Sabbath's Response to Pandemics and Epidemics

Yesterday (4/10/2020), on Facebook, I mentioned writing posts during my time off from work on the thoughts of my many characters about facing pandemics or even a nasty epidemic. Some wouldn’t care, others, a bit of concern, while a few would throw themselves into doing what they can to help others get through until the sickness was gone. Admittedly, many of these characters have magical abilities and decent skills in their fields, but the reactions would be different.

Naturally, Sabbath would be the first. She is my oldest character and most written. She occurs in many forms, so not all my characters will be voiced in these posts, but there will be many.

So, without further ado, the first of the many voices in my head on handling pandemics and epidemics; Sabbath Silverclaw.

Name: Sabbath Silverclaw

Alias(es): Sabreela Ethalli Silverclaw

Occupation: Retired. Formerly a protector of the world of Haven, Healer, Diplomat, Mage, and Lady of the city of Cat’s Haven

Sabbath’s reaction to what is going on in this world would be one of curiosity and genuine concern. It is her nature to help those in need to become well and do everything in her power to heal, by magic or more traditional methods, everyone who falls sick. But, there is a caveat. She won’t heal just anyone, and it wrenches her soul to not tend to certain ones.

First of all , they must want her aid. She asks if they want her to help them. Then, gives them the choice of magic or medicine. In the world she lives in, magical healers aren’t very common but aren’t rare, either. Few are strong enough to withstand the worst diseases by their own ability. For her, she considers it a blessing to be able to go where other medical experts will not due to the severity of the illness.

Sabbath would use the skills she learned by the guild masters to research the illness and find a cure that any healer in the guild could administer. She did not rely on magic and taught that to others when she could. When possible, she’d bow to the more experienced if she knew she could not figure out a means to cure the sick. But, she would record the ways which succeeded in curing without the aid of magics.

She’d work those long hours on the front lines like our doctors and medical personnel are doing now. Deciding who would be given the life saving medicines and who would die was never easy for her. Epidemics and pandemics would have her falling out of her True Neutral ways to the more lawful good side.

Altruistic, yes, and willing to do what it takes. She’d be one to stay in the hospitals 24/7 until someone made her stop to rest.

As a leader, she’d be urging everyone to keep calm and do what they could to keep from getting sick… much like how our current President is doing with us. But, in this case, she’d do what she asks others to do.

Any questions for Sabbath, I will gladly answer them in her ‘voice.’ Ask your questions here or on Facebook. Twitter is not used and rarely monitored.

Something New

Lately, it has been rather difficult for me to think of anything to write about on this blog, or any of my blogs for that matter.  I had taken a very long hiatus from writing due both busy/hectic work schedule and finishing up college.  Neither one is a good excuse  for not writing, but when your brain is mush after dealing with people all day, one tends not to do creative things until the mushiness goes away.

Work, at the moment, is still taking most of my energy.  Trust me when I say that Money Center at any Wal-Mart is not a place to see happy customers unless there are multiple registers in use on those super busy days.  A lone cashier on a busy day is not very happy, productive, or quick and the customers do not want to wait to pay their bills, cash their checks, or send/receive money transfers.  It all must be done N-O-W!

I do what I can.  That is all that one can do.  Right?  Right.

So, about this something new the title of this post says…  I’m considering doing random blogs from the perspective of my various characters.  Granted most do not live in our reality and are furry (anthropomorphic) creatures in varying degrees of sanity and animal rating (feral to civilized).  But, to give some insight into their minds and thinking, and perhaps some humor to entertain, could help break some of my writer’s block and offer ideas into where to take a plot arc.

Black Friday, Society of Night and Lies, Test of Ascension, and my erotica compilation could benefit from this.  Maybe, allowing some of these characters to speak to the world outside of a role play forum or a book will either get them to speak or finally be quiet so others may have their spotlight.

Be warned, though, I have a lot of characters.  A LOT of characters from all walks of life.  Many are related in some way or another and others are all there is to represent their people.  There will be a short blurb before each of their posts stating who they are (some characters are shy and won’t tell), where they come from as well as the reality they hail from as well.

I didn’t see this idea anywhere so if it is a copy, sorry, I didn’t know.  It just came to me this morning while I was preparing to take my son to the bus stop.

Enjoy your day and, please, tell me what you think of this idea.  All comments, complains, and suggestions are welcome.

A Heart-Felt Thank You

To all the police officers, guardsmen, and security personnel, I want to say thank you for giving us, the citizens of these cities, hamlets, and other populated areas, your time to keep us safe from harm.  Thank you for stopping the robbery with a chance stop for refreshment during your shift.  Thank you for helping store security wrangle that shoplifter who tried to make off with groceries and big screen TV.  Thank you for escorting the customer service supervisors as they go around the store at night pulling tills and making sure, the law-abiding citizens, are also following traffic laws.

You put your lives on the line for the people of your town and protect them to the best of your ability whether those same citizens want you to or not.  You deserve our respect, not our scorn.  You deserve more than what is given to you daily, not the pittance most receive.

It may seem that you have a target painted on your back after the tragedy that has happened in Dallas and Baton Rouge.  Your families may not be as safe as you once thought we were with so many wanting to see the police departments disbanded and defunded.   The world, as we know it, is falling apart and those simple things, respect, honor, and loyalty, are falling by the wayside to be replaced by ignorance, hate, and self-importance.

I am but one small cog in the giant retail machine.  But, as a tiny cog, my simple greeting of "Be safe" is always with all the best intentions.  I understand how dangerous your job is on a normal day without snipers laying in wait for the unwary.  I want, and wish, you to return home to your families so that I, and my co-workers, may see you come back to our store the next day to catch another round of thieves and prevent assault on the rare occasion.

While there may be the few bad apples hiding in each precinct which have helped cause this problem we have today, that doesn't mean that all of you are racist or cruel.  You are doing your jobs and you are doing your jobs to the best of your ability.  That is all we can expect.  Trust me, when I say that we notice when you do go above and beyond the call of duty and many of us mourn with you when your comrades have fallen.

This letter cannot begin to say what I want to say, but it is my hope that you, and everyone who reads this, understands that there is not enough thanks that can be said, written, or even drawn to show you how I, and others within my store, feel.

To the police, thank you.  Thank you.  Thank You!  For being there and keeping us safe.  To the security guards, and servicemen, retired and active, my deepest and most heart-felt thanks go to all of you.

Be Safe, all of you.

I mean it.

Long Time No Post... Again

It has been an extremely long time since I last wrote an actual blog post.  Other than a few slices of what was happening in my life over on Facebook, I haven't touched my blogs in over a year.

Just to recap since the last post; my Aunt Pat died a year ago May.  It was a very sudden heart attack when she was getting out of the pool.  She was gone before reaching the hospital.

My last surviving grandparent, Grammy, passed away back in February.  Her death was expected.  She had been declining over the last couple of years since her operation to have a few melanoma tumors removed from her scalp.  She went in alert and ornery and came out a very different person.  We think she have had a mini stroke during the operation to bring about such a huge change.  At least mom and I got to see her one last time when we went down for Aunt Pat's funeral and she got to meet Colin and see how bright and vibrant he is.

I loved my grandmother, but she was the poster child for bipolar and I caught the brunt of some of her opinions and anger.  But, I am happy that she is no longer suffering and is probably driving my grandfather up a wall in Heaven right now.  I can just hear her yelling "Charles!" because of something he did.

When we went to my Aunt's funeral last year, we didn't tell Grammy that her oldest daughter had died.  That news would have killed her quickly.  But, she knew something wasn't right.  Something was out of place though an unexpected visit from her middle child and a granddaughter wasn't too out of the ordinary.  All we dared to tell her was that she would see Pat soon.  Which is true in a sense.  We didn't know how much longer we'd have with Grammy but we knew then it wasn't long.

As for myself, and my family, we're all in good health and improving it one day at a time.  For now, my diabetes is getting under control again and my doctor, wonderful lady, is concerned about my cholesterol so I have added a new pill to my daily regimen.  Yes, I am finally under doctor care again.  Which means, I should be getting myself back into a better routine and working to bring my blood sugar back down to where it should be.

She also added another pill to aid my metformin.  After three weeks of this, I am starting to feel more energized and less tired all day.  I still feel blah in general, especially when it comes to writing or even art in general.  I need to edit book one of Black Friday and finish writing book two.  My erotic anthology needs not just editing but stories written.  One is started and two others planned.  Test of Ascension is in serious need of editing and beta reading.   Any one willing to read this to help get the introduction fixed as well as ideas to fill in the gaps as well as smoothing it out, please, give me a note and I'll send a copy.

Best thing about me is I finally graduated from college.  I have an Associate degree in Business Administration.  Woo hoo!  Yes!!

hat tossing ceremony at graduation

Dave, for those who have seen the posts on Facebook, is doing great.  He had an abscess on the back of his lymphodema mass go septic and rupture in such a way, the mess looked like a crime scene.  He had to have the fire department come help the EMTs get him out of the bathroom where he discovered the problem when he went to do his usual wake up routine.  As serious as it was, when looking back, it is funny, but Dave was in the hospital just over a week and had surgery to clean out the abscess.  This was at the beginning of May.  Now, that fist sized hole is how about the size of my pinky and he can take a shower again.

Even better, he has lost just over 50 pounds, so we are all happy.  Yeah, he has the help of insulin injections right now, but the weight loss is a welcome thing.  Plus, he is watching his diet much better.  For now, the goal is to lose five pounds per month.

He is seeking a new doctor.  The one he went to see for the abscess did nothing except put him on insulin and refilled his prescriptions.  He didn't bother looking at it or anything.  Otherwise, there would not have been such a huge mess for me to clean.  It would have been drained safely there in the doctor's office or he could have been transported to the hospital instead of it rupturing at home where all kinds of germs and such can make things worse.  We are leaving Morton Clinic as doctor of choice.  We are needing a bariatric doctor here in Tulsa that takes SoonerCare for Dave.  Suggestions are more than welcome.

There may be more blog posts once I'm able to kick myself in the rump to actually do it.  Will there be another post soon?  I don't know.  But, let me just say this, this blog has seen 4 years as of the end of May.  My LiveJournal account, where my blogging began is now 12 years old.  My oldest art account, FurAffinity.net, is 10 years old now.  I haven't posted anything new on there is about a year.

So, you know, those who are still watching, I am here and still alive.  Still trying to figure things out while the muse is on vacation.  Until it is official, I am not depressed or overwhelmed with all I have sitting around begging for my attention.  I'm just tired.  Very, very, tired, and the sleep is clinging to me like a cozy blanket on a cold winter's day; all I want to do is sleep.

Have you gone without writing because of issues other than personal, working, or medical?

A Little About My Fantasy World

After such a long hiatus from this blog and other writing pursuits, it has come to my attention that not many know much, if anything, about the world I create in; the world which centers around the short stories of my compilation Trysts of the Hearts; the series which is supposed to be erotic based.  So, without further ado, I’ll give some insight into the paranormal aspects of my fantasy world of Haven.

Hauntings in my world aren’t uncommon.  There are the deep, dark forests where few animals live because of spirits, either from the dead or nature, dwell.  In these places even the most dulled senses can pick up the creepy vibe when they enter, but only those with a shamanistic background in magic or their talent is connected with communicating with ethereal beings can see and either banish them or work with these spirits.

Animated skeletons in these places are always planted by necromancers and other pranksters to scare people away their secret places.  Bogs, forests, ancient cemeteries forgotten by time are usually filled with hidden places filled with treasure and all of them are guarded by any number of undead such as skeletons, ghouls, and mummies.  Any powerful mage is capable of animating or ensnaring these to protect their labs and libraries.

Goblins, vampires, licht, nightmares, and the like are very real entities who prey on the living.  Zombies, in their own right, are also just as real within this world and in some places, are a problems for adventurers to handle for a bit of gold and treasure.  Regardless, they are dangerous without someone strong enough to defeat them or at the very least keep them at bay.  Magical weapons are a good resource when delving into old towers and dungeons.

Just don’t forget the special charms at the apothecary shoppes or the person who sends you on that quest because they just have to have that particular item and are too scared to get it themselves.  Better yet, hire a good mage and shaman to accompany you on that adventure because even the kitsune can be more than a handful for the best adventurers.

Monster Week Writing Prompt 2

Today's prompt features a djinn.  The picture, I swear, comes out of a AD&D monster manual.  That is how familiar it looks to me, but it serves as a very good prompt.  This one isn't as long as the others.  Maybe a page or so in length, so you don't have to skim through as much.  Oh, and before I forget, it is a silly ending.  It wasn't intended to be scary at all.

Arms crossed, the green genie frowned at the quivering man before him. 10,000 years and he gets the same reaction every time. They all get scared of the big, muscle-bound, man made of smoke without bothering to introduce themselves or give him an excuse to scare them. It was all the same and he could guess what the next thing would be, a “request” for wishes.

“Oh great and powerful genie, I have searched far and wide...” The man's voice faded from his mind as the djinn looked down on him.

Genie. He was not a genie. No one could get it right. Genies are weak compared the djinn. All the magical demigods considered them fledglings of the magical world and the djinn thought no less. Seriously, he could be doing something else besides listening to the same old litany for the millionth time in as many years. It wasn't the life he wanted, but he was stuck with it.

Realizing he needed to give a reply to his “master” he looked down at the man, lifted a brow ever so slowly, then moved in close enough to touch his nose to man's. His intense stare made the man cower and back away from him before the djinn decided to straighten up and return to scowling at this pitiful insect of a master.

“Out with your demands, human.” His voice boomed and thunder rolled to emphasize his displeasure. Just then, as the silence filled the area only to be broken by the squeak of a very frightened human, he got an idea.

“I... I... I wish to be rich.” The man's voice quivered uncontrollably. “Yeah, I wanna be rich. And famous!” He raised his hand to point out the addition to the first wish.

“That's two wishes, human,” he snarled through his growing smile. The evil just glimmered in his eyes. “Make this last one count.”

The human blinked up at the djinn before protesting. “N-no, that's one wish. Just one. I get two more.”

Arching a brow high, he leaned in close to the human and smelled something foul. He must have scared this human into filling his shorts. Lovely. “There are no exceptions, /human/,” he said, growling under his breath at him. “Rich and famous are two different requests. Should have rephrased that.”

“But! But!” The stammered before relenting with a heavy sigh.

“What is your last request.” He just knew what the last wish would be and he was going to give it a different interpretation.

Puffing out his chest, the human grinned, thinking he'd have this genie right where he wanted him. “I want to be what every woman needs, genie.”

A snap of his fingers and the djinn made the wishes come true, but the first two, he canceled. They were no longer needed now that the human was laying on the ground as a long, thin pad.

Monster Week Writing Prompt 1

Elements of Genre Writing decided this is monster week.  Okay, I can work with this.  When it comes to monsters, I’m not the best, but someone may give some good critique on how tom improve it.  So, without further ado, this week’s flash fiction response to day 1 prompt.

“Don’t got into the forest.” The order was clear, the danger unknown, but it was felt in the words and seen in the expression of the sergeant issuing the order. “Until we further notice, no one is to go into the forest. Guard the gates until Melencamp returns.”

The sergeant turned on his heel and left the group of guardsmen waiting for their leader to dismiss them. Among the mangy crowd of men a murmur started as what caused the order to come down so quickly after the disappearance of a few farmers on their way to the next town. A bark as sharp as the squinted eyes of the head guard brought the men back, straightening them up in a rough caricature of a trained contingent.

“You heard the sergeant, no one is to go into the forest until the wizard arrives. That means citizens, too.” As short as what the man looked, no one dared to snicker as his display of strength. Not one of them wanted to have the dwarf bringing them down in front of their peers for the man was fast and very strong and they could see the souvenirs of fights in the past on his armor and helmet. Another barked command the guards went to their assigned positions along the high rocky wall.

No one in and no one out until further notice. That worked well for the guards and the other citizens of the mountain town, but for Gherig, those orders didn’t include him. He had a charmed existence and considered himself the best thief in the realm able to escape any danger.

Slinking through the shadows toward the sluice gate where the river filled the moat, he crept silently. No one noticed him there except for the dogs that roamed the walls in search of scraps. Their barking came moments too late and didn’t bring anyone to investigate. Why would anyone bother with stray dogs fighting over a scrap of meat.

That is what Gherig counted on. No one knew he left. All he had to do was get across the open land between the walls and the forest. Until the sun went down, he’d have to wait. The late day sun gave too much light. As soon as night fell, he’d be on his way to see what was keeping the guards in this night.

Being patient wasn’t a strong point with him. Try as he might, he found himself startled into wakefulness. The sky was dark with ominous clouds blocking the moon and stars from view. Even though it was summer, a cold wind swept from the forest toward town sending shivers down his spine. A long and lonely howl echoed from the nearby valley adding to the general feel of unease the night had brought with it.

With a shrug, the thief ran across the bared land to the forest, keeping away from the road itself lest he seen by the guards on their rounds. Out of breath, he looked back at the stone walls and saw the torches move but no one coming after him. He made it across successfully.

“Good.” The single word was spoken aloud and it felt out of place among the shadow draped trees. He could barely see a few feet ahead of him. Something felt odd about the old wood. Something not natural and the feeling tickled the back of his mind as a warning of things to come.

Not one to give in to his own instincts, he continued deeper in until he felt sure his own torch wouldn’t get any attention from across the field. As he set about priming his torch and looked for his flint, he got the feeling that he was being watched.

The feeling grew and grew, building while he worked and made him nervous. Trying to ignore the sensation, he kept working on making some light. When at last the flames burst into being and lapped at the pitch coated wood greedily, the light it gave seemed feeble as if scared of the forest itself.

Then, on the night breeze, he heard his name whispered. Over and over, he heard his name whispered but nobody was there. It was just him and the trees and the trees don’t talk.

He crept along the game trail, looking all around to find the source of the voice. The further into the forest went, the stronger the feeling he was being watched. The trees pressed close, grabbing at his clothes as if to pluck them away. Roots lifted to trap his feet and make him stumble.

No where was there the buzz of a bug or the hoot of an owl. Nothing, nothing at all moved except for him and the night wind through the tree limbs.

The trail he followed twisted and turned, ridding him of any hope of being able to find his way back to the field by the city gates. When he wasn’t stumbling over invisible roots, he was brushing away tendrils of moss hanging from the limbs while they grabbed at him.

Without warning, he fell with a thump on the hard earth. The torch fell from his hand and sputtered out, leaving him in darkness again. As his eye adjusted to the dark, the moon found a sliver between the clouds to shed pale light down into the thicket he had fallen into. Brambles twisted into strange shapes with long thorns prepared to strike any who dared step too close. From amid the thorny briars, the whispered voice emanated; daring him to come closer.

A shadowy figure moved within the branches; small child-like, in size but with waves of death and fear flowing around it like a cloud. It moved closer with the brambles giving way before it. The face remained enshrouded with shadow, but the slight body became defined and moved stiffly though with purpose toward his grounded body.

His mind screamed at him to get up and leave. Danger was there in front of him, but he ignored those thoughts. There could be no danger from a child of any kind. He was bigger and stronger than this kid.

Or so he thought.

Behind the child, other shadow cloaked beings appeared, each moving slow and stiff, reaching out with waves of death toward him. Gherig’s eyes went wide as they appeared before him. His strength left him, leaving him shuddering before the child as he lay on the ground watching it and the other.

The clouds began to part, offering more of the moon’s light to the clearing, showing him the white dress of a merchant’s daughter he knew fluttering around he legs. He knew her to be dead, he had done that deed. Others behind her entered the light, their faces blank, eyes nothing more than dark holes where evil lay in wait beside his death.

Her face loomed closer. She whispered his name as a vile grin parted his lips to expose crooked teeth. Her eyes were like the others, holes that held evil desires to drink his soul for the evil he had done.

Gherig’s eye widened, showing the whites as he tried to back away from the girl. She was coming for him. All he could feel was a fear like no other grow when he saw her skeletal hand lift to reach for his throat.

All was quiet at the castle. The cold wind had calmed, leaving the guards to their duty of patrolling the wall. When the moon stated to beak through the clouds, the old wizard Melencamp appeared with grave news. He and the others paused in the market square when a human scream broke through the silence of the night. Moments after, the old clock struck the midnight hour. Few looked up at the sound of the scream. Only the old wizard paused before he was ushered to the lord’s manor to go over his findings.

SCORE!

Don't get too nervous about me making more than one post in a given month or year.  This is supposed to be the normal thing in this quiet corner.  With this being the end of my first week of externship for my degree, I thought I'd summarize what I have been doing.  This isn't just for me, but this is also part of my assignment for the week at Brown Mackie and for the woman I am working with at SCORE.

What is SCORE you ask?

SCORE used to be an acronym for Service Corps of Retired Executives, but, this has changed in the last several years to be just SCORE.  The name change is because there are more than just retired execs volunteering.  They have people from all types of businesses both retired and working giving their advice to potential business owners and current business owners looking to expand their business.  Across the nation there are almost 400 chapters; ensuring there is one close to even the smallest of towns for business advice.

The chapter I am working is here in Tulsa, just at the edge of downtown.  The people in this chapter are great and so knowledgeable about their work.  There are people who have worked in the oil and gas business, international business, human resource, retail, hospitality, banks, medical, lawyers, CPAs... the list can go on and on.  They work with the Small Business Administration and other non-profits.

What have I been doing?

I've been sitting in on several workshops, seeing what it is they do as well as taking notes on making the business legal, creating business plans, and getting to know some of the tax forms business owners need to have, and the most important, things you need to know before writing your business plan.  That kind of research is key if you are to be successful.

Not only do they give vital information, they also offer up their services as mentors and give resources for more information such as the american community survey to find out about demographics for the area you want to set up shop.  They even help with ideas to gather funding.  Their knowledge will also help to figure out some very important considerations.

Tuesday was essentially the same workshop but with different speakers at the Sun Building where SCORE is located.  Both sessions went over things like who your customers are, the business idea, the feasibility of your business idea, and the different hats you will wear as the entrepreneur.  They cannot stress enough that you be decisive and learn how to delegate so you don't put yourself into an early grave from the stress.  You are going to work hard, but you should be able to enjoy the benefits of your hard work.

The afternoon session had one of the mentors speaking who is a lawyer.  His started off entertaining enough to grab your attention then he went over some of the legal issues such as the different types of business and what was required for them.  After him, a woman who is a CPA took his part and expanded further explaining more about sole proprietors, partnerships, limited liability and c-corp and s-corp.

All was very informative and I have plenty of notes and handouts to go over.  Far too much to bring up here.

Thursday's session took basically the same thing but in a more orderly fashion going over Start-up Basics as well as what SCORE has to offer.  This session was the first of five and the only free one of the five.  The others are $25 a session of $75 for the four.  (No, this is not an advertisement)

They covered the different options you have for your business with advantages and disadvantages.  They touched in briefly on pricing and how each business type does this and how you are to be competitive.  They even went over things to consider with your competition.

Above all, the speakers said you have to keep it simple.  Yes, the K.I.S.S. method was mentioned and is followed by many.  This same method goes for writing your business plan, figuring financials if this is a new business and what is needed if you are purchasing an existing business.

There is a long list of things all business owners need and need to know.  The biggest comes from insurance.  Find an experienced commercial insurance agent to help figure what it is you need.  The same goes for finding a good banker and lawyer, and, naturally, a CPA.  All of these will help keep you on the right path and make sure you don't miss a license of fee that is required

There will be a lot more coming in the future.  Soon, though, this blog will return to being about my writing.

Another Post Worthy Assignment from Lit: Hylie's Haiku

I was going to post this Tuesday night and ended up being too stuffed to concentrate on much of anything. Good pasta will do that to anyone and I love my spaghetti sauce; even when I have to use canned spaghetti sauce as part of the base. XP Big ick in my book but I managed to make it taste good with everything I put in it.

So, tonight, while digesting homemade (down to grinding my own meat) hamburgers with onion rings and a salad, I am going to let you see what the assignment was for this week.

Poetry is the subject of the week and we've been going over imagery, tone, cadence, feet and meter... you get the idea. So, the online discussion was we write our own haiku using the traditional 5-7-5 formatting.

This is my submission, Hylie's Haiku:

My calico cat when she was about 6 months old.

Black and gold delight,
Young, smart, and soft furry form,
Gold eyes miss nothing.

Dave loves it because it's about his cat. No way I can deny it, Hylie is his cat. Caffeine is definitely mine.

This mischievous cat was the first thing to spring to mind when the assignment was given.  Hope everyone likes this haiku as much as I do.

Alert the Media!

*flails wildly then faceplants on the floor*

One down, one to go! Time to celebrate the first win!

Those who have been keeping and rooting for me, you can finally cheer.  I passed the state exam for Life/Accident and Health products portion of the state licensing exam.  It almost wasn’t going to happen due to technical issues with the computer I was on.

Wasn’t anything I did.  Nope, not this time.  ;)  The computer was acting up before I got there.  They had to reboot it four times before I could take the test.  The crazy thing would freeze at the end of the sample test (I swear it’s to make sure people understand what country they’re in with all the America centric questions) and not let me continue.  The final reboot let me complete the practice and got me all the way through to the end and tallied my score.

Maybe I did threaten to bring a tech-god to fix the problem or IT was going to be there after I was done to upgrade and fix the problem, I don’t know, but it did work.

It’s done.  Finally done!  I won’t have to worry about it again unless the license lapses for any reason.  From here on out, it will be continuing education to keep me up to date on changes made in the insurance code and ethics courses to prove I won’t commit fraud or something to that matter.  That will only be 24 hours per year, so no worries.

Due to studying this week, and other things going on, I didn’t do any writing.  Not all was distractions with Facebook, I promise, though some were along that line.  There was review and extra studying on the sections I needed more focus, such as Medicare and Long-term Care policies.

This means I have nothing new to give on Black Friday 2 nor anything to report on my Camp Nano novel.  Both of those needed to be set aside for the purpose of passing the most pain in the neck test I have ever taken.  At least it did pay off and I can put some effort into both of the projects when I’m not working or training.

Which means I have this weekend free after the shopping is done and Monday between doctor appointments for Colin and Dave.

OW! Hot stuff!

That reminds me, keep Dave in your thoughts, he is starting down the road toward gastric surgery to help him get rid of his excess weight and the lymphedema lump on his inner thigh.  Monday, he consults with his doctor about which procedure he’ll recommend then starting the string of tests which have to be done before the operation date.  One way, or another, we will get this done; even if it means I have to pay for incredible insurance which will cover the surgery, tests, and post-op visits.

Thankfully, we already know, he won’t be down for more than a day or two and be on a protein shake diet for a few months.  But, it will end his diabetes almost immediately and start straightening out other weight related issues.  This also means that I’ll be forced to diet, too.  But this is a good thing.  I need to lose about half my body weight to be within the target range for my height and build.

Okay, I rambled too much.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun-filled 4th of July.

Do you have anything to celebrate this week?

Thursday is for Therapy

Not for me, oddly enough, but for my son.  He’s not your normal ADHD kid with enough energy to run a small city if he were running on a treadmill hooked to a generator.  No, he has some other issues knocking about in that blond head of his to keep things interesting.

He has behavioral issues which drive poor unsuspecting teachers mad.  These same issues make for tense parents and grandmother.  My mom, Dave, and I cringe when the phone rings during school hours.  We just know he has done something that requires them to call us to come get him.  This was very true in kindergarten, first grade, and part of second grade.  He spent time on suspension until we started poking the school faculty into following our request.

Jackson Elementary was not the school for Colin.  They were extremely slow in doing their own testing after we filled out the paperwork.  While they wandered around figuring things out, he was ostracized by not just the students in his class, but by his teacher as well.  This happened in Kindergarten.  No wonder he needs therapy now.  I mean, what teacher, in their right mind, ostracizes a child, knowing he cannot help what he is doing, and encourages the other kids to do the same.  If another kid started something, naturally Colin would react, but he would get all the blame.  The other kid is given a pat on the head and left to do what they wanted.

Colin was labeled a bad kid because the school took so long trying to get things set up.  We, his parents, had no idea who to talk to or where to go to have him tested.  The counselors could not, or would not, tell us anything.  He may not have been the best student, but he aced his academic testing at the end of the year and they gave him nothing but grief.  Jackson is a school which should be closed down and the teachers sent back to school.

My mom and I decided to put him in another school.  Skelly, his current school, is just across the street from us; a five minute walk.  First grade was rough, but the school started pointing us in the right direction once they saw what he was like.  Other circumstances also had us seeing the proper doctors and putting him on medication.

Now, almost three years later, Colin has blossomed in so many ways.  His speech is clear, he can form complete thoughts and articulate as if he had never had problems before.  His handwriting is what is difficult for him now.  We could see the changes within the first few months of speech therapy.  Each of the therapists he’s had have done a wonderful job and he enjoys these sessions.

Occupational therapy took a bit longer to get started.  The first assessment he had shown problems, but it took a bit more paperwork from not just us, his family, but observations from his teachers, too.  His OT sessions have him working on gross and fine motor skills, things we never really saw until they were pointed out.  Thanks to his first OT therapist, we were able to get him over that final hurdle of potty training.  Those last steps were the hardest and he’d use bathroom accidents as a way to go home early.

His second grade teacher, wonderful woman who did everything she could to help, would not allow him that luxury.  Unless it was a bad accident, he put on a change of clothes we kept handy and stayed the whole day.  Also, during second grade, he had a change of medication which turned out to be the right mix and dosage, which made things much easier on all of us.

Looking at him today, I can see he isn’t the child who skipped ahead of me when I’d walk him home from school back in Jackson.  He is a special little boy.  He’s made so many breakthroughs in this year alone; the one I am most proud of being the three friends that he has come looking for him almost every day.  As much as I love my boy, he needed kids his age to interact with instead of a video game or the television.

Now, we’ve added in Behavioral therapy.  This is making for a long day for me.  Long enough that I must have the day off.  It just wouldn’t be worth the effort to go in for a few hours leave for four or five hours then come back for one hour and go home.  Wouldn’t be fair to anyone.  Due to circumstances at work that have temporarily taken me out of the pharmacy, I have requested Thursdays off for therapy and doctor visits.  As much as I hate to split my days off, I need to for my little boy.

Seeing him improve, I wonder if I should seek psychological help for my own mental problems.  I’m not bipolar, or something like that, but thanks to the torture I endured in school and what my ex put me through for years, I’m not exactly the most stable person.  Working on the registers on the front end is a nightmare; one I care not to repeat for the safety of the customers.  Claustrophobia, agoraphobia, probably a few others, maybe even a dash of ADD, needs to be addressed.  With all these characters talking in my head, some more demanding than others, multiple personality disorder isn’t something I need be concerned about until they decide to take over all at once.  (Just kidding)

Where, or when, I should work those sessions in is beyond me unless they can do after hours or Sunday visits.  Somehow, both seem very unlikely.  Good thing I do have my writing to keep things straight in my head.  One day, I’ll write a story all about Colin.  Who knows, that could launch things into a whole new life for me.

Yes, therapy is good.  Very good.