Dayum! Just got todays mail, opened the credit card bill and there's a freaking fraudulant charge on it!! Arrrrgh!!! You know I'm worried now about what the heck else, might be happening on that card! Mercury Retrograde I freaking hate you!
Peachy

Edit: Panic over. Called credit card company. It's not fraud, just a posting error. All has been correct and "A" okay. WHEW

WHEW, indeed... It took me a few months to realize that the whole TJMX debacle reported at the beginning of the year re: stolen credit card numbers applied to ALL credit/debit cards used at Marshalls, TJ Maxx, etc.!!! I thought it was just their own credit card accounts. That'll teach me not to pay more attention to the Early Show in the morning.... Thankfully, by the time I woke up, Bank of America had already flagged all of its involved accounts after being contacted by TJMX. Oy!

Lmao yup .

I'm surprised we still have any today.lol

LOL Sadly, no. It's pronounced "bo-dark" (ya know, Texas *G*) Although some passersby have actually called it "Bo Derek". I think the actual French pronunciation is "bwa-dark". I guess "fairy tale" could fit actually, as in, not many people have seen it. Basically when you're driving by, if you blink...you missed it. *G*

I'm in an OT kinda mood. Thought folks here might enjoy this website, with poems of the day and celebrity birthdays and the like, and by celebrity I'm talking authors and artists. For example, today is Michelangelo's birthday! Happy birthday, mighty sculptor! Seeing David took my breath away!

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
PeachyBC

....i'm home....on a weekday....and it's before 9:00pm....life is good....

Hellooooooo Naydi

WHEW indeed! What a stress it must have been though. Similar thing happened to DH - although the amount was only $3.21. Probably spent more $$ (timewise) calling the bank to sort it out. They said that it related to a parking charge in a hospital parking lot... which was impossible because:

(1) DH uses CC rarely, and never in a parking garage;
(2) we had not been near a hospital <touch wood>; and
(3) the day in question was during our 2nd "honeymoon week" when we moved in together and literally did not leave the house for a week!

Finally they got rid of the charge. I learned later that this is a common scam.

For my part, I got a weird phone call last week from my bank wishing to discuss my application for a $25,000 line of credit and a new bank account. "Weird" because I hadn't applied for a line of credit! Bank told me that person filling in the online form had my social insurance #... which was troubling as I never share it except on the income tax returns. Hmm. Luckily they were only calling to deny the loan anyway! Have never been so happy to have chequered credit.

In words at least kinda close to Mari's: "No, I'm not stalking you..." but this is the second 'Oh Crap! ' you've given me this morning! Can you change social insurance/security numbers up there as we can down here? Having *cough* not so pretty credit myself, I'm enough of a paranoid freak about such things that I'd still be worried...

You can nay, and that presents it's own brand of wierdness, two tax returns, two sets of gov papers...until they finally get it together...even to do that you need all kinds of proof of identity theft, judges rulings...ech.
Mari

Actually, I don't know! Good thing you mentioned this... honestly haven't thought of that. Will look into it. Another ridiculous thing: I asked the bank (which happened to be my bank) whether I should call the police. They said "the police do not deal with this sort of thing where money has not been taken". I ignored this and called anyway. Local police referred me to their "Fraud Squad" and to RCMP. I made a report to both of these outfits. Not that they could really do anything... and I didn't expect them to. However, I thought it preposterous that bank would tell me "don't bother" (mentioned this to the police as well).

Sorry to freak you out. If it makes you feel any better, I don't think this info could not have been lifted from internet purchases as I don't make any - and actually I can't think of the last time I had to enter *real* address/tel no/etc info anywhere on line.

Sounds like a case for the OPP's Fraud Bureau, although likely no info to track the miscreant with...EDIT: Missed your reply Tina, sorry.
Mari

Looks like you can according to Mari's post above, but after all sort of rigamarole (that how you spell it? never actually wrote the word b4... heh?) I try to avoid doing the same like the plague. Amazon.com was offering something like an entry to win a shopping spree or something like that if you switched your purchase method to direct debit from your bank account. Much as love 'em and have bought from the site umpteen million times - just naugh g'awn 'appen, jus wouldn't be pru'ent at any juncture!!!

Nah gahna dew it! I kinda like when they keep asking me for my password...btw I put the Metric link on for you nay, it's on the previous page, it yah missed it...
Mari

WOW! I clicked on IOU and then got distracted by work questions and such (I'm HOPING to have an announcement for you fine people soon!) then caught myself bopping along forgetting what it was that I was listening to.. Apparently, they're RIGHT up my musical alley!! I'm gonna have to look for some full clips - Nice share, my friend!!

Happy to share the love... Personally, I'm waiting for said announcement with great anticipation...but not, as you said earlier in a stalker kind of way...
Mari

HA - The station from Philly that I listen to at work (yrock on xpn) is playing 'Stool Pigeon" as part of their way-back nooner... I haven't heard this song in forever!!

"Rigamarole" (or "rigmarole") it is! Two spellings! How exciting! (I get really jazzed when I come across a word I don't know how to spell. Such an exciting life I lead, eh?

Mari: apparently RCMP were involved b/c bank involved, therefore federal jurisdiction. Didn't think about OPP Fraud Squad too (maybe should call them just for the heck of it all).

Naydi: good luck re. your prospective possible announcement (if, indeed, wishing luck is appropriate. If not, whatever works... sending good vibes!).

Kristina

...just popping in quickly to say...

VURTIE!!!!???!!!

Where are you, my child???
por vous:


At the Drive-In



<heard it an hour ago - thought of you - for me: fits the ever present common ground - on a good day!>

I was just wondering where Vurtgirl is too! And I still haven't heard from Vincent/Kathryn Fan. Hello girls!!! Are you there?

NO?!!?! That's odd... She had been a fixture almost everyday then just sort of disappeared; it was during a relatively 'quiet' period, too.

What up, V/K??

Well, folks: I'VE GOT A NURSING JOB!!! Yippee kiiiiiiiii!! Sad part is, it involves leaving the organization that I've been with for the last five years. Lies, ineffectual HR support and egos: All have added up to me heading out the door. Pretty quickly, too...

The day I found out that I passed the boards, I found out that a position that I'd applied for here didn't actually exist. HR had screwed up and not taken it down. The posting date was July, the position was filled in August. It was that Friday, two weeks from when I'd sent my application in that I called them, receiving a quick response because the CNO had called them to say that he'd asked me to call them after he'd been told that I passed the boards. That's right. Nary a call nor email from HR in the two week's that my application sat languishing, DESPITE the fact that I had sent notification to HR's supposed "Workforce Development Specialist" -she who's charged with working with us internal nursing student employees- pointing out that I'd applied, which position it was and even the page it was on in the online job postings. This is the same person to whom I was supposed to, and did, send notification six months before my graduation of my grad date, and kept updated throughout the board process and all that so she could set up meetings for me with nursing managers and HR recruiters. She'd done none of that. She did, however, forward the news of my application to the recruiter. The recruiter, in turn, did nothing, apparently, involved with looking at my application nor the job posting.

Now, why was I applying for a job when I was told point-blank upon being asked if I was going to a certain campus, by the Nursing Director of that campus that "..oh no, there WILL BE a position for you!!"? Well, that's because, two weeks earlier, when I had my NCLEX date set and called the Nursing Director to find out how to set the whole transition process in motion, I was told 'Oh no, we can't hold positions for people...I'm sorry if that's what you thought?? I don't think any organization would do that!!'.<---a blatant, out of touch un-truth, actually.. I hadn't applied anywhere else. The CNO was made aware of this double-back by my "mentor" the night of the awards dinner. The CNO who has been trying to keep me here since he met me after his joining the organization last year. As a side note, mentor doesn't know that he already knew me.

Cut back to the Friday that I passed the boards. Upon finding out that, on top of having had the above smoke blown up my a**, that the position I had applied for didn't even exist and that there were no full time day positions across the whole Alliance; paged my mentor. The jist of that conversation "you need to just do what you're told" ('xact words, mind you) and, basically, that I need to accept that I need to start begging the organization for a job, any job, that SHE (being the woman who works for The Man, as she's fond of saying) was going to get me. "Yeah, she told you you had a job, then she said you didn't - so? I told you I was gonna help you get a job"?? (mind you, no word on just how "she" was going to get me a job was spoken) "You're a new nurse; you need to just take whatever they're gonna give you". She also announced how she was going to 'teach (me) how to write an email' about these sorts of things when she came back to the office the next Wednesday. Uh, huh...

SO, hanging up with her, that's when I applied to a slew of other org's including one offering a $10,000 sign on bonus. Got a call from them last Monday (you know - the next business day), met with the Director of Nursing on Wednesday after which I left knowing I had a tentative job offer, pending all standard checks and drug testing. Well, if you recall, Wednesday was the day that I was going to be taught 'how to write an email'. This outside meeting was at the end of the day.

Came into work Thursday morning, feeling good _and re-validated_ by the previous day's meeting but still shaky about which way to go. Well, that's when I opened my email. I had a second of two emails from my forever-fired mentor carrying over the same rude, joy-sucking tone from Friday; but this one had a new added combative touch of 'well it seems that you're prepared to serve as your best advocate', just for good measure. Well, the CNO now has that whole chain of emails; along with a description of Friday's telephone conversation, and a written history of all that I had tried to do in compliance with the internal Workforce Develpment program to try to become an RN within this organization (including all contact emails). My note ended with a disclosure of the 6-day interview and job offer process with the outside organization and my feeling that it "would not be in my best interest" to decline the offer. The email was rife with gratitude toward him and expressions of my, very honest, belief in his level of concern for all RNs with or trying to join the organization.

Well, since my sending that note and not replying at all to hers, the mentor has been writing to me and calling me asking which positions within the org I've applied for "in preparation for (her) meeting" with the CNO. Apparently, I guess we're still somehow serving as "my advocate". At least as far as that meeting goes, I suppose. None of these calls nor emails have been returned; the CNO was already made aware in my note that I had no plans of continuing conversations with her. She's called from offices that I know are right next door to hers. She went as far as having the CNO's assistant (her friend) call me the other day, "just to catch up". No information about my plans or actions was shared with her either - I was very busy.

Well, yesterday, the CNO's assistant contacted me again, this time it was in line with a directive from him to set up a one-hour meeting with me. It'll be taking place on Monday. There was an additional call from my mentor this morning - she didn't leave a voicemail...


SOOOOOOO, my first day with the new org will be Monday, 3/19. Three days a week, 12-hour days. Only thing, they're at night. Do I care, though, given it's a three day a week schedule? Not particularly!! I'm so excited - it's long term acute care. They get the sickest of the sick; I'll be learning my A** off with these people!! Also, they've an internal critical care training program after which I'll have earned enough hours to sit for certification AND there's IV insertion training, PICC line insertion if I so desire and an internal dialysis program is being considered. Like I said, learning my a** off... My boss let slip that the Monday meeting will include a job here that the CNO located, it's way too late for that, the only unfortunate part being that it's no fault of his at all - but now he knows where all of the problem recruiting areas are so he can fix them.


<humh? wonder if this is going to take up a whole page? >

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You seriously rock.

The seriously sucky thing about this is that Leo wasn't even in the sky when the eclipse happened. WHAT were they thinking?!!!

The explanation given with the image says the stars would be extremely dim but Leo is still one of the easiest constellations to recognize because of the heart star Regulus and the tail. Both are blue and both are really obvious.

I am officially calling uncle!

Congratulations! Bon Chance! and You go girl! International Women's Day marked with a bang by Nurse Nadi, Super RN and *** Kicker!
Go get 'em, and enjoy the new challenges, you'll welcome them, and it's a chance to do right by yourself, and for others!
Very Great News!
Beulah

Hey- I heard a comment about that after a Fiona Apple song this morning. When did that happen? And where was I?? Was there a meeting I didn't know about?


<danke stef and Beu!>


-------------------------------------------
EDIT Ask the compooter and you shall receive:

http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2007/background.shtml

Congrats, Nurse Naydi!! Be careful of your humor, woman! Don't be spouting off those wicked retorts to folks who have stitches in their bods! Oooops! Clean up on Ward 9, exploding patient syndrome strikes again!
Peachy

This is definitely off topic (and may even veer into blasphomy territory)... but did anyone watch House on Tuesday night? I decided against watching Blind Spot for the third time and switched it to FOX. Guests were Dave Matthews (from the band of the same name! ) and Red from That 70's show (Kurtwood Smith) playing a sick musical savant and his father. They were amazing.

Well, There goes the plan to become the Queen of Dehiscence... You know, that's the ONLY time in nursing school that I basically twisted up in a pretzel in shock and disgust.

Aaaaah great.... Just grossed myself out now thinking back to that slide. After the 'wrath of khan' line, was just thinking this morning back to my old co-worker bestowed title of Master of Putrid Imagery. Yep. One of those gifts that keeps on giving, it is. Just like gastric reflux....

For news like that, worth taking up more than one page!

Congratulations and all the best of luck to you in the new job. Sounds like a lot of hard work (not to mention dealing with bureaucracy) led up to it!

Kristina

Not THAT's a term rarely heard at the dinner table.

LMHO!! We could teach CI a thing or two!
Peachy

Unless there is a nurse in the family. Or in my family's case...two. My poor father drops his fork at least six times during Christmas dinner. My brother works for a cardiologist and I'm in obstetrics, so we've got the whole thing covered. *G*

So Naydi, have you found your "kryptonite" yet? (the one thing you just cannot tolerate to see/touch/deal with?) I've delivered babies (when the doctor didn't make it) bare handed and never blinked an eye, but dear Lord...don't let a baby spit up breast milk on me. *G* I go nuts!

My best advice is to find an ally. Find someone who can tolerate YOUR kryptonite but has a kryptonite of their own that YOU can tolerate. You can help each other out.

Congratulations, BTW...

Oh and I work 12 hour shifts at night. I love it. I'm not a morning person, so I'd be fired if I worked the day shift. *G*

I imagine that this picture is Baby Bobby Goren who loves to read books since youth. Thanks CIlover for this picture!

Congratulations, Naydi! I wish you all the best with your new job.

How tempting, now, to write that one person a right, proper email!

Hi, Naydi! Click this Congrats Card link! Hope you like it!

Cute card Keiko!

Awesome Naydi!

All right! You are on your way, Sister Naydi! (please slow down with all these achievements, though - I'm running through the Lawson cards at a ferocious pace, and at this rate I'll be forced to send you a Hallowe'en card when you take over Johns Hopkins).

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1170326201814

The Lawson cards are great! I can't shop online due to no credit card. However, my mother subscribes and so I receive my fair share... ! Is there one for "newly minted nurse", by any chance?

Hi all:

this is sort of OT and sort of OT (meaning "on topic"... hmm... how does one say that in shorthand?) so I'll stick it here.

In a reply on another thread (Blog for Crafty L&O watchers) earlier tonight bwalter said the following in part (apologies, don't know how to link!): I am only here to suggest that perhaps you craft goddesses could collaborate on a project - perhaps something A-List and amusing as a LOCI memento for Kathryn? Nothing kitsch or yokel-folksy, but something she might actually not toss into the Goodwill bin. Avant-chic, elegant, with a fillip of LOCI-inspired fun in the design, all beautifully finished.

Which got me thinking... especially since I found some pretty wild coloured yarn on sale (once you see the colour, you probably won't wonder why!) and of course immediately bought too much:

http://bp2.blogger.com/_wXEBWu6h-p8/RfDOfI...-h/DSCF0680.jpg

Can anyone spell: "pumpkin patch"? Of course, my cheapo digital camera which cannot accurately record the colours of anything I have spent millions of hours knitting did an excellent reproduction job for the first (and probably last) time...

So, of course, to go with this subtle shade I had to pick some more accent colours (which, regrettably, were not on sale):

http://bp2.blogger.com/_wXEBWu6h-p8/RfDOfI...-h/DSCF0682.jpg

(NB: true to regular form, the colours are off. The left hand skein is turquoise. Right hand skein is grape).

So, keeping these colours in mind, I have the following questions: (PLEASE NOTE: in real life the yarn in real life is intended for a satchel - no danger of me ever knitting a sweater for a celebrity absent a contract for big buck - ).

1. If you could knit and were going to knit a sweater for one of the LOCI cast, which one do you think would look best in the orange colour? (regardless of who might be your favourite); and

2. Do you think the accent colours would suit that person as well?

Please discuss.

Kristina

PS. my answers are:

1. Eric Bogosian - I think that he has the complexion to carry off this colour. Or possibly Julianne Nicholson. IMO this colour would not work too well on too many people with fair complexions unless they are a true redhead.

2. Yes, I think the accent colours would work quite well for him.

[edited to make sure that everyone knew this was a pretend thing...! see below bwalter! )

You had me extremely worried, there, Tina, right up until the PPS Ah, okay, a pretend game (she said, laughing nervously). Well, lemme see...I would do a blouson pullover in a reverse colourway, using the royal blue as the main colour, with tangerine contrast bands about four inches wide at the bicep level of each sleeve, or, better, on just one sleeve, Milan-style. Deakins could carry it off, with his silver hair.

If the rules of the game make the tangerine yarn an absolute given as the main shade, then I would STILL give it to Deakins, accessorize it with a pair of plaid trousers, turn him loose on a Westchester golf course, and hope that he never finds his way back to One Police Plaza.

Go get 'em, naydi - you are perfect for long term acute! And I swear, if the whole hiring fiasco hadn't gone down the way it did, it just wouldn't have been you!


"She did it....her waaaaaaayyyyyy!"

Phew - bwalter - thank you for clarifying that this maybe didn't come across as a game. Funnily enough I was worried about that eventuality - so what do I do? Put the explanation at the end! Blame it on too much tangerine... ! Edited my post to reflect this.

Tangerine golf shirts and plaid trousers - the trousers, of course, with matching turquoise and purple plaid? (what tartan would thatbe, I wonder? The clan McLoud? Or would you go with green and brown stripes in the plaid for some contrast?

Not surprisingly, I favour your design element. I also think you're right on with the colour choices for Deakins. However, I feel for maximum game potential it's good to stick with the orange as the main colour (although other suggestions as always are welcome).

In this regard - when I made this purchase, the guy at the yarn store who is well familiar with my predilection for mercerized cotton specifically and for wild colours generally - heck, I could probably sign off on his paycheque! SIGH - and who is also very familiar with the fact that I knit only for myself (selfish, selfish...) said, very politely, "Um...er... um... you do realise that this is not the best colour for you?"* I replied that I was actually planning to make a cape with it ". He said, "You'd be in danger of being run over as the cars might think you are a traffic cone". I said "Hey, didn't anyone ever tell you the customer is always right?!" And so it went on and on... his opinion, essentially, was that this colour was discontinued for a good reason. He was very likely right. It probably should have been discontinued in 1974 approx, together with the avocado and the mustard yellow.

Now - there's a colour scheme for the Deakins golf pants. However, if he were to find it back to 1 PP in that ensemble, they could probably get rid of Goren as confessions would no doubt flow freely after 5 minutes in a room forced to stare at Deakins.



PS** my complexion/colouring - white with a red tinge (I think they call this "ruddy") in the winter, bright red in the summer. Hair is dyed dark red (naturally greying... ahem, dark brown). I sometimes believe I am the only greek in the world who has never had a suntan. One wonders what the point is!

This is for all the folks who are missing the chung, chung sound or the dum, dum sound the dung, dung sound or whatever you want to call the signature sound of L&0 series.

Thanks to TechGuy from the US board for this fun bit. Just click the button:

http://alt.tnt.tv/ilovelawandorder/main.html
Peachy

aaaah, maaaan! d'mn the almost 2-hour staff meeting to kick off the morning, setting me back work-wise (bad thing about quit dates: the instill deadlines that never were!!)... For now: a cheap and cheesy half-butt of a thank you compared to the joy felt from everyone's congrats!! I'll be coming back tonight to really read everything and response properly...

<i'll also be looking to get the full jist of this diabolical craft plan... oh yes. i do believe that world domination can be achieved through the power of the glue gun... it will be done!>

Hi Peachy:

was just about to start my next work item when I got this (then again, I checked). So much for work Seriously, cool site. Thanks for the link.

Thanks also for the "chung chung, dum dum" bit. If I manage to set up this knitblog I had thought maybe "knitboomboom" in recognition of the sound. But the other two are closer.

and now to work...

HA HAA!! So far, I've survived c-diff relatively unscathed; didn't really blink when a CNA ripped out a J-tube attacking a patient's bedsheets just for a frigging bath like a woman possessed; said 'well, hey, would you look at that' when blood came shooting out of a femoral line following an MD's third failed stenosed central attempt; washed a dressed a necrotized 3/4's of a toe; and even very happily gone the extra step to get rid of three-year nursing home ear neglect, but arrrrlllllugh... please don't make me deal with something coming out of someone's mouth. Swabbing the, again, neglected gums of a total care, mouth-breathing hospice patient -as bad as it is to say this out loud- it is that that makes me thank the good Lord for the creation of the nursing assistant. I'll roll up my sleeves right along side my NA, but the sponge swabs - don't let me get in the way of your goin' to town...!!

One thing that I have been warned of, though, by almost every RN I talk to, is the longtime, experienced colleagues who will suddenly not know how to, say, insert a foley once I show up! We'll see how long that type of thing is gonna last if it happens at all... BUT, mulling as a type, being on nights, those little "gift" turfs should probably be a lot fewer and further between than on days, right? At least what I'm hoping; you know, beyond the Mary Poppins hope that this crew won't have 'one of those' fiendishly rubbing his/her hands one over the other to see me comin'! At least not on every night that I'm scheduled...



Today - No calls nor email attempts. I'm thinking the, uh, assistant grapevine has predictably shared all the message needed to have driven the point home....

- That's fantastic!! Thank yoooooou...



Oh My God!! That's soooo sweet... Yeah, for a second there, thought you'd worked out a clever zing involving the Ever-Increasing Accomplishments of the Aged, but whenever the seedling part came up - just about got me crying... Just so beautiful, b! Thank you so much....



Shoooooo - I'd have had to jump forward and spin around real quick to try to see who's life it was that I'd fallen into all of a sudden! ...just can't ever come easy, can it? But it does just make appreciating getting the reward all that much Stronger and Deeper an experience*.


(*THE main reason why it all just wasn't going down like that without a stand being taken -worked way too hard for this for way too long to let some self-annointed "savior" try to make me bow to and beg her for a d'mn thing - especially after having been as patient as I was with all the other crap!! WHERE was she in the last 5.5 years that I'd been aligning everything in my life -BEFORE starting the nursing program- in order to do this?? Tom [CNO] is gonna have to smack those people into really knowing what the Profession of Nursing is!! That is, if he ends up keeping them involved in his efforts to build Nursing there, at all... )

Oh, but they'll phrase it as if they are "helping" you. Like, "I know you need the experience, so I'm going to LET you do this." Why THANK you, Precious!

*G*