Day 0.5: Flying to London and Time Travel

Using an airplane to time travel is always fun. Today we will travel five hours forward in time. 

Day 0: Leaving for London, 9 August 2014

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

No, wait, that's wrong. Well, not wrong, exactly. Well, you know what I mean.

Today is the first day of a 3-week vacation, and I'm headed off to Cardiff, Wales. After that it's London, England (for Worldcon), Dublin, Ireland (Shamrokon), Atlanta for Dragon*Con. and then back home to Tampa. Yes, I am going to three conventions, three weekends in a row, in three different countries. I am going to have a marvelous time, and I am going to be TIRED at the end! 8-)

Stealing is Stealing - A Followup

This is a followup to my post from Saturday regarding wait staff who steal from their customers.

I've received various replies to my actions from Saturday night, where the only tip I left my waiter was the money he stole from me. 

One person posited that all I did was perpetuate the myth that white women (that's what I am) are bad tippers (that's what I am not). To that I say that the myth is a self-fulfilling situation. Somewhere along the way the waiters and waitresses (servers) decided that white women tip poorly, so they give lack-luster service in expectation of receiving a bad tip, and the poor service received results in a bad tip. If the servers would simply give everyone good service, without trying to pre-judge their tip, and the level of service they plan to provide, based on the size, shape, sex, skin color, nationality, or clothing of their customers, I think they would find a marked increase in their tips.

Stealing Is Stealing

Tonight I dined at Longhorn Steakhouse on Westshore, in Tampa. I received mediocre service from my waiter. Not bad, but not great. I never got a bread plate. He did a "drive-by" drop off of my salad onto the far side of my table as he hurried to another table. My steak and shrimp arrived sans the shrimp. I was 90% done with my steak by the time the shrimp arrived. But both were hot, and my steak was cooked properly (a less-than-average occurrence for me; I'm just lucky that way). And my glass had been empty for 10-15 minutes before I got a refill. 

I declined dessert and the waiter brought my check. I put in two $20s, expecting most of one of them back as change. I started paying cash at restaurants whenever possible after a waiter at Mimi's Cafe failed to notice that he didn't return my charge card because he had dropped it on the floor on the way back to my table. Lucky for us both that a kind person found it and turned it in. 

Teri's Attic Logo

Here' the logo I made for my eBay virtual yard sale. What do you think?

Apartment Living Sucks - March 2014

Today, I got a call from my apartment complex office, demanding information on my renter's insurance. 

What business is it of theirs whether or not I have insurance on my belongings? 

Turns out that back in December 2012 they implemented a new policy requiring all residents to have renters insurance. Of course, they never bothered to get around to notifying all of the current residents that there was a new policy which affects us. The office crew are reviewing all the accounts this month, and calling people who have "failed to supply the proper paperwork". How can I supply information I had no knowledge was required?

I'm no fool; I've had renters insurance since the day I moved in. Now I have to find my policy to see what coverage amounts I have, and because this "new" policy of theirs requires minimum coverage amounts, if I don't meet the minimums I will have to buy more insurance. Oh, joy.

I'd like to say that I'm sick of all the things the apartment complex springs on the residents in a retroactive fashion, but sick isn't quite a strong enough word. 

I REALLY need to get my house-buying ball rolling faster! 

And win the lottery so I don't need a mortgage. ;-)

I'm Saying No To Poisonous Drugs

That does it. The cough is coming back. I am SO done with this nasty blood pressure medicine, and the doctor who refuses to listen to me that it's been making me sick. I've felt worse since taking this garbage, and had higher blood pressure, than I did on no medication at all. 

I've been reading "user reviews" on WebMD and now I know I'm not the only one who's had their BP GO UP on Benicar. Plus, I'm suffering many of the same nasty side effects as other people, such as nauseating head pain (probably from the soaring BP), extreme lethargy, muscle and joint pain, periodic blurred vision, dizziness, inability to think clearly, high blood sugar, high cholesterol. Others have had kidney failure. 

One thing almost everyone with bad side effects seems to have in common is a doctor who refuses to believe the drug is causing the patient's ill health, even when presented with the fact of the improved health of the patient after discontinuing the drug.

I feel 90 instead of 50. 

I'm going to be the boss of my health and quit taking this poison before it kills my kidneys. Or me.

I just wonder what the recovery time is. I don't want to go to another doctor while I am suffering from these crappy side effects, only to have them try to treat me for diseases I don't actually have. That is what this doctor's been trying to do, too, instead of backing off the poison and giving my body a chance to hit the reset button. 

Nothing is worth feeling this bad.