Saturday, May 17, 2003

Okay, I'm taking a lunch break. Late but I'm hungry now. And my cable internet has finally been restored. See, I knew that cable tech support guy was wrong! Turns out he was level 1 tech support...the dummies. I called back later when my cable appeared to be restored but was not getting connection with any configuration and got to speak to level 2 and she laughed when I told her what the other guy said and said that they don't know stuff beyond the company guidebook. Then my router was freaking out again but after 2 calls to the belkin folks and inappropriate words from me (not directed at the people who helped me) it worked. At first I thought, great someone with a thick accent. Either they won't comprehend what I'm saying or vice versa and that did happen but the first person solved my problem and told me that my cable modem is different and that I needed to alter the order in which I turned the devices on (router first instead of modem first) and that worked. Then I tried customizing back to my usual settings and all broke loose. And part of that was because of what that first helpful person told me (she told me the wrong thing for my mac filtering). Then I called back and after convincing the second english as a foreign language guy that mac filtering was necessary even though I only have one computer, he told me that the other lady only gave me half the info I needed. Then I confused him and myself while we tried to figure out how to get the encryption to work and he told me to call apple cause they would know more about my mac in regards to encryption. I figured it out by myself. Apparently Apple no longer requires a $ before the hex code but since all had been fine and dandy until the cable modem stopped working, I never ran into the problem. Don't worry, I was studying at the same time. And now nourishment.
~me~ at 2:22 PM

Argh! The cable internet is down so I'm forced to use dial up. The customer support guy wasn't too helpful. I suggested that it could be a local internet problem but he seems to think that it's the wiring in my home. Hmmm...let's think about this. Sometime between 12 am and 8 am the cables in my home went caput yet somehow I still have cable tv and just a while ago I noticed the activity light on my model flash for a bit then go out again. I don't think so buddy. I tried to see if Jeff and Stephanie had a connection but they're either not awake yet or just didn't answer the door or not home at all. I'll try again later if this hasn't been resolved. What the hell is going on?!? First yesterday my router spontaneously goes out then starts working again and now this! Is this some sort of sign that I should use a regular dictionary and not the online one which makes my life so much easier and faster paced. Now I'm connected via dialup so if anyone tries to call me. Too bad, I'm staying connected this way until the cable connection comes up.
~me~ at 9:43 AM

Friday, May 16, 2003

Do you suppose that my mint seeds know that there's a chance they will die from me forgetting to water them and that's why they have failed to sprout every single time I've attempted to plant them? When I planted mint in oregon it sprouted quickly and grew quickly and died slowly. I've now tried 3 brands of seeds and all 3 have failed to sprout. I even aerated the soil. Perhaps I need to use new soil. I replanted the cilantro (not as resilient to no water as the basil and oregano) last saturday and it's already started to sprout.
What else...oh I had to drive into school today to get my TB test read and despite being red, it was still negative. According to nurse anne, I developed a sensitivity to the stuff used to clean my skin before the TB injection because I wear contacts and the contact solution sensitized me. I could have sworn all they used was rubbing alcohol and I certainly don't put that stuff in my eyes...ouch! Well, I didn't put the benadryl cream on for fear it would ruin the test and I was right in my action because I would have had to redo the test. Apparently I can only use ice to reduce the itchiness when I get a tb test or it could cause a false negative which could be bad if I actually did get TB from a patient. But now that I've been checked out I can now use benadryl cream on my arm to my heart's content. And while I doubt that benadryl is such a quick worker, I swear to you that in the hour since I applied the stuff, my arm shows no trace of redness whatsoever! Benadryl, the wonder drug! Let's see all the uses...1. mosquito bite itchies 2. sunburn itchies 3. allergy itchies okay so those all act in the same way as an antihistamine by blocking the release of histamine from mast cells and basophils but #4 is tranquilizer. Not deep sedation but if you're ever tired just pop 2 of those suckers and I swear you'll be out shortly. And if you need it to work even faster, wash them down with some alcohol. Not that I'm advocating the abuse of benadryl but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Now, I know I said I don't like to take pills unless it will make me healthy and hey, this fits in that category so blugh (imagine me sticking tongue out and making raspberry sound). Of course, 2 sinus tylenol also knocks me out. In fact, the only time I ever feel so out of it and feel like the room is spinning is when I take 2 of those. 1 works just fine but a couple times I forgot that since I usually take 2 extra strength tylenol for regular headaches and so I just popped 2 sinus tylenol in for my sinus tylenol and got very very sleepy.
~me~ at 1:24 PM

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Hmmm...my tb test spot shows rubor and calor but no dolor, tumor, or functio laesa. Like the way I use my vocabulary? While this may be slightly concerning, remember that I did scratch it accidentally. At least it's not itchy anymore. And there isn't an induration (long word for "bump") so I'm still negative. I don't know why but I like watching getting my blood drawn for labs and then for blood drives (I watch them put the needle in) but it freaks me a teeny weeny bit watching the subcutaneous needle prick to inject the tb stuff and then to see the stuff go in. I guess I prefer things coming out. And before I had pharm and path I really didn't bother worrying about side effects because I just didn't care but now I'm against taking anything unless it's needed to save my life or get me healthy again (antibiotics). While I don't particularly care for the side effect profile of PPIs, they are very nice to have when one goes on a drinking binge at block parties. They give you gas...and not the kind that leaves from above. I think H2 blockers are losing efficacy since before my mild gastritis (if that was mild, I don't want to experience moderate, let alone severe gastritis) 1 pill would last all night but in my drinking experiences beyond that fateful event, the effects wear off after 4 or 5 hours and so I take another. The bottle says not to exceed more than 2 per 24 hours which I usually interpret as 1 every 12 hours but I guess 2 in 5 hours is okay as long as I don't have more for the next 19 hours. Hey, I tried to get PPIs for Mardi Gras but was told that perhaps I should not drink at all or limit my consumption instead (kind of with the tone of "you should know better"). Well, next friday is going to be a big party day for us so we'll see how I do...don't worry, I won't drink to the point of passing out...the heartburn gets in the way of that ever happening. In fact, I've never passed out from drinking. I've gotten tired before but most people get tired at 4 am. Gotta go to the bathroom...all this caffeine makes me go too much cause it's a diuretic.
~me~ at 11:17 PM

I had to go to school today for my annual TB test. I was supposed to go in tomorrow for mask fitting but fortunately they were letting anyone scheduled for tomorrow to squeeze in for fitting today...they probably wanted to wrap up the process as fast as possible since they have to fit 153 students in 2 days plus those delinquents who forget altogether (it happens all the time). So now I only have to drive in on friday to get my test read. And just now I forgot about the tb test and was scratching my arm cause it itched and then I looked at my arm and realized I was scratching the injection site so now it's a little pink and still itchy. But I scratched it last year too accidentally (hey, i can't help it if my reflexes are intact) and it ended up being negative. I suppose there is a chance that I contracted TB somewhere (one of my classmates tested positive and was coughing at the beginning of the year...did I mention I was sitting next to him at the lunch meeting?) this year but so far no coughs or night sweats. It's still itchy. I wonder if it would be bad to put benadryl anti-histamine cream on it? Never really was taught about that sort of thing. I guess I could call Sue or Nurse Ann and ask but that takes effort and I'm out of stock of effort.
~me~ at 3:57 PM

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

You would think I'd learn after all this time to ignore certain sounds. Well, let's just say my startle response is alive and well. One of my favorite pieces of music is Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. Well, there's this one part of the piece that gets all quiet and then all of a sudden a few minutes of very loud and abrupt bars are played. And those bars get me all the freaking time! And as evidence, I offer the notes I was taking every time I listened to the piece. You can tell when it first happens because all of a sudden there will be an erratic pen mark offshooting from the word I was in the process of writing. I guess I deserve it since one of my favorite things to do is to make someone listen to the song just to see them jump. But I've had this CD for about 2 years now and have listened to it more times than I remember but it still gets me. The short version is on the Fantasia 2000 CD and DVD. I wish I saw that in an IMAX theater because I bet tons of people jumped at that point and I would have been one of them but to see others react the same would have been priceless! The first time I heard it was at one of the Univ of Oregon orchestra performances and it definitely caught most of us off guard...someone behind me proclaimed (not whispered) "Oh Shit!" when it happened. Anyway, back to apoptosis!
~me~ at 11:23 PM

On a lighter more happier note, I made watermelon jello ice pops and they're mighty tasty!
~me~ at 2:41 PM

I'm so annoyed! I don't start doing clinical things in the city until Sept because I start with family but I have to buy a contract that starts on July 1st or I may not get one at all. That means I have to pay $140 for something I'm not even going to use! And while I'll try to sell it to the 1st years for next year, that will most likely be unsuccessful since most of them won't be back until august when their year starts and then most of them will purchase passes for the cheaper radisson lot. My other thought was to offer it and then charge them $60/month so that the price is the same for both lots but mine would be closer and then take the $20 loss which is nice compared to a $140 loss. This is BS but the parking services, true to form, are unbending on anything they sell and I don't have the time or energy to fight against this. Their idiotic "solution" to my problem was to car pool. Um, yeah if my clone had the exact same schedule as me!
~me~ at 2:12 PM