I Just Can't Walk Away

Seeing as my plans for the weekend are still dashed, I'm bored and reading random articles online because why not. Came across this one about healthcare mergers and disappearing doctors, wondering if it would kind of mention the problem we have locally (I wanted to know if it was something widespread or just because Charleston sucks)) and the answer is kinda? Anyway, when discussing various mergers, this quote popped up:
“Are Aetna patients going to be mandated to go to a CVS MinuteClinic?”
   If CVS and Co. operate anything like the almighty employer of mine, yes. Yes they will. They will say they won't and then in a year they will absolutely require you to use only their services or you will either pay out the ass or have to pay everything and they'll shun the non-believer. Shun.

The article sort of touches on the problem around here, which is that one hospital kind of owns everything and if they don't, the other two do. But I'm pretty sure R* owns more than the others. The reason we aren't fully naming names is because they will come after you if you say anything bad about their practices. I'm not kidding. I think you can talk shit about the hospitals themselves but the moment you point out anything lacking in say, one of their doctor's offices and you're screwed.
( There's more to the story but basically you're screwed. )
And you can't say shit because remember, Satan's running the joint.
And he's running everything. Sigh.


Well, now I have to forage for snacks because it's 3:30 and that's about the time I normally get hungry at work.

To you people gushing over TSL on Amazon, I am totally giving you all a serious case of side-eye. WTF, people. WTF. I read that trainwreck. I reviewed that trainwreck. I'm still in recovery from that trainwreck so I haven't actually left a review on Amazon (or Goodreads) but I still stand by my thought at the end:



I can understand wanting more (and if they were all more like TSL 1? I'd totally be behind that!) because who the hell leaves a series on a cliffhanger? A complete and total jerk, that's who. And I can understand wanting more because those few weeks with a new SV to look forward to, even once I knew it was going to be complete crap? Still better than some weeks without that to look forward to.

But don't pretend it was better than it was. The series deserves better. The characters deserve better. We deserve better.

And Lila Fowler most certainly Does Not Approve.

We all know that if Lila ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

Also, you can now get your vintage SVH fix on your Kindle. Woo. I should probably put this in the proper journal but I'm trying to haul my ass to bed and I think the pics work better here anyway.

Emails and things are owed. Sleep deprivation means I rely heavily on spellcheck, but still I end up like Claudia (misspelled that one right off the bat) and her "who are you" instead of "how" so we'll be waiting until more brain cells join the awake party for anything beyond this, I think.

Update on Popsicle: Dad's blood is being thickened so they can put in a shunt for dialysis, which will in turn apparently make it easier to treat his inability to breathe. Sometimes I really wish the discussion of things like this did not make my toes curl in a bad way and my stomach start to heave and the world start to blur around the edges. It makes it difficult to follow medical discussions when you're always having to tell yourself, "Do. Not. Throw. UP."

Anyway. There's that. My brother is being an unbelievable bitch and his signifigant ex has more than gone off the reservation. She calls and claims that no one answers when she calls and that they don't pass along the messages she leaves. In the last two weeks the phones have been pretty much glued to people, so it's not like she's been calling and no one's been answering. This is not the first time she's said such a thing. We're friends on fb, so if she was trying to get ahold of him and couldn't, she knows (as we've discussed this) that she could just send me a message and I'd work something out. She's on fb all the freaking time, so it's not like it would be an added inconvenience for her, y'know? She also claims that she hasn't seen her ex (baby daddy of kids 2 and 3) in more than a year yet she has pictures she took of his wedding on February 11 of this year online.

And then there was this, waiting for me when I got home from work. Normally I just attempt to sort of fly under the radar because you never know when the court of SC will need to know that she's not exactly well acquainted with the truth on a good day, but I just couldn't hold my tongue. I tried. Really.



But an hour later she deleted it. While checking to see if she altered our friend status, I saw this:



If you want added hilarity, I'm pretty sure Aunt Eilieen there is the one who stole Jackie's inheritance-type money and oh yeah, kicked her out of the house, ignored her, and basically left her to fend for herself for years. And this was before she got knocked up, so you can't even claim it was the whole pregnancy thing.

Yeah. There's someone who should know whether you're a good mother or not. And the nightmares are of when her ex threw him in a dryer, and sat on him while she watched and did nothing, choked him more than once... You get the idea. I understand on a basic level, that relationships, particularly the toxic ones, are incredibly complicated. But I'd say that for now your Mother of the Year award isn't bloody likely this year either.

Goddammit, freeforums, you are being a collective bunch of assholes so strung up on your power trip and so afraid to admit that someone fucked things up that you're making a fucking mountain out of a motherfucking molehill. Seriously. If I weren't invested in this at my current limited amount, I'd be laughing hysterically at how badly their "oh noes! nudity and adult content!" fiasco is playing out. Because oh, my lord, is it ever insane.

But my mood isn't that good so instead I'm wishing for a shower of anvils.

Well, that was annoying. I decided to stop by the new Walgreens that's technically closer to my house than the one where I work. I was mostly there to see how different it is and to see if it was one of the Chosen Few to have Monster High dolls. (No.) Mom wanted the m&m's that were on sale, but I didn't have my little proof of employment card. I did, however, have my freakin' uniform shirt and I had to listen to people wax poetic about my store manager. I'm told to go to Cos, no mention of the dreaded ID coming up. I do, I wait. I wait. I wait some more because the Cos lady is helping someone else. I could make some catty remarks, but I don't think she was intentionally trying to screw my day up so I'll refrain. She pages the manager, he appears and walks right on by. He comes back and in the rudest voice I've EVER freakin' heard used towards me outside of family and exes, informs me that I have to have the little paycheck stub ID thing. He shows me his and then says without it I can't get my discount.

I was prepared for this because I've heard stories. Stories, man. Anyway, those stories end with you using the store in question's computer to log in (thus proving you're in the system and an employee!) and printing out the card right there in the store.

No. He walks off, does not offer this, and I'm just twitching. You're that fucking rude and then you leave your employee to pick up the pieces? REALLY? I briefly debate buying the stuff, full price, and just swapping it out at my store later. But I'm pissed at his attitude. It's not like the store was packed with people. And he didn't have to be an asshole. He could have said all this politely. He could have offered to call, or let me call, the store that I claimed to work at, and talk to my boss. You know, the one everyone is all, "We love him!" about?

But no.

So I put my stuff away after debating, for half a second, just leaving it and huffing off because of the rudeness, but then that would be rude. I put the stuff back where I found it (neatly, far moreso than it was to begin with, I might add) and I leave never to return willingly.

I debated putting in a complaint. On the one hand, rude. On the other, I really didn't feel like throwing that into the universe. Ultimately I decided that if I was mad enough to complain all the way up to the point where I had to put my name, I might as well go through with it. I wasn't nasty (since he should be reading it) but I made it clear that seriously, you do not treat people that way. Seriously. :P

To make my day suck less, the mailman brought me my Cyber Monday haul from AG.com No pictures because I'm lazy, but I have the Fashion Studio for Sam, the berry hoodie (which didn't even come in a bag. They just shoved that in the main box), the bag/shirt combo (they both say American Girl Place), and Ruthie's shoes. Yeah, I didn't go crazy. I did snag Molly's Skates and ear muffs yesterday, though, and a little something else from another store... which I'll share when they come in. (Though at least one of those things is a gift for someone else.)

The Fashion Studio comes with 40 or so pages of paper that's fairly thick. Most of it's patterned, especially in the same print as Samantha's clothing. You get a little stamper but no ink (Sam's little leaf symbol thing), a paper doll (photo, not a drawing, which makes the outfits look...strange in the photos), stencils to trace onto the patterned paper, and a little book that tells you a bit about fashion in Sam's time as well as advice on colors and design. Mom seems exceptionally taken with it. Me? I bought it because it was Sam and I was curious. The little book looks most interesting to me, but that doesn't mean I won't go for an outfit. Maybe. *shrug*

It also came with a catalog that had Kit & Ruthie on the cover, so Mums and I discussed the similarities between Molly/Ruthie/Samantha. I think that Molly and Ruthie would look awfully similar side by side, Mums thinks Sam and Ruthie would. My Sam and Ruthie don't because my Sam is old as dirt (comparatively speaking) but yeah. Then Mums shrieked in horror over many of Julie's things. She finds the Calico dress an eyesore and I find the jumpsuit to be too painful to look at. I shared the knowledge that the crazy calico dress looks infinitely better on Ivy who calms the crazy down. She did not seem thrilled at this, and I assured her that it wasn't likely to come visit my Ivy any time soon. She's got eyes on J's birthday dress and her roller skate outfit. Ivy will not be denied! Just... delayed a bit.

Oh, and my Target trip yielded partial presents for people, one of which was only a dollar. :D I wish I'd known sooner as I'd have picked up a couple more. I was too bored with the store at that point to willingly go back in again, especially once the toy section filled with people. They did have W1 Frankie and Draculaura though. I seriously considered buying Frankie, but decided that if hell froze and people took me literally when I said "ANY MH doll except Plush Clawdeen!" they might not appreciate me having bought myself the same thing they just did. :P (Technically I don't need or even really, truly want a third W1 Draculaura, but it's easier to have one exception to the rule. Which is why I have LAGOONA-ANY at the top of my official list. Yes. Lagoona.)

I'm sleepy now and my CD has burned so I'll toddle off to bed. Be good or good at being bad?

Breathe.

Just. Freakin'. Breathe.

Just because the boy says something does not mean it will happen. And just because you do not want it to happen does not mean it might not be a good thing. Somehow.

My Halloween kind of blew. It's strange. My birthday, I fully understand how it never lives up to expectactions. For July 10, I expect people to remember my birthday. I expect a gift or six, and I not so secretly wish that someone would throw me a goddamned party since I, someone who is about a step up from recluse but working my way down every day, have thrown people parties before and for fuck's sake, they threw my mother one once... Um, my point... I had it.

Oh. Yes. Birthdays I set myself up and I know I do.

So by the time Halloween rolls around, I have very low standards.
( Ranting! )
Hate.

Why do you let me go to Target? I swear, it's physically impossible for me to go there and not spend a small fortune. *grumble*

Let's see, I walked away with the following:

• 2 baskets to sort/organize my crap


• When You Are Engulfed in Flames [I really should have bought this at BAM, but holy Holly, it's hotter than hell out there.]


• a cute crab plate


• cotton balls for mumsy as I cannot, for the life of me, figure out where the hell they moved the ones at work


• Olay body wash that it seems Mumsy likes, so I might be nice and give them that bottle. Might not. It's huge and less than it would cost me for a smaller one at work. We'll see.


• 2 magazine files


• Bratz Baby Nurse Yasmin


• dog food


• TP

And it cost a fortune. *face palm*

I just lost an hour and a half or more of my life to The Andromeda Strain. I like my stuff with a Sci-Fi slant, but swear-to-dog, everytime someone would mention a worm hole and the strain from the FUTURE my head would explode. I do wonder if this was less amusing/better if, I dunno, I'd been watching from the start. Only I couldn't/can't handle the part where people die out in the field and then The Hero would make some comment that would ensure that something awful would happen. Also, when the Skeptic fell to his death, I missed how the other guy [Epileptic Scientist] died because I refused to watch the thumb removal. Sorry, nuh-uh. Not gonna happen.

Also, while I'm sure that if I somehow landed in an alternate reality where someone would need me to go all traitor and risk humanity to save hostage!family members, I'd feel differently, I still cannot fathom the thought process of "hmm, bad guys have my family and if I don't risk the whole of humanity, they'll die. But if I DO go all Judas on everyone, their odds are just as shitty, if not worse." and then picking the kill the entire world to save them option. *headdesk*

God, it's hot up here.

Shame. I found someone who has many a prettiful Pullip picture, but after further investigation, I've realized that while I think the dolls are lovely, I suspect if confronted with the person IRL, I would drop a piano on her head. I don't know how I would rig that, but I really do think I would give it serious thought. In fact, I am at the moment. *muse*

Hair update: One box of Color Oops is not enough, however it was all we had. So now I have this weird section of red roots that I can't hide. Also, there are these small bits of red here and there, and overall, it's kind of this bright obnoxious blond. However, I'd like to avoid washing my hair for the next six years [part of the C.O. process involves numerous shampoos], so I'm not going to see if that would help until tomorrow at the earliest. The whole "rinse for five minutes" seems sensible at first, but then you hit two minutes and you're standing there wondering, "Am I done yet?" No, no you aren't. You will NEVER be done. Until you notice that your hair is no longer scary red and back to dark brown [when wet], and you damn near slip in the shower because you're so happy you seriously debate a jig.

Hungry. This might be because I had my dinner at 5:30 yesterday and a couple of handfuls of popcorn around 4am isn't really cutting it anymore. Hmm. I've started reading the first Dresden Files book, and I'm currently pretty happy. Thing is, eventually I'm going to run out of Harry to read. SO. Suggest stuff.

Know what I love? A phone call in the middle of the night asking me Highlander trivia. What I don't love? Being told that someone would have dropped off the CD of stuff [I didn't ask for, btw] they made me if they hadn't been caught up with other people. Couldn't you have just let me believe you were busy in a very general sort of way?

Must go work on breakfast.

Back. Burned breakfast terribly, but still ate it as there was little else in the house. Came back to kill a couple of minutes while I munched on glorified charcoal, and found that Gilmore Girls has been "canceled". Quotes because it's not exactly being canceled if your average fan has been figuring it was gonna happen unless there was a huge shout from the rooftops announcing Alexis was in. I don't know how fair that is, but with what little I've picked up here and there, it seemed to always come back to her not having signed on for at least another year as well as the chance in hades that the CW could pull a hit of it's very own out of its arse. No one actually seemed to be betting on the latter, by the way.

Followed that with another round of "Is Scrubs screwed?" and still no [good] news on whether I'll actually be forced to watch Sci Fi for a second season of The Dresden Files. [I'd do so happily, guys!] Why do you let me watch and love TV? Why?