so don't ask if you don't want to know
Archive for January, 2010
The downside of social media
Jan 31st
Every week I go to #evfn and gather with 20-30-40 people. The body count differs every week but there’s a core group. Some people come and go and some come back every time.
The problem is I don’t like every one of them, and I’m sure there are some that don’t like me. For the sake of the social situation we appear friendly at best and civil if there’s a real dislike. I think I can tell when someone doesn’t like me and I give them plenty of space.
The thing is, I really don’t want to hurt your feelings even if we didn’t click. Not every has to like everyone else. We’re not in kindergarten, we’re adults and we should realize and recognize when we aren’t connecting.
There are a couple of people who attend I actively dislike. There’s no hope for a connection or friendship and I can’t even be civil to them, but they still seek me out for conversation. Get a couple of drinks in me and I get downright rude. So far I’ve held my nasty comments, but should I? Are we required (as adults) to be at the very least civil to those who completely irritate or worse, creep us out?
What’s the best way to let someone know they should avoid you without being the real downer in a social group situation? Some people are so obtuse. I could be really nasty (which is my instinct) but then I’m the group bitch. While I’m naturally going to be a bitch, I don’t want to be THE BITCH.
By the way, don’t respond with a bunch of whiny “is it me?” shit. If I talk you you, I like you. If I smile politely and nod for short conversations but don’t hang around, we’re not connecting. If I see you coming and head the other way, duh-you.
Value, worth, cost, MONEY!
Jan 29th
We’ve often had this value vs. worth vs. cost conversation in my family. The kids and I went to yard sales almost every Saturday morning when they were younger. In an effort to teach them value and thrift we’d discuss at length what people at one sale would ask for an object because we’d see it at another sale for a different price. It’s not what the price is that matters, it’s what you’re willing to pay for it. Some people having yard sales over-price their item when the item has no value to anyone else. Value is personal to you, and would the price of VALUED ITEM A be worth the cost.
1stSon is the get-rich-quick kid, always asking, “what can I get for this?” He’s also cheaper/thriftier than I. Where I’m picky about which off-brand items I’ll buy, he seldom buys name-brand anything.
2ndSon on the other hand, goes for the label. Every item of clothing he owns (outside of what the Army made him wear) has Oakley or Tap Out or DC all over it.
GirlChild? Well when she has money she’s thrifty most of the time. She does splurge on Victoria Secret bras. And she prefers to eat out a lot, as do I.
There are some things one shouldn’t go cheap on. I refuse to use anything other than Dawn dishsoap. You MUST have at least 400 thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets, seriously. Never ever buy cheap sheets, you’ll thank me later. With food, I’ll try off-brand things, but I usually end up as cheap as my taste buds will allow. I’m not eating crap to save a buck.
Value of things is harder to identify. The value of an object usually has a direct correlation to the cost of replacing it. I have a couple of Firefly/Serenity items and my Anne McCaffrey books where I’d be upset if anything happened. Of course photos of my family have value to me. But mostly stuff is just… stuff.
I won this comic book (signed by one of the artists, Jay Fotos) last night. I’ve never been a comic book person and I’ve no interest in that whole world. Other people at the event were very impressed which led me to believe there was value in this object. Someone even mentioned eBay! Seriously? I won’t bother with that but I would gift it (as an object of value to them) to someone who would appreciate it, but my non-interest in comic books means I’ve no idea which of my friends would… appreciate it, that is.
(Bad sentence structure there, I apologize.)
What do you place value on in your home? I guess it goes back to the old question, “If you had 10 minutes to leave your home forever what would you grab?” What items do you splurge on?
What's Happenin'
Jan 28th
Whew, busy busy busy. Saturday I went to CenPhoCamp, learned a little, presented and helped clean up. Then went across the parking lot to Turf for the after party. The presentation went well but thankfully Jack Mangan was there to help answer the tougher questions. I’ll have to remember to give him a special thank you next time I see him.
Sunday I spent the whole say editing MADphx podcasts. Monday I went to Ikea to get new dishes so I could dump my old ones on Ginnie. They’re FINALLY moving out, into Casey’s apartment and he’s moving across the parking lot to a larger apartment over there. They’re all just waiting on Shane to come up with his share of $$$. Tuesday I went in for a 6-month follow-up on my mammogram, a pin-point mammogram (which pinches even more than a plain one) and a left breast ultrasound all for what turned out to be just an aggravated lymph node.
Yesterday I spent all day with Evo training VA regional PR and Marketing people how to make podcasts, be effective on twitter and Facebook. Then last night to his house to record Evo@11.
This morning, I thought I had labs scheduled so I fasted but when I got there I had the dates wrong – not til next May – and grabbed a crappy bagel before my appointment with the nutritionist. Now I have Kira this afternoon and I’ll drop her off before I go to the Phoenix Comic Con kickoff tonight at the Phoenix Civic Center. I can’t decide whether to drive to that or take the light rail. After that I have to drive out to fucking CHANDLER to pick up Krystal because she want to go to the airport at midnight to pick up Max. HE’S OFFICIALLY DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY.
And tomorrow night is #evfn.
I’m so tired.
Oh yeah, the nutritionist said I had a pulmonologist appointment Feb 18th and some sort of pulmonary test the 8th, so I’m assuming the notification is in the mail.
And I shall name it Squishy
Jan 26th
The last couple of times I’ve had my yearly mammogram they’ve found something in my lefty. So I get the squishy and a week or so later I get a letter saying I need an ultrasound. So I go in for that and they say it’s nothing to worry about. But today I had to go in for the whole lets-get-a-closer-look shebang.
I don’t worry. Here’s my philosophy: shit happens. 
I could get all freaked out that they keep focusing on this little thing and scheduling my yearlies closer and closer together. I could freak out that today I had a regular mammogram (again) and a spot-specific mammogram (that hurt like hell) followed by an ultrasound. I could let my imagination soar and think of 100 negative connotations and be all angsty and shit.
But why? What could I do up ’til this point to change the outcome? I’m receiving excellent care from a top-notch bunch of medical professionals. People whose job it is to know what to look for and how often to look and all that. What good would it do to freak out before any final verdict?
Turn’s out it is Negative. The Dr at the Laura Dreier Breast Center (marvelous place) says it’s a cranky (my word) lymph node. No biggie.
See? I don’t understand these people that get themselves all worked up without the facts. Seems like such a waste of energy to me. And even if it had been something serious, I don’t think I’d have freaked out then either.
Just keep swimming.
My Intro to Podcasting Presentation
Jan 24th
This is the presentation I delivered yesterday at CenPhoCamp.
But that's not what I need!
Jan 20th
I went to my doctor appointment at the VA today. I’m not going to bitch TOO much because it’s all better than it used to be and also… free.
Parking sucks. Wandered the parking lot for 7 minutes waiting for someone to getthefuckout leave. I was early (of course) but got right in to the BP/weight screener and fairly quickly into the Dr. She’s new to me as my old Dr. Monte apparently went part time. I really like her. She listened, went over all my history thoroughly, and set up a bunch of stuff. Something like she didn’t know 0f any meds I could be taking that I wasn’t already so I should go back to the specialists in Pulmonary. Peachy.
I mentioned I’d tried to lose weight by altering my diet but it’s impossible to move as one needs to move to get exercise. Especially now, but even when my breathing was better I still couldn’t exert myself without guppying. So I’m scheduled for another visit to the nutritionist next week and from there I’ll join a class ingeniously named Move. We’ll see.
She said my BP was fine yet when I checked out the front guy sent me down for a home BP monitor. He also sent me to radiology for an ultrasound and they turned me away – they’ll call me. And he sent me to get an H1N1 shot (mission accomplished) and to Well Woman. So I sat outside that clinic for an hour before the baffled nurse came out and explained to me that I didn’t need an appointment until JUNE. That’s what I thought!
All that and I’m still not breathing normal. Better today than yesterday because it’s NOT RAINING but still not right. I have labs ordered and need to fast, so probably next Thursday as long as I have to be there anyway.
I guess I just sit here and wait for pulmonary to call me?
Where is it written?
Jan 19th
Stupid TV commercial repeats this old saying over and over.
What I really want to know is…
Who cares if it is written anywhere?
Life is change, change is good, evolve.
We should high five sometime.
Just kidding, this felt like a Tyler post
Every breath I take
Jan 18th
Breathing is like, really important. Since I had that flu before Christmas I’ve not been breathing like I should be. I had that full-on attack New Years Eve and now even simplest effort sets me off. Walking to my car, Ginnie’s deodorant, vacuuming, showering, talking too much, and today with the rain – just sitting here in my chair.
I have the asthma cough and I feel like there’s a 10 lb weight sitting on my chest. I can’t get a deep breath or when I do I cough it all away. But this level isn’t emergent. I have a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday and until then I have to plan and take care every moment, or I could overdo it and end up back in the ER.
Please let there be new medications. I’m already taking Advair (500/50) and theophylline, and Accolate, and the inevitable albuterol inhaler and it’s just not cutting it anymore. This is a new doctor so maybe she’ll have new information, new medications.
I have too much to do this week to get bogged down with no air. I’m supposed to give my first ever presentation at CenPhoCamp this Saturday. I’m already nervous as shit about that and I can’t even get up and practice or I get out of breath. I’m so unprepared. If I’m not better by Saturday I’m not sure I can do it.
New Business Cards
Jan 17th
I got my new business cards yesterday. What do you think?
Okay fine, technically they’re not business cards. My moo-cards, while adorable, had outdated information on the back and I needed to get something new. Bite me.
I probably shouldn’t have designed/ordered them so late at night when I was tired. I like them, but I probably should have leaned a little more to the professional side. Or not.
Did I mention I’m a little lost in this going-int0-business-for-yourself thing?
I'm surrounded
Jan 16th
Let me tell you about my neighbors.
First there’s the person who owns the vehicle usually parked outside our bedroom windows. The vehicle with the most annoying alarm system EVER! This thing has a quasi-musical 5-note bleep every time they lock it up, or unlock it, or start driving or look at it crosswise. Ginnie thinks it’s the white pickup truck, but I think it’s the blue rice-burner. All we know is it’s fucking annoying in the middle of the night.
Then there’s the German-American woman across the way with the adorable pre-schooler named Clara. The Mom who hollers at her child every moment they’re outside – all afternoon. And she doesn’t call to the kid Clair-ah like Americans would say it, she has that guttural German pronunciation KLAH-RAH!!!!! And of course because Mom yells at the kid constantly the kid ignores it which causes Mom to yell louder and more emphatically. I think it might be a tic. KLAH-RAH!!!
And I’ve mentioned on Facebook the hispanic latino mexican family with children who run loose in the open area well into the night. Christmas Eve those kids were out there running around screaming and yelling well into the next day. Don’t they know Santa won’t come if the kids are awake?
My immediate neighbors haven’t been a problem so far. Well, maybe the small child next door who tends to take a nap at the same time I do and is never happy about it. One can ignore the plaintive crying on the other side of the wall. So far the apartment upstairs has been empty since I moved but when they have been in there painting or doing whatever maintenance was doing it was pretty loud and thumpy. I’m NOT going to be happy when someone moves in if it’s really that loud.
All in all it’s not a bad place.
