It's the little things that make you crazy........

A swallowtail visited my butterfly bush.....he/she(?) was about as large as my hand.

This was a tough week.  We are on week two of being short one person, which puts a strain on us all.  Because we don't close at lunch, we stagger it, which is fine except that Ms. Loud pretty much insists on taking lunch at noon.  That way, she can miss the craziness of all those patients checking out, and eat lunch at her desk (she runs errands or something when she leaves) in the down time of 1 to 2.  It's not that big a deal, but it annoys me.  The one day I planned on asking to go at noon she had a phone conference scheduled, so she took noon again.  It's a little thing ~ the little thing that drives others crazy after awhile.  And yes, of course she plans it! 

Our hygienist that I've written about before is now working a few days a week.  As I had always thought, it is not her UTI, it's not her sinus infection, it's not her blood pressure meds.  It is plain and simple anxiety ~ which is really not plain and simple at all.  We've had to employ the temp agency to provide us with a hygienist for nearly two months.  Last week our OM had a call from the agency that there is no one available on Wednesday.  She asked me my opinion on calling our hygienist and I said sure, go for it.  And she agreed to come.  But then, at 6:30 in the morning she called and said she couldn't do it.  The OM told her "you can let this control you, or you can take control of it", and she decided to come in.  Luckily (not for the practice) for her the first patient failed to come, giving her the opportunity to relax a little.  She made it through the day and the next, but did not offer to come on Friday.  I don't know what will happen next week.  We are just taking it day to day for now.  I get it.  It's stressful.  They have a ton of ppe to wear.  She's just not really up to it.  But I think it's wrong to keep the office in a perpetual state of uncertainty.  She needs to figure out what to do because we can't keep on this way ~ hiring temporary hygienists is very expensive.  I figured this out long ago when I had to hire someone at my old office, but I did see the bill last week.  Wow. 

In two weeks I will be in Texas.  After a bit of discussion with Romeo, I am driving my own instead of renting one.  My car doesn't even have 20,000 miles on it yet, so it's time to take a long road trip!  I had the oil changed and fluid levels checked and the tires rotated yesterday.   Unfortunately it is summer in Texas.  Somehow it seems as though I always end up in Texas when the weather SUCKS!!!  I still have plans to return in October if I still have enough paid time off.  The estate sale rep is meeting me on Tuesday, which gives my sister and I lots of time to take out what we and the grandkids want to keep.  So, as far as I know, all is set up and ready to go.  Murphy, please take a hike.  You know Murphy right?  Has his own Law and everything?  Die Murphy, die........

Lol....

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365

Happy Birthday, America...........

Credit: https://i.huffpost.com/gen/1585786/images/o-GRAND-CANYON-RIVER-facebook.jpg

The United States of America will turn 244 years old on Saturday.  Not very old in the grand scheme of things. 

It is my home, my birthplace, and when I die, it will be the place I'm buried. I love this country.  I have always loved it, even when it made me cry. 

It is beautiful and hideous, all at the same time....

Slums of Detroit

Credit: http://www.mikerembis.com/images/Sarena2.jpg

We have freedom and oppression and discrimination and the opportunity to create our own idea of the "American Dream". 

We have politicians that inspire or embarrass and everything in between.  We have policies that never change with the times, or reflect the desires of the American people. 

Are there problems?  Sure.  There always have been and always will have.  It's like your Grandmother.  You love her, and she loves you.  But you don't take your girlfriend to meet her because she will drink and say things that mortify you, and all your childhood secrets will be exposed.....

We are the people of the United States of America.  We do our best to make it a great place to live, or we don't do enough to make sure that everyone has a fair shake.  It is an enigma wrapped in ugliness with a beautiful bow, spritzed with air freshener.  I still love my country.  I'd rather live here than anywhere else. 

Happy Birthday!

Love, 365

I wish we had an island for conspiracy theorists.......

I work with a far-right wing-conspiracy theorist: Ms. Loud.  I think she's loud because she wants to make sure we've heard her.  I've written about her before.  Nice, but fruitier than a nut cake.😮

Honestly, that woman never stops talking. And she is never ever wrong.

This is how I get most of my critical work done before lunch, because I hunker down and do my thing so I don't get dragged into the conversation.  By the afternoon I guess she's said all she needs to say,   One of my co-workers was telling me about a documentary she recommended which contained nearly every conspiracy theory known to man.  Well, it ought to, it's 11 hours long!  I'm gonna pass, thank you very much.

She wears a mask at work only when necessary, so when she comes up to me I put mine on.  When she's not at work she never wears one, even in stores.  Has vowed to leave a store that enforces the wearing of a mask ~ I thought they all required it, but as in most retail establishments, they are loath to kick out paying customers, so many don't enforce it.  She also attends one of those "mega churches" that opened up at the beginning of June.  No masks.  Not much social distancing.  Over a thousand people there for services.  If she manages to escape contracting the virus, I will be surprised.

I had mentioned before that one of our hygienists has been out of work for a month.  After all the tests she's had done, there's no real diagnosis.  A UTI, a sinus infection, an adjustment to her blood pressure medication.  It's obvious to me that she is scared to come back to work, but doesn't want to retire because then she'd have to be home with her husband all day.  Our OM (office manager) is giving her a deadline now for next week.  After which she will have to admit she can't do it anymore and retire or job share with one of our other hygienists who wants to retire, but will job share with her for a year and then retire.  It is a mess.  Hiring a temp is so expensive that the OM has had enough of that, and wants her to make a decision.  We will see how that goes. 

So as you can see there's enough drama at work, which probably explains why I can't stand reality tv. 

Picked another ripe tomato yesterday, and the plants are loaded!  Right now I eat them as soon as they are ripe enough to pick (of course, that's a stupid thing to write, huh) no sharing yet, but I will be handing out a few to others who shared with me in previous years.

My church is finally opening this week, and I am reserved for a spot.  So far there are only 4 of us signed up out of 44.  The service on Saturday has never been that heavily attended, there were times when I was the only person.  Sunday services won't start until July 5. 

With the slow re-opening of businesses I don't have much going on except for work and home!  I hope all of you enjoy your weekend⭐

Love, 365

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all father's out there!  I understand the importance of having a great dad.  It's such a huge impact on the life of a child.  Thank you for being fun, goofy, a guidance counselor, and sympathetic shoulder, and the rock of the family.  Thank you!

Love, 365

Garden treasures.........

I have taken three tiny tomatoes off of one of my plants, and it is loaded.  So excited to have a vine ripened tomato, it has been so long!  When we have more than we can eat I plan to prepare some sun dried tomatoes, which will be great on salad, pizza ~ well I'll probably run out of them before I run out of things to use them in. 

Took a break from bread baking this weekend, since our freezer is stocked up and I just can't get anything more in there.  But I did make bread pudding from all of the stale pieces that I had saved up, and wow, that was really tasty and easy to do. 

Today I need to hem my newly acquired scrub pants ~ I am so happy that we can wear scrubs now, although I'm not sure how long it will last.  It's like wearing pajamas to work.

After a face-time happy hour with my sister, it sounds like I will be taking a road trip in 3 to 6 weeks to help her with clearing out Mom's house.  It's a big job, but we have help.  In the meantime I need to figure out who to hire to handle the estate sale.  Mom bought nice furniture, but kept it so long that most of her stuff is worn out, or so outdated that no one wants it.  I don't want it!  I don't want her silverware, or her hand painted china...none of that goes in the dishwasher 😆  Plus my kitchen is packed and I simply don 't have the room.  It will certainly be an experience. 

I hope all of you have a great week ~ a great start is avoiding the news.

Love, 365

What a wild strange trip it is.......

What a perfect title to apply to today....

Now that places are starting to open up, I realize that I'm really not ready.  First of all I wear a mask all day at work, and I've come to loath it.  So, not really sure it's worth it to go somewhere and have to put it on again. 

Or, not put it on and feel weirdly exposed.  Have you been getting out there ~ and do you wear a mask when you do? 

And now, for 😜

Love y'all......

365

Hits from the universe..........

 Romeo filed another complaint about our next door neighbor's backyard security camera that was ~ once again ~ pointed at our backyard.  This is a woman somewhat near my own age with a 50ish year old son that hasn't worked the entire time we have lived next to them.  That's 20 years.  He probably has mental issues, and for all I know is collecting social security disability.  I really don't know.  But the guy is weird, no question.  Creepy for sure.  He pulls out his military binoculars to peek into the homes across the street (not ours thankfully).  And there's the security camera thing.  It's not that we sunbathe nude.  But we should have a reasonable expectation of privacy.  It creeps me out to the extreme that anytime I might be watering the garden, or picking up dog poop, or just hanging out on the patio and never know if he is watching us.  Ugh. 

So, Saturday a cop came to our house to discuss the complaint.  He went and spoke to the owner of the house (the Mom) and in 10 minutes the camera was again pointing out to the street.  It's not really a win though ~ he could go out and turn it again in 2 minutes. 

What really got to me was that the policeman gave us the news that our other neighbor died about 10 days before.  I was floored.  And so sad!  She was very sick, but a nice enough lady.  It makes me feel terrible that I didn't know.  The stupid covid virus kept me from visiting.  I did text/call a couple of times to see if she wanted or needed anything.  But I'm kind of pissed at the universe for this one.  And no, it wasn't the virus.  She had a serious health condition.  :-(

So, this will be the third time that house has been sold since we've lived there.  Given the crappy neighbors we have on the right, I sure hope it works out well.

Love, 365

The downward slide......

My hollyhocks last year....this year they are twice as big!

Well, my Mom is back in the hospital.  She collapsed ~ on her first day back home from rehab ~ and broke her ankle.  Sadly my sister and I agree that was likely her last trip home.  After rehab this time, she will be going to assisted living.  It is a long and sad story that so many of us experience with our elderly parents that have so many health issues (Parkinson's, dementia, etc).  In the next month or two I will be driving to Texas to help my sister clear out Mom's house to put it up for sale.  It will be difficult.  Mom has lived in that house for over 50 years.  It is filled with memories, both good and bad.  Birthday's and estrangement, deployment and graduation.  I suppose those 5 years that I lived there shaped a good part of who I am.  It is where my babies went to be admired by their Grandmother.  Until I moved to New Mexico, I spent nearly every Christmas there, Thanksgiving, Easter......  Without those memories it is just a tired house, in need of some updating.

I don't know how Mom will feel about not going back.  It is where, up until the last four months, the place she felt most comfortable and in control.  Not long ago, she did tell my sister that maybe she should go to a nursing home ~ because she knew that her caregiver no longer has the strength to help if she falls, or has other trouble getting around the house.  Going in and out of the hospital has increased her dementia issues.  My sister visited her at rehab where Mom asked her where she was.  Still, even though we have some plans, everything is uncertain.  I'm not sure how long she will be in rehab this time. 

On the work front, our hygienist is still out.  The doctors she has seen seem unable to figure out what is going on with her.  I haven't heard about her COVID test, but I know I would have heard if it was positive.  She has debilitating headaches and very high blood pressure.  If I were her kid, I would encourage her to retire.  From what I've heard, she doesn't want to be home with her husband all day 😊  Another uncertainty....all we can do is wait and see.

We are having a rare rainy morning her in Albuquerque.  Usually we have storms in the afternoon and evening following a hot day.  It is so nice to see it, the air smells so fresh and scented with pinon, sage and lavender.  I love the smell of the desert when it rains.

Tonight I am participating in a painting class via zoom.  The subject:

Normally (haha) we would be at a pub or a bar, and drinking wine or beer while we paint....still should be fun!  And I need to replace the winter scene I painted last time I participated in one of these.  And make a run to the store for a few beers......alcohol does improve the painting process for me!

Enjoy your Saturday!

Love, 365

Tribulation.........

I'm not even sure y'all can read this.  Every time I want to read one of your blogs, I get this stupid redirect notice.  Would I click on your blog if I didn't want to read it?  Common sense is dead and lying in the gutter, my friends. 

I have been tempted to text my co-worker that was sick but didn't get a test, but I figure I'll see her on Tuesday.  I haven't heard anything about the hygienist yet.  I sent her a text this morning, but I haven't heard anything yet.

And what the heck is up with people?  George Floyd killed by police.  Amy Cooper calling the cops on Franklin Templeton just because he asked her to leash her dog.  I am both saddened and disgusted. 

I also haven't heard anything about our church opening.  We've been "attending" via you tube since March 15th.  We missed Pascha (Orthodox Easter) and so much more during the lock down.  No telling how it will look when we return, with the limit to the number of people allowed in the building.  Today I decided not to watch ~ sort of like deciding not to go on a particular Sunday.....

It is enough to go back to bed and pull the covers over your head.  I already avoid most news!  Should I sell my house and live in a cave?  Hmmmmmm

Good news, Amazon has unlocked my account.  I saw the charges to my bank account this morning, and thought "eureka!".  I don't want to go through that again.  It took almost a week, approximately 30 emails, and creating a second account to finally solve a problem that could have been resolved in 10 minutes on the phone.  But I won't go into it all again, I think I covered it yesterday 😐

Love to you all ~ 365

Well, isn't this nice...............

If it isn't stressful enough with all of the COVID crap, the work issues, reading the conspiracy theories on COVID, I have encountered a rather serious issue with my Amazon account. 

It all began with me putting in a different credit card as my primary payment, subsequently forgetting I had done that, and then disputing charges on the credit card as a knee jerk response to the charges I saw popping up on it.  After I freaked out, I realized those were our own charges and that I had completely forgotten that I had changed the preferred payment method. 

On Tuesday morning, I received a notice from Amazon that they've locked my account due to suspicious purchasing activity.  When they say they have locked your account, they mean we will prevent you, the account owner, access in every form.  You are left only with the ability to email them.  Over 10 emails later, with absolutely no response or change at all, my friend who has an account (who doesn't??) got on and initiated a chat where I was at least able to let a customer service person know what was going on.  They even called me!  But nothing changed.  24 hours later, I still can't get into my account. 

An indeterminate number of emails after that, still nothing.  Did you know that you cannot call Amazon?  And if your account is locked, you can't go through the chat help either.  It is like going to work and discovering they've changed the locks and the phone number and every time to go by, there is no one there. 

So yesterday I created a new account, for the sole purpose of being able to chat with customer service.  The person I spoke to said ~ after a 20 minute chat session ~ that the department that handles Amazon payments will send me yet another email, and to follow the instructions.  Which I've already done multiple times to no avail.  I did receive an email, and I replied, and then ended up receiving a "deceptive website warning".  So I had to go in to the new account again and chat with someone.  Again. 

I finally received the correct email, asking me to give them permission to pay for the orders involved in the ill fated dispute.  Which I have done. 

I would happily cancel it all, except that doing so would render my Kindle useless except for reading books I've already read.  I actually have a book sample that I want to buy, but I realized that I can't do that until my account is unlocked.  Yes, I could give up the streaming service and everything else but I don't want to lose my ability to read on my Kindle. 

It is my own fault, my own stupidity that created the problem, which should have taken a simple phone call to resolve. into a week long series of frustrations and anger.  For that, I say Amazon has to shoulder all the blame by removing themselves from contact with the exception of email. 

Love, 265

Update and other interesting news......

I should have anticipated this.....

but no.

Yesterday we were notified that our dental assistant tested negative for the virus.  I am not surprised, as I mentioned in my last post, she took a day and a half off because she felt dizzy ~ but a few of us in the office figured she was just jumping on the bandwagon of the other two that called in sick.  I also heard an unsubstantiated rumor that she had an interview, and apparently there are a lot of jobs being posted for dental offices.  There are a couple of us that would not be sorry to see her go, she is not really a good fit.  But time will tell. 

Our hygienist is having a test done, but she apparently has something serious as she has been out for 3 days in a row.  We're not sure what is going on, but I hope she's going to be ok.  She has been doing hygiene for a long time, and her patients really love her.  But you know, she may not be up to the restrictions and PPE mandates and might decide to retire.  It would not be the first time I've heard of experienced and long time hygienists deciding to quit, mostly due to arthritis and other physical ailments from leaning over patients for years.  It takes a toll.

My business staff co-worker was off for two days and came back today (it's my day off).  Although our office manager suggested they get tested, she said she wasn't inclined to do it ~ I'm not really sure why since she is the most paranoid of everyone.  Wouldn't you want to be reassured that you didn't have covid?  So, our office manager asked the docs if we would want any staff who has symptoms to have a negative test before they return to work, and he said no.  WTF??  I'm not sure of his thought processes on this decision.  I'm sure he has a logical reason, but the rest of us are now wary and concerned. 

On the patient front, even though we have asked patients to wear a mask (really, should we have to tell them????) occasionally someone comes in without one.  One lady forgot.  But a man and his son both came in without them.  So I have been handing out masks, both to those who don't have one and to those who ask me for them.  I asked the doc about it and discovered that we don't have enough spare masks to be handing them out.  From now on if someone comes in without a mask, or asks for one, we are to let them know there will be a charge for it.  One patient I had scheduled asked me if we were handing out masks to all patients, and I replied no.  She then said "I want you to give me one when I get there" ~ in a demanding voice, mind you.  After the discussion with the doc, one of us called that patient and told her how much the charge would be for the mask, and now all of a sudden she's going to wear a bandana instead, lol. 

My job is ever changing and challenging. 

Love, 365