WAITING

Today I was waiting until I got a new wireless keyboard installed because my $2.99 keyboard (that I bought as an accessory to my laptop, seldom used,) was drawn into full service to one of my desktops that had died just before I left for the hospital for a colonoscopy.

Hospitals are, perhaps, where we wait the longest.  Scheduled .for 12 noon for the procedure, I was finally taken in at 1:30 PM.  The nurse who was going to hook me up to the intravenous saline and whatever else they gave for pain and relaxation, told me I was a 'roller'.  Unfamiliar with the term in present use,  I had images of Las Vegas and knew that meaning to be far from the truth.  She said it meant that when she stuck the needle in, instead of going through to its target, the vein just rolled.  Not only that but she said she hit a 'valve' and it 'blew up'.  By now I figured we needed a plumber, for sure.  Instead, she said she was calling in the 'big guns'.  A much older nurse arrived, used a thinner needle, tried again, and said she had to call in a specialist.  A very kind, gentle, 'expert' told me why they couldn't get blood...asked if I had taken the 'prep to the procedure' which, I assured her, I had as directed..  She told me the reason I saw big veins on the back of my hands the night before, and not today, was that I was dehydrated. Since I had taken all that was prescribed to leave me vying for colon cleanliness with whoever has the Guinness book of records on it,  I was plugged into the intravenous bag dripping saline solution. I could only wish they had plumbed me into it earlier rather than trying to find a vein to pierce in my dehydrated hands but that would have been cart before the horse and impossible..

I was knocked out even though I had asked not to be and they said they couldn't knock me out without an anesthesiologist present. I was told they only gave something to loosen muscles and relax one but thqat some patients fall asleep.in waiting mode.  I woke up only after the amnesic drug they had given me wore off quite a while later.

A friend drove me home, first stopping at Staples to pick up a new keyboard.  However, Morpheus creeped in where computers feared to tread so here I am, a few hours later than usual.  Sorry you had to wait for this blog...if any of you actually were kind enough to do so.

MARKETERS WASTE A LOT OF YOUR LIFE

Last evening I watched Episode #2 (The Two Towers) from Lord of the Rings on TV. I had seen it in theater when it first came out and own the DVDs but, decided I could see it and read my book, since I pretty much knew how it was going. The too-frequent interruptions is a reason I so rarely watch commercial TV. There are few memorable ads, while an ad ,ay be clever, I usually miss the product. Few deserve the time to watch, and none more than once. They are foolish enough to give warning that the ads are on when engineers raise the gain and the ad comes booming, shattering eardrums like fingernails on the blackboard, amputating the mood the movie had engendered. I can't reach for the mute button fast enough! My peripheral vision tells me when the movie is back on to regain sound. Instead of turning me into a consumer of whatever is being advertised, they have driven me away.

I'm guessing station managers are fooled by the number of viewers of a program. When a program is good it will draw lots of people. However, the stupid producers make listeners get into a competition. Rather than staggering the good shows, the stations tend to put the good ones on at the same time. Thus shows that would draw a huge audience have to share it, each getting lower numbers, thus less advertising pull.

Cable companies do not make it easy to record shows for future viewing if you don't rent their recorder. This assures that you cannot turn it into a DVD, but assumes that you will watch it in the near future, which for me is unlikely. If I can't see a show when it is on, I now know not to record it because I will never find the time to watch it and am less likely to fast forward the commercials to do so. I am forced to choose as though I am looking at a restaurant menu...I can have one entree only! If I make the wrong choice, I have to 'suck it up', or put more delicately, I have to 'eat it'.

Telemarketers are just as bad. Charities, allowed to ignore the 'do not call' list, are also losing money and wasting my time by their tactics. Today, on a phone call with a friend, I was interrupted by another call...'callus interruptus' as my son and wife would say. Telemarketers give themselves away because they pause a long time before saying hello. When someone answered my repeated 'hello' I realized it was a telemarketer. I said, "I have someone on the line, is this an important call?" The person identified himself as calling from one of the leading medical charities. I interrupted him immediately and said you are gong to ask me for money, aren't you? Well, you aren't going to get any from me today as I was interrupted me on a call. Could you call back another time?" He didn't accept that and began to read his spiel. At this point I simply said, "You interrupted my call and aren't listening to me. Call me another time." ...and I hung up on him. I am not without empathy for the people who have to call and beg for money but when will they realize they do not have a taker on the line and are also wasting their own time?

Caller ID helps make this a bit more tolerable because I can ignore some calls. When they do not list the number, I know not to answer the call. (Another stupid move on their part.) As I grow older and have less time left to waste, these issues take on greater importance to me. My computer privacy is violated with adbots tracking where I go, what I buy, and what pop-ups with which to try to blind and bind me. It eats up time just to clean them off the computer periodically, knowing that they will be back each time I glance at commercial sites.

TOLERANCE THRESHOLD

It is summer and I should be relaxed. All the things that didn't used to bother me seem to be tipping me over. My threshold couldn't be any lower and my whining about things moved a really good friend of mine to tell me I was a crotchety old lady. He was absolutely correct. That is exactly what I felt like when a bit of objectivity finally took hold.

Many of the things that have lowered my threshold might not bother others...especially those who do the things that grab me negatively. Thinking that people would have better hygiene in today's world, it shocks me that few carry a tissue or handkerchief, but will use their paper or cloth restaurant napkin, blow their nose in it, and set it down on the table.

Another push on my buttons comes for people who 'drop in' without calling. It is clear that one may not expect the standards of behavior one sets for one's self...but I still find it hard not to because I don't really consider my standards so high. My therapy practice is by appointment only. I know when to be dressed presentably and 'receiving'. The rest of the time, I expect to be left alone unless someone is considerate enough to ask if it is convenient to me if they drop in.

Let it be understood that when I say I'll be around all day, it does not mean that I will be appropriately dressed for company and watching the grass grow or waiting for someone to drop in assuming my boredom might appreciate a break. I have had friends whom I would never have expected to see, drop in to 'surprise' me. The surprise part was successful but the pleasure of the visit was lessened by it.

Why is it that many people treat dropping in to your home unexpectedly like others do when they phone and assume that, because you answered the phone, you are free to talk. If I am on the phone and get a call waiting beep, I excuse myself and come right back to the original caller. When the original caller informs me that they don't appreciate the interruption it annoys me that they don't make the connection that their unexpected call interrupted me in the first place. When someone is told you are on another line and ask if it is an emergency...which it rarely is...that you will call right back and then they say, "I only wanted to tell you, blah, blah, blah." They get annoyed because I tell them I will call them back as I don't keep people waiting. You can't win and I refuse to do away with call waiting. Thanks to whoever invented caller ID. I find that helpful, except for the two friends who keep themselves as private caller. I have come to assume such a call will be one of them and so far they are both people from whom I do not mind getting a call.