Latisse.

Are you f*cking SERIOUS?!?!?!?

Ladies and gentleman, I fully understand Rx meds for severe skin issues. Your skin is the largest organ of the body, it blocks a large amount of the surrounding planetary cooties from entering your system, and when it begins to break down in any fashion it can easily affect many more parts of your well-being.

There are numerous Rx products which are, when it comes down to it, aesthetic in nature. Whatever. You want to pay $700/month to think you are staving off wrinkles for an extra year, go right ahead.

But a prescription product to grow your eyelashes?!?!

Now I am not unaware that those who go through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and several other forms of toxic treatments to address cancers (as well as parasitic infections) are prone to losing hair. Which can include eyebrows and eyelashes. Which sometimes choose not to grow back well, or at all in some cases.

But this product is NOT being geared to that. That is a VERY small audience. This is a multi-nationally advertised product to be used in place of mascara. Okay? The most expensive mascara I ever purchased cost me about $12. I know there are some really high-end ones which cost around $45. Probably someone makes one with organic otter testicle extract and botanical butterfly jizz guaranteed to quintuple the length, breadth and heights your soul can reach and charges you $286 for the priviledge of owning one of the 1000 vials produced annually.
But any douche with more money than brains can get it.

This new banana oil is still banana oil. Only requires a prescription from your doctor, will turn your eyelids darker temporarily, and may very well cause your irises to brown. Your irises, people. The iris is an internal muscle, surrounded by your eyelids, cornea, and aqueous humor. And this shit can change its color (which is normally pretty much set by the time you reach the age of 2). It also may cause itching, burning, and eye pressure problems. And other "eye problems". Right on their website, http://www.latisse.com/Latisse.aspx?state=10, it also states:
"You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA."
What a ringing endorsement!

Well I'm so glad we have a cure for the common cold, cancer has been wiped out, we have universal effective healthcare, and no child anywhere is going hungry. Billions of dollars spent on research, testing, and clinical panels to clear it for FDA approval. Not to mention those dollars spent on advertising.

Oh, but if you go to the website, http://www.latisse.com/Latisse.aspx?state=10, and you sign up for Latisse LashPerks, Allergan (the mooks who made this stuff [who also make Juvederm and Clinique Medical, btw]) will donate $5 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Well, thank goodness.

Is anyone else pissed off by this as much as I am?

Tags: rant, soapbox

The one I posted recently about favorite curse words/derogatory terms? I forgot a very important one:

ASSBAG!!!

So, when we left our heroine after our last post, she planned on ibuprofen, perhaps a nap, and making phone calls. Calls were made, messages were left, ibuprofen and heating pad were put to good use, and a nap on the couch was enjoyed.

Despite her stiffening and cranky back and impending sinus issues, our heroine returned to work the load-out of the concert.

Only when she arrived, the cops at the gate told her "you need to move along". I explained that I was there to work the concert. "You need to move along" was apparently the only phrase programmed...though there was a WIDE range of tones (from polite, to firm, to nearly belligerant). Now with 9 or 10 cars behind me, a squad car pulls in front of me in a perpendicular manner, and the cop talking to me went to talk to that cop, still motioning for me to move...how and where I didn't know. Then BOTH cops came up to me and told me to move...standing on the only open side of my car (the front being less than 3' from the aforementioned squad car, the rear having a line of cars, and the right being, well, a curb full of snow). Eventually cop#2 realized HE would need to move to allow the line of cars to move. So we all moved. I tried to get in via the back way...also blocked off. I drove by from a different direction and flagged down a different cop, and explained that I was supposed to work and was now late for my call because the other guys didn't know where I was supposed to park...I told him the name of the lot where we are usually told to park (which is usually the 'open sesame' phrase), only to have him start in with the "You need to move along" speech. Except he said to try the nearby garage.
Fine, I figured I'd tell the bossman what was going on and ask if he'd reimburse the parking...I was sure I wasn't the only one facing this issue. The concert having now let out, there were lots of pain-in-the-ass dressed-in-black pedestrians. I eventully got to the garage without mowing anyone down, only to find ANOTHER cop not allowing anyone in...his job was to empty the garage before letting anyone new park in it.

W.

T.

F.?!?!?!

So I tell him my sob story in as friendly a manner as possible, and he tells me to try the other garage that is even yet further away from the arena. It's automated, so I should be able to get in.

More pedestrian dodging, poor traffic direction by rent-a-schmucks, and I get to the other garage...to find 2 more cops, who are also under orders to empty before filling.

Fine. Drive BACK to the arena, figuring maybe now they'll be letting people in...see one of the tour busses heading in, see some cars heading in, OK...I'll be a little late, but so will everyone so no big deal. Nope, false alarm. It has now been a total of 30 minutes. I can't park in the arena lot because, well, no one told the cops that workers are supposed to be let in to, um, WORK. Can't park in the garages, because an empty garage is a happy garage. Can't park on the side streets, because A) most are already full B) there's a snow ban and C) I've already seen the tow trucks out en masse to fix A and B.

Did I mention that the scheduler/ususal crew boss is out of the country right now? Oh, yeah. She's out of the country, her phone doesn't work, so we had to communicate via email. Which is fine, but she never gave me contact info for the crew boss for this show, so I couldn't call him to say "Hey, the rent-a-dicks won't let us in, can you send someone to persuade them otherwise". So I paused on a side-street, sent a text message email to this out-of-the-country person, and came the fuck home.

So now my back is even MORE unhappy due to the stress, the cold, and the extended period of time driving; I will be tagged as a 'no-show' for the load-out (though I am sure I won't be the only one); and I won't get my 'local crew' t-shirt. But you know what, I don't care. Why? Cuz it's all a bunch of

ASSBAGS!!!

Tags: grumble, rant

I am not a doctor. I don't purport to be one. Was never even a med student. But pamlin mentioned being sick after having gotten this year's flu vaccine, which brought these things to mind:

Vaccines DO NOT work for everyone. And not everyone needs them. If you have a strong constitution, a healthy lifestyle, and get sick beyond the sniffles less than 1 time per year, you do not need the flu shot. And just because you get it doesn't mean it will work. The vaccines differ each year because influenza (and a number of related virii [yes, virii, not viruses - look up your latinate roots, you 'critical thinking' gen-Xers]) mutates at a speed usually reserved for NASCAR. The shot protects you, kinda, from 3-4 of the BASE forms, off of which are dozens of commonly contracted versions. And it only works for 75-80% of the populous anyhow. General health, white count, general immuno-status, age, sex, history of drug use (including Rx and OTC and street), alcohol use, smoking, environment, type of job, level of physical activity, weight, and all those other common demographics play a part.

I don't get flu shots anymore myself, because I got them for 4 years and not only got sick from the shots (like 4-5 days of full-blown flu), I got sick about the same amount as I did before I started getting the shots. 3 of those years I got bronchitis, and once I even got pneumonia. Amoebic pnuemonia, it turned out, which was particularly nasty. If you have a choice of pheumonias, take bacterial bronchial. Easiest to clear out with drugs.

Meanwhile, when my dad was little, it was still compulsory to get a smallpox vaccination. He did. 3 times. Because he never scarred. That's how a doctor knows the smallpox vaccine was effective: the patient got a scar to prove his immune system created the antibody and killed the virus. Why did he never scar? He was born immune. It happens.

Here is another fun fact:
It takes less time to write a prescription than it does for your doctor to explain to you why you do not need certain medications.

Read that again please.

My second mom (who IS a doctor, a family practice and OB/GYN if we are being technical) said this to me. The WORST thing the drug companies ever did was begin advertising their wonder-ceuticals. Now every other patient thinks they have RLS or Fibromyalgia or Acid Reflux or whatever is the new trendy disorder. Now I know people who genuinely suffer from diseases and conditions such as these. And the backlash hurts them. A lot. Doctors get tired of hearing "I saw this commercial for Gen-U-Wine Banana Oil and it said if you have an itch on your leg you might have Chronic Unspecified Dermatitis (or CUD). I have this itch, could you give me a prescription for that?" Now the doctor must decide: Do I get the patient angry and argumentative by asking if perhaps they walked through some poison ivy, since that is waht it looks like; further explain that CUD is caused by a herpes virus, and get them even more angry, even though 95% of the human population of the planet has some form of herpes and it's NOt just an STD that slutty college co-eds (and attractive loving couples in commercials) suffer from; and then have them probably not listen to me while I tell them to get a mud-mask to put on it or go stand in the ocean for 15 minutes to draw out some of the irritant and then put good-ol' calamine on it for a week or two; and then answer the 48 follow up questions because they looked at WebMD and Wikipedia and the manufacturing company's drug user interface page...or do I just write the Rx and get to my next patient only 10 minutes late instead of half an hour?

Plus, as I'm sure you know, the more you advertise...the more money you spend on advertising. That Mac commercial where the PC is counting out money? You know the one: Advertising, advertising, advertising - fix Vista - Advertising advertising, advertising... That is not far from the truth. If you advertise it, people will buy it. And use it. And believe in it. The power of positive thinking.
Who knew?

*gets off soapbox*

Tags: rant

So the bait and switch of yesterday has resolved itself.

Today I applied for a warehouse position that offered $18/hr, full-time. Asked for resume. Sent one. Got an email back asking me to fill out the online application (flag one). Also mentioned at the bottom that they 'value higher education' (flag two). And once ON the 'online application' page, which had the same job description, it said the starting salary was $28K/year (flag three, exit the friggin' race)

Hmmm...
$18.00 x 40h/wk = $720.00/wk x 52wk/yr = $37,444.00/yr

Now, let's just say that 'full time' to them is 35h/wk:
$18.00 x 35h/wk = $630.00/wk x 52wk/yr = $32,760.00/yr

Well, the minimum for 'full time' status in some locales is 32h/wk:
$18.00 x 32h/wk = $576.00/wk x 52wk/yr = $29,952.00/yr
o.0

$18.00/hr for 40 hours a week does not equal $28K/year, no matter how many times I put it into my calculator. I sent an email back detailing this discrepancy. Wonder if I'll get any response this time...

And in more headpalm headdesk headwall action, I somehow srewed up the time I was expecting my phone interview today, and therefor had to re-schedule for tomorrow morning. Third-round talks and I MISS the frelling appointed time. *sigh* MUST be extra brilliant tomorrow.

/rant

In other news, we had a welcome last-minute guest at dinner: doobie stopped by after work to join us for salad and chicken cacciatore. Recipe turned out very nicely, and lots of shooting the shit ensued.

And now, to bed, where the sleeping husband awaits.

Tags: rant

So I saw this Craigslist post for a one-off event this weekend; pay rate was decent enough (it's better than doing nothing), it seemed like fun, I emailed my interest.

Well, turns out it's being staffed by a big fat temp company, and to work there, I have to fill out The World's Longest E-Application, and go into the office for an interview, and take their 'skills assessment' tests. The ad made it sound like "Hi, WE are this little fun company running this fun event, and WE just need a few extra people to help us out, WE'll throw some money at you."

Now, I know that temp companies often staff events. However, this bait-and-switch thing REALLY pisses me off. If I want to work for a temp company, I'll gladly jump through the 27 hoops of fire to do so. Every blessed one of them has a 'special and unique' application (which, aside of paper choice and ink color, I've never been able to discern a difference between most of them), they all require skills assessment (which I understand, but in this case NO ONE uses the same criteria), and yet when you get your in-person interview, more than half of them don't look at the skills assesment (and most of those are because you do the S.A. AFTER the interview), and every blessed one of them READS YOUR RESUME, not the application form. Why? Application form is hand-written. Resume is typed, and doesn't have all the extraneous info like addresses, phone numbers, web pages, supervisor names, salary rates, etc etc etc.

So. Since I HAVE worked for this particular company in the past, I said my info should still be on file with them, since according to the LAST time I worked for them, they keep info on file for 2-3 years. And really, for 5 hours of work, I am NOT in the mood to fight their website for another 2 hours to give them info they already have.

/rant

Tags: rant, templife

Some days are made of frustration. And no matter how well you've done your job, and how well you accomplish the tasks assigned to you, at the end of the day, you're a step or five behind where you were yesterday with one foot and two steps ahead with the other. All you get is a pulled ass-cheek. Sometimes for days on end. And I don't know about you, but I only have two ass-cheeks.
So tomorrow better not be like that.
srsly.
**/work rant**

Skipped reading/posting yesterday due to a migraine.

In entertaining news, this morning as I was heading in to Dunkin's to get my fix, there was a woman ahead of me who was one of the oddest combinations I've ever seen. She was about 5'10", plus some really sexy heels that she knew how to walk in, very high-cheekboned face, and a bit more of an actual figure than models today seem to sport. Think of the gals on the runways in the mid-80's. She had naturally sandy-brown-blonde hair (or she paid LOADS for a damn good color job), pulled into a simple pony tail. She was very good looking.
Here's the but:
She was wearing what SHOULD have been a very flattering outfit: Straight-legged pants, pale grey with wide-ish black pinstriping, pale blue shell, black fitted jacket, all in a woven cotton. Nails done, little bit of make-up, black shoulder bag. But all of it was just...wrong, somehow. The jacket was a little short, showing off her lack of a belt, which meant the pants hung a little low and bagged a bit under her ass. And as I exited just after she did, I saw that she drove a well-loved Camry.
Naturally, none of this oddness made any impression on 3 of the male workers who really and truly fell over eachother like puppies trying to figure out which one would take her order. One took it, one filled it, one rang her up (which is NOT the way this particular place works, they always do one person, one thing).
But 'J' (that's all it says on his name tag), the one male employee NOT drooling all over himself in this oddball goddess's presence, rolled his eyes, gave me an 'oh please' smile, and took care of my coffee, somehow forgetting to charge me.

Work again tomorrow. 9-?.
meh.

poemtry:

HAIKU FOR FRUSTRATION
Annoy, irritate,
Vex, pester, grate, chafe, bother;
See also: *headwall*

MIS-QUOTED
For all of you

It costs a buck-three-eighty
And I've got a handful of air and pocket lint
However after doing a show without a cast
I can fit a family of five in her jeans.

But I do have a bionic belly button.

Ricky's good looking,
And hot sex can be found on the second floor of Constitution
But there's no room for my tits in here
While I'm trying to wind the frog.

Of course, I liked it so much, I bought it jewelry.

Maybe the pastel plaster Virgin Mary statue
Can tell me why the closet threw up
All over my roommate who's still in the room
Despite our hero's best efforts to re-RE-exit, through the front door, stage left.

After all, 'Jesus fucking Christ' is really just masturbation.

I've read all the signs
That all read "Bellevue - that way!"
But I end up needing to pee while stuck in traffic in Harlem
Screaming "Hi, I'm a Jew, come kill me!"

There's no there there, you know?

Tags: job, napowrimo, poems, rant

Because I had to share this for the WTF files:

Last week, Tony Orlando played LMA while I was working at Merrimack. Like many performance complexes, we share hallway space and dressing room areas, and when something LOUD is in LMA [Lowell Memorial Auditorium], Merrimack gets to hear it via stage monitor, and through the ceiling of the green room, which is just under the stage deck.

So, we heard his concert. Mostly, he did covers (as in, not stuff he's famous for singing, nor stuff he's written for other people). He was also flat and sounded tired and/or sick, but that's besides the point.

The point, my friends, is that he covered Led Zeppelin!!!!!. And not just ANY Led Zep, one of the holiest of holies; he covered Whole Lotta Love. (I know I know, every station in the world plays it now, but it wasn't always so, and I have a bigger reason for loving it.)

Now, for those of you who don't know, I grew up listening to Zeppelin II. Really and truly. When I (and/or my sister) wouldn't take a nap, my mom put on "The Mental Album", and encouraged us to 'go mental' (which we understood because we also listened to her Steve Martin comedy albums), and dance around until we fell over. It confused me greatly at age 6 when I was not allowed to bring this album in to class for 'My Favorite Music' day or whatever it was. Why did I have to bring in Romper Room? Sure, I liked Windy well enough, but Whole Lotta Love was my favorite. It was the first song on the album; it meant it was 'mental time' when we were SUPPOSED to go nuts; it meant freedom and loud loud loud sounds. And, later, when I figured out the aviator covered-my-whole-head headphones, it had that great sterophonic right-left-left-right thing, and then the start-at--your-shoulderblades-and-scream-up-to-the-top-of-your-skull thing. Even if it did skip in the second chorus (which I thought was part of the song until I heard it one the radio). Know why it skipped? Children 'going mental' slammed into the counter where the record player sat at the same point in the music EVERY time. We were mental, but we were consistant about it.

Well, anyhow, there is your combination disturbing idea/child rearing advice for the evening.

Tags: rant, wtf

Called to check at my pharmacy to see if my Dr. had called in my prescription for my migraine meds. It was allset to go, said the helpful clerk, and then we had the following chat:

PHARMACY TECH: Um, you do know how much this medication is, right?
ME: [growing very very wary] No...how much is it?
PT: $210.00
ME: After insurance?
PT: Yeah.
ME: Even with my additional discount program?
PT: Yes.
ME: How many doses?
PT: 10 tablets.

So yeah. $21.00 a pop for my medication, AFTER the insurance kicker.
No, there is not a generic.
No, I do not qualify for help from Merck, who makes my medication (Maxalt, for those playing along at home). I earn too much.
And this on top of my bills for the ER visit in December.

Which means I need to call my doc's office tomorrow and ask pretty pretty please if I can get a bottle of Vicoden instead, since a bottle of 20 5/500 pills of generic Hydrocodone is only $25.00.

*seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeethe*

Tags: rant
Feelin'...: GAAARRRR!!!!

So I just got a call from a job for which I interviewed about a month ago. I was told at the interview that 'I need to make a decision by the end of this week, I'll let you know on Monday.' Well, when I didn't hear from him, and my 'Hi, remember me?' message went unanswered, I assumed that I didn't get the job and he was just being an ass and not calling me. Whatevs, as the kids say, it happens.
The call was to tell me that in fact, I was right, I didn't get the job; but of course, he'll keep my info on file for any future positions that blah blah blahblahblah.

Gosh, thanks. I was still waiting by the phone for your call, all day and night, losing sleep and sanity in my uncertainty. 0_o I don't need a 5 minute apology, dude. You hired someone else? Cool. I'm fine with that, I REALLY am. What with the extra waiting time and you not getting back to me, I kinda figured I wasn't your top candidate.

This kind of nonsense is second only to getting an emailed 'Thanks-but-no-thanks' response to a paper resume I sent out over three months ago. Which has happened to me several times. Once, it happened after I had already turned down the in-person interview, since by the time the institution in question called to ask me for an interview, I had already been working full-time elsewhere for a month.
Then again, there are times when 1-2 years after I submitted a resume, someone called me and hired me over the phone (happened with 3 companies). So some people really DO keep info on file. But still...I mean I guess having closure is nice; at the same time though, when it's been a month and you haven't gotten back to me, not even to say 'Hey, it's taking longer than we thought'? Calling me becomes more insulting than not calling me.

I don't even know what I'm crabbing about any more. I need to go eat some lunch.

Tags: job, rant

The good:
I got hired for a short term but lucrative gig that will still allow me to work some overhire while it is going on. Waiting for my finalized schedule so I can make decisions regarding what I can keep and what has to go.

The bad:
Forgot about an autopay bill, which means while I had enough in my account to cover it, I will be extra poor until my next wodge of money arrives.

The ranty:
So, I was an online spokesperson. WAS. How did I find out I was not anymore? I had a company for whom I was auditioning tell me that I was not on the webpage I purported to be on. WTF? So I go and look and lo and behold, I'm not there anymore. I look on a few of the other pages, I am nowhere to be found.
This upsets me greatly, because it is a PROMINENT feature on my resume, and I tell any film I am looking to get in on that this page has a live-time clip of me they can view.
So I try to contact the woman who hired me, and no dice.
So I try the one other guy I have contact info for, and he just got back to me to tell me that 'Oh, sorry, yeah, we're paring down our people, and we don't need you anymore, and I left you a voicemail [which I never got], sorry I didn't follow up with an email.'
According to his notes, so he says, he 'told' me back in January. So since then, I have essentially been lying on my resume. Which as we all know, is Big No-No #1.

Toastfucker.

Tags: random, rant

Good Stuff:
I'm now a Fairy Drag Mother. I'll explain more in another post.
I've got a recipe idea I'm excited to try, more on that later.
I cooked and cleaned yesterday, and made a lot of progress on Molly's dress. Well, made progress taking the mock-up apart. Finishing disassembly today, start building Friday.
Used my B&N giftcard today to get me some new books and a small but serviceable appointment calendar, all of which I desperately need.
Have a couple of decent job prospects, wish I could fast-forward to the beginning of February (since that's when most people are looking to line up interviews, what with HR backed up with W2s and all).
Found a new form of videocrack online, which is good for breaks from trolling for work.
I seem to be in a good phase for writing...more good stuff than bad stuff has been paging out recently. Even when it isn't a total package, I'm getting better at winnowing.

Your QotD, courtesy of a random scribble in a notebook:
"I guess crackheads don't like walking uphill too much."

And now, ( grumble, rant, rave, seethe; see also  )

Tags: good stuff, quote, rant

A few weeks ago, I filed for unemployment. Since then, every Saturday night I have filled out my 'work activity log' in as detailed a manner as possible, and every Sunday morning after Phantom Gourmet, I have called in to the voicehell line to report activity and earnings.

I call in today, and the c*ntwaffling system says "I'm sorry, your claim has been closed due to a failure to report for one or moer weeks. Please call the Teleclaims center during regular hours of operation, Monday through Friday [blahblahblah]..."
W T F!!1!???

I make damn sure I complete every call. I wait for the 'Your claim has been completed', or whatever it is they say, I even wait the two extra minutes it takes for them to tell me I can do all this online (which is a lie, I've never had the online system work for me), and I can visit any walk-in center for job placement, all the way unitl it says "Thank you for calling. Goodbye.", just so this kind of assmunchery doesn't happen.

And of course, Monday is Martin Luther King Day. Which means I have to wait until Tuesday to call in. So I can spend 45 minutes on hold and another 30 minutes arguing that no, I am not re-opening a claim - I am CONTINUING a claim - with someone who doesn't want to be working there in the first place.

Bite me backwards.

/rant

Tags: grumble, rant
Feelin'...: cranky

Tomorrow I will be returning to work at Lyric. I feel well enough to go do paperwork, and schedule things, and make some emails and calls. I do not plan to be there for a FULL day, but a decent amount of time, to be sure. Thursday Jason and I need to do some returns. Playing Friday by ear right now.

Grocery shopping is done for the week. I've got everything together for dinner tonight, just need to start tossing the giambott in the pan; that's Italian for "whatever's lying around". Tonight will be lean ground pork, some mushrooms, summer squash, onions, garlic, bell pepper, and probably some left-over tomato sauce. Probably cook up some Dreamfields(tm) pasta to go with. Of the low-carb pastas, it's the best I've found so far.

Isaac began his new job today, yay! It's close enough for him to walk, even!

Wedding things continue well, I'm not insane QUITE yet.

And now, ( Read more... )

Tags: rant, work

This is the reason we try really hard to pay someone ELSE to do it.

That, and everyone seems to want to wait to see what everyone else will say to maybe make their end of things clearer and not necessitate them needing to think about having to decide on a concrete answer when maybe it'll just fix itself if...

Jen? Those ducks that mooned you? in sequined thongs? They just arrived.

Quote of the day:
"Where do I put this?!" -the HLM

Tags: quote, rant, work

( fuzzy brain ranting back here )

Tags: random, rant