Random Tuesday Things on Wednesday

To continue.

3. Yesterday at work I went out to my car and, how my eyes were this keen I have no idea, I saw a mouse. I crept nearer and he didn't move. I even touched him with a blade of grass and then pet him. (I'm assigning a gender because I get tired of typing he/she him/her).

That was the best picture I could get with my phone. Look how small and pathetic he is.

After the non-reaction I washed my hands (no mouse diseases for me) and wondered what to do. It was a chilly day and he was just sitting there shivering. Then it occurred to me ....

Mouse ranch!

I really figured he was dying and at least this way he would spend his last hours out of the wind. He was gone when I checked today though.

*edit*

Upon closer examination, he must have crawled out and died some time in the night. *sad face*

4. My lesson learned over the weekend goes on my don't list.

Don't: Combine beer, late night, and The Deer Hunter. The former two in combination are just fine, but add that movie and you end up going to sleep very uneasily. That is in spite of it being a really good film.

5. The days are far easier to come down from if you can come home to this:

Random Tuesday Things

I realize that my thought processes are rather scattered. It's less of a distraction thing and more of a thinking-about-six-things-at-once thing. In spite of equal focus on each of those six or so things, there is still some cross talk, not to mention whatever soundtrack my brain is providing me with.
To help, I actually decided to write some notes, and for some reason, writing them with a sharpie is really satisfying. Hopefully this won't be too ramble-y.

1. Being the busiest time of the year, I deal with a lot of people. I also deal with people who feel that they can get what they want by being aggressive from the start. As a very non-aggressive person, I really don't understand this. Perhaps they feel that they'll be waylaid or brushed off if they're nice from the start.
I'm more than personable and try to be completely honest, so this aggression doesn't really change how the customer is treated. Really it just stresses me out and makes me feel like I didn't something wrong.
The saving grace is when they realize there is nothing for them to butt up against. I just exude a wave of kindness and understanding upon the unsuspecting customer and awe ensues. Awe especially ensues when the problem doesn't actually exist. 'What? I didn't buy that accessory I'm claiming wasn't delivered?' 'You mean it's at the school and the teacher didn't give *said instrument* to my child?' 'You're not trying to rape my wallet?'

Those particular instances don't really relieve the stress induced by the time of year, but they help. What would help is someone to answer the phones, because apparently it's not enough to leave a message anymore. The belief that I will call back just isn't there.

2. I'm used to junk mail, spam, and telemarketers, but I was never prepared for junk faxes. The problem being that they not only waste one's time, but also paper. And it's not like I can just keep paper out of the fax machine. My store gets 5 to 8 junk faxes every day, advertising everything from roofing to medical supplies to insurance. The best one was sent today and I hope it doesn't make this entry far too long. Since the fax and telephone numbers are foreign and I assume no one (like anyone reads this) would actually pay the long distance I feel no hesitancy in including them. It's also in all caps, but I wouldn't subject anyone to that.

*Ahem*

"From Charles Taylor (JNR)

Telephone +255 768 368 224

Fax - +27 865 140 721

Greetings

May I use this opportunity to introduce myself to you my name is Charles Taylor (JNR) I am the son of former president of Liberia a country in west Africa. My father who is currently being held against his will my the United Nations for alleged offences of war crimes.

He is currently facing court trial in the Hague in Netherlands. My father is a good man who tried to do so much for our people Liberians. I am contacting you with the believe that we will develop a cordial business relationship which will be beneficial to both of us. My father gave me your contact when I visited him on the 19th of November 2009. He said that he have a lot of confidence and trust in your personality. My father keeps the sum of (one hundred and seventy seven million United States dollas) $177 million USD in a banks security vault under the name of his friend a foreigner from your country; as the next of kin to the deposit to avoid any trace .This friend of my father died on 25th July 2009 in a motor accident.

My father directed me to use this money for investment purposes specifically in your country.

I promise to give you 30% of the total funds for your assistance and 10% of the profit after tax for five years.

I am currently in a refugee camp here in Tanzania and I have made contact with the bank manager of the bank where my father deposited the funds. I have also inspected the funds and confirm that it is still with them. I will give you all the details on how we will claim these funds upon receipt of you response.

I have the whole documents for the deposit. I therefore see your assistance in transferring this funds out of Tanzania.

Best regards,

Charles Taylor (JNR)

Note: Please send all you're contact information through my above fax numbers, as soon as I receive your contact informations I will send all the details on how we are going to conclude this transaction."

Wow, that took eight minutes to type, making sure all the spelling and grammatical mistakes were correct.

This baffled me. We're all familiar with the 'Prince of Nigeria' email scam. To try it with a fax is brave, especially since this was a long distance fax and that takes time. That is, unless there are fax viruses out there; and if there are, I'm taking the paper out of my machine.

I think I'll leave 3-6 of Tuesday's randomness for another post.

Products I Actually Endorse

Things have been unbelievably stressful and frustrating so I'm trying to force myself to think positively. In this vein, I'd like to share a few things that have had positive influences on my life.

1. The Point Breeze Veterinary Clinic

This is a local service, obviously, located in Point Breeze, PA, on the east side of Pittsburgh. I guess it wouldn't really serve anyone outside of the area, but I like to laud them anyway.

The story: We first moved to the Pittsburgh area in August '07 with my cat, Clara; who, by the way, is the loveliest cat ever. In early October, if memory serves, Clara started having problems eating. She would yelp when she tried to eat her hard food, which is the only food she will eat, and we noticed that the gums on the right side of her mouth were red and inflamed. This had happened earlier in the year, and the vet she went to said that she'd probably eaten a spider and been bit or had scraped her mouth on something. They suggested giving her soft food and letting it heal. Obviously that was incorrect.

I took her to Point Breeze and met with Dr. Caroline Simard who went through the usual options (infection, etc). Clara and I made numerous trips and she was put on soft food (which she wasn't fond of) and antibiotics. Finally, the diagnosis of (something I can't remember the name of nor pronounce) was made. It's a localised autoimmune disease. Whenever Clara would get any plaque on her teeth her gums would try to reject them.

The solution: all her side teeth had to be removed. This was done in two parts, as the right side was removed and the left side flared up. Clara was alto put on Atopica, which is an immune suppressant for dogs (she thinks she's a dog anyway).

I endorse this company because the doctors are amazing. Clara has seen Dr. Simard and Dr. Schroth many times and they've both treated her well and gone above and beyond to see that she's happy and healthy. They also compliment her softness and Dr. Simard refers to Clara as "her little peanut." The clinic also went against its policy and let me make payments on the surgeries, which was the only way I could have. Also, all the follow-up visits (and there were many) were free of charge. All in all, they're just wonderful.

Please see their website

"Look at my toothless mouth!"

2. The Netical Patch

The Story: A few months ago on a Friday, I woke up with inexplicable lower back pain. It was random and awful. It also didn't go away. After three weeks I finally decided to do something about it and resorted to the usual options: ibuprofin, Bengay, and light stretching. There was no change and the stretching was painful. I mentioned this ailment to a friend of mine and he suggested the Netical Patch. I took him up on that offer.

Now, I haven't tried many herbal or homeopathic remedies. Valerian root does provide a clear head and a great night's sleep and B vitamins do help, well, everything. Then I tried this. It's a cotton patch (in this case, an adhesive one) infused with the stinging nettle plant that one applies to the inside of one's clothing over the affected area (in my case, my lower back). I attached this to the inner side of my t-shirt and tucked it in, for maximum exposure, and waited. After two days and a much greener back my pain was gone. Completely.

It's been about two months and the pain hasn't returned. I'm just completely in awe of this. After a month of total life-consuming misery I'm back to normal. There are also nine more patches in the package in case something does pop up. I think $30 was quite the value to get my life and peace of mind back.

For more information please go here.

I had another product in mind but I've since forgotten. I'm sure it will come to me later.