Random Stuff, Almost

[kittytech]

Well, I decided that today I'd try the PAC Mate thing for posting. So, the stuff behind the cut is getting posted for your reading pleasure, (or not), as you see fit. I'm doing quite a bit of random writing while I deal with the frustration of transit vans and other such things. So, 9:33 AM:I'm riding on the van right now attempting to get to my dentist appointment, so any errors are strictly due to the fact that this van has no shocks and the roads here are terrible. My ride was supposed to pick me up at 8:30 but didn't show up until about 8:50, so that didn't help much. So the guy comes to get me, sits me in the van and goes to pick up or drop off, (I really couldn't tell which), at another location. Then he called into the dispatcher to see where he was supposed to go next. She listed off three different locations, the third one being mine. Unfortunately, one of the locations was for a person who wasn't even on the van! Apparently this guy had picked up the wrong person, so had to go back and drop off the wrong person and get the right person. Then, go figure, the one who got picked up last got dropped off first. I called my dentist office to let them know that I'd be late but I wasn't even able to give them any kind of time estimate. This is why I don't like taking the van service in the first place, but I don't like paying the high cab fare to this place, and the van is a fixed rate of $3.25 each way. I guess it's the old saying that you get what you pay for, huh?These vans are really interesting. There's all kinds of room in the back for wheel chairs, but they've got these little tiny seats that fold into the walls and can be pulled out when needed. The seats kind of remind me of the little chairs that kids sit on because they're so small, and there's not a lot of room to move around. I've got a window to my right and the wheel chair lift is in front of me. Whenever the guy opens the door to raise or lower the ramp I get cold, and these things aren't exactly well heated to begin with. I have no clue where we are, but it's now 9:42 and we haven't dropped off any of the other people yet. Let's add to this that the two that were riding behind me were, um, interesting. (Oh, we're at a stop; we must be letting someone else off. Maybe it won't be too much longer for me now, I hope.) Anyway, back to the people. They apparently knew this lady who was getting picked up, and they started talking about her and imitating her and all kinds of strange stuff. They were really loud, and then you combine that with the loud volume that the driver has his radio set to. I think it's kind of interesting to hear the radio for the simple fact that I like to see if I know any of the names, but it's still really loud, and I feel like I'm getting a headache. Oh boy, do I hear someone else coming to get on? Not sure but I'll find out in a minute. Nope, he's putting the ramp back up, so I think we're moving on.Oh boy! He just told me that I'm next! It's about time. I'll write more when I'm not being bounced all over the road, and when I have more to say.10:06 AM:Well, I'm here. I got here at about 10:00 and fortunately they're running a little bit behind too. At least that makes me feel a little better about being late, but I absolutely hate being late for anything so it still drives me nuts! Today I'm supposed to have impressions made of my teeth in preparation for the permanent crown. Things are feeling much better from the surgery, and I'm starting to chew some things on the left side of my mouth. The problem now is just this temporary crown. I'm afraid that it'll come off or that it'll break or something because it's not a cap like I would have thought they'd do. Anyway though, I've always hated having impressions made. There's something about that rubber-type stuff that they shove in my mouth that really bothers me, and it tastes nasty, and they always put so much in there that it oozes out of the tray. There's nothing worse than eating that nasty stuff! Well, I'm going to go play Jawbreaker while I wait for them to call me back there.11:25 AM:Well, the appointment is over, and I have to go back in two more weeks for the crown and to have the two cavities filled, and then this will all be over for a while! I just called the van service for my return ride. They informed me that the drivers won't come into the building. My only question I have for them is, since when. The whole point of these van services is that they're supposed to help the passenger. If I'd wanted bad service I'd have called a cab. Okay, so I'm just a little frustrated, and they say the van will be here anywhere between 5 and 45 minutes. That's quite a time window in my opinion. I'll probably be home around 1:00 by the time all is said and done, and I've still got work to do today. I'm still working on the catalog, but I keep running into problems.Speaking of those problems, just a little random tip for anyone who may or may not really care. Microsoft Publisher files really don't convert well into Word documents. It's really weird because I keep getting pictures and no text, and I need the text and no pictures. I've managed to go from about 65 pictures down to 4 though, and I can't find the others. They're apparently pretty small, and if I magnify the screen I can't find anything without having to move all over the place. I need to have things at about 7 or 8 X magnification just to see the cursor well enough anyway, so it's pretty much pointless, but I have both Magic and ZoomText because I need to know how to use the programs for work. But anyway, I can't find these last 4 pictures, so I'm just going to have to finish the text and have someone else go through and remove the pictures. In the meantime though, I requested that the missing sections be emailed to me again so that I can start working on it when I get home.Speaking of email, I want to see if this building has any wireless Internet access. It'd be nice if I could go and check email while I'm waiting. I'll write more later. I did end up with a head ache by the time it was all said and done. There was wireless access in the building, but it was a secure network and of course I didn't have the key to access it. When I came home I tried working on the catalog for a while, but my head was really starting to bother me, and the monitor was so bright that I had to do something different. Finally though, I got a phone call, and that finished my day. I may have some really exciting news about my job, but I don't want to say anything just yet until I know for sure what's going to happen. Just keep your fingers crossed for me!My computer reformat actually went really well yesterday. Things went a lot faster than I expected, and I really only ran into one minor problem. I didn't have a clue where my 20-digit authorization code was for JAWS, so I couldn't use the ILM authorization. I have a dongle for traveling though, so I used that to authorize until today when I called FS and got things straightened out. Are things completely back up and running? Nowhere near it, but I have a computer, and it's working very nicely at this precise moment. SMILE!Well, I think I'm rambled on long enough. I'm going to post this and then see if I can convince Cally to let me get up so that I can get some food. Otherwise I'm going to have to ask Jim to help me out. Later everyone.