Thursday, December 22, 2005

A (really boring) Day In My Life

(Stream of consciousness...begin!)

Freezing.

I wake up and find the weather to be extremely cold. I decide that I need a hat of some kind. I usually don't wear hats. I look like some kind of murderer.

I waddle over to K-mart and find a skull cap for one dollar. Success! The guy at the cash register looks as though he does not want to be there. In fact, he looks almost suicidal. He looks up at me. The expression on his face telepathically signal to me that he wanted me to kill him. I avoid pulling out my imaginary Glock 26 and put him out of misery.

I walk out of the store and observe the people around me. I have lived here for 1 year and a half now and I have made this astonishing observation.

Sadness.

No one smiles in this godforsaken state. I have observed that there exist in these parts 3 "moods" or "faces" one wears when an individual struts about in town.

1) The "I'm tired" face
2) The "I'm angry" face
2) The "I'm REALLY angry" face.

I find myself getting more and more depressed as I look at their faces and into their tired/angry eyes.

Pain.

I decide that I need to go the pharmacy to get my prescription filled for some cox2 inhibitors. My cartilage has been acting up.

I get to the local pharmacy and see a kind pharmacist. There is no smile but I could tell she wasn't a total bitch. (I'm pretty good at judging character just by looking at the contours of the face. It's my gift. Toot toot.) I give her the coveted prescription paper. She presses thousands of keys on her keyboard. 2 minutes....3 minutes...4 minutes...5 minutes go by and she's still typing away.

I ask her if there is anything wrong. I ask, "Is there anything wrong?"

"Your insurance requires a "pre-approval" before I can give you name brand drugs."

Shit. This is going to be a problem. If the drugs aren't life-saving, one probably has to wait for a generic alternative. And if I have to buy these drugs out of pocket, it's going to cost $100-$120 for my fill. I create an impromptu tmesis in my head: fan-fucking-tastic.

The kind pharmacist calls my doctor. The doctor, of course, isn't in. She leaves a message about the need to get the medication approved.

The pharmacist turns to me and says, "You're going to have to come back later. You can call us in a couple of hours. In fact, you might want to call the doctor yourself to see how long it might take to get the medication approved."

I curse the healthcare industry under my breath and head home. I look at the clock and I have wasted 2 hours on this affair.

I head to the local upscale mall. I'm starving at this point and they have my prescription for my hunger. Only they can satiate my desire for Ranch 1 chicken sandwiches.

Big fucking mistake.

There are 10 ferraris trying to get in the parking structure. I have never seen this many ferraris in my life. The most i have seen till now was at a dealership. And they only had 8 in the lot. I pass by the porsche 911 turbo to head to the alternate entrance. The porsche yupster gives me a dirty look. He adjusts his 3000 dollar Armani suit and then yells something at his wife/mistress next to him.

Happy fucking holidays.

I get in the parking structure and I see an attendant trying to manoeuvre all of the $100,000 cars into spaces. I feel totally out of place with my 1997 POS. I head higher and higher in the structure. I think to myself, "I gotta get away from these fuckers". Finally, I see some relief on the 7th floor. No cars. I park my car and head for the food court.

Chaos.

There is a million people in the food court. I say this without hyperbole. I count the people one by one and the total count comes to...okay, maybe it was a hyperbole but it was a lot of fucking people. (No, they weren't fucking)

I finally get to the food counter and order my chicken sandwich. I eat my food alone at a table designed to accomodate five. I feel self conscious because people are fighting for seats. I could sense a family of 5 giving me dirty looks for taking their table. I'm ready to rip their throats out if they give me lip. I enjoy my french fries and coke.

Time.

I look at my watch (actually, it's the clock on my cellphone) and see that it's time to call my doctor. I'm hoping he is in his office now. I call and I get his nurse. I give my name and am about to explain the situation when she interrupts me.

"Oh! I talked to the insurance company and they said it will take 24-48 hours to approve the drug payment."

"I see. Do I need to call you or does the pharmacy call me?"

"Wait a minute. You're that student right?"

"Yes."

"Hold on one second. Let me talk to the doctor."

....Minutes go by....

The nurse comes on the phone and says, "You're in luck. I searched through some departments and found some samples for you. It's a month's worth of drugs. Come pick it up when you get a chance."

Amazed.

I reply, "Thank you. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it."

I finish up my coke and head to my car. I'm racing to the office. Free drugs are worth the risk of getting a speeding ticket.

I get to the office. The kind nurse on the phone is nowhere to be found. Instead, I am greeted by the bitchy nurse. (How can I tell she's a bitch you ask? Well, my super powers of observation aside, she happened to act unkindly toward a patient just as i walked in.)

The surly nurse says, "Maaaaay I help you?"

"Yes, the kind nurse said she had some drugs for me."

The surly nurse looks up at me with her crooked eye (i really can't describe it well) and gives me the look of disdain.

"What is your name?"

I give her my name.

She sighs and walks over to the secret vault. She looks around and sees a bag with my name on it. Is this yours?

I say, "Yes'm"

She hands me the bag and leaves quickly. I wait for her to come back and I tell her, "Would you please tell the kind nurse thank you and merry christmas."

The surly nurse softens up a bit and replies, "Will do."

I leave the office with my bag of gold. I get to my car and guilt sets in. I realize that if i had to, I could have found some way of paying for this. I think about those who truly can't afford the drugs and have to choose everyday between eating and being pain free. This is some fucked up shit right here.

I don't return the drugs.

I head home to my apt. I turn on my computer and type a blog entry.

Yenemy comes online. He yibyabs about nothing in particular. Hehe.

THE END.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

To WAR!

So there is a major transit strike in New York. It has pissed off a lot of people. Officials state that the city will lose close to 300 million dollars a day.

I don't know the details of the strike. Actually, I do know some details but it's a complicated mess with faults on both sides so I won't go into it.

What matters is that it's fucking cold, there are delays, and people are suffering. It is insane.

The world is in chaos. I'm surprised that world war 3 hasn't been declared. We have Iran's president going ape-shit over retarded things again. We have religious fanatics bombing shit all over the place. We have relgious fanatics introducing "intelligent design" in schools. We have relgious radicals trying to hijack enlightenment in America. We have the administration cutting funding for healthcare and education. Billions are spent on maintaining a war that we cannot pull out of. The president is spying on Americans (I find this extremely ironic because the shit coming out of our President/King's mouth is strangely familiar. They are the excuses of every tyrant in history from Nero to Bonapart.) Our leaders are lying and stealing money from the people (Delay, Frist, Cheney). The nation is divided.

George Bush promised that he would work to unite the country. I'm not sure exactly what he's doing but it's not working. I believe that when a candidate becomes President, he should no longer work for his party. He has the obligation to be inclusive in his decisions. He shouldn't exclude the views of half of America. Sadly, due to the two party system, this is not the case. I also find it ironic that republicans hold this president in such high regard. They treat him like a king. I find it surprising when common folk follow him without any thought. They're like lemmings. Democrats are no better. They have become spineless and have been whipped into submission. I hate both parties right now.

It's Christmas time but it doesn't feel so jolly.

If you're bored, take a look at this

http://www.planetboredom.net/video.php?id=210

-Praise Jesus

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Monday, December 12, 2005

Purpose and Review

This blog has absolutely no purpose. It is just a place to write stupid things. Therefore, I'm going to use it to keep a food journal and review all the shitty food I have eaten so that I may never make the same mistakes again.

So it begins:

Review: Trader Joe's Low Salt Chicken Chowmein

Grade: D+

Edible if you're desperately starving. The food is salty, sweet, and tastes nothing like how Chow Mein is "supposed to taste like". In two words, it sucks.
In one word, it-sucks-something-terrible.

Scale: A+ is ambrosia while an F- would be the taste of a demon spawn's filthy anus.

I'm watching you muthafucka!

It's interesting how easily one can "track" people visiting various websites across the globe. I know that some scan through the logged "paths of the internet" to see where people have come from and where they are going. Advertisers have been using this to track demographics and provide advertising data.

What I find interesting is that it can provide some really amusing situations.

I was reading someone's blog when they mentioned something about a former boyfriend. Apparently, this girl has been combing through the logs to see the kinds of people visiting her website. It turns out that one particular visitor is from New Zealand. She also mentions that the user was from a particular college. She goes on to say that there is no way in hell this could be some random person visiting her website and that it has to be her ex-boyfriend. She explains that her boyfriend just got up and disappeared to New Zealand one day and was never heard from again. She tried to contact him at the university but was unsucessful.

Her rant then began.

"I know it's you" she says. "Grow some balls and send me an email."

I couldn't stop laughing. She went through all that trouble to throw down the gauntlet.

In a personal story, a figure from our past, Mr. C. Bang contacted me through ICQ. He explained that he was living near me. My first reply was "bullshit". Then I replied, "Why the fuck would you be all the way over here?" To confirm his story, I tracked his ip. Sure enough, he was 30 miles away. FUCK. Now i have to go buy a gun. Damn stalkers.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Impact of a man

I often wonder about the impact an individual can make in this world.

We often think about great figures in history.

Hitler comes to mind because he was considered the modern age embodiment of evil.

I think of Newton and his approach to physics and calculus.

Utilitarian approach would deem these individuals exceptional in a way...

I met a man today who, because of his curiosity, discovered the cure to river blindness, a disease that devastated millions of people around the world.

This man also demanded that the only way he would work on this cure was if the company would donate the cure, free of charge, to all those who needed it in the poorest of countries.

I look at the man and I see nothing extraordinary. On the outside, he looks like any other man. He is humble and extremely kind. He doesn't seem to have an ounce of pretentious charcter in his body.

However, I imagined a scenario such as this at a school "bring your father to class" day:

Random Kid #1: My dad is a firefighter. He saves people from fires.
Random Kid #2: My dad works at a shoe factory. He makes the shoes you guys are wearing.
Random Kid #3: My dad is a plumber. He fixes your pipes when it's clogged.
Random Kid #4: My dad is a waiter at a restaurant. He brings you the food you eat.
Random Kid #5: My dad is a construction worker. He fixes the road.
Mr. Incredible's Kid: My dad cured river blindess and saved at least 18 million lives every year and will continue to save millions of lives for years to come.

Random Kid #6: ....Fuuuuck...


Don't get me wrong, I believe wholeheartedly that every individual contributes to society in many ways. I don't see myself as an utilitarian so numbers mean shit to me. I believe that a man cleaning up after us at a diner is just as important as the president of the United States.

But damn...it would suck for Random Kid #6.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Snow!

So it begins again, or shall I say here it ends...

Another year ends and snow season begins. I woke up to sounds of plows and ruckus. I could hear metal plows scraping the asphault and concrete push away mounds of snow.

I find this time of year the best time for introspection.

Winter reminds me of time that has passed....which reminds me how little time there is left.

What a grim outlook.

I found out recently that my personality is INFP. This is news to me.

I have always thought I was a "calculating" individual but alas, the "intuition" score was off the charts. I hate these standardized tests. Like many tests before (School entrance exams, IQ exams, SATs, etc.), I am placed neatly into a stereotype and it dictates what I'm "supposed" to be. Fuck you Carl Jung.

The personality test also told me another thing.

I'm in the wrong profession.

Damn it, my mother was right.

My mother's side has a tradition of developing artistic individuals. My grandmother is a writer. My uncle was a poet. My mother and my aunts are artists.

I feel like Marisa Tome in My Cousin Vinny. She too should have been a mechanic instead of what she eventually had become....an out of work hairdresser.