Random Rant and venting thread for general or specific rage

[Ayingel 24]

stupid doctor's can't figure out why i'm still having kidney pains. they don't know if the stones have passed. they don't know why i have an infection. they don't know why i've had an infection since july (after i had my surgery). they don't know if i can keep my kidney. i'm fed up with doctors. at least i'm getting 100% coverage from my insurance at the moment.

[Andy 60]

So yesterday (note: 30th October) I get this letter from Orange, my old ISP.

Basically this letter says that because I haven't paid my bill they have cut my internet off. Also, if I don't pay them ?31.18 by 7th October they will take legal action against me.

Interesting.

I switched my ISP in July, so:

1/ Why have they taken so long to contact me about non-payment?

2/ Where did the ?31.18 come from when I was on ?27.99 per month?

3/ Shouldn't my account have been closed as soon as my new ISP took over?

I don't know how it works over there. But here you can get a Porting Authority Code (PAC) to give to your new ISP so they can take over the service without having to stop it and restart it, causing downtime.

When the new ISP recieves the PAC and takes over the service, the old ISP cancels your account with them.

And this was July at the very latest. I have emails saved to prove it!

[Ayingel 24]

that's where you call them and ask "wtf."

also, the extra money would be fees for being late

and as for them taking so long...no clue

oh...and i have to have ANOTHER ewoking surgery on my kidneys.

[Andy 60]

Today hates me. Everything just seems to be out to annoy me.

Last night I had to take my parents to the airport so they can get their flight back to India, so I didn't get to bed until about 5am and I was exhausted

When I got up at around midday I go to get lunch and someone has eaten all my food.

Then I phone up Orange Broadband to find out about this ?31.18 I apparently owe them, and after a lengthy, frustrating conversation it turns out they can't tell me anything about the account--citing the Data Protection Act--because my date of birth doesn't match their records. Fat lot of help that b**** was.

I try to check my bank accounts online but the website just keeps kicking me off before finally telling me that the service is currently unavailable.

Then I have to go to the police station in Birmingham so they can take pictures of the damage to my car when a drink-driver decided to let his car smash into it the other week. Good job I didn't get it fixed yet!

So, at work I check my bank (at last; it works). And I seem to have got paid less than I was expecting, not sure why so I will have to find out. But it means I have practically no money for this month, especially since all my direct debits and standing orders go out this week. So so much for trying to pay off some of my credit card...

Then a bit later I'm hungry so I go to the cashpoint but it is out of order. Great. I fancy going to Greggs (bakery type place), but they tell me that they don't take card so I'm like "ewok you then" and storm off. I couldn't be bothered to walk to Tesco (supermarket) because I know the one nearby is s*** and always has a massive queue, so I am forced to go to McDonalds where I am served by the most rude cashier I've ever encountered in a McDonald's store. Seriously; it was the kind of thing I'd expect from KFC.

So yeah, that's my frustrating day in a nutshell!

Edited November 3, 2008 by Andy

[Ayingel 24]

it's snowing.

enough said.

oh, and i've been around screaming kids all day yesterday and this morning.

Edited November 7, 2008 by Ayingel

[Bad furday 57]

Snow!

I hate kids Don't you? ;)

[Uncle Du 22]

So it's Saturday afternoon, and where am I? Work!! Yayyyyyyy!!

I dunno what these folks are gonna do when I leave. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but it's like there's no one else that will dedicate to this job once I leave. And my other buddies that are good at this are going to be leaving soon after me. Gets kinda old giving up my free time for this when I don't ever get anything in return.

Three months to go!! Then peace out navy!!

[Bad furday 57]

*cackle*

Du (wearing a shirt and pants that are too big, and a headband): "LaFonda is the best thing that's ever happened to me..... " *thumps chest and gives peace sign* "Peace out, Napolean!"

:p

[Uncle Du 22]

I would totally look 100X better with a big ass medallion. :p

Edited November 17, 2008 by Du

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

longish post below. contains medical stuff. pictures included, but some of you won't care anyway.

So, I started my Nuclear Pharmacy rotation this week. I've been looking forward to this for months as (I thought) this was what I wanted to do. No patients, no coworkers if I don't feel like talking, and a nice six-figure salary. I was ready to deal with six to eight more years of school, student loans, moving away from my family, and calculus (*cry*), but I was not prepared to meet safety procedures.

Nuclear Pharmacy entails the creation of imaging agents used for scans. Since the imaging agents are radioactive, there are a lot of techniques and procedures to reduce exposure to the pharmacists. Most of the safety equipment involves a LOT of lead, and lead is HEAVY. So let me go through them one by one.

• The Hood. Basically an L-block in a box of thick plastic and leaded glass. Like this. Kind of awkward to work in since the doses are manipulated behind the L-block, but that wasn't the issue. The issue is, I'm short; only 5'2." I have trouble seeing over the L-block because theirs is set up so high. And they don't have a step stool. That's a bit of a minor gripe, but I suspect it is a big part of my problem.
  
• Vial Shields. Made of lead or tungsten and VERY HEAVY. I'd estimate the big elution vials to be around 15 pounds, kit vials maybe 5 pounds. I do have puny arm muscles, but the weight isn't the issue. It's how the vial has to be held. In order to reduce radiation exposure to the hands, the vial has to be held from the TOP. Not the side or bottom, which would give more support. Not to mention it's thick and awkward to hold. My arm still feels like jello.
  
• Different syringe shields. Much more awkward and heavy than the normal variety. Again, to reduce exposure to the hands, these shields have a lead disk on the needle end making it top-heavy. They also don't have a very good locking mechanism which makes hanging onto the syringe and shield difficult. Especially when the hand should have as little direct contact with the thing as possible. Basically, the index finger rests along the plunger end of the shield, thumb holds the barrel of the syringe, and the plunger is maniplulated with the middle and ring fingers. My hand really isn't big enough to do this without frying it with radiation. But honestly, I'd take higher exposure just to be able to work the frakking thing. Which brings me to my next point.
  
• Negative pressure. The vial acts like a vaccum which keeps the radioactivity from spraying everywhere when a dose is drawn out. Great for preventing contamination, bad for controlling a plunger with one finger. Particularly with the 10cc syringe, I just couldn't hang on to the plunger. This fact caused two Quality Control proceedures to fail because the activity kept getting sucked into a saline vial instead of staying in the syringe where it belonged. And I accidentally sprayed the hood trying to get a needle cap off.
  

Most of me knows it's all a matter of practice. But after such a shaky start, my confidence is pretty shot. I feel like a first year student in my first rotation again instead of someone who will be graduating in May. Granted. my degree is in Nuclear Medicine Technology, not Pharmacy, but there is a possibility that I could get a job somewhere that still makes the kits instead of getting doses from a central pharmacy. I'm not sure if I'm relieved or upset that I'm starting out so badly and second guessing my career choice.

Edited November 21, 2008 by Radioactive Isotope

[Ayingel 24]

so, yesterday, the clinic was an hour behind schedule everywhere. part of it was my fault, i'm assuming >.>...never got my appointment sheet from my doctor, so i had remember all of my information from when i called his nurse the day before (not necessarily a big deal, but this is the third time i haven't had appointment information from Mayo). i do my blood work just fine, then i go up to get my xray where i found out that i need to have an IV and another small blood test done because they're not sure of the ratio to use of the iodine dye because my blood work from downstairs wasn't ready. bad coordination on their part, but there wasn't much i can do about that. so i sat around with an IV in my elbow for half an hour until they got my blood work back so i could start the x-ray. everything is going smoothly (other than that i've already been back there for an hour and my mom has no idea what's going on in the waiting room) until they put the dye in and take some pictures. everything was fine until my left kidney wouldn't drain the dye. my right kidney was clear in three minutes (they took a picture to show it) but my left was still full and draining too slowly. this hasn't happened before the other times i've had this x-ray done. i finally get out of there at 10:00 (i was called in at 7:45, and hadn't had anything to eat since 3:30 the day before) and finally got to to eat, but everywhere we went was super busy, so we went to baker's square (bad idea, bad service). we went back to the hospital and waited until 2:30 (my appointment was at 1:30) to see my doctor. never saw my doctor when i actually was called back, which was probably a good thing looking back at it. i saw two younger doctors who actually want to see me stop having stones, instead of calling me in for the same surgery every time. the first one said that i would probably have to have my normal surgery, but when she brought the other doctor in, he said that the problem maybe something that was mentioned to me in passing by my normal doctor (but he told me that these weren't things to be worried about). my ureter from my left kidney is too small, and my renal pelvis is too big. so now, because of my last surgery, my kidney is possibly scarring shut. and my renal pelvis is really beat up from my first stones (which were huge...about the size of a nickel and i had two of them), so my kidney isn't functioning properly at all. so now, to see exactly what type of procedure i need to have (not something removing stones, it would be something completely different, which may involve cutting out part of my ureter and attaching a lower part to my kidney) i need to have a new type of test with radioactive dye being injected into me. really looking forward to it...let me tell ya.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

a Lasix Renogram? long, boring test and they may or may not put a catheter in.

[Ayingel 24]

i wasn't told about the catheter...they just told me they're putting the lasix in with an iv and i need to sit there for an hour. thanks for the tip tho (hoping to not have a catheter)

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

it's either a cath or hold it.

some places may have you go in a bedpan, though.

[Ayingel 24]

they told me that i'm peeing before hand (sheet says it, too...)...i'm hoping that maybe it will be like the x-rays i have taken with the dye and they they'll let me use the bathroom in the same room >.>

still hoping for no catheter <.<

[TheUnknown 39]

Damn bombing a test. I missed a few days due to illness and the book is so technical and unreadable that I couldn't get much information from it.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

i've been using an old login at work because it allowed the right-click and tabs. this morning i go to log in, and they've finally disabled all the old ones. so now i have no right-click and no tabs. :wail:

Edited November 25, 2008 by Radioactive Isotope

[Tsl 7]

Stupid Kohls.com! I wanted to buy a comforter for my dad they had on a really great Black Friday sale, but the damn website kept screwing up and not processing my order until finally they were all sold out! Then to top it off, you would think they would have someone in customer service seeing as it was a big hyped up 1am sale and the amount of people buying online was insane. But no! That would make too much sense! So they refer you to the CS number, which takes you through a long menu with multiple options only to tell you at the end that this is not their hours of operation, call back later *click*. b******s....

[Bad furday 57]

*tallies* Another reason for me to hate Kohls, aka The K Hole! :D

[Uncle Du 22]

So, I got my final evaluation that I will receive in the navy yesterday. All in all, it wasn't bad. I'm the #9 ranked first class out of about 30 at the command. But I know I deserved better.

The way the navy's evaluation system works is like this: the highest you can get is an early promote, then next is must promote, then promotable. There are lower ones, but they're only given when someone has significant problems.

I was the #2 Must Promote at the command, but then I find out, that there are a couple people in my department, not even in leadership positions, that got the early promote over me. Wanna know why?

BECAUSE I'M GETTING OUT.

The way my upper chain of command thinks, why not give it to someone who's going to continue to be a ewokin puppet for this organization. I can't believe it. I have devoted so much of my personal time to this place. I'm one of about 3 people at this place who's qualified to pretty much do anything, and being that we are an operational command, I kinda work in the department that gives this place a reason for being here.

So ewok you navy, you can have your pompous, self-serving people who only suck dick to get ahead, and don't know their jobs. Give it a few decades, and we'll see that we won't even have a navy with sailors in it, it'll be all contracted civilians. That's where it's going. ewokin bulls***.

I'm done.

[Princess 35]

So GM builds crappy parts and doesn't stand behind their rebuilt parts because I'm now on the third stereo in my car and they require me to pay the deductible on the warranty even though I had the stereo replaced while the car was under the original warranty. No wonder why GM is in trouble if they can't keep simple things like CD players working in cars. And if that wasn't enough, I had a CD in the CD player when I took the car in to show what the problem was and lo and behold the mechanic forgot to press eject BEFORE taking the stereo out so I went to put the CD in my new (rebuilt) stereo and it was missing. The service writer went looking for it, and oh, there it is still in the stereo, so now it's going to take me 1-2 weeks to get my Nickelback CD back

[Andy 60]

Well if you will buy an American car...

[TheUnknown 39]

...you prevent the downfall of America.

[Andy 60]

For every American car you buy, I'll NOT buy TWO American cars! ;)

[Tsl 7]

Japanese cars ftw!