Wednesday, June 29, 2011

LotD

Here's an interesting concept: Would you pay $2,500 for a guaranteed job offer in six months? TheLadders.com wants to make it happen for you. Anyway, this article is interesting since it analyzes the program and other criteria. Let's hear it for that good ol' entrepreneurial spirit!

Monday, June 27, 2011

'roid!

On a personal note, I wanted to share a little bit of a health issue I've had over the last few weeks. I'm not going to go into all of the gory details, but I did want to talk about this one thing because it is unusual and there wasn't a lot out there on the internet about it and for a while, I felt like I was the only one who had this problem. It's got a great name: degenerating fibroid. In other words, a fibroid that was dying.

A fibroid is basically a harmless mass; most women have them at some point in their lives. Mine made an appearance about 6 months ago. Surprise! My doctor said not to worry about it, it wasn't serious, and the biggest complication would be pain if the fibroid started to degenerate (i.e. start to shrink if it outgrew its blood supply), but she assured me that that was a rare occurrence. Well, surprise again!

About 3 weeks ago, the fibroid started to degenerate. I had an ultrasound done after having three days of stomach pain and it showed that my fibroid had shrunk from a whopping 11 cm to 9.2 cm. The pain initially started feeling like a pulled muscle and all of the ensuing fun that comes from a sore stomach like hurting when I laughed. The pain got steadily worse over the next few days, making it difficult to walk or bend or do much of anything. It basically felt like the world's worst side stitch along with a rhythmic stabbing motion. Hitting a speed bump in the car, for instance, was agonizing -- shooting pain up my side and through my insides. It was just really painful. My doctor offered prescription painkillers, but I decided to pass on those and just bear it.

I'm happy to report that for the last week or so, the fibroid has been quiet and the pain non-existent. This tells me that the fibroid has stopped shrinking (it hasn't disappeared; I can still feel it on my right side). Sitting still and resting was the best thing. I know pain medication would have made it easier but I didn't want to go that way for personal reasons. I think the message here is that yes, it does hurt when this happens but it does go away, it doesn't cause any other side effects or issues, and it's just a matter of getting through it. I should also add that I'm the world's biggest baby when it comes to pain so if I can do this, anyone can (or maybe it didn't hurt as bad as I thought it did!).

And oh, I'm not a doctor (obviously). So if you think this is happening to you, talk to your doctor to confirm that it is truly this relatively benign issue.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Ch-ch-changes

Have I mentioned I've given up politics? If I haven't, well, I have. It was not an epiphany that just hit me 'side the head recently, but something that happened back in April when I was hanging out for a week in the allegedly happiest place on earth. It's amazing what one week free of internet and mostly free of news will do to your mind. It clarifies, cleanses, and all that good stuff. And when you come back from the detox, you find out people are still mad about the same stuff, still yelling about the same stuff, and no one has moved the ball down the field. And I realized that I spent a lot of time not moving the ball down the field as well.

I'm not sure how swearing off politics is going to help with the problem I just crystallized in last sentence of the above paragraph. I just know that my life is happier without reading who is saying what to whom, who hates on whom, and why the other side is so freakin' crazy/awful/terrible/hates America. I've unsubscribed from most of the political feeds on my Facebook page, have stopped reading politically orientated op-eds, and now skip the Sunday television gab fests that are usually nothing less than polite food fights.

I think the real thing that gets me about politics and why it's so easy to walk away -- every action has an opposite and equal reaction. For example: cut taxes, you cut revenues. Cut the budget and someone somewhere out there is going to suffer (but it's okay as long as it's someone else, not me -- hands off my government-run Medicare thankyouverymuch). End EPA regulations and sure businesses will have more cash flow, but let's watch the asthma and cancer rates go up at the same time. I can play this game all day and I know you can too.

No one talks about how to get America's kids educated so we can compete in a global marketplace, no one talks about funding research and development so we can be the innovative brains of the world again; do we not realize that the rest of the world has caught up in certain places and we're not competitive anymore? Instead, we talk about stupid things like whether gay people should be allowed to get married (um, yes) or forcing sonograms on women who want abortions (and who's going to take care of the kid when it gets here, you? Certainly not Uncle Sam). We spend all this time quibbling about other people's lives, not realizing that other countries (namely BRIC) are stealing our thunder. And dang it, I want our thunder back.

I'll be back when the country decides that it wants to act like adults and really solve problems, not talk about how the other side isn't cooperating. Cooperation, if I remember correctly, doesn't involve ultimatums and usually takes two. I should also note that my blood pressure is nice and low now that I no longer follow politics. But boy, that means I know a heck of a lot more about Hollywood than any normal, sane person ought to.

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Argh!

I just discovered our magnets don't stick to the stainless steel refrigerator in the kitchen! ACK! Another mark against stainless steel appliances (we don't care for them and would have chosen non-stainless steel, but the house came with them). Now I have to figure out what to do with all of my pictures and other things we would put on the refrigerator so we wouldn't forget about them. It seems odd that the OEMs of these appliances didn't seem to realize that most of us like to decorate our refrigators! Whoever heard of a pristine refrigerator? (Model homes don't count!). *le sigh* I hate that I won't be able to use my magnets anymore, magnets I've had for years, that have followed me from place to place. GE, are you listening????