Apr 23 2007

The other day, I was in Magianno’s for lunch. It’s a chain of restaurants in about half of the lower 48. When the waitress arrived at my table, I asked what the specials were. She replied, in part, with: “Today I have … and I have … and I have ….” Then I asked where the men’s room was. Her reply: “My restrooms are upstairs and to the left.”

This gets me to the kernel of all this: what’s with this use of the first person (either singular or plural) by waiters at restaurants? With this waitress, she implied she was an owner/manager/chef. Then there is the use of “we.” It’s pretty common to go somewhere and have a waiter ask:

“How are we doing?”

“What do we want to drink?”

“Are we ready to order?”

“What are we having?

Should I invite the person to sit with us to be part of the group? Should I say something like: “I don’t know about you, but we are having … ?” How about: “What’s this ‘we” crap?”

Mar 23 2006 It’s been a weird few weeks. I have had a cough turn into bronchitis turn into pneumonia. The coughing is ongoing and sometimes involves spasms where it’s hard to catch my breath. And about every time I think that I have turned the corner on it, there seems to be another corner ahead.

Then our well pressure tank became waterlogged, as I have written about. That was all about too much water and not enough air.

In addition, it seems as if our water softener has not been working. So, we have had a build up of sludge in our faucets and other water-related appliances. The repair man came out and replaced lots of parts and gaskets. Even a new Ventura, whatever that is. He also set the softener to a higher hardness level. When it’s “slick” in the shower, all is copasetic.

Today, I took my trusty VW Touareg into the local quick-change oil place, sat and read the paper while they worked, and then got into the car. The “Check Tyre Pressure” warning light was on, which is usual whenever someone fills or checks the tires. Usually, you go to a menu on the dashboard, click on Tyres, and then tell the system to learn the new tire pressures. Today, however, the list of options on the dashboard menu did not have Tyres. It has Lights, Language, Doors, Units. It does not have Tyres.

I looked in the owner’s manual. It should be there. It isn’t. I tried the Set to Factory Defaults button. Nothing. I shut off the car and restarted it…sort of like rebooting a computer. But, alas, while I still have the Check Tyre Pressure warning, bell, and icon visibly displayed and sounding, there is nothing in the menu anymore for Tyres.

Ah, let’s call the VW dealer and see what the service manager says. He says they must have done something at the oil-change place. I ask what they could have done since all they did was change the oil, its filter, and check my tire pressures. He has no clue. Only way to figure this out, I was told, is to come to the dealer for a computer scan to find the problem. The dealer is about 30 minutes away and I know from past experience that these computer checks take up to two hours to complete even if they find nothing, which is often the case.

I called the oil-change place in the vain hope that the manager could shed some light on this. Wrong. Sgt. Schultz in person.

To recap, we have pneumonia, coughing spasms, waterlogged well pressure tank, sludge from faulty water softener, and a misguided air pressure monitoring system in the VW. Serendipity? Kismet? Some grand order of the cosmos?

Mar 26 2006 As I have written about earlier, I have a persistent cough that gets worse, then better, then worse. It’s turned from a cold to bronchitis to pneumonia. Now, we’re not sure what I have. Over the last three weeks, I have taken or am taking the following prescription drugs:

1. A round of azithromycin during the first week. That didn’t seem to do much.
2. An Albuterol USP inhaler to dilate my bronchial tubes.
3. My favorite is Promethazine with Codeine. It lets me sleep instead of coughing all night.
4. Then there was a double series of steroids (there goes my chance in baseball this year, darn it).
5. The most recent round is an Advair Discus inhaler (more steroids and more bronchial dilators).

The following are the combined possible side effects of all this medicine according to the Walgreens web site:

SIDE EFFECTS, that may go away during treatment, include mild diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain, fast heartbeat, nervousness, tremors, headache, difficulty sleeping, nausea, drowsiness, excitement, dry mouth, throat, or nose, dizziness, constipation, stomach upset, thickening of mucus in nose or throat, difficulty sleeping, mood changes, nervousness, increased appetite, indigestion, hoarseness (dysphonia), throat irritation, headache, or cough.

CHECK WITH (OR CONTACT) YOUR DOCTOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if you experience vomiting, hearing loss or ringing in the ears, rash, hives, itching, wheezing, increased difficulty breathing, rapid or pounding heartbeat, difficulty urinating, flushing, or redness of face, swelling of feet or legs, unusual weight gain, black, tarry stools, vomiting material that looks like coffee grounds, severe nausea or vomiting, changes in menstrual periods, headache, muscle weakness, prolonged sore throat, cold, fever, white patches on tongue or mouth, or if your mouth/tongue becomes swollen and painful.

AN ALLERGIC REACTION to this medicine is unlikely, but seek immediate medical attention if it occurs. Symptoms of an allergic reaction include rash, itching, swelling, dizziness, trouble breathing, weight gain, vision changes, trouble sleeping, tremors, seizures, severe muscle weakness or cramping, fast/irregular heartbeat, numbness or tingling in hands or feet, chest pain, or worsening of asthma symptoms (e.g., increased difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing). Rarely, your wheezing might actually increase immediately after using this medicine (paradoxical bronchospasm).

CONTACT YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY if you experience swelling of your hands, legs, face, lips, eyes, throat, or tongue, difficulty swallowing or breathing, hoarseness, irregular heartbeat, reddened, blistered, or swollen skin, or severe diarrhea.

My favorite of the above is vomiting material that looks like coffee grounds.

Mar 20 2006 Out state health plan has lots of different providers depending on what medical service you want. So, it’s not odd to get a letter from one or another of them regarding information they say they need. Such was the case over the weekend when I received a form addressed to Marian.

The first question (which, somehow, was Part II) was confusing. It asked if any of the household was covered by another health plan. Then, in parentheses, they specified group health, Medicare, Medicaid). Well, I am 65 and am under Medicare, so you would think the proper answer would be “Yes.” But, if you gave that answer, you then had a whole litany of information they wanted which really had to do with private health plans and nothing to do with Medicare.

If you answered “No,” you were told to go to Part III. That is the specific Medicare section where they wanted to know who was on Medicare, when, etc. And, finally, at the bottom of the form, it asked for the “subscriber’s signature and membership number.”

The form also gave a telephone number and said that the information could be given over the phone rather than being mailed or faxed it. Since the Part II question seemed a bit ambiguous to me, I thought it would be easy to just call the information in and get it right. So, I dialed the 800 number and got a customer representative on the line. She verified my membership number and name.

She then told me that Marian would have to give her the information needed and that I could not. I asked whose signature they wanted at the bottom of the form and was told mine since I am the subscriber. My signature was required since I would be verifying the information that, theoretically, Marian was filling in. I noted to the attendant that the only box we had checked was “No” in Part II (she confirmed that was the correct choice) and the only other information we filled in was my name, Medicare number, eligibility dates, etc. So, in essence, the only thing that Marian could have filled in was checking the “No” box and leaving everything else blank. She was sorry, but she could not take the information from me and had to have it from Marian, or we could mail the form in.

We went back and forth on this and I became a bit more incredulous with each iteration. I tried again and again to insert logic into this discussion, but to no avail. Normally, I am calm about these annoyances and ask to speak to a supervisor. But this time, I was so non-plussed that all I could do was to thank her for her non-help and hang up. Hope they don’t hold that against me when they get my form in the mail. And, doggone it, I didn’t ask one pertinent question: If she had talked to Marian and gotten information from Marian, would I then have to get on the line to verify that Marian was telling the truth?