Category: Rants & Observations

Frustrated With Companies

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Today was supposed to be Wookie’s internal specialist vet visit (to address her kidney disease), that was scheduled over a month ago, and which Joe took a half day off work to attend. I woke up at 7 am to a text that was sent at 4:30 am saying the specialist wouldn’t be in the office and we’d need to reschedule.

I called the facility to confirm the text was legit, since the phone number it came from wasn’t the vet office, and the woman who answered told me oh no it was just some error the ultrasound tech made. It wasn’t until I read her the text that she put me on hold only to come back and confirm that yes, the doctor wouldn’t be in and I’d have to wait to hear from the department that can reschedule the appointment. Why do people talk out of their ass? What if I just took her word and went there, wasting both time, and money on gas, only to learn it really was cancelled? I swear, people don’t think before they speak!

So anyway, I asked her if I’m going to get a discount for the inconvenience. After all, I pointed out, if I were to cancel with less than 48 hours notice they would keep my $100 deposit. She assured me my deposit would be fine and applied to the rescheduled visit. I explained that wasn’t what I asked her. Seriously, I have very little patience for people who don’t actually listen! She said someone would have to call me back about that. She also tried to say something about just getting there and not handling that stuff. I told her I know she isn’t personally responsible, but she’s the one I’m asking to find out. Ugh!!! I thought this was implied. This happens too often where people who represent a company act like you’re personally accusing them of something. It’s so irritating! Is this what people mean when they accuse people of being snowflakes? This woman couldn’t handle being screamed at like I did when I worked customer service for the cable company. And to be clear, while it’s true I wasn’t happy with getting a last minute cancellation, I was certainly not screaming at her or being rude. Get over yourself, and do your job.

Anyway, to make the most of a crappy situation, we went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast since there was a free breakfast sandwich in our accounts for the Blackhawks winning or something. Then later on we ran some errands. I donated books to the library, including one called The Queen Gene by Jennifer Coburn I had won through Goodreads, which the author had signed inside. I feel kinda bad getting rid of it, but I can’t read physical books anymore with my eyes. It’s just easier to read on a device, plus it makes room in the house not holding onto stuff I’m not actively using.

After the library we went to the police station to recycle all the “drugs” I wanted to discard. I had a ton of stuff, some Rx, but mostly supplements, from when I was sick in 2019 and was trying anything and everything to get better. Everything had since expired, and most of it was useless anyway, but it was sad to think how much money was spent on all that stuff only to throw it away. I am grateful I don’t need any of it, though. For the most part I’m completely healthy again. There’s a drop-box for the drugs, but they have to give you a key to open it. The guy looked at the huge gallon bag I had (along with a quart-sized one) and said the larger one might not fit, but he had smaller bags if I needed them.

Luckily it did fit, and they took everything, even though there was a sticker saying they don’t take supplements (I asked him about it and he said it was fine as long as they weren’t in the bottle).

After that we stopped at the Sports Hub to recycle some batteries. Then we went to a place called Repeat Boutique to donate some items (finally got rid of a loud, but still working, Dirt Devil stick vacuum, plus a glass shelf we bought like two decades ago, amongst other things), and some clothing.

We decided to look for some cookware at TJ Maxx / Home Goods, but left empty-handed. We stopped at Bath & Body Works so I could cash in my free birthday item but ended up leaving when I realized to get a free $10 item you have to buy something else and sale items don’t qualify. So instead of a free $17 item like before, you get less and have to buy something full priced? No thank you. After I spend the gift card my friend gave me I think I really am done with BBW. All these stores are getting to be too much.

Speaking of, last year I placed an order with Macy’s for a deep skillet and a syrup dispenser. The latter arrived broken. With the weather I haven’t been able to get to the store to either exchange it, or get credit, since the closet store is still a decent ride. Today I thought maybe I could just ship it back, but if I start a return on the website, it says since I am not a Star Rewards Member, I would have to pay a $10 return shipping fee. I paid less than that for the item! I don’t see anything about there being an exception when they send a damaged item even though it makes sense there would be, but I cannot confirm that since it’s AI only if you try to chat with them. Even if you call them (and I had to Google for the number since they don’t put it on the website) it won’t let you speak to a human. What horrible customer service! I won’t be buying from Macy’s again.

4th of July Weekend

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We didn’t really celebrate the holiday. I didn’t even decorate for it. Not feeling great about this country at all.

Roe v Wade was overturned and now dead women have more rights than alive ones. It’s sad and disgusting. No one should be able to tell another person what to do with their own body. Women are going to die, babies & children are going to suffer, and crime is going to increase (in 18-20 years when all the unwanted children grow up). It doesn’t just end there, either. This is just the first step toward controlling the population. This country is seriously regressing.

Last night there was a mass shooting at a parade in one of the suburbs north of us. Six people died and many more were injured. The shooter was at large for hours so other towns cancelled their celebrations and stupid idiots online were making ignorant comments like “so I guess we just crawl into a hole forever then?” I guess watching some firesticks go boom is more important than other people possibly dying. Give me a break.

And don’t get me started on how fed up I am with fireworks in general. They are illegal here, but that hasn’t stopped neighbors from setting them off every night for the past two weeks. My favorite is when they wait until 2 am when everyone is trying to sleep. Between that and the storms last night Wookie was an anxious mess. I really wish we’d do away with the whole fireworks tradition. They do more harm than good considering how many pets and people with PTSD are negatively impacted by them, and they’re terrible for the environment. We need to do better.

I don’t know what else to say without going on a long(er) tirade, so instead I’ll just focus on the superficial day to day happenings since it’s the only thing keeping me sane right now.

Saturday (07/02) I got my hair cut. I usually go to Great Clips and see Zoe but when I called a few weeks ago I found out she no longer works there. What a bummer; I really liked her! In addition, they aren’t requiring/wearing masks anymore and I really don’t want someone right in my face mask-less. Luckily my friend’s cousin does hair in her basement and only lives twenty minutes away, so I got my hair cut by her. Now my hair is right at shoulder length and feels so much better. The cut was $35 plus tip since I didn’t do the shampoo or blow dry. I checked my tracking app and it had been exactly a year and 2 days since my last cut. I should probably get it cut more often because even though there’s not a lot split ends or damage, I get soooo annoyed with it once it’s more than three inches past my shoulders. I hate the feeling of it grazing my arms in the summer too.

On the way home from my haircut, we spotted a park we’ve never noticed before, so we stopped to check it out. It has two bogs, a pond, and tons of wildflowers.

It was too hot to do more than a cursory walk around, but we decided we’d be back soon with my camera in tow.

Saturday evening we were walking Wookie when I tripped over something and felt a pain on the lower half of my right leg. Apparently I got a nasty scratch from a rusty piece of wire. I grabbed the offending item and immediately went home to call our 24 hour nurse line to see what I should do. She walked me through cleaning it (I didn’t realize you’re supposed to run cool water over it for five minutes). After many questions, she determined it would be best if I went to Immediate/Urgent Care to have it checked out since even though the skin hadn’t been broken, the scratch was longer than the length of my palm.

Luckily this happened around 6:15 and UC is open until 7:30 daily. When we got there around 7 pm I was told there was an hour and a half wait. It ended up being closer to an hour ultimately, but I did need to get a tetanus shot just in case (since we weren’t absolutely sure how long it had been since my last one) and my arm has been pretty sore since Sunday (and it was swollen yesterday but that has since gone away). The funny part was after I was given the shot the tech/nurse guy told me I was so brave, lol! I don’t think he was being condescending either.

So that was a fun ending to our Saturday. Luckily we got back before sunset so we could sit out on the patio like we originally planned.

Sunday (07/03) we went back to the newly discovered park and had fun walking around for an hour taking photos. There were a lot of birds, butterflies, insects, and rabbits. We also saw a couple of American bullfrogs.

Did you know there’s snails in Illinois? I didn’t, but we spotted a few. This is an amebersnail.

I really enjoyed our visit and since it’s less than ten minutes from home I am sure we’ll end up there often, particularly because our favorite park is really busy lately with softball games. It will serve as a backup when the other parks are too crowded, although I love it so much I’d happily visit it daily.

The aforementioned park was not busy on Monday (07/04) at 7 am when we paid a visit. What a great one it was, too! We saw so much wildlife, including animals we’ve never seen there before like a raccoon. We also spotted this creature.

At first I thought it might be a river otter or small beaver, but once I zoomed in and saw its claws, I was able to determine it was a muskrat. The photo quality is horrible because it was small and far away. My zoom lens was no match.

We also saw a deceased American mink which was sad. I hope to see a live one someday.

I got a really good photo of a Great Egret.

These birds are plentiful in the area but are usually beyond the reach of my camera lens.

We spent the rest of the day indoors since it was so hot & humid outside. We had hot dogs for lunch and cheeseburgers for dinner but I still maintain it was not in celebration of this country – we just like to eat.

Blue Shield CA Sucks

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Of all the health insurance companies we’ve had in the past several years, Blue Shield of California has already made it to the top of my shit list.

I don’t know if it’s because Joe’s company is based in California, therefore making choices in Illinois limited, but I’ve spent HOURS trying to find a facility that is NOT a hospital that will cover an ultrasound he needs for a lump under his left arm and they just do not exist in their shitty network. Their list is so outdated, it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly infuriating. Not a single free-standing facility on their list is viable. If they aren’t closed, have a disconnected number, or are an actual residence (how did that even happen?), they don’t actually do ultrasounds. It’s nothing short of absolutely ridiculous how much time I’ve spent trying to find a place with no success.

I guess we have to go through the hospital and hope it won’t cost a fortune. What other choice is there? I wouldn’t be surprised if they neglect their other facility list on purpose to force you to deal with the hospital because it probably makes everyone more money that way (except us, of course, who will have to pay a higher price).

To make matters worse, they straight up told me they can’t provide a price quote for any services. Why not? Aetna and Cigna had no problems doing it, and they were extremely accurate too! WTF, Blue Cross? You suck, and I hope we never have to deal with you via another employer ever again.

Gotta love living in a capitalist society where it costs tons of money just to live while companies keep raising prices to make an even bigger profit while simultaneously gaslighting everyone into thinking the president is to blame for “inflation”. Meanwhile companies give little to no cost of living raises and people wonder why the economy suffers? I call bullshit on this entire system. It only benefits the ultra rich. No wonder people retire to other countries. I’ve about had it with this one, that’s for sure.

Happy March

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Thank goodness it’s March! I cannot wait until the time changes and sunset is after 7 pm again. I lose all my energy once the sun goes down.

I’m also looking forward to warmer weather and being able to walk outside again. I’m sure Wookie can’t wait either. Just thinking of having the windows open at some point makes my heart sing. It cannot get here fast enough. F winter!

Pandemic Thoughts

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I’ve reached a point in this pandemic where I’m perfectly fine never speaking to certain people ever again. This is big for me because I’ve always done my best not to cause conflict with people because I do not like being disliked. But then it occurred to me – why do I care what someone who I have lost respect for thinks of me anyway? I do not value their opinion, and I disagree with their world view enough that I do not plan on speaking to, or spending time with, them so why do I even care? Answer: I don’t.

Look, it’s one thing if you’re vaccine hesitant because of *reasons*, although hopefully those are legit reasons and not stupid shit like “I don’t know what’s in it” or “it’s not FDA approved” (ahem, as of Monday Pfizer is so I guess those people will need to find a new goalpost). But if you’re going to be plastering your Facebook wall with conspiracy talk and putting stuff up that says “I have an immune system”, “I stand for medical freedom”, or “unmask the children” I think that a) you’re a moron and b) a selfish one at that and I have no interest in interacting with you in any capacity moving forward.

I seriously cannot wrap my head around the mentality that the government is trying to kill us with this vaccine. If that were true, why were they one of the first groups to get vaccinated? And why would the government want to kill all the scientists and medical professionals? Do these people ever stop and think logically? Because if every single one of the vaccinated people dies within 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years like these wackadoos are saying then all we’re going to be left with are people with IQs in the double digits who refuse to listen to authority. Do you really think those are the people the government wants left standing?

Besides, if that’s the case, well, I’m ok with my fate because I don’t want to live in that world anyway. We’re well on our way to a real life Idiocracy if things don’t change. If anything, the government is hoping all these “my body, my choice” (unless it’s to stop others from getting an abortion, of course, because *hypocrisy*) people will die off.

I’d just like to know whether these people have ever done any true research and/or watched a single video of a real doctor explaining how your immune system and vaccines work. Because I just can’t believe that anyone with a shred of intelligence would still think the crazy things I’ve seen people posting out there. They must be getting all their information from Facebook memes and it’s really sad they cannot be motivated enough to at least look at reputable sources before parroting the same old rhetoric.

The anti-mask anti-vaccine people are like a toddler who throws a tantrum because you won’t let them stick a fork in a light socket. We have parents actively fighting against school administrations so their children don’t have to wear masks. Do they want their child exposed to a deadly virus? Do they not believe it exists? Oh wait, it must be that, until their kid does get sick and then they’ll be asking you to donate to their Go Fund Me for their medical (or funeral) expenses.

I’ve seen too many videos of people saying they changed their mind about not getting vaccinated, but only AFTER they’ve caught COVID. Apparently if it doesn’t happen to them directly it’s not real. So how does that work for Christians, then? Last I heard they haven’t personally met Jesus or God so…

If the consequences of not getting vaccinated and catching COVID rested solely with the infected individual, I wouldn’t care. You made a choice and there are consequences that go along with that. But this affects everyone. It’s a public health issue. It’s not political, it’s not a way for the government to control you, and it’s not a mass culling. There are children dying now thanks to the Delta variant, not to mention hospitals being overloaded to the point where they have to turn away people having heart attacks and strokes because the unvaccinated COVID patients are taking up all the resources. Innocent people who did their part are dying thanks the selfishness of these people and that makes me very very angry.

I am livid that this is the world we live in. The lack of empathy and personal responsibility is higher that I ever thought possible and it’s frustrating, disheartening, and disgusting. I’m sure there’s levels of this bullshit in other countries but I wouldn’t be surprised if the U.S. has the highest concentration of nut jobs. The same people who have been crying about their freedoms and refusing to wear masks are the reason why we’re still dealing with this today. Now they are going to see even more of their “freedom” stripped away as cities institute vaccine passports for things like bars, clubs, restaurants, concerts and other events. If only everyone had done their part we wouldn’t be in this position. But they’re all too up their own ass to even see it.

The worst part is there’s nothing I can do about any of this. I have tried to talk sense into one family member and was told “I’m stubborn so the more you try to convince me, the less chance I will do it”. Seriously!?!? So I assured them I wouldn’t bring it up again, and I haven’t. I guess they’ll either suffer the consequences of their inaction, or they’ll get lucky and feel justified in it. Either way it’s a real shitty outcome.

I’ve made peace with the fact that I may very well lose family members to this virus, or at least see them disabled from it, which is still terrible when your quality of life is affected. But what else can I do? I have to let go and let the chips fall where they may. And that’s the worst part of this past year and a half.