Yesterday, whilst I was volunteering at the hospital, I was in the employee-only elevator, a wheelchair before me, on my way to the third floor, to give someone a ride to freedom. A lady got on on the fifth floor and in the time it took to travel one floor, she gave me a thorough vetting and decided to open a conversation.

"I really like your hair. It's so carefree! It must be so easy to manage. I often think about cutting mine all off and starting fresh, like you."

The woman's hair was about three or four inches longer than mine.

"Uh," I replied, not really knowing what to say. "Thanks, but I'm in the process of growing it out. I lost all my hair when I went through chemo."

I didn't look at her face when, mercifully, the elevator arrived at my floor and I got out, but the volunteer I was with, who was charged with my continued training, was chuckling, so it must have been good.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:53 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The husband, internet God that he is, recently found this super duper coo-el tool: Pandora Radio.

This is radio that puts the Music Genome Project to work. To Wit:

A given song is represented by a vector containing approximately 150 genes. Each gene corresponds to a characteristic of the music, for example, gender of lead vocalist, level of distortion on the electric guitar, type of background vocals, etc. Rock and pop songs have 150 genes, rap songs have 350, and jazz songs have approximately 400. Other genres of music, such as world and classical, have 300-500 genes. The system depends on a sufficient number of genes to render useful results. Each gene is assigned a number between 1 and 5, and fractional values are allowed but are limited to half integers.[1] (The term genome is borrowed from genetics.)

Given the vector of one or more songs, a list of other similar songs is constructed using a distance function.

To create a song's genome, it is analyzed by a musician in a process that takes 20 to 30 minutes per song. Ten percent of songs are analyzed by more than one technician to ensure conformity with the standards, i.e., reliability.

Basically what you do is enter in an artist that you like, and it finds more artists with similar music and creates a playlist around that. I currently have my Nicola Conte Radio playing---so I'm not only listening to songs by Nicola Conte, but also, The Herbaliser, Juan Tutrifo---and many, many more. It's a lot of fun to see what comes up and there's nothing random, or computerized, about the song selections. The first fits in with the second, the third, and so on and so forth.

The husband and I have, for a very long time, been fans of Soma FM, but...some of their playlists, particularly the Secret Agent Channel (which I adore simply because they throw out quotes from Bond movies between songs) are highly repetitive. If you don't like a song that's playing on Pandora, however, you can skip right past it---and what's more is that Pandora will take your selection into account, and will play the song less, more, or not at all if you so choose.

It's quite a cool tool, and I highly recommend it.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:35 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Depending upon whom you chat with around here, Garrison Keillor is a savior, or he's a tremendous asshat. I don't think it'll come as a surprise to anyone when I reveal, right here, right now, that I side with those who think he's an asshat.

{...}Keillor and his wife, Jenny Lind Nilsson, are suing their next-door neighbor, Lori Anderson, to stop her from building a two-story addition to her home that would include a three-stall garage and studio.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court, claims the addition would "obstruct the access of light and air to the Nilsson-Keillor property" and "impair or destroy protected historical resources."

Both homes in the 400 block of Portland Avenue are within the Ramsey Hill historic district.

The complaint also said the project would obstruct their view "of open space and beyond" and possibly hurt property value. The estimated market value a year ago for Keillor's home was about $1.2 million, according to property tax records; Anderson's was about $600,000.

The city also is named a defendant in the documents, which said Keillor and his wife were not notified of public hearings before a zoning variance was approved and the project was OK'd by the Heritage Preservation Commission.{...}

Get that? Keillor is not only suing his neighbors for blocking his view of an alley, but he's also suing the city of St. Paul because, ahem, he says he wasn't notified of public hearings.

Hey, jerkweed, public meetings are, by definition, open to the public, which means there was notice. Just because some city employee didn't come up to your door, ring the bell, a copy of Lake Wobegon (that he was just hoping and praying you'd have graciousness to autograph) in his trembling hands, doesn't mean that there wasn't notice. It just wasn't of the personal variety, which you, in your self-proclaimed position as arbiter of all things Minnesotan, would have undoubtedly preferred. This is the way it works for the rest of us. Why would you think you're immune?

"We were heartsick," Anderson said of learning about the suit.

Olson said when he and Anderson decided to marry, they realized their one-car garage wasn't big enough. Even before they hired an architect, the couple said they talked to neighbors. They planned to build three stalls, a storage area and a mudroom on the first floor and a studio for Anderson's business on the second. The addition would be a few feet lower than the existing home and would be attached to the rear.

The project would add about 1,900 finished and unfinished square feet to the home, which now has 2,124 finished square feet. The Keillor-Nilsson home has 5,168 finished square feet, according to tax records.

Anderson and Olson received a zoning variance for a 23-foot rear-yard setback rather than the standard 25 feet and conditional approval from the Heritage Preservation Commission, pending final approval of the plans.

{...}Olson said Monday that Keillor and his wife "couldn't have cared less" when Anderson told them they were building a bigger garage.

"He's a busy guy," Olson said. "We didn't feel obligated to include him in the planning."{...}

See? Dear old Asshat knew that his neighbors were planning a remodel. He just didn't care until it impeded his view of open space---open space that just happens to be owned by his neighbors. And what about that view, eh? Roll that beautiful bean footage!

See, apparently you're only allowed to use all the space on your lot if you're Garrison Keillor. The little people next door shall not, apparently, be allowed to expand upon land they own because it means dear old Garrison might feel claustrophobic, in his residence, in the middle of a historic neighborhood that's not necessarily known for its overwhelmingly gargantuan lots to begin with.

Go read the rest of the article if you can stomach it.

This is becoming one of those issues here in the urban areas of the Twin Cities---people expanding their homes in a large way, or completely knocking older homes down to build a bigger, more modern home on a lot with existing trees. The lots here are not large, and some of these homes, do, indeed, look like they've been shoehorned in, despite most builders best efforts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The City of Minneapolis has been toying with the notion of not allowing this to happen anymore, even though it's a proven fact that said homes add to property values. In fact, here in Cake Eater Land, which is one of the older suburbs in the Cities, there is a moratorium on knock-downs in place for one of our older, richer, neighborhoods, until April. Another neighborhood tried to latch onto that moratorium this fall and their measure failed, in part, because contracted home sales were falling through left and right simply at the threat of a moratorium on rebuilds. People want larger houses these days. We lead different lives today than we did when these homes were originally built---and those different lives require more space than what is on offer. I see absolutely no problem with remodeling or knocking down a home on land that you own. The overall aesthetics of a neighborhood should not trump an individual's property rights. It doesn't matter if the proposed house rebuild/remodel is hideous. If someone wants to amend their property, they should be able to do it as they see fit, even if it pisses off the neighbors. That's not going to stop some people, though, Garrison Keillor being one of them.

I have no doubts that, sometime in the future, Keillor will try and make his lawsuit against his neighbors, who have done everything the way they're supposed to do it, part of this larger debate. He throw his weight around, and people who have no cause to be ticked off about this issue, will side with him. Because he's Garrison Keillor, and everyone knows he's a defender of all things good and above average here in Minnesota.

You, know, except for things which restrict his view.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:02 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Is thou name actually Lisa?

I don't know that this is in any way, shape or form a definitive answer, but it's interesting nonetheless:

The University of Heidelberg in Germany says it has identified the woman in Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa”, The Associated Press reported. She is Lisa del Giocondo, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a Florentine businessman. In a statement on Monday, the college said its library expert, Armin Schlechter, found the answer in a copy of the works of Cicero, where, in 1503, Agostino Vespucci, a Florentine official and friend of Leonardo’s, wrote in the margins that the artist was working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo. Surprise? For centuries the Mona Lisa has been known in Italian as La Gioconda. Though anecdotal evidence pointed to Giocondo as early as 1550, vague references in 1517, 1525 and 1540 pointed to others.

Although one wonders why some random Florentine official would have been marking up the columns of a perfectly good copy of Cicero with notes regarding DaVinci's latest project, it's still a pretty cool discovery.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Go and see the batshit fucking loco.

Swim around in it, until you're so waterlogged you can swim no more.

Then realize, because you're not a member of a freakin' cult, you can laugh your ass off at this. Whereas I'm sure some poor, deluded Scientologists had to pay good money to see this video the first time around and, ahem, undoubtedly took it very seriously.

{ht: Dearest Jonathan}

Posted by: Kathy at 12:03 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Disturbing. Very, very disturbing.

"[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it's a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards,"{...}

Can you guess who said it? Yes, that's right. It's the Huckajesus.

Ace sez:

I don't have much of a problem with religion-based policy impulses. All of our impulses come from somewhere, after all, and I don't see why a religious person's core beliefs should affect his worldview less than my own secularist/humanist worldview. The left's insistence that only secular beliefs should impel policy stances is inconsistent but convenient in that it would, if accepted, lead to a secularist-only public polity.

However, I prefer such prescriptions to be couched in secularist terms. There are numerous reasons to be pro-life or pro-traditional-marriage that don't have much to do with religion. It's not deceptive, I don't think, to argue in terms of sound policy, without mention of God, even if, at root, it is a belief in God's will that ultimately leads one to embrace those non-religious rationales for one's positions.

I have little doubt that most pro-lifers believe as they do because God, they think, and not 18th century Jeffersonian political thinking, supports the pro-life position. And yet when arguing about this I strongly prefer arguments which do not explicitly invoke an appeal to the ultimate authority, God Himself. {...}

I don't know that I could say it much better than that. While I'm absolutely sure Huckabee was pandering to some Evangelical Christian group in terms of passing a human life amendment and one defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, think about what he said for a moment in broader terms of what he claims to believe in. It's been well established that as Governor of Arkansas, he signed a statement at a Baptist convention in the late-90's stating that women should be submissive to their husbands. So, taking this statement into account, is he now going to try to repeal the nineteenth amendment, which gave women the right to vote? It's a logical jump, even though it may sound (and admittedly is) farfetched?

Like Ace, I don't have any issues with people getting their morality from whatever religion they choose to practice. Religion, for whatever else it might be, is simply a morality delivery system. That's nothing new in the scheme of things, but anyone who tries to argue that this sort of crap is what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Constitution has lost it entirely. You can try and argue otherwise, but the history is clear: the Founding Fathers might have been Christian and had their morals developed by their respective religions, but they also sure as hell knew what a divisive thing religion could be, and hence they said, in effect, no state religion in this country...ever. Huckabee seems to want to ignore that bit. He seems to be stating that religious morality is the only type of morality that should inform public policy, ergo the only person who can safely, and morally, guide public policy is someone of staunch religious beliefs. Like, perhaps, a former Baptist minister?

I am sick and tired of this crap. When did "secular" become such a dirty word, eh? I don't find it wholly incompatible that you can be a religious person, yet be for a secular government as well. Why do so many people think otherwise, and in Huckabee's case, seem to think that the only way to go is to create a de facto theocracy? What is the matter with wanting to keep your church out of my government, and vice versa? This country was founded on the principle of religious freedom. It was also founded on the principle that there would be no state sponsored religion---even of the de facto variety. You can argue that a return to God would do this country some good, but I would simply challenge you to try and shove that genie back in is bottle. It's not going to happen. This is where we are at in the early 21st Century. Deal with it. Go to church if you want. I don't have an issue with it. I don't have an issue with your morality, either. But when people argue that the only person that can lead this country out of the pit of moral decrepitude it finds itself in is an ex-minister of a religion I don't much care for, you can be pretty sure I'm going to vote for the other guy.

After all, I already have found my religious savior---and I don't need Him in the oval office.

Posted by: Kathy at 05:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Because I've got nothing right now. I just got back from working out and I'm waiting for that much ballyhooed energy boost (!) to kick in. Which means it won't, probably.

The Privilege Meme

Premise: bold each of the statements that applies.
Original source: The list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.

Father went to college

Father finished college

Mother went to college---Mother didn't even finish high school. But that doesn't mean she's not a smart cookie.

Mother finished college

Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor

Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers

Had more than 50 books in your childhood home

Had more than 500 books in your childhood home

Were read children's books by a parent

Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18---Not because my parents weren't willing to shell out for them, oh, who am I kidding? They wouldn't because I was the eighth kid and they didn't want to bother with paying for something I'd probably quit anyway.

Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18

The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively

Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18

Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs---HA! I wish!

Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs

Went to a private high school Does it make me privileged if I was the one who paid for it?

Went to summer camp

Had a private tutor before you turned 18---No, but I didn't really need one, either. You know, if you're not counting fourth and fifth grade math, when Miss Benda ruled my after school hours. God Rest Her Soul, but she was not a nice woman.

Family vacations involved staying at hotels For, like, a night on the way to someplace or on the way back.

Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18

Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them---No, but I did pretty much have free reign of my mother's LeBaron when I was the last kid left at home.

There was original art in your house when you were a child

Had a phone in your room before you turned 18---I wish.

You and your family lived in a single family house

Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home---they would have had certain things not gone horribly awry.

You had your own room as a child From age twelve on. Before that, well, there wasn't enough room to do so.

Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course---I don't even think they had SAT/ACT prep courses when I took the ACT.

Had your own TV in your room in High School---Nope, but had one down the hall in the spare bedroom that I hogged aplenty. It was easier to watch MTV there and not get busted for it.

Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College

Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16

Went on a cruise with your family

Went on more than one cruise with your family

Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up---King Tut at age five was just the beginning.

You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family---I just knew that they were A LOT and it was in my best interest to keep the bills down by wearing sweaters.

I suppose, by this, it doesn't look as if I was privileged when I was growing up. But I was. I had a home, a family that loved me, and a good education, even if I had to pay for it. And that's all you really need when it comes right down to it.

{ht: Phoenix}

Posted by: Kathy at 01:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Just for the record, I finally saw the beginning of The Great Escape last night.

It's too bad I didn't get to see the rest of it because it started at 12:15 am.

(Sooper Sekrit Note to Russ: Dude, you would not believe the number of hits I get from people googling in on the phrase "Harvey Mushman." In fact, I'm the number one reference for it. And people say I've got a lot of useless information rattling around in my brain.)

Posted by: Kathy at 05:32 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Ezra Levant, publisher of The Western Standard, a magazine in Alberta that printed the Mohammed Cartoons two years ago, has been brought up in front of the Canadian Human Rights Council because, by publishing the cartoons, he offended some Islamofascists.

Check out his testimony in front of a representative of said Human Rights Council---and watch her body language morph during his opening statement. She goes from politely crossed hands to full-on crossed arms---which, as my mother will tell you, repeatedly, (particularly when you're a teenager with bad posture) puts people off.

Amazingly enough, it's still on YouTube, but the sound is way down low, so you'll have to use headphones to actually hear what he has to say. Coincidence? Given YouTube's past history in these things, sadly, I think not.

You can find the rest of his testimony here. I would highly recommend going and checking it out. Before YouTube yanks the things entirely. Because you know that will happen sooner rather than later.

{ht: Ace---or one of his open blog evil minions}

Posted by: Kathy at 12:54 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Yuck.

Twins separated at birth and adopted by separate parents later married each other without realising they were brother and sister.

The siblings were recently granted an annulment in the high court's family division.

The judge ruled that the marriage had never validly existed. Marriages can be annulled if one of the parties was under 16 at the time, if it is a bigamous union, or if the couple are closely related.

The identities of the British pair and the details of the relationship have been kept secret, but it is known that they were separated soon after birth and were never told they were twins. They did not discover they were blood relatives until after the wedding.{...}

On a somewhat related note, I've always thought there was a decent sci-fi book/movie to be written about the future consequences of sperm/egg donation. As in, epidemiologists notice there's a uptake in hemophilia cases/exceedingly stupid children, etc. Once they figure it out, they try to take their case to the public, advocating DNA tests before people get married, to try and stop this sort of thing from going any further and start being murdered/chased around by big bad guys hired by multinational sperm banks/infertility clinics, who, of course, want to stop them.

If anyone wants to run with it, go to town. I'm, obviously, not going to write it. But I would like, at the very least, a thank you in the "Author's Note" section.

{ht: Steve-O)

Posted by: Kathy at 01:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I had to pick up a new prescription today.

One of the lasting side effects of the chemo is nerve damage, or neuropathies in fancy medical speak. I've been having issues, to varying degrees, with numbness and shooting pains in my hands and feet since my last taxol treatment, way back in the middle of July. The numbness has resolved itself, but unfortunately the shooting pains have not. Dr. Academic is sure they'll go away, eventually, but he can't give me an estimate on when "eventually" might be. I have faith that they will go away, though, so it's just a matter of suffering through them until that happy day comes along.

The problem with nerve damage is that temperature shifts can bring the pain out, and the fact that the weather keeps switching from above freezing to well below isn't helping matters any. It's just a simple fact: if my hands and feet get cold, well, out come the little pains that shoot down said appendages. I hadn't been expecting winter to be so bad that I would work my way up to a two vicodin a day habit, but I have. That I've started working out isn't helping matters any, either. Yesterday, I called in to chat with the nurse to see if there was anything else I could do for the neuropathies other than swallowing more narcotic pain killers than I would like. She said, yes, let's try neurontin, which originally was developed as an anti-convulsant for epileptics, but turns out to work fairly well on nerve pain. Or so they say.

I picked up the prescription today and I was reading through the possible side effects. I quoteth from the sheet that came with the bottle of prison jumpsuit-orange capsules:

Side effects that may occur while taking this medicine include tiredness, drowsiness, dizziness, tremor, back pain, dry mouth, constipation, increased appetite or an upset stomach. If they continue or are bothersome, check with your doctor. CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if you experience decreased coordination, changes in vision (double or blurred vision), back and forth eye movements, flu-like symptoms, persistent sore throat or fever, swelling of ankles, mental or mood changes, memory loss, or trouble speaking. If you notice other effects not listed above contact your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Why am I again getting the feeling that the cure is worse than the disease?

Given this, the vicodin might actually be the better option.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:13 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Dumbasses.

Eden Prairie High School administrators have reprimanded more than 100 students and suspended some from sports and other extracurricular activities after obtaining Facebook photos of students partying, several students said Tuesday.

School administrators and the district's spokeswoman didn't return phone calls, but students called in by their deans over the past two days said they were being reprimanded for the Facebook party photos, which administrators had printed out. It's likely, they said, that other students among the 3,300 who attend Eden Prairie will be questioned throughout the week.

Danny O'Leary, a senior who plays lacrosse, said his dean displayed four Facebook photos of O'Leary holding drinks and told him he was in "a bit of trouble." One photo shows him holding a can of Coors beer, another a shot of rum, he said. In yet another, O'Leary is pictured holding his friend's 40-ounce container of beer.

"I wasn't drinking that night," O'Leary said. But that apparently doesn't matter. "I was told each picture was equal to a two-game suspension,'' he said.

O'Leary said he intends to meet with the director of student activities today to discuss the suspensions. He said he will point out that two of the photos were taken two years ago, before he joined the lacrosse team and signed a pledge not to drink.

"I'm personally pretty upset and wondering why someone would collect these photos and turn them in," O'Leary said. "A lot of kids' lives are going to be ruined as far as scholarships and sports are concerned."{...}

I sense the fine and skilled hand of geeks on a mission of retaliation and retribution. Teenage Rambos, only without firepower and without being slathered in baby oil, but who have mad Facebook searching skillz! I mean, seriously, this is pretty sweet retribution simply because it probably didn't take too much time. I would suspect that whomever the mad genius is, they hit a proxy server, obtained new IP number, set up an anonymous Gmail account, loaded up an email with the Facebook links in question and---poof!---hit send. That's efficiency for ya, kids.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The question remains: will the Minnesotans for Romney bastards (who spammed me THREE times on Tuesday, and who, apparently, are confused as to just what state we live in. Because, let me give ya a hint kids, it ain't New Hampshire.) get a freakin' clue or will they keep spamming me?

Should we start a pool?

{previous entries here and here}

Posted by: Kathy at 12:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'd throw this one in the Silly Germans file, but alas, it's a pair of Polacks* who've caught my eye this time round.

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish man got the shock of his life when he visited a brothel and spotted his wife among the establishment's employees. Polish tabloid Super Express said the woman had been making some extra money on the side while telling her husband she worked at a store in a nearby town.

"I was dumfounded.{sic} I thought I was dreaming," the husband told the newspaper Wednesday.

The couple, married for 14 years, are now divorcing, the newspaper reported.

So, do you think he was more dumbfounded at seeing his wife at a brothel, or knowing he'd just gotten busted, big time, for visiting one?

*And, yes, I can use the term 'Polack'---because I'm half Polish. Anyone else who's not Polish who tries to use it will get their ass beat by me. Got it?

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Reason #342 Why It's Good Not to Have a Car At Times.

The Crosstown, or as it's regularly denoted on the map State Highway 62, is a mess. Has been for years. It is the most illogically constructed bit of freeway in a town where logical construction of freeways is not a highly valued concept. Now, to be fair, when they originally constructed the Crosstown, they got the location just right, which is why it's one of the most highly utilized freeways in town. It shoots straight across from the southwest suburb of Eden Prairie, all the way over to el aeroporto, on the far fringes of east Bloomington. It runs right through highly populated areas and, theoretically speaking, it can (and does) save you boatloads of time on the road, simply because you're not going out of your way just to travel at freeway speeds. It also hooks up with just about all of the major north-south highways, so it's very convenient. The problem is that they goofed---and goofed badly---when they put it together.

Now, I can understand where they thought three lanes would be sufficient for the level of traffic at the time of building. But, the problem is, if you're on the road during rush hour, the thing pretty much slows to a crawl for six hours of a twenty-four hour day, and that's because some genius decided to merge it with 35W north for about a mile, and when it merges, it narrows down to one lane. If Lileks had shot that video at rush hour---which he obviously did not---it would have run for over an hour. Now, this is if you're going west to east; if you're going the opposite direction, you merge with 35W south, and then have to move over one to two lanes, depending on the traffic and where you want to get off, instantaneously to continue traveling west on 62. And when I mean instantaneously, I'm not exaggerating. The split between 62 and 35W south happens in, oh, about a quarter of a mile and you've got to beat cheeks to make it all happen or you're on your way to Albert Lea. It's a nerve wracking experience, because, for some strange reason, no one barreling down the 35W south pike is going to move an inch to let you in. This interchange is, by far, my least favorite in the Twin Cities---and there are lots of other horrendous interchanges in this town. It makes me break into a cold sweat every time I have to drive it, and I am glad, to a certain extent, that they're actually doing something about it---even though it seems as if most of the MNDOT budget has been shifted to fixing the 35W bridge in downtown.

But am I ever happy I don't have to drive it regularly during the construction period! Woohoo! No car=no traveling on in-progress freeways! Yippeee! I knew they'd started work on it, but I'm somewhat surprised at the amount of progress they've achieved, particularly with the bridge collapse. (No car also means not seeing how far they've come with things.) At one point in time, the legislature had the brilliant idea of asking contractors to bid for the job of putting the fixes in place, but since there wasn't any funding for the project, they asked the contractors to foot the bill entirely until they could finally find the money to pay for it. Not surprisingly, no one applied for the job. People want to get paid, and they don't want to have to shell out millions of dollars for supplies and labor, with the hope that the stupid, dysfunctional state government would, at some undetermined point in the future, finally get around to funding the damn job. Apparently, however, they found some coin and work has commenced. This thing is going to be a mess for years to come, and for the time being, I'm ever so happy I don't have to travel through it.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:05 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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{previous entry}

Posted by: Kathy at 08:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Since we are without a car, we rely on public transportation and the odd cab and car service ride (which I really wished happened more often than what it actually does) to get us where we need to go. Usually the bus does a fine job transporting us from point A to point B, and in the case of my cancer treatment, actually made things easier. The bus runs about every fifteen minutes or so and dropped me off right in front of the hospital, from whence I would make my way through a lobby, down a long hallway, into an elevator, down one floor and then down a long hallway, from whence I would enter a tunnel which took me to Dr. Academic's office building. It was a pretty sweet situation, and it actually worked out better than if I'd driven down to the office, because all the parking at the hospital and Dr. Academic's office is pay. (Which, if you ask me, is just adding insult to injury when you find yourself in the hospital or stuck in a recliner receiving chemo for five hours at a shot.) Right before entering the tunnel, I would pass by the volunteer office, and every single time, I noticed it. I couldn't have told you what else was in that hallway, but I knew precisely where the volunteer's office was.

It's like someone was trying to tell me something.

For once, I listened.

A few days before Christmas, I was down at the mall, which isn't very far from the hospital, and I had some time before my bus came, and the idea that I should finally hop over to the hospital and look into volunteering came to mind. So, I meandered my way over there, entered the office and asked how one came to be a volunteer for the hospital. I was promptly handed a fat envelope, and was told to fill out the application and to mail it back. The week after Christmas, a lady called and asked met to come in for an interview, which I did. I was approved for service, obviously, and last week had an orientation session where I was shown around with a young girl, who is obviously only volunteering to add it to the "community service" section of her resume for her college applications. I received a maroon smock, had a horrific picture taken for my ID, and was given the barest of tours. The girl and I had a good laugh as we were made to watch a volunteering video circa 1985. ("Were you even born when people were wearing shoulder pads that large?" I asked. "No, thank God," she replied. "Yeah, the eighties were pretty heinous in terms of fashion." "How old were you when this was made?" she asked. "About your age." I spied her Uggs and thought she might regret them when she got to be around my age, just like I regret my old moon boots.) When the videos were done and we were quizzed about how to do blood bank runs, HIPPA regulations, and what the various hospital codes were, we were scheduled for our training shifts.

I had my first one today. I'm now a "Step Force" volunteer, which means, if someone needs something run around, you're the one to do it. We discharge patients, we do blood bank runs, we run samples to the lab and pathology, we pick-up patients from X-Ray and ultrasound and the like. The gentleman who is training me in has got to be around seventy-five or so and is completely spry and knows every single person in the hospital---I swear to God there wasn't a moment on every run we made that he didn't say 'hi' to someone or even joke around with them. Chattiness aside, he was apparently the right person to show me around as he knows the hospital like the back of his hand. I got the hang of it pretty quickly, and he had me discharging patients by myself well before the end of my shift---something I'm not supposed to be doing for two more shifts. He thought I did rather well, for the most part, but encouraged me to come down and walk around the place in my off hours to get my bearings better. I kept getting turned around every time I stepped off the elevator---and I stepped off the elevator a lot today.

It was weird being back in the patient areas of the hospital, particularly when the Step Force dispatch center is right down the hall from the room where I was incarcerated for a week after my surgery. It brought back many, many memories, but it was also good in that it reminded of some of the good ones, too. After I was released, it was easy to think of the hospital as the place where I found out I had cancer, and spent a horrible week trying to get better after severe surgery. Now, I'm reminded of the fact that this is the place people go to get better, and where the doctors and nurses and hundreds of other people work hard to achieve just that goal. Once you're out of the place and at home, you forget that the place has a rhythm to it, and that rhythm can be very comforting at times. It may not sound like a big thing, but really it is. When you're like myself, and have had your entire world thrown on its head in such a short space of time, the little things, like simply knowing when your food will be delivered, and when your nurses and nurses' assistants will come in to check your vitals, is, in a very weird way, comforting; it brings some order to your very chaotic world. I'm now a part of that rhythm, and it felt really good to give someone a wheelchair ride to the door, to home, and to the freedom that comes with good health.

When I applied to become a volunteer, they asked why I would want to do this, because they do have requirements and it's not just a job you can show up for when you have free time. You're on a schedule, you have to commit to at least three months worth of work, they have to do a background check, you have to have two Mantoux tests for tuberculosis, and blood tests to make sure you're immunized, etc. It's not a easy volunteering experience, in other words. They count on you to do what you say you're going to do, because things that need doing, even if it is grunt work, won't get done otherwise. I told them that the hospital had been very good to me and I wanted to keep the karma flowing by helping out, if I could. I told them my story and while they all gasped in horror, they understood my desire to give something back, and, fortunately, obliged me.

So, other than the fact that I ran into Dr. Cindy Lou Who three times today and each time she failed to recognize me, and that my feet are now killing me (I wore a pedometer today. Turns out I walked almost five miles.) and I had to take a vicodin to deal with the resulting neuropathies, it was a good day. The karma has started to flow again, and I like that. But most of all, I liked that I helped to keep the hospital's rhythm going, so someone else could benefit from the comfort of it.

Posted by: Kathy at 03:57 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Go and read this NOW.

Not many of us would have the foresight to realize that a. we could die and b. to put down our final thoughts in a post, should that unhappy event come to pass. I'm amazed at what Andrew Olmstead did. Facing your mortality isn't a fun thing to do, whatever the circumstances might be that forced you face facts, but to write a calm, clear and collected post that would get across what you want to say in the event of your death is absolutely amazing.

While I did not even know of Andrew Olmstead's blog before today, and while I'm certain he was a brave man for the simple act of doing what he did, this posthumous post, I have to say, takes the cake for bravery. If you're a blogger, pass this one along. It deserves to be widely read.

Resquiat in Pacem.

{ht: Martini Boy}

Posted by: Kathy at 02:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I think my personal favorite is the dude who brings his monitor over to the copier machine after the printer toner cartridge explodes on him.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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