Rag Files Of A Fashion Diva

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Summer Hours

Exercise: None - The weather was being a little iffy

YAY! I found out that we will be allowed to have summer hours this year at work (every other Friday afternoon off). It was really looking like this wasn't going to happen but it has now been made official that it is.

Oh and I'm pissed. I went to Sam's this evening and there wasn't any Alcon contact lens solution in that dump dammit! I did have another one of my little "coincidences" though on the way home. I was thinking about one of my favorite Loverboy songs (Take Me To The Top) yesterday and how I would like to hear it again. Well wouldn't you know, I get in the car to come home from the store and guess what song was playing. :)

Must be off to quack at the ducks.

Til next time....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Monday, May 30, 2005

Exercise: Finished carpet cleaning (what? We've got a lot of carpet and the stairs are a real bitch!) and 4 Miles.

I was watching a program on TLC earlier today called Fourteen Children And Pregnant Again! When I first saw the title of this show, I thought maybe it was a couple who had adopted several children and were going to have one/another of their own but NO. This couple has 14 biological children with a 15th on the way and only two have twins!!! Holy mother of Pete!!! I about died laughing when I heard that the dad's name is Jim Bob, they live in Arkansas, and all of the kids have names that start with "J". If this isn't the epitome of the typical Southern family that comics have a heyday with, I don't know what is. All they needed to top it off was some overalls and a few missing teeth.

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Snip snip here, snip snip there.

Exercise: Carpet cleaning - it's a real workout!

I sooooo love my hairstylist. Every time I make my trek to Ames for a haircut, I make an appointment for the next time. When I was there last, I had planned for my next appointment (the one for yesterday) to be not only for a haircut but also to get highlights done. I ended up having to make two separate appointments because Doug was booked up - a slight inconvenience but no big deal.

Well, when I went in yesterday and started talking to Doug, he made mention about me really needing my highlights done again. I told him I knew I did but June was the earliest I could get in and that he was just too busy for me. He chuckled and then looked over his schedule and rather than leaving things at that, he worked out a way to fit me in. :) As it turned out, his other appointment that was supposed to show up didn't so it worked out even better than first thought in the end. What can I say....the guy is the BEST!

The trip home was fairly uneventful. I had taken Ant's car so Armin Van Buuren was cranked and sounding oh so wonderful thanks to the awesome stereo system complete with sub he has. Oh how I can't wait until the end of the year when I get my new car punked out with all the wicked toys. Now if I could just make a decision as to which one to get. I'm still no closer to narrowing it down from the 8 I had started with.

Later in the evening I did make it out for a skate and the weather actually cooperated - very little wind and sunny. When I got back, I was completely wiped out and I think I may have dehydrated myself. I came in took off my skates and remembered I didn't get the mail so I went back out for it. I had felt VERY thirsty but put off getting something to drink until I came back. When I was standing at the sink getting some water, I started feeling really funny as though I was going to faint. I quickly finished getting my water and sat down right there in front of the cabinets. After sipping my water for a few minutes, I got up and I felt a bit better so I could only conclude the way I felt came from not having enough fluids during the day before I went out skating. Doesn't surprise me really. Usually I drink at least one 20oz mug of water during the day at work and I didn't have that yesterday.

Oh I watched a movie that left me saying WTF??? It's called Pumpkin and has Christina Ricci in it. For those of you that have never seen it, it is supposed to be an edgy romance comedy which mixes social satire with romance but I think it was just a little bizarre. It's about a sorority chic who agrees to coach mentally and physically challenged athlets for a charity project even though she is initially uncomfortable with it. In the end, she falls in love with the one boy that she is coaching. I think it could have been a good movie if the script would have been better but as it is, I couldn't help but think that it was little more than a cross between Plesantville and The Stepford Wives - yah you said it...WTF????

Now for a tidbit falling under the GROSS category.

As some of you already know, we live in a townhome. Our house is one of 8 connected together. We have one of the corner units meaning two sides of our house butt up against two other homes. According to what we were told, there is supposedly a foot of concrete between them not only for fire protection but also privacy. I have rarely heard either of our neighbors but that all changed last night and let me tell you what I heard, was something that I don't ever care to relive. I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed and I swear I could hear someone who lives in the other corner unit connected to ours PUKING! I don't know about you but just the sound of this is enough to make me gag and it is one of those sounds that once you hear it, it's hard to get it out of your mind because it is just so DISGUSTING! Let's just say I am glad that this could only be heard in our bathroom and not the bedroom too otherwise I would have never gotten to sleep.

On that note, I'm outta here. :P

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Friday, May 27, 2005

"Annie"

Distance Run: 0 Miles
Other Exercise: Cleaning house.

I swear if one more person calls me Annie, I think I will choke the shit out of them! Granted there are a select few who can get away with this and one who can even get away with calling me Goober but when it comes to the general population - HELL NO! What I would like to know is since when does the "e" on the end of Ann become a long vowel sound? The only two things I can come up with are: 1.) People are just that ignorant or 2.) People just don't take the time to notice that there isn't an "i" in there and because most often people spell "Anne" without the "e" (another pet peeve of mine), they think that anytime there is an "e" it means it is pronounced as "Annie". My name is ANNE not ANNIE and please don't go around spelling it ANN when you have known me for years! I'm not overly fond of my name but you can at least spell and pronounce it right for Pete's sake! I had one time thought about changing my name taking my middle name (Michelle) as my first, but I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of doing it. I'm beginning to think that bother would have been a lot less than what I have dealt with by keeping my given first name.

The shame of all this is that if people thought of someone like Annie Lennox or the character that was Caroline's best friend on Caroline In The City before that whiney, little, red fro orphaned wench, I would probably go by Annie. Unfortunately they don't and so the fun that I think the name could suggest is just kind of drained from it for me. :(

Right O, it's about time for dins so I must be off.

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Thursday, May 26, 2005

WTF Weather

Distance Run: 0 Miles
Other Exercise: Skating - YAY!

It's a good thing I am as practiced as I am when it comes to skating. I ended up getting caught out in "typhoon winds" (25+ mph) and some freakish sort of rain storm - that being blue sky up above but lots of water coming down. SHIT! I like to do what I call "skating dangerously" meaning not wearing any protective gear (and yes, I know many of you would just call it skating stupid) but this would have been one time an aerodynamic helmet would have been particularly useful. Ah well, at least I got a good workout from having to push against the wind for at least half the distance.

Well, I'm whipped so I'm outta here.

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

I think it was rigged!

Distance Run: 0 Miles - It has been raining outside since I got home - really cool sunset though! Reddish orange sun against some really dark clouds.
Other Exercise: Nah

Ok, I can't believe America voted to make Carrie the American Idol rather than Bo. She can sing but she just doesn't have "it". I also think she tends to sound off key a bit especially singing that new song. Just sounds bad - and this is going to be her first single??? There is going to either be some MAJOR practicing, doctoring, or both to that in order to make it sound decent. Surly some label out there will pick up Bo and my guess is that he will sell more albums than she will.

While I'm on a rant here, I've got one of a political nature involving Viagra and stem cell research. How unbelievably warped is it for the government to make it possible for sex offenders to get Viagra for free yet not allow for the advancement of stem cell research that could actually help suffering people who have no other hope. What a bunch of BULLSHIT!

Now that I got that out of my system, on to a happier note.

I found this on another blog I visited and found it kinda interesting.

http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp

Here's what mine said......

You entered: 9/19/1973

You were born on a Wednesday
under the astrological sign Virgo.
Your Life path number is 3.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2441944.5.
The golden number for 1973 is 17.
The epact number for 1973 is 25.
The year 1973 was not a leap year.

As of 5/25/2005 9:09:10 PM CDT
You are 31 years old.
You are 380 months old.
You are 1,653 weeks old.
You are 11,571 days old.
You are 277,725 hours old.
You are 16,663,509 minutes old.
You are 999,810,550 seconds old.

There are 117 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 32 candles on it.

Those 32 candles produce 32 BTU's,
or 8,064 calories of heat (that's only 8.0640 food calories!) .
You can boil 3.66 US ounces of water with that many candles.

Your birth tree is

Lime Tree, the Doubt
Accepts what life dishes out in a composed way, hates fighting, stress and labour, tends to laziness and idleness, soft and relenting, makes sacrifices for friends, many talents but not tenacious enough to make them blossom, often wailing and complaining, very jealous, loyal.

There are 214 days till Christmas 2005!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was waning gibbous.

Oh, I went to the dentist today - Healthy teeth and gums and no cavities! Whoohoo! :)

Otay kiddies, I'm outta here.

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

The Temptress And Her Very Bad Horrible Ugly Day

Distance Run: 0 Miles
Other Exercise: 1hr. 15min. of hard core street skating - Huh Huh Bitchin'

Today sucked - enough said!

Ok maybe not. Today wasn't the greatest of days. I started it out tired as hell and then had to listen to men who rarely lift a finger to help talk about the way I clean the kitchen at work - don't like it, do it yourself ass bastard! I then got the "good news" that some of the lines we had shipped off to be hubbed are actually coming back - GREAT! As if I don't already have enough to do, I get even more. Somehow I knew the laying off the company did would bite them in the ass. Of course rather than bringing someone back in, they will just work the three of us left to death. I swear it's like they think because they gave me such a big raise last month, that justifies them throwing all the shit at me. Oh well, I would rather be busy than bored and I know I will get 'em in the end. ;)

At least the day finished fairly decently. I resorted back to one of my childhood loves that I have had now for about 30 years - skating - and it helped to chase off most of the stress I had been feeling. I can certainly tell I haven't done it in awhile because I was feeling muscles that don't seem to be present when I run. LOL I do know one thing for sure - I need to get some new skates. Don't get my wrong, I really like the ones I have and they were well worth the $400 I spent on them, however, I don't like the plastic ankle boots with plastic clasps. I've decided that once I make "the plunge", I will be buying from this place. Just hope I can convince certain people my hobby is worth the $1000 that will be forked over for them. LOL

Well, I think that's all for me tonight.

Til next time....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Monday, May 23, 2005

MEN!

Distance Run: 4 Warm and windy miles
Other Exercise: Nah

Ok what is it with men being such pigs? Yah, I know there are a few exceptions but I swear if there were any around here, they moved a long time ago. I swear just about every guy I ran past tonight had that rubber-necking action with the "wandering eye" going on as I passed by. So there is a small confession, a couple of them were a piece of eye candy in their own right but still. Most of the time I get looked at like that especially when my hair is all tousled and I'm sweating bullets, I get this complex like the average person would if they had a booger hanging out of their nose or had this big ugly jump out and get you stain on their shirt. LOL

Well now that they have FINALLY come and swept away all the fucking pebbles in the road that were left over from winter, I think I might just go for a skate tomorrow night for a change. YAY!

Otay - time for me to be off.

Til next time....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Goober's gambling adventures

Distance Run: 0 Miles - Today was rest day.
Other Exercise: House cleaning

Last night Ant and I went out with some friends. First stop, the local casino/racetrack. I guess you could say that it was your typical gambling establishment although I didn't think it was that fantastic. Probably because I had only ever been to Vegas before and obviously this place is really small time compared to anything there. I can't complain too much though. We started with $20 and ended with $43.

After the casino, we went to a bar that left a lot to be desired. None of the clubs we have here really appeal that much to me especially after having been to RG1, The Matrix, and Avalon but some are better than others. This particular one that we went to has always been my least favorite. They mostly play that hip hop/rap crap with lyrics that not even I would repeat because they are just THAT raunchy. After two rather dreadful hours, we all left and went home. We probably wouldn't have stayed that long but one of the people in our group was meeting someone there.

This morning I saw a total "awww moment". There's a blanket that I had folded up and laid beside the bed on the platform that the bed itself sits on just in case it was still needed during the cooler nights we have had. Well, at some point during the night, one of the little furballs that roams this dump pulled the blankie down on the floor, created a kinda cubby hole with it, laid down and went to sleep. I found him there this morning and it was just the cutest thing. I only wish I could have gotten up, gotten the camera, and taken his picture without disturbing him.

Now on a more serious note.....
There is a certain someone I lied to. At the time I thought it was the best thing. This person had told me something and rather than acknowledging it honestly, I "hid" by just kinda brushing it off for what I guess I would say were moral reasons. I believe it was at least partly because of my convictions that this person was very hurt then staged a way to just drop out of sight and never speak to me again. A couple of months later after much thought and coming to the realization I was letting the idea of what others might think drive my actions more than anything else, I decided to tell this person what I should have at the outset. Because of the reaction I got (one that I knew I would probably get), I lied and said that it was a mistake even though it wasn't.

A couple of months after that, I did hear from this person and at this point, we are on speaking terms but I feel this strange tension between us and I have a feeling it has to do with this matter. The question now is, do I come clean or not? If I do, I fear that it could completely destroy what little is left. If I don't, I know this tension I am feeling is not going to go away but instead only get stronger and could in turn cause the same result. Ha! Looks like I have just answered my own question. If the result is probably going to be the same, I may as well just spill the beans and cleanse my mind of it. Right? Right!

I guess I shall be off now to step into the confessional.

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Friday, May 20, 2005

Take me out to the ballgame

Distance Run: 3 Power Miles on the 11 o'clock hour
Other Exercise: No time

I know what you are thinking......what the "blughdy" hell am I doing running three miles that late at night. BECAUSE I CAN! LOL Seriously though, it's because running at 11 when it is 60F is a helluva lot easier than running at 7 or 8 when it is 80F. Besides I was busy earlier so 11 was the soonest chance I had.

This afternoon I got an email from one of Ant's co-workers and my friend asking if I would be interested in a couple of tickets to a Cubs game this evening. She had a couple of extra tickets because the people her and her daughter were going with cancelled at the last minute. I'm not the biggest sports fan but I do like going to games every now and then if for nothing more than to people watch. I knew, however, that Ant wouldn't want to go. In the time that I have known him, we've gone once and I don't think he was overly interested. At first I couldn't think of anyone else who would like to go that was going to be available but then it popped into my head that Brett enjoyed playing softball so I thought he might like to go. Called him up and sure enough, he was up for it. I did catch some teasing from Ant about it though. Kept saying I was going to the game with my boyfriend. It got all evened out though when he told me he was going golfing Saturday morning. I asked him if he was going with Jerry and Doug. When he said no, I asked who he was going with and he got this sort of sheepish grin on his face and said Jill (guess she is the "new" chickybabe he, Jerry, and Doug work with. I'm told she can be totally evil (even more than me) especially to Jerry - seems it has made him somewhat intimidated by her. LOL). Of course upon hearing this, I couldn't help but give him some of the boy/girlfriend razzing back. >:)

Alrighty kids. I must dash.

Stay tuned to read about some of the Goober's gambling adventures at one of the local casinos.

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Thursday, May 19, 2005

What a goofball!

Distance Run: 2 Miles - after this last cool down, I've got to get used to running in the warm weather again.
Other Exercise: Nah

I'm telling you, the guy I work with is a totally wack. Today I called him up to ask him about something and he broke into song (this is not the first time of course). At least he didn't sing the usual Tea For Two. Not that the song he chose was any better (the name escapes me at the moment but I know it was a popular song from the 60s). LOL What I would really like to know is, why is it that people like this guy act like total tards/pompous jerks yet be infectiously likeable and someone you almost enjoy being around? Crazy how that works.

On an unrelated note, I'm disappointed to hear that more than likely the hike of the cigarette tax here in Iowa isn't going to pass. Ah well, maybe next time.

Otay, I'm off. I know, short post. Sowwy. Will try harder tomorrow (that is if I am here). LOL

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

That isn't for real - is it?

Distance Run: 0 Miles - The weather was being wacky and I didn't want to chance it. So I'm a chicken - what of it? :P
Other Exercise: Nah

I was driving to work this morning and happened to catch a license plate on a car passing me out of the corner of my eye. I did a double take because I couldn't believe what it said - 618 POO. I kid you not, it was a poo plate. Whoever decided to use those letters on a regular state license plate must not have had their thinking cap on that day. I mean imagine having a brown car that carried one of those plates. Everyone would be saying, "Hey look! It's a turdmobile!" That would totally suck. Of course if your car were a POS, you at least wouldn't be giving anyone any false impressions about it.

So it's official. Bo and Carrie are the top two on AI - surprise surprise. I almost feel like I have wasted the last couple of months watching this show since I predicted that from the beginning. Yep, Bo is going to win this one and if by some weird, wack way he doesn't, he's going to have a career that will go farther than Carrie's ever will.

Speaking of predictions and stuff, I have noticed that in the past few years it would seem that I have been able to "see the future" on enough occasions now that it is really starting to freak me out. I'm beginning to wonder if I have some sort of sixth sense or knack for good guessing. Granted the AI thing really didn't take that much to predict - that pick was just sort of obvious. There was something else that happened today though that seemed to go beyond "obvious". I was thinking about a particular movie that I would like to see again. Wouldn't you know, when I went to check the listings tonight, it was on. This isn't the first time this has happened either. Then there are the dreams I have had which have shown the events of the following day and knowing what people were going to say before they said it. STRANGE I tell you - STRANGE!

Righty roo kiddies, I must dash so I can wash my stinky bod. Ok so I'm not really stinky since I didn't get out to run today but I do need to have a shower. :)

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Bo's Got It In The Bag!

Distance Run: 0 Miles - They call it a breeze (more like typhoon winds), I ain't going to blow on down the road.
Other Exercise: Nope, nuttin yet.

So yah, I was watching Idol tonight. If Bo doesn't win this one, America is more wack than I thought. I think what is most interesting about this season is that when AI was down to the top 24, I had made a prediction that Bo and Carrie would be the top two. Looks like I could very well be right. What's more is that my critiques of the performances often times are right on with Simon's. Watch out Cowell, I may just come looking for your job next season! ;)

Have you ever noticed that at times when you are performing mindless tasks such as "makin copies" (for those of you who were SNL fans back in the 90's, you will know what I am referring to), your mind tends to wander and come up with some of the most bizarre things to keep you entertained? No? Oh, maybe it's just me then. LOL Anyway, there I was standing at the copier today and all of a sudden the little jingle for Picture Pages pops into my head. God only knows where the hell that came from. I mean it was a short little learning skit Bill Cosby did with Mortimer Icabod Marker on Captain Kangaroo back in the 80s and that was probably the last time I ever saw it. Oh the things that jump out of my head from time to time - enough to scare the hair off a cat.

I do have a couple of gripes for the day:

First off, I got my taters irked when I found out that one of my favorite DJs of all time (Armin Van Buuren) is going to be playing Chicago on Saturday and I'm not going to be able to go because I found out too late to get the trip lined up. WAAAAAHHHHHH! Hopefully I will be able to catch him somewhere else down the road at some point. The world just won't be right until I see this guy in the flesh and lemme tell you, he certainly has some young Netherland flesh worth looking at. Drool drool slurp slurp. :D

The second gripe came about after a phone call I received at work from a woman asking me to explain something to her. Now I'm the type of person who is more than willing to help someone out except when they can't shut their yap long enough to listen to what I am telling them.

Ok, one last thing and I will leave you for the evening. I just wanna call your attention to the latest banner over to the <--------left. I received an email about this band the other day and went to their website to check them out. Not bad. Not bad at all. I'd buy it and lemme tell you, it takes a lot to get me to do that these days.

Otay, that does it for me tonight. I'm off to watch that Eldard dude.

Til next time....

Picture Pages Picture Pages
Time to get your Picture Pages
Time to get your crayons and your pencils
Picture Pages Picture Pages
Open up your Picture Pages
Time to watch Bill Cosby do a Picture Page with you

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Monday, May 16, 2005

Rudeness Part Deux

Distance Run: 0 Miles - Didn't want to get blown away
Other Exercise: None - too busy working on the new look for the blog. Yah I know I'm a slouch - what of it? :P

As Ant and I were getting ready for work this morning, we noticed that one of our neighbors decided not to tell their overnight visitors to park in the designated spots or offer them a place in their own drive. This might not get on my nerves so much if it weren't for the fact that whomever decided to park their car right by our driveway where we have to get out. I guess they think because we live at the end of the road, that space isn't needed or something. BASTARDS!

Coming home was much the same. I rounded the corner to our house and wouldn't you know, the Vampire (or one of his buddies who was visiting - not sure who it belonged to) had parked his Harley out in the middle of the damn road right in my lane. I swear the guy was just asking to have it hit. Unlike most people that come around that curve, I am always cautious thank goodness otherwise my car and his bike would have had an argument and I know my car would have one. Then again, maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad thing. At least it would keep him from revving the stupid thing at 2am. He gets a BASTARD award for the day too.

On a more positive note. I did remember what I was going to tell about that I couldn't remember last night. Friday I got a nice compliment from the business manager I work with. I had set up a report that he and the regional sales manager we work with had asked me to do. I guess the regional really liked it (he seems to absolutely love all the stuff like that I do for him - not that I'm complaining of course). The business manager was also bragging about it to some of the retail people who will be using it saying what a nice job I did. When he gave me the compliment to my face, I jokingly said, "What does this mean for me?" wondering if he would give me the come back of, "More work for you." that I thought he might. I was disappointed, he didn't catch on. Must have started the weekend early. LOL

Otay, I'm outta here kiddies...

Til next time.......

PS: Lemme know what you think of the new design. I'm still in the process of deciding whether or not I want to make any further changes so any feedback will be helpful. ;)

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Rudeness

Distance Run: 0 Miles - Needed a rest
Other Exercise: See above

Friday night I went to do the grocery shopping. What is it with people being so flippin rude and inconsiderate these days? Not only do you have those who are yakking away on cell phones not paying attention to squat while they shop, you have others that for one reason or another think they need to stop in the middle of the aisle to gab away with friends they happen to pass. It wouldn't be so bad if they would pull it over to the side but do they? Noooooooo! You could shout EXCUSE ME at the top of your lungs and it wouldn't make any difference. There they stand and there they will stay until they have finished by God. To think otherwise would be completely wack.

That's about it for now. I had an idea for more of a post tonight but I'll be damned if I can remember what it was. Maybe tomorrow.

Oh one more thing.....I read your blog "Rafe". Seems you have some "splainin" to do.

Til next time....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Very Interesting -

Distance Run: 0 Miles - The weather has been crappy all day but we did have some good thunderstorms worth a watch - lots of lightning and thunder. :)
Other Exercise: None - was too busy watching the storms

I happened to see a couple of rather interesting shows on the Discovery Channel this evening. The first one was titled "Wild Child: The Story of Feral Children". This one told about children who had received severe neglect (abandoned - some being raised by dogs) and the developmental challenges that resulted from it. According to what researchers have been able to figure out, those who don't learn language by the age of about twelve more than likely never will be able to learn it. They are able to understand emotion and develop a simple vocabulary but never learn to the same capacity of your average person who wasn't neglected. The bottom line was that the neglect deprived the brain of the much needed stimulation it needs for certain developmental processes to happen. When that stimulus isn't received, the brain starts to whittle away and turn to useless "mush".

The second show was called "Brainman". This show was about a 26 year old guy from England who had the ability to do complex mathematical computations in his head with ease (he could calculation Pi out to over 22,000 decimal places!). He also had the ability to learn a new language in a weeks time. The thing that was very unique about him is that although he showed signs of autism when he was a child, he was able to suppress them and live a relatively "normal" life. For the first time, there was someone who had extreme brilliance and was able to explain what was going on in his brain. From what he said, math problems weren't done in the conventional calculating way in his mind but instead each number had a shape/landscape visual. Rather than sitting there and figuring in the typical "number" sort of way most people do, the landscapes would just come to him.

Otay, it's getting late and I need to be off to bed.

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

America the not so great

Distance Run: 0 Miles - My stupid throat decided to be a bastard and hurt today even after my morning orange juice. I hate tea but Chi made me some and I can't deny my throat does feel better.
Other Exercise: None - See Above

I once again saw a story on the news last night that just made me shake my head at the patheticism of this country. There is a woman who lives just southwest of here in a town called Winterset. It's where my sister lives and for those of you who are familiar with the film Bridges Of Madison County, this is where it was shot. Anyway, this woman is originally from Britain. She met a guy online, came to see him, and it was love at first sight so they got married. Shortly after the wedding, they filed the visa papers so she could legally remain in the country. Just recently the woman's husband died unexpectedly and she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. If this wasn't enough of a jab to the poor woman, immigration is now telling her that she must return to Britain because the relationship which her requested status change is filed under is dissolved due to her husband's death. It would be one thing if the woman was trying to "beat the system", live on the dole, and had tried to sneak in here but she isn't. Ok, so maybe they didn't go about things the "proper"' way meaning filing for the visa beforehand blah blah blah but having gone through this process 6 years ago, I can understand why people especially those who are truly in love would do it the way they did.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what is involved with K1 visas (or fiance(e) visas - the one that Ant and I got), this link should give you a good idea of the process. There is also information on the site that will give you the fees for all of the paperwork that must be filed. It looks like some of the fees have changed since Ant and I went through it but I do know that before it was all over, we forked over between $500 and $1000 to the US gov along with having our relationship put under a microscope to be together. My thought is that if this process wasn't so expensive, more efficient, and not so difficult in the respect of long waits at the INS and having to drive in some cases hundreds of miles for the major things such as picking up a greencard, I think many of the people who try to get around things would file the way we did in the first place. Even so, when it comes to this particular woman, I think our government is being a total shit about things and it is ridiculous to make her leave especially since her friends and family on her husband's side is here. Not that I would ever support George Bush, but he could at least make a few points with me by changing the immigration laws so that every situation is looked at separately and based on the situation rather than using a blanket.

And now another word about the Raccoon Valley Humane Society. According to their website today, they plan to close regardless of the money they receive. All of this over not being able to secure $6000. I'm so ashamed of my community for not helping to support them. In today's world, $6000 is peanuts. They do still need money to cover their expenses until they can re-home all of the animals they presently have so if any of you are in the position to give a little, I urge you to do so.

Well, I'm off to watch the storms rolling in. Yay! Finally some good thunderstorm action complete with tornado warnings and all.

Til next time....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Monday, May 09, 2005

This That and The Other....

Distance Run: 0 Miles - Not enough time tonight
Other Exercise: None - See above

Wow! Lots of stuff to tell about tonight especially since my last post was last Wednesday. Thursday was relatively quiet but the weekend turned out to be go go go. Friday I got up a half hour early (5am - a time that no one should ever have to experience - lol) so I could take Ant to work. Jerry was having a party at his house for the guys and I had plans to go to one of my co-worker's retirement party, to Brett's house to pick up the money he owed me for the Motley Crue ticket, and then on to the bar for a girl's night out. Toward the end of the day, I wasn't sure I really wanted to make the bar because I was feeling a little wiped out and like I had a headache coming on but I decided to stick with the plan even though it was going to be tight making it everywhere in the time that I had.

As it turned out, I was running late to the bar but not so much that I would be that much past time we planned to meet. Well, when I got to Brett's house, that all changed. We started talking and the next thing I know - it's midnight (I even missed my husband calling me to come and pick him up because I was a silly girl and left my phone in the car. LOL). Obviously I never made it to the bar but that's ok. I really enjoyed the chat with Brett and it wasn't punishing on my head that couldn't decide whether or not it was going to have a full blown headache like going to the bar would have been. It went ahead and made its decision, however, after I got to Jerry's house to pick up Ant. Since he called and said he was ready to come home, I thought he would just walk right out when I arrived and we would be on our way home so I could go to bed and sleep off my headache. What the hell was I thinking??? I went in to get him and had to be subjected to two episodes of Jerry Springer (YIKES!) so I didn't get to bed until 3am or later.

Saturday morning I woke with a start because the phone was ringing. It was Steph calling to remind me that the Def Leppard/Tesla tickets for Madison, WI we going on sale shortly. Of course in my haze and "go mode" I had forgotten all about it. Not that it mattered anyway. We had tried the presale a couple days earlier and couldn't find anything desirable (10 rows or closer on the side of the stage we wanted) so we thought we would see what we could do with ticketmaster. Nuttin! They were just as shitty as the presale. What was even more irritating was that front row center tickets were already available on Ebay. It seemed the only way that these could have been there as they were is by a broker getting a hold of them before the tickets went on sale to anyone through the presale or Ticket Master. We tried for at least an hour to find something decent but to no avail so we decided we would try periodically to see if there was anything good. If there is, we will buy the tickets and go. If not, we will just give it a miss. Steph thinks that because all the summer dates haven't been spoken for that Def Leppard will announce a stop in Des Moines (possibly at the new Wells Fargo arena). Hopefully she's right. Even though I hadn't really intended on planning any of their shows, after talking with her about road-tripping again and thinking back to our past adventures, I was kind of pumped to go again.

After I got off the phone with Steph, I ate breakfast and then called my mom to make plans for Sunday. I think I ended up talking to her for two hours or more which was kinda surprising to me. I rarely talk to her that long over the phone. LOL When I got off the phone the second time, I had lunch and then got ready to go grocery shopping. For those of you who remember a post I made last year I refer to the guy who lives at the other end of our housing block as the vampire. I guess the fucker had left his coffin at some point on Saturday because we just about hit him head on going to the store. What pisses me off is this is the guy that was out with one of the neighbors last year who gave Ant a lecture about the way he was driving and he himself was on the WRONG side of the fucking road! BASTARD!!!

Sunday morning I took off for my parents' house to see my mommy for Mother's Day. It was as I was turning on to their road from the highway that I realized that I must have nine lives like a cat but by the time I walked into my parents' house, I only had seven left. I had slown down to make my turn and as I did, I heard this horrible screech behind me. I guess the chic who was following me wasn't paying attention and she almost hit me at full speed. She stopped hard and went to swerve into the on coming lane only to find a big farm tractor coming her way. She over corrected went onto the gravel shoulder, then swerved again and came back on the road. Someone was really watching over me this weekend especially on Sunday because that would have been a REALLY nasty accident given the speed limit where she almost hit me was 55mph and more than likely she was doing 10 over that. This may sound mean but I hope it shook her up enough to start paying more attention. She probably will for a couple of days but I doubt it will take long before she's back to her carelessness. It was funny because my mom made a comment about her maybe being on a cell phone (I don't think she was). When my dad heard it, he said something about her swallowing it after that incident. LOL Gotta love my dad and his humor - now you know where I get it. :) I took my mom a bouquet of yellow/orange roses and a card which she absolutely loved and then we went to my sister's house to spend the rest of the afternoon there.

Now on to an interesting tv programming note.....

For any of you who are watching the Extreme Makeover Wedding Edition show, I went to high school with Joel the carpenter. I think he was only a year behind me (maybe two) and I want to say that he was in a drafting class I took. I guess he ended up marrying a woman that hosted While You Were Out (or one of those shows) on TLC which would explain how he got this gig. It is kind of strange though seeing him on national tv. LOL

On a final note, I want to issue a plea to all of you who have a small amount of money you can spare. The Raccoon Valley Humane Society (one of Iowa's few no kill shelters) is in desperate need of funds. If they can't come up with $10000 in the next month they will be forced to close. This is a rather large sum of money for one person to fork over, however, when you break it down, it would only take 400 people to donate $25 each to make this amount. Considering the number of people out there who could potentially give, this is nothing so please, if you are one of those with the potential send a donation to them. Here are the contact details:

Raccoon Valley Humane Society
2775 Fairground Road
Adel, IA 50003 - 8243
515.993.3519

Til next time...

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

More on Rimadyl and a SHAME ON YOU

Distance Run: 3 Power Miles (Count 'em people 3 in under 24 minutes)
Other Exercise: None - Not enough time.

As soon as I got home tonight, I went on a feverish hunt for Sophie's medical records from the last months of her life. It didn't take long for me to find them right where I thought they would be. As I went reading through them I did some comparing to the information on the Senior Dogs Project website. The more I read, the more pissed off I got and the more convinced I was that this was in fact the cause of my baby's death.

After I got done reading through her records, I got on the web and did some more research there. I came across the Yahoo group Doghealth2 and after reading the homepage, I decided to join. I was going through some of the more recent posts and I happened to find one from a few weeks ago mentioning a class action suit. I was actually surprised I hadn't seen something about one of those somewhere else but regardless, I'm glad I found it. I'm not sure if they will accept my submission because it has been so long since Sophie's death but I'm definitely going to try. I think it's time Pfizer is put in its place when it comes to this drug.

Now on to the SHAME ON YOU part of this post.

Last night I was watching the news and they had another dog story on. If it was possible for me to be pissed off even more than I already was when I found out about Rimadyl, this would have been it. Some complete asshole decided to take some superglue to an innocent little puppy's eyes, nose, and ears. What the hell is wrong with people?! YOU, whomever you are (yes, I'm talking to you asshole - the one who did this), SHAME ON YOU!!!

Til next time....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Rimadyl

Distance Run: 4 Miles
Other Exercise: 20 Push ups, 100 Crunches, and 20 Leg lifts

Well, because Blogger decided to be a hungry little bastard whore by eating the second part of my post last night, I figured I would do a rewrite tonight. I think I am going to look into the MSN version of Blogger. I'm kinda fed up with it and Google so if I like it, I might just move my shit over there even though I'm not keen on "pimping" Microsoft products.

Anyway, on to the topic of the night - Rimadyl.

For those of you who don't know, this is a anti-inflammatory medication Pfizer introduced back in 1997 mainly to treat arthritis in older dogs. The other night I was watching the local news and they had a report about this drug. According to this woman they talked to, she had a perfectly healthy dog who had been put on this medication. A year later, the dog was dead. The vets up at the ISU veterinary hospital told her that her dog's death was caused by toxicity from the Rimadyl

When the story first started, I didn't think too much of it other than it was really sad that the woman's dog died and having experienced unexpected sickness and death of a pet more than I ever expected to, I could feel her pain. As the report went on, however, I got to thinking that the name of the drug sounded kinda familiar. It then dawned on me that it was something that was prescribed to one of my dogs (Sophie). I then went into the other room and asked Ant if he could remember if that was what it was and he confirmed it. Once I had a look at the website they gave out that listed the symptoms of toxicity, I knew it had to be it because my puppy experience nearly all if not every single last one of them right before she died.

In 1999, Sophie (or Soapy as I called her because she loved to splash around in the bath) wasn't quite a year old and she had developed eye ulcers. The local vet I took her too had tried a couple of different treatments (both including Rimadyl) which proved unsuccessful so they referred Sophie to the ISU teaching hospital's opthamologist. They started her on some meds - I can't remember all of them but one of them was Prednisone (a drug that should never be mixed with or given right before/after Rimadyl without a waiting period). For awhile, she seemed to be doing better but the ulcers just wouldn't clear up. Over the next couple of months she really started slipping away. She went through times of drinking non stop to not wanting to eat or drink at all and her kidneys going into failure along with a long list of other problems. At one point, she appeared to get better and I was able to bring her home from the hospital but a week later, I had to rush her back up there because she started getting spots all over her that looked like bruises and just touching them would make them ooze blood. I couldn't believe what was going on and what was even more frustrating was that none of the doctors seemed to have a clue either. Unfortunately, it wasn't long after this that she went into cardiac arrest. The doctors did CPR on her for a few minutes but it didn't do any good. They had called me at work to tell me what was going on and it was at that point I knew it was time to let go so I told them to stop.

I asked the hospital to do a necrospy on her if for no other reason so the doctors could better learn what to do in the future should there be another dog that presents with the same problems. When the results came back, I found out that she had ulcers all over the inside of her body but the doctors were still no closer to an explanation as to what happened. After months of driving back and forth to Ames and $4000 only to have my little baby die in the end, I was completely dumbfounded and numb.

Not too long after "Soapy" died, I got a call from one of the doctors at ISU and was told that Pfizer had offered to put $700 towards my bill because I had used their drugs (Clavamox was one of the ones ISU used and Pfizer also makes that one) and it was ineffective. I thought this was a little strange and me being the cynic I can be from time to time had to wonder if they were trying to cover something up. All the while Sophie was sick and going "up and down" I couldn't help but wonder if maybe I should take her off all the meds, however, I'm not a doctor and I wanted her to get well so badly I didn't want to chance it. I think I probably asked the doctors three or more times if there was any chance that the meds could be contributing to her problems and they assured me they weren't. I had been doing research on the web all the time but I couldn't find anything that would really contradict them so I went ahead with her treatment.

After seeing this news report, it kind of put all the pieces into place and basically told me what I always thought - "Mommy knows best". I now am 99.99% sure that it was the Rimadyl that killed Sophie and the $700 was to "keep me quiet". I can't even begin to say how completely pissed off I am. Here you have a huge drug company putting a potentially lethal drug out there which I can only imagine that at least some of the side effects had to have been known at the time Sophie was taking it and I'm being told that it couldn't possibly be making my precious little puppy who was barely a year old sick. What's more, they don't want a hassle so they give me $700 toward a $4000 vet bill and make it look like they are noble. I am angered to no end thinking that they actually thought money could take the place of my baby. They could have paid me a million dollars and it wouldn't have changed anything. All I wanted was a healthy puppy.

It is because of my experience that I want to give anyone who is a dog owner a warning about this drug. Please please please whatever you do, avoid this drug at all cost. Should there be any reason you do have to give it to your dog, make sure you watch for any signs of toxicity and stop administering it ASAP if any of them become apparent. I would hate for you to have to experience the death of your dog from something so senseless.

For those of you wanting more information, please have a look at this website:

http://www.srdogs.com/Pages/rimadylfr.html

Til next time.....

This post was made in loving memory of Sophia "Soapy" Malteser. See you at Rainbow Bridge little one.

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Monday, May 02, 2005

Holy DUNG! What's that orange glow???

Distance Run: 0 - Couldn't sleep last night - running wouldn't be a good idea.
Other Exercise: See above

I ended up staying up until midnight last night waiting for the laundry to get dry and fold it. When I got done I took a shower and as I was walking to bed I saw this big orange colored ball off in the distance through the window. Turns out there was a big fire just across the field I'm guessing maybe a half mile away at most. I stood there and watched for a few minutes (it was sorta mesmerizing) and as I did, I debated as to whether I should make a phone call to 911 because it looked like there was an actual structure of some sort that was burning but it didn't look like there was anyone attending to it. Just as the thought went through my head, a cop car soon followed by a couple of fire trucks came down the road. I don't know why but as I was watching all of this, I couldn't help but have the thought about how it started and wonder if it was the job of an arsonist. I think it was mainly because of the location and the fact that it didn't appear to be a place where a fire would just start all on its own.

I checked one of the local news websites today and then watched the news tonight. I guess what I saw burning was an abandoned barn. According to the report, it was one of two fires of the night/early morning (the other an abandoned house) both within less than two miles of each other (I didn't see the other one) and arson is suspected. When I heard about that, all I could think was, "Oh great, not only do we have bullies showing up around our neighborhood, there are pyros here too. Fuckers better not show up at my house."

And now for a couple of rants cuz I need to let off some steam.....

So I now remember one of the biggest reasons I began wearing contacts over glasses. I was slumming this weekend and really couldn't be fussed to mess with my contacts besides it's a good idea to let your eyes rest from them every now and then especially when you wear them like I do (minute I get up until the minute I go to bed). Anyway, I decided I would make this a "rest" weekend. Bad idea! The bridge of my nose and tops of my ears hurt like none other!

Ok, I'm really fuckin pissed off now. I had written up my other rant concerning a drug for dogs and blogger fuckin ate - BASTARD!!! Well, rather than right it up again tonight, I will try to write it up for tomorrow instead. Grrrrr!

Til next time.....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|

Sunday, May 01, 2005

London calling.....

Distance Run: Yeah right and get blown away in this wind? I don't think so!
Other Exercise: Cleaning house

The other day I dug out my ZZ Top greatest hits CD to listen to at work. Hearing the songs Legs, Gimmie All Your Lovin, Sharp Dressed Man, and Sleeping Bag took me back to the summers when I spent my days from sun up to well past sun down in the back yard pool (see pictures below).

Oh how I wish at times I could go back to those days.

I also had another run in with nostalgia last night when I watched the movie What A Girl Wants (Colin Firth - drool drool slurp slurp). Lately I have had a hankering to go back to England anyway - probably because it has been over two years since I was last there, but seeing that movie made me want to go all the more. Even though it was small and there was only a shower rather than a bathtub, I REALLY miss my flat in Chelsea (see pic).

Actually, more than that, I just miss England in general. It's the one place that has really felt like home to me. I liked being able to hop a bus or a train to go just about anywhere and the politeness of the people that you just don't seem to find so much around here anymore.

Alright kiddies, I must be off now. I haven't eaten dinner yet so I need to go "rustle up some grub".

Til next time....

Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
|