Halle Heart Museum

That is where we went last Friday with Seamus' and another class on their field trip, up to Phoenix to the Halle Heart Musuem. It was actually very interesting and informative. It sure made us take a look at the way we eat and we've definitely changed our eating habits since. You should eat no more than 65g of fat/day. We got to see clogged arteries full of plaque and fat, and what happens once your arteries get too clogged - stroke and heart attack. But eating healthy and getting plenty of excercise will help reduce that risk.

("cause damnit, Tony...I wanna be your friend forever!") LOL :-)

Planet Feedback

So I wrote P-Noble another letter, this time via Planet feedback. They responded within 2 days with, "I'm really sorry you're having so much trouble with your phone. What we can do for you is go ahead and let you upgrade to a different phone for $59.99 (regular price $99.99) . That's applying the $50 from your other phone toward this one plus $10...how does that sound?"

Well, it sounds better than your other offer, but still not acceptable. How about you let me pay $49.99 for the new phone? That's applying the $50 from the broken phone toward this one and NOT paying an addt'l $10...or will that cause P-Noble to completely go under and out of business?

I'm going to the mall today to look at the other phone (Nokia 6101) and then I'm gonna call mr. customer relations back and we'll see how it goes.

Response to P-Noble letter...

So they responded with: "You can send in your current phone and get another one of the same model...it may be new or refurbished, or you can do a handset upgrade for the full price of $199. Those are really your only two options."

Excuse me but no, those are NOT my only two options just because you say they are.

Time to write another letter and another and another until they fix this problem without me having to pay another dime!

l...is how many bars I get on my cell phone.

My wife wrote a letter to our cell phone company, who we will refer to as P-Noble.
Sadly, they have yet to respond. So to all who read this, if you're thinking about going to P-Noble for your cell phone service, please save your time and your money and go elsewhere.
Below is the letter:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I recently upgraded my phone with the agreement that I would extend my contract for another two years. Not having had any previous issues with my phone or my service, I readily agreed to this extension. I paid additional money to upgrade said phone with the expectation that it would function consistently and without interruption. Since receiving the phone, I have had more dropped calls than successfully completed ones, and the only thing that has been consistent is the inability to complete a telephone conversation.

I spoke with --- the supervisor today who informed me that since this was “day 15” of my 14 day “buyer’s remorse period” there was nothing that could be done, which is in direct opposition to what -------’s supervisor, ----------, said. You see, --------- works in your outsourcing call center and gave misinformation when he said I could exchange my phone at a "P*Noble" store and instructed me to contact him directly if there was any problem (even though I purchased the phone directly through customer “care”). This all came as a bit of a surprise to me as I was never made aware of any such “buyer’s remorse period” and I find this to be not only ridiculous, but completely arbitrary. I was then told by --- that since it is “scripted” into what is said in the call, I would have certainly been told about it.

With all due respect, I am a veteran of customer service and call center culture, and I find the entire situation to be nothing more than a tool for corporate divisiveness. Tell me, what would happen if a shoddily constructed phone were to be replaced outside of the “buyer’s remorse period”? Will the entire species be damned to extinction? Is it the never before revealed “fifth horseman of the apocalypse”? Was it chiseled into the third tablet that Moses dropped on his way up the hill?

Seriously, the phone doesn’t work. I pay my bills in full and on time. I can’t even get a signal in my driveway on a cloudless day. My wife has never had a problem with her phone or her service and, based on comparison, her phone consistently maintains a much stronger signal. The problem clearly lies within the phone. The solution is simple. I want a new and different phone with an absolutely ironclad guarantee that it will work. I will not accept a refurbished phone because I have already paid for a new one. Unless this happens in a timely fashion, the only “remorse” I will have will be from signing up with "P*Noble" in the first place.

Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

M---- M------

This letter was also copied to the President/CEO and VP of "P-Noble." I'll let you know :::call dropped:::

"Stop playing on the phone...!"

Is what a Detroit 911 operator kept telling a 5-year-old boy who called twice to say that his mommy had passed out. The mom ended up dying because the dispatcher was too G-damn lazy to do her fucking job. A lawsuit has been filed.

I hope they not only throw the book at her, but beat her soundly with it as well!

Metaphorically Speaking...

I am not gone...for as every sun sets, it will soon rise.
I am the rush you feel when looking deep into your lover's eyes.
I am the breeze that sings in the high mountain trees...
I am the meadow grass, covered with a late Summer's freeze.
I am the never forgotten life, like that of a growing child...
I am the coarse fur coat of a coyote,
howling a midnight call to the wild.
I am as the wind, a happy caress, a violent rage...but always unseen.
I am the long Spring rains that bring to the fields a lush and healthy green.

I am life...and all that I am
shows nothing of what I have mortally done...
I am free...but chained to a life of never living my dreams...

I am not gone...I am as the clouds that graze the ground...
I am life and all of its beauty, its colors, its sounds...
I am as simple as a linked chain...as strong as it is weak...
I am the rock, as proud in a puddle as it is on
a high mountain peak...

I am the ripples that threaten the water
of an undisturbed lake...
I am a captive in life, like autumn leaves
impaled on the tines of a rake.
I am the coolness of blue on a hot summers day...
I am the tear cleansing the sorrow
when a loved one strays...

I am the music in your soul, echoed by the stars above...
And though my breath is now gone...
And as I give my body unto the Earth...
above all else, I wish you all love.

-----------------
copyright 1998 mfg2

So we took the kids to see CON: TL,TW,ATW. If you haven't seen it yet and it's still playing at a theatre near you - GO SEE IT! It must be seen on the big screen. The cinematography was spectacular and the visual effects were breathtaking. Fortunately we had not read the book(s) so we had nothing to compare it too, which is good because then we didn't know if it stayed true to the book or not, which is sometimes a let down, as I have experienced with the Harry Potter books/movies.

Anyway, two thumbs WAY UP!

Got root canal today...what a suck fest! I hate needles in my mouth. It took about an hour and 40 minutes. My jaw is so fucking sore from having to hold it open all that time. And some stuff he was using to clean out the canals was burning my sinuses and my throat...I swear it was chlorine bleach. Ick!
So now I have to go have my teeth cleaned and then go back to get a crown put on this tooth. Right now there's stuff in there to keep the tooth from falling apart and I can't eat on that side until I get the crown - which will be about a month from now. *sigh*

Guess I'll go and have some pizza flavored jell-0.

Well, it's been almost two months now and this damn Phlebitis on my arm is STILL here, with not even a HINT that it has ANY intention of EVER going away! ACK! But I went to the doctor again this morning and he said there's really nothing that can be done, aside from going and having a surgeon yank it out...uh, no thanks. He assured me that eventually it WILL go away.

Tomorrow I get to go have a root canal. Boy, I tell ya, the fun never ends!

Peace.

Question for the day: If gay men are "friends of Dorothy", then who are lesbians friends with?

Bravo!

So we went to see MAMMA MIA last night and what a GREAT show! It wasn't Fantastic, but it was definitely worth seeing. I loved the lighting, the orchestra, the dancing, the singing - everything was really cool...lots of energy. At the end you really feel like you're at an ABBA concert...the actors are right on, man!

I love Broadway shows. First one we saw was MOVIN' OUT...set to the music of Billy Joel. That was great, too!

If MAMMA MIA is heading your way and you can go see it, I DEF recommend it.

Tonight's the big night...we're going to see MAMMA MIA. Can't wait! Tomorrow I'll let you know how it was, but everyone that has seen it says it's FANTASTIC!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DARLING (TOMORROW). LOVE YA!

My My, How Can I Resist Ya?

We got our tickets in the mail and we're really going...YAAAAAAAAAAAY! :-)
This will be a birthday present for Katie and for me...since I kinda got jipped! (how DO you spell that anyway? I've never had to spell that before.)

I'll let you know how it was...

2000 SUCKS

That is how I am referring to this year so far. What with the appendectomy and all...as if that wasn't enough, now I had to go see the doctor yesterday because one of the veins in my left arm is swollen and it hurts. She said I have phlebitis. A blood clot is normally not present with phlebitis but I have to go for an ultrasound on Monday just to rule it out. I'm also on antibiotics again in case there is any infection.

Well, I'm off to a different doctor now...won't discuss that one here though.

Hope the rest of you have a good day. *sigh*

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!


Don't forget to tell those who are special to you just how much you care for and appreciate them!

So I finally got the drain removed yesterday and now I can move around freely and lay on my right side again, sans pain.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my loving wife, Katie, for staying by my side throughout this entire ordeal. At the hospital she slept (or dozed off and on) on a couch in the waiting room for probably the first two or three nights I was there. The last three nights they made my room private and brought her a cot to sleep on - God bless them! She didn't eat, slept very little, but never complained. I know I would not have made it through this had it not have been for her. I mean, the things she has had to do for me I never would have imagined, but life happens and that's just what you do for your loved ones. I had no dignity left and we can truly say that are married...I mean, when you have to wipe your spouse's ass - lilterally, there is nothing left. I love her with all my soul.

Okay, so yeah...4 days until we hear "CONGRATULATIONS MIKAL, YOU'VE GOT APPENDICITIS."

So Monday I woke up with just a little discomfort, nothing big. I decided to mention it to Katie and she asked me some questions and suggested it mihgt be my sppendix. Well the pain waxed and waned all day and after I piekced her up from work and she talked me into going to the E.R. We get there around 5pm. Well I had to drink some "contrast," wich is just cherry flavored crap to coat your stomach and then I had to wait for an hour to get a CT scan doen...which showed that I had appendicitis and I wold be admitted and and have surgery...grrreat.

Well I finally got a room around 3 a.m. tuesday morning, was in surgery by 11 and it's been slooooow going ever since. The surgeon, Dr. Favre (Bret's sister-in-law) said my appendix actually burst and part of it went into my back...which was I wasn't feeling any pain in the fromt like normal.

Well I spent 6 days in the hospiatl with tubest being shoved down my throat, needle sticks for what seems liked every 30 minutes and vomiting. I've home now for two days, and today is better. I'm keeping food and water down and I SEEM to be able to keep my antibiotics down...I have to go see the Dr. today for another CT scan to make sure there's no lingering infection...which means more contrast, more IV sticks....ick!!!!

Okay, i'm goign now...pretty out of it if you couldn't tell.

4 days until we FINALLY hear...

5 Days before the sound breaks through...