One last whine...

for now.

Woke up at 5:00 AM so depressed that I couldn't get back to sleep. As always, visiting blogs cheered me up some. I promise to come back after work (TGIF) with an attempt at an attitude adjustment. I'm so tired of feeling so hopeless.

DH is getting ready to leave next week for two weeks at the Utah condo - in the (sniff) snow. In the five years I've been paying for that thing I've only been there in the snow once. I was SO looking forward to going for spring break (early this year) because there should still be LOTS of snow to enjoy, but it's already been reserved for the week. Even if we could afford to lose the rental days (which we can't, since we've lost a whole season because of the flood), I'm not sure I should spend the $$$ to make the trip up. So I told DH I might not bump the renters and instead would not take the ASL class he wanted me to take this summer and would go spend a few weeks late June/early July.

Speaking of the flood, it's been eight weeks and the repairs are still not finished (even though on the rental calendar the management company has repairs completed on the 11th.) The manager said they MIGHT be able to comp DH another condo, to which he snapped off an email remind this guy that he has people flying in for the week. What, is he supposed to have them standing around in sub-freezing weather for a MAYBE condo? Someone got back to him right away to let him know they would have a place for him in one of the owner's condos (the owner is an old friend.)

My union action meeting went well but, of course, it means a ton of new work for me implementing the plan they devised. On top of which, we had decided not to go to board meetings for a few months, so I committed to giving a talk about the Supreme Court to the local Democratic Club. NOW we find out that on that very night is the meeting where our school board is going to be discussing mid-year cuts so THAT is the meeting I'm expected to pull together a big demonstration. Same thing happened last year and I ended up having to dash out of the Dems meeting after my speech (last year's topic was Signing Statements, which was very scary to learn about) and to the school board meeting.

I have to go get ready for work but wanted to write that my heart testing went fine. Won't know the cardiologist's take on everything for another month but as far as I could tell from watching the monitor during the echocardiogram everything seemed to be pumping right along. I was able to see one artery that seems to have a little plaque in one area but it didn't seem occluded. Have a funny story to tell about the treadmill test but will save it for tonight's post, which is going to be more upbeat. Since this is my whine post I will complain about being jerked around by this office. I had to take two days off work for this. Their instruction was to not eat for four hours before the treadmill test. My first appointment was for one o'clock on Tuesday. At 11:00 they called to say they were running behind, would I mind coming in at 2:00? No problem (I've got enough fat stores, I'm not going to starve). I was supposed to get an IV "installed', do the treadmill, then eat my fatty meal (which absorbs the tracer they inject partway through the treadmill), then do the echo, then go have a myocardial perfusion scan. As I'm standing on the treadmill ready for The Ordeal (part of the funny story for tonight), the office manager comes in wanting me to come in on FRIDAY (another day off work) for the echo because they are still running behind. I told her I was not taking another day off, that I was coming back the next day for the second part of the MPS and if she wanted to move the echo to Wednesday while I was here for Part Deux of the MPS that was fine, but that I had plans for the afternoon and would not hang around all day for it. No problem, she assured me, and I would be out by 9:30 AM. I had one of the first appointments on Wednesday (8:15). They didn't come get me until 8:30 (I was there early) and I wasn't out of there until nearly 11:00.

Yes, I know in a cardiologist's office they are very likely to have emergencies and I was not an emergency, but emergency did not seem to be the problem Wednesday, just people coming in late and being inflexible (although they certainly expected the patients to be flexible).

Let's see, I'm getting all my whining out. DH paid for $350 worth of repairs to DS2's car. DS2 has finally realized that he is not going to be "discovered" as a drummer (especially when he's not playing anywhere) so went to apply at what USED to be a huge employer in our area. Sadly, their business in in the dumps, as are all businesses around here as more and more greedy corporations move their work to other countries, so I fear he will be stuck working for the post office and delivering pizza at night (and still not making it). He will move back home in May (I hope) which should take some of the pressure off him.

And now I must leave for work, always a depressing thought. They just released the list of eighth graders who may not graduate in June, most of whom are in my classes. Only one of them - a boy whose mother died at the beginning of the year - has ever turned in an assignment. All the others don't believe this education has anything to do with them. So, how did we raise a generation with so many children (and, frankly, their parents) who don't think the students have a role to play in their own learning?

I guess I'm just supposed to cram it in their ears.