Facebook Ruined For Me Now

Wow. I can't believe it's been so long since I've been here to write anything!

 

I've been on Facebook all this time. I enjoyed being on it too despite many, many annoying aspects....such as every time I turned around I had to go and check on my privacy setting and make sure what I wanted visible was visibile and what I wanted private remained private.

 

I had tons of friends and almost all my family members. It was a quick, painless way to see photos and jokes and risque posts as well as clean out my own political spleen when it got to me to see what a clown we have for a prez.

 

I know that Facebook is free and as such we should be grateful for any little social crumb they scatter our way, but no one I know likes the Timeline look. It is as amateurish and sophomoric as MySpace ever thought about being. My daughter Elaine says they don't want adults on it, they want kids. I guess kids are easier to deal with that mad as hell old ladies like me.

 

OMG, I've completely forgotten how to write HTML. Thank goodness for the free online HTML editors!

 

Anyway, I'm most upset with Facebook because I'm genetically programed to resist change on every level and once I've made up my mind it's a done deal. I can't begin to tell you how many mistakes I've made along the way, but if you can't stand up for your own personal code of standards and practices, then what good are they?

 

I'm going to miss Mafia Wars and my “family” both in the game and in real life. Mafia Wars basically sucks, but I'm so darn competitive that I took to it like a duck to a pond.

I Got Kicked Off Of Facebook!!

It's true.

I was having such a good time on Facebook doing the social thing. Hooking up. Hanging out. Having funny as only us old gals can. Had me a SuperPoke Pet named Elvis and a RockYou Pet named Precious. Had just attained Level 218 and earned a Golden Throne in Mafia Wars. Beginning to get really bored with My Farm, but still visiting it every day and giving gifts to folks.

I went to Louisiana to gamble and took my laptop so I could bank my over 20k hourly earnings in Mafia Wars and keep up with all the other things that need daily attention. First night I fired up via the inroom hookup and got the message that my account had been disabled.

They say I violated the Terms of Service. They don't offer any real explanation of what crime I allegedly committed, but they did offer a link to their TOS and supposedly a way to appeal my "conviction".

I sent them email right away and said I was pretty sure I hadn't done ANYTHING wrong. Actually I wrote nicely TWICE, and I'm still waiting to be reinstated or at least an explanation for My Crime(s).

I've done a lot of pondering during the past 7 days of forced Facebook inactivity trying to figure out what happened.



I've come up with a couple of possibilities and one is that I was getting too good in Mafia Wars. I had 3737 family members and didn't see nearly as many RED notations on my player stats as I had in the beginning. I was dumping ineffective weapons on my SIL's account as he never used it anyway. Since I'd earned the Golden Throne I was generating energy faster and would of been able to complete jobs quicker to level up.

I also got crosswise with one of the "groups" of pompous little pissants that cling together ostensibly to help one another from attacks by "bullies", when they in fact become bullies in their own right. When it dawned on me what I was involved in and the constant barrage of unsolicited emails advising us to attack so-and-so, I bowed out of the group. I thought they'd have no hard feelings about my choice, but now I'm not so sure. Let me be clear, I have no proof, but all a person has to do is accuse someone of something and you can get kicked off!

There was also the matter of The Photo. My daughter thinks the photo(s) of myself with GUNS (oh, the horror of it all!) might of been what had me tossed. If that is the case with "face", I'm beyond stunned. You'd of thought they'd give me a warning on something like that, but then again, it's their game, their rules and their power. Might makes right just about any where on the planet.

I'm probably going to end up rejoining under another email address. I'll have to start over in Mafia Wars and I'm not happy about that, but at least THIS time I'll know what NOT to do in order to advance quickly and painlessly through the ranks. I'll never trust them though to not just pull the plug when and if they see fit. I'll never buy anything ever again to improve my character and that goes double for My Farm and any of the pets or other applications. I'm hanging my head in shame to admit that I ever did spend money on this crap. What was I thinking!!

Mafia Wars is fun. It's a great stress buster too. I'm going back in just to keep playing.

Facebook is two faced. On the one face they say they are a social network and they encourage you to invite everyone you know to join you there. The truer face though says you can't send out email to people you don't know, you can't send out more email than XX, you can't write too much on your wall or anyone else's. You don't know you are in "trouble" until a pink box pops up and then they don't tell you that you should cease and desist for days if not weeks in order to appease the godnobs.



I'm too old for this shit.

For awhile there I thought I'd have a T-shirt made. It would be, of course, RED and on the front would be:

I'm 66 years old and I got kicked off of Facebook!

And on the back...

....and I don't even know why!

I decided it was foolish to spend the money for the shirt. So I've appeased my hurt feelings by blogging about it here instead.

I feel better now after regurgitating it all in the blog too. At least here I've never had a worry about getting in trouble for being myself.

Kroger is Dumb

I went "Krogering" today and spent some time picking out just the right two gift cards.

I know, "they" say don't give gift cards this year because you're playing financial roulette trying to pick who might go belly up before the cards can be redeemed, but I was trying to save myself some time with my dime PLUS they have a gift card merry-go-round every few feet just begging for your patronage.

One of the cards was rather dicey because it was for a fancy French food joint, but the other was freakin' KROGER. I figure if Kroger goes under so does Walmart and we all know that ain't going to happen any time soon.

However Kroger gets my dumb shit of the year award.

I got to the checkout and while waiting for the final tally I started making out my check as is my custom. It's my custom to have everything in place so the folk(s) behind me don't have to wait any longer than necessary. That's because I'm nice.

The checker, who was not a regualr checker, but rather someone "in charge", says "OH, you can't write a check for the gift cards....you'll have to use a credit card or debit card or cash".... I say "huh?"..... He goes into this long, boring song and dance about how people would get hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards on their credit cards and then cancel them, blah, blah, blah.... they have decided to go back to honoring the credit cards, but no checks. I guess the Gov isn't bailing out the paper hangers.

Anyway I almost let fly, but instead I did my best pre-Xmas passive-aggressive bit about how I didn't see any signs saying such in the store or around the VAST displays of gift cards. He just repeated the purchase options like he was dealing with a ...... well, he probably WAS dealing with a fill-in-the-blanks, but it riled me no end. I've never written a bad check. (Okay, ONCE, back in the 70's, but that was an accident and I took care of it immediately!) I had already written out my check for an amount over so I could have some cash back (another one of my customs!). Since they are so strict about limiting overages to $50, I couldn't even say, okay just forget it. I said OKAY JUST FORGET IT, but had to write out another check to wit everyone in line had to wait.

It's no wonder that business is having a hard time with policies like that. Both the fancy French joint and Kroger lost out....I will go elsewhere and pick up two other cards and go back to being nice once more.

My View - Miller High Live Commercial

If you haven't seen the commercial...... go here.

As I rule I don't watch commercials if I can avoid them. The joy of DVR!

But I'm forced fed this commercial because I watch baseball games in real time during the playoffs, etc. and I have to take a deep breath before I continue because I'm probably the only viewer in 'Merica that thinks these commercials suck and I'm going to tell you why....

Ok, first off, I'm from East Texas and that wins me a redneck from the get-go. I have to work at it to some extent because on the one side is the East Texas background and the other side is my belief in the Golden Rule. And my distaste for judging whole groups of anything such as 'all cops are', 'all blacks are', 'all whites are', 'all fat people'...... I know, I do it too, but I really would rather go one-on-one with folks and get to know them as individuals before I go off on them.

Or maybe I don't, maybe I just think I do and I'm really just a racist, but if I am, so are the folks producing this commercial. Clearly they are using the political sign of the times to bring about the change that is so sought.....that change being the black man rising above the white one and paying us back.

IMHO this commercial is reverse discrimination. It's bigoted. Its message is that if you can afford the good seats, you aren't worthy of the brew. The actor Windell Middlebrooks is a very talented black. His job is acting, he doesn't write the commercials and maybe because he's black and very believable it's (ahem) coloring my view, but from where I sit it's not possible for me to watch the thing and not feel uncomfortable wondering if I'm the only one of the globe that thinks this is anti-white-rich-folk?

If you look carefully you'll see token black actors in the back, background of all the commercials, I guess that's supposed to be where my argument falls apart, but that doesn't work for me any more than token black in the background have worked for THEM in the white bread world.

Kelsey Seybold Sucks! - Medicare Part Two

And I was hoping there wouldn't be a Part Two.... sigh....

I don't know what I'm whining about. Some people don't even have medical insurance. Some people don't even have Medicare. Some people don't even have supplemental Medicare coverage through the employer that their dead husband gave his life for.

BUT it's MY blog and I can whine if I want to.

I've been going to a dermatologist at Kelsey-Seybold for years and years. I recently went to a Family doctor and thought I'd be using him for years and years. I'm waiting for my appointment next week with a OB/GYN also with Kelsey-Seybold.

Yesterday I get a call from some clown representing Kelsey-Seybold and he tells me that he's just following up on the letter(s) I've gotten telling me that KS will soon no longer accept "regular Medicare"...they'll only accept the Kelsey-Seybold version.

I figured him for a salesman or a con.

For Christ's sake he was calling me on his cell phone and we lost connection!

Today I did some checking and sure as shootin', KS will no longer take "regular Medicare" after 1/1/09. I either have to join one of THEIR plans or take my poor old bones elsewhere knowing full well that it's not easy finding ANY doctor that will accept "regular Medicare".

WTF?

I CAN join KelseyCare Advantage Standard Option and STILL retain my retiree/widow supplement, but if I choose to go that route I can't go to my beloved cardiologist any longer. ONLY KS's docs are included in The Plan and they are all subject to change at any given moment. (To wit: KelseyCare Advantage has formed a network of doctors, specialists and hospitals. You can only use doctors who are part of our network. The health providers in our network can change at any time.)

It's a monopoly. Or a conspiracy. Or a private company in it for the dough and perfectly capable of calling all the shots and you can either like it or lump it. Don't let the double sliding glass doors hit you in the rump on the way out, sucker.

I don't recall if I've mention that you get more mail as you approach your Golden Years than ever before in your life. Everyone wants a piece of your Medicare pie. Everybody and his brother want to sell you their plan. After awhile you just toss them all away in disgust. Obviously ONE of those I tossed unopened was the one from KS telling me I was fixin' to be screwed and to just lean back and enjoy it. No cig after though because that's bad for your health.

I'm keeping that appointment next week and the one scheduled for August 20th with the dermatologist (it takes THAT long to see her) and come 12/31/08 I'm bidding them all adieu at Kelsey-Seybold. Next time I need medical assistance other than from Dr. DeBauche I'll just book a flight to Lourdes.

Medicare and Me - Part One

Hopefully there won't be a Part Two!

I turned 65 on April 1, 2008.

I had a couple of doctor's visits in March.

My insurance company keeps bumping back my cardiologist's claim saying it needed a requested explanation from Medicare.

My brand new, crisp clean Medicare card says my Part A and Part B became effective on March 1, 2008.

I thought....figures...it's the government and they got it rong!

Well after 2 months of being jacked around I finally found out today that when one turns 65 on the 1st of the month it becomes effective the month before.

Huuh, sure, that makes perfect sense.

So easy-squeezey, my doctor has to file a claim with Medicare. No problemo. Except for the other doctor who doesn't accept Medicare. She's yet to even bill me or file with my insurance company, but she will. And then I'll have to pay each and every red cent!

I thought I was doing good to book an appointment with her the day before I turned 65 so my insurance would still be in effect. They even asked me when I made the appointment if I wanted to go ahead and find a doctor that would take Medicare, but I said NO.

It's not a big deal until you step back and look at the big picture.

I'm 45 days in my 65th year and they are killing me!

Bureaucratic fine print.

It's too soon to tell and I'm NOT giving in without a serious fight, but I'm beginning to wonder if this sort of thing isn't why people die. They just get tired of fighting the bullshit.

Grumble, grumble.

OMG I'm OLD!

I don't know how, but overnight my life flashed before my eyes and when I woke up I was OLD!

Today is my birthday. No foolin'. I'm six five. I wish I waz foolin'!

Sixty five years of age.

Ouch.

Medicare.

Depends.

Social Security.

Old lady jokes.

Cobweb coochie.

Wrinkles getting wrinkled!

Gray hair covered with harsh red highlit chemicals.

Okay, enough of that. That's the bad.... NOW for the good...

I woke up this morning!!!

The first thing I saw was NOT, repeat NOT, a white satin lining!

I got nine birthday cards and NOT one said anything about my age. Most were about how sex would be a distant memory, but, hey, I'm used to that kind of talk. I STILL own the key to the candy store even if the lock is rusty! But enough about that, don't want to gross anyone out.

Another good thing about six five is....

Wait. Don't tell me...I'll think of something...

I don't have to worry about getting pregnant.

NOW I get my senior citizen discount without asking.

I can flip people off and be rude and they chalk it up to senility.

I can get some cats.

I can get cool handles on either side of my toilet.

I can get one of those Help I've Fallen buttons.

Gosh now that I think about it. The possibilities are endless. If 40 is the new 30 and 50 is the new 40 then surely sixty five is the new 55 which as I recall didn't suck overly much.

AND if I look ahead I can see where 75 is probably the new 65 and so on and so on.

When all else fails I remember that....

Getting old is not for sissies.
Bette Davis
US movie actress (1908 - 1989)

Hugs...

Goodbye, Earthlink! You're Gonna Miss Me.

I officially canceled my account with Earthlink yesterday and it will be final on March 5, 2008.

"Syd", the man I spoke to said he was sorry to see me go and acted like he really cared when I told him how woefully I was ignored by their "Level 3" tech folks. He said they *should* of made arrangements to send someone out to my house and see what was wrong. Should'a, could'a, would'a....so I move on.

He said for only $2.95 (or some such) a month I could retain 2 of my email addresses. I thought about it a few seconds and then said naaawww. THEN he said that since I'd just gotten the new equipment, they were going to charge me a $39.95 "cancellation fee".

Well as you can imagine that's when the stuff hit the rotors!!

I passed the shuttle in my own orbit!

I said I'd hire an attorney before they saw one thin red dime. I said that was an "absolutely free" modem according to the gal that I spoke to at the time who said it was free EXCEPT for the $19.95 S&H. I paid that I ain't paying no mo! Biggest crock of excrement I've ever heard of!

Then he started backpedaling a bit and said the final say was not heard from yet and perhaps they wouldn't charge me blah, blah, blah. My daughter says he was probably trying a last ditch effort to keep some of my money coming in each month with the email address offer and hoped I'd knuckle under and pay that to avoid the additional fee. I pointed out to him not only the "absolutely free" part, but that I didn't sign anything or agree to any binding contract...I've had a DSL line from them for SEVEN years and before that I was a dial-up customer for several years. I think I've satisfied any and all requirements.

The heck of it is I was their biggest fan. I never missed an opportunity to say how well my DSL worked and how reliable Earthlink was. NOW I say, don't let the door hit you in the modem, Earthlink, I'll urge people to stay away from your domain in droves!

How I Spent My Vegas Vacation

If it's February, it's time for the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas by me and my buds.

This year we arrived on Thursday the 7th in the early afternoon and by late night I was writhing in pain on the carpeted floor at the Four Queens!



I passed out three times, but never hit the floor. Luckily some lovely security guards eased me on down. I was severely dehydrated and suffered tremendous leg cramps to prove the point.




I got carted off in an ambulance to a local teaching hospital, pumped full of fluids, tested every which way, repeatedly punctured like an old tire and subjected to the usual dehumanizing tricks of the medical professional parade. I got out Saturday afternoon and promptly hit the slots!




The fancy smancy name for fainting is syncope. That's sounds more like a rock group's name to me. Or perhaps I'm just confusing it with a syncopated rhythm.

The doctors decided that they'd blame it on my gastric bypass surgery. Firstly it's easier to dehydrate with the 'lil tum and in my case I also riled my vagus nerve and lemme tell you, mess with that puppy and you drop like a rock with no warning. None of that closing curtain or I think I'm woozy stuff...one minute you're up and the next you're out cold.




I thought it was extremely ironic that I go to Vegas and my VAGUS nerve is the star of the show! BTW, that's NOT a picture of me, but that's pretty much what I looked like by the time my vacation was over!

I brought home some sort of sneezing, snuffling, coughing my guts out by-product. Sort of my version of a diseased souvenir memento of my Vegas hospital adventure.

And to add insult to injury: can you believe they don't EVEN have slot machines or even Keno in the hospital! I could of spent a lot of time entertaining myself and they could of been raking it in. Although not having seen even one slender piece of paper with any billing details, I imagine they'll rack it up the old fashioned way.



vasovagal syncope

Huh? My Ears Are Stopped Up!

I swear it's getting worse too! It's been off and on for a couple of years, but the past 6 months or so my ears are stopped up more than ever plus I get off balance and stagger around like I'm enjoying some cheap wine!

So what do you do when you have a medical complaint besides complain? You go to the doctor. I made an appointment with an ENT and successfully completed a hearing test, a check on the pressure in my ears, an open MRI to make sure I have a brain and there is no evidence of anything blocking my ears from the brain side and finally an ENG test which was loads of cheap drunk feelin' fun.

I found out that I have a slight hearing loss in the high frequency range...I already knew that, but since the last test it hasn't gotten any worse and "considering I live in a metropoltian area and my age" it's no big deal. There is no evidence of anything untoward going on in my brain and YES I DO have one even though it "shows the usual evidence of normal aging". I was given an Rx for something mild to help with the dizziness and pretty much told it should all clear up "on its own" and to check back in 6 months. Ack! Oh and my OLD ears are "extremely" clear of wax which shot down my hope that it was a build up of crayons keeping me stopped up.

I don't want to take more drugs. I just want to hear or at least not have to walk around, correction, STAGGER around feeling like there are giant bubbles in both ears and not knowing if I'm talking too loudly or not talking at all! It seems worse when I do talk.

I know it's just allergies and the congestion is causing the eustachian tubes to block up and most people would just slug down a decongestant and be done with it, but I can't take decongestants since my MI. I take a generic Allegra every day for all the good it does. Sigh.

Oh and if I try to hold my nose close and blow it just makes it worse.

I'm bummed.

I think I'll go chew some gum. That sometimes helps.

Eating Out After RNY Gastric Bypass Surgery

My gosh it's not easy to eat out after the surgery. Now don't get me wrong, you can get the food and then get take home containers and even throw some of it away and walk away happy, but my query today is WHY can you get SUPERSIZED but you can't get SLENDERIZED meals everywhere?!





I've tried a couple of times to flash the little piece of paper I got from the surgeon saying how I can't eat a whole lot now and could I pretty please have a smaller portion even if I'm not under 12 and the request doesn't phase 'em. I was so happy when we went to Minute Maid and I discovered I could get a delicious BBQ meal deal from Lefty's. ONE meat portion with 2 sides and bread was $5.50, half the price of the much larger 2-meat $10.50 regular sized meal. Even at that I'd take a piece of foil and a plastic baggie to tote home most of the meat for a couple of other meals or give my "leftovers" to the nearest big guy with a hearty appetite.

When I made it a point to thank the man in charge for the ability to buy a smaller portioned meal he said that at first "they" were not crazy about the idea, but that he pointed out that all people had to do was buy one regular meal and then share it. We actually saw THREE adults share one regular meal one sunny afternoon at the ballpark.




My favorite Tex-Mex joint charges one dollar more for kids over 12 and adults for their "kid's meal" and they don't just have fried meat with fried potatoes like MOST of the kids meals you see. Subway is good now because they have a kid's meal with healthy choices and they aren't sticklers about age.

So mostly I just don't eat out much anymore. Or I'll get stuff to go so I can get it home and in the refrigerator quickly. I live in Texas and it gets mighty hot even in the winter especially in the closed up vehicles. Too hot for food to sit around without being kept cold.

All I'm asking for is the other side of the coin. If you can feed the kids less and healthier why not throw the old folks a bone too!
As the population ages I'm betting you'll see some more concessions made to help folks with smaller appetites, but I want it NOW!

Online Intrusion Or How To Keep On Your Toes

I buy a LOT online. I belong to MyPoints.com (ask ME how YOU can join and *I* can benefit!) and I'm saving up the points for my trips to "the islands" next year.

When you go to order something you have to stay alert! I reckon you should stay alert everywhere online, but it's crucial in the order blank filling out game!

They like to run these checked boxes in on you and hope you won't notice that you've just given them permission to make your inbox a living hell.

They ALL want to send you exciting offers.

I get so excited.

It's not just when you buy something, of course.

Take MLB.com for instance. They like to get you to vote for this and that and they are notorious for their checked boxes and once they get you on their mailing list they don't EVER let you off. I vote for the All Stars candidates and they LET you vote a gazillion times before they say "enuff" and it's so darn easy...all you have to do is fill in the info once and then just keep hitting 'vote again' or some such. The rub comes in, again, with those dadgum filled in boxes. You uncheck and if you don't remember to uncheck each and every time, they get you!

Now I know that built into the software and it's as automatic as looking at chocolate and wishing it was in your mouth and starting to slobber (in a nice, ladylike way, of course). You can't help the chocolate thing and they can't help the checked box thing. But they could if they wanted to. They could just as easily write something into the code that said you had to check it for it to stick, but noooooo that would defeat the whole purpose of tricking you.

Phooey. Makes me irritated.

I think I need some chocolate.

Why Do They Jack With Tradition?

This is not a world shaking issue. It's probably more a personal observation, but if this blog isn't for me to vent then what good is it? (Don't answer that! It was rhetorical, honest!)

Anyway this one is about the folks that are empowered to sing the National Anthem at such events as the Astro's ballgames at Minute Maid Park. I've been privileged to see a LOT of games over the years (thanks, Paula and Larry!) and it's gotten worse. I don't like the Anthem f*cked with! Sing it like it's supposed to be sung, don't go throw in all that jazzy, saloon style ebbs and flows. It's not hip-hop, it's not rap, it's not rock! I don't know squat about music or singing, but like art, I sure as hell know what I like and some of "them" make me cringe with their vocal embroidery!

I'd rather Papa Drayton played a CD or something rather than to turn some of these folks loose on the unsuspecting patriotic traditionalist like me. There was one a few weeks back that made me beg for Roseanne Barr's rendition over her own and that's just wrong! I got it when Roseanne did her thing....it WAS funny and she got slammed because that's not the time nor the place to be funny. I got that too.

I also get it that these folks take the opportunity to heart..this is their moment, this is their chance to show off their artistic ability.....fine and good......do it at home! Do it in the shower like the rest of us! Do it on a CD and see if anyone buys it! Don't do it where we are forced to stand at attention, hands over hearts, hats in hands, trapped and at the mercy of any yoyo that decides to "improve" the National Anthem of the greatest country on Earth.

'Nuff said.


Star-Mangled Banner

Oh Say, Can't You Sing: Celebs Who Tortured the National Anthem

Out Gout!

You know, it's always something.

Just about the time you think everything is swell, SOMETHING rears its ofttimes ugly head.

Case in point...... GOUT! Notice there's a "OUT" smack dab in the middle of gout. Begone gout, give me a break! I've been in pain for 3 days. Hobbling around like Tim Conway on the old Carol Burnett Show! Painful! Can't sleep - thankfully cat naps are better than nothing. Can't really take anything for the pain...liquid Tylenol is a joke. The only good thing I can say about it is that it's tasty. I'm using my husband's cane just to try and get around. I can't put any pressure on the right big toe area so I must resort to walking on my heel and/or side of my foot. It'd be better if I didn't walk at all, but I'm going crazy being held down this much, don't think I could do the whole 'take to my bed' scenario.

I begged my best friend to cart my buns to the doctor yesterday because I couldn't take the pain and I can't drive since putting pressure on the gas pedal is out. He gave me a drug that's supposed to help, but so far no luck. It also can cause diarrhea so that ought to be fun hobbling hurriedly to the pot wielding a cane no less.

After it finally lets go of my big toe and leaves me alone I'm getting on a drug that I'll have to take for the rest of my life. Swell. It's supposed to reduce the production of uric acid. That's what gout is, an accumulation of PISS in the joint(s). Now you won't find THAT interpretation in the medical books, but that's by golly what it means!

This too shall pass. I feel like such a whiny ass when there are people suffering with worse things than a throbbing great phalanges. But pain is just not my thing. If this too shall pass could it please pass FAST!