Pat’s blog

Saturday

Yesterday
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Met up with Lindsay at the studio and did some more glazing. She gave me a book with magnificent examples of what she believes I will be able to do using the wheel. Today, was simply glazing some pieces I'd done last week. I did learn a few tricks e.g. dipping a piece in wax so the glaze doesn't get on the bottom of the bowl or plate etc. Also saw how you can pour some glaze into a bowl as opposed to painting it. At some point Lindsay will be making her own glazes and we will have them in vats where we can dip an entire piece. I'm looking forward to that.

Had an email from brother Jim last night which was so good to read. He is starting to get some taste back after the damage from his radiation treatments. That's a real upper. He was getting ready to go to his college reunion in Ohio and that was a very good sign. He and Carolyn had decided to forego their time share this year due to his therapy and I was so pleased to read that he would be going back to Xavier for the reunion. He viewed the DVD of Atlantic City Trolley Days which I'd sent him and he loved it. He agreed brother Frank would like it, and Jim will take it to him when he gets back.

I received the following yesterday from Richard Rohr's daily meditations and I thought it was worthwhile to copy to this blog. I hope you find it meaningful to your place in life as well.

Question of the Day:
How do my emotions help me to understand more deeply?

We must go through the stages of feeling, not only in the last death of anything but all the earlier little deaths. If we abort these emotional stages by easy answers, all they do is take a deeper form of disguise and come out in another way. So many people learn that the hard way—by getting ulcers, by all kinds of psycho-somatic diseases, depression, chronic irritability, and misdirected anger—because they refuse to let their emotions run their course, honor them consciously, or find some appropriate place to share them.

Emotions are not right or wrong, good or bad. They are merely indicators of what is happening, and must be listened to, usually in the body. People who do not feel deeply finally do not know or love deeply either. It is the price we pay for loving. Like Job we must be willing to feel our emotions and come to grips with the mystery in our head, our heart, and our body. To be honest, that takes years.

Videolog

3 days ago
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Movie on 2009-11-05 at 21.16

Addendum:

addendum

CT...Jib Jab....Satisfaction from Billing Dept

4 days ago
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Had my CT with contrast today. First time for me to have it done with contrast (IV dye). The dye gives a warm sensation in the back of the throat and in the 'kegel exercise region'...you are doing your kegels, aren't you ladies? I'm glad the tech told me to expect it.

I didn't think I'd ever had the dye before, and I was a little afraid I'd have an anaphylactic reaction. I asked her before she left the room, if she'd be able to hear me. You never know...my throat could have closed off and there I'd be...gone for a routine exam....never to go home again. Hey, it does happen. The test was over in a matter of minutes and the 'warm feeling' was gone.

I asked the tech if I could get the pictures on a CD along with the radiologist's report. She said I should be able to pick up both tomorrow. They are so accommodating at this place. I may want to send them to Terry to have one of her radiologists read them as before. It depends on what the report says. Next week I'll call my oncologist to see what his recommendation is based on the local radiologist's report.

Rich has been replacing the screening in our window screens, so I used the opportunity to clean the windows. Things are sparkling around here.

Fooled around with JibJab and we had some good laughs looking at the final results. I'm doing one for my cousin's big birthday, but I'll have to tell her to be sure to open the JibJab that's being sent to her. I know she doesn't open things unless she knows from where they originate. I'm the same, and I will not open any forwarded stuff either. Super abundance of caution reigns within me.

The billing department at the hospital called to tell me the nurse audit was done regarding the charges I had disputed. The nurse found no documentation that the meds in question were given so they are being deleted from the account. YES! A mistake must have been made....surely the hospital wouldn't be engaging in 'cost shifting'......where everyone pays a little more for those not covered...I thought they had to stop doing that several years ago. Anyhow, I was thrilled. It took me several hours over 2 days to call the hospital billing department and then several back and forth calls to Medicare and our secondary. I forgot to tell the billing person to send me a zero balance statement. I don't want to go thru this again next month when the bills go out. I'll call tomorrow.

I knew Rich never got those meds least of all self-administer them. Maybe someone without a medical background would have thought it was just fine. Just think how much money a hospital could make by adding $680 mistakes onto 1500 patients' bills. Hmmmm. Yes, we were only going to have to pay $268 of that sum, nevertheless the government shouldn't have been charged either.

Even if you can't understand your entire bill...at least check to see that the procedures listed are what you had done.

I asked Rich if this makes up for my not sending back last night's meal at the restaurant. He said I'm a wimp... and for some things, I am. Heck, I had no problem walking out of Ruth's Chris in Baltimore last spring when they seemed to be ignoring us. We'd eaten our appetizers and left...don't you dare ask us to pay for what we ate either....and they didn't.

In case today's JibJab didn't show up on Facebook..here it is. Even Rich got a good chuckle from this one. Those slippers are Rich's, but Rich has a better body than the guy in the flick. You have to have audio to get the best effect.

Tuesday ..Videolog I give the wrong day/date on the video

5 days ago
4 comments

Movie on 2009-11-03 at 20.14 #2

I really goofed that date. This was done on Tuesday...November 3rd not Monday. And Cathy, we'll see Ed on Thursday.

Monday

6 days ago
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Cleaned our bedroom and prepared for tomorrow's Women's Issues discussion of which I am the facilitator. Coincidentally Rich found an interview on BOOKTV with Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as the interviewees discussing their book 'Half the Sky' .....our book choice for this year. I was able to DVR BOOKTV and viewed part of it today. I'll finish the rest in the morning.

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Ed Hintz called to say he is in town for his meetings and we will rendezvous with him Thursday evening. I asked him what food he'd preferred. I knew the answer before he told me...seafood. No fresh seafood where he lives. He'll come here and we'll probably go to Burton's Grill or possibly Croaker's. It'll be good to see him..it's been 30+ years. I wish Cathy was with him....maybe next time. He told me their son, a college Freshman is ill with H1N1 and Cathy has gone to take care of him. I'm sure with young Charles' history of respiratory problems Cathy is very worried. Prayers requested that Charles' will quickly be returned to good health.

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Niece Terry gave input on my videos. She thinks I bob around too much and my enuciating comes off 'robotic'. I will work on both of these. She also thinks the glasses have to go. BUT she told me to update my wardrobe. Wait a minute young lady. I did have a different colored t- shirt except for one day when I wore the yellow one from the day before. Hey, the clothes are clean. I told her I try to follow a simplistic lifestyle; I am no longer the fashion diva I was of my youth.....ROTFL.

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Rich, the younger, is here to watch Game 5 of the Series. The Phillies are 'comin' alive' again. Yes! Let's hope they can sustain this.

Halloween

Oct 31, 2009
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Got to the eye doc for an eye exam so I could get more contacts. They wouldn't re order them when I called the other day because it was more than a year since my last exam. I've had other eye exams, but not for contacts since '07. I'm tellin' ya they have more ways to make money. I was there on time for my 2:45PM and didn't get seen till 3:45PM. I was afraid I wouldn't get back home in time to meet Rich so we could go over to Norfolk to see the kids in their costumes.

I called Rich and he said we could meet at Rich and Lissa's rather than me backtracking by coming home first.

He got there about 10 minutes before I did. Lots of activity in that house. They'd been out partying all afternoon at Waterside and the party goes on. After Trick or Treating they go to a civic league party...Lissa's the President of their little civic league so she has to make an appearance. The whole family will go. Here's a video of preparations before a night of begging.

Preparing for Trick or Treating

And here's a shot of me with Trevor and Brooke.

GrandmaPatti with Brooke and Trevor

It was fun to see all the excitement. Halloween was always a fun time for me when I was kid. Here's Trevor with his mask.

Brooke&Trevor in costume

Friday....WPAT becomes WPMR

Oct 30, 2009
2 comments

Click on the video to view it. This format is still in the embryonic stage so your feedback is still requested and valued. Thank you.

Movie on 2009-10-30 at 18.11

2 comments

Jib Jab and WPAT

Oct 28, 2009
8 comments

JibJab is sure to get a few laughs. I'm not sure how long they'll keep this one online. For a limited time it's free. It's a marketing deal right now. They want you to pay $4.99 to download it and then it's yours. Not sure I want to do that. Anyhow, here we are

Now, to do my VideoLog

Movie on 2009-10-28 at 20.24

Did you click on the above video? I think I need to learn how to edit my presentations. This is probably longer than the viewer wants to spend on my dazzling video.

Something different...Pat playing with photobooth

Oct 27, 2009
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Did you click on each of the short videos? You need sound too. I wasn't sure how much I could post on VOX...they have a 50 MB size limit. The video on the right is just a little over 6 MB so maybe in the future I will do a VLOG i.e. video log....instead of a WEBLOG which has been shortened to simply 'blog'. Your feedback is requested.

It sounds like a cliche to say 'this computer has opened a whole new world to me', but it is true. Hopefully my brain cells are staying intact from all that I am learning. The old 'use it or lose it' applies big time here. I find when I don't use iPhoto, PhotoBooth or iMovie for a long time, I forget how to make them work. Fortunately the MAC has simple tutorials for each program. There are many things I will probably never use...Garage Band won't have me composing music in the near future....I don't think...but you never know.

Exercising my brain is something I do most days, but I need to be a bit more physically active. Vacuuming isn't enough, but it does count. So with that said, I think I will go play with my Wii and do a little boxing while Rich is taking a LLD ....i.e. little lay down...or is it little lie down? I think it's ...chickens 'lay' eggs and people 'lie' down, right? Who cares, you know what I mean. Have a good evening.

Billing questions and a few words on solidarity

Oct 26, 2009
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Thank God I don't work in Customer Service or a complaint department or a billing department. I must have called Medicare and Tricare for Life (TFL) two separate times today plus the billing department at the hospital, and I still don't understand the gobbledy gook of the bill for Rich's stents.

What did I accomplish? Well, there will be a nurse audit of the chart to find out if indeed certain meds were given, and if they were "integral to the procedure". How could they not have been? The billing rep said Medicare would only cover meds "integral to the procedure". Well, who decides whether or not they are "integral"? If Rich's B/P dropped during the procedure or in the recovery room I surely think that's 'integral'. I assume that's why they gave him a $595 spray of Nitroglycerin to bring his B/P back up. That's why an audit will be done. I'm to check back in two weeks to see if billing has gotten a report back from the auditing department in which case they may refile against Medicare.

This next piece is just too good not to share. I swiped it from Richard Rohr OSF.

God calls all of us to take the demanding and liberating path of our own inner truth ...—and that means taking responsibility for everything that’s in us: for what pleases us and for what we’re ashamed of, for the rich person inside us and for the poor one too. Francis of Assisi called this forgiving the leper within us and Therese of Lisieux called it “The Little Way.” It is always the way of courage and utter trust, recognizing both light and shadow within us.

If we learn to honor and claim our inner inheritance, we will grant others the same divine donation. If we learn to love the poor one within us, we’ll discover that we have room for compassion for all “outsiders” too, because we now know that we are all the same. Human solidarity now comes naturally.

Pat said:
Then we have/had 'Blackwater' right down the road a piece. They changed their name and say they train civilians how... read more
on Tuesday ..Videolog I give the wrong day/date on the video
Rosemary said:
I'm familiar with the Western Hem, etc. I know several nuns and priests were imprisioned after a protest demonstration there... read more
on Tuesday ..Videolog I give the wrong day/date on the video
Pat said:
Rosemary,Rich said the same as you. I think if I hadn't eaten a few bites, I might have sent it... read more
on Tuesday ..Videolog I give the wrong day/date on the video
Rosemary said:
I definitely would have sent the chicken Marsala back. You said it didn't taste like any other Marsala you had... read more
on Tuesday ..Videolog I give the wrong day/date on the video
Pat said:
Peel sweet potatoes. Cut into small chunks. Put in steamer and add tarragon in spice basket. It takes 20-25 minutes.... read more
on Movie on 2009-10-30 at 18.11