Bogieblog

Another Sticky Issue

Remember in March when I had a shot to alleviate the symptoms of trigger finger? Well, it didn't last as long as I was hoping (many get lifetime relief). It has slowly been getting worse over the last month. I'm doing as I did last winter, trying massage, stretches and ibuprophen to try to keep it from becoming a huge issue. The doc said that he wouldn't do another shot (unless the first lasted something like 5 years), so surgery would be next. Well, that is fine and dandy, but I don't think an employer would be impressed if I got a job and immediately had issues because I couldn't type with my left hand! Oh well, it's mostly pain and swelling so far - no major stickage - so I can deal with it for a while.

Yep, when it rains it pours!

Tricks Only

So remember the dilemma that I hoped I would have, but dreaded. Fear not, no dilemma, just all tricks and no treats.

FD, who has had me on the phone several times, in to talk to 5 (yes count them, 5) people, finally made their decision. Not me. Seriously, the email said it was between me and an internal candidate. So, the internal candidate wasn't good enough to put in that job on 8/20 (when the job was posted), but is now? What that email really means is the people I interviewed with liked my qualifications, but they didn't like me during the personal interview, so they had to wait until they found someone inside that was willing to take the job. Congrats to that person, it's always exciting when one moves into a different role within company.

SG, who called me after 6 PM on Wednesday, and wanted me to come in for another interview this week, has found that they can't corral the people they want me to meet. Really? You were in such a rush that you wanted me in on Thursday afternoon. Then it was, "clear your calender for Friday" (which I did even though I had to reschedule a phone interview). Now it's, "we'll try to make it work next Wednesday afternoon". Well, I believe that the person who would be my boss liked me during the personal interview, but I could tell the Director of Manufacturing didn't. Now she is trying to find someone higher than him, who maybe I can get to like me. Good luck with that, I expect nothing from them at all at this point and will be shocked if a second interview round actually happens.

Which leaves door #3; OP, the company that has been stringing me along for 7 weeks and has stated it will string me along for several more. This is the company I have interviewed at twice (6 people total). The company that most likely won't hire me because I have no medical device experience. I truly believe that they are making offers to others, just keeping me on the back burner in case no one accepts.

Now we are getting toward the season when no one hires because of all the holidays (who wants to pay new employees for 4-6 days of non-work right after they have been hired?). So my next choice at this point is to try to get contract work.

Contract work offers pays 2/3-1/2 what I used to make. To put that in perspective, it pays what I made in 1999, when I was still hourly. It is paid hourly, without any holidays, and no benefits. And, from what I've seen, contract employees rarely get picked up as a permanent worker - the contract is only renewed, so the pay doesn't get any better.

The time that unemployment compensation runs out is quickly approaching (no, there are no extensions). In a couple of months I fully expect to be working at Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds (if they'll even hire me) since the more time passes without a job, the less likely employers will even want to talk to me.

The tricks are on me this Halloween Season - that's what I get for letting myself get my hopes up.

Good App, Bad App

I downloaded the IHeartRadio app for Android to my phone because a couple of local stations (with the morning show I like to listen to) can be accessed thru that app. I listen to the morning show at work, but some of the machines interfere with the reception on my Walkman (like an IPod, only by Sony, much cheaper, and has a radio feature) so at times the sound is all crackly. The app worked great and I loved the crisp clear sound I got.

About 2months ago, the radio station started advertising the new IHeartRadio app, with all kinds of improvements. I resisted, but then about 3 weeks ago I downloaded the upgrade. The upgrade, like some computer programs, unloaded the first version, then loaded the new version.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO DISAPPOINTED IN AN APP! the thing does not work - literally. It hangs while loading the permissions. I thought maybe it was me. So, I updated my phone firmware. Tried it again. No dice. Then, I looked and saw that the app (which had previously sported 4.5 stars out of 5 from thousands of users) was suddenly getting 1 star from hundreds of users. It is not me, for a change.

I have left feedback at the app site and at the radio station. And it isn't as simple as downloading another radio app, because owners of radio companies(in this case, ClearChannel) decide which app will carry their stations (or the companies create their own apps - I'm not clear on this). But the point is, I've tried several apps, but I can't access the two local stations that I listen to.

Anyway, this is a word of warning for anyone contemplating downloading this particular app on an Android phone - stay away, it sucks!

Excuses, Excuses

WS stayed away as long as possible, to make sure he didn't have to help with any of the hurricane prep. He even went so far as to stop at the hospital on the way home becuase he was covered in spots. This is a long story, and not really that interesting (since I won't be seeing life insurance money any time soon - LOL), so either get a fresh cup of coffee/tee, or just skip this entirely.

Two weeks ago WS's right leg started to swell in the calf area. It started on Thursday and was huge and reddened by Sunday. On Sunday I diagnosed the issue as either an infection (although I could find no wound/bite sites) or deep vein thrombosis (I had run across DVT a couple of years ago while researching something else). We were both taking that Monday off as we went to the Hippie Fest Sunday night, so he called the doctor first thing Monday morning. They told him that if possible, have someone else drive, so I took him in for his 10 o'clock appointment.

When he got out of the examination room, he said he had a 5 PM appointment at the hospital for an ultrasound to see if it was a blood clot. At the appointed time, I taxid him to the hospital, where they relieved both of us by not finding any indication of clotting. His doctor had already prescribed him an antibiotic, so he was all set.

Progress was slow as he went in for check ups. They finally gave him a second antibiotic, to be taken in conjunction with the first, which sped up the reduction in redness and swelling. The doctor had threatened to put him in the hospital for intravenous antibiotics, but with the hastened healing, that was not neccessary.

WS sent off to his prep class for the CWI and Friday noticed he was starting to red splotches and dots. He was also starting to itch. NOt good signs when one is allergic to penicillin and at least one of the antibiotics is a distant relative of that drug. But, being WS (and having paid exhoritant money just for the chance to take the test - for which there were no refunds), he just shrugged it off until after the test Saturday morning.

He called me shortly after noon and told me that he was spotted and itchy, but couldn't get ahold of the doctor. He had quit taking the antibiotic that he knew was a distand relative to Penicillen, but wasn't sure if he should do something els. I told him to call the pharmacy and see what they recommended, and if they recommended a stop at the hospital, then for he better freakin well stop at a hospital. He tried to bome back with "there aren't a whole lot of hospitals around her." I cut him off with there being a boat load of hospitals in NH, of which he would easily pass by 3.

He called back and said the pharmacist wasn't much help. He was on his way back and would stop at the shop before coming home. About 2 hours later, he called and informed me that he would be stopping at the hospital.

During the hurricane prep, I had left a couple of unwieldy things until WS got home. With word that he was stopping at the hospital, and not knowing if he would actually get home that night, I figured I would get the neighbor to help move those few things. The neighbor however, had left for a memorial, so I was out of luck. I did get 3 out of the 4 items moved, and the last I wasn't too worried about, so things were good.

Several hours later, WS got home with perscriptions for prednisone and anatax to take care of the allergic symptoms. He helped me move the last item, but other than that he didn't have to do anything but eat the dinner that I prepared. Anywhay, here are pictures about what he was whining about:

 
In the top pictures, note his right leg - it is very splotche, and that happens to be the ankle that was infected, strange how that happened, Also, note the armpit (I know, not exactly what one usually wants to look at), but it is hugely red. Hopefully the meds will do their job. Meanwhile, the doc at the hospital took him off all the antibiotics. I see another doctor visit in WS's near future (he had one scheduled for Wednesday, but I'm guessing they'll want to see him Monday).

I tell you, that guy will do anything to get out of a bit of work :)

Another One Bites the Dust

Sunday I was vacuuming, and just as I got to the nastiest, pet-hairiest piece of carpet (next to our bed - where the dogs lay at night), the vacuum broke. Not as in quit running, as in broke. Oh sure, in this picture everything looks normal.

But only because it is staged just so, Yep, the head broke right off the nozzle 
 

 
So Monday, I met WS after work and we hit up Sears. Looked at some expensive canister vacuums, then hit up Target and Walmart. Those two stores only had bagless vacuums, which I didn't want (have dealt with bagless and don't like them). Decided to go back to Sears and pick up the most expensive Kenmore canister vacuum because it was the only one that would accept tools that I have from previous vacuums, and it has a really cool feature which I will get to later.

See, for years (probably 8 or so, at least 2 canister vacuums worth), I have used the wand and tool from an upright vacuum that had floor tools. This wand/tool was used for all our non-carpeted areas, including steps, tile, hardwood and linoleum. The wand has cracked and been taped up so many times, it was about to give up the ghose. I dreaded when it finally disentigrated because it as I didn't like the way the standard vacuum heads clean non-carpet areas. Here is the taped, wand/tool - as homely as it is, it worked well for may a year.

 
With the new canister, they have solved my dilema, by giving me two heads in one.

 
And, it is is my favorite color, blue. I have always had to suffere with red or green vacuums, no more. Tuesday I set up the vacuum to get the area that had been missed on Sunday. I ended up doing the whole house over just because it was a marvel that I could change out the heads just by stepping on a switch, and it has a swivel for the head, making it easier to get under and around furniture. I'm not saying it was "fun", but it was less unenjoyable than usual.

Let's see how long this one sticks around.

Different Things

I will be looking at something interesting Monday. Can't say what, where or who, but it will at the very least do something to satisfy my curiosity about something which has been intriguing me for about 1 1/2 years.

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When I took my new job, the medical benefits (and deductibles) were better than what WS had been getting thru his work, so we switched. Friday WS said that his company was dropping their contribution to 50% (it had been 70%). They are also completely dropping their contribution to the 401k. Looks like I picked a good time to find a job that has good medical and contributes to my 401k (my previous employer had dropped 401k contributions a couple of years ago). They also laid off one person - things aren't looking good for them right now.

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We got 11" of snow on Friday. This morning WS went out sledding with Jimmy and some other buddies, He left about 11:30 and is projected to get home about 8:30 (he called a couple of hours ago). He leaves again tomorrow to sled with the neighbor. Now that he finally got the sled fixed, he has to ride it like he stole it before the rain and warmer temps come in later in the week.

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WS has lost another crown. this one has come off before (last time we were in Kansas) and there is barely any tooth left above the gumline to glue it to. We wil probably have them yank the tooth and look into implants (which he could use for the other 5-6 teeth he is missing - all molars). Probably won't yank the tooth yet as he has already used most of the dental benefits for the year and as long as it doesn't bother him, it should be okay.

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The Last Great Race on Earth starts March 5th.

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And that is it for the short taks from the bogie household.

Groups of 3's

 They say bad luck happens in groups of 3's. Around here, we have had a couple of groups of 3's in the last month.

1. The toaster oven died. The prevous toaster oven was not that old; perhaps 6 or 7 years and was fairly expensive. Not the biggest tragedy but it is used on a constant basis. We don't have a regular toaster so our weekend breakfast toast depends on the toaster oven. Too this time of year and in the deep of summer, we try to keep the regular oven use to a minimum so as not to overheat the house (the woodstove keeps it toasty warm in winter), so we use the toaster oven for smaller item. This time I replaced it with a fairly cheap Kenmore toaster oven.
2. Both fillings fell out of a tooth and I went in to have it repaired. After drilling around in preparation of putting a crown on it, it was discovered that the root was marginally still alive, so I needed a root canal. The dentist doing the crown does not do root canals, last week I went to see the dentist that does the RC's (first time root canal - didn't want to rush it; plus, have to take time off work). While doing the root canal, there were complications and they had to take more X-rays. When they finally were able to get the right angel (I have a small mouth an the plates don't fit so they have to be hand held), the machine froze up. After re-booting, they had to go thru the whole rigamarole again to get the picture. The 2 hour root canal turned into an almost 3 hour ordeal.
3. WS has had a tooth bothering him lately. That has always meant root canal time for him. He goes in next week. .
4. WS's sled brokeand what he thought would be a cheap fix, turns out to be a rebuild of unknown quantity. Not the hugest tragedy in the world, but if we had known that it would break, we could have saved ourselves the registration fee becuase it certainly wasn't worh it for a whole 3 hours of riding this year!
5. While vacuuming yesterday, the hadle crashed into the glass of one of the stereo cabinets, making quite a big hole. There is some special order stuff.



6. While doing the taxes, I got online to look at a bank statement from last spring. I discovered that the last time I set up a transfer to pay the mortgage, I must have clicked on "weekly" instead of "once". The mortgage has been paid 5 times in 5 weeks (plus the extra $50 I add to it each month). The checking account was barely in positive numbers, so I transfered our savings into checking (the checking account requires a high balance or it triggers a service charge and quits paying interest - which is higher than the savings account interest). The good news is that we had enough in savings to cover the glut, and the next house payment isn't due until June.

7. This happened earlier in the year, but just now becomes important. The FSA card, at the beginning of the year, is now only good for use at drugstores (previously, it could be used at healthcare providers just like a credit card). This means that we must pay the dentist (at time of service) then get reimbursed at a later date. So, I will be postponing getting the crown put into place, instead of doing it next week. Postponing it one week will make a huge difference as far as timing for our cash flow.

As far as cash flow timing goes, WS needed new tires (badly), so he had a set put on Friday. We will also have to put oil in the tank next week. The good news is, that we have jobs and we are in good health. We are also fortunate enough to be in a position where this is not catastrophic, just stressfull and extremely inconvenient.

I'm hoping the last group of 3's ends up just mildly annoying!

Snow Fun?

With all the snow we have received lately, WS finally got to go snowmobiling. He left this morning to meet up with Jimmy, Gabe and several other guys, and headed out amongst the local trails.

Good thing they stayed local; I got a call about 3:30 to bring the truck and go get WS. Seems the sled died on him while they were riding a lake. Jimmy used his sled to tow WS's sled to a place accessible by 4-wheeled vehicle. It was easy to get the sled into WS's truck as there were 5 guys lifting it up to the bed while  WS guided the nose and skies.

WS and neighbor Chris worked on it a bit before it got dark. The general concensus is there is either a carburator problem or a fuel pump problem. Either way, WS is done riding until someone can look at it.

Poor WS, he finally gets enough snow to go sledding, works hard to make sure he has all his chores and snow clean up done so he has time to go have fun, then he breaks down.

Bummer!

Re-Financing Woes

You would think that two people who have darn good credit, steady jobs that have lasted at least 6 years, have a house that is worth 2.5 times what one is trying to refinance, and (according to the bank) have a low debt to income ratio would be a shoe-in for the refinance loan of our choosing.

That would not be the case. Oh sure, we are getting a loan, but we had to fight tooth and nail not to have replace the roof and siding before getting the re-fi (which is to do the roof and siding).

We finally got them to agree to placing the extra into escrow, which will be accessible in portions, as work is completed on the house. At last communication, we will be closing next Friday.

I can't imagine what those with less than stellar credit, or less stable work histories have to go thru!

Mold in the Attic - Redux

Three years ago the insurance company had a mold remediation company come out and clean up our attic (at the same time they did the basement from the burst boiler). Mold remediation, for anyone who doesn't know, inolves painting everything in the attic with a fungicide, then painting over it.

That obviously only slowed things down and we now have mold in the attic once again. Naturally, the insurance company only pays for remediation once, so we are on our own for this one - and it will be much more expensive as we have decided to do it right, not go thru this every couple of years.

We are going to end up taking off the whole roof and replacing it all; the rafters, plywood and roofing. We believe that a lot of the problem is the ice damn buildup we get every winter. We have a non-too-steep roof so the snow doesn't slide off and WS has to shovel it when he can.

To eliminate the shoveling and ice dams we are going to go with a metal roof. We are in the process of getting bids and soon we will be refinancing the house so that we can get the work done. Unfortunately this also means we will have to extend the life of the mortgage; we had only 8 years left to pay and now we are going to be going up to 15 years. The siding is also in bad shape, and if we decide to do both at the same time, we will have to extend to 20 years (the cost of both is about 3/4 of what we originally paid for the house). Howver, both roof and siding should outlive both of us, but it is kind of disheartening to think that we may be paying a mortgage until we are really close to our 70's.

Blecchh!