cattyann

So, some idiot that lives in our area, decided to “take care” of his buddy’s boa constrictor, while having his 3 year old in the house. Let’s set this up, just so you know, this thing was like 10 feet long and close to 2 feet wide. At some point, the thing got out of it’s enclosure, which from the looks of things was a room too small for him. My guess…..he knocked the door down and took off for a bigger place in the house, but who knows. I believe they lived in a trailer park. What I do know is, he got ahold of the 3 year old and bit him, not once but a couple of times. The parents excuse? They didn’t know it was loose. So….how does that conversation go, “Honey, have you seen that little rascal, tiny?” “that little bugger is always up to something.” Remember, the thing is 10 feet long, how do you NOT SEE it.
They had to finally shoot the thing, and still the parents thought nothing of it. At least, that is the way it was reported. From the looks of the video and what the mother said, they reported it correctly. Why, do you not, cite parents in that situation for not protecting their child. First, you have to be oblivious to where your child is, second to where the snake was. The problem here, they didn’t seem to care where either of them were.
I don’t know maybe it’s just me, but at all times I would want to know that snake was locked up and asleep, not wrapped around my three year old.

But hey………..that’s just me!

Perhaps it is just my warped sense of right, because I am a server, but….here goes. If you don’t have enough money for the whole dining experience, then please, stay home. Yes, I am a server, I’d like to think, a very good server. After having a weekend of 8, 10, 12 people at a table, and leaving $2.00 or possibly, nothing, I’ve had it. I was not the only server to have this happen. Yes, I know the economy sucks and yes, I realize if you get bad service, the tip is a reflection of the service. This not being the case, as I politely asked if the service was acceptable. The reply, yes it was great. Before going any further, the majority of these people, weren’t dressed high class, as a matter of fact, most seemed rather poor, but the answer to why we were soooo busy, income tax refunds. Yes, the majority were people with a lot of children. I have three of my own and three step children, so children were not my problem. And yes, it can be very expensive to take your entire family out to dinner, but if you can’t include the tip, please, please stay home. We servers make $3.50 an hour, yes we bus our own tables where I work. I am the one who cleans up under the table where you kindly let your child throw all of the food on the floor and laughed as he did it. I am sorry, but if the service was not up to par, then ask for a manager and get a new server. After several of our parties flaunted that they had received their income tax refund and this is why they were out to dinner, please remember this, at the end of your meal. Have the decency to tell the server what is wrong if you are unhappy. I am not rich, nor do I hate my job, in fact, I love what I do, but do not appreciate working hard to make someone happy, just to have them stiff me at the end of the meal. Yes, at the first of the month we get people on welfare, disability and so on and so forth, yes it always shows at the first of the month. This is something I do not mind, like I said people don’t have to have a lot of money, to have a sense of right and wrong. If there was nothing wrong with the service and someone kept getting me drinks all night long and picking up the dirty dishes, keeping the table clean and was there anytime you needed them and even when you didn’t, please tip. If someone provides you with a service and it was well done, tip. Don’t be cheap, just because you can. When I take my car thru a drive thru car wash and they dry my car off, I tip because it was a service provided to me. Even though I know they get an hourly wage, a person provided me with a service of drying off by hand, my vehicle, I tip. Most servers, get 3.50 or less, as an hourly wage, not the minimum, whatever that is now, for our state, I believe it is 6.85. Please just think about this, next time you go out to dinner. It would be greatly appreciated.

Besides the regular problems a diabetic may have, nueropathy sometimes rears its ugly head and hits when you least expect it. After abnormally high sugar readings, I am finally getting it under control, or am I? For the past week, my numbers have been great. So why, am I having tingling and numbness in my fingers? After asking several people who are diabetics, I find it is common, but how long should it go on?
My doctor says it will come and go, if it continues, we will do more testing.
Along with diabetes are numerous problems, one being, depression. Yes, I am down in the dumps. I guess you can say, I feel old. Not that 47 is old mind you, I can run circles around the younger girls where I work (as a server). The doctor noticed, I don’t seem as “spunky” as usual. You wouldn’t either, if your fingers lost feeling in them and all you can feel in them are tingling that seems to hurt sometimes, not just one hand, but both. His solution? To put me on an anti-depressant, that’s fine, but what he never mentioned was what is in the fine print. You know, the reasons behind the prescription. Lo and behold, after depression, diabetic neuropathy. After calling him, I asked if he knew that it was also for this problem, he stated “no, I didn’t.” If it works, I will be one happy person, if not, how do you deal with it? Especially, if you blood sugar seems to be getting under control. Diabetes is nothing to be underestimated, I am just now finding this out. Perhaps, I thought it was something that didn’t have any reprocussions, but sadly, it does.
Diabetes is a disease that has to be controlled, if not, it controls you and it does not have to. Stress plays a very important part to a diabetic, the less stress, the better, another fact I am finding out. I thought I handled stress well, as a diabetic though, I don’t. Remember, if your sugars are high, see a doctor, talk to him about everything. Something that seems small, isn’t for the diabetic. No question is stupid, it just may save your life.

Being a diabetic is time consuming, not to mention, costly. Fortunately, I have insurance, but still, it is expensive. After trying meter after meter to test my sugar, I have settled on a generic brand from a local supercenter, and of course, insurance does not cover it. Recently, I underwent several tests, including blood work. Another costly thing to have done, but seemed to be well worth it.
I have encountered some type of thyroid problem, as the doctor told me my tsh level was .030, whatever that means. I am curious to know whether or not, most diabetics have these problems with their thyroid, as I was told that a good majority of diabetics do. Being a diabetic who has never really had a handle on things, I don’t have a endo doctor to go to, just my family doctor. Now, I am told, I will have to find an endo doctor who can handle my problem.
Perhaps if someone out there has a problem such as this, please contact me. Some of these things can be overwhelming. As I have no knowledge of what tsh levels are, I am clueless. The next question I have been asked by some is, what is my T3 & T4. For all I know, they are talking about my third and forth toes. My doctor has only given me my tsh level and said nothing else about it. I am assuming this is important information, as I have been asked this question more than once.
Like I said, if anyone out there has information that might help inform me, I would greatly appreciate the help

Today, I received an email from a young lady who said, I had inspired her to be a better mother. Say what? A while back I had written, “She didn’t want me.” A story of abuse at the hands of my mother. My story was on thoughts.com, and it had been awhile since I wrote about it, and to say the least, it was hard. I realized that the older I get, the harder it is to put behind me. I hate weddings, mother’s day (even though I am a mother), girl’s day out with mom, my mother’s birthday and the list goes on and on. No, it isn’t a paying website, just one that lets you get your feelings out, and that I did. The point to this story…, share, let people know what you have knowledge about. Someone out there can learn from you, hopefully for the good.
The young lady told me she is 22 and a first time mom, (first time is hard on any age). She thought a drink or two during the day, would take the edge off. Remember, to take YOUR edge off, puts it right back on someone else. My mother drank to feel no pain. I was the one who felt the pain of her actions. This woman said I helped her to realize, he is only 2 years old, and isn’t a pain in her butt, but a blessing. I guess I just wanted to share this because I was blessed by it, It takes a wise woman to know when she has done wrong and is headed in that direction, especially at 22. My story wasn’t just about my mother, it was about a life filled with crap and turmoil. I, at 47, am still trying to rise above it and am still learning. It’s never to old to learn. I wrote that story a few months ago, and assumed it was in the archives, somehow it made it’s way to someone who needed it. God taught me a valuable lesson. Just when you think he can’t use you and you have nothing more to offer, you get a promotion from him. My promotion? To know, that from my pain……someone else possibly stopped a cycle of abuse they can’t undo later on. Children don’t deserve abuse. They never asked to come into this world, we made those choices for them. Life is hard, some have more, some have less, children just know love, and love, is something everyone has to offer.

<blockquote

Like I said before….I suck at being diabetic. I always have. It seems now I have a new found respect for the disease. After many times of my sugar being well at 385 and over, and ignoring it, I can no longer do so. It seems, I had a moment. You know….when you get it. It was the night before last and my sugar had been high all day. Yes, I take glipizide and I do so 4 times a day. I have metformin, but it upsets my stomach. Anyhow, here I am at 1:30 am, and my husband calls me, to see how I am doing. Now…he works third shift and I am use to his calls at this time. However, I didn’t seem to want to talk, and was pretty much unable to talk. I did tell him to call later and I then got up to find my meter, found it and preceeded to get very, very angry. To the point of crying. I could not seem to find all I need to check my sugar and when I did, it just flashed, “check ketones.” I then did what any sane diabetic does, threw the meter across the room and began to cry.
I was sooo out of it, I could barely walk, think or move. I felt that my arms and legs weighed thousands of pounds. I have since been told I am an idiot to let this go. I am not a big girl, 5′1″ and 140 lbs, and am quite active. I want to give up, and for the record, I hate being a diabetic. Control is not my game, but is going to have to be and I will have to be on top of it.
Knowing there are many, many other people out there going through the same, let’s talk. I am scared and uninformed. If anyone can be of help, let me know, it would be greatly appreciated, as I was told, I could have easily gone into a coma that night.

So, the next day, my manager, Brian comes in. I didn’t really know to explain things to him. (You’ll have to read the first “he was all over me” to understand this. I just casually walked over to him and started singing, “you ate her husband, you ate her husband.” You know, in that sing songy voice, kids use all the time, the irratating one. Anyway, he just looks at me and says, “what are you talking about?” So I tell him. Now, if you didn’t read the first “he was all over me”, shame on you and you won’t know what’s going on here.
It is at this point, he screams, “uhhhhh” and starts wiping off his tongue with his hands, and who knows where those have been. Just kidding. He then runs to the mens room, which is fine by me, because it is at this point, I am laughing so hard, I can’t hardly see straight. He goes to the mens room and I, to the ladies (my mascare had began to run). I somehow compose myself and go and knock on the mens room door. I ask, “are you alright?” To which I hear a reply of, “when I get out of here, I am going to kill you.” So, needless to say, this may take a shrink for him to get over. I’ll be sure to let you know.

Remember I told you yesterday that I thought I had seen it all. Wait….it gets better. I use to write about these stupid things that happened at work, like throwing away teeth and the woman in the bathroom stall on thoughts.com and people couldn’t believe these things actually happen. But they do. Anyway, the day before yesterday, a woman left her purse at the restaurant. When this happens we take it to the manager and it is put in the safe. It was late and the woman didn’t show up, so our manager told me to look inside of it and see if there was a phone number. It wasn’t a large purse, something small and a was a very bright gold color. Of course, there was no check book or anything just zipper compartments. I felt uncomfortable even having to look, but wanted to return it, as being a woman, I’d want my purse back.
Anyway….the first compartment had a picture of chippendales, which was embarassing enough, but the next compartment just made me mad. As I reached into it, there were cigarette ashes all in it, I pull out my fingers and said, “uhhhh.” My manager starts laughing at me and that irrates me even more, as I was very tired. I then turn to him and flick the ashes from my hand at him. Of course, I had flicked them in his face and he is spitting and carrying on. I proceed to zip it back up and said, “here I am done, she can just come get it, that’s just disgusting.”
So today, I was late for work, I wrote my time down wrong and was thirty minutes late. Still, that didn’t deter my good mood, but something else did. The woman comes in, looks at me and says, thank you. I didn’t recognize her at first, then I blinked and said, “oh, your purse, it’s in the safe, we couldn’t find a number for you.” She just shook her head and said, that’s ok, just as long as I get it back. At this moment, I am standing there with a glass of ice, and she says, “my husbands ashes are in there.” The glass of ice is now on the floor and I was told I turned a horrid ashen color (excuse the pun). I then say, “I’ll go get him.” As she leaves, all I can think of, is flicking him all over my manger’s face, I then break out in laughter. To the point, I get the hiccups. So the story will continue, as I have yet to tell my manger, who will come in tomorrow. Stay tuned. This should be good.

So it was just another day at the office, or restaurant I should say. I wish I could tell you it was just like all other days, but it wasn’t. I begin by saying, things happen, chalk it up to a full moon, moody people, bad day….I don’t know. What I do know is, one minute I am waiting on tables and the next, I hear two men yelling at each other and it is beginning to get ugly.
Besides serving, I am in charge of the serving staff, so it is my job to keep them from getting hurt. Our managers had decided to escort both men to the front of the restaurant and try to get them to calm down. Seems the “little guy”(this is what we will call him) told the “very big dude” (this will be his name)to make his children behave. You have to understand…these children were wreaking havoc among the restaurant and the parent was forewarned that they were causing problems. To no avail, did the parent “little guy” do anything to correct his children. They were swearing and running around, just generally causing grief. The “big dude” decided HE would say something to the man. This is where it all went downhill. After escorting them outside, a fight ensued. Whereby, myself, and two managers were trying to regain control of the situation and calm it down. Talk wasn’t working and fists were fixin’ to fly between the two. It is then, we decide there was enough yelling and threatening between the two and we called the police.
It really seems like a long time when your needing help. Pay attention, “little dude” had a really big complex for his size, and his problem? He didn’t know when to shut his mouth, he also didn’t know who to pick a fight with. This other guy was huge and he had just about enough of this man’s mouth. It is at this moment, I realize one of my servers had come outside also, which I really didn’t mind because it was getting to be pretty interesting. It is amazing how much a person can take, verbally. “Big dude” had enough and decided to take a swing at this little guy.
It is just then “little guy” realizes he has probably said too much and runs. It is comical because he is small enough to hide behind our steak sign, which is just cardboard and sticking in the ground, it stands about four feet high. Of course, myself, the manager and other server begin to laugh, as this man (little guy) loses his footing and falls in the snow. Just then “big dude” heads straight for him, he is now going to put an end to this fight.” We never saw it coming.
Out of nowhere, I hear some women scream. Not just any scream, screams like you hear in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, and I am wishing they would shut the hell up.
But the horrid sounds are coming from myself and two others. “Little guy” has maced all of us. Both myself and the other server are running around like idiots and slamming into each other, the trash can and newspaper box. My face, I had decided, was on fire. So…I get the bright idea to fall down and slam my face into the snow, yes, it felt good. It was every man or woman for themselves. As I am on the ground, I am trying to open my eyes. It is at this moment, I catch a glimpse of people staring at us through the windows. Yes we were directly in front of twenty windows, all the way down the front of the restaurant and we were on display. People were video taping us. How embrassing this was. One of our managers was inside and had not seen a thing and runs outside. Of course, he was no help at all because he was laughing so hard he couldn’t lend us a hand to get inside the building, remember, we could barely see. When all was said and done, both guys were gone, nowhere to be seen. Evidently someone told them the police were on the way, and I could only hope they both had warrants. I have regained my eyesight and feeling in my face. As for my dignity, well, let’s just say…..I am still looking for that!

Okay, I’ll admit it. I am a horrible diabetic. Being a type 2 is not nearly as bad as type 1. I do not have to take insulin, only when I get stressed or very sick, has that ever happened. Hospitalization was required. Pity is not something I want when it comes to this disease, just knowledge.
I got it when I was pregnant with my third son, gestational diabetes is what is was called and I was told I would get rid of it after his birth. I did. Two years later, I developed type 2 and was having problems and had to go on medication. Still taking the meds has helped, but to be truthful, I don’t think I really understand the complications of not taking care of myself. I love to cook, not only for myself, but others. Others, do not have the disease, so I cook for them. The choices I make are not so good, I eat right along with them, even desserts. Of course, still taking my medications. I should be throwing them out the window for all the good I am doing. I really haven’t learned how to cook diabetic style, nor have I cared to learn. I am 5″1″ and 135-140 lbs. My sugar pretty much stays up over 225 most of the time, even fasting. I write this because, I do have complications beginning. Tingling fingers, no feeling in my feet, eyesight not so good. Perhaps, if you are a diabetic also, take stock, some of these things can be corrected, some cannot. I am the only diabetic in the family, so I have no one who could be a support person for me. They can’t make me try harder, I have to do that for myself.
It’s a new year and yes, I have insurance. I will try harder and even possibly call my local hospital to find out about classes for diet and excerise. Yes, I suck at being a diabetic and will slowly try to turn it around before I have things falling off of me or I go blind. If you have any great recipes or ideas. Email me. I would love any help someone has.