Journal Entries
It's finally over!
Posted Dec 7, 2006
I had a Worker's Comp hearing yesterday. They've *finally* closed my case. 
It's very "interesting" how they calculate what your settlement will be. For instance, I've lost some function in my hand since the carpal tunnel surgery. The pain is better than it was before surgery (at least it doesn't hurt all the time anymore), but there are some things I'll never be able to do again. I can't hold a pen for long without pain, and I'm afraid the same is true for a paintbrush. On Thanksgiving, I found that I couldn't hold a knife for the amount of time needed to cut up the potatoes, and I couldn't peel them at all. Recreationally, I can't bowl, play volleyball, and it's painful to play croquet (which will surely effect my future in the business world). Others will surface as I try them, I'm sure. I don't have much strength using a pincer hold (I kept dropping the tarp we were using to cover our stuff in the rain at the yard sale). I can make a strong fist, though. My doctor said I lost 15% use of that hand (which is what NY state Workers Comp rules say is the usual for post-carpal tunnel surgery). The Workers Comp doctor decided I only lost 7 1/2% use (of course, he didn't test me for the things that bothered me). To end it without litigation (I don't have a lawyer), the Workers Comp judge splits the difference. So, they decided that I lost 11 1/4% use of my right hand. 
Apparently (according to NY state Workers Comp rules) different body parts are worth different amounts of lost work time. Using some bizarre formula, they figure out how many weeks of work time you'd lose over your lifetime because of your injury. They multiply this by the $400 a week they'd pay you if you were out to decide what your settlement is. Of course, they have to reimburse my employer who made up the difference in my pay while I was out those 11 weeks. In the end, losing full use of my hand is worth $3500. I'd rather have my hand back, thank you.
Oh, and it seems that their computer is also very confused by the fact that I got married in the middle of all of this and changed my name. I guess nobody's ever done that before. They'll *try* to cut me a check with my current name on it, but they can't guarantee it. *sigh*
The money's going into a Roth IRA, where it'll help to pay for medications I'll need in my retirement. Isn't it great how it all worked out?
Discuss this Journal entry [32]
Latest reply: Dec 7, 2006
To prepare for "The Game"
Posted Nov 16, 2006
Here are some Michigan jokes, to get everybody in the right frame of mind for the OSU/Michigan game this weekend. These are for TJ! Enjoy!
Michigan: First Line Of Defense From The Canadians
Q: How many University of Michigan fans does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: One, but he gets 3 credits.
Q: Where was O.J. hiding right before the famous white Bronco chase?
A: On the University of Michigan campus. That's the last place you would find a football player.
A University of Michigan fan walks into a doctor's office and removes his hat to reveal a frog sitting on his head. The doctor asks, "How can I help you?" The frog replies, "I was wondering if you could help me get this wart off my butt."
Q: Did you hear about the University of Michigan fan who locked his keys in his car?
A: He couldn't get his family out.
Q: Did you hear about the power outage at the University of Michigan library?
A: Forty students were stuck on the escalator for three hours.
Q: Did you hear about the fire in University of Michigan's football dorm that destroyed 20 books?
A: The real tragedy was that 15 hadn't been colored yet.
Q: Do you know why the University of Michigan football team should change its name to the "Opossums"?
A: Because they play dead at home and get killed on the road.
Q: What does the average University of Michigan student get on his SAT?
A: Drool.
Q: What do you get when you breed a groundhog and a University of Michigan Wolverine?
A: Six more weeks of bad football.
Q: What should you do if you find three University of Michigan fans buried up to their neck in cement?
A: Get more cement.
General Schwarzkopf was walking through the desert during the Gulf War when he found a lamp on the ground. He picked it up, rubbed, and out came a genie. The genie said to the General, "I will grant you one wish." The General replied, "I wish that we will win this war. Here is a map of the desert and all the war parties. Please make us win the war." The genie responded, "I'm not that powerful of a genie. I cannot grant you that wish." "Well," the General responds, "then can you have University of Michigan win a bowl game this year?" After a moment, the genie says, "Let me see that map again."
Q: How do you make University of Michigan cookies?
A: Put them in a big Bowl and beat for 3 hours.
Q: What do you get when you cross a University of Michigan fan and a pig?
A: Nothing. There's some things that a pig will not do.
Q: How many University of Michigan freshman does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None, it's a sophomore course.
Discuss this Journal entry [65]
Latest reply: Nov 16, 2006
I wanna go back to Ohio State to old Columbus town ...
Posted Nov 1, 2006
... especially if I have as good a time as I did this past weekend!
We flew into Columbus on Thing, and we took it easy since we didn't get much sleep the night before. Nothing like having to fly in the morning after working late that night! Room service! 
Poets was a miserable day weather-wise. We were planning on going to the Homecoming parade, but it was raining much too hard. We decided to walk to the upscale shopping center across the street from our hotel. Once we exhausted browsing indoors, we decided to brave the weather and see what was outside. I spotted an Ann Taylors and a Talbots and just wanted to look, since we really can't afford to shop at places like that. Lucky day! They were both having sales, and I got some terrific work clothes for 70% off! A pre-birthday shopping spree! 
When we got back to our room, TJ surprised me with some Godiva macaroons (to die for!) and a mushy birthday card. 
That night, we went to visit some friends' friends who had made a "haunted castle" in their barn. 
It was very creepy, they did too good a job! 
The next day was the OSU football game, and TJ surprised me with some Godiva raspberry truffles (my favorites) and a funny card. Luckily, the rain stopped early, but it was cold! 
I had brought thermal underwear, and had a hoody, a jersey, double-layer gloves and a winter coat. It was cold, but I was bundled up enough and it wasn't too bad. Add hot chocolate, and we were fine! We went to the "Skull Session" before the game (along with 10,000 of our closest friends), where the Ohio State University Marching Band has a concert/pep rally http://tbdbitl.osu.edu/?action=a075 and they were also rehearsing a special tribute for halftime. It seems that Jack Nicklaus is an OSU alumni, and he was being asked to dot the "i" http://tbdbitl.osu.edu/?action=a074 in "Script Ohio" http://tbdbitl.osu.edu/?action=a072 during halftime. Usually a sousaphone player does it, but Jack Nicklaus was asked as a special honor. The marching band from his old high school was also there, and it was a lot of fun! We made our way to the "Horseshoe" and got a couple of bratwurst and hot chocolates, and settled in for the game. We were in a section that seemed to have quite a few Golden Gopher fans, but TJ was a good ambassador, and welcomed those around us to OSU. It was easy to be gracious, since we won 44-0! 
When we got back to our hotel, I found a box of long-stemmed red 
from my honey! Another surprise! We went out to dinner at a restaurant that was rated "Most romantic" and the food was wonderful! Even the salad was the best I ever had. 
TJ had told me that two of his sisters were driving down to Columbus, and we were going to be having dinner with them the next day. We had some time to kill before that, so headed back to the mall across the way. It was a lovely day, and we wandered a bit outside, visiting a few stores. I was able to get a birthday gift for my sister, and a Christmas gift for my Mom at Macys (another sale, yay!). I also dragged TJ into the Apple store to show him which iPod I really, really wanted for Christmas. To add to the Godiva-ness of the weekend, we had Chocolixirs http://www.godiva.com/boutique/chocolixir.aspx by the fountain before driving to the hotel to meet his sisters.
Turns out that TJ had been planning a surprise birthday party for me! I never had a surprise party before! Most of his family was there, as well as a friend. I was totally surprised! It's a little worrying, because he fooled me so completely! Makes me wonder what else he has up his sleeve! At the party, he gave me my last birthday present ... the iPod I had just so carefully pointed out to him! Seems he bought it last week! 
It was so nice to know that my in-laws like me enough to do all that work for me! They cooked food, drove 2 hours and decorated the suite just to have that party. I was very touched. 
We got home last night, safe and sound. It was one of the best vacations we've ever been on! I'm going to have to see if I can call OSU and arrange for a football game on my birthday every year! The massive amount of guilt generated by it makes for a lovely time!
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Latest reply: Nov 1, 2006
The Dreaded Yard Sale
Posted Sep 26, 2006
We finally had our long-awaited yard sale this past weekend. Among the top 10 worst decisions I've ever made in my life, this was about #3.
I had two unexpected guests this weekend. My friend and her sister were on the island to visit their brother who was in the hospital. Luckily, they stayed around that morning to help us set up. I don't know what we would have done without them! Half of the stuff we were selling was from this friend's mother-in-law. She went into an assisted-living facility last year, and we were hoping to raise some money to pay for her stay. The facility doesn't accept Medicare, so once her money runs out, she has to leave. She's on the waiting list for another facility closer to where my friend lives, but in the meantime we've all got our fingers crossed that she can stay where she is until then.
All week they said that the weather would be nice on Doobry. We got up at 6am, an hour and a half after we normally go to bed 
, and it was raining. We looked at the radar on TV, and it looked like we'd get a break in the rain. They kept saying the the next day would be terrible weather-wise, so we were going to try to squeeze it in while we could. The rain finally stopped at 7:50am, 10 minutes before the advertised starting time. Of course, about 15 people showed up just as we begin taking things out of the garage to set up. What is with people and garage sales anyway? These people were crazed! We were trying to keep them out of the garage, and they were very annoyed that we weren't set up yet. We had originally planned to put things on the lawn, but it was too wet, so we just set up as much as we could on the driveway ... especially since it looked like more rain. TJ had a tarp (and a much smaller piece of plastic than he originally thought), so we tried to keep things close together so we could cover them up if it rained.
An hour into the sale, the rain started again. TJ suddenly remembered where the other plastic was, so we scrambled to cover everything. It stopped 15 minutes later, and we uncovered. It did this again about 15 minutes after that. My helpers left then to take showers so they could leave. We were okay until about 10:45am when the heavens opened. It was absolutely pouring! We got everything covered again, but the plastic kept blowing, so TJ stayed by the front door keeping an eye on it. My sister arrived just as my friends left. I decided to have some lunch, and my sister and I got to visit for a few minutes. TJ then exclaimed that somebody was actually getting out of their car to come and look at the stuff. What were they going to do? Crawl under the tarp?
The rain stopped about an hour later, and stayed away for the rest of the afternoon. This whole sale was so much work! Just terrible! We did get to meet quite a few neighbors, however (we've lived here for 4 1/2 years, so it was nice to finally know there were others living in the neighborhood ).
Our worst customer was this old man that rifled through our "free" box, and spent the next 10 minutes throwing horrible pun-ish riddles at us (example: "What do they serve at the insane asylum?" "Soup to nuts!"). I had no sleep at all the night before, and was lucky to be upright with my eyes half open. When we didn't answer his awful riddles, he started making comments like, "I should give out smart pills here!" and "What's this? The insane asylum?" He finally bought $1 worth of junk and left. He's lucky I didn't slug him. 
And people trying to bargain an item that's labeled 25¢ down to 10¢. We don't have anything smaller than a quarter. Live big, ya cheapo!
We sold about half of the junk (we were able to write a check to my friend for $200, which should let her mother-in-law stay in her current rest facility for about an afternoon ). TJ looked at the stuff that was left and said, "We should do this again tomorrow so we can sell the rest." I let him know that if he was going to do that, it wouldn't be "we" doing it. Then he said maybe next weekend. I reminded him that Gosho was coming next weekend, but he seemed to really want to do it ... that is, until it took 45 minutes just to put what was left back into the garage. After that, he said, "Never again!" My answer was, "YAY!!!™" The rest of the stuff goes to charity.
Needless to say, I slept 13 hours that night, and woke the next day with one of the worst migraines I've ever had. TJ is now home sick with a terrible head cold, but it's over! Over! 
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Latest reply: Sep 26, 2006
Breathe deeply ...
Posted Jul 22, 2006
Our last visit to Ohio was just torture for me. I stayed overnight at my mother-in-law's house just once when TJ and I first got engaged, and I felt so ill, that we stay at hotels now. I'm so allergic to her little dog ... not to mention the dust (so I won't). Well, things have just gotten worse there (which is one of the reasons we want her to live with us), and I couldn't even stand to be inside her house for more than a few minutes. One of her daughters have been living with her for the past year, and she has a dog also. Staying outside isn't an option at Christmas time though, and if we're going to be moving to Ohio, I have to get medication to deal with the dogs, cigarettes and dust the seem to always surround my in-laws, so I finally went to an allergist/asthma specialist. I just thought I'd be getting better allergy medication, but it turns out I have asthma! And the 
was berating me for not taking it seriously enough. Geez, doesn't everybody double over in pain when they try to breathe, and cough like they've just finished smoking a cigar?
So now I'm taking Singulair and have an Albuterol inhaler ... just like the kid in the Goonies! How cool am I? Sodit is the day I get the allergy test and find out how much of the world isn't my oyster.
The inhaler came just in time! Today they decided to finally throw out the large, teetering pile of newspapers that sat about 10 feet in front of my desk (when I say large, I mean large ... to the ceiling). They filled a large rolling bin, and a large rolling garbage can. Of course, by the time I got here, the air was full of dust, and the bin was sitting right in front of my desk. I got my boss to move it for me, but needed the inhaler. Good stuff! Now I wish I had gone to the earlier. Would have saved a lot of misery!
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Latest reply: Jul 22, 2006
Shea the Sarcastic
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