Bon Voyage

I leave Cleveland today to head home.  I have had many thoughts about what home means, and I once thought Ohio would always be home for me.  The house I grew up in as a child is up for sale, and it is in deplorable condition.  I had to laugh when it was discovered that in a matter of two years, it will be registered as a historical home and a special permit is required to tear it down.  It should have been wrecked long before I ever lived in it.

I enjoyed seeing my dear friends, as they are missed daily in Colorado.  I have a long list of things I want to accomplish once I return, and I look forward to the work.  I can't say that I will miss Ohio, but I will miss the loved ones I have here.  I hope that one by one they will come to visit.  Being here has shown me that my future is bright, but that bright future involves mountains, wildlife, and a family that I cherish.  

Flying blind

One of the aspects of living in Colorado Springs that takes some getting used to is the fact that I now live in a military town.  I have an army base about 20 minutes south of me, and about 15 minutes north of me is the Air Force Academy.  One of my favorite things about living near the academy is that almost every day driving home, I get to see cadets learning to fly in bi-planes.  This weekend I was able to see the Thunderbirds from work.  Today is graduation day for the cadets, traffic all along the freeway was very slow, and I think just about every police officer and state trooper was out making sure no one stopped along the freeway to watch the flight events.  Anyone who watches the news knows that our dear president gave the commencement address.  There have been a number of times in my life when I was in close proximity of the president.  I have never met one, and really, as a species, I'm not all that interested in politicians.  

My official stance on the upcoming presidential election is to wait until both the elephants and the asses have picked their front man or woman...and go from there.  The things that are important to me may not be important to who ever becomes president.  Perhaps it's because I don't fit the mold of what most lesbians are, but I'm not worried about marriage, adoption, or most other issues that the gay community unites over.  I want to be able to fall asleep at night knowing that I'm safe, that I will have a job, and that my family will have a roof over their head.  Maybe it's naive, but I have so little faith in politics, that I've almost stopped caring.  Maybe it's not the best way to view things, but it sure beats being stressed out at night watching the news listening to candidates argue over who is more wrong.

a useless piece of paper

The recruiter for the IT position I applied for called me.  Initially I was very excited, afterall, it would be a new challenge, a new work group, and all sorts of other good things.  I was informed that because I have a degree in English they aren't even going to consider interviewing me.  Now, IT help desk at Progressive is just like any other help desk...follow some steps, if those don't work, pass it along.   Not once did the recruiter ask me if I had any IT experience, they just judged the book by it's cover.  I told my boss that the entire situation was handled very poorly, and it makes me lose respect for the hiring practices of such a large company.  Oh well, I'll just keep trucking along and see what happens.

I was very excited to hear that Mr. Pistorius is able to run in the Olympics.  I will be even more excited if he takes home some medals.  I have learned a great deal in the past few years from Breda about all things amputee.  I'm thrilled that many major marketing campaigns feature amputee athletes do anything and everything.  Now that I'm focusing my MBA on marketing, I notice all sorts of little details.  

I had another interesting medical experience today. Not only did I see a doctor that reminds me so much of my brother it's scary...but I endured a new treatment.  Trigger point injections.  All totalled, it was 4 shots, two in the neck, two in the shoulders.  By the time I die I have a feeling that I will have had injections in all sorts of goofy places.  My eye still takes the cake at this point though.

Nelson

I can't even begin to express what a sad and pathetic disappointment this is. Once again our government not only drops the ball, but makes us look like fools in the process.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-30-watchlist_N.htm

drilling

Everyone hates the dentist...at least a little bit. I tend to hate them more than most. I had the worst dentist a child could ask for early in life, and ever since, the mere mention of going to the dentist makes my stomach turn. My fear of going to the dentist has helped me build up an enormous bill, and I still have more work that needs to get done. I have been avoiding a root canal for 4 months. I finally bit the bullet, found a new dentist here in town, and tried not to throw up on my way to the office yesterday. I am a snob when it comes to dentists, if it doesn't look like they've spent a mint making the office pretty, I'm not going in. This guy, fits my bill for snobby.

So, after all is said and done, I didn't feel a thing, which makes me a very happy camper. Even better, when the novacaine wore off, my tooth didn't hurt. It was what happened at around 8:30 last night that shocked me most about my dental experience. My phone rang, it was the dentist calling me from his home to see if I was feeling ok. Any doctor that calls after a visit wins points in my book, but a dentist...oh yeah, he's getting all sorts of referrals through me.

I go back today for a regular exam and to schedule any other work that needs to be done. For the first time in years, I don't feel sick thinking about going to the dentist.

DT'S

Having had migraines since the age of 16, I don't think there is a medication I haven't tried. One particullarly nasty spell in college left me with a migraine for 10 months, and I had tried 27 different medications in that time. For the past several years I was seeing a doctor that I adored, as she listened, explained what she was prescribing and why, and laughed at all of my stupid jokes.

After moving to Colorado, the task of finding all new doctors is time consuming. I finally found a neurologist to treat my migraines, and what he told me after my first visit taught me more about my headaches than I had previously known. What was most interesting though, is his plan for treatment. For the past 15 years, not a day has gone by that I haven't taken some sort of medication to treat my headaches. This is all about to change. My doctor s taking me off of all of the medications I take, except for the birth control. Yes, I have already made all the jokes I can think of about lesbians taking birth control. The process however, is a touch rough. I have barely slept in several days, and has probably lost 5 pounds of water weight from sweating so damn much. If this is what a drug addict goes through coming off of stuff, my heart goes out to them. I know ultimately on the other side of this I will be a much healthier person, but the journey, well, it should make for some interesting blogging.

In other news, I started classes towards my MBA. It should be another interesting trek. The plans are in the works for our Cleveland trip. It looks like it's going to be about a week. Fire up the bbq's and bring on the good times! Chrsitine will be working for most of the trip, I will most likely set up shop in a coffee house and study a whole bunch.

So it begins...

plans are in the works for a June visit. I should know within the next week about all the final details. We think we're staying in downtown Willoughby. I will need Thai food...and a t-shirt from a certain brewery...and Donato's pizza....

stay tuned