Medical mysteries abound around here. The doc was taking sweet time getting back to my sister, so she finally called the office to find out her test results. She was told by the nurse she spoke with that the PA left notes that her iron was too high, but her iron stores were too low... so she should take a multi-vitamin and an iron supplement.
(This is not the actual word for word conversation, but a summation of what was said.)
Angel: My iron is too high, so I need to take more?
Nurse: Yeah. You're iron stores look low, though.
Angel: So, what if this doesn't work?
Nurse: They would like to see you for another round of blood tests in 2 to 4 weeks, but please contact us if you have any side effects.
Angel: What kind of side effects should I watch for?
Nurse: Muscle aches, weakness, tiredness, chest pains, etc....
Angel: Umm... I already have all of those... that's why I went to the doctor!
This is the point where my sister decided the PA hadn't any clue what was wrong with her and hung up in exasperation... then she called me. It didn't take much to convince her to call back and demand that she get a chance to speak to her regular doctor. It worked.
Her regular doc looked over the test results and told her right off that she does not have anemia and does not need to take supplements. He also reassured her that it couldn't be leukemia because her WBCs were not high enough to indicate that. Doc also said he knows that many doctors would probably blow off her results as stress, but he knows her well enough to know she handles stress better than this. He has some more tests he wants to run and has every intention of finding out what is causing her symptoms.
...the Barnes & Noble at Newport-on-the-Levee (located across the river from Cincinnati, OH in Newport, KY). Why? Well, I went in there with my parents this evening to buy a pair of cat bookends advertised for $29.95. When we took them up to the counter, we met with the first incompetent employee. Her name was Devonda. She rang the bookends up as $39.95. We pointed out the discrepancy in the prices. She was flabbergasted and shook her jowls at us. She wandered around for five minutes until she found a young man named Richard who was apparently a couple rungs up the ladder management-wise. He was also flabbergasted at the price and shook his sumo-like breasts at us. I told him he should give us the bookends at the advertised price...regardless of the price that came up on the register. He seemed shocked that I would even suggest such a thing. He stammered a bit and said,
Only a manager can do that.
Well, go get a manager then.
Ten minutes later--I'm not making that up; it actually took ten minutes to find a manager--a meek little girl named Sara P. came out. I never got to see Sara P. By the time she came out of the backroom where she'd been hiding, I'd left the store in a huff. The rest of the tale comes directly from my parents. Sara P.'s best excuse was that someone must've placed the $29.95 sign next to the cat bookends because they couldn't find the proper $39.95 price tag. She offered my parents a 10% discount off the price. My parents refused the offer, so she went to 20%. That was still more than the advertised price, so my parents gave up, promised never to shop at Barnes and Noble again, and left the store. My dad claims that Sara P. was close to tears.
I was so surprised when my parents came out without the bookends. Barnes & Noble was basically engaging in the old price bait & switch. I can't believe their management wouldn't remedy the situation and offer the product at the advertised price. Even if it was a mistake, it was a mistake on their part. What ever happened to customer service and taking responsibility for the actions of your employees?
When I got the rest of the story, I went back in to have a word with Sara P. I couldn't find her, so I just took the names of the other employees and decided to write this post.
Its kind of been one of those weeks when I checked out of reality and just did what I could to get through the week. My sister has been going through some medical problems and it has me concerned. Spots on her scalp, extreme exhaustion, and panic attacks top the list of concerns. We're waiting on some news from the doctor.
[NOTE: I can't imagine why anyone would want to read this post. In order to make it palatable to the masses, I have decided to spell out a moral that readers can take with them and apply to their own lives. Here it is:
If you're going to meet up at a specific place, make sure that place actually exists. Otherwise, your gathering will be fraught with frustrations. You will also probably sweat through your shirt and waste a lot of gas.]
I got a call today from my Ithaca, NY friends. They'd made a "spontaneous" trip to Cincinnati and wanted to get together for pie and coffee. We decided to meet at the Perkins in downtown Montgomery. I drove out there and found an empty field where the restaurant used to stand. I don't know when they tore it down, but it looked to be long gone. Justin and Steph showed up a few minutes later and drove back and forth looking for the restaurant. Eventually they saw me standing in a nearby parking lot. We drove around a bit looking for another Perkins, but it appears they've all disappeared. That's just fine with me. All their waitresses were mean anyway.
I will be web less for a week. That will be my excuse for not answering anyone or not posting any thing for a bit. I'm headed east where I have a friend. We will do some things together as in previous years but maybe not as much as I'd like because she is not feeling too well. I will probably go to Mystic Seaport and shopping in Olde Mystik Village and maybe I'll make it to Newport this year!
Homebody and I went down to Music Hall on Saturday to see the Cincinnati Opera's production of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas. It's a Spanish opera that was originally performed in 1996. I'm not usually a fan of contemporary operas and I was suspicious of singing in Spanish, but Florencia ended up exceeding my expectations in every possible way. It was a beautiful opera.
It was so beautiful, in fact, that it made me cry six different times. I have no idea why; I'm not usually that emotional. Crying is not a cool thing to do in front of the ladies, so I had to keep my head at an odd angle for much of the night. It was awkward and uncomfortable. I still managed to enjoy myself, though.
Unfortunately, Florencia didn't end well for me. Two pompous assholes sat down at the end of my row and proceeded to talk through the entire second act. I'll be honest. I wanted to punch them each in the throat and then toss them off the balcony. Then I wanted to walk downstairs and stomp some manners into them. I know that's a terrible thing to say, but that's what I wanted to do. Fortunately for everyone involved, I am not a violent man. I managed to restrain myself. All I did was point my finger at them and snap like they were being bad dogs. They didn't even notice.
I was grumpy the rest of the night until Homebody and I made it over to Arnold's where we ate tasty food and drank tasty beverages. I'm not sure, but I think our waitress had a crush on Homebody.
I recently saw Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the Riverbend Music Center outside Cincinnati. The opening act was Steve Winwood, a man I've wanted to see since 1994. That's when I missed out on seeing him open for the Grateful Dead as a member of Traffic. His opening set at Riverbend was very impressive. He's 60 years old, but still sounds like he did as a teen in the Spencer Davis Group. The highlight of his set (and the entire night) was hearing him sing one of my favorite songs, "Can't Find My Way Home". Hearing the old Blind Faith song was one of the highlights of my entire concert-going career. He also played classics like "I'm a Man", "Higher Love", "Dear Mr. Fantasy", "Gimme Some Lovin'" and a few songs from his latest release, Nine Lives. It rained from about the sixth song on, but stopped before Tom Petty took the stage.
- "Sweet William" - This song is an old b-side from a single that's long out-of-print. Well, there's a reason it was originally dumped onto a b-side, and there's a reason it's remained out-of-print. The reason is this: it's just not a very good song. It features 2 minutes of lame, white-boy blues followed by 30 seconds of guitar rave-up. Then there was some more lame white-boy blues and a bit more guitar rave-up. The rave-ups were great, but the bluesy parts were incredibly boring. It might be fun for the band to perform, but I found listening to be a chore.
- "End of the Line" - This was one of my favorite songs by the Traveling Wilburys, so I was initially very excited to hear it. I soon came to the conclusion that part of the song's greatness was that the original featured lead vocals by George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison (in addition to Tom Petty). The Heartbreakers tried to fill in for the missing Wilburys, but the results fell flat. Oh well.
- "Breakdown" - After a brief break for the band introduction, Tom Petty broke into a version of "Breakdown". It's normally a good song, but this version was too long and boring. I think there was supposed to be a jam in there, but it just sounded like lazy playing to my ear. Zzzzzzz.
Right when I was beginning to lose interest, things started up again with "Saving Grace", the lead track off 2006's Highway Companion album. The song featured a bit of an extended jam at the end, but unlike the one that ruined "Breakdown", this one was actually interesting. "Honey Bee" came next. It's an incredibly goofy song, but it managed to work. Those two songs helped me regain my interest in the concert. The rest of the show was solid and featured a non-stop run of hits that included "You Don't Know How It Feels", "Refugee", "Runnin' Down a Dream", and "American Girl". These songs more than made up for the few missteps from earlier in the evening.
As always, here's a picture of the setlist I kept during the show. As you can see, "A Face in the Crowd" was not played. There are some websites out there reporting that it was. Those websites are written by idiots who were probably drunk at the show.
Here's the entire setlist written out for those of you not interested in deciphering my scrawl:
Main set: You Wreck Me/Listen to Her Heart/I Won't Back Down/Even the Losers/Free Fallin', Mary Jane's Last Dance/Sweet William/End of the Line/(band intros)/Breakdown/Saving Grace/Honey Bee/You Don't Know How it Feels/Learning to Fly/Don't Come Around Here No More/Refugee
Encore set: Runnin' Down a Dream/Mystic Eyes/American Girl
July is national ice cream month! What's your favorite flavor?
Submitted by LittleWiseOne.
I love the Holiday flavors, the ones that seem to come out only around the holidays Rum Raisin and Frozen Pudding!
Big Brother is back on for another season. In just over an hour my butt will be glued to the couch as I meet the latest houseguests and tonight I lose sleep when the live feeds come on at 11pm. Its a horrible obsession. I've considered counseling but I kind of like having a few goofy quirks... I wouldn't be me without my quirkiness!
I'm really excited for this season because CBS seems to have made an effort to feature more than just bikini-clad, immature morons. This season's houseguests are a bit more diverse in age. I think the older guests will be more set in their ways... creating greater conflict when they are suddenly tossed into a college dorm-like atomosphere. Too many of the 20-somethings that have been on Big Brother just seemed like they auditioned just to find a free place to squat for a few months. Real people with real problems and dependents waiting at home are likely to put up a bigger fight to win the money. I hope. After BB9 and its joke of a season, I want to see some action!
Oh, and I just have to mention. This season's house looks kick-ass. Finally a year when I LIKE the house design!
July is national ice cream month! What's your favorite flavor?
Submitted by LittleWiseOne.
I'm a huge fan of the Cheesecake Fantasy flavor at Cold Stone Creamery. I've tried other flavors, but I always go back to my favorite.
