So,\after\the\fiasco\with\the\keyboard\yesterday\I\went\rummaging\through
my\husband's\room\'d\crap\to\find\a\new\one\(he\does\have\11\!!)
.All\was\well\and\then\new\obvious\problems\arose!\\\\\*sigh*

Yep\all\of\the\keys\work\except\the\spacebar!!!\\\But\who\really\needs\that
anyway??\\\This\is\perfectly\legible\right??\LOL

I
could
write
like
this
I
suppose!!

Dammit!!*why*are*my*kids*so*damn*destructive???

I~actually~did~have~something_I_wanted_to_write_today_but_it_will_have_to
wait_until_I_have_a_fully_functioning_keyboard..

A.l.l of the xsuddemn mny keybvoard haxs juxst xstarted throwimng out ramndomn .letterxs whemn I typ/e! What the he.l.l?? I kmnow I xshou.ld a,ctua.l.ly bve tryimng to fixs it right?p BVut it'xs p/retty ,coo.l to p/l.ay with.l It'xs .like mny fimngerxs are typ/imng drumnk or xsomnethimng.l >LO>L Amnd omn top/ of it a.l.l mny 'emnter' key ixsmn't workimng either.! >LO>L ahhhh xsimnp/l.e p/.leaxsurexs! Katie (hee hee hee that worked fimne!) odd

Since childhood I have shunned Yopliat yogurt. Mostly because they are more expensive than other yogurts, I learned to be cheap at a young age, but also because their package design team is the devil. I'm sure there is some sort of logic to the design but in all my years of yogurt eating I haven't found it.

First there's the thing on top. The 'lid' as they call it. Lid my ass!! There's no turning back with that thing. No second chances. Once it's opened you're eating it, by god, because there's no way to close the damn thing again!

The hole on top is too narrow for half of my spoons to fit down. This may seem trivial to some but in my home where all of the smaller spoons end up waking off or shoved down the couch my small children this is a BIG issue.

The container is bigger on the bottom than the top which is just plain wrong and there's that damn lip on the inside. No spoon in existence and turn that corner to get the yogurt hiding there.

And speaking of corners. The bottom has squared off corners! What the hell. My spoon can't get their either. And because of the damn sharp edges around the lip and the sheer depth of the stupid thing, my fingers can't reach it either!

So I've payed 40% more for a yogurt that I can't even eat all of!

< end rant >

I can no longer shun Yoplait however. This is why.



It's like the divine custard treat of the gods! It's not like yogurt at all it's like desert in an insanely designed package!

I'm considering inventing a special Yoplait spoon just for such occasions.

Since I was already using up all of my precious gas driving out to the butt end of Kennewick for Aiden's doctor appointment today I decided to treat myself to a little visit to the Kania Clinic.

I've had this cough now for 3 weeks with no sign of improving (or getting worse for that matter). And it's starting to drain on me. The bottom of my tongue is raw from grating across my teeth! I hate that! So I figured I'd toughed it out long enough and was ready to take some sort of steps against the cough.

The doctor listened to my lungs and said I might have asthma. But first let's try Zithromax to see if it might not be bacterial.

Bacterial? Hello! I realize I only went to 1/2 of one quarter of nursing school but shouldn't antibiotics be a last resort not the first? Shouldn't you at least make note of the fact that I'm coughing up CLEAR mucus before you decide that any cough that comes walking into your office is bacterial??

Maybe I'm overreacting.

I took Aiden in to see Dr.Nazar today. When he asked why I wasn't seeing our regular pediatrician I had to tell them that we were kicked out for not vaccinating.

He asked me, I kid you not, "If you're not going to listen to your doctor, why do you bother seeing one?"

Hmmmm... good question.

I explained to him that the only reason I was there today was to get a physical so Aiden can have the dental surgery he needs. I don't think this endeared him to my cause at all.

On the plus side he didn't kick us out!

Aiden is scheduled for dental surgery (wee fun) next month and he's supposed to have a physical before hand to assure that he's healthy.

Aiden just had a physical on the first of July but that's not good enough. It has to be within the 30 days right before the surgery. I don't know. Dumb rules.

The dentist assured me that having a second physical less than two months after the regularly scheduled one was in no way a bother to anyone or an extreme waste of time or the states money.

So in theory this should be as easy as calling the pediatrician and scheduling an appointment.

You may recall though that we are 'between pediatrician' right now as our old one dumped us and I have been dragging my feet on signing up with anyone else.

Last week on my day off I called a local walk in clinic and asked them if they did physicals. Indeed they did. And we would be happy to set up an appointment who is your insurance provider. Oh, we don't accept medical coupons. And we don't know of any doctors (in their right mind) who do. You might try some of the walk in centers in Kennewick or Pasco.

Well today I was off from work so I thought Hey, it's within 30 days and I'm home I should call the walk in place in Kennewick where we've been before and were pretty satisfied with their service.

Oh you DO accept medical coupons. But you don't do physicals???

So as a last ditch effort I tried La Clinica who I KNOW accepts medical coupons and does physicals. But alas they don't accept Molina and I don't want (or have time ) to change to Community Health Plan of Wa. *sigh*

I called Molina at their 1-800-NO-HUMANS number and finally found that if I had any other questions I could press '0' and be transferred to a human who could help. Instead I pressed '0' and was transferred back to the beginning of the message. Twice!

I called the 1-800-LONG-WAIT number on the medical coupon. Waited on hold for 12 minutes to talk to a woman who told me she couldn't help me but that I could call the 1-800-NO-HUMANS number and they should be able to help me there!!!

I called my mom and asked for recommendations. She gave me the name of her doctor but you guessed it they don't accept medical coupons.

She gave me the number of a really nice Dr. who used to work at La Clinica but has since branched out on his own. Called him and surprise, surprise he DOES accept medical coupons. But only open coupons which NO ONE HAS!! They are in the process of trying to contract with Molina but won't be for about 2 more weeks. Too long.

I remembered that when I first got my Molina Cards they had mistakenly switched my Dr from Dr. Wojnas to Dr. Wannarachu (or something vaguely like that). So out of desperation I called this mysterious doctor and found that he doesn't take medical coupons either!!! But oddly his partner Dr. Nazar does. So I asked the gentleman receptionist if I could set up a new patient appointment for my son. He said first I needed to call Molina at 1-800-NO-HUMANS to officially change my PCP (primary care provider) to Dr. Nazar. Then I could make an appointment.

So I did. I won't get the new cards listing Dr.Nazar for 2 weeks but I made the appointment for Friday. So there!!! :P

Gee that was simple!

OK, I know we've been over the targeted ads at the top of blogger before but These two left me confused.

These were the ads that were on top of my blog when I signed in this am. They way not be there anymore so I have captured them for posterity...

Bariatric Chairs
Ergonomically designed bariatric seating systems

Obese Woman
Date Hundreds of Thousands of Plus-Size Singles, Admirers.


???


Sometimes I wonder how much the blogger gods really see...

My son has created a character that he draws all the time. Over and over. I finally decided that if he was going to keep doing this I should be documenting this somehow in case he becomes rich and famous and gets on Letterman.

So I give you Aiden's blog by proxy...

The Continuing Saga of Noi the Popcorn Man!

Enjoy!

P.S. he was pretty thrilled to see his pictures online. :)

While reading Mike's blog today I followed his link to The Sneeze which is a disgustingly hilarious blog that everyone should go read in it's entirety.

In the meantime however you should definitely read this volume of 'Steve Don't Eat It'.

I realize that philosophically I should be deeply offended by this post. But I laughed so hard reading it that all is forgiven!

This morning at the interview I got offered the job on the spot. I start Saturday. The job is listed as 'full time 30-40 hours a week'. 30 hours isn't full time by anyone's standards but we'll assume for now that it'll be more than that most weeks. After the interview I went to my WorkFirst appointment and told them the good news. They said that since the job is only minimum wage I am still eligible for cash assistance. Here's how it works.

They take my wage $7.16 and figure that if I'm working 35 hours a week my monthly income will be about $1002.40 then they say that only half of that counts towards my grant what that means is they divide that number in half and get $501.20. Then they subtract that from the $642 I get from the state and arrive at roughly $140. That's how much I am still eligible to receive. But in order to get it I have to stay in job search and keep looking for jobs. It almost seems reasonable except that you can only be on welfare cash assistance for 60 months EVER. So if you stay on the program for $140 you're eating up months out of your eligibility. Sounds like a stupid waste of time to me! So I said no thanks. If I have a job and I can pay my bills you can take that $140 and your hoops and give them to someone else to jump through. :-)

I got home to find a message on my machine that Winco wants to interview me today. That's the thing I dreaded most. See Winco pays better. And has benefits. I hate having to disappoint people especially people I like. And I liked Lois at the gas station this morning. I would feel like a fink quitting before I even start. But Winco is a better job, all around.

I finally made the decision that I would go ahead and go to the Winco interview and see how it went. I was making lunch and Kathrynn says "Kat called today." Kat, Kat who? Kat the adulterous whore Kat? Kat some imaginary person my 5 year old made up Kat? Or Cat the lady who interviewed me at Fred Meyer?

With a little further prying into the mind of my 5 year old I was able to ascertain that it was Cat from Fred Meyer calling to offer me the playland job. I called her back and she asked me to come in for a drug test on Thursday. I told her I had already accepted a full time position elsewhere. It was easier than I expected.

Anyone ever worked for Winco?

So I'm officially on a government mandated job hunt. It's not so bad. It's kinda fun actually to sit and alter my resume for different jobs and then print it out on pretty paper. I wish THAT could be my job. Hell, even turning them in and imagining myself in different jobs. Talking to managers and pretending I want their job more than anything else in the world. All fun. Fun, fun, fun. It'll be less fun if/when I actually get a job. Well that's not true. I like new jobs.

For about the first 3 months I love them. After that they continue to be sorta fun for a few more months before I start telling myself it's boring and thinking about quitting. After about 9 months the rest of my world will be in so much chaos that I have to quit. There's something I should put on my resume! LOL

Here's my job hunt so far (because I know you care)...

• McDonalds on Torbett (said they were checking with the McDonalds where I worked. Never called)
• Fred Meyer (Got an interview but they never called back).
• The Dollar Store in Richland by DQ. (They say you have to be available all hours but then they tell you the most you would be working is 16 a week???)
• IsoRay (sent in a resume and cover letter. This job sounds too cool for me.)
• Red Lion Kennewick (Mailed resume)
• Hasting in Kennewick (applied through WorkSource)
• Court Club (as an aerobics instructor, I mean housekeeper. )
• Park's Edge (This used to be Jackpot, right above Howard Amon. They called and I have an interview tomorrow)
• Heads and Tails Bridal Sales (Oh, can't you just see that? LOL)
• Sherwin Williams Paint Store (turned in resume. I would like that job)
• Winco (as a cake decorator. I took an online pre-employment test yesterday. Haven't heard anything yet.)

Tomorrow I have to go out to Americold which is WAY out in the boonies to apply for an office clerk job. I have to fill out my application online for a food service job at KGH and ... a custodian or lunch lady job with the school district. I feel like I would be selling my soul to the devil with that one. But the pay is REALLY good!! So at least there would be a high price on my soul.

Finding 15 contacts a week is proving to be a lot easier than I expected. Juggling my time between calls, resume making, driving around, interviews and having enough time with my family (enough time to neglect them and play my x-box that is) is proving much more difficult.

Anyway, wish me luck in my interview tomorrow. Maybe this gas station will be the next job I quit after 6 months. ;-)

I've been doing too much snow boarding lately. My house is a disaster. Snowboarding? Did I just say snowboarding? Indeed I did. But it's August, you say. True. But there are no such things as seasons on my X-Box. I've been playing Amped. Which is a kick-ass virtual snowboarding game. If only I could somehow use my DDR pad to control it there might be some legitimate calories being burned. But the only thing getting a workout now is my thumbs.

The problem with this game is it builds a false sense of confidence. You all know next winter I'm going to think I know how to snowboard and I'm going to break my neck. It makes it look so easy.

The real dilemma though is that it's so much easier to come home after a long HOT day of looking for a job and plop myself down in front of the AC and hit the slopes than it is to, say, hit the dishes. I finally had to do some dishes tonight though. I purchased the stuff I needed to make this HUGE salad and there wasn't a single clean dish in the house. It's gotten so bad that my kids were bringing me bowls to pour milk in to drink (yes bringing it me at the couch were I was snowboarding. What? you think I would actually get up??).

I'm ranked 79th in the WORLD!!! Shawn is way back at 84th! It's not often that I'm better than him at something like this. So what if he has a broken arm that's in a cast? So what if it gets sore 20 minutes into the game. That should affect his SNOWBOARDING should it.

I found this disturbing little piece of artwork while flipping through Aiden's new notebook today. I'm not sure if I should be impressed by his obvious use of emotions and, er, anatomy. Or if I should be really alarmed! :-)