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My Little Sticky Note
Feb. 4th, 2009 01:33 amEvery time I think of something I could write about, I put it on a sticky note by my keyboard. My sticky is pretty full now, so I guess it's time for a post.
Jobs:
There aren't any. I haven't worked since October. Luke had a short temp job in early January, but otherwise hasn't worked since October as well. This sucks of course, but we're in better shape than many, because we have no debt, pretty reasonable living expenses, and savings that'll last us a good long while. We hate using up our savings just to live, but there is no other choice right now. We're both over the moon about Obama, and hope things turn around soon.
Potlatch:
http://www.potlatch-sf.org/
I really want to go. We've gone back and forth over it for months. We shouldn't go because we're not working. (I know I'm certainly critical when someone does something frivolous it looks like they shouldn't be doing!) We may not be working, but we're a long, long way from broke, and the trip could be made fairly inexpensively. Now Luke has said he doesn't want to go. That would make it even less expensive. Plane tickets are cheap right now- hell, even Amtrak is dirt cheap!
I need to start making arrangements soon. I need to get a hotel room, or a roommate. I'll need to rent a car. I'd like to stay a day or two extra either before or after, if anyone would put me up, and do some driving around my old haunts. I want to see my Bay Area friends, and the Bay Area itself. It's been eight years since I left, and I still miss it sometimes.
Facebook:
Is pretty useless to me. What's the point of finding people, but not being able to see their profile unless they are already your friend. Makes finding old friends with common names a major pain. Do I have the right one? I did find a former co-worker who I really liked, and I'd love to say hi, but I don't necessarily want to add him to the people I read everyday. He wouldn't know me from a hill of beans, unless I posted under my old name.
My inbox is full of various requests, and I've ignored most of them. Maybe I'll post over there that I've posted something here! Ha!
Tiptree Bakesale At Wiscon:
I've made noises about wanting to retire as bakesale queen. Back in early January,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kalmn asked me why, and I ignored her question for a long time. I couldn't really formulate an answer until now, and I finally e-mailed her yesterday.
1) It's a lot of work, and I'm a little burned out after doing it for 16-some years. I'd like to do other things at Wiscon and really focus on the LJ party.
2) Having gotten sick last year, I'm not as comfortable serving food to people.
3) I very strongly believe the bakesale should be retired altogether, for the hygiene aspect, and because Wiscon needs the space for readings, workshops, parties, and other things that the room we used exclusively for the bakesale could provide.
Ballard Health Club:
We joined in November, and we've been going three times a week. We start on the treadmill, walking for 35 minutes at a pretty good clip, then a few minutes on the bike. Some sit-ups and stretches, then on to various weight machines. This will not make us skinny, as we have not really changed our eating habits, but it feels good, and we know it's a good thing to do. All things considered, we eat fairly well. We don't keep chips and snacky things around the house, we seldom eat fast food, and we both love many different kinds of vegetables. Whatever we cook at home has plenty of greens! (Dinner tonight was bow-tie pasta, tossed with garlic, feta, black olives, shallots, spinach, and lots of herbs. Yum!) We both have our weaknesses though, Luke loves cheese, and I adore sweets, use way too much salt, and I'll never give up my one soda a day.
Earthquake:
There was a small one here last Friday morning. Lots of people felt it all over the area. I'm disappointed, I was wide awake when it happened at 6-ish am, but I didn't feel a thing.
The Tell-Tale Heart:
I was wide awake at 6am because my sleep patterns are absolutely fucked. I have nocturnal tendencies anyway, so when I'm not working, I just stay up later and later. Once last week, I went to bed at 7am and slept till 3 in the afternoon. It's been increasingly difficult to sleep lately, because my heart pounds so hard when I lay down. This is a strange problem I've had for over a year now. My heart pounds like I've just run a marathon and then been startled by the most shocking thing ever. It isn't beating fast, or irregular, just incredibly fucking hard. It's painful, and if I lay on my side, I feel like I'm going to die any second. It starts up in the evening, and makes going to bed an ordeal.
Summer 2007, I saw my general doctor, he said "sounds fine to me." I saw another doctor who said, "sounds fine to me too." One night it got so bad and I was so scared, I went to the ER. It was a huge decision to go to the ER because we're uninsured, and I was afraid of how much it would cost. They strapped on the electrodes, and said "there's absolutely nothing wrong with you, you're wasting our time." When I asked why my heart was beating so hard it hurt, they just shrugged and said "dunno, go away now." (Total cost for the ER visit, about $2000.) I was so humiliated I never mentioned it to anyone but Luke for more than a year. After that it didn't bother me as much for a while, just seemed to be an occasional thing. Summer 2008, it picked up again, and became a constant problem. In January, I decided to try another doctor, and I went to see someone at Seattle Cardiology. Like all the other doctors I've seen, he didn't seem the least bit concerned by the fact that my heart pounds so hard it hurts. He listened, and he too said it sounded perfectly normal. He suggested a heart monitor you that they strap on and you wear at home for 24 hours. I asked how much it cost. "Beats me" said the doc. Well, I need to know, dammitt! He sends me to the financial person, and I'm pleased to hear, it's do-able, far less than I was expecting. Even better, Seattle Cardiology gives a substantial discount if you pay cash on the day of service. I love health care providers that do this! So I wear the monitor for a day. The results, of course- perfectly normal, nothing unusual, no alarming murmurs, extra beats, strange rhythms, anything out of the ordinary. When the doc calls to tell me this, he expects me to be thrilled. I'm not. WHY IS MY HEART BEATING SO HARD IT CAUSES ME PAIN!? "I dunno, if it bugs you so much, go back to the ER", says the doc. Thanks a lot, asshole, that's really helpful!
I've resorted to taking over-the-counter sleep medication. Not good for the long term. I'm at my wits end, and I don't know what else to do.
Teeth:
Also a big problem. They hurt all the time and I can't ignore them much longer.
The Arts:
Last week,farmgirl1146 called me up out of the blue and said she had tickets to the ballet for Friday night she couldn't use, and would Luke and I like to go? We said yes. I haven't been to a ballet since I saw the Nutcracker as a very small child. It was a comedy of errors to actually get downtown, but we got there in time, and it was lovely. Just lovely. Thank you so much, Marilyn!
Secret Message Toserendipoz:
Thank you for sending me the photos! What a difference nearly six years makes!
This epic post is brought to you by the miracle of "Restore Saved Draft". I started typing before dinner time and spent hours on it. When I went to post, I discoverd that LJ was down for maintainence, and I assumed it was lost forever. I even posted to Facebook that my LJ post was lost forever! However, coming back to LJ just now, here it is, the whole thing!!
So this is me, signing off, until the sticky note fills up once again...
Jobs:
There aren't any. I haven't worked since October. Luke had a short temp job in early January, but otherwise hasn't worked since October as well. This sucks of course, but we're in better shape than many, because we have no debt, pretty reasonable living expenses, and savings that'll last us a good long while. We hate using up our savings just to live, but there is no other choice right now. We're both over the moon about Obama, and hope things turn around soon.
Potlatch:
http://www.potlatch-sf.org/
I really want to go. We've gone back and forth over it for months. We shouldn't go because we're not working. (I know I'm certainly critical when someone does something frivolous it looks like they shouldn't be doing!) We may not be working, but we're a long, long way from broke, and the trip could be made fairly inexpensively. Now Luke has said he doesn't want to go. That would make it even less expensive. Plane tickets are cheap right now- hell, even Amtrak is dirt cheap!
I need to start making arrangements soon. I need to get a hotel room, or a roommate. I'll need to rent a car. I'd like to stay a day or two extra either before or after, if anyone would put me up, and do some driving around my old haunts. I want to see my Bay Area friends, and the Bay Area itself. It's been eight years since I left, and I still miss it sometimes.
Facebook:
Is pretty useless to me. What's the point of finding people, but not being able to see their profile unless they are already your friend. Makes finding old friends with common names a major pain. Do I have the right one? I did find a former co-worker who I really liked, and I'd love to say hi, but I don't necessarily want to add him to the people I read everyday. He wouldn't know me from a hill of beans, unless I posted under my old name.
My inbox is full of various requests, and I've ignored most of them. Maybe I'll post over there that I've posted something here! Ha!
Tiptree Bakesale At Wiscon:
I've made noises about wanting to retire as bakesale queen. Back in early January,
kalmn asked me why, and I ignored her question for a long time. I couldn't really formulate an answer until now, and I finally e-mailed her yesterday. 1) It's a lot of work, and I'm a little burned out after doing it for 16-some years. I'd like to do other things at Wiscon and really focus on the LJ party.
2) Having gotten sick last year, I'm not as comfortable serving food to people.
3) I very strongly believe the bakesale should be retired altogether, for the hygiene aspect, and because Wiscon needs the space for readings, workshops, parties, and other things that the room we used exclusively for the bakesale could provide.
Ballard Health Club:
We joined in November, and we've been going three times a week. We start on the treadmill, walking for 35 minutes at a pretty good clip, then a few minutes on the bike. Some sit-ups and stretches, then on to various weight machines. This will not make us skinny, as we have not really changed our eating habits, but it feels good, and we know it's a good thing to do. All things considered, we eat fairly well. We don't keep chips and snacky things around the house, we seldom eat fast food, and we both love many different kinds of vegetables. Whatever we cook at home has plenty of greens! (Dinner tonight was bow-tie pasta, tossed with garlic, feta, black olives, shallots, spinach, and lots of herbs. Yum!) We both have our weaknesses though, Luke loves cheese, and I adore sweets, use way too much salt, and I'll never give up my one soda a day.
Earthquake:
There was a small one here last Friday morning. Lots of people felt it all over the area. I'm disappointed, I was wide awake when it happened at 6-ish am, but I didn't feel a thing.
The Tell-Tale Heart:
I was wide awake at 6am because my sleep patterns are absolutely fucked. I have nocturnal tendencies anyway, so when I'm not working, I just stay up later and later. Once last week, I went to bed at 7am and slept till 3 in the afternoon. It's been increasingly difficult to sleep lately, because my heart pounds so hard when I lay down. This is a strange problem I've had for over a year now. My heart pounds like I've just run a marathon and then been startled by the most shocking thing ever. It isn't beating fast, or irregular, just incredibly fucking hard. It's painful, and if I lay on my side, I feel like I'm going to die any second. It starts up in the evening, and makes going to bed an ordeal.
Summer 2007, I saw my general doctor, he said "sounds fine to me." I saw another doctor who said, "sounds fine to me too." One night it got so bad and I was so scared, I went to the ER. It was a huge decision to go to the ER because we're uninsured, and I was afraid of how much it would cost. They strapped on the electrodes, and said "there's absolutely nothing wrong with you, you're wasting our time." When I asked why my heart was beating so hard it hurt, they just shrugged and said "dunno, go away now." (Total cost for the ER visit, about $2000.) I was so humiliated I never mentioned it to anyone but Luke for more than a year. After that it didn't bother me as much for a while, just seemed to be an occasional thing. Summer 2008, it picked up again, and became a constant problem. In January, I decided to try another doctor, and I went to see someone at Seattle Cardiology. Like all the other doctors I've seen, he didn't seem the least bit concerned by the fact that my heart pounds so hard it hurts. He listened, and he too said it sounded perfectly normal. He suggested a heart monitor you that they strap on and you wear at home for 24 hours. I asked how much it cost. "Beats me" said the doc. Well, I need to know, dammitt! He sends me to the financial person, and I'm pleased to hear, it's do-able, far less than I was expecting. Even better, Seattle Cardiology gives a substantial discount if you pay cash on the day of service. I love health care providers that do this! So I wear the monitor for a day. The results, of course- perfectly normal, nothing unusual, no alarming murmurs, extra beats, strange rhythms, anything out of the ordinary. When the doc calls to tell me this, he expects me to be thrilled. I'm not. WHY IS MY HEART BEATING SO HARD IT CAUSES ME PAIN!? "I dunno, if it bugs you so much, go back to the ER", says the doc. Thanks a lot, asshole, that's really helpful!
I've resorted to taking over-the-counter sleep medication. Not good for the long term. I'm at my wits end, and I don't know what else to do.
Teeth:
Also a big problem. They hurt all the time and I can't ignore them much longer.
The Arts:
Last week,
farmgirl1146 called me up out of the blue and said she had tickets to the ballet for Friday night she couldn't use, and would Luke and I like to go? We said yes. I haven't been to a ballet since I saw the Nutcracker as a very small child. It was a comedy of errors to actually get downtown, but we got there in time, and it was lovely. Just lovely. Thank you so much, Marilyn! Secret Message To
serendipoz: Thank you for sending me the photos! What a difference nearly six years makes!
This epic post is brought to you by the miracle of "Restore Saved Draft". I started typing before dinner time and spent hours on it. When I went to post, I discoverd that LJ was down for maintainence, and I assumed it was lost forever. I even posted to Facebook that my LJ post was lost forever! However, coming back to LJ just now, here it is, the whole thing!!
So this is me, signing off, until the sticky note fills up once again...
