Very Ramdom Nits and bits

[susandennis]

My ISP is a wonderful outfit - local and owned by a woman. I've been with them now for about 10 years. And happy as a clam. I could probably get cheaper service but I doubt seriously if I could get better. They are there when I need them which, because their service is so good, is rare. My DSL line with with Qwest but if I have a problem, I call my ISP and they call Qwest. This has happened exactly 2 times in 10 years.

I pay my ISP annually. In October. I got a note the other night that my annual bill is going down - by, it looks like, about 25%. Did I mention I love these guys? Their website isn't updated with the news yet but I did read something there this morning suggesting I could save money by purchasing my DSL modem. So I went to the Qwest website to make sure I was not renting the friggin modem!

It took many tries to get to my account. It didn't like my username or my password. By jumping through their various hoops, I discovered that both my username and my password were correct, their website just wanted to be sure, I guess. Then I decided to check DSL pricing and upgrades.

According to their website, DSL is not available for my telephone number. It says this right under where it tells me how much I am paying for my DSL services.

Ya gotta love it.

I did some googling and learned that I am paying the going rate for my DSL bits and for my voice line so I'm just going to move on with my life.

Mom continues to get better. She's now back to her regular confusion with life. Since Daddy died (which coincided with her getting even more older), it takes her way longer to process info. But, she's ok with that. She just leaves large chunks of the day for thinking and planning and getting ready to do whatever is next. This morning, when I called at 9:15, she was in a rush because Katherine, the physical therapist, was coming at 10. She was showered and dressed and ready but "I have to get mentally ready." Ok.

Katherine is an excellent egg who loves Mom to bits. She's worked at the 'home' since forever. When Mom and Dad first moved in there, she was a bartender in the pub while she finished up her physical therapy degree and internship. She does not let Mom get away with anything - no whining, no slacking, no nothing.

Especially in the Summertime, I wear scrubs. Yep, hospital/medical scrubs. I wear bright and cheery ones but they are scrubs and Crocs. Today I have on a top that is a dark blue background and tropical fish all over it. I have on bright red pants and bright red Crocs. If you look past the colors, I could easily have just stepped out of surgery. One of the regular bus people this morning asked me if I was a nurse. Perfectly legit question. So we got to talking about scrubs and she grilled me.

For one thing, she works down the road at Safeco Insurance. Safeco is one of the last vestiges - at least in this area - of strict dress code. I'm pretty sure that until a couple of years ago - like maybe 2001, they did not allow facial hair on men and required women to wear skirts. Seriously. (Yes, they probably did not allow facial hair on women or men to wear skirts but you never really hear that spelled out in the local lore.) So, I'm always on the bus in my scrubs and she's always on the bus gussied up.

I explained that scrubs come in all kinds of great fun colors and patterns. They are cotton and cool. They have pockets! The pants have generous deep pockets and the tops have easy nice pockets as well. Even though they are cotton, they don't need ironing if you pop 'em out of the dryer onto a hanger before wrinkles can set in. They are dirt cheap. And they make fat lady sizes.

So, no, I'm not a nurse and I am honestly the very very very last person you want in a medical crisis of any kind.

I'm a walking example of the book/cover judging warning.

We got warm on Monday and now we're back to Northwest summer cool. This is really turning out - so far - to be an excellently mild Summer so far. I am ready to install the air conditioner as soon as it's needed but I'm looking at the 10 day forecast and I'm thinking that this year I might not need it until after the 4th of July. And that would be a first. I started keeping track of when I put it in and when I pulled it out in 2002 and here are the previous install dates:

June 21, 2002
June 6, 2003
June 19, 2004

I do need to come up with a more tidy, nicer looking way to do the foam when it is time. Maybe I'll wrap it with some fabric to hide it's foamness.