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Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,951
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!


@geezerette wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

I am so glad it is the weekend. It has been rough lately for sure. 


Yeah, what's up with September?  Usually the month starts off with less stress at work, but this month started bad and is getting worse.  Hostile, irritable, nasty antisocials.  And I'm not just talking about the patients.


 

Eek, Just Bee.  Not fun. Sounds like they need a little sugar.


It's a hospital.  My coworkers get more than enough sugar -- and caffeine.  What they need is a major attitude adjustment.

 

Everyone's quitting and October is going to be rough because we're so short on staff.  My vacation (thought I'd take my birthday off) will probably be canceled.  I drove home from work on Friday and couldn't help think that this would be the perfect time to resign.  Yesterday I composed a resignation letter.  (I like to have one on hand just in case I have one of those days in which the universe is telling me: "Yup.  Today's the day.")

 

But then I told myself that I would never be able to abandon the job -- especially when they were so short-staffed.  That could mean I still care too much to leave.  Or it means I'm a chump.

 

Either way, I'm probably not going to give it to anyone because events took a bad turn yesterday and that makes my job issues seem insignificant.  Not only are things blowing up, but the neighbors rang our doorbell in the middle of the night to ask if we'd noticed anyone stealing their truck out of the driveway.

 

Talk about a sinking feeling.  But when I was out feeding the wildlife in the yard this morning I noticed the truck was back in their driveway.  Unfortunately, from what I could make out, the left front end is mangled.

 

Crime is getting worse and getting closer to home.  One story that has appeared in national news, but only to a very minor degree (thankfully), has been weighing heavily on me.  A little girl was murdered not far from my neighborhood and the details of the story are so horrific that we're going to feel the after-effects for some time.  I do like the work I do, but where I work gives me the inside scoop on our community's dark side.  People always shrug and say it's that way everywhere.

 

If that's true, we're doomed.


This is just one of the reasons I haven't dried out from the humidity in ten years.  That, and the fact that we could no longer draw a breath of fresh air out there.  Unfortunately, both of those situations are now hitting closer to this place now, too.  And there's no shopping here so I'm forever tempted by the evil internet.  We are doomed.  At least I am.


Better-half thinks Albuquerque and New Mexico in general are podunk.  He wants to live in a "real" city.  Part of me sees his point, while another part is researching the smallest, most remote towns in America.  Maybe it's time to sell everything and disappear with a mobile home and a pack of plastic flamingos.

 

And don't get me started on the Internet.  Talk about a love-hate relationship.  Do you know how many people come into the hospital because of something that was posted on FaceBook?  Or because they read about some conspiracy theory?

 

I made the mistake of opening a drugstore.com email and then spent half an hour researching a product I saw there.  Never heard of it before and suddenly I thought I needed to have it. 

 

I think I need to sweep up sand and pull weeds today.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,951
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!


@geezerette wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

I am so glad it is the weekend. It has been rough lately for sure. 


Yeah, what's up with September?  Usually the month starts off with less stress at work, but this month started bad and is getting worse.  Hostile, irritable, nasty antisocials.  And I'm not just talking about the patients.


 

Eek, Just Bee.  Not fun. Sounds like they need a little sugar.


Maybe they've had too much.🍬🍰🍦🍡🍧🍭🍫🍩🍪🤒


No doubt.  Speaking of which, I actually feel better since cutting back on the sugar.  I feel like I'm getting better sleep.  That's another thing: Can't America sleep anymore?  Patients call me in the middle of the night because they can't sleep.  There are new pillows and mattresses on the market that address this sudden epidemic.

 

Everything's an epidemic these days.  And if I hear or see one more do-you-have-enough-money-to-retire commercial, my head's going to explode.

 

I think I chose the right field.  The world is cracking up.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,951
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!

It's ComPacting Confession time!

 

When did I buy that new electric toothbrush?  August 22, that's when.  It's been almost a month and I haven't sent off my mail-in rebate form.  Moreover, I haven't even used the d___ed toothbrush.

 

I'm not a complete dunce.  I got an "A" in Chemistry.  I worked in Silicon Valley.  I've read The Waste Land.  So why can't I figure out this ___ing toothbrush?  I should be able to plug it in, charge the battery, push the button and brush my teeth, right?

 

Nay, that would be too 20th Century.  First, a manual in English would be helpful.  I like English -- Old, Middle and whatever the ___ we're speaking these days.  But this manual is in hieroglyphics.  I don't do well with picture instructions -- I depend on actual words.

 

So I just pulled out a new Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to get the brown stains out of my tea mugs.  This, I thought as I was scrubbing away, is probably what my teeth look like.  Then it occurred to me: Why do I need a special brush and products to remove tea stains from my teeth?  Why don't I just give up black tea?

 

Better yet, why don't I just use a Magic Eraser on my teeth?

 

Incidentally, what do you use to get stains out of a Magic Eraser?

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,486
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!

[ Edited ]

Och, don't get me started on non-English manuals!  Even the"English" in English manuals isn't English!  That is, if you even get a manual for anything.  I bought a TENS unit about a month ago and it sat on my table for weeks before I even tried to look at the directions.  Then one day, I finally looked, read, and immediately put everything back in the box for another three weeks.  I did take the contraption out and try it the other day, and it does work to some degree, but it's so hard to find the right spot in my back to hit and the pads are so sticky that I'm not sure how often I'll use the thing.  It's just a lot easier to limp around with the back pain.  Another box of stuff to sit around and collect dust, I suppose.

 

Yep, I found out the same thing about black tea and tooth stain.  I wanted to start something that didn't stain my teeth like coffee, so I tried tea instead.  Ha!  Joke's on me--black tea stains teeth worse than black coffee!  And it gave me stomach pains, so I quit that in a hurry.  Besides, it doesn't have that humongous caffeine kick like super-strong coffee.  But I did find out how to have coffee without staining my teeth: substitute about a third of the cup of coffee with cream--the heavy whipping cream stuff, the kind that's 100% fat.  Apparently the fat coats your teeth and, voila!  No stains!  There is one little downside, however.  I gained about six pounds that I can't get rid of without giving up the cream in my coffee.  Dilemma: extra weight vs. teeth staining.  Hmmmm...

 

So bee, my month has mirrored yours.  I've already had my eye exam and tomorrow I go in to the dentist.  Hopefully there will be no problems and I'll be done with all that for at least another six months.  (And yes, my coffee has cream in it right now--at least until tomorrow after my appointment.  Then it will be decision time.) 🐮

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,486
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!


@just bee wrote:

I don't want to sign out on that nihilistic note, so let me share a little story.  I took the world's greatest dog for a walk yesterday and we met his younger, puppy self.

 

Ever have one of those fortuitous, serendipitous events that make you think that someone really does have some control of the universe?

 

We met a young man who had just rescued a dog from our local no-kill shelter.  This dog was a younger, smaller, puppy version of my boy.  

 

This guy had just adopted her on Friday, yet they seemed to have been together forever.  I told him to go home and Google "Australian kelpie" immediately because that was precisely what he now had.  I told him all about my kelpie and what he could expect, and he confirmed that everything I was saying was so.  I was wearing an old T-shirt and he thought it was odd that one of the words on the shirt was what he was thinking of naming his new puppy.  And he couldn't get over how our meeting came at the perfect time.  Naturally, I suggested the name "Kismet," instead.

 

I hope we run into them again.  Those chance meetings restore my faith in humanity.


One of those times that makes you go, "Hmm."  You two could start the AlbeKurque Kelpie Klub.

 

And how is the world's greatest dog?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,486
Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!

[ Edited ]

@just bee wrote:

@geezerette wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

I am so glad it is the weekend. It has been rough lately for sure. 


Yeah, what's up with September?  Usually the month starts off with less stress at work, but this month started bad and is getting worse.  Hostile, irritable, nasty antisocials.  And I'm not just talking about the patients.


 

Eek, Just Bee.  Not fun. Sounds like they need a little sugar.


It's a hospital.  My coworkers get more than enough sugar -- and caffeine.  What they need is a major attitude adjustment.

 

Everyone's quitting and October is going to be rough because we're so short on staff.  My vacation (thought I'd take my birthday off) will probably be canceled.  I drove home from work on Friday and couldn't help think that this would be the perfect time to resign.  Yesterday I composed a resignation letter.  (I like to have one on hand just in case I have one of those days in which the universe is telling me: "Yup.  Today's the day.")

 

But then I told myself that I would never be able to abandon the job -- especially when they were so short-staffed.  That could mean I still care too much to leave.  Or it means I'm a chump.

 

Either way, I'm probably not going to give it to anyone because events took a bad turn yesterday and that makes my job issues seem insignificant.  Not only are things blowing up, but the neighbors rang our doorbell in the middle of the night to ask if we'd noticed anyone stealing their truck out of the driveway.

 

Talk about a sinking feeling.  But when I was out feeding the wildlife in the yard this morning I noticed the truck was back in their driveway.  Unfortunately, from what I could make out, the left front end is mangled.

 

Crime is getting worse and getting closer to home.  One story that has appeared in national news, but only to a very minor degree (thankfully), has been weighing heavily on me.  A little girl was murdered not far from my neighborhood and the details of the story are so horrific that we're going to feel the after-effects for some time.  I do like the work I do, but where I work gives me the inside scoop on our community's dark side.  People always shrug and say it's that way everywhere.

 

If that's true, we're doomed.


This is just one of the reasons I haven't dried out from the humidity in ten years.  That, and the fact that we could no longer draw a breath of fresh air out there.  Unfortunately, both of those situations are now hitting closer to this place now, too.  And there's no shopping here so I'm forever tempted by the evil internet.  We are doomed.  At least I am.


Better-half thinks Albuquerque and New Mexico in general are podunk.  He wants to live in a "real" city.  Part of me sees his point, while another part is researching the smallest, most remote towns in America.  Maybe it's time to sell everything and disappear with a mobile home and a pack of plastic flamingos.

 

And don't get me started on the Internet.  Talk about a love-hate relationship.  Do you know how many people come into the hospital because of something that was posted on FaceBook?  Or because they read about some conspiracy theory?

 

I made the mistake of opening a drugstore.com email and then spent half an hour researching a product I saw there.  Never heard of it before and suddenly I thought I needed to have it. 

 

I think I need to sweep up sand and pull weeds today.


I have the same love-hate relationship.  I often think that I'd like nothing better than to never see a computer, tablet or cell phone again.  Then I realize I couldn't live without Amazon.

 

We consider going back to a "real" place all the time.  But that needing to breath thing always gets in the way.  Not that we can breath all that well here anymore.  But at least we can choke without neighbors on top of us.  But it's getting to the point that we are going to have to cut down, the maintenance on this place is getting to be too much.  We might even sell some acreage--after all, neither of us is getting any younger.  We'd like to get a couple or family on the place to help with a few things, but nobody was interested in that forty years ago, let alone today.

 

Oh, we consider Albuquerque to be a "real" place.  It's all relative.

 

I'm done monopolizing the thread now.  😊😏

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,800
Registered: ‎10-16-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!

It is always fun to come to this thread and read everyone's posts!  It is a bright spot in my day.

 

Well, DD and I did not go to the craft fair because the line was too long.  It was out the door, and DD did not want to wait 40 minutes.  I was really disappointed.  It is getting very hard to find things for us to do together at her crazy, hormonal age of 14 years. Smiley Sad

 

I finally finished the CeraVe eye cream and just started using Isomers Eye Duo.  Tonight, I took pictures of my eyes.  When I finish Isomers, I will take pictures and compare the results.  My own little before and after test.

 

Ulta's 21 days of beauty opened the floodgate.  Isomers has not had a great price on a C kit in a long time, so I ordered Timeless 20% C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum on Amazon for $17.  Angie on Hotandflashy recommends it.  Isomers has a similar serum, but it is $49.  I do not have a C serum in my arsenal and had good results when I used Isomers C Kit, so I thought I would give the serum a try.  Also, I have been wanting to try Eve Pearl's foundation, so I ordered the TSV.  It is an outrageously good value.  I even ordered it on auto-delivery in case I love the products.  The AD is for only a year.

 

That is going to have to hold me for a while.  No more beauty spending unless it is to replace an empty.

 

My gosh!  It is nearly midnight.  Time for some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's.

 

 

Paws and enjoy life.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,951
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!


@geezerette wrote:

Och, don't get me started on non-English manuals!  Even the"English" in English manuals isn't English!  That is, if you even get a manual for anything.  I bought a TENS unit about a month ago and it sat on my table for weeks before I even tried to look at the directions.  Then one day, I finally looked, read, and immediately put everything back in the box for another three weeks.  I did take the contraption out and try it the other day, and it does work to some degree, but it's so hard to find the right spot in my back to hit and the pads are so sticky that I'm not sure how often I'll use the thing.  It's just a lot easier to limp around with the back pain.  Another box of stuff to sit around and collect dust, I suppose.

 

Yep, I found out the same thing about black tea and tooth stain.  I wanted to start something that didn't stain my teeth like coffee, so I tried tea instead.  Ha!  Joke's on me--black tea stains teeth worse than black coffee!  And it gave me stomach pains, so I quit that in a hurry.  Besides, it doesn't have that humongous caffeine kick like super-strong coffee.  But I did find out how to have coffee without staining my teeth: substitute about a third of the cup of coffee with cream--the heavy whipping cream stuff, the kind that's 100% fat.  Apparently the fat coats your teeth and, voila!  No stains!  There is one little downside, however.  I gained about six pounds that I can't get rid of without giving up the cream in my coffee.  Dilemma: extra weight vs. teeth staining.  Hmmmm...

 

So bee, my month has mirrored yours.  I've already had my eye exam and tomorrow I go in to the dentist.  Hopefully there will be no problems and I'll be done with all that for at least another six months.  (And yes, my coffee has cream in it right now--at least until tomorrow after my appointment.  Then it will be decision time.) 🐮

 


Separated at birth -- again!  When I first switched from coffee to sturdy British teas, I doctored my morning mugs with both heavy cream and honey.  Fabulous!

 

Then I decided that anything that tasted so good and made me look forward to getting up and facing the day had to be bad.

 

I'm drinking the stuff "straight" now and I'm wondering why I still don't get a thrill.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,951
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!

[ Edited ]

@geezerette wrote:

@just bee wrote:

I don't want to sign out on that nihilistic note, so let me share a little story.  I took the world's greatest dog for a walk yesterday and we met his younger, puppy self.

 

Ever have one of those fortuitous, serendipitous events that make you think that someone really does have some control of the universe?

 

We met a young man who had just rescued a dog from our local no-kill shelter.  This dog was a younger, smaller, puppy version of my boy.  

 

This guy had just adopted her on Friday, yet they seemed to have been together forever.  I told him to go home and Google "Australian kelpie" immediately because that was precisely what he now had.  I told him all about my kelpie and what he could expect, and he confirmed that everything I was saying was so.  I was wearing an old T-shirt and he thought it was odd that one of the words on the shirt was what he was thinking of naming his new puppy.  And he couldn't get over how our meeting came at the perfect time.  Naturally, I suggested the name "Kismet," instead.

 

I hope we run into them again.  Those chance meetings restore my faith in humanity.


One of those times that makes you go, "Hmm."  You two could start the AlbeKurque Kelpie Klub.

 

And how is the world's greatest dog?


It's like someone flipped a switch.  He's suddenly a mature dog.  His breath is not quite as sweet as it once was, his lips are surrounded by white fluff.  He's had a limp that would have subsided after a day or two for a couple weeks now.  Today he's going to see his vet just to make sure nothing nefarious is going on.  We've cut back on his activity and normally he would pout and insist on an outing.  Now he just figures he'll be part of the slug pack and he's content to sack out.

 

It's not fair.  Today is officially the first day of autumn and he should be able to get out and about in the cooler weather.

 

Puppyhood is one big headache, but enjoy it while it lasts.  When I start getting wistful, I tune into the Great Dane Service Dog nursery cam.

 

http://explore.org/live-cams/player/service-dog-project-nursery-cam

 

There is nothing like a Dane.  But a few minutes with these pups -- all named after authors -- makes me appreciate a grown-up.  Even if his breath is a little funky.  (I know he's thinking the same thing about me, but he's much too polite to say anything.)

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,951
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: ComPact 2016 -- SEPTEMBER!


@geezerette wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@geezerette wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

I am so glad it is the weekend. It has been rough lately for sure. 


Yeah, what's up with September?  Usually the month starts off with less stress at work, but this month started bad and is getting worse.  Hostile, irritable, nasty antisocials.  And I'm not just talking about the patients.


 

Eek, Just Bee.  Not fun. Sounds like they need a little sugar.


It's a hospital.  My coworkers get more than enough sugar -- and caffeine.  What they need is a major attitude adjustment.

 

Everyone's quitting and October is going to be rough because we're so short on staff.  My vacation (thought I'd take my birthday off) will probably be canceled.  I drove home from work on Friday and couldn't help think that this would be the perfect time to resign.  Yesterday I composed a resignation letter.  (I like to have one on hand just in case I have one of those days in which the universe is telling me: "Yup.  Today's the day.")

 

But then I told myself that I would never be able to abandon the job -- especially when they were so short-staffed.  That could mean I still care too much to leave.  Or it means I'm a chump.

 

Either way, I'm probably not going to give it to anyone because events took a bad turn yesterday and that makes my job issues seem insignificant.  Not only are things blowing up, but the neighbors rang our doorbell in the middle of the night to ask if we'd noticed anyone stealing their truck out of the driveway.

 

Talk about a sinking feeling.  But when I was out feeding the wildlife in the yard this morning I noticed the truck was back in their driveway.  Unfortunately, from what I could make out, the left front end is mangled.

 

Crime is getting worse and getting closer to home.  One story that has appeared in national news, but only to a very minor degree (thankfully), has been weighing heavily on me.  A little girl was murdered not far from my neighborhood and the details of the story are so horrific that we're going to feel the after-effects for some time.  I do like the work I do, but where I work gives me the inside scoop on our community's dark side.  People always shrug and say it's that way everywhere.

 

If that's true, we're doomed.


This is just one of the reasons I haven't dried out from the humidity in ten years.  That, and the fact that we could no longer draw a breath of fresh air out there.  Unfortunately, both of those situations are now hitting closer to this place now, too.  And there's no shopping here so I'm forever tempted by the evil internet.  We are doomed.  At least I am.


Better-half thinks Albuquerque and New Mexico in general are podunk.  He wants to live in a "real" city.  Part of me sees his point, while another part is researching the smallest, most remote towns in America.  Maybe it's time to sell everything and disappear with a mobile home and a pack of plastic flamingos.

 

And don't get me started on the Internet.  Talk about a love-hate relationship.  Do you know how many people come into the hospital because of something that was posted on FaceBook?  Or because they read about some conspiracy theory?

 

I made the mistake of opening a drugstore.com email and then spent half an hour researching a product I saw there.  Never heard of it before and suddenly I thought I needed to have it. 

 

I think I need to sweep up sand and pull weeds today.


I have the same love-hate relationship.  I often think that I'd like nothing better than to never see a computer, tablet or cell phone again.  Then I realize I couldn't live without Amazon.

 

We consider going back to a "real" place all the time.  But that needing to breath thing always gets in the way.  Not that we can breath all that well here anymore.  But at least we can choke without neighbors on top of us.  But it's getting to the point that we are going to have to cut down, the maintenance on this place is getting to be too much.  We might even sell some acreage--after all, neither of us is getting any younger.  We'd like to get a couple or family on the place to help with a few things, but nobody was interested in that forty years ago, let alone today.

 

Oh, we consider Albuquerque to be a "real" place.  It's all relative.

 

I'm done monopolizing the thread now.  😊😏


I often wonder why we bought this house.  It's too big and the yard is impossible.  Then I remember the view.  But there's really no way to enjoy that view unless I'm standing in the driveway.  I used to fantasize about adding a widow's walk or building a deck on the highest wall in the backyard so I could just sit and look at that view.

 

Now I just fantasize about disguising a herd of goats as small children and letting them live in my yard so I can keep up on all the weeds.

 

Should have gone with the loft.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~