Tropical Storm Ernesto

The tropical storm is kind of a non-event. It's barely raining here. While, it might pick up later.. it's definitely no reason for no one to be showing up today. I've only had two patients actually show up today. So bizarre. It makes for a very very long day when this happens. Im so ready to go home.

Manatees make any day fun !

Sunday morning, G and I rolled out of bed at the butt-crack of dawn. We'd made reservations with two of my friends from the Hash (who are now dating) to drive up to Crystal River and snorkel with the manatees.

Crystal River is about an hour and a half north of Tampa. So, we were on the road by 6am. (blah) Every morning road trip requires at brief stop at Krispy Kreme.. so we did. Donut and OJ later I was feeling much more human. G, still not a morning person, was half asleep.

Arriving at the dive shop, we load up onto a boat with about 12 other people. But, only half of them were actually getting in the water. We spent a good two hours in the water snorkeling with the manatees. You're really only allowed to watch them. Following them, touching them, and trying to ride them results in fines. They are , after all, endagered species and protected by Florida law. Our dive master/captain had to get mad at some people for surrounding one of them. Poor thing...

Manatees are one of those animals that are so ugly they're cute. Kinda like a pug. They look like giant potatoes with fins. But, G and I had a great time snorkeling with friends and watching these very sweet, gentle creatures.

It's one of those things you just have to do at least once if you live in Florida.

I'm boring

No, really, I am. I'm really not doing much but working. Work is really going well, though. My office is really picking up and that's very exciting.

After lunch today I finished up some referral letters for an older couple I saw this weekend. One with maclar degeneration, VAs of 20/400+ in one eye. The other with glaucoma, BCVA 20/80 in one eye. neither one of them had had a full exam in more than 10 years. I felt so bad. The grandchildren also felt bad that they hadn't brought them in sooner. They are both being referred out to specialists. I took the opportunity to really hit home the importance of routine care. It was mostly too late for them, but if the point got through to the granddaughter, maybe she'll tell more people. So, there referral letters were finished this afternoon.

The retinal camera people are currently in my pre-test room. They're putting together the camera and will come back tomorrow to train the staff. We'll see how it goes. We're going to be doing beta testing for them. So, I'm not sure if I can say who I'm working with, or how it works. The camera hasn't been released to the general public. The guy who's taking over the company is from Tampa... so yay us !!

Well, I'm off to see more patients. I love being busy !!

Car Update

My car is PAID FOR !!! The girl who hit me finally called in.. thank the GODS ! So, my car is finally paid for.. no deductible.

I feel like I just threw off the 800 lb gorilla. I'm SO HAPPY !!

Back to Austin

It's now official. My brother, his wife, and my nephew are moving back to Austin. He was offered a job at a company called Vigil Games.

He's leaving CA on Friday to go back and house hunt. He seems to be very excited to be moving back to an area they can actually afford a house. I know I would be were the situation reversed.

D's list of houses is very nice. Many of them are on or near Mount Bonnell. One or two out by the lake, but I think those are last resort.

I can't wait to see pictures !!

G home safe

Thanks for the emails, guys ! G is home safe and sound. He flew in on the only flight he could get Saturday night, into Orlando. So, yes, after a full day at work the doggie and I loaded in the car to drive to Orlando to pick up G. His London flight got in three hours late, so he missed his connection.

G's stories of the chaos that was London's Heathrow were quite amazing. FIVE HOURS to get through secruity. The only reason he made it through was because the United gate agents were pulling people out of line or they'd miss their flights. He said the security line for his terminal stretched for more than 3 MILES. Keep in mind, these people had nothing on them. They were all being hand patted down, wanded, and xrayed. Then, a nine hour flight with nothing to do but watch the in-flight movies.

We arrived home from Orlando at 115am. Total travel time for G, 23 hours. He was a zombie.

I'm glad he got home safely. He wisely took Monday off to relax. (he's got more than enough time off for holidays) He flew out this morning to go back to Houston. At least in Houston he'll have cable and internet. This will make him happy. Although, the 67 degree weather in England would have felt like heaven to me right now.

Full Moon Hash, Terror Plots, and Insurance.. OH MY !!

I finally got done working my seven days in a row. It seemed like more than that, trust me. I was busy, G left for England, and when you're on day seven you just don't feel like being around people.

Tuesday, my first day off, I was basically a complete bum. I caught up on Rome on HBO on demand (I'd missed the last four episodes), read a book by the pool, and played much Binkie with my dog. It was tranquil, I wasn't at work, and that made me happy. Sometimes you just have to be a bum.

Now, Wednesday was another story. I spent the morning at the Davis Island dog park, which my dog loves, playing fetch in the water. He LOVES that. It was also his bath day so I always let him get stinky, sandy, and disgusting at the dog park on bath day. But, I do use "soap free" dog shampoo so no chemicals are going into the bay. I got in a long "discussion" with a lady about my use of shampoo to bath my dog at the dog park. Yes, there's a big sign saying no chemicals... BUT I was using soap free, no chemical, aloe and oatmeal wash. his shampoo costs more than MINE !!

I then spent half the afternoon yelling at insurance companies. USAA STILL can't track down the girl who hit me. She disconnected her cell phone, her father won't help the insurance agent, and basically she's getting away with murder. Now, my only real option is to shell out my $500 deductible and hope that some day they find her and I can get my money back. I personally, think it's BS that I have a traffic report, a listing of damage to her car, and all her contact into and USAA is STILL not claiming any liability until they TALK TO HER !! WTF ! Did the cop make the whole thing up ?! The fact that she's avoiding you at all costs and has DISCONNECTED HER CELL PHONE means she's GUILTY !! HELLO MCFLY !! I'm so pissed about this. All this is teaching me is that if I ever hit someone ... I can just ignore it.. and there's nothing they can do about it. I get off scott free. Disappear, they can't prove you hit anyone, and it's like it never happened. Who cares about social responsiblity !!? Definitely not the insurance company they're just trying to save themselves money. I'm so mad.

To calm myself down last night, I met up with a hash friend and carpooled to the Full Moon Hash. We were running around the Courtney Campbell Causeway area. Very nice, LOTS of water that you could either swim or run 'round, and tons of fun. BIG group last night. I had a great time, as usual.

So, it was exceptionally depressing this morning when I get a phone call at 730am fromo my mother teling me to turn on the news. In case I didn't mention earlier.. G is in the UK (wales specifically) on business for Accenture. He left Sunday and will be flying back on Saturday. So, waking up to hear of a foiled terror plot on HIS airline targeting HIS EXACT arrival city (washington DC) is NOT how I wanted to wake up this morning. He's assured me he'll be fine. With all the delays and cancellations he might not even be on the plane on Saturday, we'll just have to wait and see. This is just the worst possible week for him to be in the UK. First time he's traveled overseas for business in five years and this is what happens. It's fraying my nerves, that's for sure. I have all his flight info so now I just pray that he's safe and that BAA does a great job getting my honey home safe. Keep him in your thoughts y'all.

It looks to be a pretty quiet day at work today.. and that's quite alright with me.

Head... meet Desk

This is my seventh day in a row at work.... make it stop !!

Your Bumper Sticker Should Be

Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things

What Bumper Sticker Should Be On Your Car?

You Belong in 1971

If you scored... 1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in! 1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too. 1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! 1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day. 1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Your Inner European is Dutch!

Open minded and tolerant. You're up for just about anything.

Who's Your Inner European?

My eyes are bigger than my free time

My book list at my online lending library is getting enormous. I keep going into the bookstore downstairs and writing down titles of books that look interesting. Then, I go back to the online library and add the books to my reading queue. I now have 32 books on my queue. Two books on my dresser to read. And, another book being mailed by buy.com this week since it releases this week.

Apparently part of my brain thinks I have WAY more free time than I actually do. I read on my lunch break, if I have time, and I read before bed almost every night. But, rarely do I have time to do the marathon reading sessions I used to do in high school and college. The days of me staying up til 2am to finish a novel are rare, but they do still occasionally happen.

I finally signed up for the lending library so I'd stop hording books. My bookshelves are completely full at home. I've taken all the books I don't want to keep to used books stores.. and G and I still have tons of books at home. Two book geeks should not be allowed to marry.

It's not rocket science

Why can no one get my name change done correctly the FIRST time... or sometimes even the SECOND time !! It's really not that hard. I sent in the form with EXACTLY how I want my new name to read.

Drop my old midddle name and shift everything left. See how I wrote it out for you... do it LIKE THAT!!

I don't want a freaking hyphen !! Do you SEE a freaking hyphen in the way I wrote it out for you.. NO ! SO DON'T DO IT !! Every time someone does something like this it wastes more of my time. I have to call, send in another letter, they have to call me AGAIN to confirm how i "really" want it done. I wrote it RIGHT THERE !! Do it LIKE THAT !!

*sigh*