In addition to wondering when the sun will be shining enough to dry out the hayfield that we formerly called our front yard, so that the mower might be engaged to run over and over the 'meadow' out there, I have a few other thoughts batting around in my head today.
Doctors. I appreciate the profession and their PRACTICE of the art of medicine in all forms. BUT, gimme a break, please. I filled out four pages of forms, two fronts and two backs, answering to the best of my ability everything that was asked about me and my family, who I would allow to receive information (drat that new law) and everything else -- except what I ate for breakfast.
So why, when I finally was ushered into the inner sanctum of this 'new-to-me' professional's labyrinth, did he ask me the same basic information and write it on the top page of my "chart".???
Question: Do medical professionals ever read the admission questionaires?
---------
Pharmaceutical Companies: Okay, I survived (endured) the long wait for the office visit, and accepted that he was not going to perform the simple procedure that I'd hoped for...( it would have been much simpler and resolved my problem) ... and accepted the prescription for an ointment.
At the discount pharmacy, I presented the piece of paper, explaining once more that I do not have and never have had any insurance coverage for prescriptions, only to be told that the tiny little bottle of eye drops would cost $76.00. GULP.
Thank you just the same, I think I'll pass.
Checking by phone I learned that other pharmacies in the area would fill that same Rx for $84, $63, or $79. Hysterical laughter, by this time, ended those calls.
Question: WHY do pharmaceutical companies charge such outrageous prices for a simple antibiotic eyedrop? and WHY has the American Public allowed them to get away with such robbery?
Yeah, I know the current administration is going to Fix all that with their new Health Care plan, (yeah, right) but ......big BUT.....until the price-fixing is fixed, it's not gonna work.
Since I can't solve or answer any of these questions, I think I'll leave the computer and read some more of the Sandra Brown that I picked up at the Book Store.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Update - Thursday p.m.
A fair to middlin' day in sales at the book store today was offset by the interesting patrons who came, browsed, and chatted - with or without making a selection.
Yesterday's mail brought a Summons to Federal Jury Duty I have never served on a jury - Federal or otherwise, though I was selected to a pool once when I was 69 1/2 years old. Several days of driving to downtown Memphis, sitting and waiting all day, resulted in being dismissed after the first 12 called were accepted to serve on that particular case.
The Federal Jury form still carried the "over 70" exemption, so I'll follow the instructions and call early next week to learn my status. I can't hold my breath that long, so I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.
An appointment with a local opthamologist for early Friday morning, will - I hope - give me some relief from the chalazion on my right eyelid. Hot compresses have helped some but the swelling has bothered me for several days while I wait to see the doctor.
The TV weather man showed a September Calendar page this evening, with 19 of these first 24 days marked with a red X. That's for Rain Days ! Yes, 19 of the first 24 ! And over 8 inches of rainfall during that time. Other areas have been much worse off, with extreme flooding, homes and vehicles totally destroyed, and some loss of life. This has been an unusual September, especially compared to the similar period a year ago. That was the Drought time, when we did not cut grass for two months, since it wasn't growing - just barely hanging on without rain. People are joking about building arks, but the farmers are watching to see if the cotton and soybean crops will survive at all. It's already a serious situation for them.
Yesterday's mail brought a Summons to Federal Jury Duty I have never served on a jury - Federal or otherwise, though I was selected to a pool once when I was 69 1/2 years old. Several days of driving to downtown Memphis, sitting and waiting all day, resulted in being dismissed after the first 12 called were accepted to serve on that particular case.
The Federal Jury form still carried the "over 70" exemption, so I'll follow the instructions and call early next week to learn my status. I can't hold my breath that long, so I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.
An appointment with a local opthamologist for early Friday morning, will - I hope - give me some relief from the chalazion on my right eyelid. Hot compresses have helped some but the swelling has bothered me for several days while I wait to see the doctor.
The TV weather man showed a September Calendar page this evening, with 19 of these first 24 days marked with a red X. That's for Rain Days ! Yes, 19 of the first 24 ! And over 8 inches of rainfall during that time. Other areas have been much worse off, with extreme flooding, homes and vehicles totally destroyed, and some loss of life. This has been an unusual September, especially compared to the similar period a year ago. That was the Drought time, when we did not cut grass for two months, since it wasn't growing - just barely hanging on without rain. People are joking about building arks, but the farmers are watching to see if the cotton and soybean crops will survive at all. It's already a serious situation for them.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Milestone day
Today is Hubby's 81st birthday. That sounds almost impossible to me. It was 'just the other day' that I met him at college (61 years ago!). Now here it is almost 59 years since we married that November 21st, 1950. We thought we were "So old" ! At 22 and 20... oh my goodness... I guess we knew it all already - or thought we did. It's amazing how much we've learned since then!
We'll be going 'out to dinner' this evening for a quiet celebration this year. Last year's 80th was the Biggie for him. Our children and grandchildren collaborated to make an outstanding Event of that day, with almost all of the whole family present for the birthday supper and birthday cake.
Each one of our children came up with an unusual gift - in multiples of 80 ! THAT was amazing in itself - 80 pieces of his favorite candy, 80 one-dollar bills rolled into a special package to pull out in one long stream, a gift certificate to the Book Store for $80 in books, gift certificate for the local hardware store, and on and on.
Yesterday was unreal in that the SUN actually came out and there was no rain in our immediate vicinity the whole day....contrary to the previous ten days, when anywhere from 1/2 to 3 inches fell during each day or night. Records show that the first three weeks of September 2009 saw over 7 inches of rainfall here. The normal measurement is 2.25 inches for the whole month.
Everyone is Tired of rain. Mushrooms and toadstools are springing up all around yards and flower beds. Grass is growing, but is usually too wet to mow. Rain gear and shoes barely have time to dry before being soaked again in the next outing. And this is directly opposite to last year's August and September - the drought time. We had no rain for almost 2 months in 2008.
Friends and relatives in different parts of the country are reporting similar unusual weather patterns. TV reported SNOW in Denver yesterday ! (I'm glad our rain was not the white stuff, or we'd have had blizzard conditions already.) Today's forecast keeps rain in the picture, but I keep hoping that the members of the women's club will be able to get to the meeting and get home again without getting soaked.
Yesterday's meeting of the Book Store Volunteers was well attended. The manager's two-year term is drawing to a close, and the new team will be taking 'command'. Housekeeping items were discussed, mainly reviewing our standard operating procedures. Transition will be smoothe and seamless, thanks to everyone's cooperation. The big Fall Book Sale is coming up fast now, for the first weekend of October. The sales take a lot of prep work, but the teams have organized their work so everything runs smoothly, and the actual sale days net around $6000.00 - all of which benefits the Library in some form.
We'll be going 'out to dinner' this evening for a quiet celebration this year. Last year's 80th was the Biggie for him. Our children and grandchildren collaborated to make an outstanding Event of that day, with almost all of the whole family present for the birthday supper and birthday cake.
Each one of our children came up with an unusual gift - in multiples of 80 ! THAT was amazing in itself - 80 pieces of his favorite candy, 80 one-dollar bills rolled into a special package to pull out in one long stream, a gift certificate to the Book Store for $80 in books, gift certificate for the local hardware store, and on and on.
Yesterday was unreal in that the SUN actually came out and there was no rain in our immediate vicinity the whole day....contrary to the previous ten days, when anywhere from 1/2 to 3 inches fell during each day or night. Records show that the first three weeks of September 2009 saw over 7 inches of rainfall here. The normal measurement is 2.25 inches for the whole month.
Everyone is Tired of rain. Mushrooms and toadstools are springing up all around yards and flower beds. Grass is growing, but is usually too wet to mow. Rain gear and shoes barely have time to dry before being soaked again in the next outing. And this is directly opposite to last year's August and September - the drought time. We had no rain for almost 2 months in 2008.
Friends and relatives in different parts of the country are reporting similar unusual weather patterns. TV reported SNOW in Denver yesterday ! (I'm glad our rain was not the white stuff, or we'd have had blizzard conditions already.) Today's forecast keeps rain in the picture, but I keep hoping that the members of the women's club will be able to get to the meeting and get home again without getting soaked.
Yesterday's meeting of the Book Store Volunteers was well attended. The manager's two-year term is drawing to a close, and the new team will be taking 'command'. Housekeeping items were discussed, mainly reviewing our standard operating procedures. Transition will be smoothe and seamless, thanks to everyone's cooperation. The big Fall Book Sale is coming up fast now, for the first weekend of October. The sales take a lot of prep work, but the teams have organized their work so everything runs smoothly, and the actual sale days net around $6000.00 - all of which benefits the Library in some form.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Water Water Everywhere....
This week's rain, pouring at times, and gray sky days are wearing on body and spirit. Resisting taking rain gear to meetings was a mistake each time, resulting in three different soakings (wet shirt, shoes and dripping hair) even though the sky was almost clear when those events began.
But not being made of sugar, I didn't melt... just fussed about it.
Thursday I was determined to outfox the weather, and was totally prepared for another deluge --which did NOT happen! Go figure!
Early forecasts were for a rain-free weekend, but -typically- those changed, and now I just hope we can get to the Constitution Day Luncheon without too much trouble. The friend's evening wedding and reception will go on as scheduled, but -again- a sunny day would have been Much preferred.
This has been a good curl-up-with-a-book week, though, and I have enjoyed two more of Linda Lael Miller's novels that I'd missed earlier. Her early western days stories are always good, and I am enjoying rereading the McKettrick's Christmas one. A train, stalled in the middle of nowhere by an avalanche, has passengers of several personalities. Miller does a good job with her tale-telling. Hester Browne's Little Lady Agency series are fun, and quite different from my usual selections.
We wait for more updates on daughter's knee replacement surgery and another friend's surgery that was postponed til today. The knee replacement went according to plan, and as long as the anesthetic was still effective, Ginny was 'feeling fine'. Then the post-op pain hit. Oh dear.
I'm sure Diane must have felt frustration over the delay in getting on with her 'procedure'. All psyched up and then nothing.
But not being made of sugar, I didn't melt... just fussed about it.
Thursday I was determined to outfox the weather, and was totally prepared for another deluge --which did NOT happen! Go figure!
Early forecasts were for a rain-free weekend, but -typically- those changed, and now I just hope we can get to the Constitution Day Luncheon without too much trouble. The friend's evening wedding and reception will go on as scheduled, but -again- a sunny day would have been Much preferred.
This has been a good curl-up-with-a-book week, though, and I have enjoyed two more of Linda Lael Miller's novels that I'd missed earlier. Her early western days stories are always good, and I am enjoying rereading the McKettrick's Christmas one. A train, stalled in the middle of nowhere by an avalanche, has passengers of several personalities. Miller does a good job with her tale-telling. Hester Browne's Little Lady Agency series are fun, and quite different from my usual selections.
We wait for more updates on daughter's knee replacement surgery and another friend's surgery that was postponed til today. The knee replacement went according to plan, and as long as the anesthetic was still effective, Ginny was 'feeling fine'. Then the post-op pain hit. Oh dear.
I'm sure Diane must have felt frustration over the delay in getting on with her 'procedure'. All psyched up and then nothing.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Things that bother me---
I notice more and more often that TV people don't use proper words:
Amount and Number are frequently misused and every time I hear a talking head say the wrong word I want to call that station and complain....
Usage note: (The online Dictionary agrees!)
"The traditional distinction between amount and number is that amount is used with mass or uncountable nouns (the amount of paperwork; the amount of energy) and number with countable nouns (a number of songs; a number of days)."
"Although objected to, the use of amount instead of number with countable nouns occurs in both speech and writing, especially when the noun can be considered as a unit or group (the amount of people present; the amount of weapons) or when it refers to money (the amount of dollars paid; the amount of pennies in the till)."
GROW is another current word usage that bugs me: "We need to grow the economy." (How do you plan to do that? By planting more 'economies' in the garden?)
Remember "Mary, Mary quite contrary, How does your garden grow?" Membership may grow (verb) but to 'grow a membership' ... Why not just 'Increase the Number of Members'?
I won't even touch on pronounciation... that's another subject entirely. I almost feel sorry for a new staff member on the evening news who hasn't been clued to how to pronounce a place name correctly.
I guess my education, being of the "old school" (literally) makes me too aware when the current usage is out of sync.
Other thoughts: The 'old style' advertisements were so effective that many of us recall slogans without any trouble at all: "You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!", and "Pop, Pop, Fiz, Fiz... oh what a relief it is!" (Alka-Seltzer). I'm sure you can think of dozens more of this type.
So why do companies spend millions of dollars on elaborate productions to sell an item or a product, when one catchy slogan might be even more effective. Can you remember any of the products that filled the half-time at a televised football game? Really remember and quote them? Yes, I'm sure you know that Budweiser had an ad playing, but what was it's 'slogan'?
Amount and Number are frequently misused and every time I hear a talking head say the wrong word I want to call that station and complain....
Usage note: (The online Dictionary agrees!)
"The traditional distinction between amount and number is that amount is used with mass or uncountable nouns (the amount of paperwork; the amount of energy) and number with countable nouns (a number of songs; a number of days)."
"Although objected to, the use of amount instead of number with countable nouns occurs in both speech and writing, especially when the noun can be considered as a unit or group (the amount of people present; the amount of weapons) or when it refers to money (the amount of dollars paid; the amount of pennies in the till)."
GROW is another current word usage that bugs me: "We need to grow the economy." (How do you plan to do that? By planting more 'economies' in the garden?)
Remember "Mary, Mary quite contrary, How does your garden grow?" Membership may grow (verb) but to 'grow a membership' ... Why not just 'Increase the Number of Members'?
I won't even touch on pronounciation... that's another subject entirely. I almost feel sorry for a new staff member on the evening news who hasn't been clued to how to pronounce a place name correctly.
I guess my education, being of the "old school" (literally) makes me too aware when the current usage is out of sync.
Other thoughts: The 'old style' advertisements were so effective that many of us recall slogans without any trouble at all: "You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!", and "Pop, Pop, Fiz, Fiz... oh what a relief it is!" (Alka-Seltzer). I'm sure you can think of dozens more of this type.
So why do companies spend millions of dollars on elaborate productions to sell an item or a product, when one catchy slogan might be even more effective. Can you remember any of the products that filled the half-time at a televised football game? Really remember and quote them? Yes, I'm sure you know that Budweiser had an ad playing, but what was it's 'slogan'?
Saturday, September 5, 2009
BUSY, busy
Winding down August and diving into September in a rush of activities... what a week! It's hard to believe that it is September already.. month 9 out of 12, oh my.
I'm thinking of the song "September"...'the days dwindle down to a precious few, September, November...' Ah yes, how fast they go. Already some leaves are beginning to color and a few are falling from the 'early shedders' (my name for Box Elders and a few others - for lack of a better label). The days are getting shorter. As much as I hate to see the sun set a minute or two earlier every day, it happens.
A really nice meeting of the United Methodist Women on Tuesday introduced a new area of our church's new building addition for many of us who had not been in that part before. A lot of planning and design went into the project, which is phase one of a three-part overall plan expected to span many years of development.
Another meeting on Wednesday, preceeded by the Executive committee's brief meeting to review the agenda for the FRIENDS meeting. The FRIENDS meetings are always well-attended and the membership continues to grow. Our Fall Book Sale is scheduled for the first weekend in October, so it will be here before we know it. The sales are always a lot of work, and a lot of fun. They produce a big part of the money we donate back to the Library to be used for things the Budget won't cover.
Thursday was almost too much. I enjoyed my shift at the book store, followed immediately by the Author Robert Dalby and his review of "A Piggly Wiggly Wedding". This is the third in this series, and promises to be as delightful as its predecessors. An important errand came next, followed by a drive in to the city for a Visitation at the Funeral Home to express our condolences on the death of a friend. We stopped for a sandwich on the way home, so it turned out to be a 10-hour day for me. Too much.
I had to admit relief when a doctor's appointment for my sister was cancelled on Friday. Whew ! Another busy day was not going to be fun for me, but then internimable sitting in the waiting rooms at that doctor's office are never much 'fun'.
I am thankful, actually, to have so many 'things to do' for I fear I would not enjoy 'nothing going on' very long. The calendar looks almost as full for next week.. but it IS September now, and all the clubs and organizations get going again after the summer hiatus.
I'm thinking of the song "September"...'the days dwindle down to a precious few, September, November...' Ah yes, how fast they go. Already some leaves are beginning to color and a few are falling from the 'early shedders' (my name for Box Elders and a few others - for lack of a better label). The days are getting shorter. As much as I hate to see the sun set a minute or two earlier every day, it happens.
A really nice meeting of the United Methodist Women on Tuesday introduced a new area of our church's new building addition for many of us who had not been in that part before. A lot of planning and design went into the project, which is phase one of a three-part overall plan expected to span many years of development.
Another meeting on Wednesday, preceeded by the Executive committee's brief meeting to review the agenda for the FRIENDS meeting. The FRIENDS meetings are always well-attended and the membership continues to grow. Our Fall Book Sale is scheduled for the first weekend in October, so it will be here before we know it. The sales are always a lot of work, and a lot of fun. They produce a big part of the money we donate back to the Library to be used for things the Budget won't cover.
Thursday was almost too much. I enjoyed my shift at the book store, followed immediately by the Author Robert Dalby and his review of "A Piggly Wiggly Wedding". This is the third in this series, and promises to be as delightful as its predecessors. An important errand came next, followed by a drive in to the city for a Visitation at the Funeral Home to express our condolences on the death of a friend. We stopped for a sandwich on the way home, so it turned out to be a 10-hour day for me. Too much.
I had to admit relief when a doctor's appointment for my sister was cancelled on Friday. Whew ! Another busy day was not going to be fun for me, but then internimable sitting in the waiting rooms at that doctor's office are never much 'fun'.
I am thankful, actually, to have so many 'things to do' for I fear I would not enjoy 'nothing going on' very long. The calendar looks almost as full for next week.. but it IS September now, and all the clubs and organizations get going again after the summer hiatus.
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