the neighbor has it right

my neighbor is showing his heartfelt disappointment regarding the inauguration.

i feel his pain.

the power of enthusiasm

the gastro account ended last wednesday. wednesday afternoon I got a call from a shari in texas who said I submitted a resume to someone in oregon and that person forwarded it to her.
refresher reminder: there are no secrets on the internet
it's obvious from shari's voice that she is both overwhelmed with work AND very excited about her new account -- which i might add, she single-handedly brought back into the USA from a company in india AND the head doctor of this facility is indian -- turban and all!

this is absolutely hugeHugeHUGE! and megaKUDOS to her for doing so.

for those who don't know much about the medical transcription industry -- this india issue is a real problem here in the good ol' USA. the medical records (which often times include SSN and date of birth) are electronically shipped to india to be typed for 2c-4c/line, which is a good deal for the doctors -- however, it sucks for those of us in the industry for obvious reasons and it sucks for the USA consumers because of the privacy issue. The privacy law (HIPAA) is a USA law only, hence if you ever worry or wonder about identity theft - don't forget to consider your doctor's office/medical records and where they are sending your information to be transcribed.

i was very upset about what she offers for money, but pacified a bit because of the gross line counts. she just sounds so desperate for help and she sounds like a very wonderful person and she has soooooo much enthusiasm in her voice that i couldn't turn her down.

umm, that and the fact that, out of all of the resumes i've put out there, she is the only one that has responded.

i'm back to typing ortho for much less money than before AND i'm really excited about it!

i'm a pushover.

reclaiming/recycling is kitsch

i've been collecting 100% wool sweaters and felting them in the washing machine.

i now have quite a grouping of these and went surfing on the net to find some inspiration of just what to do with these.

after looking through hundreds of sites and even more photos, there is no question in my mind - this 'going green fad' with reclaimed/recycled fibers has much to be desired in terms of style and taste.

sadly, everything i saw made from these sweaters is simply kitsch.

well, except for maybe the felted coffee cozy or maybe the felted slippers .

i think i'll keep looking

internet/media WTF?

this cell phone issue has been quite the educating experience for this ol' gal.

i had been checking online after i suspended the service on 1/1 to see if there were any calls being made.
nothing.
tonight i decided to check it again - even though i've reactivated the service - i thought maybe these old eyes may have missed something.

well, sure as shit they had.
i scrolled down the page further to the text and internet/media section.
after all, i had to check out the texting portion of the bill because i sent my very first text message at 11:23 12/31/08. my niece had sent a happy new year message and i saw the 'reply' option. so, being the good aunt that i am not, i thought, what the hell, surely it can't be as addicting as IRC chat was in the early 1990's, as the texting is far too much work.
so, i replied with the typical aunty response of "happy NY 2 u 2 - b safe luvya"

and then i noticed this really RED bar on the internet/media section - to a wap.cellular.
there had been 8mb of data sent from 2:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m.
i had no idea what wap.cellular or internet/media was and I sure didn't have the phone in my possession at that time.
i called at&t and told the gal that i don't even know who/what wap.cellular is and what is all the internet/media data usage about?
she stated, "there was $82.03 of data sent over the internet."

me: "huh, and to think all i did was reply to a text message at 11:23 pm 12/31/08."

the good news is, she took it off my bill as it had nothing to do with my text reply.
the other good news is, i didn't lose the phone - it was stolen.
i have been vindicated.

oh, and i really do like that texting thing. i'm pretty sure i'll be turning up that service on my phone.
so, for all you that I have cell numbers for --
chk ur msgs cuz i b txtng u

think pink

fact: the malemate really does not like the color pink - apparently it threatens his masculinity.

fact: we have one cell phone that we both use when needed.

fact: the cell phone dilemma came to an end yesterday around high noon. i found a cheap used one on craigslist.

fact: the replacement phone is PINK!!!

some days it's the little zings that give a spark of pleasure.

the frugal shopper:
here's a piece of information that other at&t wireless folks may find of interest and could save you a couple bucks. Sim cards generally need to be replaced in used phones and they cost about $25.

if you need to replace a lost/stolen at&t cell phone, you can just buy one of the cheap GO Phones ($15). Then call the at&t wireless support and have them reassign the sim card to your account (a sim card comes with the GO Phone - but do not tell them it is from a GO Phone). You do not need to buy any minutes for the GO Phone to work with an activated sim and an active at&t account. The GO Phone can be used to finish out your contract. However, just between you and me, I wanted the pink phone for reasons of spitefulness - so I also bought the GO Phone and pulled the sim out of it and put it in the used pink phone.

you can hear me now.

wireless withdrawals

i cannot believe how the loss of the cell phone has driven me into depression. it seems to be so ridiculous ... just buy another one and get on with life.

buy another phone - right.

have ya looked at the choices on ebay?
i have been scouring ebay and craigslist and researching on the net for the past 3 days and still cannot make a decision.

obsession is a problem.

i'm getting headache.

you can't hear me now

i lost the new cell phone at the NYE gathering. i'm having cell phone withdrawals. not that i use it the often - it's a security thing.
it's like having the car in the garage for days and never driving it -- but once it's gone, so is the security.
having one's possessions within one's control.
hmm, maybe it's a control thing and not a security thing at all.

either way, it has sure made the start to the new year mighty shitty and pouty and the search is on for a cheap at&t cell phone. freecycle here i come.

and then we were without running water for 18 plus hours over the past day. that's another thing that sent me to the xanax bottle.
the contractors that build houses these days really have their heads up their asses, doncha think?
we got a new, bigger hot water heater, however, after getting it all set up, the glue had to set for about 18 hours. hence, no water because the contractor did not install a shut-off valve to the hot water heater. so the water was shut off at the main inlet.
the good news, it's installed, filled,turned on and putting out hot water.

that jacuzzi is gonna feel good tonite.