Looking for Mr. Goodbar (or at least someone who wants to help me MAKE money)

I've been cheerfully "The Northern Bard" since I first was introduced to Tripod by a friend of mine while I was going into a chat room called QCC. I've faithfully kept them up on everything I've been doing, from changing my email whenever Yahoo needed changing to adding in my own business when I couldn't get the HTML to work on any other sites...so I've gone to the monthly fee for the amount of space I take up to sell books.

My last check that everything was still working was in June, just before my first of two surgeries, in 2016. Everything was working that day, so I went into the hospital with all going well.

In December, I was reminded that my credit card was due to expire - and I went through HELL trying to get them to switch to something that had no fees. By the time I had them ready to shut the whole mess down, someone came up with the proper way to make thier system recognize my new card and allow me to destroy the old one...

And I started paying again, but I didn't check everything....and I guess I should have, as I've got them ready to cancel by the 25th unless my emails work again by then....

You see, I tried to "test" everything on Monday, and my sound bites weren't working (they wanted to download only), my email wasn't working, my guestbooks were toast, and some of the Next/Return Home buttons weren't visible. I spent most of Tuesday correcting things, double-checked that my HTML was correct, and, with everything except the email corrected, I sent an email to the server asking if they had changed the program and proceeded to test the emails, as Yahoo had a hacker loose in December, so I wanted to make sure everything was working on our end. Everything works, according to the site that checks the email.

But nothing from Tripod.

So yesterday, I went in and removed my credit card. They sent a survey, and I let them know that the monthly fee INCLUDES an email and that I wasn't paying for anything more until they made my email work.

And I repeated that this morning - that when my site works, they get paid.

And I'm apt to go in EVERY day until they fix it.

*sending bad karma to Tripod*

If you're trying to email me about my web site, or something you see there, try me at debi_emmons@yahoo.com 

If you're trying to email me about anything you've written that you would like me to look at or you would like to purchase a book, debi.emmons.author@gmail.com

As soon as Tripod/Lycos responds, I'll either remove this post - or add on a link to the new HTML site I'm looking into....

UPDATE 3/21: STILL nothing from Tripod except for some yutz wanting more info - and considering that he's the first one all week who mailed me ANYTHING, he's probably holding his head as we speak, trying to get the email to work.....

But there was one more "kibosh" to deal with, as I had to give my name, the last four of my SS number, and all that rot SIX TIMES for my husband to be able to get PayPal to speak to him, transfer his call to a supervisor - AND ALL SIX TIMES, HE WAS PUT BACK INTO THE QUE TO START AGAIN. Luckily, that final person had the decency to help Bill out, but I'm in DEEP shite, because the PayPal was to help out my business (writing books and doing other publishing stuff). I was hoping for a LOT more income from the books, so I had allowed myself to "live large" - and now I have to go through and take PayPal OFF all the places I had it.

Instead of helping me to "take payments anywhere", PayPal has just taken over the #1 position of "this credit card is the first one to go".

Thank you, Tripod and PayPal. I was looking forward to continuing to write, but you've taken that all away from me.


SUCCESS!  (3/31/18) Tripos/Lycos has made my email work!  HUZZAH!

Now I'm ready for the Next Time! 

Multidemantional

Fine name for a post....and it kind of suits. This is a multidemantional kind of post....

Starting with Chemo #5.

Yeah. Sorry, but even with the proper chemicals, it's still no fun. Nausea, diahhrea, itchiness, mild headache....but, happily, I'm one of the lucky ones! I only go two to three days of it at the end of each cycle instead of having to go into the hospital once a month!

And what is going on in the White House?

I've never heard of ANY President getting away with ANY of the things he's done in so short a time - and the REPUBLICANS LET HIM GET AWAY WITH IT! Not only are they letting him bring up all kinds of brick-a-brack about his opponent (who WON the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College) despite the fact that the "emails from Russia" she was accused of disappeared without a trace as soon as he won, but they let him get away with unsubstantiated Tweets from his CELL PHONE. (Wasn't that part of the "Hillary Used Her Own Phone For Emails" thing that supposedly was such a no-no? Shouldn't the President be able to give up his Tweets for the four years?)

I just don't understand that EVERYTHING that was "no-no" for a Democrat is "well done" for a Republican.

Speaking of, do any of you realize that our two opposing forces in the House and Senate have changed their names to oppose/support whatever it is that we, the People of the United States, would wish?

For instance, we started off as Whigs and Tories, according to the Revolutionary War. The Whigs were against English rule and the Tories were for staying with Britain. (Several of the Tories packed up and moved to what is now Canada when the British fell.)

Next was the U.S. Federalist Party (Pro-Administrative Party) which supported the Constitution, and the Anti-Federalist Party (Anti-Administrative Party), which opposed the Constitution. When the Constitution was admitted and we had a President, the Federalist Party was opposed to the Democratic Republican Party (formerly the Anti-Federalist Party).

Confused yet? We haven't even started!

During the 1830's, the Vice President, John Calhoun, had a break with President Andrew Jackson - and let me tell you, everything got difficult. Calhoun started running a group called the Nullifiers, who joined with the National Republican party and formed the US Whigs in 1834. Jackson had his own set of people, the Jacksonians, who became the Democrats by 1834. (And we think we have a coup de grace NOW? At least the VP hasn't tried to take over - yet....)

The Republicans (mostly the non-slave owners of the north) and the Democrats (the slave owners from the south) were joined by the Freedman (freed slaves who joined the north) while white southerners (Redeemers) joined the Democrats. We've continued to use those two parties, but somewhere around 1930's, the demographics in the parties changed.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt was President, when the New Deal was introduced, the Democrats became very Liberal, accepting that people are people and things are things. The Republicans were split between a conservative wing, led by Senator Taft, and a moderate wing led by the Rockefellers and their ilk. The more popular moderate wing died out somewhere around 1964, and there's some debate as to whether or not there is another "generation" or whether we've just continued on.

You know the one thing I found out when researching this?

The Constitution called for a Senate and a House of Representatives, and it goes well into their duties, but it doesn't dictate what to do with a daft President short of Impeachment and it doesn't call for there only being two parties to choose from. Along with the Green Party candidates and the Independent candidates who've been making themselves more and more prominent, it DOESN'T limit you to a process in which you have a Democrat and a Republican duking it out on a public stage UNLESS YOU WANT IT TO!

I do feel the need to "Drain The Swamp" and get rid of the politicians who are more concerned with their bank accounts than what their constituents - and the WORLD - need them to accomplish, but it seems we HAVE to listen to "The Government".

But what if The Government has their heads so far up their own self-righteous butts to listen to We The People? What do we do to re-create all of the above to either get the Democrats and the Republicans to listen to the Independence and the Green Party, whose candidates are MUCH more in league with the People and are as eager to get the millionaires and billionaires OUT of The Government?

I think people should stop listening to the Cheeto Burrito and his Cabinet of Scum and start looking around for the people who LISTEN.

I think we should tell all of Washington that We The People want The House and The Senate to stop looking for the next billion and start looking at the People - and the fact that, while the 1% may rule Washington today, We The People want what was promised: TO DRAIN THE SWAMP!

I think We The People should REMIND the people who represent us in Washington that WE RULE AND THEY DROOL!

Look Master. A new brain is forming!

Friday night, I finished my fourth round of Chemo.

Monday morning, I got another MRI followed by a visit to the Neurologist. I don't know if she realized this was going to happen, but it was beautifully done.

But let me step back one step, as I was upset enough by my third Chemo to have already been in touch about the medications....

You see, back in 2002, I started as a receptionist for a local veterinarian. One of the first things you learn is that, when printing a label for the customer's owner, you always obey the doctor's orders as to what it is they're taking, how many pills, etc. right down to how many are in that bottle. If the animal is taking more than one prescription, such as a cat that has renal failure, the directions should specify WHEN the animal takes the drug.

For ten years, I was the first one informed if we "screwed up" and the animal was deceased because the owner was "following directions".

Now, any of you who have been keeping track know that I've been taking Keppra and Phenytoin since leaving the hospital. The directions from the Neurologist had me taking 4 Keppra and 1 Phenytoin just before bed. Then the Chemo doctors told me that "most patients take the Temodar at bedtime", but my brain objected. Between the pill that was supposed to prevent nausea being taken a half an hour before bed and the others that were "at bedtime", I'd be taking NINE pills at bedtime...and who would guarantee that I was going to wake up?

That's where the Neurologist came in.

She's was put in charge in August, when I first went to the Cancer Center. When we have a drug problem, she's the final say. Therefore, when I had a problem with the nine pills they seemed quite happy with having me take at bedtime, I reminded the doctor of my second visit with my mom, when she had gotten more than enough about my migraines, how that effects my nausea, etc., etc., etc.

She got a schedule worked out over the phone with my husband that worked really well.

She confirmed that, when the anti-nausea meds were CAUSING nausea, that I had the right idea to take the "alternate" medicine.

And it helped to have her see the rash that the last three Chemo rounds have left me with. (She's ordering a slightly smaller dose to see if that helps.)

But it's the MRI that is really impressive, particularly since she likes to put the last visits MRI vs this one. Last time, I still had a sizeable "pit". This time, it's half that size and, as she scanned up and down on the images, there's more and more that just looks like normal, healthy brain.

And here I thought that only lizards could regrow themselves....

The Conspiracy Theorists

I've just recently gone through my Facebook pages to get rid of all the "Negative Nancy's" who, for reasons all their own, believe that EVERYTHING the government does is WRONG.

Here's an example, which I was about 8 years old when that famous line: "It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11

Now,  NASA just released photos that they claim shows the moon missions (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html) and I can tell you, from my cousin Tim's observation as well as my own, that the brief view of the Earth in the helmet just before that famous line had Tim all excited about Space Exploration. If he'd still been alive when the Challenger blew up, he might have been there with them...

And if you want to blow up at me because I DON'T believe the anti-NASA propangada - or that someone else was responsible for JFK's murder - or that, every time a plane takes off, it's emitting vapor trails that are killing us, go to your favorite word program, type me a letter - and then delete it, because that's how much I care to listen to that. The American History may span less than 550 years so far, but you can't rewrite history because something your family did (or didn't do) doesn't figure in your scheme of life and the history books are against you....

Like the Burning of the Witches, or the Black Plague, or the Crusades, or any one of a number of things we, as people, allowed to happen...

And CONTINUE to allow to happen....

When are we, as Americans, going to stop living in fear of the "other countries" trying to get our stuff, even to the point that you take a good look around, realize that your friends and neighbors AREN'T running some "Conspiracy" against you, and realize that, if you want peace and unity, YOU have to put out some effort for it?

As our Maine Governor likes to point out, it's not "people from away coming in to sell drugs and get our girl's pregnant", it's the people right next door "selling drugs and getting our girl's pregnant". If we stopped trying to right the world and started with my street, my community, my state, then pretty soon, the good you do in your little street will grow.

If you stop whining on Facebook and Twitter about the homeless and took a homeless person a blanket, a hot drink and something to eat, wouldn't the homeless benefit?

If you rescue a dog or a cat, even to getting the pet into a shelter so it can be adopted, wouldn't the homeless pet benefit?

And if you stop whining that "history was a bunch of conspiracies" and defending yourself to get out there and DO something beneficial, who's it going to hurt? Maybe your pocketbook, just a little, when you take it out and give a little.

But what happens to the millionaires and billionaires that Washington puts "in charge"?

If one buys locally (putting the "big box" stores out of business), the millionaires and billionaires will find their income drastically shrinking. The Tax Write-Offs that our President-elect promised them will shrink. The "big money" will matter less, should we stop our bickering and SHARE this United States. All the people in Washington will have to DO AS PROMISED and Drain The Swamp.

Speaking of, how many of you have a job that is almost $200,000 per year, health and benefits included, that get to KEEP that job until you die? Not just the big bucks, but the health and benefits part too? And here in MAINE, Governor LePage is CUTTING BACK ALL FORMS OF BENEFITS FOR THE HOMELESS AND THE DISABLED! (Which includes yours truly, who will be getting disablity for the next year, while the Chemotherapy makes me talk like Elmer Fudd on Valium.)

So, if you're a conspiracy theorist, DON'T be in touch.

If you truly want to make a difference in this world, take another look at your neighborhood and think about what YOU can do to make a difference. If we stop whining, maybe we'll make a difference.

Getting Ready to Fight a Lawyer....

When I first got home from the hospital, I started trying to apply for SSDI. This turns out to be a moot point, because although one would expect that the papers one would wish to fill out to be on the SSDI site, THEY DON'T EXIST.

What one DOES find oneself doing is a "can you qualify for SSDI" - which, strangely, appears to be TAKEN OFF the internet for the Law Office of Robert J. Levine.

This law office is BOGUS! If one accepts their "you qualify" phone call and one lets them "get started", they'll ask for 25% of Social Security (which the Social Security Office itself claims there IS no "lawyer fee" taken out each week), they'll tell Social Security that you DON'T have any form of short term disability (which I WAS getting through Cigna right up until THIS WEEK), and basically SCREW you in order to MAKE that 25% fee THAT THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO!

In other words, I may be taking this to Joe Bornstein to have these idiots dis-barred in the State of Maine.

GRRRRRR!

It's NOT enough to have something the size of a baseball taken out of my head.

It's NOT enough to be hindered in my job because all the things that I went on vacation able to do.

It's NOT enough to be unable to work, not because I don't WANT to work, but I am unable to so those things that I really NEED to do.....

No! THAT isn't enough.

I have to have some DIPSTICK lawyers office INSIST that they "represent" me for this - WHICH THEY DIDN'T DO A THING FOR SHORT OF INSIST THAT I HAD ALREADY GIVEN NOTICE (I'm working on my "letter of resignation" as we speak), and wants 25% of the money that I ALREADY PAID IN!

So, if you've come across "Do you qualify" information and have gotten any notice from Robert J. Levine, TURN THEM IN TO YOUR LOCAL SSDI OFFICE! They INSIST that there's a "lawyers fee" that Social Security DOES NOT TAKE.

Go DIRECTLY to the Social Security office or CALL THEM DIRECTLY to get the PROPER forms.

DO NOT DO ANYTHING WITH ROBERT J. LEVINE!

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to find the Law Offices of Joe Bornstein and see if these people can be disbarred in Maine.......

What day is it today?

The result of increased Temodor, which imitates a migraine, making one vomit intermittently (but never a pill) was, for one as accustomed to migraines as I, simply bad time for a migraine. I took my pills, tried my best to combat the one day (or, in this case, two days) that I seemed not able to keep down the meal for an hour (just enough to suction all moisture out).

Bad combination when on this drug.

So, after my husband being kind enough to check with the nurses (while I slept after my first pill of the day), drive me to an appointment, stay with me through it all, pick out a tree at our favorite farm stand, get my perscription, and settle me back in (with an EXTREME rash because my body was just starting to react to the extreme medications when we first got to the hospital), and let me get proper sleep, he TRULY deserves added vacations because of me!

Wanna see what "too much medication" does? (No monkey business, guys, as this is a fashionable length for my loosest nightie here.)

*le sigh*

Funny thing is that I can't, for the life of me, get this to come out in a mirror image or a selfie. (In other words, I can see this on my body, but when I look in the mirror, I look normal.....and the camera/phone doesn't see this in the mirror......weird......)

Another thing is it's already 13 days until I've got to have packages wrapped for the grandkids to open. Thank goodness Grampa has one day this weekend for us to do it all - or as much as he can do with me. Hopefully, in another day or two when I get the itchies under control, I can take a quick shopping for Grampa and get something for him that I know he'll like. (I think other things, like taking care of the weeds in the garden he's wanting to put in, will be part and parcel since I can't seem to go a whole day able to speak, so no job for me.)

Something tells me this is going to be a "gift certificate" year....

Blessed be, my lovelies, and may you NOT be shocked by anything after the "knee photo" above.

I'm Dreaming of a Bare Headed Christmas

December 1st was visit two to the Chemotherapy Team. I had recently re-read all of the "symptoms" I should be watching for....and wouldn't you know, the Temodar causes "hair loss".

*le sigh*

And here I thought I would be done with the post-radiation sort-of mohawk soon...

Now comes the next big decision: To let my sweetie give me another "buzz cut" to try to get the "peach fuzz" to grow in, or to go through Christmas with the slowly growing/somewhat screwy semblance to a mohawk?

But folks, that's not all!

Bill was informed when he went to the Cancer Center that the Temodar I was going to need would be AT the Cancer Center for the visit. The doctor increased the dosage (which is, we understand, typical for Chemo Two visits), we went to the pharmacy...and now I'm hoping for a Fedex package before Monday, when I'm supposed to start TAKING the Temodar....

*another sigh*

At this rate, I'm going to have to get a job at the Cancer Center so that the meds get ordered on time!