Thoughtful Thursday ~ {11/12/09}

The Prompts from MamaKat:



1.) Describe the best/most creative punishment you have ever given your children or received yourself.

I don't have kids, and I can't remember any creative punishment I received as a child, so I'm going to pass.

2.) Tell a friend or family members story as if it happened to you.

In the following story, I am speaking as my co-worker and friend, KF. This is her day as it happened yesterday:

My alarm went off at 5:45 AM so I could get up and get ready for class at 8:00. I knew that I was going to need some extra time because I had to go to the gas station on the way to school. My gas tank was completely on empty, and I needed air in two of my tires.

Unfortunately, instead of getting up, I repeatedly hit snooze several times and ended up getting up later than I usually do. I rushed around the house getting ready, and trying to get all my things around for work and class. I was starving, but I didn't have time for breakfast. I didn't even have time to grab some pop-tarts. Who doesn't have time to grab a package of pop-tarts? But I knew that I needed every spare second if I was going to have any hope of making it to class on time.

I walked out to the driveway to find that my husband had lovingly started my car for me to warm it up and melt the frost off, only he didn't know that I'd coasted into the driveway on fumes the night before. The gas station is within walking distance of our house, but I really wasn't wanting to actually have to make that walk this morning! I got in the car, and started down the driveway, praying that I had enough gas to make it to the station.

Luckily, I managed to make it to the gas station, but had no time to put air in my tires. Oh well, the air can wait I suppose.

I skidded into a parking slot and ran to class, and made it to class with seconds to spare. Luckily, the professor was late because of some babysitter mix up with Veterans day, and she actually had to bring her 5 month old into class with her and she was running late.

I got to work, and the morning was uneventful. I was sitting at the desk talking to Doc (aka Eyegirl), when all of a sudden the phone rang. The person on the other end wanted to make an appointment and asked if we had anything available today. I glanced at the clock to see what time it was, and realized that it was 11:45 AM. Yikes! I put the phone on hold, and ran to the back to get my co-worker to take the call because I have another class at noon. I have to leave work during the middle of the day every Wednesday, and I got so absorbed in talking I wasn't watching the time.

It takes at least 20 minutes to get to campus from work, so I knew I was going to be late. I grabbed my stuff and bolted out the door. I got to class and went to take off my prescription sunglasses and put on my regular glasses, only to realize that I left them sitting on the desk at work when I changed into my sunglasses before running out the door. So, I had to sit through class blind as a bat and copy the notes from my neighbor.

I got back from class and began talking to Doc again about my vacation week. I have final exams the week of December 14, and the exams aren't scheduled during my regular class times. So, I decided that instead of trying to figure out a way to leave work at odd times, it was just easier to take the whole week off. I put in my request, and it got approved. Only I realized yesterday that I requested THE WRONG WEEK. I asked for the week before finals off, instead of the week of finals. Another employee already requested the week I need, and both of us can't be gone at the same time. So, now the manager has to talk to her to see if she is flexible on her vacation week or not. If not, I'm going to have to take a personal day one of the days because I have two finals and it would be impossible to work that day, and then I'm going to have to just work around the rest of them.

How did I lose control of my life this much?

3.) Tell a story about a moment in time when you were so happy you were you and not someone else in the room.

To be completely honest, I'm not sure I entirely understand this prompt. So, I'm going to pass.

4.) I picked up the phone and I could not believe what I was hearing...

they were still on the phone, and it's been hours!

Admitting this truly makes me feel ancient, but I'm old enough to actually remember having a party line in our house when I was a child. If I remember correctly, the phone had a different ring for each of us, so were able to determine if a call was for us or not based on the ring. However, the only way to know if someone from the other party was on the phone was to simply pick up the receiver and see if someone was talking. I have vague memories of my mom or dad needing/wanting to make a call, and repeatedly picking up the phone only to hear that the line was still occupied. It may have only been a short time in all reality, but to me it seemed like they would be waiting for hours for our neighbors to get off the phone so they could make their call.

5.) Show us something you did yourself!

As I've stated in the past, I'm really not a do it myself kind of girl. My theory is pretty much why do it yourself when you can pay someone else to do it for you. I'm also not all that big into making handcrafted things. I think that I just don't have the patients for it. When I want something, I want it now, and it just seems so much easier to run to the store and buy it.

That being said, I actually do have plans to take the readers on a picture tour through my house sometime in the next few weeks. I've slowly been going through my house one room at a time, and taking photos. So, while I didn't actually make my house myself, I did pick out the floor plans, and pick out every single thing about it, inside and out. So, that's as close to making something as I'm going to get. I'm just not quite ready with all the pictures, so you'll have to check back to see when I'm ready to start the tour.

Serious Pet Peeve 8

While out at a restaurant this evening, I used a public restroom.

The toilet paper in the bathroom was on one of those huge dispensers like this one:



In theory, those dispensers are a good concept. Obviously there is more toilet paper per roll, and hypothetically it is less likely that the stalls will run out of paper, as long as the employees are checking them on a regular basis.

Reality, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.

It never fails that I seem to enter the stall where the rolls have just been changed. So, while it is great that I actually have toilet paper to use, it seems impossible to actually get at said toilet paper.

Can someone explain to me why anyone would come up with the concept of making huge rolls of toilet paper, where the paper is so thin that when you try to pull on it to turn the roll and unravel the paper, it just tears off one square at a time?

Is that some demented way of going green, and trying to get women to use less toilet paper?

Is it any wonder that the lines in women's restrooms are so long, when it takes us 10 minutes to unroll the toilet paper, one square at a time?

Seriously.

Hump Day Humor ~ {11/11/09}

~ Author Unknown

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner.

I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked, 'If I give you this money, will you buy wine with it instead of dinner?'

'No, I had to stop drinking years ago', the homeless woman told me.

'Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?' I asked.

'No, I don't waste time shopping,' the homeless woman said. 'I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.'

'Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?' I asked.

'Are you NUTS!' replied the homeless woman. 'I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!'

'Well, I said, 'I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight.'

The homeless woman was shocked. 'Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.'

I said, 'That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine.'

The Doctor Is NOT In

I don't hate my job.

No really. I don't.

I just don't love my job, either, and in general I prefer to leave work at work, where it belongs.

I've never been one of those people that wants to come home every night and talk about my work day. Of course there are exceptions, like if I've had a bad day or dealt with a particularly trying situation, then I might want to vent about it. Other than that I usually don't like to recount my work day, and usually refrain from doing so unless specifically asked about it.

I'm not a workaholic. Far from it. And I don't confuse what I do with who I am. My job does not define me. It just helps me pay my bills.

And I'd really like to leave it at that, but sadly no one seems to be willing to allow me to do that.

I have worked as as an optometrist for 9 1/2 years, and I worked as an optical tech/receptionist for 7 years longer than that. So, I obviously have a lot of knowledge about anything and everything eye related.

When it comes to being good at my job, that knowledge works in my favor.

When it comes to leaving work at work, and allowing me to be Dr. Eyegirl at the office, and just plain old Eyegirl at home, that knowledge works completely against me.

I often get cornered at parties and bombarded with questions about LASIK surgery, or contact lenses, or bifocals, or whatever as soon as someone hears what I do for a living. It's too annoying for words. Discussing those topics is what I do at work. Why in the world would I want to spend my personal time, at a party none the less, doing what I do at work?

There is nothing even remotely fun or enjoyable about fielding all of those questions on my personal time. Not to mention the fact that I get paid pretty decently to answer them at my office, while I obviously don't get paid to dish out advice to random people at social gatherings. Also, anytime a medical professional gives advice, they are responsible and liable for that advice. Whether or not they are paid for said advice, and whether or not that advice was given during an examination in the office, is not relevant. I am responsible for the medical advice I give to others, regardless of the circumstances under which I give it. If I have the potential to get sued for something I say, it might be nice for that advice to actually occur under the proper circumstances, where I have the adequate knowledge about a patient to properly advise them for their particular situation, instead of attempting to talking in generalizations and qualifiers since I know nothing about these individuals medical and ocular situations.

On a fairly regular basis, I open my e-mail, or listen to my voicemail, only to receive requests for optical advice. The vast majority of the time, the requests are either about LASIK, an infection, or their children's vision. I ALWAYS respond to these requests immediately, always from home, always on my personal time.

It's not that I don't want to help people out, or that I don't want to give the advice. And it's not even about the money that I'm not getting paid. It's an invasion of my personal time. It's forcing me to work during my off hours.

And to make matters worse, I often spend a significant length of time writing out responses, detailing my explanations in depth, and trying to answer every possible questions that the person could have about the topic, only to receive absolutely no response. Not even a thank you.

Quite frankly, it's really starting to irritate the shit out of me.

A few months ago, I had someone send me an email requesting all sorts of information about several eye conditions. This request was from someone that I have been friends with my whole life, but had lost touch with in recent months. I wrote back, answering all of her questions, and also included several lines of personal correspondence as well. You know... "So great to hear from you! How's everything going? How's your family? Etc. Etc." After my initial e-mail she wrote back with more questions, which I again answered for her. And that was it. At no point did she respond to any of my personal questions, she didn't enquire about me or my life, and she didn't even say thank you. It was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, and I decided to end the friendship. Who needs friends like that?

I had another instance where an acquaintance requested information regarding the difference between several conditions, which I explained in depth for her. Once I sent her my response, I never heard back from her. Not even a thank you.

I've reached my breaking point, and I need to find a way to deal with this. I'm trying to come up with a canned response that I can shoot back at people whenever they request advice from me, that essentially says "NO!!!!!!!!" (But much nicer and politer than that.)

Something along the lines of, "I'm so sorry that I am unable to help you; however, the number of requests I get for optical advice are just too great for me to be able to respond during my personal time. I'd love to see you for an appointment at my office during my work hours to answer all of your questions. My work phone number is XXX-XXXX. Thanks, and have a wonderful day."

(And there are exceptions to this. Obviously, certain people can get away with asking for advice, but I'm tired of responding to "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who" said to call and ask me.

(That's a Ferris Bueller Quote for anyone that doesn't have the entire movie memorized like I do.)

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to politely and nicely handle this? Or do I just sound like a raving lunatic and I need to get over it?

Lions & Tigers, Oh My!!

I was wandering around reading blogs while killing time waiting for class to start. I got out of work an hour early, but I have a headache and don't feel like being productive. So, what better thing to do than read blogs, right?

I headed over to a new blog I've been following, Just Add Walter, and read the funny story she posted today about her mom.

I decided to follow suit and share my own funny story.

First a little background.

The first thing to know is that my BFF is EXTREMELY allergic to cats. The second she enters my house she starts sneezing and does not stop until she leaves for home. She drugs herself up on allergy meds the entire time she is visiting, and it barely puts a dent in her miserable sneezing, running nose, and watery eyes. I feel so awful every time she is at my house because of it, but obviously there's not much I can do about it short of not have a cat. I would certainly consider that if she lived around the corner and was over all the time, but she lives in another state and visits about once a year.

Second, my BFF is a very down to earth person. She's smart, logical, organized, and very on the ball all of the time. I've always watched her juggle everything she does and wonder how she manages it all. It would be impossible to view her as an airhead, and she never has "blonde moments" (not even back when she was a blonde).

Except for once...

Last November the two of us went to Vegas together. One of the things we opted to do was go to "The Secret Garden of Sigfried & Roy" where they have exhibits of Dolphins, Lions & Tigers.

First we entered the Dolphin area and heard a little bit about them. Then we got to wander around and watch them swimming through the pools. The next thing we did was enter the area with the Lions & Tigers. There were baby tigers running and playing. After a few moments my BFF started sneezing. A few more minutes later and her nose started running. Her symptoms just kept getting worse and worse, as time goes on, but she does her best to ignore it.

The babies were adorable, and we watched them for quite a while. We then wandered into the area with the adult Lions, and watched them for a few minutes.

My BFF finally turns to me and says, "Wow! There must be something in here that I'm really allergic to, my allergies are really going nuts."

For a brief second, I assume she's joking. Then I realize she's dead serious.

I busted out laughing, and somehow managed to choke out between fits of giggles, "Yeah. Possibly the BIG CATS?"

She looked at me with a look of "OH DUH!" and started laughing herself.

I'll never let her live it down. Especially since it is SOOOOO out of character for her.

So what's your funny story about a friend or family memember?