Family, the ones who love you (supposedly)

I have this aunt. She lives in Texas. I could probably stop there and at least two or three of you who know me would completely understand. But, for the other six or seven of you, I'll fill you in. The day after the health care bill was passed I called her to find out how badly she was taking it. See, she's VERY republican and religious to boot. She was not taking it well. In fact, she was in a bit of a tizzy. She thinks it is the very worst thing in the world, as now women will be able to get federally funded abortions. I don't think she has reliable information on the subject, else she wouldn't use that as her first argument against reform. When I reminded her that this bill means that now I can get insurance she said (and I quote) "I don't care about that". She went on to say that her husbands Medicare would be cut drastically as a result of this reform. And that she was tired of paying for other people's health care. Then she hung up on me.
Now remember, she's a very religious and LOVING person. Uh-huh. Suuuuuure. If she says so.
One of my other aunts is trying a different tack. She seems to be bent on driving Mama Bird into a crazed fit because the bill didn't go into effect (for me) RIGHT AWAY. She (the aunt) said she'd be mad if it didn't. She (also the aunt) voted for all the folks who were AGAINST HRC, and didn't want it passed in the first place.
Come July first I should be able to procure insurance. I cannot be denied. Legally. Because of my pre-existing condition I qualify for some help getting that insurance. I'm looking forward to feeling a bit more secure, and less stressed about the what-ifs surrounding my well being. I'm already less stressed about the whole thing.


--Little Bird gets more political every day.

Blah, blah, blah....

The drowsiness, it has not gone away. The nausea has gotten worse, though that's not a trade-off.
Things otherwise continue to do well. I have a guest coming into town in about a month, from St. Louis. So maybe she'll bring some of the coveted crack chips (I hope, I hope, I hope). I told her that's what I would charge her for giving her a place to stay for the weekend while she attends some kind of workshop. And the following month, I go to St. Louis. That same friend is graduating so Rooster and I are going, both to attend the ceremony and to buy crack chips. Once again it means a train trip. I'm getting better and better at planning these trips. I'm taking less and less stuff with me. This time it'll be a couple of long skirts, one pair of jeans and one pair of work-out pants. And only two pair of shoes. Of course there'll be the toiletry kit and undergarments and food to be brought along, just working on paring it all down a bit. I will also of course be bringing shirts. One cannot go to a commencement ceremony topless, that would be tacky.
You may have noticed I said "Rooster and I", yes he and I are doing well. Things couldn't be better actually! We spend quite a bit of time together, both at his place and at mine. I just can't wait 'til the weather warms up and we can get from one place to another without freezing. Also, there are more things that we can do around town when the weather is warmer. Picnics, walks, the beach, the park. When it's cold, all we want to do is watch movies. Inside. Cuddled under blankets. Which, don't get me wrong, is great fun! But we need to get out of the house every so often!
Last night was one of Chicago's sanctioned nights of drinking. I went out. I was home before midnight. It was kinda lame. There were a lot of people who just don't know how to hold their liquor. There are a lot of people who must have woken up hungover this morning. I wonder how many of them called in sick?

--Little Bird is getting that packing list ready

Ketchup

Sorry about the prolonged absence. There has been all kinds of stuff going on. And some of it just couldn't be bandied about on the interwebs at the time.
First Rooster and I broke up. We later got back together and things are now better than ever!!!
Then I started a new medication. Which I was able to get at Target for $4!!! No more paying $94 a month for meds!
But! That new medication? Has some... interesting side effects. One of them is drowsiness. And today my dosage doubled (the doctor wanted to sort of "stair-step" me to the "right" dosage). So even though I'm practically mainlining caffeine, I still could sleep for a day or three.
Closets have been cleaned.
Dinner with the folks AND Rooster has been had. (Everyone survived)
More on some of these topics later. I think I need a nap.

--Little Bird has not fallen off the face of the planet

iClean

I found out the other day that it might be possible to for me to hook my busted laptop up to my television set. All I need are some cables and maybe an adapter. Which I may already have. This will only work if the problem is in the screen and not the video card. I'm hoping for a $40 fix, instead of a $400 fix.
I think I also found out that I may be a touch OCD. If only in VERY slow cycles. I spent a goodly portion of yesterday clearing out a few drawers and organizing my movies. And my jewelry box. And then I made a schedule of when I'll clean what in the next week or so. I also have this odd desire to start scrapbooking. Something I've never been interested in before. A therapist would likely tell me that all this is some kind of attempt to impose order on my life. What you have to understand is, I hate cleaning. I hate organizing. Dunno why. Just do. The drawers in my room are usually catch-alls for all the random pieces of paper I accumulate. And pens. And cards. And beads etc. etc. (This is also likely some deeply rooted subconscious need being filled in some way.) I only get into organization mode once or twice a year. And usually it's not me who initiates it.
What's amusing to me about this is, this time I've been able to see it. And parse it. And even though I think I know what's going on, I still have the urge to organize. Maybe I should start doing some of this at night, since I'm not really sleeping anyway. Maybe I'll be done in under a week that way! Since getting up this morning I've already cleaned out two more drawers and plan on getting the rest of that set done today/tonight. Next up, the book drawer (under the bed and not in any way part of the drawer set I am currently working on).


--Little Bird is organizing... again

Verizon sucks, part III

It just keeps getting worse. Now they say that there were TWO phones charged to us!! TWO equipment fees!! PLUS late fees and taxes on all of that stuff!!! That's right, taxes on items that we never ordered AND had removed from our bill. They seemed to think we should still pay the tax on the item even though the item did get removed. They say our bill is well over a thousand dollars now. So, Mama Bird had a rather lengthy conversation with someone over at Verizon's offices. We think we have it cleared up. We're still waiting on that bill. And they know for a fact that we will be taking our business elsewhere.
We think the second phone thing is a clerical screw-up due entirely to reporting it. That, or they're trying to get us to pay for as much as they can (real or invented) because they know we're dropping them. Either way, it sucks.
Learn from this fiasco, do NOT sign up with Verizon!!

--Little Bird is tired of it all.

Verizon sucks, part two

So, the fraud department was supposed to take care of the problem and they seemed to do so. I stopped getting texts threatening to shut off my service at least. Until yesterday. I got the text and called Mama Bird. Needless to say she got a little upset and her voice rose a few octaves while we were talking. She called Verizon and lit into them. They had an explanation. Of COURSE they had an explanation. That explanation was in a word LAME. They said that the bill was actually somewhere around $500 because of an "equipment" fee. This is a fee that gets applied when you order a device and don't activate it. But, let's remember... we didn't order any device in the first place. Then they tell us that we have some late fees to deal with. But we STILL haven't gotten our bill!! It turns out that they either didn't change our shipping and billing address back to what it should be, or they did so incorrectly.
We are not going to have to pay any late fees. We did get that cleared up. I think. I hope. And as soon as that bill is paid, we are all getting new phones with a new provider.

There is other stuff going on as well, but nothing I can talk about here really.


--Little Bird anticipates an iPhone (maybe)

Verizon SUCKS!

If you have a Verizon contract, you may be interested to know what has recently transpired in this birds nest. I have been getting phone calls and texts from Verizon, telling me that Mama Bird owes them lots of money. She hasn't been getting the calls, I have. And the person I spoke to wanted me to give them Mama Birds credit card number! As if I would a) have the credit card number and b) give it to ANYONE! As it appears, someone hacked her contract. Someone changed her shipping and billing address and then ordered a blackberry. The blackberry was shipped but never activated. That happened in November. Whoever did this did it via phone. To do this they had to know her account number, and her social. When Mama Bird tried to clear this up (via phone) she was told that she had to come in and show proof of identity, keep in mind whoever did all the changing did it via phone. This was a few days ago when it was FREAKING cold outside. And this little trip to the Verizon store took two hours. And nothing could be done until yesterday because the fraud department was closed for the weekend. Now, the blackberry has been blocked and can never be activated because Verizon did something using the blackberry's serial numbers. BUT the fact remains that the contract itself is not all that safe. My step father's contract and mine are just about up, for us to transfer to a different carrier will cost us nothing. For Mama Bird however, they want to charge her $155 to get out of her contract.
Mama Bird did some research and got the address to which the blackberry was sent. IT'S A VACANT LOT. So if the blackberry did get sent, who received it? And why didn't they activate it in NOVEMBER? We think it's an inside job. They would have access to her info and could do this fairly easily.
Verizon should let her end her contract WITHOUT incurring a fee, since this is an error on their part. We haven't heard back from the fraud department yet. They say it will take at least two weeks to clear up. This is unacceptable. At best we expect to not have to pay for the blackberry and any late fees having to do with unpaid bills, as we never got the damned bills BECAUSE SOMEONE CHANGED THE BILLING ADDRESS!
Needless to say, Mama Bird has been a little upset lately.
On a lighter note, Mama Bird, my stepfather and myself had my birthday dinner this past Sunday evening. We had spicy southwest steak tar-tare, a great big southwest style salad, guacamole and chips. It was delicious! I was given an apron from a restaurant in Santa Fe, Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and another cookbook titled "How to Cook Everything". That last book has 2,000 recipes in it. I think I'll be set for some time now!

--Little Bird is going to be cooking up a storm