Focus on Irish Food – Glenisk
4 hours ago
Saturday, October 29, 2011
I almost forgot!!!
It's been such a 'woe is me' kinda week that I totally forgot the best part of the week! I lost 4 lbs this month! Woot! That's 1 lb per week and I couldn't be happier about that. I've been eating WW meals for lunch and going to the gym (THANK YOU GROUPON!) 3x per week (Body Pump, Body Jam, and Body Flow). The gym pass will only be good until the end of November, but I've already bought one month of unlimited pilates class to use in December. That will get me through the first of the year and hopefully the gyms will start their New Year's specials at that point. Here's hoping I can keep up the 1lb per week loss for at least the next, oh, 16 weeks! Ha!
The week ended with two shots and a bang!
Li-tra-lee!
Sorry for my feeble attempt at phonetically spelling the British pronunciation of 'Litrally'.
Yesterday morning we were headed out to the doctor's office for my shot (Wes came with me so he could register at the office too) and what happens? Of course I fall. In fairness to me, there is something sinister about that square of sidewalk. It's the end of the curb, so it is a little hill. Wes slid on it once and he was wearing his running shoes. Anyway, I went down hard on my knee (thankfully I didn't rip a hole in the knee of my pants) and ended up I hobbling the rest of the way to the doctor. I had my MMR vaccine and they talked me into getting the tetanus and pertussis vaccine. They had to give me one in each arm and the tetanus shot goes in the muscle, so that one ached most of the day. This means that nothing can happen in the TTC realm for the next 4 weeks. Good thing shots don't bother me that much since it looks like I could have a future of injecting myself with various things. Not awesome.
Sorry for my feeble attempt at phonetically spelling the British pronunciation of 'Litrally'.
Yesterday morning we were headed out to the doctor's office for my shot (Wes came with me so he could register at the office too) and what happens? Of course I fall. In fairness to me, there is something sinister about that square of sidewalk. It's the end of the curb, so it is a little hill. Wes slid on it once and he was wearing his running shoes. Anyway, I went down hard on my knee (thankfully I didn't rip a hole in the knee of my pants) and ended up I hobbling the rest of the way to the doctor. I had my MMR vaccine and they talked me into getting the tetanus and pertussis vaccine. They had to give me one in each arm and the tetanus shot goes in the muscle, so that one ached most of the day. This means that nothing can happen in the TTC realm for the next 4 weeks. Good thing shots don't bother me that much since it looks like I could have a future of injecting myself with various things. Not awesome.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Another reason why yesterday was such a bad day
The calls to/from Comcast were just the bookends on a day full of crap.
At my first appointment at the fertility clinic they took blood to test for various things. I came back in the grey area for immunity to German measles. What now?? I proclaimed that my mom's a nurse and she made sure we had all of these vaccines and their boosters! It seems that vaccines can lose their power. Who knew? Apparently it's bad news to get the German measles when you're pregnant and you can't get the vaccine if you're pregnant. I got tested again. Again, I came back in the grey area. I don't like failing and I needed more info on my results. I came back as a '9'. What number is immune?? Anything higher than 9. Dang it! Getting the vaccine means everything gets pushed back another month. I had the option to waive the vaccine or I could channel my 5 year old self and get the MMR vaccine again. At first I waived it...come on, I barely failed! But, then I took one minute to think about where I work and how many international people we have come into the office. It's not just the Germans I'd have to avoid....it's everyone!!! They told me to contact my primary care physician to get the vaccine.
When I got insurance in September I had to find a PCP to put on our cards. After much searching (I had some crazy criteria), I finally found one. I called, they were taking new patients, I put them on the application, and that was that. Well, when I actually needed to make an appointment I was told that now they're not taking new patients. Already having them on your card isn't good enough. I'm not gonna lie. I started to cry. The way this day was headed was pushing me over the edge. Regardless she couldn't be swayed by my blubbering and told me to have a nice day. I called my insurance and they were VERY helpful. By lowering my criteria, I managed to make an appointment for Friday and reassured Wes that we do have a real-life connection with this office, not just the half-assed connection we had with the last group.
Fingers crossed I get a Snoopy band-aid for my boo boo.
P.S. - I did actually manage to get work done on Monday too. The work was the best part of my day!
At my first appointment at the fertility clinic they took blood to test for various things. I came back in the grey area for immunity to German measles. What now?? I proclaimed that my mom's a nurse and she made sure we had all of these vaccines and their boosters! It seems that vaccines can lose their power. Who knew? Apparently it's bad news to get the German measles when you're pregnant and you can't get the vaccine if you're pregnant. I got tested again. Again, I came back in the grey area. I don't like failing and I needed more info on my results. I came back as a '9'. What number is immune?? Anything higher than 9. Dang it! Getting the vaccine means everything gets pushed back another month. I had the option to waive the vaccine or I could channel my 5 year old self and get the MMR vaccine again. At first I waived it...come on, I barely failed! But, then I took one minute to think about where I work and how many international people we have come into the office. It's not just the Germans I'd have to avoid....it's everyone!!! They told me to contact my primary care physician to get the vaccine.
When I got insurance in September I had to find a PCP to put on our cards. After much searching (I had some crazy criteria), I finally found one. I called, they were taking new patients, I put them on the application, and that was that. Well, when I actually needed to make an appointment I was told that now they're not taking new patients. Already having them on your card isn't good enough. I'm not gonna lie. I started to cry. The way this day was headed was pushing me over the edge. Regardless she couldn't be swayed by my blubbering and told me to have a nice day. I called my insurance and they were VERY helpful. By lowering my criteria, I managed to make an appointment for Friday and reassured Wes that we do have a real-life connection with this office, not just the half-assed connection we had with the last group.
Fingers crossed I get a Snoopy band-aid for my boo boo.
P.S. - I did actually manage to get work done on Monday too. The work was the best part of my day!
Monday, October 24, 2011
The one with a lot of swears
If you don't like swears, then click away and please don't tell my grandma about my potty mouth. I apologize for not posting in a long time (I have no good reason, really) and now that I'm back it's going to be full of swears. I had a totally shitty day today. Who's to blame??
Comcast.
I fucking hate them.
(sorry about the f-bomb, but it's truly how I feel)
The hatred actually started 11.5 years ago when I bought my house and wanted to get cable. Comcast is the only non-satellite cable available in Baltimore, so there is zero competition here (though I would love for someone to prove me wrong!). I was told they did installation appointments on Sundays. Perfect! I waited and waited and called and was told there's a technician out and waited some more and called again to be told he's still out on a job and waited some more, and finally at 8pm I called 'uncle'. I called one last time only to be told that he wasn't sure why someone scheduled an appointment for me on Sundays since THEY DON'T DO APPOINTMENTS ON SUNDAYS! Well, neat. That guy got an earful. His apology was so bloody patronizing that it just made me more and more angry.
When we moved in June we looked around to see what we could find, but Comcast was the only option for cable. I don't want a satellite hanging on the front of my house, so Comcast it was. We priced it out to see if we could get our internet, phone (we need a land line for the international calls), and cable from different providers, but it seemed that buying a bundle from Comcast was the cheapest. Plus, they were running an internet special that if you bought the bundle online then you'd get a $100 prepaid Visa card in return. Great! I started the process and for some reason it didn't work. I'm fairly certain (this was June) that the reason was because they wanted a land line number as part of the registration (at least that's the only thing we could figure out) and we didn't have one (since we were ordering it from Comcast). I ended up calling the help number on the website and we placed the order over the phone. We were assured that we'd still get the deal, no problem, they were happy to have our business! Well, of course they were. About 2 months after we ordered I called to find out when we'd get the Visa card. I was told that we had to make 4 on-time payments and at that time we would get the card. Okay! I even put a reminder in my phone to call back in October!
I made the mistake of calling first thing this morning. I was on hold for about 30 minutes, finally to be told that 1.) she couldn't find that promotion for June; 2.) if that promotion ran, then it would have been a more expensive bundle available to get the Visa card; and 3.) the marketing department would have to call me back to confirm the promotion. I pointed out to her that the promotion they're offering on their website right now is the same exact one that we bought, so I'm not sure about the more expensive bundle thing.
I get a phone call at 4:40, right when I'm getting ready to walk out the door. I answered the phone and she stammered that she was from Comcast, but didn't even have the name of the person she was calling about. This should have clued me in to how this call was going to end. This woman tells me the reason we didn't get the promotion was because there is an outstanding balance from the last tenant who lived here. I asked what his account has to do with me and she said the accounts are tied to the property, not the person. This is what prevented me from successfully placing my order online. I ask why no one told us this 1.) when we ordered this originally and 2.) when I called the second time and was told about the 4 on-time payments. Queue the patronizing apologies. Then she blamed it on me calling the wrong number when I placed my order. I pointed out that I'm fairly certain I didn't go searching around the website for a new number and would logically use the phone number that they list on the page if you need help. Then she blamed it on them using a non-Comcast call center to take these orders. What?? Shouldn't they all offer the same thing?? I am 100% certain I was reassured that I would still get the online promotion, because that's the whole reason we were going with this plan at Comcast! It's pretty obvious to me that they'll tell you whatever it takes to get you locked into a contract, but when it comes to them honoring their end of the deal they'll find whatever loophole they can to get out of it. If they truly cared about the outstanding charges from my previous tenant, since "the account is attached to the property, not the person" they would have actually mentioned them to me, not use them against me. I don't need to tell you this is absolutely shitty customer service.
My poor colleague got an earful of me telling this woman, in a not so nice way, how disgraceful their customer service is when it comes to the actual customer. I just told her that I hope she tells her supervisor about my call and that they're going to lose a customer who is paying $130 a month over a $100 prepaid Visa card. How pathetic is that?? Comcast is notorious for their horrible customer service (just google it!) and it's pretty sad that the powers-that-be truly don't give a shit. Once we are finally able to cancel, I have erroneous charges to look forward to. They're notorious for that too and I'm fairly certain this is what has happened with my previous tenant and it's no wonder he hasn't paid. I wouldn't either.
In the profound words of my friend, Steve:
SUCK IT COMCAST!!!
Comcast.
I fucking hate them.
(sorry about the f-bomb, but it's truly how I feel)
The hatred actually started 11.5 years ago when I bought my house and wanted to get cable. Comcast is the only non-satellite cable available in Baltimore, so there is zero competition here (though I would love for someone to prove me wrong!). I was told they did installation appointments on Sundays. Perfect! I waited and waited and called and was told there's a technician out and waited some more and called again to be told he's still out on a job and waited some more, and finally at 8pm I called 'uncle'. I called one last time only to be told that he wasn't sure why someone scheduled an appointment for me on Sundays since THEY DON'T DO APPOINTMENTS ON SUNDAYS! Well, neat. That guy got an earful. His apology was so bloody patronizing that it just made me more and more angry.
When we moved in June we looked around to see what we could find, but Comcast was the only option for cable. I don't want a satellite hanging on the front of my house, so Comcast it was. We priced it out to see if we could get our internet, phone (we need a land line for the international calls), and cable from different providers, but it seemed that buying a bundle from Comcast was the cheapest. Plus, they were running an internet special that if you bought the bundle online then you'd get a $100 prepaid Visa card in return. Great! I started the process and for some reason it didn't work. I'm fairly certain (this was June) that the reason was because they wanted a land line number as part of the registration (at least that's the only thing we could figure out) and we didn't have one (since we were ordering it from Comcast). I ended up calling the help number on the website and we placed the order over the phone. We were assured that we'd still get the deal, no problem, they were happy to have our business! Well, of course they were. About 2 months after we ordered I called to find out when we'd get the Visa card. I was told that we had to make 4 on-time payments and at that time we would get the card. Okay! I even put a reminder in my phone to call back in October!
I made the mistake of calling first thing this morning. I was on hold for about 30 minutes, finally to be told that 1.) she couldn't find that promotion for June; 2.) if that promotion ran, then it would have been a more expensive bundle available to get the Visa card; and 3.) the marketing department would have to call me back to confirm the promotion. I pointed out to her that the promotion they're offering on their website right now is the same exact one that we bought, so I'm not sure about the more expensive bundle thing.
I get a phone call at 4:40, right when I'm getting ready to walk out the door. I answered the phone and she stammered that she was from Comcast, but didn't even have the name of the person she was calling about. This should have clued me in to how this call was going to end. This woman tells me the reason we didn't get the promotion was because there is an outstanding balance from the last tenant who lived here. I asked what his account has to do with me and she said the accounts are tied to the property, not the person. This is what prevented me from successfully placing my order online. I ask why no one told us this 1.) when we ordered this originally and 2.) when I called the second time and was told about the 4 on-time payments. Queue the patronizing apologies. Then she blamed it on me calling the wrong number when I placed my order. I pointed out that I'm fairly certain I didn't go searching around the website for a new number and would logically use the phone number that they list on the page if you need help. Then she blamed it on them using a non-Comcast call center to take these orders. What?? Shouldn't they all offer the same thing?? I am 100% certain I was reassured that I would still get the online promotion, because that's the whole reason we were going with this plan at Comcast! It's pretty obvious to me that they'll tell you whatever it takes to get you locked into a contract, but when it comes to them honoring their end of the deal they'll find whatever loophole they can to get out of it. If they truly cared about the outstanding charges from my previous tenant, since "the account is attached to the property, not the person" they would have actually mentioned them to me, not use them against me. I don't need to tell you this is absolutely shitty customer service.
My poor colleague got an earful of me telling this woman, in a not so nice way, how disgraceful their customer service is when it comes to the actual customer. I just told her that I hope she tells her supervisor about my call and that they're going to lose a customer who is paying $130 a month over a $100 prepaid Visa card. How pathetic is that?? Comcast is notorious for their horrible customer service (just google it!) and it's pretty sad that the powers-that-be truly don't give a shit. Once we are finally able to cancel, I have erroneous charges to look forward to. They're notorious for that too and I'm fairly certain this is what has happened with my previous tenant and it's no wonder he hasn't paid. I wouldn't either.
In the profound words of my friend, Steve:
SUCK IT COMCAST!!!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Commuting Chronicles
I looked like a right eejit on my commute today.
I should preface this by saying that my office doesn't get a lot of foot traffic. If I don't leave my office for any reason, other than my commute, it's the same 5 people seeing me all day long. I look nice once I'm here, but I really need to work on the part where the whole of DC sees me - my commute.
I wanted to wear a new-ish pair of shoes that I'm still breaking in. This would have been fine for a normal commute, but I had to park far-ish away when I got home last night so I didn't want to start my day out with sore feet. So I threw on the brown Sketchers...with little white socks....and my light gray skirt. You see where I'm going? It was a little chilly this morning, so I threw on my lightweight purple coat which has honestly seen better days. It's all I have, so that had to do. And of course I had my nice bag that I carry every morning (I have no idea how to describe the color, but believe me it doesn't match purple) and a dark blue cloth bag with shoes, a water bottle, and two ready meals to have at the office.
Frankly, I looked like a bag lady.
I was embarassed of myself. If my husband had been there he wouldn't have let me walk out the door. I'm sure my picture is already posted onto a fashion police blog somewhere out there. And to top it all off, I lost one of my ready meals somewhere between the freezer and the office. So not only was I carrying bags, I was dropping stuff out of them. Classy. Hey, at least my hair looked good!
I will be wearing my new-ish shoes home, suffering in the name of fashion. I just hope it's warm enough out there that I don't need to wear my coat!
I should preface this by saying that my office doesn't get a lot of foot traffic. If I don't leave my office for any reason, other than my commute, it's the same 5 people seeing me all day long. I look nice once I'm here, but I really need to work on the part where the whole of DC sees me - my commute.
I wanted to wear a new-ish pair of shoes that I'm still breaking in. This would have been fine for a normal commute, but I had to park far-ish away when I got home last night so I didn't want to start my day out with sore feet. So I threw on the brown Sketchers...with little white socks....and my light gray skirt. You see where I'm going? It was a little chilly this morning, so I threw on my lightweight purple coat which has honestly seen better days. It's all I have, so that had to do. And of course I had my nice bag that I carry every morning (I have no idea how to describe the color, but believe me it doesn't match purple) and a dark blue cloth bag with shoes, a water bottle, and two ready meals to have at the office.
Frankly, I looked like a bag lady.
I was embarassed of myself. If my husband had been there he wouldn't have let me walk out the door. I'm sure my picture is already posted onto a fashion police blog somewhere out there. And to top it all off, I lost one of my ready meals somewhere between the freezer and the office. So not only was I carrying bags, I was dropping stuff out of them. Classy. Hey, at least my hair looked good!
I will be wearing my new-ish shoes home, suffering in the name of fashion. I just hope it's warm enough out there that I don't need to wear my coat!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Well, that was new...
I'm not sure why I thought having dye injected into my uterus wouldn't hurt, but by God, it does. I wasn't nervous at all going into this thing. They told me to take some medicine, like I would for cramps. Done. There was a girl sitting next to me who was practically in her husband's lap, she was so nervous about it. She asked if he could come back with her and he was denied. I thought that was all a little ridiculous (my husband wasn't even there), but everyone's different. I asked the nurse if I should be nervous and she was like, eh, then proceeded to tell me what was going to happen. Okey doke! Then the doctor came in and he told me what was going to happen. Alright! He was explaining things as he was going along, which is fairly normal. Next time, when someone says to me, 'Now, I'm going to grab hold of your cervix' I know that it would probably be in my best interest to pass out at that moment. I'd like to be unconscious for the rest of the procedure. Apparently, the dye going in caused my muscles to spasm. Have you ever laid flat on your back, under an x-ray machine, and a catheter up your hooha, all while your abdomen was in spasm? No? I don't recommend it.
The real kick in the teeth is that the test was inconclusive. I failed. The dye didn't go as planned, but that could be because my muscles were clenched so tight around my tubes that they weren't letting it, not because things were blocked. We'll continue on with the plans made and pray to the fertility gods that I'll not have to repeat that. In the meantime, Wes will enjoy his 20 minutes with a girly magazine and a cup. I hope he doesn't suffer too much.
The real kick in the teeth is that the test was inconclusive. I failed. The dye didn't go as planned, but that could be because my muscles were clenched so tight around my tubes that they weren't letting it, not because things were blocked. We'll continue on with the plans made and pray to the fertility gods that I'll not have to repeat that. In the meantime, Wes will enjoy his 20 minutes with a girly magazine and a cup. I hope he doesn't suffer too much.
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