photo credit: underbiteman

The invisible links are going into my feed, which is what is messing up CommentLuv. Complicated, eh? You can read about this attack here or search for the term “adsttnmq1″. If you do View, Source on any blog page (such as your own) and look at the bottom of the page, you’ll see “adsttnmq1″ as part of the code left by this hack.

photo credit: Don Hankins

This particular hack goes through the web host, so it isn’t a Wordpress hack. The hackers go through a hole in CPanel, which is used by some web hosts for you to accesss your stuff. I haven’t found the offending code yet, but I did delete an oddly-named directory and I’ll be notifying my web host. The problem is, every page in my blog has the links added, and they’ll have to be removed manually.

photo credit: Subconsci Productions

I now have the names of two good internists who do not function on the revolving door principle. From what I’ve heard, very young doctors like my current internist take insurance (meaning they accept the patient’s copay and the insurance reimburse without asking for more) in order to get patients, but the insurance pays them so little that they have to accept a LOT of patients to get by, pay their loans, etc. My therapist told me that her own internist took insurance for her patients’ sake and last year made only $14,000 after thirty years in practice. She had to stop accepting insurance.

So I look for doctors who don’t accept insurance and I pay whatever is extra. With my rheumatologist, that’s usually about $100 – $200 a quarterly visit and more like $75 a quarterly visit with my endocrinologist. I can’t stand it when I’m rushed because I forget my questions or the doctor doesn’t have time to listen. I also hate calling doctors’ offices when the staff is underpaid because they’re too rushed, don’t listen and can be rude and careless. So I choose the “luxury” of paying more for decent service.

photo credit: foundphotoslj

Malfunctions. Yes, Deeper Issues had a theme meltdown this week. Someone (maybe it was me) switched to the Access theme, and it took over. Then it wouldn’t let me change back, so I deleted it. It seemed like a good theme – designed specifically for people with vision issues – but when I went back to find it, I couldn’t find it on the internet, and then there was this malfunction. While I was at it, I removed the theme switcher so this won’t happen any more. Order has been restored.

My CommentLuv is not messed up so much as my Feedburner feed is messed up, which is making CommentLuv malfunction. It started when I had a photo from a guy who included the male symbol in his name. But there are also a lot of ad codes in my feed, so I’m wondering if it’s been hacked. I haven’t found a solution yet. May have to just delete the feed and make you all resubscribe, but don’t want to do that.

I found another theme, Craftwork, that I really liked, part of a group of themes I like, but they haven’t been updated to work with Wordpress 2.8.x. Here’s a screenshot. And another, which I may use, that’s kind of arty and flowery. Question for you male readers: are you less comfortable with blog designs that are very feminine? Don’t want to lose any male readers.

It’s a good thing I did everything suggested when Barbara Swafford’s It’s Not Just the Big Boys Who Get Hacked featured a guest post about Wordpress security, because my Wordpress firewall plugin emailed me that some site from China was trying to get through it.

photo credit: NatalieMaynor

There are a lot of things I need to do to straighten out my immune system, but I find it very hard to do them. I’m trying to do them, albeit slowly, because I don’t want to keep getting flus, colds and pneumonias.

1.  Get rid of the impetigo I’ve had for years.

2.  Stop eating junk food and start eating vegetables. Ugh. My chances of doing this are not great.

3.  Cardio exercise for my diabetes. Without it, the cells forget to take in the glucose they need. If we ever had decent weather around here, it would help.

4.  Stop eating foods that make my blood sugar go higher than the recommended levels. This is nearly impossible on the tiny allotment I have for carbs, but I am trying harder.

5.  Lower my high blood pressure (cut out salty stuff) and high cholesterol (cut out cheese and other good stuff), which are higher than ever lately.

“The term “walking pneumonia” has been used to describe a type of community-acquired pneumonia of less severity (because of the fact that the sufferer can continue to “walk” rather than require hospitalization).[6] Walking pneumonia is usually caused by the atypical bacteria mycoplasma pneumonia.[7]“ Wikipedia entry on pneumonia

Dear Wordpress Writers and Wordpress Plugin Writers,

It’s so wonderful that we now have the ability to quickly and easily update our plugins and even Wordpress itself from the Dashboard. All that you offer us for free and all of your hard work really is much appreciated.

photo credit: psd

However, I must ask you, please update Wordpress and/or your plugins only once every quarter, except for emergencies. You are driving me to distraction with the constant commandments to update, and it’s not like I don’t have other things to do.

Every day, I try to visit the many interesting blogs in my RSS reader, read everything that’s been written since I was there last, check on whether they have responded to my previous comments and read what they wrote if they did, leave friendly and helpful comments on their latest good ideas, be supportive if they’re having problems, try to figure out why once again CommentLuv is linking to anything but my blog posts, make a note of the several things I now realize I forgot to fix the last time I was in the theme code, wonder idly where the previous list is, and blow my nose.

Then I have to read my email and respond to that in a friendly and interesting manner, help relatives try to figure out how to handle other relatives, commiserate with those who are sick or helping someone sick or grieving or helping someone grieving, find respectable reasons why I can’t adopt their cat, write a blog post, locate, insert and format appropriate graphics, edit the post for length, repetition of the right keywords or variations thereof, and to make it more interesting and shorter, and Tweet and Facebook and MySpace it.

photo credit: Jacob Bøtter

Then I have to make lunch for tomorrow, make dinner, eat the dinner, clean the kitchen, review the mail and make sure all the bills are paid up to date, reply to the mail if required, throw it in the correct recycling wastebasket, watch ten minutes of TV, read ten minutes in my book, take a shower, brush my teeth, apply my night creams, wash out some knee-his for tomorrow, clean up the bathroom, get out my clothes for tomorrow, make sure they have no spots and are properly pressed, apply my skin medications, take my sleeping pills, use my nasal spray, get in bed and put on my CPAP mask, try to figure out if there’s an idea left in my head to blog about, cry over my departed dogs, wish I was healthy enough to have a dog, try to use meditation to stop the ideas going in circles in my head, wish I had a boyfriend, and try to sleep.

photo credit: Arturo J. Paniagua

So you see, I don’t have time to update your #*!&% code every other minute and I wish you’d stop freakin’ nagging me about it as I already have too honkin’ much stress.

Yours sincerely,

Blogger Biotch

Photo Dropper is working well for me in that I can write a complete post during free time at work without having to come home to upload the photos. Photo Dropper photos also show up in IE with Google Reader, unlike the manually-inserted ones.

photo credit: ☯ AnA oMeLeTe ☯ BUZZZYYYY!!

Okay, it’s not bronchitis, apparently it’s actually the flu, and it’s 2-1/2 weeks and counting. I doubt very much it’s the H1N1 flu, but I need to see a doctor. Yesterday, my office sent me home because I was so sick, but I feel a bit better today. My internist (who is soon to be history), couldn’t fit me in and doesn’t keep a waiting list. Her staff said I should call back constantly to check for a cancellation. Yeah, but I’m sick. I’m also old enough to have had doctors make house calls to treat me. I ask you, where in our medical system is the part about healing the sick?

Her staff suggested a CVS “Minute Clinic,” new clinics being installed in drugstores, which is actually a great idea for me, but I couldn’t find one I could get to via public transportation. My endocrinologist offered on Thursday to see me if I couldn’t get seen by my internist, but he was out on Friday. The clinic I used to use closed several years ago.

photo credit: javYliz

After about forty-five minutes of phone negotiations with Fed Ex, because when I asked for evening delivery, I had been told that was possible to schedule that, when in fact it wasn’t, and so my new computer was sent back to the warehouse, I was able to talk them into delivering my NEW LAPTOP today, only four days after it should have been. I had to throw in the facts that I’m partially blind, can’t drive, and my neighbors are unlikely to be willing to drive an hour each way to pick it up from the warehouse for me. Also, I didn’t shell out the extra $40 to get purple, like in the photo. Mine’s black.

My friend Beverly, who’s in her 70’s, has decided not to leave the house for the rest of flu season, so I’m quite sure that even if she were willing to go pick it up, she wouldn’t want to come to my place and be exposed to cold germs. My friend Martha is visiting her mother out of town, and you all know my friend Gregory is now too far away to do any errands for me. I WANT MY CAR BACK. I WANT TO DRIVE AGAIN! I hate being such a f*king cripple. Note to self: Cursing increases a good deal when you have the flu. Be careful.

photo credit: timsamoff

Now the tedium of loading all the software and files from my old computer. Plus, I had to set it on the lowest setting (800 x 600?) in order to read it, but I’m enjoying the freedom and flexibility of not being tied to the desk (except probably for an internet connection). Happy!!

1. The kid across the street? He’s trying to flip his skateboard in midair. 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., it’s CLUNK, pause, CLUNK, pause, as he and the skateboard fall to the ground separately. The skateboard is now duct-taped to his ass. Try waking me up again!

photo credit: giarose

2. Those three little kids with remarkable vocal cords, lungs and energy levels who live upstairs have run up and jumped down the stairs yelling one too many times. I know it’s hard to live in a two-bedroom condo with mom and dad expecting a fourth kid, but pounding and yelling their way upstairs for meals and snacks until their 10 p.m. bedtime had to stop. “Put a sock in it” now has new meaning for them, with the duct tape helping out again. They’re also learning new skills, climbing stairs with their shoelaces tied together.

photo credit: BarelyFitz

3. When carrying laundry, do you find it necessary to let slam every door you go through? Well, apparently some people are burdened with this problem. The slamming doors shake my sofa and rattle the glass items on my shelf, kind of hard to nap through. Fortunately, my neighbors’ doors and the laundry room door have been removed and replaced with drapes. Ah, the quiet!

photo credit: michale

4. A van driver who works for a group of autistic men living across the street has the crazy idea that his old, broken-down van needs to be revved loudly, over and over, before he shuts off the ignition. Sadly, last night, the entire van exploded in a shower of sparks. The flames were so quiet.

5. People who sit on the front stoop and holler into their cheap cell phones should be shot. Luckily, I’m a sharpshooter. Not a single caller was hurt despite all the exploded phones. Mess with ME!

photo credit: Alex Campos

Disclaimer: Everything here is true, except the words in italics.

]]> http://deeperissues.net/people/i-get-irritated/feed/ 14 http://deeperissues.net/people/i-get-irritated/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/deeperissues/eVcQ/~3/Q0LG3swjTHE/ http://deeperissues.net/personal/bits-and-pieces-2/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:01:31 +0000 Dot http://deeperissues.net/?p=2149
photo credit: badjonni

As some of you know, I’m recuperating from what I think was the flu (NOT the swine flu), so this is just a brief update on things. Apparently I caught the flu from a co-worker. One of the hazards of sitting in for people who are out is that you may catch what they have. I had to take two sick days last week, went back to work Friday and to the doctor Saturday, and then slept most of the next four days.

The joys of public trans portation — I left at 8:30 a.m., took two buses there and two buses plus a train back, and got home at 12:30 p.m., all for a half-hour doctor appointment. He’s a great doctor, full of hope and encouragement, my rheumatologist, and I would travel even longer to see him, but it still sucks to use up a half day just waiting for buses.

photo credit: nimetimesthree

The bus passed my stop before I realized, and it was raining, but while walking from my stop to the doctor’s building, I passed a bunch of people marching for (against?) breast cancer and was amused by one of the policemen assigned to protect their progress. He was showing his support by wearing a pink tutu (that’s not him in the photo — he wore his over his uniform pants). It was an awesome fashion choice.

As I wrote in a comment on the last segment of our series on Betsy’s site, I think you need some artistic or design talent to make a success of it on Zazzle. I don’t have that much of either of those, so I don’t know how I’m going to do. Just writing slogans and putting them on things wouldn’t be enough, I don’t think. There are some awesome artists on there, but I can’t let myself get worried about competition or I’ll freeze up and do nothing. The photo below is not from Zazzle — it’s just an impressive artistic effort, I think.

photo credit: Per Ola Wiberg (Powi)

Thanks to all of you who commented, added your own insights, experimented, etc. If I can get some time when I’m not too sick to concetrate, I’ll create some products with the photos I’ve collected and “open” my store. And FYI, after a week of being “out there” on Zazzle with zero advertising to drive people to it, my T-shirt has made zero dollars.

photo credit: laverrue

My friend Gregory is now fully settled into his new digs in North Carolina, though from the sound of it he’s investigated the gay scene far quicker than the job scene. At any rate, so far he hasn’t had any more luck in finding a job there than he did here. It’s a good thing he has a friend to put him up until the economy gets better and companies start hiring again.

     “Times change, and with them their demands.”
      – I Ching Book of Changes”

As I go through this current change of NOT facing retirement, I keep thinking of that phrase, which was so popular in the Sixties. I hope I’m up to the task. When I was young, I vowed to always understand young people (I don’t always), because so many adults then didn’t seem to. I vowed never to walk in baby steps (though now I understand why the elderly do that — balance issues!) and I vowed to stay young and open-minded. But I tell you, this adapting thing gets old sometimes.

_______________

The photo-dropper plugin was used to search for and insert the photos for today’s post. It’s cool because it finds and adds the Flickr licensing info for you. However, not only was I dissatisfied with the alignment possibilities, but it used about 20 lines of code — per photo — to add the picture, licensing and attribution, and let’s not forget a mini-ad for itself.

]]> http://deeperissues.net/personal/bits-and-pieces-2/feed/ 15 http://deeperissues.net/personal/bits-and-pieces-2/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/deeperissues/eVcQ/~3/J-C7ds_wdFM/ http://deeperissues.net/life/through-a-glass-grimly-part-4/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:16:00 +0000 Dot http://deeperissues.net/?p=2118 This is Part 4 in the series Betsy Wuebker and I are writing about making money online. Links to previous parts are found at the end of this post. Betsy’s words are in regular text, and mine are in italics. Continuing our conversation from where we left off:

Maybe you have some personal expertise in your field – legal administrative professional.

One thing I don’t want to do is expand my legal secretary status. That’s what I was hoping to retire FROM. You have so many more ideas than I would have thought of!

Why not make money off what you know about law offices or secretarial work? “Here’s what you need to know to get ahead in most law firm environments.”

About law offices, you have to sign a confidentiality agreement when you get hired, so there’s no telling anecdotes or anything, now or in the future. I thought about doing what you suggest, but it’s been done by others already.

Can’t you change the names to protect the innocent, even?

No, not even that. Nothing of what goes on there. Law firms and individual lawyers guard their reputations because they’re crucial to their future business. Besides, I’m not going to bite the hand that feeds me.

Let me know what you think of the various sites and resources after you’ve had a chance to review. Perhaps the first posts in the Grimly series could be a conversational kind of thing. Here’s what we did, here’s what you looked at, here’s the kind of person you are, here’s what you chose, here’s why we chose what we did, what that evolved into, and so on. .

You’re right, a lot of boomers are not bloggers. This is a good thing. There is less of a chance there are people in the niche, and therefore a greater probability of organic traffic, and less of a comparative from which to establish authority or expertise on the topic – from whence comes credibility and willingness to purchase from. Dangling preposition and all. .

(Note: I looked up “organic” and it means “natural,” as opposed to traffic we draw in with ads and other means.)

I don’t think I realized at first that you were talking about still having a conventional job, but having downsized it or changed it to one that was more palatable, you were doing online stuff to supplement that. I thought it was a process of switching to totally online stuff. Anyway, the people you were talking about who make $5,000 a day working online, do you know for a fact that it wasn’t just somebody bragging? And how many hours were they working? I don’t want to have to work night and day just to make ends meet.

Hi – I’m not sure what you’re asking, but here is what we do/have going on:

My “day job” is Dir of Communications for a gift franchise. I previously operated a production unit for that franchise, which I sold this spring. They have me on monthly retainer now to do newsletters, blog posts, emails within the franchise organization, and whatever. This would be what you referred to below as a palatable change in that I’m location independent, now, which was one of our goals.

Pete’s “day job” is Dir of Mktg for a wildlife conservation non-profit. He’s a salaried employee, with benefits – health, life, dental, and perhaps disability. He is not location independent, unfortunately, as the non-profit’s model is now a brick-and-mortar office.

Our online activities are per the previous email. We don’t know how long either one of our “day jobs” is going to last. Well, I do, because I have a two-year contract, but I’m not naive enough to think they couldn’t pull the plug on me if they wanted to with very little recourse for me at any time. With the recession, the non-profit has been hurting, as well. They have reduced personnel and operate very frugally, but still, things are scary.

I’m not sure how one would fact check someone’s financial claims with any online endeavor, and it’s probably wise to be skeptical of some that seem too good to be true. However, based upon what we have been able to make working Pete’s stores after hours, we don’t think $5K/month working those resources full-time in a more comprehensive fashion is unrealistic. I know there are folks throughout the Zazzle forums and user hierarchy at all levels. We’ve looked at their stores and tried to emulate and learn.

I certainly wasn’t expecting you to research people’s claims, but thought you might have a gut feeling about them, or might have seen that kind of potential as you and Pete worked, so your response was just
the kind of reply I was wanting.

You’re right. It’s extra work on top of what you already have going on. We’ve invested a lot of time. I think it’s going to be more rewarding than taking a second part-time job in the long run. I did work a part-time job in the evenings for something like $13/hour and I didn’t see value in the trade for my time vs. their pay.

It seems to me that working online is something you can do
from anywhere, for any amount of time you choose. And while it’s true that no one wants to have to work night and day just to make ends meet, it’s also true that with any business endeavor you have to sacrifice. I don’t see too much long-term opportunity in working for someone else at this stage in my life. Not too many people are looking for a 55 year old who talks a good game but can’t guarantee her arrival every day to punch a clock.

I’ll re-explain below. Sometimes when I get too much in my head I become cryptic. Why is it that you can’t guarantee your arrival every day?

It’s because I’m an ornery old coot who wants to pad around in her bathrobe with coffee until whenever every morning. Now we are getting to the root of my feelings about matters in general: I dislike trading time for money, as in an hourly rate, or, as with a salary, for the expectation you will be there for x hours/week. And if you’re not, well then, you’re not going to get a good review, or any number of oppressive policy directives or situations that are designed to maintain a hierarchy of whatever sort in the organization. Pee-yeewww, I say to that.

I want to be the boss, the captain of my ship, the point at which the buck stops. For this I have traded the relative security an employment scenario affords. At least, working for myself, I’ll never get fired. Even what seemed to be a sure thing work-wise (30 years and a gold watch) isn’t any more. So what if I were working for someone else and got laid off? I’d have to find another job, right? How secure am I then? If something is going to be screwed up in my life, I feel better being the one responsible for it, rather than have stuff happen.. as much as possible.

Travel? Yes, that’s definitely part of it. I don’t have longevity should I get a job someplace, and so therefore I’ll get one week’s vacation? I don’t think so, not when my husband gets 5+. I’d rather take vacation when I want to, thank you very much, like I’ve been used to doing working for myself all these years.

I don’t care about being location-free but would love to be time-free. Now you’re talking. I’d like to be able to work when I feel good (afternoons and nights) and not when I don’t (mornings). I would love to get away from having other people in charge of me, and I’d really like to do work that’s more in line with my values. Amen, sistah. Helping giant multinational corporations with their legal problems was never my dream.

“When I grow up, I want to be a mid-level manager.” Remember that commercial? Very Dilbert-ian.

The commute has also become quite a stressor, what with
both the bus and the metro having major new delays. Both of them jostle me around so much I’m in pain the whole trip – an hour or more.

Ick! Terrible – been there done that – it’s for younger people! Think how much time is lost from your day.

I knew most of what you wrote above, but I didn’t know that you had enough confidence in the web stuff that you weren’t scared to death if your contract job ended.

Well, what am I going to do if it does? No one is going to die over whether my contract job ends, least of all me! I would really be bummed out if it did, but that’s because I believe in the vision of the company and really like the executive team and owners. So if they ended the contract, that would mean business dried up, or that they didn’t think I fit in with their vision anymore – which would mean I totally mis-read or began
to mis-read the entire deal. I’d say if that’s the case, I got bigger problems ultimately than losing that gig.

I’d like to work somewhere like the Nature Conservancy, where everyone looks relaxed and really happy, if I had to have a day job. They have an office nearby, but it would still involve a time-consuming commute, and I’d probably have to look only in their legal department as that’s where all my recent experience is, and the pay’s probably awful.

How awful is it? Probably is probable, sure, but what about a similar company or agency. How do you know everyone looks relaxed and happy? Are they smiling in ads or has this species of happy worker been observed in its natural habitat? I like the guy on the shoe commercial who is the “Giver Away of Shoes” – how many people have to work in shipping so he gets to do that job?

I don’t know whether I’d like spending my days selling printed or crocheted items any more than I like what I’m doing now, though.

With the print items at Zazzle, slap a slogan onto something and see if someone buys it. They don’t make inventory unless you sell one. So it’s more about finding something that you like, creating a product out of
it, and waking up in the morning to find out someone purchased it while you were sleeping. Or, you made $20 while you were in the shower.

I must do more research rather than just carp.

No you are talking yourself into the landscape and how you might fit into it, not carping. You are pro-ing and con-ing in a conversation with yourself as well as me.

Ultimately I’d rather work at home for myself, because there comes a time when there’s only so much more $#*+ a person can take.
But we get 28 PAID days of sick leave and/or vacation a year, plus I’ve had
to take a couple of weeks more unpaid sick leave the past couple of years. I doubt the Nature Conservancy offers that.

What about contract work from home type stuff. Are they or
nyone like them outsourcing any corporate functions?

I guess I was looking for reassurance that it was indeed possible to work online full-time. Whether *I* can pull it off is another story. I know it takes a lot of work in the beginning, but I don’t know how much I can do until I try it. If it feels like fun, I can do more than if it’s stressful.

Do you follow Jonathan Fields Career Renegade? Or Pam Slim Escape from Cubicle Nation? Friend Jonathan on Facebook and tell him you know me, his blog is great, and I know him from Triiibes. He is the real deal. Chris Guillebeau (google him) is another; he is very young, but his outlook on career and meaning is affirming and wise beyond his years.

>>Dot, I’m telling you there are people who do this full time
>>and make $5,000/month on there [Zazzle].

Since I’m making over $5K a month now, plus a good set of benefits, $5K a month from online work would at least cover some of that, and perhaps social security could cover some of the bennies I’d be giving up, though I’m expecting my medical bills to only get worse as I get older. Not that I couldn’t live on less, but wouldn’t it be nice not to have to?

Living on less is something I’m resigned to. It doesn’t have to be all gloomy, although at times it is extremely trying. Due to the loss we sustained on my house (short sale, ever-increasing ARM during the year+ it was on the market, paying two mortgages that exceeded Pete’s take-home, and me not taking a salary from my gift franchise), we’re a cash only couple now. We couldn’t get credit from ACORN. I am constantly concerned about what a drain our (Pete’s former) house is on our financial status. And for what? I derive little joy from living in it, but that’s another topic.

I do think it’s beneficial to plan out – in writing – what you’re hoping to accomplish, even as non-specific as that might be. It helps to focus. And if your plans/goals are written, they’re statistically more likely to manifest. Even without woo-woo like The Secret, etc.

Wish I could take you out to lunch in return for all this help and listening to me worry out loud.

These are great conversations to have with each other and with ourselves! I find that worrying about stuff prolongs me in the negative. That is someone I don’t wish to be. I want to be realistic, but I want my lens to be on the optimistic side of realism. And, even though I am getting older and am no longer a sprinter, I can still plod along. Some days that’s easier to accept than others, isn’t it?

—————-

Be sure to subscribe to Passin Thru so you don’t miss the next post in this series. Scales image is public domain via Wikimedia.

Through a Glass, Grimly – Part 1 | Passin Thru

Through a Glass, Grimly – Part 2 | Deeper Issues

Through a Glass, Grimly – Part 3 | Passin Thru

This week has sucked more than most. Even more than last week, when I switched from Advair to Symbicort, a stronger asthma inhaler. It gave me TONS of energy. I felt like a normal person for the first time in years, able to do just as much as everyone else (as soon as I built up my stamina). I couldn’t sleep, though. I was sleeping only 2 to 4 hours a night.

Insomnia wasn’t listed as one of the side effects, but I eventually found out it was a sign of overdose. So, I cut back and CRASHED. I was exhausted and sleepy for days.

Irritability is also a side effect, as the various victims of my ill temper, including an attorney at work and my supervisor, can attest.

Also last week, I started feeling hot and nauseous with chills and severe sweating. My neck and head felt extremely hot, perspiration was dripping from my hair (this never happens to me), and I was freezing. Did I have swine flu? What was going on?

Tylenol didn’t help at all. I didn’t have a temperature, so it wasn’t swine flu or even regular flu. I did some research and found out I was having so-called “hot flashes.” Apparently, they can involve chills and nausea, as well as the incredible heat. What fun. I had hot flashes briefly eight years ago and got rid of them quickly with an herbal solution. Those were mild compared to this, and the herbal preparation is working very slowly, if at all. Did the Symbicort mess up my hormones?

Then, I finally got the antibiotic I’ve been trying to get for weeks. Which is great, except that it’s doing a major number on my stomach. I took it on an empty stomach, as they advise. No medication has ever bothered my stomach before, including the one I’m taking now, but it sure did this week. Now I’m taking it with a full meal, but even with that and two Pepto pills, I still get nauseous after a while.

So every day it’s antibiotic, Pepto pills, eat a meal, nauseous nauseous nauseous, more Pepto, repeat. I’ve only missed one day of work, but life is not good right now and I’m not getting anything done. I sit at my desk, mopping my brow and popping pills, hoping I don’t barf at work. Six more days of antibiotic to go.

Glamorous life I live, isn’t it?

]]> http://deeperissues.net/personal/don%e2%80%99t-you-wish-you-were-me/feed/ 16 http://deeperissues.net/personal/don%e2%80%99t-you-wish-you-were-me/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/deeperissues/eVcQ/~3/T_r_SwkGdhQ/ http://deeperissues.net/life/two-inspiring-stories/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:14:24 +0000 Dot http://deeperissues.net/?p=2086 After reading Barbara Swafford of Blogging Without a Blog’s post on making your blog more accessible to those with disabilities, I decided to complete work on this post, which I began a few weeks ago and never finished.

Stephen Hawking

Social media gives voices to individuals marginalized and ignored by traditional media, enabling the world to hear these voices for the first time in history. *

I’ve said something similar in the past, though not so eloquently as Glenda. The internet is a place where we meet on a somewhat more level playing field than in person. Whether we’re “marginalized” or not, readers don’t instantly notice that we’re different than they are in some way, and so we have a better chance of being heard and understood instead of just judged.

I realized that what I thought was a curse – the fact that, despite all my illnesses and pain, I look healthy – may actually be a blessing in that I don’t get stared at for being different. That only happens if I take out my white cane to help navigate in dark places.

Glenda Watson Hyatt (right)

Glenda herself has a disability – cerebral palsy – and she can type only with her left thumb. You’d never guess it from her professional-looking website and blog, which are full of life and humor. Even her story about getting her mobile scooter stuck in a badly-designed ladies room, Stuck in Batman’s Bathroom, is light-hearted. She’s also written a book about her life so far, called I’ll Do It Myself, for sale on her website. Some of her recent blog posts talk about what it was like growing up with cerebral palsy.

Robert Rummel-Hudson

Because of a rare condition, Schuyler is unable to speak, and the blog describes Robert’s efforts to champion her rights with the local Texas government and school system.

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Schuyler's Monster

In a recent post, Rob quotes another father, Dan, who talks about efforts to get his child included in a regular school. A member of the community named Lilly said:

Why do we even bother paying for education for these kids? Their parents chose to have kids and now their disability and special needs amount to a rise in taxes. Their parents just get a lawyer and fight and fight until the school district ends up paying for special programs. Why? Why not divert the funds for gifted and talented students instead of kids who will need societal support their whole life.

While I can relate to the desire to find ways lower taxes, not raise them, when I read this kind of blaming, I want to scream. But Rob quotes Dan’s far better response:

How can Lilly or anyone else predict which child will contribute to our society? Would Lilly really argue that Bernie Madoff… added more to the world than the physicist Stephen Hawking (who wrote his greatest work after he was severely disabled by ALS)? How about Albert Einstein (widely thought to have had Asperger Syndrome), Helen Keller (blind, deaf, and unable to speak) and Vincent Van Gogh (mentally ill)? People are not limited by their disability, they are limited by a lack of opportunity.

Even as an adult, I wish I had a champion like Rob, a Dad like that. It’s hard to feel down about my situation, though, when I read about such inspiring people taking action for themselves or their loved ones, despite such major obstacles.

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* Here’s what I’m talking about with this theme having pretty poor coding. There is nothing that sets a quotation apart from regular text. I had to apply italics to make it look like a quotation.