Wow! Is all I can say to these chocolates! Totally unexpected delivery from FedEx this morning from my brother. I'm a sucker for fine chocolates. These are from Romanicos Chocolate the Chocolate Art collection. There is a note in the box that says the chocolates where hand made on June 30th. And also "We suggest you to consume them within five days after receiving date" NOT A PROBLEM! The white ones with the leopard-like art are White Pistachio I think I inhaled those! The taste is incredible. All I need to accompany them is a nice dessert or ice wine to wash em down.
The content of the box:
1st Row - Fishes - Sunny Orange
2nd Row - Leopard- White Pistachio
3rd Row - Fishes - Pineapple Delicacy
4th Row - Marble - Cookies and Cream White
5th Row - Purple Flowers - Raspberry Delight
These made my day today brother. Thank you!
Soul and I have been friends for a number of years. I honestly don't know how we became friends - we started reading each others personal blogs back in the day. She is such a fabulous person, caring, well spoken, well written, funny as hell which allowed us to connect on many levels. Soul surprised me with these chocolate biscuits from across the pond (London, if you need help with that) a few days ago! The tin is simply gorgeous! And the treat insides - wonderful! Soul is on my "must meet" list. When I get to London we are going to do it big girl! And you know when ever your ass lands in Dallas it's on!
Family and Friends, what a blessing!
- On my 4th day since my last chemo treatment - other than starting out the day a little nauseated I've been doing good. Yesterday I had a tremendous amount of joint and muscle aches which is a side affect of Taxotere. You kind of feel like you are coming down with the flu....it ain't pretty!
- I literally washed some of my hair out! I noticed that it had started to come out, but I surely didn't expect that when I looked in the mirror after rinsing the shampoo out of my hair I would have huge bald spots - shocking. It actually bothered me more than I thought it would. A short hair cut is one thing - bald is another! Just so I didn't look like I had the "mange" about the head I decided to shave it all off. The Puma hat collection is now in heavy rotation.
- I'm a bit disappointed, I was supposed to be in Greece this week damn it!!!! Instead of dealing with breast cancer treatment!
- Hancock starts tomorrow, I love Will Smith! Although, I haven't heard great reviews about this film. Still going to see it.
- Group at Gilda's Club is going extremely well, the Wellness group is so informative and beneficial. C and I went to the new member dinner Monday night, enjoyable!
- Picked up "Benzie" on Friday. The body shop did a phenomenal job with the bumper ding it is as good as new.
Ok, after leaving the body shop C and I go to the mall to grab a bite at Dave and Busters and walk around for a bit. After a couple of hours we depart and discover that someone keyed the passenger side of my car!!! There was absolutely no reason for this. None. I honestly don't understand why. There was hardly anyone in the parking garage when I parked, I didn't make a mean face at anyone, didn't flip anyone off, didn't beat anyone out for the parking spot - nothing. The guy at the body shop couldn't believe I was back the very next day. $1300.00 repair - for no reason.
- One of my best friends that works at the hospital my Oncologist is located and also where I go for treatment surprised me today. I received in the mail a page of stickers to put on the back of my tickets for the parking garage. This allows me to not have to pay for parking whenever I'm at the hospital. Totally unexpected! How nice is that? The littlest things...
- Mr. B is looking good these days.
Considering he was attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier on June 9th. There were no internal injuries to his head or neck, so I'm thankful for that. I don't know what I would've done had he died in the attack. He shook Bentley around so vigorously; as if he was a little rag doll. Because of the attack, the owner of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier put his dog to sleep. As you can see, the hair on his face is a little short and his eyebrows are a bit jacked up, but he looks great compared to how he looked in the picture below immediately following the attack about 3 weeks ago.
Voluntary poisoning at it's finest.
2nd Chemotherapy treatment was done on Friday successfully. The voluntary poison begun after blood was drawn from medi-port to be tested in the lab. I met with Dr. M before going to the Infusion Room (The Cocktail Lounge) for the chemo drugs. She reviewed the blood work that came back from the lab which indicated my blood counts were good! She wanted to look at my hands for thinning nails and detachment - which is a side affects from the chemo drugs. I'm starting to get a deep purple line at the base of my thumb nail bed, she said it was a side affect from the drugs also. We discussed other side affects that I experienced none of which were out of the ordinary. The treatment was started and was shorter in duration, about 4 hour vs. the 5 for the first one. The Oncologist Nurse explained that the first treatment takes longer because the meds were administered slowly to see if I would have any reactions. Since I did not, the 2nd treatment (dose) was set to run faster.
I saw the claim for the first treatment today on a statement sent by my insurance company - for saline, Benadryl, anti nausea, and 3 chemo drugs - charges were $26,300.00! For drugs! I have several more treatments at $26K a pop - whoa!. Thank god for insurance!
I have noticed that my hair is coming out somewhat easily, not by brushing, but if I pinch a bunch together and do a slight tug it all comes out, no pain or anything - very weird! I anticipate total baldness by sometimes next week. The wierdness and fatigue are supposed to set in after the 3rd day following treatment which is when the steriods wear off - so Monday or Tuesday of next week, I might be flat out! My plan was to really enjoy this afternoon and tomorrow as much as possible. I'm a bit bummed because I was scheduled to be in Greece next week, however those plan were spoiled with the Breast Cancer show stealer. Since the vacation days were already planned I decided to take them anyway so that I can recuperate from the Chemotherapy without worrying about work.
I had visitors join me in the Cocktail Lounge - thanks Miss "C" and thank you Miss "J". Both your presence were wonderful to have today :)
Caught a preview of Wanted last night! We stood in line for about 2.5 hours to ensure we would get in. It was worth the wait. I have to say a little "Matrix-esque," if I were to compare Wanted to the first Matrix (and of course I did, and also the 2nd and 3rd Matrix installations) it loses. However, a definite worth see! I won't review the movie do to possible "spoilage." If anybody has seen it, or plan to see it let me know your thoughts.
Because I haven't done one of these in a while, either.
library, originally uploaded by jessiqua.
(It's been a minute since I posted over here in Vox-ville, but seeing as how I haven't had the "how much can I talk about the things about my job that annoy me" discussion with my boss yet, "better safe than sorry" is the order of the day. )
As many of you know, I made the transition from corporate life to public librarianship. While the transition has been largely smooth, and while I still enjoy my job very much, every day I come into contact with a service ethic that stands in opposition to my own. This is the latest example: while working at one of the library's information desks, a customer came up and asked for a sheet of paper. Because I didn't know where we kept spare reams of paper, I reached inside the printer, pulled out a sheet, and handed it to him. After the customer walked away, a colleague pulled me aside and said "We never give up the paper. Never."
Now, I'll grant that we have a recycling bin at the end of the desk for scrap paper (which I completely forgot about), but I couldn't believe that this was the one element of my job performance that the staffer chose to criticize.
When I read through library listservs, or when I encounter images of librarians in popular culture (Buffy's Giles excepted), I often encounter the image of the library as a foreboding, unwelcoming institution that is more concerned with keeping order and adhering to arbitrary rules than it is to delivering top-notch customer service. It's no wonder that some people prefer bookstores, and why some others would rather turn to Google for quick information service. We seem to be a surly, stuffy bunch.
My idea of customer service and end-to-end user experience was shaped -- for better or worse -- by four years spent slogging through corporate trenches. I ultimately learned that I didn't belong in the corporate world, but the one valuable lesson that I did learn was that it is much easier to say yes than not, particularly for requests that can be carried out with a minimum of effort. The patron asked for paper, and I gave it to him, an exchange that took no more than 10 seconds from start to finish. Compare it to the alternate scenario: The patron asks for paper, and I say "No, but if you look at the end of the desk, you'll find a recycling bin with scrap paper in it, and you can have as much of that as you want." At this point I've introduced a level of unnecessary complexity, created a barrier for the patron, albeit a small one, and this barrier has an impact on the patron's ability to complete their task quickly and easily.
I haven't worked in a library long enough to understand the reasons behind this particular rule, but it seems to me that library service would become more efficient -- and friendlier -- places if we just did away with those insignificant service policies and developed a culture of customer service.
Although almost every day at Six Apart is Take Your Dog to Work Day, Friday was extra special because it was the official Take Your Dog to Work Day! Plus, as lovers of blogs and animals, we think it's great that active blogger and Human Society's President and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, thinks having dogs around the office is a good reminder of "who we're working for."
We realize some people have it ruff and aren't lucky enough to be able to bring their dog to work, but hopefully these pictures taken at Six Apart last Friday will get your tails wagging... And let me tell you, it's harder than it looks to get all the doggies and their fetching owners in one picture.
Couldn't pass this meme up. What's on my mind, right here, right now. Yeah.....
