Bruises

Michael finally has me convinced to go to the doctor. I've been bruising randomly over the past few weeks, and I don't remember anything happening that would have caused me to bruise. Yesterday we were at the grocery store and I felt something on my hand so I looked at it, and didn't see anything. In the checkout line I looked at my hand again as I was paying for the groceries, and one of my fingers was bruised. First, I've never had a bruise on my finger before. Even when I have had a car door slammed on my fingers they didn't bruise. Second, it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes between the time when I first looked at my hand and when I noticed the bruise, and I don't remember anything bad happening to my fingers that whole day. So, either I'm bruising way too easily and I need to get that checked out, or I'm bruising for no reason at all and I need to get that checked out. Either way, Michael convinced me to go to the doctor. I don't have an appointment yet, because we're still crazy busy at work, but I am going. I promise.

Today I feel like my brain is bruised, because work is still so crazy. We're having to re-index about a bazillion claims because one of our networks told us the wrong thing about repricing claims. Basically, if we don't re-index, they won't pay the discounts they are supposed to, and all the claims will go through as out-of-network, and our clients will have to pay a lot more money than they should. What does this have to do with me? Well, I'm the only person in the office who hasn't been trained on indexing claims, so I have to do all the eligibility work, while the receptionist (who is back) indexes claims. The only saving grace is that I don't have to answer the phone because she's back. Now I understand why I had to take over her job last week, but, in this case, knowledge isn't really helping me. It still sucks. Wish me luck on getting through the week.

Will this week ever end?

This week at work I'm trying to do two people's jobs. Mine (and this is the busiest time of the month for me), and the receptionist's job. Why? Because she decided she would take the long Memorial Day Weekend and turn it into a vacation to see her family in Arkansas. Why did our boss approve this during my busiest time of the month and decide that I would take over her job as well? Because they want to kill me from exhaustion. I've worked 45 hours this week! Not including today. I refuse to work any overtime today. At 5:00 I'm going home, and I am going to sleep. Not only is this busy for me, but it would be busy for her if she were here because one of our groups did their open enrollment. So that's a lot of changes added on to the normal workload, plus everyone outside the office is trying to catch up so the phones are ringing off the hook. Why am I taking time out to post? Because I really, really needed a safe venting place. I can't say anything to my coworkers because my boss is so grateful that I'm working so hard, and I don't want it to get back to her that I think she was really mean by giving the other girl the week off. True, I could forget the other girl's job and just answer the phones and do my month-end stuff. I could also jump off a bridge. Ain't gonna happen. I just like to get things done, and the more pressure the harder and faster I work. So I'm scrambling to get everything done because I know it's the right thing to do. Sometimes I hate myself...

Memorial Day Weekend

Over the long weekend (which I made even longer by taking Friday off as well), Michael and I went to Panama City Beach. We only stayed Saturday night, but the point was not really to go the beach but to get away from the house. It was good that getting away from the house was our goal, because we got in the ocean and had fun for a few hours, then decided to go get some drinks for that night. We went, got some drinks, and by the time we got back, they had put up the double-red-flag that means NO SWIMMING! Grrrr. Previous to this, the hotel pool had been empty, and the beach was full. Not a big deal, because it's a big beach. Walk a little and you can find a semi-quite spot (remember, this is Memorial Day weekend, not Spring Break). The hotel pool however, was not big. It was a normal size pool, with an abnormal amount of people attempting to stay cool in the heat. That would be ok, if I were the same size as those who made up the abnormal amount of people. But I'm not. That's why I'm trying to loose weight. But that didn't help me at that moment, because I couldn't reach into the future and say 'hey future self, go down there and have fun for me'. Even if I could it wouldn't help very much because then my future self would be having fun and not me.

Anyway, Michael and I decided to take our drinks down to the beach and walk in the surf and watch the sun set. The sunset was gorgeous! What was not was all the people STILL IN THE WATER!!!! I don't know if these people didn't grow up around beaches and couldn't read and therefore didn't know that a double red flag means no swimming (the signs interpreting the different color flags are all over the place) or if they were just that drunk. Perhaps they couldn't understand the little symbol of a white stick-figure swimmer on a red background with a big white lined-through circle over it. DUH!!! And do you know what the emergency workers got for taking the trouble to put up all those flags? They had to rescue 35+ idiots who thought 'they could handle it'. I'll grant that one or two, maybe even 5 or 10, were either the cause of the flag change from yellow to double red, or were in the water as the flags were being changed and did not yet realize the danger. But THIRTY-FIVE people? I heard about a few who were on the beach in the middle of the night (or really early morning) and drunk who had to be rescued. If you really crave that much thrill, go find a roller coaster!

Here's the real kicker: two people died. I don't know the story for one of them, but the other was Pierre Allen, just back from a tour of duty in Iraq. Was he being an idiot and thinking that he could handle the conditions? NO! He was on vacation and he tried to help out someone who was drowning. That just pisses me off. I'm sure the person he helped (who survived) felt really bad and I'm even willing to say that that person may have been among the first victims of the rip current. No blame should fall on that person unless that person really deserves it. However, what a crappy way for a vacation from your job to end. You just try to help out, do your job even though you are on vacation, save someone else's life at risk to your own, and you end up dying, at 21, after just getting back from hell. Silver lining? Well, I believe in heaven and hell, and I'm pretty sure Mr. Allen went to heaven. 'No greater gift' and all that. If you are inclined to prayer, please offer a prayer for him and especially his family. I'm sure they can use all the help they can get right now. While you're at it, pray for all of our troops who are out of the country, and especially those who are in danger, and Mr. Eric Williams, who is currently in Sadr City, Iraq. If you aren't inclined to pray, then just send good thoughts their way; they so deserve it for making sure we can sleep soundly at night.

So the big lesson of this blog??? Our troops deserve every kindness we can possibly give to them because of who they are and what they do, and DON'T SWIM ON DOUBLE RED!!!!

Comments

Thank you to everyone for your comments on my last post. I've had a terrible couple of days at work and you made me laugh! Out loud! I don't laugh out loud at work, so thank you very much. :)

Tagged :)

Me: I've been tagged!!!! HELP!!! I've been tagged!!!!!
Kind Person on Sidewalk: Hey! Crazy tagged person! Just do whatever the tagger wanted you to do and no one will get hurt.
Me: Oh, really? Okay then. :)

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was in fifth grade, probably dreading the end of school and making plans to see all of my elementary school teachers again as my first trip when I could drive. I realize that dreading the END of the school year makes me strange, but I always did. After a few weeks of summer and my brother, I was bored and annoyed. I wanted to be back at school with my friends. I also had this crazy idea that I would go back to my elementary school and see all my beloved teachers again once I could drive (I knew I would miss them and I can still name them all).

Five Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Potato chips
2. Oranges
3. M&Ms
4. Soft Flour Tortillas (plain)
5. French Fries

Five Things on My To Do List Today:
1. Cross stitch (more on that later)
2. Sleep (not likely)
3. Clean the bathroom
4. Go to the gym
5. Pray

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Build a bigger house farther away from Michael's parent's home
Give more to charity
Eat healthier
Have a maid
Travel the world
Set up college funds for my nephew, future children, and future nephews and nieces
Pay off all of my immediate family's debts anonymously

Five Jobs I have had:
1. Section Leader
2. Grocery store bagger
3. Grocery store cashier
4. Receptionist
5. Billing/Eligibility Insurance clerk (current job, it's not as boring as it sounds)

Places I have lived:
Atlanta, GA
Winter Park, FL
Kissimmee, FL
Here

People I want to get to know better:
(yes, this means you are tagged)
Ross Dalgleish
Third Culture Kids R Mine!
Bottles, Barbies & Boys

Six random things:
1. I hate talking on the phone, to anyone. I will suffer it to speak with someone in my family, and sometimes I actually enjoy being on the phone with Michael. Otherwise, if I can accomplish whatever it is without a phone call, it will be done without a phone call. Apparently, I get this from my dad.
2. I play the flute. When I was in high school I would play around 3 or 4 hours a day (not including band class). Now I barely play at all, but am trying to take more time for it, mostly because I miss it.
3. Vincent Van Gogh is awesome!!! Especially his night paintings.
4. I was an altar server for ten years, from second grade to twelfth.
5. My house looks like a hunting lodge: no antlers yet, but it's literally made of wood and we have no pictures but wildlife and hunting dogs, except for the picture of the horses that hangs in our bedroom where I can see it as I fall asleep every night.
6. I have four bosses and enjoy playing them against each other. This skill allows me to avoid the 'it all rolls downhill' rule. Unless something is truly my fault, I never get blamed. :) This is part of what makes my job more interesting than it seems.

Me: So, that's it, I'm done? I did what the tagger wanted and now the blog gods and all of blog world is good again?
Kind Person on Sidewalk: Yes, crazy tagged person, that is right.
Me: Good, good...that's good.
Kind Person on Sidewalk: Yep, that's good. *smiles, nods, backs away slowly*