The Venting Thread

[mamselle]

Am I the only one griping?

Hmmm....

Small mini-vent...

I've been pushing myself all AM to get things done so I could hit the local library and use its subscription link to the state archives to do more book-work.

Oooppsss....

Holiday.

M.

(Or maybe this is a vinhale: At least there's wifi in other more commercial places...!)

[fishbrains]

Why are we forced to use the term "the data" as a synonym for "facts"--as if it is just not possible that numbers could be another language people use to be dishonest? If we aren't allowed to see the raw data (including the original questions), we aren't allowed to see how the raw data was aggregated (if that is the correct term), and we aren't allowed to question why "the data" was interpreted (by you) in a particular way all because it is "the data," then why did I have to attend this meeting? Drop the dog-and-pony show, and just tell me the party line I'm supposed to mindlessly regurgitate so I can get on with my life.

[paultuttle]

Nestor is coming, so the scar tissue in my left ankle--a legacy of playing rather aggressive soccer when I was in high school, resulting in an opposing player taking me out of the game with a perfectly timed slide that created a horribly "sprained" ankle necessitating a short while on crutches--has started the pain-and-inflammation process.

(Sometimes I want to be a cyborg.)

[science.expat]

I HATE moving

[ergative]

I HATE moving

You poor thing. I hear and sympathize, and I'm so sorry.

[polly_mer]

Nestor is coming, so the scar tissue in my left ankle--a legacy of playing rather aggressive soccer when I was in high school, resulting in an opposing player taking me out of the game with a perfectly timed slide that created a horribly "sprained" ankle necessitating a short while on crutches--has started the pain-and-inflammation process.

(Sometimes I want to be a cyborg.)

I'm with you on being a cyborg as a solution to some of those joints that tell me exactly how cold and damp the weather is.

[science.expat]

I HATE moving

You poor thing. I hear and sympathize, and I'm so sorry.

Thanks. I AM moving to a new good job so shouldn't complain...

[AmLitHist]

Updates:

I finally got my ADA accommodations!  It came in at just under three months, from first inquiry to the actual grant, but not before the HR woman tried during the last meeting to make me to back and get even more redundant paperwork from my doctor.  Happily, the local director of my national union was there and told HR in no uncertain terms that more paperwork was NOT going to happen. Happily, other admins in the room, including my dean, were reasonable and very willing to allow my request and actually offer other assistance as well.

Also, all the bloodwork with the hematologist came back relatively OK.  Some numbers are still high, but there are several plausible factors that could explain them; the good news is that, at the moment, the genetic tests don't show the mutation that defines this particular cancer. So my internist will monitor my general numbers over the next few months, and I go back for more detailed bloodwork at the hematologist in six months. Of course, if other symptoms come up, I'll go back sooner. All of this isn't permanent proof against cancer, as the mutation status/numbers can change (given my family history of other cancers), but for the moment, it's one less thing to worry about.

Thanks to all for your support!

[mamselle]

Wow. Very good news.

I'm glad your support team put the kaibosh on the paperwork runaround, and that they were supportive.

AND that the bloodwork is in the "better-than-it-might-otherwise-have-been" range.

All good thoughts.

Stay calm and carry on!

;--}

M.

[science.expat]

Great news, ALH. Fingers crossed that things continue to go well.

[ergative]

Absolutive's meatsuit has decided to update the software in his inner ear and completely bricked the firmware. He's been puking every time he tries to sit up, and that makes it difficult to drink water.

Making matters more complicated, we're in a rental cottage on vacation.

Making matters less complicated, the cottage is actually really clean and comfortable, much quieter than our apartment in the city, and has lots of spare towels and blankets and laundry facilities. We have it until Saturday, and the nice doctors we called think it's likely he'll feel better by then when his inner ear adjusts. He was able to keep down the medicine long enough for it to get absorbed before puking again.

I've also solved the drinking water problem: Our lovely well-appointed cottage had baby bottles in the kitchen, perfectly suited for imbibing fluids while lying utterly still in bed. We'll see how things go tonight.

I'm desperately worried, tired from being up most of last night, and periodically crying from stress.  I'm also getting really sick of washing out the puke basin.

[Puget]

Absolutive's meatsuit has decided to update the software in his inner ear and completely bricked the firmware. He's been puking every time he tries to sit up, and that makes it difficult to drink water.

Making matters more complicated, we're in a rental cottage on vacation.

Making matters less complicated, the cottage is actually really clean and comfortable, much quieter than our apartment in the city, and has lots of spare towels and blankets and laundry facilities. We have it until Saturday, and the nice doctors we called think it's likely he'll feel better by then when his inner ear adjusts. He was able to keep down the medicine long enough for it to get absorbed before puking again.

I've also solved the drinking water problem: Our lovely well-appointed cottage had baby bottles in the kitchen, perfectly suited for imbibing fluids while lying utterly still in bed. We'll see how things go tonight.

I'm desperately worried, tired from being up most of last night, and periodically crying from stress.  I'm also getting really sick of washing out the puke basin.

Likely you've already identified the cause with the doctors, but if not it sounds a lot like benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which I had never heard of until my grandmother had it, but apparently is fairly common--basically the calcium crystals in your inner ear get loose and cause extreme vertigo when moving or tilting your head. Luckily there are a set of maneuvers that are usually successful in re-positioning them and resolving the problem (though it tends to re-occur)-- google Epley maneuver.

[ergative]

Absolutive's meatsuit has decided to update the software in his inner ear and completely bricked the firmware. He's been puking every time he tries to sit up, and that makes it difficult to drink water.

Making matters more complicated, we're in a rental cottage on vacation.

Making matters less complicated, the cottage is actually really clean and comfortable, much quieter than our apartment in the city, and has lots of spare towels and blankets and laundry facilities. We have it until Saturday, and the nice doctors we called think it's likely he'll feel better by then when his inner ear adjusts. He was able to keep down the medicine long enough for it to get absorbed before puking again.

I've also solved the drinking water problem: Our lovely well-appointed cottage had baby bottles in the kitchen, perfectly suited for imbibing fluids while lying utterly still in bed. We'll see how things go tonight.

I'm desperately worried, tired from being up most of last night, and periodically crying from stress.  I'm also getting really sick of washing out the puke basin.

Likely you've already identified the cause with the doctors, but if not it sounds a lot like benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which I had never heard of until my grandmother had it, but apparently is fairly common--basically the calcium crystals in your inner ear get loose and cause extreme vertigo when moving or tilting your head. Luckily there are a set of maneuvers that are usually successful in re-positioning them and resolving the problem (though it tends to re-occur)-- google Epley maneuver.

[back from another basin-scrubbing festival]

The vertigo has mostly gone away, and only the movement-induced vomiting remains. The doctor didn't seem concerned, and thinks it's a one-time mechanical thing in the inner ear that his brain needs to readjust to. It's just been phone calls because he's too sick to move, but the doctor said to give it 24-48 hours and it should clear up on its own, with instructions to call them if it doesn't by the time he's finished his medicine.

[mamselle]

I hope it does resolve soon. No fun at all.

My (more petty) gripe: Why, why, why does it take 5 bounces to look up an account, set up an account, pay a bill, or talk to a human being who actually knows what's going on???????

I've been on a chat line for 1/2 hour to set up the account, then on the phone for another 45 min. with one, then another, then another, and then another(!) person who only knows part of something, not all of it, and has to pass me on "to someone who can REALLY help me."

The last guy was the worst. First, he tries to upgrade everything I chose, even after twice telling him I only wanted the one item, and no others. Then, he asks a bunch of truly inane questions about something that I explained was impossible - twice - and he kept saying "bear with me, I have to ask this," and I kept saying, "but what I'm telling you answers it!"

Meanwhile my tea was getting cold and the 6 piles of stuff on the desk morphed into 8...they do that, if you don't start on them right away...so now I have more to do than when I started on the phone with them.

AND I still have other calls to make. I might, just might, at least get to do the copying and printing I came to do, but even that's in doubt now.

Grumble.

M.

[paultuttle]

Thanks, archaeo42 and Osusanna, for being sympathetic to my first-world problems!

I did think about the newest Mazda6, but they don't seem to come with manual transmissions in any model any more. And thanks for suggesting the Mazda3, but my legs are longer than my torso, so cars that size are a tight fit. Ironically, the tiniest economy cars are an excellent fit, but judging from my rental car history, they tend to be sold without essentials like armrests or understandable instrument panels and typically handle like elephants on ice skates and accelerate like sloths with sleep deprivation, so they're beyond consideration.

But thanks for the sympathy!

____

New vent: Continued "very high" ragweed pollen in my area per Weather.com warnings.

Update: Bought the Accord. It's pretty damn fast, but the steering feel is numb, the seats are too low, the electronic nannies are too intrusive, and the whole car feels like it's a size larger than my Mazda6.

Which I miss.

Every.

Single.

Time.

I.

Drive.

The.

Accord.

<wishing some car manufacturer sold new (in the USA) a handsome mid-sized four-door hatchback with a stick, point-and-shoot steering, athletic handling married to a supple/comfortable ride, seriously good fuel economy, and enough space to for a six-footer like me to sleep overnight in the back; saddened that this became unavailable when the last USA-bound Mazda6 hatchback was sold in the 2008 model year>

<shutting my mouth before grumpily shouting "Get off my lawn!" :) >