Crazy Week

First up is a Posey update: She's doing wonderfully! The vet had my mom increase the amount of food she was getting at each feeding. He said he wanted her to have a "Buddah belly". My mom has been doing middle of the night feedings, which she hasn't done since I was a baby. Posey has Libby's old carrier, a heating pad, rice socks that get heated up, and already uses the itty-bitty litter box my mom keeps in the back of the carrier. Posey also believes that Mom is her mother and is quite attached to her.

I got to meet Posey on Friday evening, as my parents came up for a quick visit this past weekend. She's just itty-bitty and completely adorable.

Libby is being a good "big sister" to Posey. She likes to lick the remnants of Posey's food of her face after Mom is done feeding her. Libby wants to play with her, but Posey is still too little for that. But so far, Libby hasn't pulled a jealousy act.

The last week at work has been pretty crazy. Last Friday alone we had four puppies test positive for Parvo. If you don't know about Parvo, it affects dogs - usually puppies because they don't have a strong immune system yet. It's a pretty ugly deal, lots of vomiting and diarreah. And it can get expensive to treat, usually $300 is a safe bet. On Friday there were two puppies brought in by two different people, who had gotten their puppies from the same litter. Both girls were devastated and in tears. In the end they took the puppies back to where they got them, and gave them back. Later in the afternoon, a local large animal only vet called and talked to Dr. J saying that the owners of the puppies wanted the whole litter euthanized. Since she really only deals with large animals and is also still new at the vet thing, she wanted Dr. J's advice. He advised her to not do it.

Later the owners of the puppies called our office, requesting the litter be euthanized. Dr. J wound up doing that. It broke the heart of all of us in the office. A litter of 8 Labrador puppies.

You might be asking where the puppies got infected. Their own backyard. If those pups contracted the virus having never been anywhere other than their own home, that means those people have the virus in their house and yard. The virus can live in the soil. Anything that comes into contact with the virus must be washed or bleached. If those people wind up with another litter, I can almost guarantee that those pups will also contract the virus. Not to mention the 3-5 day incubation period for the virus; meaning those puppies had it well before they were given to new homes. You might also be asking why Dr. J agreed to euthanize the litter. In reality, it was the most humane thing to do. Upon reviewing these people's account, they have a bill over $2000. They paid $100 on it this May. And it took a year for them to pay that. Treating those pups could easily have cost those people another $1000. Which, according to their billing history, they won't pay anyway. The other option was to try and see if those people would treat those pups at home themselves. We weren't convinced they wouldn't do something inhumane. It was a sad day.

Then there was the guy who, three months after his burro was vaccinated and wormed, contested his bill. His claim? That he nor his wife asked that the burro be vaccinated or wormed. They only needed the vet to administer sedation so the farrier could work on his feet. The owner of said burro was out there with the vet and he couldn't have said anything then? Dr. J spent nearly half an hour with this guy on the phone. The guy was basically insinuating that Dr. J had just gone ahead and given the vaccines and worming paste without consent to "run up the bill". Dr. J actually gives out more discounts than the other doctors. I found the day he went out there in my appointment book and someone had told me to take vaccines and worming paste because I wrote it in by the appointment - each vaccine they wanted and which worming paste. In the end, Dr. J told our office manager to take off the vaccines and the worming paste the bill. *sigh*

Yesterday (Monday), we had to deal with crazy. Actually, I didn't, E did. I sat there and remained quiet as I didn't want to create a worse situation. If E had needed any serious back-up, I would have piped up. As it was, the customer was creating enough drama. A gal had called and talked to E, warning her this crazy gal was going to be coming in. Crazy came in, with her Chihuahua wrapped up in a blanket, saying it had been attacked by a neighbor's Rottweiler. Crazy also stated that Gal was going to pay for it, and that it needed to go on her tab. E called Gal (the gal that had called to warn E that Crazy was coming in) to verify payment. While on the phone, E asked me to pull Crazy's file. I did and opened it noticing the "Written Off" paper in her file. I pointed it out to E who was getting off the phone. E told Crazy that Gal had agreed to pay only a portion of the vet cost, not all of it and it wasn't to go on her tab. E then told her that she could call the Humane Society to see if they had funds available for an "emergency loan contract" - where the person agrees to pay the Humane Society so much a month until the bill is paid in full. We couldn't reach the gal that runs it at the time. Crazy was adamant that her dog receive medical attention. E told her that we had taken her to court (collections) due to lack of payment on her account. Crazy then said that she could take us to court because "they" (meaning the vets) had given her puppies in a ziploc baggy and one of them was still alive. E politely told her that until she pays off her account, we are not allowed to do any work for her. Crazy stormed out.

We hollered at Dr. R to chat with him about what just happened. Upon reviewing this woman's file, the doctors had removed dead puppies out of a bitch that had been in labor for two days. The bitch wound up with a pyometra (puss in the uterus), therefore all the puppies were in fact, dead. When we told Dr. R about her accusing them of giving her live puppies back to her in a ziploc baggy, he could only shake his head.

We hate to turn people away like that. Our doctors would rather try to help. But considering how much money the average vet's office writes off as "bad debt", it becomes a money issue. Amazingly there are people who never pay on a $20 bill. Some accounts are for several hundred dollars. But the amazing ones are small amounts that for whatever reason, people refuse to pay. Everything the vet uses and does costs money. And the clinic I work for is about one third the price of clinics in bigger cities. Our doctors are still good at trying to help people out, giving discounts on things or not charging for certain services rendered. Our doctors know that our area is full of people who barely scrape by.

I'm hoping the next week won't be so crazy. But considering it's still Parvo season, I'm not holding my breath!

100 Things That Make me Happy: Part 13

I'm compiling a list of things that make me happy. To catch up on previous posts, please click here. And in no particular order, I continue!

#61. The Postcard Campaign. I'm so glad people are enjoying taking part in it. It's been a lot of fun. Plus who doesn't love doing the happy dance at the post office? Due to my busy schedule, I forgot to post my thank-you to Rachel McCool for the one she sent out in July! I love the Charlie Brown stickers on it. And  before I forget, my friend Krissy from Talkative Taurus is sending them out for August!

#62. Miniature golf. I'm sorry, how can you not have fun cursing at the windmill for knocking your ball off course and therefore back to you?? Because that was Mini Golf is all about. Cussing out the stupidity of each of the 18 holes. Talk about a fun afternoon!

#63. Reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I bought it the last time I was in Target. I find it very interesting and I'm now having ideas of my own Happiness Project. And I'm not even finished with the book yet.

#64. Chapstick. I'm rarely found without chapstick in my pocket, my purse, my car, my nightstand, my living-room side tables, or anyplace else I can put it. Often I find it in the dryer - much to my dismay. If I find myself without it, the world is coming to an end.

#65. My mom took in a new little kitten the other day. She named her Posey, after my favorite Giants player, Buster Posey. She and Libby were actually getting along, and then the next morning and the kitten wasn't doing so swift. My mom rushed off to the vet's office and met the vet at the back door when he came in for work. He was surprised by the turn-around of her health, but decided to keep her at the clinic and monitor her. He got her heart rate and temperature back up closer to normal and she was meowing more. My mom has been wanting a kitten so bad for quite awhile now, and this little thing was found in the shop at her office.

 

Think good Posey thoughts! 

Posey Update: She's doing good! Mom feeds her by syringe every few hours. She's taking her to work and Posey crawls all over her desk, talking to her. Mom says that Libby wants so badly to play with little Posey, but Posey is still so little (maybe about 3 to 4 weeks at best), and "kisses" off the leftovers over Posey's meals off her face. I will get to meet her Friday night as my parents are coming up and they can't leave her since she has to be "bottle fed". Plus the invasion of Libby . . . all of this means that Miss Harriet will have to be locked in my bedroom for the weekend. She'll get over it. Here's another picture Mom sent me of Posey with Libby, she calls it "The Mexican Standoff".

Update on the update: Just got a text from Mom saying that Posey started to crash again and she rushed her to the vet. Mom said she started looking a little better by the time she got to the vet's office and is going to leave her for the day again.

PLEASE THINK GOOD POSEY THOUGHTS!!!!!!  

Words CAN hurt

Monday was just a crap day. Partly because it was just Monday. And partly because of what happened with a co-worker.

The day started off with finding out that one of our technicians accidentally fell off her back deck over the weekend and hurt her foot to the point where she could barely walk. She made herself cry from pain by driving her stick shift to work to have the doctors take a look at it. She even got a free digital x-ray to find out if it was broken. Didn't appear to be.

So we were left with one technician, and two receptionists (one of them being me). I played part receptionist and part tech throughout the day.

At some point in the morning I was refilling a bunch of prescriptions and the tech started telling me about how there's a really hot doctor (MD not DVM) in another town that "totally has the hots" for her. I really didn't want to hear about it, especially since she's married. Now I know that you can be all appreciative that someone's interested and hell, married people think other people are "hot" as well, but do you really need to gush about it all freaking day at work? No. You don't. So, keeping the tone light (instead of irritable, which is what I was), I jokingly said, "I wish I had some hot doctor traipsing after me." Did she say something supportive like, "One day, hon, one day. You will." Nope. Not even close. She came over to me and said, "Well, you need to wax this and this," showing on her face where I apparently needed some work done. Then she went back to her work saying, "I tell you this because I'm your friend."

Bullshit. My bestest friend in world has never even said that to me, and she would have see the hurt in my eyes the minute something like that would get past her lips.

I'm not supermodel pretty. Yes, I, like so many other women, have some unwanted hair in the facial area that could be gone and I'd never miss it. However, it costs money and is often painful. But my closest friends have never ever told me that in order for me to get a guy I need to do some waxing.

Part of me wanted to take her down. Part of me wanted to tell her off. But I listened to the sensible part of me that said, just smile and nod and politely refuse and go about your day; pay her no mind. So, I simply told her that waxing was not something I was really into. Quite possibly more information that anyone needed, but I really don't see the appeal of ripping hair out. I finished up my work and went back to the front desk to sit down and charge all the prescriptions out so they were ready for pick-up.

I kept telling myself that what she said didn't hurt; didn't matter. And because I have a mini-side burns and a barely-there mustache (like if you were standing as close to me as the tech was, which was kinda uncomfortable close), doesn't mean guys won't like me. None of the guys I'd been out with before ever said anything. I kept telling myself it just didn't matter. However, I didn't go out of my way to joke with her like usual.

Later in the afternoon, I was up front alone for a moment when the tech came up to find a chart. She turned around saw an old rancher that she knew and she said, "Oh hi, Rancher! I totally didn't even see you there." Even though he told her that it was okay, she continued with "I didn't want you to think I was bring rude." Because we joke a lot at the office, I did a whole sarcastic "pfffffft" and instead of her jokingly batting me on the shoulder, she freaking pinched me. Hard. It effing hurt. A lot. And it left a bruise. I hollered, "ow!" and gave her a light slap on the shoulder.

She then went for the jugular. She continued pinching my arm so freaking hard, she broke skin in 3 places, and left a bruise and part of my forearm tender. In front of the old Rancher man. I was so embarrassed that it turned out that way and my arm freaking hurt like hell. Instead of going off on her in a public forum, I jokingly said, "would you like a curly-cue mustache?" And she replied with, "you mean like yours?"

Ouch.

I was cut to the quick. I simply turned around and went back to my work. I ignored her for the remaining two hours of work. And I didn't offer to stay to help like usual. I said good-bye to Dr. J and went home.

It was later, when I was in bed, waiting for sleep to come that I accepted how much the tech hurt my feelings. And I cried. I had kept telling myself that I shouldn't be upset because she was being spiteful for whatever reason. An off day. Something to do with her sinus infection. I thought hard to remember if I had recently said anything hurtful to her and done anything to to her. I came up blank. While she's not my favorite person in the world, we get along generally and have gone to lunch a few times.

But I realized, that didn't matter. What she had said was hurtful, and she freaking knew it. You don't treat your "friends" like that. 

And I know that come Friday, when we next work together, that I should take the high road and act like it never happened, I'm not sure I can or will. I'm only human after all and she did hurt my feelings - and that last comment was intentional. I will probably avoid her if possible, go to a different tech with questions I may have, and offer them help.

I know that she could have said much worse to me, but that doesn't make the cut already less deep. Besides, the bruises on my arm keep reminding me.

Has anyone noticed a pig flying around?

Yesterday, Dr. A and I went to lunch at a cafe in town. It's been around for awhile, but neither of us had tried it. We decided to try it today. I doubt I'll be running back for more anytime soon.

We walked in and got in line - there were probably 4 people ahead of us. We found a menu and perused it while we waited. And waited. And waited some more. The guy behind the register looked like he didn't really care about much of anything to be honest. He had a completely blank expression; in fact his face never once changed the entire time we were in the establishment. The other guy in the "kitchen" looked about as excited as Guy #1. Eventually, Guy #2 gets off his lazy keister, and starts taking orders.  Of course, then there's no one to start fixing the food that people have ordered. Seems like a great system.

Dr. A finally reaches the front and orders. I'm after her and order the "turkey BLT, minus the TOM". Because I don't like tomatoes. They're slimy and disgusting.

I think Guy #1 took me literally. Very literally.

Twenty minutes or so later, Dr. A and I finally get our sandwiches. I look at my sandwich and notice the TOM  (as in tomato) on the sandwich so I start peeling them off. Dr. A looks at her sandwich and says, "I think I got yours." I hand over my plate with her sandwich (after putting the tomatoes back on and apologizing for fingering her sandwich). She handed me the plate with my sandwich and her side salad . . . keeping the side salad. Yeah. I know. The dude totally messed up.

So I look at my sandwich, and there's still tomatoes on it. When I lift up the bread to peel off the tomatoes, I notice there's not a slice of turkey on the sandwich. It's a regular ol' BLT. Dr. A starts laughing at me, and I bite into it because I'm too hungry to wait for the blank-faced idiot to waste 20 minutes more attempting to fix the error.

The reason I say that Guy #1 took me literally when I said "no tom" is that a male turkey is called a "tom". Although, in most restaurants, tomato is often abbreviated as "tom".  So, I guess, if you want to get highly technical (which I don't), I guess he got the order right and didn't serve me a "tom".

I'm quite positive that there has to be a pig flying around on this earth somewhere, because I swear that would be the thing to get me to eat a tomato.

I did text my mom with "would you believe I'm eating a tomato?" She replied with "no fucking way!!!!!" (with about a dozen more exclamation points behind it). Then she came back with, "and it didn't kill you?!?!"

Yes, yes. I know. It didn't kill me. I hate tomatoes, but I was starving and lucky for me, the tomatoes were sliced very thin. But they are still slimy and disgusting.

And keep an eye out for that damn pig. It's gotta be around somewhere. 

I am the world's biggest idiot

Yeah. That's me. World's Biggest Idiot.

Please give me a pat on the back. I already have.

Last night, while using my phone to accept new comments on a recent post, while trying to make the writing on the screen bigger so I could no only read it, but actually be able to hit the right links and stuff (and you know, not hit the wrong ones), I somehow managed to actually delete the most recent 50 freaking comments. You literally could have knocked me over with a feather.

Holy crap. And I can't figure out a way to get them back.

I nearly cried.

I love your guys' comments. I try to reply to all of them. And all of those are gone. Well, at least the most recent 50.

My forehead stung for an hour because I hit it so freaking hard.

How could this have happened?!

Oh right. I know. My bumbling fingers did this. Managed to hit all the wrong buttons. Literally. This is what I get for using my phone . . . right?

So, yeah. You can just call me WBI for short.

I am going to continue to wallow in shame and stupidity.

Hope y'all have a better, non-comment-deleting weekend.

*sigh*

100 Things That Make Me Happy: Part 12

I'm doing a list of things that make me happy. To read other posts, please click here. And in no particular order, I continue!

#56. Pizza. Especially Round Table Pizza. Not that I don't like other pizzas from other places, but Round Table is really good. I don't have Round Tables up in here in Sticksville. There's an Italian restaurant that serves an okay pizza. And I ate a lot at Mountain Mikes, Pizza Guys, and various other places during college and after. 

 #57. Reading blogs. It's so much fun to get a glimpse into your lives - the good and the bad. It's a wonderful community that I'm glad to be a part of.

#58. Libby's clean bill of health! She had a recheck appointment not too long ago, and Dr. J said that she's doing excellent and that he feels he doesn't need to see her unless something (God forbid!!!) happens. She's back to running around like a bat outta hell, and she's all happy.

#59. The two free movie channels that I supposedly now have on my satellite. They showed up out of nowhere, but I'll take them. I've watched a few movies on them, and it's nice to not have to pay a premium price for something like HBO.

#60.  The song "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes. 'Nuf said.  :o)

7 Deadly Sins of Reading

I stole this from The Frisky Virgin. Well, okay, I didn't really steal - she told me I could take it.

1) Greed - What is your most expensive/least expensive book?

Most expensive? Hmmm . . . Probably Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hard cover for around $20? Next might be Catching Fire and Mockingjay, each around $18 in hard cover. (Of course, I could cheat and list a few text books from college . . . lol)

Least expensive? Not sure, something I would have picked up from the bargain table at Barnes & Noble or something.

2) Wrath - What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
Yeah, I really haven't got a clue on this one.  Maybe Alice Sebold - I loved her book The Lovely Bones, but Almost Moon was not one I really liked. I haven't read anything of hers since.

3) Gluttony - What book have you devoured deliciously over and over with no shame whatsoever?
Pride & Prejudice, also the fan-fiction continuation of the story by Sharon Lathan. Also? The Hunger Games books and the Harry Potter books.

4) Sloth - What book have you neglected to read due to laziness?

Anything I had to read in high school. Seriously, unless I was forced to read it in class, I didn't read them. Usually it was John Steinbeck - I had to read Grapes of Wrath. Yeah, never made it past the turtle chapter (which is like Chapter 2 or 3); I kinda read the cliff's notes. Kinda.

5) Pride - What book do you most talk about in order to sound intellectual?
Um, Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte? lol

6) Lust - What attributes do you find most attractive in male/female characters?
I love when a book can make me laugh out loud; situations the characters find themselves in, things they say, etc. I love being able to connect to a character in even just one small way, or in several ways.  For example, here are two reasons why I have fallen in love with the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich:

Ranger says, "I ran into him two years ago and he was operating an all-night dog grooming and cockfighting operation. The cockfighting didn't involve poultry." Stephanie thinks - took me a couple beats to figure that out. And even then how the heck did the guy go about it? Was it like thumb wrestling? It took me about 20 minutes to stop laughing enough to continue reading.

Stephanie thinks: "in my mind I cook a lot. I make a lot mental turkey dinners, bake pies, roast tenderloins, and whip up rice pudding. I even own a mental waffle maker." Lmao! That is soooo me.

7) Envy - What book would you most like to receive as a gift?
I honestly have no idea.

100 Things That Make Me Happy: Part 11

I'm doing a series of posts of things that make me happy. If you'd like to catch up on posts you may have missed, please click here. And no particular order, I continue!

#51. The bloggers who have stood by me and stood up for me the last week while I've been dealing with hateful comments due to these two facts: I'm American, and I have a vagina. You fellow bloggers have been so freaking awesome as of late, I wish I could physically hug each and every one of you! Unfortunately, the internet has not come that far, so I can't. But I want each of you to know, that you are my rocks and I appreciate every comment you've left supporting me. Y'all are the bomb! (I think I sounded so . . . wrong decade! LOL)

#52. This is slightly ridiculous, but The Hunger Games will be released on DVD this month (finally!). I really enjoyed the movie. I will admit I rolled my eyes when I heard on the radio the other day on my way to work that the final book will be split into two movies, just like Harry Potter and Twilight. Evidently Harry Potter is a pioneer.

#53. Discovering the show The Glades. Being that I don't watch regular TV during it's regular time, I wait for DVD's or streaming on Netflix. I recently discovered The Glades is now streaming (squee!!!) and I have really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I now have to wait until Season 3 is done on regular TV because it's in the middle of it or something. *sigh* Also, discovering that Matt Passmore (main guy) is Australian, totally ups his hotness factor. LOL

#54. Fresh, clean sheets on the bed. I just love the feeling of the first time I crawl into bed having put fresh sheets on my bed. If only that feeling lasted longer than one night! :o)

#55. Ice cream treats provided by your boss. Last week Dr. R walked in and tossed each one of us a ice cream bar towards the end of the day. We all sat in the lobby happily eating our ice cream bars before they melted. You know, Dr. R is a good guy - he hands out ice cream! It doesn't hurt to bribe the help. ;o)