Thursday

Today has been a bit crazy with coming in late from my eye appointment and having to process payroll and get a cash flow report done for our Board Treasurer. Tomorrow morning we're having the first monthly conference call with her since she started in this role. It's one of those things that I don't think I need to be involved in but my boss likes to get me involved in. It's not like he can't answer any questions I can (and more).

So, new glasses. I have to say I love my new optometrist. She is awesome. We're the same age even. She went to see Journey last night so was tired and husky-voiced. She answered all my questions and didn't mind me asking them. They took a digital photo of my retinas which looked super healthy. Now we have a baseline to check against for the future. It turns out that my prescription actually has decreased a bit in power since the last time I had an exam (which was over two years ago). Dr. Atkinson said that that is typical and normal for someone my age with myopia.

I picked out some new frames that are half rimless. I was thinking I wanted metal frames all around but this will be better since I've been wearing rimless ones for so long. I'm no girly girl who likes patterns and pretty things much but the frames I picked have a subtle pattern at the corners near the hinges. They're by Sigrid Olson (SO116 in graphite).

We had a bit of a kerfluffle with our internet service today. Someone made a change on the router and, whoops! we were all less productive for awhile. I actually got a bit scared because I do payroll online. I actually could've waited and done it tomorrow, I suppose. It has to be done two days before payday which is Tuesday. We pay once a month on the last business day.

I got a call from my credit card company yesterday asking me to confirm some recent charges. Turns out someone had gotten a hold of my card number and was somehow using it to make purchases at Office Depot and Wal-Mart. I had to use my ATM card to pay for my glasses this morning since they cancelled my Visa. Good thing I didn't fall in love with some fancy designer frames. Actually, I was surprise how reasonably priced the designer frames were. I really liked some Juicy Couture ones that were less than $200 until I saw their little label on the temple. No, thanks. The most expense ones I looked at were at a bit over $300 (Calvin Klein). The two I ended up choosing between were $135 (Revlon) and the $150 ones I got.

I did get to the library before my appointment so got the books. I can't wait to sit down and start reading them. I'm on a romance kick right now, specifically Regency romances. I checked out a bunch of eBooks but then had to reserve some actual physical books to fill in the holes of series that weren't completely available electronically.

Were you sad that Ted McGinley got eliminated from Dancing? Me, either. Good riddance. Survivor starts tonight. They say it's going to be on in HD but all the ads I've seen have not been. If they mess with the proper proportions I'll have to watch it in regular definition on the regular channel. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Wednesday

My boss works at home on Wednesdays so it's a free day for me. Well, not really but sometimes it feels like that. Not that he's always looking over my shoulder or anything. But I don't have to worry about it if I'm surfing the web for iCal calendars for my favorite hockey teams.

I really should stop getting distracting by new software. I just wanted to provide a bit of support to our IT guy since he's the only one who really knows how to use iCal and it's dragging him down a bit. Trying to persuade people that switching is a good thing is hard. Nothing will be the same so we have to find out what's good about it and try to ignore what we'll be missing.

Today was the monthly meeting of what we call the Money Squad. It includes the people most involved in dealing with the nitty gritty of incoming funds. Because we enter every check, money order and credit card charge into our main database, we often deal with issues related to how information is entered, not just money-related items. It's a good place to work out the best way of collecting and tracking that info. Not only am I involved in the finance part of the equation, but I'm also the resident FileMaker expert. The two go pretty well together for me but I wish I had more time to really concentrate on making the database the most functional it could be.

I just checked my library account and 5 of the 9 items I have on hold are ready to be picked up, including a book that wins my Best Title Ever award, By Schism Rent Asunder. Too bad the library would be closed by the time I'd get there. I wish they were open until 8 every night instead of just Mondays and Tuesdays. I guess I should be happy for that much. Maybe I'll stop by tomorrow before my eye appointment. It's at 10:30 and the library opens at 10.

Yes, I'm finally getting my eyes checked and getting new glasses. We changed insurance two years ago and I never made the effort of finding an optometrist. I used to just go down the block to Site for Sore Eyes. But now our insurance doesn't cover them. The real reason I'm getting new glasses is that mine are about to break. They're rimless and there are big cracks radiating out from the holes they drilled to attach the nosepiece. I'm afraid they're going to fall apart at any minute. I'm still seeing great so I don't think my prescription will need changing much.

Who was sad that Jeffrey was eliminated from Dancing last night? You? You? You? Anyone? I didn't think so. I'm definitely still loving Lance and Lacey with the blond kids a second fave. I have no prediction who will be gone tonight. I hope it's not Mark and Kim only because he's hot and I like how he dances with his mouth open so much!

Clogged Up and Sore

I've been sick with a sore throat and clogged up sinuses for the last week. I've been at work a total of 1.25 days this week. I was hoping to get May bookkeeping done today so I could work from home tomorrow but my boss came by and made me chat with him for over half an hour so I think I'll just hope I'm feeling as good tomorrow morning as I did this morning. Well enough to make the trek from home to work anyway.

I Need My Mommy

TagFest: Health

I need to take better care of myself. I've been up late a lot recently. Some of it is a result of working later at the office and then needing my few hours of downtime at home before sleeping. Some of it due to an addiction to a computer game called Ottomatic (I made it to Level 9!). Some of it is simple bullheadedness.

I've also not been taking breaks at work—sometimes working for hours on a spreadsheet without moving, especially when I'm there after hours with no one to interrupt me.

The result is bad health and I've been getting sore throats and headaches too often for my liking. I had a headache this afternoon and now I'm beginning to feel that post-nasal drip start to irritate my throat. I'm having a big mug of tea (and oatmeal) for supper.

A Rainbow of Phlegm

I can't get over how much phlegm (is snot in the phlegm family?) my body is producing. And in such interesting viscosities and colors. But just a continuous, never-ending river of the white/greenish/red-streaked-yellow stuff. Amazing.

I'm fairly certain I'm developing calluses on my nostrils from all the nose-blowing and tissue-wiping activities from the past week. I think I need some salve.

Thoughts of the Day

I'm still not at 100% and it seems the lingering super-phlegm is interfering with my ability to read comfortably on BART. So on the way home today, instead of reading -- and feeling nauseous -- I just sat there and thought about...

Identity
The new gameshow, Identity, premiered last night. The premise is to match up 12 strangers with 12 identities which may range from sumo wrestler to shark attack victim to professional bull rider to retired English professor. If you match all 12 you get $500k. Some of the strangers have obvious visual clues (a sumo outfit or cowboy hat) which the player can easily match to one of the identities on the list, while others are less obvious but still have visual clues (white-bearded, argyle-sweater-wearing older gentleman, dark-haired woman in a bikini top with a long Hawaii print wrapskirt).

Then the potential matches get harder and it's pretty much just guessing at that point. I found it entertaining for a little while but the easy matches irritated me with their predictability and the hard guesses annoyed me because really there wasn't much intelligence involved with guessing. I won't be watching it again, I don't think.

Korma Revisited
Yesterday while walking to the burrito shop, we walked by one of the four Indian restaurants within a few blocks of my office. I checked out the menu in the window and they have chicken korma for $8. Woo hoo!

The place I went to for lunch last week didn't have korma so I ended up getting chicken tikka kabaab which was too hot even when I told the guy I needed it mild. Paul got the chicken tikka masala and his was milder than mine. Plus the Bollywood music was hellaloud. We checked out the closest place to the office on the way back and they're quite pricy with korma at $13. Paul and I will be going to Little India on Thursday and I will report back on the $8 korma. I hope it's good! There's only one place to go after that.

Loud Music on BART
I like listening to my iPod on BART. The headphones discourage strangers speaking to me and the tunes provides a nice background to whatever I'm reading or thinking about. I don't listen to it very loud; I like being able to hear any announcements that might come over the PA system, you know, in case of emergencies. There aren't any signs banning it or anything but most people know it's not nice to play a boombox or radio out loud on BART.

Unfortunately the guy sitting behind me this morning didn't get that particular memo. I don't like calling attention to myself so I wasn't about to turn around and ask him to turn it down. No one else was brave enough to do it either so we all suffered through his jams the whole way in. It's sad because the more we let people like him get away with being rude, the more he's going to think he can do it. Or he just doesn't care.

The Nerve
Speaking of not respecting social boundaries, my phone rang on Saturday night around 10pm and the second ring was a higher pitched tone meaning the number was known to me. Now all my close relatives live in either in the Eastern or Central time zone and I don't really talk to my friends here on the phone that much so I couldn't think of who it might be. Of course, my first thought was that something bad must've happened somewhere to have someone calling me that late (which would be much later for most people I talk to).

But it wasn't a friend or a family member. No, when I checked my Caller ID the phone number was my office number. Say what??! Just who would be at work on a Saturday at 10pm much less calling me from work on a Saturday at 10pm!! Obviously, someone really really needed my help.

I thought, well, maybe our new IT guy wasn't back from his father's funeral in Oregon yet and something serious had happened to a computer. I could see someone calling me for that. But no, there was no computer emergency. There was no emergency at all.

In fact, as I listened to the never-ending message being left, I couldn't understand why this person would be calling me at all. It turns out she was asking about a situation she had talked with me about on Friday. She had shown me a letter to see if it made sense. It seemed okay to me but I had no experience in the matter so I didn't see how I could help her that much. I just don't know why she thought calling me about it, much less on a weekend, late in the evening, was appropriate. Really, the nerve.

I'm cold

I think I have a cold. I'm sneezy and my sinuses are achy and stuffy. I woke up with a sore throat this morning though that's better now. I'm taking some cold medicine and have been drinking tea all morning. I should've bought a teapot as a souvenir in England. I keep having to heat up the water to refill my mug.

Broken Frames

I was fiddling with my glasses last night and they broke. Yes, you read that correctly. The left temple broke right off.

I searched and searched for my other pair but couldn't find them. I did find my old glasses so I'm wearing them today. I feel kinda woozy and tired. I'm hoping to find my other pair tonight while I'm cleaning up for when Sal gets here tomorrow. I just can't remember where I put them. I may have to wear my sunglasses all day if I can't deal with my old ones.

Maybe Sal and I will be shopping for new frames this weekend!

Senior Dental Moment

I knew I had a dentist appointment on Thursday for a cleaning and exam but when I checked my my calendar at work earlier this week it just said I was to leave at 3pm but not what time the actual appointment was. Good thing they called on Wednesday confirming the time (3:30pm). That was my first senior moment.

So on Thursday I left the office right about at 3pm even tho' I knew it wasn't going to take me that long to walk up the hill to the dentist's office. I had finished the book I was reading on the way in to work that morning so I stopped at Borders (it's on the way) to see if anything caught my eye. I figured if I had to sit for any length of time in the waiting room I'd want a book.

Obviously it'd been awhile since I'd been in this Borders. They'd moved the new paperbacks table somewhere I couldn't find it so I headed upstairs to the sci-fi section only to discover that it had been moved too. I finally found it and then walked around trying to remember the author's name who I knew had a new book out. I was seriously having another senior moment.

I finally found Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and grabbed one thinking it was the new one and that I'd not read it yet. I paid the outrageous price (has it been that long since I bought a paperback? the library's seriously spoiled me!) and walked the rest of the way up the hill to the dentist.

I walked in the lobby and realized I had no idea what floor I needed to go to. I'd only been there a couple times when I was getting my crown about a month and a half ago. And checking the directory wasn't going to help me because I couldn't even remember the dentist's name! Yes, I was having a senior day all around. But I knew the floor was somewhere in the 20s but not the 24th which was where my former dentist has his office.

So I took the elevator up to the 22nd floor but that wasn't it. I checked a couple more floors still not finding it and none of the names on the floor directories were ringing any bells. My watch was saying I was going to be late if I didn't figure something out soon and my bladder was saying it needed some attention too which made me remember when I had used the restroom the last time I was there. The men's and women's rooms are on alternate floors and my dentist's floor has a men's room. I had had to go up one flight on my previous visit.

So I went up to the top floor (the 26th) and walked down the stairs checking the floors that had men's rooms. Finallly I found my dentist's office on the 20th floor. Whew!

After getting the key for the restroom and taking care of my bladder, I sat the waiting room for a few minutes reading my new book and wondering why it seemed so familiar. Yes, I had already read it!

My New Tooth

The clock on my computer at work read 12:52pm when I was scanning my electronic calendar and saw my dentist appointment was to be at 1pm. Oops! I called the office but the phone kept ringing and ringing. Just my luck the receptionist was out at lunch. Eventually the machine picked up and I told it I'd be there a little late.

I climbed up the hill to Post St. and was there by 1:10 according to the computer on the front desk. They weren't ready for me anyway. Eventually someone came to get me and I settled in the mechanical chair awaiting the replacement of my temporary tooth. I was glad to get rid of it—the bump on the back was starting to annoy me.

Almost two hours later and I was back at work with my new tooth. It took them forever to grind off enough to get my bite right. Then the dentist decided to take a bit off a lower tooth since the new upper tooth was longer than the old one had been and he didn't want them hitting each other too much. Luckily, he could do it without shooting me up with anesthetic. Don't you hate getting over the numb?

It's amazing how close to real the crown looks. It matches my other yellow teeth perfectly. Can you tell which tooth is porcelain?



I like the new tooth. It's nice and smooth and fits just right. But it still has a big bump on the back. My tongue will just have to get used to it.

What's More Annoying?

1. Loud pounding bass line from next door
2. Moldy nectarine pit
   
3. Marcelo Balboa ranting about Becks
   
4. Endless repetitive tune from ice cream truck
5. Lingering taste of dental adhesive from temporary crown
   

Stomach Update

I didn't want to leave you on pins and needles worrying about my health so here's a bit of an update.

The tea came back up so I went back to bed. I slept for a couple hours but when I got up my system was still trying to clear itself out (read: dry heaves). I watched a little England/Sweden then tried to eat half a breakfast bar and some water. I was able to keep a little bit down though not without fighting for it.

I couldn't keep my eyes open at the half so I went back to bed. I slept another couple hours and am now still feeling quite tentative. I may just stick with water for the rest of the day.

p.s. Who is Owen Hargreaves and where has he been all my life?

Home Sick

WARNING: not for the faint of stomach

I'm home sick today. I was feeling okay when I went to bed last night but I woke up at 4am and heard a car horn bleeping (I hope it wasn't mine). I tried to get back to sleep but decided to go to the bathroom first just so I wouldn't wake up an hour later having to pee. I'm glad I did cuz once I got to the toilet I started feeling umm...unsettled. And I gave back my part of my supper. It wasn't pleasant and I can hardly believe you're still reading this.

I went back to bed and woke up again around 8, made another visit to the bathroom and gave back the rest of my supper. I was not feeling well at this point. I decided to try some tea and see if that would settle things down. It's not working very well. Every half hour or so I feel like I need to throw up again but there's nothing left to come up. And the last time things got pretty liquidy from the other end.

Soooo...I'll be staying home from work today and staying close to the bathroom.

A Plastic Tooth

My old tooth is gone. My new tooth is ordered. My current tooth is plastic. Yes, plastic. I'll only have it for two weeks so I hope it stands up. It feels really weird.

But then everything feels odd right now. My anesthetic has not yet worn off. And I'm hungry but I'm worried about eating with my lip still numb. There's no one else around to see me eat, but I'd rather not be messy if I can hold out another hour. Until then I can't be assured of full feeling in my mouth area.

Broken Tooth

Yesterday I had an apple for lunch. It was crunchy and delicious. But afterwards I kept feeling like I had some peel stuck between my top right front tooth and the incisor beside it (7 and 8 in the chart). I absentmindedly picked at it the rest of the day until I just couldn't stand it anymore. So last night out came the floss and I went to work.

I thought the peel would slide right out but there seemed to be something in the way so I tried again; the floss strands separated and I felt something loosen. Uh-oh. Quickly I grabbed my mirror and sure enough the corner of my tooth was coming off. There was no apple peel after all. The tooth had cracked and my flossing had only made it worse.

My usual dentist recently left my health plan and I haven't tried finding a new one. Today I had to. I did a search for those near my office and called one whose office is in the same building as my old dentist. I didn't want to have to go wandering around. They had an opening at 3:45; I would have to try to keep that corner attached at least until then.

I carefully ate breakfast and then lunch and the corner was still hanging on. I walked up to the dentist's office, filled out the paperwork, sat patiently through the X-ray and then the dentist came to chat. He told me the various options, completely leaving it up to me to decide. How was I supposed to know what was best? composite resin? porcelain veneer? crown? He gave me some papers to read about the options and left.

When they asked me to sign saying I understood the options and fee schedules I said I had some questions. The receptionist (dental translation technician?) came in and was talking about how veneers are rather fragile and can break and you need to cut up your food and never bite into apples ever again. I was shocked. I needed something more durable than that, I thought.

So I signed up for a crown and will be getting one on Monday. I have to wait with the corner of my tooth hanging off in the meantime mourning the loss of my natural tooth. Even with a crown, they tell me, I may not be biting into many crunchy apples in the future.