. I am sure after a couple of weeks of getting used to the numbness I will be back in full force. Oh hell, who am I kidding....even pain can't keep me from giving my opinion on just about everything. But, don't even get me started on the octuplet lady with 6 kids already at home under the age of 7.She is craaaazy. PUHDUD!

For your viewing pleasure

I am trying something new. Almost 2 years ago Santa brought a Flip video camera to the family and other than high school graduations there really wasn't too much on it. I have decided to use it more and today seemed like a good day to shake off the cobwebs and try it out again. Excuse the poor quality of the video...it was taken through the kitchen window. This is how we spend our time when there is no school because of snow. Poor little Cosmo. He is our little rescue beagle. His teeny little legs get so tired that S3 usually has to carry him back to the door. If you have been reading for awhile you know that he is much smaller than our last 2 dogs were..at 75 lbs and 130 lbs each...this little guy maxes out at about 20-25. ENJOY!

Conspiracy

Am I the only person in the world that didn't know about this?????? I have spent my entire life bitching every time the roll comes flying out of the box and this thing that holds the roll in place has been there the WHOLE TIME! And you know what>>>>>it is even on the plastic wrap box,,,,,yes, even the generics. Where was my mother?! This is important stuff, right up there with "no they are lying when they tell you they are only going to put it in a little bit" or "make sure you have on clean underwear". I am stunned. Conspiracy's are everywhere

Grrrrr Mr. Blogger

I have written two brilliant posts today and blogger keeps giving me an error message. SO, instead of thrilling you with witty prose, I am going to give you a couple photos from the past few days. The "boys" waiting for their turn at the controller. (Yes, I do let my dogs on the leather couch and yes I know they shouldn't be there.) When is a cake not a cake? When it is a perfectly sculpted pile of snow on my bird bath thanks to mother nature. Walking into my office. Does anyone else have OCD dogs that line up their toys? Well...that's about it for now. BigD and S3 are out till 8 so I am off to do absolutely nothing, in absolute quiet, ALL BY MYSELF.

Can't let today pass

MY President took the oath of office today. Yes, he may be the President of the entire country but today I feel as though he belongs to me. I have defended him to some members of my family that think he will ruin our nation. I have watched with immense pride as my two oldest sons voted for the first time in their lives. I am very rarely wrong in summing up an individual based on many traits and this man has scored very high on my class meter. I think he is smart. I think he is confident. I think he will effect the change that is so desperately needed to turn our country back into the country that other nations admire and not jeer. My President, if given a chance to prove himself to the naysayers, will without a doubt, be historical, and not just because of his race.

One question

Click here: YouTube - The Animal Odd Couple

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBtFTF2ii7U After you look at the video...I have one question * * * * * * * * * * * how the the dog get a spinal injury in the first place? Me thinks the friendship may have been tested by a not so subtle move by the elephant....hmmmm, the untold story.

Global warming...my ass!

I really need to move. I recently discovered an island in the Caribbean named Barbuda. You must google images of this island. Go ahead, I'll wait. Someday I will live there and not here, where this morning the wind chill is 15 degrees BELOW zero. This isn't funny folks. I much prefer white sand to white snow. Ok, all you winter lovers, I think snow is beautiful, yes, I really do. If it could snow at about 72 degrees life would be great. I know I have been unusually quiet lately. I have been reading and commenting more than writing. I am in a bit of a funk. Do you ever have those times where you just feel overwhelmed by even the smallest task? I have been trying to pinpoint what the problem is, gnawing at me constantly in the back of every thought, and I think it basically all comes down to cash. I don't have enough. I was supposed to start my new job on December 1st but at that time we were in the middle of dealing with BigD's lung booger so I told them to go ahead and fill my position. Unbelievably they didn't. They held it open for me. FOR 4 WEEKS. Then I told them I just couldn't work the hours they wanted. It would take me away from S3 and all of his sports and activities that occurred between 3 pm and 8 pm and I would be working both Friday and Saturday evenings till 8. I would literally be clocking in as S3 walked in the door from school every day. As hard as it was to tell them no, I had to. I am too old to start working a grunt shift that keeps me from my family. I told them this on a Friday afternoon. On Monday they called and said they wanted me to stay with the company (this blew my mind because I hadn't even started and they were acting like I was an important part of their team) and offered me a day shift. Wow. I start this coming week and I will tell you, I can't wait to start having those paychecks deposited into my account. (I still have my regular clients but they are not enough to bring in my portion of the family chunk necessary for survival). I have a stack of bills from doctors, hospitals, college tuition x2, books, along with the usual insurance, house payments, property taxes, gas, electric, phone, etc etc etc. It will take me a very long time to get back into the position where I will be able to pay a bill when it arrives, but I have to believe that it will happen. (As a point of reference, I am known to be very frugal so we aren't talking about unnecessary expenditures here, no mani-pedi runs, no steak dinners out with friends etc. I have friends that ask me how I am able to make $1 last like $5....yes, at times I am sure they even call me cheap instead of frugal but hey, it's a talent I can't deny:) When I pay bills it feels so good to be able to cross that off the "to do" list and having them all sitting on my desk, piling up day by day, is very very stressful for me and makes me very distracted from anything joyful. AND I AM COLD. I AM NOT PLEASANT WHEN I AM COLD. So, all of you witty bloggers, keep blogging and posting your funny or thoughtful or ordinary posts and I will keep reading and escaping from my funk and for that I thank you. Love, Debbie Downer

New computer madness

For Christmas BigD got me a new computer. Well actually all the parts for a new computer. S1 built it for me last night (after returning a faulty motherboard initially). Well...S1 hates Micro*soft so when he builds computers for people he uses a Lin*ux/Ubun*tu system that is really slick. But, me being old and stuck in my ways....I am having one hell of a time getting used to this system this morning. You know, old dog-new tricks. Worst of all, none of my favorites are on this system. I am SO glad that blogger introduced me to the dashboard faves thing so I do have many of my blogs at that link but there are others that I check once in awhile so I am going to have to add them as I think of them. If you know anyone that deserves a kick ass computer with free phone tech support for life (from a really smart, self proclaimed geek) let me know. You too can be the owner of such a computer (with ridiculous processing speed--so fast it goes to the next page while I am still THINKING about clicking the mouse) for about $600-$700 bucks. (his fee, includes everything:) For work I am hoping the new system is compatible with the new employer...if not, you will probably hear my scream..wherever you are. I have a phone conference today with their Human Relations Department head. Oh crap...it's in 15 minutes...gotta run. Speaking of old dogs, I want to leave you with a challenge. Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

A complicated man

I know none of you have been able to sleep wondering if I was still po'd at BigD. Well he is out of the doghouse. I took some wise person's advice (thanks Jerry:) and told him that he really upset me when he yelled at me for helping him (after HE asked me to help). You know what??? He was clueless. He didn't even realize how bad he made me feel. Sometimes he leaves me speechless, other times I sit here and write a whole post about him. The thing about BigD is...well, he is complicated. He is the youngest of 3 sons from parents that were the epitome of their era...the 50's. Mom always had on a dress and apron (she wore pants for the first time when BigD was in high school and it was a BIG DEAL, BigD and his brothers all remember when she did that....because it was so shocking!). Dad owned his own business and came home every day for lunch and when he went back to work, Mom cleaned, did laundry and started on dinner that was served promptly at 6 pm. Dad was the king of his castle and Mom was the homemaker. Both of BigD's brothers are extremely successful in business and for some reason BigD has always had this inferiority thing going on because he changed majors in college from business to law enforcement. He took an elective in that arena and was hooked. For some reason, he feels as though he is "less successful" than his brothers. He still refers to himself as the 'blacksheep' of the family. There has always been a little bit of the youngest child complex even though they are all grown men with families. He is very lucky though, they are all still very close. There are many things that make BigD the man that he is. He adores our children (and tolerates me most of the time:) He is a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde though. At work he is a tough, no crap taking, black and white, right and wrong kind of guy. There is no shade of gray when it comes to the laws and how they are followed. He has advanced degrees in many areas of law enforcement, and could talk circles around anyone about just about anything. Why is it then that he feels like a lesser person than his brothers? It is a pride thing. He is a *gasp* civil servant, a government employee, a 'blue collar' worker. This man has pride oozing from his pores and when he is placed in a situation where he is presented in anything but a good light, he becomes a scared, angry 10 year old. Not angry in a violent way...I would never tolerate that after having an abusive father, but angry on a personal level, internalizing all his insecurities and occasionally snapping with a sharp tongue. Nobody that knows him would ever believe what I just wrote. He comes across with all the confidence of a true leader. And he is f.u.n.n.y. REALLY funny. He can get laughing to the point where he is crying and can barely breathe....watching him laugh makes everyone laugh. Being a true child of his family, it doesn't cross his mind to grab the vacuum or dust rag. I am fairly certain that he doesn't know that we own a machine that you can put dishes in dirty and they come out clean.....the same for clothes. He is not at all helpful around here but he is the first one to complain when things are not in order....which quite frankly they rarely are. With 3 sons, 2 dogs, a cat, a huge house and the fact that I work 60 hours a week...well, you get it. I can't possibly have it all done, all the time. (with the two oldest living at college things are a bit cleaner and more in order...somewhat). Anyway,,,,this is a complicated man and even after 27 years, I am still learning things about him but mostly I am learning things about myself, which for the most part, is a good thing.

marriage and other crap

Ok..so the next time I am boohooing about poor BigD losing a body part, remind me of tonight and what an asshole he is. He couldn't connect his new printer to his computer..got half way done and told me to try. I tried..it wasn't compatible with his operating system so he just needed an update. While I updated his ubuntu it froze. Soooo had to go back to square one and reinstall. I backed up his documents and proceeded to redo the system. So tonight he comes barreling into my office BITCHING that I screwed up his computer...he can't find his links to his *ahem* sites. I told him they were still there, they just weren't on the desktop. He knows NOTHING about computers except how to turn it on, click on links and open email. (Seriously he doesn't even know what blogging means.) The only reason I didn't go off on him was because S2 and S3 were there and I didn't want them hear me tell him that his porn is safe and sound and them to sneak to see what shit he looks at on gross sites. So, now he is pissed at me FOR NO REASON after he ASKED ME to install his printer that he couldn't install. WTF! On days like this it is very easy for 27 years of marriage to feel like 26 too many. He has the personality that when he doesn't know how to do something and it is pointed out to him, he gets very defensive...see he is perfect. He can't stand for flaws to be pointed out..so we don't. We tiptoe around him and yes, talk about him behind his back...cause that's what family does you know. His own mother warned me about him.."he doesn't take criticism very well, even when he was little"...I should have listened..we mothers know our sons. When he was "sick" I was his angel, could do nothing wrong, he wanted me to sleep on a chair beside his bed so I was there when he woke up, etc etc....well, looks like things are back to normal. Yep, at least for today, BigD does stand for BigDick (and not in a good way).

Referral to another blog

I am still not convinced that these are little old ladies but they sure do write insightful posts. If you haven't read any of their stuff...shoot on over there and check them out. (They especially got rolling when S.Palin was hot in the news, so if you have time to check out some of the posts from early last fall, it is worth a cup of coffee to sit yourself down and get a laugh) http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/getting-the-bad-guys/

Life in 100 words

Teendoc sent out a challenge to write you life story in 100 words. Exactly 100. Try it. Surprise baby born when mom was almost 40. Grew up with much love from her, parents divorced when I was 5, shitty dad out of picture by age 8. Got stepfather at age 10, moved to new city, too shy to make friends=miserable. Hated snob filled private high school. After college found job, found husband, still live in town where we were married. 8 years infertile, 4 losses-all girls, have 3 sons. Built both houses lived in since married. Working hard to pay life’s bills=very stressed. Finally like myself. Very proud of sons. Mostly happily married. Wouldn’t change a thing.

A must read

The link below is to a blog that I started reading not too long ago. He is a very insightful young surgeon and I personally think this is the best New Years post I have ever read. http://ohiosurgery.blogspot.com

Good morning 2009

So what was I doing when the big ball dropped you ask? I don't remember. I am fairly certain it involved some drool and some snoring. We did manage to go to dinner with all 3 boys before the two youngest scattered to "parties" (that were mediocre at best according to the report this morning). BigD and S1 had a rousing game of scrabble in the kitchen while polishing off the gift nuts we received. Me...well, I turned on my electric blanket (I promise I will be more 'green' conscious this year but I refuse to give up the blanket suckas).I cranked the blanket up to the sweat like a whore position, grabbed the remote which is usually ensconced tightly in BigD's grip and watched mindless television with my 2 doggies snuggled up beside me. It doesn't get better than that. I hope 2009 is the best of all years for all of you. I hope your wildest dreams come true, your jobs stays stable, your bank account grows and most importantly, you are surrounded by the people that you love.