random thoughts

Yep. It is me. The dog lady again. I am desperately trying to get some pattern, routine or whatever you want to call it back into my life. The last surgery just sent me for a loop - a really big one. I slept well which is fortunate but slept all too well which is unfortunate. I still haven't managed to get my sleep pattern back and find myself sleeping in much later than I am comfortable. Gettting up at 8:30 makes me feel like I have lost half the day and then I don't want to go to bed until 2:00AM. I feel all discombobulated as they say (don't know who they are but sure that "they" are everywhere around us). There is so much to do but I am not feeling so motivated. Hoping that getting a routine back will help. Thus, the new obsession (which is really an old obsession) with walking the dogs.

But, first, yesterday.

After walking the dogs (which you had the delight -or maybe simply skipped- of reading about), I wrote some checks for ATW, wrote a check for my own bills, found the mailman and gave them to him to mail, caught up on emails, caught up on blog and talked (argued) with the phone company. It seems that it is that time of year again when I have to call them and re-negotiate all of my services. This is the most annoying thing in the world. If you do not call, they simply raise your charges to a horrendous rate and when you notice, you have to fight them to get everything reversed and get the new lower rate anyway. There autta be a law! In checking the comparison to last year, it seems that I was being charged $4.99/mo. for my worldwide long distance connectivity instead of the $3.99 guaranteed me in my negotiation of last year. It seems that AT&T randomly decided to discontinue that promo sometime during the year and raised my rate. Ok, it is only $1.00/mo. but aren't our rates high enough anyway. And why do we have to pay $4.99/mo so that our random calls outside the US will cost us 39 cents or thereabouts depending on the country instead of $3.99 per minute. What an outrage. You have to pay the rate even if you might only make 2 or 3 calls outside the US/year. Anyway, I asked her if there was a rate cheaper than $4.99 and she said, "yes, $3.99". I asked what the different in benefit was and she said none. They were the same plan. The only reason I was on the $4.99 was because I was on a special rate and when it expired, it went to $4.99. Everyone else who was not on the special rate was at $3.99. Are you as confused as I am by now? And that is only one service! Lets move on to DSL -that lovely service that allows me to keep writing these rants. :)

DSL. Hmmmmm.... The phone company does not want to speak to you in person so they offer you a better rate if you go and negotiate your services online. If you think the phone is confusing, try online. I got totally lost in the mire of all the crappy ads and false advertising and promises that really weren't only to be told that I didn't qualify for any rate breaks. I am still on the phone through this - not willing to let my live voice go. I asked for the $12.99/mo rate for DSL and was told that I couldn't get that one. It was only for "new" customers. So much for valuing those customers that have supported you over the years. Comcast cable will give you the new customer rate if you call in. And I do believe there is something in the laws of our great nation about charging different rates for the same services..... So I asked her what was the cheapest rate that I could get and she told me $17.99 if I upgrade to their faster speed product. I told her that I wasn't interested. I wanted the cheapest. You know what happens. You upgrade to the more expensive product, go through your promotion and then they raise you to some gawdawful rate. When you ask to be downgraded back to the cheaper product, they charge you. Well, she told me the cheapest was to upgrade, so I tried it. Guess what! I am not allowed to upgrade because AT&T doesn't have the faster internet for my address. Am I laughing yet? I think not. Although it is all too ridiculous. Sooooo......now, the cheapest rate I can get is $19.99. I have to pay $2.00/month more to get inferior service. How does that figure? And $7.00/month - more than 50% more than a new customer..... And $5.00/month more than I paid last year when my connectivity was already crappy and AT&T hasn't done anything to improve it. I was so disgusted at this point that I just told her to have a nice day and hung up. If you don't see me writing here anymore - and that just may be a possibility that would thrill you if I have any readers left by now - then you know it is because I have become so fed up with AT&T that I have bagged the whole thing.

Woooooooooooooo...........sigh........deep breath. Didn't expect to go into the AT&T issue so much. The fingers just got away from me.

So, for the rest of the day. After the AT&T call, I felt the need to commune with nature and relax my psyche so I went out to the back yard and started working on the jungle that has grown back there since my surgery. It was relaxing cutting back the bougainvillea with all of its beautiful pink blossoms and pulling weeds. Pulling out the ivy provided much needed anger management and stress relief. I filled a trash can and took it out front to dump into the recycling bin and ....da...da...da.daaaaaaaaa (or any theme from a suspenseful horror movie), my neighbor came over. She always comes under the guise of being nice, friendly and concerned but ends up with being nosy and whiny. She has never failed to complain about something - and always on my property. Get a life lady. She started off by asking if it was really me...hmmmmm....as if I had somehow changed bodies with someone? And went on to say, she thought it might be my sister (whom she has never met)...more prying to see if I have had someone over the hourse. Then she asked me if my hair was really mine. I know that a lot of people have asked that with the strange hair I have now after chemo but geez I have had this hair for over 9 months now. Then she got to the source of what she really wanted to know....the Morning Glory Ivy. She said, do you know that your ivy is growing into my yard. I informed her that it was not "my ivy" and that it had come from the yard next door and that I was fighting it too and constantly pulling it out and that she was welcome to pull it out on her side. It would not hurt my feelings. She then said well do you know it is growing in the top of your bush by the fence? As if I couldn't see it there? This has been going on for 9 years. It is nothing new. Just made it to the top of her complaint list .....after my Mulberry tree being too big (Do you know the branches are growing over your roof?), my drain pipe (behind my gate in my backyard where she can only see it by looking over the fence)being down (Do you know the drain pipe on the side of your house is missing?) and various other items that are solely my responsibility and have nothing to do with her. Anyway, I tried to politely extricate myself by telling her I had an appointment and had to go.

Next, in my exciting day? I had a shower and got dressed and headed out to my car, turned the key and ......nothing.......a BIG NOTHING. Completely dead. I got out walked around to the trunk and found it unlatched...closed but unlatched. Apparently, it had been that way for nearly 2 days. I called the towing company and they came out and jump started the car and I headed off to San Jose for another SCIOS treatment. The system owner had asked me to come be a guinea pig to train another new operator. I happily went since it meant I got a free session. She treated me for various things but, most importantly, for the hormone imbalance that I asked for. If it works, I will get my period back and come out of chemo menopause, a pretty daunting task for any treatment system. I will keep you posted on whether it works or not.

The evening was finished off by a nice Indian dinner (Shiva in Mountain View) with friends and a great, deserved glass of beer.

This morning, I overslept again and got up and started with a walk with the dogs again. Thomas got to go first today since he was second yesterday. He had a very good day and I didn't lose my cool or even be challenged to even once. We walked down doggy row where he sat quietly, walked, didn't lunge and didn't even pant heavily. Next came doggie gate. After an initial slight pull, he fell back to his heel and walked up to the gate with me, turned around, sat down, got a look on his face like "I'm bored" which Cesar says is calm submission. Next came doggy corner. What a breeze. 50 minutes later, we were back home - a happy dog and a happy owner. Next came Smokey. Thomas barked when we left but at least didn't give that heartbreaking puppy cry. I walked Smokey over to my Sis house but couldn't get an answer at the door. We left and walked for about 20 more minutes and came back. Sam came and looked at the doggie and told me about Elephants (Elepans?) and then we continued on our walk. For the last 15 minutes, Smokey was completely off leash walking by my side. All-in-all, a good doggy day.

Guess I will go do some gardening now. Painting tonight. I am looking forward to it after missing last week.