O.K., so I admit, I just came from a wine-tasting which was totally fun, and with just a few pieces of cheese and crackers has made me totally tipsy. Well, I'm still able to type, so maybe I'm not totally tipsy. This blog entry isn't really about wine-tasting, it's about friendship. This is about my friendship with Bev Conway, and how she signed up for a raffle to win a wine-tasting event at the Wentworth-by-the-Sea and then won it. The only problem was she couldn't go to it because she is teaching a class tonight. So.....she suggested to her husband that he go and take me!
"Hello, Big Red?"
"Hi Garcia."
"You've been nominated."
"For what?"
"To attend a wine-tasting with me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. Bevy can't go and she suggested you as her surrogate."
"That sounds great. I'm in. When?"
Three days later:
"Hello, Red?"
"Yeah, hi Garcia."
"I just called the Wentworth, to make sure about the dress code. I was afraid I would have to strangle in a tie."
"Yeah, and what did you find out?"
"Business casual. Whatever that is. I don't have to wear a tie."
"O.K. I can do business casual."
"I don't know about this; it seems kind of pretentious."
"Yeah, I agree. Oh well, we can have a good time commenting on all the other people who are there."
"Yeah, maybe we should bring a notebook and write down all our 'bon mots' about the wine."
"I already have my notebook in my purse."
"Bueno. See you at 5:15"
So......having tasted 7 wines, and heard all about the Castello Banfi vinyardfrom a guy who was a total buffoon, and sat there with all the executives from Hannaford Brothers (who sponsored the event) and us and two guys who were in blue jeans, one of whom was wearing a cowboy hat and hadn't shaved for days, we had an absolutely hilarious time. My thanks to Will (alias Garcia) for being willing to go with me, and to Bev, for sharing her husband with me for the night. Two amazing friends. I say gracias, merci and thanks. Or, as they say in Italia, Grazie.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Yoga and the Water Buffalo
I don't know about you, but I go to yoga to have a quiet hour of deep breaths, stretching and strengthening. And for the most part, that's what happens. Oh, and let's not forget the all-important period of relaxation at the end, which is my most favorite part.
Because I'm going to a yoga studio where I can attend as many classes as I want to during the week, I have been bouncing around to the different classes and trying out different teachers. So has another woman, whom I have come to think of as the Water Buffalo. This has nothing to do with her size, her grace, or her ability to do yoga. She blends in with the rest of us. This has to do with the time at the end of relaxation when we return to sitting, feeling mellow, and our instructor asks us to join her in the sound of "ohm." Some people struggle to find the pitch, and in today's class people were all over the place note-wise. That I can deal with. The water buffalo woman bellows, as if she would like all of downtown Dover to hear her, and holds the ohm with remarkable lung power. Any feeling of quiet meditation ends abruptly.
So what is the yoga etiquette regarding asking this woman to pipe down????
The fact that I'm even wondering about this is reflective of the fact that this week crawled out from under a rock somewhere, and it would be best if it went back where it came from......
Because I'm going to a yoga studio where I can attend as many classes as I want to during the week, I have been bouncing around to the different classes and trying out different teachers. So has another woman, whom I have come to think of as the Water Buffalo. This has nothing to do with her size, her grace, or her ability to do yoga. She blends in with the rest of us. This has to do with the time at the end of relaxation when we return to sitting, feeling mellow, and our instructor asks us to join her in the sound of "ohm." Some people struggle to find the pitch, and in today's class people were all over the place note-wise. That I can deal with. The water buffalo woman bellows, as if she would like all of downtown Dover to hear her, and holds the ohm with remarkable lung power. Any feeling of quiet meditation ends abruptly.
So what is the yoga etiquette regarding asking this woman to pipe down????
The fact that I'm even wondering about this is reflective of the fact that this week crawled out from under a rock somewhere, and it would be best if it went back where it came from......
Saturday, January 19, 2008
My peace button
I was taken aback today when I stopped by the opticians to have my glasses adjusted and the frames tightened. As I started to take off my jacket, the optician said, "I see you're a hippie." Since I was the only person there, I assumed he was talking to me, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what prompted him to say that to me. So, I responded with "What makes you think that?" "You're wearing a peace button," he said, pointing to a small black button with a white peace sign on it which was pinned to my jacket.
So many things went flying through my mind that I wanted to say back. Like, "Do you have to be a hippie to be in favor of peace?" or "What an idiotic thing to say to someone you don't know at all except through her glasses prescription." Instead, I, who never was a hippie, said "Yeah, I guess I am a hippie, if believing in peace makes me one." He disappeared into his back room to tighten my glasses. Which is all that he needed to do in the first place.
So many things went flying through my mind that I wanted to say back. Like, "Do you have to be a hippie to be in favor of peace?" or "What an idiotic thing to say to someone you don't know at all except through her glasses prescription." Instead, I, who never was a hippie, said "Yeah, I guess I am a hippie, if believing in peace makes me one." He disappeared into his back room to tighten my glasses. Which is all that he needed to do in the first place.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Woman vs. the Pharmaceuticals......Again
I was prompted to take on the pharmaceutical world again when I picked up a delivery receipt from one of my mother's meds. which indicated that the price had jumped from $23 for a 30-day supply to $45.00 for a 30-day supply. Before I jump to conclusions, of course I will need to call the pharmacy, which I haven't yet done. After some searching around, I find that I can sign her up to get prescriptions for 90 days for the flat rate of $10.99 at the local Hannaford Brothers grocery store pharmacy. I just need to do that, and then be responsible for picking up the prescriptions when she runs out.
The weekend proved to be a time when I could check in with Langdon Place nurses to discuss my mother's OTC medications, their strength and the numbers of pills purchased at a time. It was clear to me that I could save a lot of money if I purchased aspirin, colace and Depends somewhere other than Care Pharmacy, which has a monopoly on delivering items to Langdon Place. So....Care had charged $7.19 for a bottle of 30 aspirin, and I could purchase it at Wal-Mart (much as that killed me) for $4 and something for a bottle of 500 - enough for a year and a half at her current rate of 1 per day. You get the picture. The picture is that elderly patients are constantly being screwed over, and if they have no advocate or no family nearby, they just have to pay the price.
While focused on medication, and having heard a news report in passing last week about how Fosamax can cause bone and muscle aches and pains down the road, I went online to read about Fosamax, since my doctor had prescribed it for me a few years ago, over some feeble objections on my part. And here's where I would like to blast off about being part of the guinea pig generation. Some of you have heard this rant before......
In 1966, I obtained a prescription for birth control pills, Norlestrin to be exact. The doctor (a man - there weren't any women doctors that I knew of at that time) said to me "When you stop taking these when you want to get pregnant, you'll be 'as fertile as a turtle.'" That was it. That was the entire discussion about what I was about to start ingesting. Now don't get me wrong, at the time, the idea of preventing pregnancy until I was out of college was a VERY attractive option. The pill was the new thing, and we were told how safe it was, how much more convenient, how non-interruptive, etc., etc. All of the hype was true, but what they neglected to tell us, or actually didn't know, was that after taking the pill for about 5 years, and suppressing our own hormone systems, that some of us might have trouble kick-starting our hormones and hence ovulating. In my case, it required a dose of fertility drugs (Clomid, to be exact) before my system started up again. That time, the doctor, ( a man again) said "Be sure not to get pregnant THIS month, because you might have quintuplets." Wouldn't that have been dandy? So after a year of trying to get pregnant and not knowing why I couldn't, I had the magic bullet, so to speak.
A similar scenario occurred with hormone replacement therapy to ease the symptoms of menopause. I even said to my doctor at that point, "Are you sure there won't be any long-term side effects?" "Oh no," she said, (note the change in gender), "these pills will help prevent heart disease, memory loss" and I've forgotten what all else.....The rest is history, of course, when the studies were really complete on women and HRT, and the lovely little pills were shown to have no effect on heart disease and that they raised the risk of breast cancer, etc., etc.
So....when the same doctor recommended Fosamax when my bone density scan showed some bone loss post-menopause, I said, "What are the long-term effects of this medication?" "Oh," she said, "there are no problems that I know of, but there also haven't been any long-term studies." I should have just refused at the time, but since my mother had had two hip replacements and was clearly shrinking as she aged, I thought it was worth the gamble. Well, duped again. The main ingredients in Fosamax are the same ingredients in corrosive cleansers, and the current research is showing that long-term use of the drug may actually cause your bones to stop shedding dead bone cells while building new bone cells, creating instead, a kind of shell-like, brittle exterior to the bone, not to mention the potential gastric side effects of putting this corrosive substance into your stomach and esophagus. It turns out that when the pharmaceutical companies lost all of the money on hormone replacement, they conjured up "osteopenia," the precursor to "osteoporosis," and created the preventative for it in the form of Actonel, Fosamax and Boniva.
Those of us who are in our sixties, have been the guinea pigs for some grand pharmaceutical experiments, and I, for one, am tired of it. I do take responsibility for agreeing to go on these various medications, but now that we have the internet and the ability to do some research on our own, I'm saying "enough already." Luckily I haven't been placed on one of the cholesterol-lowering drugs which they are now determining don't REALLY reduce the build up of placque in the arteries, even though they do lower the "bad" cholesterol.....(brought to you by the same folks who created Vioxx and other heart attack provoking medicine). (What do we think will be the long term effects of Viagra???)
It's time to smarten up, it seems to me, because no matter what John Edwards may say in his campaign speeches, the pharmaceutical companies will do whatever it takes to keep a healthy bottom line, regardless of the health of their consumers!
The weekend proved to be a time when I could check in with Langdon Place nurses to discuss my mother's OTC medications, their strength and the numbers of pills purchased at a time. It was clear to me that I could save a lot of money if I purchased aspirin, colace and Depends somewhere other than Care Pharmacy, which has a monopoly on delivering items to Langdon Place. So....Care had charged $7.19 for a bottle of 30 aspirin, and I could purchase it at Wal-Mart (much as that killed me) for $4 and something for a bottle of 500 - enough for a year and a half at her current rate of 1 per day. You get the picture. The picture is that elderly patients are constantly being screwed over, and if they have no advocate or no family nearby, they just have to pay the price.
While focused on medication, and having heard a news report in passing last week about how Fosamax can cause bone and muscle aches and pains down the road, I went online to read about Fosamax, since my doctor had prescribed it for me a few years ago, over some feeble objections on my part. And here's where I would like to blast off about being part of the guinea pig generation. Some of you have heard this rant before......
In 1966, I obtained a prescription for birth control pills, Norlestrin to be exact. The doctor (a man - there weren't any women doctors that I knew of at that time) said to me "When you stop taking these when you want to get pregnant, you'll be 'as fertile as a turtle.'" That was it. That was the entire discussion about what I was about to start ingesting. Now don't get me wrong, at the time, the idea of preventing pregnancy until I was out of college was a VERY attractive option. The pill was the new thing, and we were told how safe it was, how much more convenient, how non-interruptive, etc., etc. All of the hype was true, but what they neglected to tell us, or actually didn't know, was that after taking the pill for about 5 years, and suppressing our own hormone systems, that some of us might have trouble kick-starting our hormones and hence ovulating. In my case, it required a dose of fertility drugs (Clomid, to be exact) before my system started up again. That time, the doctor, ( a man again) said "Be sure not to get pregnant THIS month, because you might have quintuplets." Wouldn't that have been dandy? So after a year of trying to get pregnant and not knowing why I couldn't, I had the magic bullet, so to speak.
A similar scenario occurred with hormone replacement therapy to ease the symptoms of menopause. I even said to my doctor at that point, "Are you sure there won't be any long-term side effects?" "Oh no," she said, (note the change in gender), "these pills will help prevent heart disease, memory loss" and I've forgotten what all else.....The rest is history, of course, when the studies were really complete on women and HRT, and the lovely little pills were shown to have no effect on heart disease and that they raised the risk of breast cancer, etc., etc.
So....when the same doctor recommended Fosamax when my bone density scan showed some bone loss post-menopause, I said, "What are the long-term effects of this medication?" "Oh," she said, "there are no problems that I know of, but there also haven't been any long-term studies." I should have just refused at the time, but since my mother had had two hip replacements and was clearly shrinking as she aged, I thought it was worth the gamble. Well, duped again. The main ingredients in Fosamax are the same ingredients in corrosive cleansers, and the current research is showing that long-term use of the drug may actually cause your bones to stop shedding dead bone cells while building new bone cells, creating instead, a kind of shell-like, brittle exterior to the bone, not to mention the potential gastric side effects of putting this corrosive substance into your stomach and esophagus. It turns out that when the pharmaceutical companies lost all of the money on hormone replacement, they conjured up "osteopenia," the precursor to "osteoporosis," and created the preventative for it in the form of Actonel, Fosamax and Boniva.
Those of us who are in our sixties, have been the guinea pigs for some grand pharmaceutical experiments, and I, for one, am tired of it. I do take responsibility for agreeing to go on these various medications, but now that we have the internet and the ability to do some research on our own, I'm saying "enough already." Luckily I haven't been placed on one of the cholesterol-lowering drugs which they are now determining don't REALLY reduce the build up of placque in the arteries, even though they do lower the "bad" cholesterol.....(brought to you by the same folks who created Vioxx and other heart attack provoking medicine). (What do we think will be the long term effects of Viagra???)
It's time to smarten up, it seems to me, because no matter what John Edwards may say in his campaign speeches, the pharmaceutical companies will do whatever it takes to keep a healthy bottom line, regardless of the health of their consumers!
Friday, January 11, 2008
The zen of buying fabric
I have always loved fabric. I admit. I can't walk through a fabric store without touching the fabric. ALL of it. One of the heartbreaking times in my life was when we moved from Littleton to Durham, NH and I had to actually get rid of fabric remnants and fabric pieces as part of consolidating my sewing "stuff." I sat on the floor of my sewing room and saw pieces of fabric from which I had made baby clothes, gifts for others and assorted projects from fabric-covered picture frames to padded boxes to folded stars. I still, 25 years later, regret getting rid of any of it!!
Becoming a quilter offers the perfect opportunity to buy fabric. You never know when you might be able to use a particular piece of fabric in a quilt which might not get made for years down the road. You can buy fabrics in colors you would never use in your own home, because you may have a friend who has that color scheme. It doesn't matter that you have several quilting projects underway for which you have purchased all the fabric you could ever need, because you KNOW that you will be doing other projects in the future.
A trip to Keepsake Quilting with my best friend and college roommate, another compulsive fabric buyer, ranks towards the top of fun things to do. We have been known to leave children ice skating (and freezing to death) for hours while we have browsed the hundreds of bolts of fabrics. (The children survived). We have missed countless lunches (including yesterday) when on a fabric-buying expedition. When she lived in Connecticut, we visited some vast fabric outlets and bought fabric to make ourselves and our families clothes, placemats, curtains and bedspreads. When we lived in Littleton, NH, we spent hours at Cut n' Sew, and we each bought down jacket and down vest kits to make for our kids and husbands. We have never held back where fabric-buying is concerned. In addition, we have a history of sharing in ordering yarn from Reykjavik (sp). to knit fabulous Icelandic sweathers for everyon in the family. Oh yeah, we go waaaay back on all of this great crafty stuff.
Yesterday offered a classic shopping trip to Keepsake, "just look" in my case and to "just buy a few fat quarters" for a new baby quilt for her. HA!! She picked up a quilting book for making pot holders and brought it over to me to see the nifty designs and combinations of colors used in the pot holders. She said "I think I'm going to buy this book." I said, "We could do these same things without the book." Moments later, I spotted a second book in the same series and started to browse through it. It did have beautiful ideas in it. Probably way more imaginative than I would be if starting from scratch, I thought. Plus, it had templates for the pattern pieces and for the appliques.......I took it over to her. "Maybe you're right," I said. "If you buy that book, and I buy this one, then we can share and trade back and forth." "What a great idea," she said.
It became the perfect excuse to buy a handful of colorful fat quarters that matched nothing, but could be used in these beautiful, easily finished, small projects! Did I say "just look?" In a fabric store, I never "just look." In a fabric store, just as in meditation, time is meaningless and the outside world just falls away.
Becoming a quilter offers the perfect opportunity to buy fabric. You never know when you might be able to use a particular piece of fabric in a quilt which might not get made for years down the road. You can buy fabrics in colors you would never use in your own home, because you may have a friend who has that color scheme. It doesn't matter that you have several quilting projects underway for which you have purchased all the fabric you could ever need, because you KNOW that you will be doing other projects in the future.
A trip to Keepsake Quilting with my best friend and college roommate, another compulsive fabric buyer, ranks towards the top of fun things to do. We have been known to leave children ice skating (and freezing to death) for hours while we have browsed the hundreds of bolts of fabrics. (The children survived). We have missed countless lunches (including yesterday) when on a fabric-buying expedition. When she lived in Connecticut, we visited some vast fabric outlets and bought fabric to make ourselves and our families clothes, placemats, curtains and bedspreads. When we lived in Littleton, NH, we spent hours at Cut n' Sew, and we each bought down jacket and down vest kits to make for our kids and husbands. We have never held back where fabric-buying is concerned. In addition, we have a history of sharing in ordering yarn from Reykjavik (sp). to knit fabulous Icelandic sweathers for everyon in the family. Oh yeah, we go waaaay back on all of this great crafty stuff.
Yesterday offered a classic shopping trip to Keepsake, "just look" in my case and to "just buy a few fat quarters" for a new baby quilt for her. HA!! She picked up a quilting book for making pot holders and brought it over to me to see the nifty designs and combinations of colors used in the pot holders. She said "I think I'm going to buy this book." I said, "We could do these same things without the book." Moments later, I spotted a second book in the same series and started to browse through it. It did have beautiful ideas in it. Probably way more imaginative than I would be if starting from scratch, I thought. Plus, it had templates for the pattern pieces and for the appliques.......I took it over to her. "Maybe you're right," I said. "If you buy that book, and I buy this one, then we can share and trade back and forth." "What a great idea," she said.
It became the perfect excuse to buy a handful of colorful fat quarters that matched nothing, but could be used in these beautiful, easily finished, small projects! Did I say "just look?" In a fabric store, I never "just look." In a fabric store, just as in meditation, time is meaningless and the outside world just falls away.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
When Pigs Fly
Yesterday was a day when several things happened that perhaps shouldn't have. First, it was 52 degrees in January in NH. Second, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama in the primary, in spite of media hype to the contrary. Finally, I took on the local pharmacy on the subject of my mother's drug bill and WON! I should be a candidate, as I can now say I've taken on the pharmaceutical industry successfully.
In fact, they made a big blunder which happened to be in my favor. And, Langdon Place played its usual role in doing the wrong thing. Here's the scenario: The bill for $153.00 arrives at my house. I scrutinize it and realize that there are 4 charges for $7.19 each in the space of less than a month and 2 charges for $13.98. That struck me as odd, and I called Care Pharmacy. The billing person wasn't there, but would call me back. (HA - fat chance of that).
So...I presented myself at the pharm in mid-afternoon and politely inquired about what the meds. were and why they had been delivered twice in 30 days. It turned out to be aspirin ($7.19 for a 30 day supply!?), colace and potassium - all over the counter stuff, I think. The nice woman at register #1 looked it up and said that in fact, LP nurses had mistakenly ordered the second round and had subsequently returned the items and my account had been credited. I asked if she could give me the accurate total so I could pay the bill correctly. She said I would have to speak to Michelle at register #2. Off i went.
Michelle called up the account and said that the only amount I owed was $28.00 for Depends (2 packs of 20) which had been delivered Jan. 4. I said what happened to the rest of the $153.00 bill, minus the approximately $27.00 credit? She said it had been paid. No, I said, it hasn't, and showed her the bill in my hand. Oh, said she. Well, it shows here that your account has been credited for $153.00 Then she looked at me and said. Why don't we just go with what's in our record? I said. O.K. - if you say so, and happy new year to me and my mom. Free drugs for December, 2007 - better even than the Medicare Prescription D plan.
In fact, they made a big blunder which happened to be in my favor. And, Langdon Place played its usual role in doing the wrong thing. Here's the scenario: The bill for $153.00 arrives at my house. I scrutinize it and realize that there are 4 charges for $7.19 each in the space of less than a month and 2 charges for $13.98. That struck me as odd, and I called Care Pharmacy. The billing person wasn't there, but would call me back. (HA - fat chance of that).
So...I presented myself at the pharm in mid-afternoon and politely inquired about what the meds. were and why they had been delivered twice in 30 days. It turned out to be aspirin ($7.19 for a 30 day supply!?), colace and potassium - all over the counter stuff, I think. The nice woman at register #1 looked it up and said that in fact, LP nurses had mistakenly ordered the second round and had subsequently returned the items and my account had been credited. I asked if she could give me the accurate total so I could pay the bill correctly. She said I would have to speak to Michelle at register #2. Off i went.
Michelle called up the account and said that the only amount I owed was $28.00 for Depends (2 packs of 20) which had been delivered Jan. 4. I said what happened to the rest of the $153.00 bill, minus the approximately $27.00 credit? She said it had been paid. No, I said, it hasn't, and showed her the bill in my hand. Oh, said she. Well, it shows here that your account has been credited for $153.00 Then she looked at me and said. Why don't we just go with what's in our record? I said. O.K. - if you say so, and happy new year to me and my mom. Free drugs for December, 2007 - better even than the Medicare Prescription D plan.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Primary Thoughts
It is the eve of the NH Primary. I have done my best to evaluate the top (in my opinion) 3 Democratic candidates and have arrived at my choice. Last night I attended a Hillary Clinton event in Hampton, as I didn't want my decision to rest on having seen Bill as her surrogate at UNH on Friday. I was seated with an overflow crowd of about 750 in the Winnacunnet High School auditorium, and we could hear her broadcast from the cafeteria. I was suitably impressed.
Today, I went as a volunteer to a Hillary event in Dover. I was to do "visibility" outside. No one from the local office was there to direct me, so I stood with a "totem" sign with another woman for a while, and then thought that the sign stuck into a snowbank was just about as effective as my holding on to it. So....I went inside while the fire marshalls were still letting people in.
Almost immediately I saw Brett Chamberlin, an Oyster River student who was tremendously helpful at last year's peace conference. He saw me and came right over, flashing a "media" pass. I asked him if he was representing Mouth of the River, and he said no, WUNH, the campus radio station. Immediately he held his videocamera in my face and asked me why I was there. (He and I had already met up at the Bill Clinton event on the UNH campus). I said all the right stuff about wanting to really make sure of my decision, and then, looking around the small gymnasium, I said quite honestly, "I'm here for the sheer spectacle! This is democracy in action!!" He thanked me and moved on. And really, the media, the signs, the crowd, the loud background music and the energy of the whole thing is quite phenomenal.
Last Friday, I had already had interesting encounters at campaign events - a guy in a cowboy hat and I talked for quite some time at the Obama event, and he was later interviewed by the media after he asked a question - and I had been interviewed by David Cohen, and enjoyed asking him questions as well.
Today, was no exception. As I stood holding one of the "totem" signs that had fallen off and I had picked up, figuring that I could claim to be doing "visibility" inside the gymnasium, I was approached by a handsome young man in a long black top coat, leading with a large microphone and trailed by a guy carrying a humongous t.v. camera. He asked if he could ask me some questions, and indicated that he was from Spanish (as in Spain) t.v. I said "sure," and he started in, primarily asking if I were disappointed by today's poll numbers showing Obama leading Clinton. I said that until the last votes were in, that I refused to be disappointed when the election hasn't yet been held, or words to that effect. He asked me a few more questions, and thanked me and moved on. "Spanish t.v.," I thought. "Huh!" Today Dover, tomorrow, the world!
I then entered into a conversation with a guy who was standing near me who edged my way after seeing me interviewed. He probably thought I was some campaign bigwig. He wanted to know if I had decided to vote for Hillary, and I said yes. He indicated that he was undecided and wanted to hear her and Obama today. It emerged that he had been an English teacher in a community college in the Berkshires and that we knew a Peace Studies instructor there. We were deep in conversation, with me trying to explain my position for Hillary and him saying why he was leaning toward Obama, when the next media person approached. This time it was John Ibbitson, a columnist for Canada's paper The Globe and Mail. He interviewed me and shared some of his thoughts on the primary and how he wanted to go home to Canada. I continued to chat with the other English teacher, who, it turned out, was from Maine. That's one of the interesting things that emerged over these few days: many of the attendees at these events were actually from out of state, taking advantage of the NH primary to get first-hand looks at the candidates.
As with every event I attended (except the John Edwards event which started remarkably close to the advertised start time), the candidate was very late, and I had plenty of time to talk to Emily Rice, a former student who is at UVM, and Lisa MacFarlane, an English professor at UNH whom I know. She was also undecided, and we talked extensively about our thoughts on the candidates. Clinton finally arrived, gave a few openng remarks which resembled last night's remarks but were a bit different, and turned the floor over to questions. I really am in awe of her ability to answer questions on a huge range of topics (from the assasination of Benazir Bhutto to how she would help support the non-profit sector) and never even put in a single "um." She rarely slipped into "canned" answers and she never sidestepped a question unless you count the question where she was asked what she would do if intelligence that was 80% reliable showed that Iran was about to launch a nuclear missle at the U.S., in which case she suggested that she would rather not speculate about that and instead would rather talk about how she would attempt to use diplomacy to stop the development of nuclear weapons in Iran.
At the end of the session, the Secret Service closed in around her, scanning the crowd carefully as she made her way around the room shaking hands and talking individually to people in attendance. I was just too far back to shake her hand, but Lisa MacFarlane, who was undecided, made it through the crowd to shake her hand AND to get her autograph on a sign. When she turned to walk out of the crowd and back toward me, I suggested that perhaps she had made up her mind. "She's making it hard for me, that's for sure," she said. At that moment, we were approached by a WINS NY media person who interviewed both of us. In the meantime, Emily Rice, who had brought the Christmas card sent out by the Clintons (why didn't I think of that?) had also reached the front of the crowd to get an autograph.
One of the most amazing parts of this experience is that I have left the different events with my own very definite perceptions of the candidate and his/her answers to questions, a feeling for the excitement of the crowd and the make-up of the crowd. I have been surprised, even shocked, to read the media coverage and watch the evening news coverage of the same events,to hear the sometmes skewed perceptions being put forth by the commentators. It should be a requirement for every American to attend the campaign events and match up their perceptions with the media's, and hopefully begin to realize just how the media puts a spin on things.
I heard tonight how there was no energy at the Dover event; that it was a crowd of gray-haireds, of how tired Hillary was; how she had seemed as if she had already accepted defeat. You know what I say to all of that? Hogwash! The media has decided she will lose; the media has annointed Obama; the media has ignored Richardson and Kucinich and have fed the American people some very big half-truths about what has been going on in NH. The primary tomorrow in one of the smallest states in this nation, should not be the deciding factor as to which candidates become the nominees of their party, and, in fact, it won't be, but the media would like us to believe that it is. That, coupled with the endless hype over Obama's win in Iowa, sways people to think that they should vote for him because he is the winner - no one likes to think that he/she is throwing their vote away on someone who clearly can't win. Somehow, what seems like a reasonable method for choosing nominees, has been perverted by the spinmeisters in the media. You've got to wonder who stands to benefit if Obama is the nominee? Or, conversely, who is afraid of seeing Clinton or Edwards win the nomination? Tomorrow, it will be over for NH. Dixville Notch will have voted for John McCain (my prediction), the hordes of press people will have departed, and all that will be left is the candidate's signs, stuck in grimy snowbanks. The NH economy will be several million dollars richer, and we can sit back and pass the decision-making torch to the Maine caucuses and the Super Tuesday primaries. Good luck and God speed!!
Today, I went as a volunteer to a Hillary event in Dover. I was to do "visibility" outside. No one from the local office was there to direct me, so I stood with a "totem" sign with another woman for a while, and then thought that the sign stuck into a snowbank was just about as effective as my holding on to it. So....I went inside while the fire marshalls were still letting people in.
Almost immediately I saw Brett Chamberlin, an Oyster River student who was tremendously helpful at last year's peace conference. He saw me and came right over, flashing a "media" pass. I asked him if he was representing Mouth of the River, and he said no, WUNH, the campus radio station. Immediately he held his videocamera in my face and asked me why I was there. (He and I had already met up at the Bill Clinton event on the UNH campus). I said all the right stuff about wanting to really make sure of my decision, and then, looking around the small gymnasium, I said quite honestly, "I'm here for the sheer spectacle! This is democracy in action!!" He thanked me and moved on. And really, the media, the signs, the crowd, the loud background music and the energy of the whole thing is quite phenomenal.
Last Friday, I had already had interesting encounters at campaign events - a guy in a cowboy hat and I talked for quite some time at the Obama event, and he was later interviewed by the media after he asked a question - and I had been interviewed by David Cohen, and enjoyed asking him questions as well.
Today, was no exception. As I stood holding one of the "totem" signs that had fallen off and I had picked up, figuring that I could claim to be doing "visibility" inside the gymnasium, I was approached by a handsome young man in a long black top coat, leading with a large microphone and trailed by a guy carrying a humongous t.v. camera. He asked if he could ask me some questions, and indicated that he was from Spanish (as in Spain) t.v. I said "sure," and he started in, primarily asking if I were disappointed by today's poll numbers showing Obama leading Clinton. I said that until the last votes were in, that I refused to be disappointed when the election hasn't yet been held, or words to that effect. He asked me a few more questions, and thanked me and moved on. "Spanish t.v.," I thought. "Huh!" Today Dover, tomorrow, the world!
I then entered into a conversation with a guy who was standing near me who edged my way after seeing me interviewed. He probably thought I was some campaign bigwig. He wanted to know if I had decided to vote for Hillary, and I said yes. He indicated that he was undecided and wanted to hear her and Obama today. It emerged that he had been an English teacher in a community college in the Berkshires and that we knew a Peace Studies instructor there. We were deep in conversation, with me trying to explain my position for Hillary and him saying why he was leaning toward Obama, when the next media person approached. This time it was John Ibbitson, a columnist for Canada's paper The Globe and Mail. He interviewed me and shared some of his thoughts on the primary and how he wanted to go home to Canada. I continued to chat with the other English teacher, who, it turned out, was from Maine. That's one of the interesting things that emerged over these few days: many of the attendees at these events were actually from out of state, taking advantage of the NH primary to get first-hand looks at the candidates.
As with every event I attended (except the John Edwards event which started remarkably close to the advertised start time), the candidate was very late, and I had plenty of time to talk to Emily Rice, a former student who is at UVM, and Lisa MacFarlane, an English professor at UNH whom I know. She was also undecided, and we talked extensively about our thoughts on the candidates. Clinton finally arrived, gave a few openng remarks which resembled last night's remarks but were a bit different, and turned the floor over to questions. I really am in awe of her ability to answer questions on a huge range of topics (from the assasination of Benazir Bhutto to how she would help support the non-profit sector) and never even put in a single "um." She rarely slipped into "canned" answers and she never sidestepped a question unless you count the question where she was asked what she would do if intelligence that was 80% reliable showed that Iran was about to launch a nuclear missle at the U.S., in which case she suggested that she would rather not speculate about that and instead would rather talk about how she would attempt to use diplomacy to stop the development of nuclear weapons in Iran.
At the end of the session, the Secret Service closed in around her, scanning the crowd carefully as she made her way around the room shaking hands and talking individually to people in attendance. I was just too far back to shake her hand, but Lisa MacFarlane, who was undecided, made it through the crowd to shake her hand AND to get her autograph on a sign. When she turned to walk out of the crowd and back toward me, I suggested that perhaps she had made up her mind. "She's making it hard for me, that's for sure," she said. At that moment, we were approached by a WINS NY media person who interviewed both of us. In the meantime, Emily Rice, who had brought the Christmas card sent out by the Clintons (why didn't I think of that?) had also reached the front of the crowd to get an autograph.
One of the most amazing parts of this experience is that I have left the different events with my own very definite perceptions of the candidate and his/her answers to questions, a feeling for the excitement of the crowd and the make-up of the crowd. I have been surprised, even shocked, to read the media coverage and watch the evening news coverage of the same events,to hear the sometmes skewed perceptions being put forth by the commentators. It should be a requirement for every American to attend the campaign events and match up their perceptions with the media's, and hopefully begin to realize just how the media puts a spin on things.
I heard tonight how there was no energy at the Dover event; that it was a crowd of gray-haireds, of how tired Hillary was; how she had seemed as if she had already accepted defeat. You know what I say to all of that? Hogwash! The media has decided she will lose; the media has annointed Obama; the media has ignored Richardson and Kucinich and have fed the American people some very big half-truths about what has been going on in NH. The primary tomorrow in one of the smallest states in this nation, should not be the deciding factor as to which candidates become the nominees of their party, and, in fact, it won't be, but the media would like us to believe that it is. That, coupled with the endless hype over Obama's win in Iowa, sways people to think that they should vote for him because he is the winner - no one likes to think that he/she is throwing their vote away on someone who clearly can't win. Somehow, what seems like a reasonable method for choosing nominees, has been perverted by the spinmeisters in the media. You've got to wonder who stands to benefit if Obama is the nominee? Or, conversely, who is afraid of seeing Clinton or Edwards win the nomination? Tomorrow, it will be over for NH. Dixville Notch will have voted for John McCain (my prediction), the hordes of press people will have departed, and all that will be left is the candidate's signs, stuck in grimy snowbanks. The NH economy will be several million dollars richer, and we can sit back and pass the decision-making torch to the Maine caucuses and the Super Tuesday primaries. Good luck and God speed!!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Letter to David Cohen
Yesterday, in my quest to decide for whom I would cast my primary vote, I was interviewed by a British journalist, David Cohen, who writes for the London Evening Standard. He had just come from Iowa, and questioned me for about an hour as we waited for Bill Clinton to arrive at the MUB at UNH. In addition to his journalism, he has written a book called "Chasing the Red White and Blue: Following in deToqueville's footsteps."
I had heard Obama at Pease early in the a.m. and I went to hear John Edwards in Portsmouth last evening. I hope to hear Hillary Clinton in person tomorrow at Winnacunnet High School. David asked me to email him my thoughts by Sunday morning, so I have composed and sent an email to him reflecting how I feel at this moment. He seems to have a late Sunday deadline, so I won't be able to update him after hearing Hillary in person. So....for anyone who is interested, here is my email to him.
Dear David Cohen,
I enjoyed meeting you at UNH in Durham, and hearing your thoughts about the candidates and their showing in Iowa as well as their potential in NH and the country. I have given a lot of thought to my vote on Tuesday, and after hearing Obama, Bill Clinton and John Edwards in person, I thought I would email you today, and then again in the morning if my thinking changes after watching the debate tonight.
As I told you yesterday, I initially committed to Hillary and have worked on her campaign. Recently I have leaned more towards Edwards, as I like a number of his positions. Last night he reaffirmed his commitment to close Guantanamo, stop the practice of rendition and all forms of torture. He stated his opposition to the building of any more nuclear power plants and his commitment to creating a green economy. He is also clearly in favor of a woman’s right to choose and doesn’t believe that the government should get involved in the decision of what to do with an unwanted pregnancy. These are all positions I support.
I also am drawn to Obama’s message of hope and unity, and if he becomes the candidate, I will work hard for him. Part of his magic is in his “from-the-heart” delivery of his speech, and his willingness to stop and look a questioner in the eye. On the other hand, hearing the exact same speech given a few hours later (I heard it on NPR) causes it to lose a little of its luster. It really is nothing more than a good speech, given over and over by a great orator. He is short on specifics, and lacks the track record the Hillary and John Edwards have, in my judgment.
So….after much discussion with my friends and inner debate, I have come back to Hillary as the candidate for whom I’ll cast my vote on Tuesday. Here’s my thinking at this point:
• She has a record of being able to work with her colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring about programs which benefit people who are disadvantaged in our society.
• She is intelligent and can think on her feet.
• She has risen on her own merit out of a situation (Bill’s philandering) which could have ruined many people.
• She has demonstrated her compassion for those less fortunate since her days in law school.
• She doesn’t make sweeping statements of the sort that both Obama and Edwards have made which, though I may agree with them, they have a feeling of “pie in the sky” about them. Edwards will not be able to get rid of the grip that corporations have on government, and Obama will not be able to bring us all together in one big happy family by just pronouncing that it will be so.
•Finally, and this is probably the aspect that tips the balance, I want to see a woman elected to the presidency of this country. I have spent my life in teaching making sure that my students understood that women and men were equal. Most of the young women I’ve taught have not experienced any barriers of the sort that my generation faced. They do recognize, however, that the glass ceiling is real, and that women still have to work harder to prove themselves and that they are the ones who are most likely to have to juggle child care, elder care, and the running of a home along with working. I would like to see the highest office in the land go to a woman, to demonstrate to the young women of this country that women really can do anything. Our country lags behind the rest of the world in placing women in positions of power. The time has come for that to change.
• I am an historian by avocation, and have taught American Studies for 10 years. I have a strong vision that electing Hillary Clinton to the Presidency is, in some perhaps romanticized way, the closing of a circle begun by Abigail Adams during the earliest days of our republic. She and John Adams were clearly a political team in a way not too different from the Clintons, and I can’t help but think that the woman who instructed her husband “to remember the ladies,” as he helped create the Constitution, would smile with great pleasure to see the wife of a 20th century president become the president.
So, in the end, my feminism trumps everything else. How could I not cast my vote for a woman who offers every qualification that the men have, and can lead the country to a new era – perhaps one in which compassion replaces aggression and justice really is “for all.”
I googled your book, and I remember when it came out that I thought it would make for some interesting reading in our American Studies class. I plan to order it, and look forward to reading it! Let me know if you’re ever in Durham again, and let me know if you have any questions or would like me to expand on any of this.
Best wishes,
Katherine Morgan
I had heard Obama at Pease early in the a.m. and I went to hear John Edwards in Portsmouth last evening. I hope to hear Hillary Clinton in person tomorrow at Winnacunnet High School. David asked me to email him my thoughts by Sunday morning, so I have composed and sent an email to him reflecting how I feel at this moment. He seems to have a late Sunday deadline, so I won't be able to update him after hearing Hillary in person. So....for anyone who is interested, here is my email to him.
Dear David Cohen,
I enjoyed meeting you at UNH in Durham, and hearing your thoughts about the candidates and their showing in Iowa as well as their potential in NH and the country. I have given a lot of thought to my vote on Tuesday, and after hearing Obama, Bill Clinton and John Edwards in person, I thought I would email you today, and then again in the morning if my thinking changes after watching the debate tonight.
As I told you yesterday, I initially committed to Hillary and have worked on her campaign. Recently I have leaned more towards Edwards, as I like a number of his positions. Last night he reaffirmed his commitment to close Guantanamo, stop the practice of rendition and all forms of torture. He stated his opposition to the building of any more nuclear power plants and his commitment to creating a green economy. He is also clearly in favor of a woman’s right to choose and doesn’t believe that the government should get involved in the decision of what to do with an unwanted pregnancy. These are all positions I support.
I also am drawn to Obama’s message of hope and unity, and if he becomes the candidate, I will work hard for him. Part of his magic is in his “from-the-heart” delivery of his speech, and his willingness to stop and look a questioner in the eye. On the other hand, hearing the exact same speech given a few hours later (I heard it on NPR) causes it to lose a little of its luster. It really is nothing more than a good speech, given over and over by a great orator. He is short on specifics, and lacks the track record the Hillary and John Edwards have, in my judgment.
So….after much discussion with my friends and inner debate, I have come back to Hillary as the candidate for whom I’ll cast my vote on Tuesday. Here’s my thinking at this point:
• She has a record of being able to work with her colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring about programs which benefit people who are disadvantaged in our society.
• She is intelligent and can think on her feet.
• She has risen on her own merit out of a situation (Bill’s philandering) which could have ruined many people.
• She has demonstrated her compassion for those less fortunate since her days in law school.
• She doesn’t make sweeping statements of the sort that both Obama and Edwards have made which, though I may agree with them, they have a feeling of “pie in the sky” about them. Edwards will not be able to get rid of the grip that corporations have on government, and Obama will not be able to bring us all together in one big happy family by just pronouncing that it will be so.
•Finally, and this is probably the aspect that tips the balance, I want to see a woman elected to the presidency of this country. I have spent my life in teaching making sure that my students understood that women and men were equal. Most of the young women I’ve taught have not experienced any barriers of the sort that my generation faced. They do recognize, however, that the glass ceiling is real, and that women still have to work harder to prove themselves and that they are the ones who are most likely to have to juggle child care, elder care, and the running of a home along with working. I would like to see the highest office in the land go to a woman, to demonstrate to the young women of this country that women really can do anything. Our country lags behind the rest of the world in placing women in positions of power. The time has come for that to change.
• I am an historian by avocation, and have taught American Studies for 10 years. I have a strong vision that electing Hillary Clinton to the Presidency is, in some perhaps romanticized way, the closing of a circle begun by Abigail Adams during the earliest days of our republic. She and John Adams were clearly a political team in a way not too different from the Clintons, and I can’t help but think that the woman who instructed her husband “to remember the ladies,” as he helped create the Constitution, would smile with great pleasure to see the wife of a 20th century president become the president.
So, in the end, my feminism trumps everything else. How could I not cast my vote for a woman who offers every qualification that the men have, and can lead the country to a new era – perhaps one in which compassion replaces aggression and justice really is “for all.”
I googled your book, and I remember when it came out that I thought it would make for some interesting reading in our American Studies class. I plan to order it, and look forward to reading it! Let me know if you’re ever in Durham again, and let me know if you have any questions or would like me to expand on any of this.
Best wishes,
Katherine Morgan
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Yoga
Yoga may possibly save my life. It is one of the few things I do just for me. After two or three years, I am starting to understand the many benefits of doing yoga regularly. I wish I had known about yoga 30 years ago. Though I don't think I have ever been particularly a flexible person, I might have been somewhat more flexible in my 30s than I am now. Regardless of my lack of flexibility, I know that yoga is making me MORE flexible, while it builds strength and balance. Since Sarah worked with me last June when we did yoga each morning when my dad (her grandfather) was dying, I have finally started to really get the hang of doing yoga in a regular practice, combining home-yoga with one or two classes per week. I can see my improvements as each week goes along.
As important or even more important than the physical benefits, are the mental and emotional benefits. First, as I mentioned above, it is perhaps the only thing that I have ever done that is just about me and for me. Second, it has given me a chance to see what it is like to try to empty my mind of all thoughts. That has proven to be very difficult for me. The minute it is quiet and I am supposed to be focusing on my breath, I'm wondering what I'm going to cook for dinner, or worrying that my children will never get along again, for feeling guilty that I haven't visited my mother. While practicing yoga at home, I find it harder to empty my mind than when I am at the yoga studio. There are a whole lot of reasons for this, and I have hopes that over time, I will get better at getting past the distractions.
Today, at the studio, I found myself the closest yet to just giving up all my cares and emotional preoccupations and finally just being in the moment. If it can happen once, it can happen again. If nothing else, yoga has at least shown me that all that really matters is "right now," that I can't change what happened yesterday (or farther in the past) and that i can't control what will happen tomorrow. It's a lesson I apparently need to practice over and over again, and I wonder continually why this is so hard for me to internalize and apply every day.
As important or even more important than the physical benefits, are the mental and emotional benefits. First, as I mentioned above, it is perhaps the only thing that I have ever done that is just about me and for me. Second, it has given me a chance to see what it is like to try to empty my mind of all thoughts. That has proven to be very difficult for me. The minute it is quiet and I am supposed to be focusing on my breath, I'm wondering what I'm going to cook for dinner, or worrying that my children will never get along again, for feeling guilty that I haven't visited my mother. While practicing yoga at home, I find it harder to empty my mind than when I am at the yoga studio. There are a whole lot of reasons for this, and I have hopes that over time, I will get better at getting past the distractions.
Today, at the studio, I found myself the closest yet to just giving up all my cares and emotional preoccupations and finally just being in the moment. If it can happen once, it can happen again. If nothing else, yoga has at least shown me that all that really matters is "right now," that I can't change what happened yesterday (or farther in the past) and that i can't control what will happen tomorrow. It's a lesson I apparently need to practice over and over again, and I wonder continually why this is so hard for me to internalize and apply every day.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
fires in fireplaces
I just want to take a few minutes to comment on how I love my fireplace. This winter, as in no previous winter, I have discovered that I don't need to be cold in the evening. I can build a fire and VOILA, as they say in the old country, I have warmth! Now, it's not that I suddenly wised up. I've known for a long time that a fire in the fireplace would make me feel warmer. The problem (for me) involved the fact that the lovely heat generated during the fire and then, all night long after the fire has gone out, goes up the chimney, and I have effectively created a sinkhole for all the heat produced especially post-fire by my oil burning furnace. Last winter, I made a move toward partially solving that problem by having glass doors put on the front of the fireplace. I have no way of knowing if they are the least bit effective in keeping heat in the room, during the hours that the damper is open. All I know is that as of today, oil went to $100.00 /barrel, and I'm sure we'll see that reflected in our next oil deliveries.
I have a wood-burning furnace in the basement, and in previous years (those with a husband in the house) I have heated the house with wood. That involves approximately 4 - 5 cords of wood, the removal of ashes (by the ton, it seems) and a heck of a lot of stacking, splitting and moving of wood into the basement. As oil prices have risen, so have wood prices, so, what's a person (single woman over 60) to do? The fireplace seems to be a somewhat manageable alternative, though it involves carrying armloads of wood up the basement stairs, and basically leading a wood-chip covered life, from clothing to rug.
For cheer, comfort and downright coziness, the fire wins, hands down. I like to believe that it reduces the amount of oil I'm burning, but on nights like tonight, when I fling open the glass doors and reach to release the damper, only to find it wide open, I gnash my teeth, knowing that for over a week, my living room has been leaking heat up and out to the great outdoors, with no fire burning. Ah, me, senility takes another angry swipe. Soon, I'm going to need large signs posted everywhere, telling me to check the burners on the stove, the damper in the fireplace, the thermostat to see if it's turned down or up, are my clothes on, buttoned, is my head screwed on, etc.
I have a wood-burning furnace in the basement, and in previous years (those with a husband in the house) I have heated the house with wood. That involves approximately 4 - 5 cords of wood, the removal of ashes (by the ton, it seems) and a heck of a lot of stacking, splitting and moving of wood into the basement. As oil prices have risen, so have wood prices, so, what's a person (single woman over 60) to do? The fireplace seems to be a somewhat manageable alternative, though it involves carrying armloads of wood up the basement stairs, and basically leading a wood-chip covered life, from clothing to rug.
For cheer, comfort and downright coziness, the fire wins, hands down. I like to believe that it reduces the amount of oil I'm burning, but on nights like tonight, when I fling open the glass doors and reach to release the damper, only to find it wide open, I gnash my teeth, knowing that for over a week, my living room has been leaking heat up and out to the great outdoors, with no fire burning. Ah, me, senility takes another angry swipe. Soon, I'm going to need large signs posted everywhere, telling me to check the burners on the stove, the damper in the fireplace, the thermostat to see if it's turned down or up, are my clothes on, buttoned, is my head screwed on, etc.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Letting go....or not
It's New Year's day, and I could have hoped that I would not have spent any energy on being annoyed in this new year. But, here I am. For the second day I have arrived at my mother's room to find her seated in a wheelchair. Why? I ask her. She assured me yesterday it was just because she had gone to exercise class in it (which made no sense since exercise class was in the morning and it was at that point about 3:30 in the afternoon). Today, I was there at 11:00, and when I suggested she use her walker to go to lunch, she said, oh, there isn't a chair at my place, because they know I'm coming in my wheelchair. At that point, I threw up my hands and reminded her that she went through all the surgery and rehab so that she could give up her wheelchair and walk again. I finally got out of her that she isn't really doing any walking except in the middle of the night when she uses the walker to go to the bathroom. She added conspiratorially that "she doesn't even call for help." I walked to the dining room to confirm that there wasn't a chair at her place. So....off she motored to the dining room, because it is "easier." Easier for the staff at Langdon Place. I left, indicating that I would talk to the nursing staff about this.
Of course, it's a holiday, so I haven't even tried to call over there to speak to someone. Furthermore, I left a call over a week ago asking the business person to call me to clarify a bill, which was due today. I'd love clarification from anyone who can decipher the following:
12/1/07: Balance forward 2972.83
12/4/07 Payment - Thank you! 1575.00
12/4/07 Payment - Thank You! 3212.00 CR
12/09/07 Guest Meals 1 10.00
12/31/07 31 days 12/01'12/31 @87.74 2720.00
12/31/07 Room and Board Jan $2856.00
12/31/07 Reverse Advance Billing Dec. 2720.00CR
Interest Charge based on prior balance due excluding prior interest charges at 1.5% monthly
90+ days 60 days 30 days Current New Balance
00.00 00.00 1335.83 2866.00 4201.83
Payment due: $4201.83
I love that they have managed to work in the guest meal charge at $10.00, and I wonder if they would be willing to subtract 3 meals at $10.00 each for the meals mom missed while eating here during the holidays. Or maybe we could do some negotiating on that score.... I think we know the answer to that one.
Contributing to my annoyance was a phone call from my brother to mom, which I answered and to whom I spoke long enough to say Happy New Year. He then talked to mom and they hung up. I would have liked to hear from him, either at Christmas or on New Year's, and called him on Christmas, only to be told by my sister-in-law that they couldn't talk just then because they were leaving for dinner at her brother's. O.k., that's certainly legit, but could he have called me back?
None of this is important. I'll end up paying Langdon Place the money they claim I owe, and mom will continue to wheel herself around in a wheelchair, though prior to her surgery she hated it and I heard nothing except how she wanted the surgery NOW to get her out of it once and for all, and my brother will continue to be involved in the situation as little as he pleases, and on his timetable, not mine.
So, as the snow starts to fall on New Year's Day (to add to the 6 - 8 inches that fell overnight Dec. 30th), I will go eat lunch, having "blasted off" for the first time in 2008.
Of course, it's a holiday, so I haven't even tried to call over there to speak to someone. Furthermore, I left a call over a week ago asking the business person to call me to clarify a bill, which was due today. I'd love clarification from anyone who can decipher the following:
12/1/07: Balance forward 2972.83
12/4/07 Payment - Thank you! 1575.00
12/4/07 Payment - Thank You! 3212.00 CR
12/09/07 Guest Meals 1 10.00
12/31/07 31 days 12/01'12/31 @87.74 2720.00
12/31/07 Room and Board Jan $2856.00
12/31/07 Reverse Advance Billing Dec. 2720.00CR
Interest Charge based on prior balance due excluding prior interest charges at 1.5% monthly
90+ days 60 days 30 days Current New Balance
00.00 00.00 1335.83 2866.00 4201.83
Payment due: $4201.83
I love that they have managed to work in the guest meal charge at $10.00, and I wonder if they would be willing to subtract 3 meals at $10.00 each for the meals mom missed while eating here during the holidays. Or maybe we could do some negotiating on that score.... I think we know the answer to that one.
Contributing to my annoyance was a phone call from my brother to mom, which I answered and to whom I spoke long enough to say Happy New Year. He then talked to mom and they hung up. I would have liked to hear from him, either at Christmas or on New Year's, and called him on Christmas, only to be told by my sister-in-law that they couldn't talk just then because they were leaving for dinner at her brother's. O.k., that's certainly legit, but could he have called me back?
None of this is important. I'll end up paying Langdon Place the money they claim I owe, and mom will continue to wheel herself around in a wheelchair, though prior to her surgery she hated it and I heard nothing except how she wanted the surgery NOW to get her out of it once and for all, and my brother will continue to be involved in the situation as little as he pleases, and on his timetable, not mine.
So, as the snow starts to fall on New Year's Day (to add to the 6 - 8 inches that fell overnight Dec. 30th), I will go eat lunch, having "blasted off" for the first time in 2008.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)