The Not Happy Thread

It's weird how dreams can affect your mood, even when they're nonsense. Last night, I had a dream that my sister was dead, and I was at her funeral. The weird thing is that I don't have a sister.

 

I'm not where I want to be in terms of loving myself just yet, and sometimes I forget how much progress I've made and only look at what I lack, or think I lack.

 

You know the day's going to be just pukka when you stub toes on each of your feet within minutes of each other.

 

^ You're telling me. Yesterday I woke up pissed as hell and I forgot my lunch when I went to my volunteer job. >x[

 

Pukka?

Does that mean crap? If so, I'm seeing my pukka tea in a very different light now.

 

And according to the Urban Dictionary, in the UK pukka means first class or genuine.

 

And is very often used in an ironic way as a contranym.

 

Contranym? Your vocabulary never ceases to amaze.

 

Contranym? Wasn't that an old video game?

 

I know what it's like to work a job that's so soul-grindingly insignificant that it could kill a man, but not quite, and that's the tragedy. And I hate people.
I hate the way they walk, talk, eat, laugh at jokes that aren't funny, dance at parties, lie, break themselves and each other apart for the pleasure of picking up the pieces. People are riddled with such grotesque contradictions. They are like busted toys that somebody had forgotten to fix, or throw away.

 

Sounds like a novel.

 

You're looking at people through the wrong end of the telescope. Everything you don't like about them is kind of a reason to celebrate them as the fascinating and wonderful people they are. Read your Walt Whitman: "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes." (from Whitman's Song of Myself)

 

Walt Whitman? Doesn't he make those chocolate Sampler boxes?

 

I know this feeling all too well. I worked for years as an 'over the phone' interpreter. My job was to make sure that two people who did not speak one another's languages understood one another and meaningful information was passed and received. I learned that many people don't actually want that. I learned that many people just want you to acquiesce to their already cemented rightness. I learned that, by and large, no one is listening when you speak, they are only waiting for their turn to talk.

I learned that many people are extremely, extremely poor at managing their inner emotional states.

Example (remember that I'm interpreting this conversation in both directions):

Mr. Gonzalez ~ "I JUST GOT MY BILL AND IT SAYS I OWE $375!!! THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS CORRECT!! I SENT IN MY PAYMENT!!"

C/S Worker ~ "Mr. Gonzalez, I've just looked up your account and it just seems that you sent you payment very close to the end of your grace period and so that bill you have in hand doesn't reflect the payment that we did receive. You owe nothing. In fact, you have a credit of 28 cents to your favor."

Mr. Gonzalez ~ "BUT I JUST GOT MY BILL AND IT SAYS I OWE $375!!! THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS CORRECT!! I SENT IN MY PAYMENT!!"

C/S Worker ~ "Again, Mr. Gonzalez, I've just looked up your account and it just seems that you sent you payment very close to the end of your grace period and so that bill you have in hand was already in the mail when we got your check. You owe nothing. You have a credit of 28 cents to your favor. Your account is fine and in good stnading."

Mr. Gonzalez ~ "BUT I JUST GOT MY BILL AND IT SAYS I OWE $375!!! THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS CORRECT!! I SENT IN MY PAYMENT!!"

[continue this conversation, on repeat, for the next half hour]

I now work as a translator for the federal courts and translate documents that talk about the most heinous an repulsive of crimes. Murder, abuse of children by clergy, etc. The subject matter is much heavier, but paper is so quiet and polite to deal with. It is what it already is and you're never left wondering if it will keep going, on eternal repeat, until it loses its voice or someone else more sensible takes the phone, hears the explanation once and says, "Oh, ok, that makes sense. We're all good, then? Excellent and sorry for the bother."

 

@Wreybies so what you are saying is you want to give Mr. Gonzalez a Cuban neck tie?

 

So, guess who got strep throat and has had to miss 2 and a half days of work in the biggest week of the year... That's right, this guy right here.

It started on Sunday (though no doubt I was infected before that) when I noticed that I was developing a sore throat and was feeling unusually tired. I thought I'd take some NyQuil and an Aleve and sleep it off before it developed into a full cold. Monday came and I almost called off from being so sore and tired, but I decided to give it my best. But about half way through the day, when I realized I couldn't hear much out of my right ear and my throat was getting worse, and I was really feeling awful, I decided to go to the urgent care up the road.

When I got there, it turned out the visit would cost $97 and my insurance card was not yet active (still trying to get a hold of them) so I had to pay out of pocket. The doctor was nice and upbeat. He came in and said, "So, tell me a story, Andrae." To which I replied, "Which genre do you prefer?" We had our laugh, he checked me out, and it turned out I tested positive for strep throat--and not only that, but Bullous Myringitis (a bacterial infection that causes a puss filled blister/inflammation in the middle ear) in my right ear.

So he prescribed me some ear drops and some antibiotics, which I picked up from Walmart, and I told my managers the situation. Of course they said, "Well you ain't kissin' nobody, you should be good to come in." Ha! I tried to get up on Tuesday, but my body was having none of it. Today I felt better regarding my throat and ear, but my body was itching and my palms were red and I was extremely tired. That's when I realized I hadn't eaten more than two bowls of ice cream since Saturday and that I might be having a mild reaction to the medicine.

So to wrap this up, I went back to the urgent care, paid $45 this time, and got rechecked. I'm progressing, but it will take another week. Fortunately I've got new medicine (some large amoxicillin tablets that I have to take for ten more days). And as I limped around Walmart picking up a few things while I waited for the new prescriptions everyone's asking where I've been and why I had a walking stick, and I had to that I was sick, and therefore not eating, thus the walking cane to keep me from falling over.

All this and I expect to be at work tomorrow night from 4pm to 1am. Hopefully I can get enough food and fluid in me to build up the energy. I'd hate to be absent when I'm most needed (I've got a doctors note regardless), but I'd also hate to pass out from low energy in a place as busy as a tier 1 Walmart Super Center on Black Friday (technically starting Thursday).

 

to you too! A warm hug would be nice right about now since I'm no longer contagious and it is literally freezing outside. On the upside, I did manage to hold a bowl of soup down tonight!

 

from me, too, Andrae. I've been on antibiotics and sometimes they can wreck me just as much as the illness can. Recovering is hard, especially when you're needed and can't take a day or two to recover.

Hang in there, friend! Hope you feel better soon!

 

FOR YOU TOO @minstrel I feel better already.

 

If only money grew on trees and college was free.

 

There's an easy solution to that problem: Move to Sweden.

 

@Andrae Smith I hope you're feeling better! Drink a lot of hot tea, it helps. I can't believe how much you guys have to pay for visiting the doctor . Can you get the money back when your insurance kicks in?

 

Thanks @KaTrian. I do feel much better now. The only trouble is that my throat gets dry pretty quickly, and it dries out overnight, so breathing in the morning is annoying. That and I can't hear well out of my right ear ha ha. It messed with my equilibrium pretty good the other day while I was trying to work lol. Oh I know! And one of my prescriptions was over $400 before they changed it. Nope, no reimbursement because it's already paid. :/ I guess it sucks that I got sick when I did. I usually don't.

 

I've been seeing ads on TV about a new version of Peter Pan with Christopher Walken as Captain Hook.

I don't want to sound sexist here, but damn it!!!!!! Here we go:

Peter Pan is a boy! By definition, he is a boy! He is the boy who never grew up! Why oh why is he always played by a woman? Can't they find a boy to play Peter Pan? I'm not trying to say that women can't act as a boy, but DAMN it!!! Are there no BOYS out there who can play a boy?

Jeez. C'mon, people. I get angry when John Wayne plays Genghis Khan - can't they find an Asian? Likewise, can't they find a boy to play Peter Pan?