Rant for the Day (keep it clean)

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https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/health/black-kidney-donations-bioethics-reaj/index.html

Making organ transplantation more equitable could be as simple as ignoring race when evaluating donor kidneys, as some medical researchers have proposed.

Screw your "equitable kidney donations". If kidneys from black people fail more than kidneys from other races, I don't want a black kidney if I need a transplant. I want a kidney that has a better chance of working. It's as simple as that. It may be more woke to transplant a black kidney into someone and sign their death warrant by doing so, but wokeness and equity have zero place in medical decisions. I don't know why black kidneys fail more often, but if they do, they do. That right there is a perfectly valid reason to prefer kidneys from other races. To ignore it, in the name of equity, is 100% wrong. Geez, how stupid is this wokeness going to get?!
 
The most fun part of new TV shows is watching them long enough to see if your guess of who the gays and lesbians are is correct. They hide them in the initial episodes, then the big reveal comes slightly later. It's fun to watch until this reveal to see if your guesses were correct. The show usually isn't worth watching after that. With a few exceptions. Recently canceled NCIS Hawaii was pretty good even after the reveal.
yep! The squid show didn't reveal the gay until the final 3 and then his "sob story" of how he grew up with horrible religious parents in Idaho came out and how he had to escape LOL, whatever
 
The saga of the insulin pump and my mother's incompetence with technology continues. OMG, she's going to give me a heart attack and may end up killing herself with the insulin pump bc she's too damn stubborn and stupid (when it comes to tech) to know when to leave stuff alone. Now, I admit, the pump has its issues. The screen only stays on for 2 seconds anytime it has a warning or message or anytime we turn it on. It won't keep the screen on long enough to really see much unless someone is actively going through the menu. Anyway, it beeped saying her sugar was too high and asked to be able to give a larger dosage and then went off. That message was gone when she got the screen back on. Then she went through the menu and tried to double the regular dosage that it is set to dispense. It's set to dispense 0.5 units and she tried to change it to 1 unit, but she said it didn't work. But I don't know if it did or not and now I don't know if I can sleep because I'm going to be worrying about that. And I'm worried that maybe the cannula got bent or something and isn't dispensing it properly and I'm going to have to call the doctor's office in the morning to see if I can get some sort of emergency visit with the NP about it. I wonder if I can password protect the thing so she can't make changes and screw it up and kill herself with insulin. I'm about ready to just take it off of her and tell them to send it back if she can't be trusted to not screw with it.

Also, she wouldn't let me read the manual. She insisted I had to put it in her room for her to read and then she moved it somewhere and I don't know where she put it. I'm going to have to find online resources for it I guess. I was worried this would happen. She just won't listen to people and once she gets it in her head that something should be a certain way, she won't listen to professionals who tell her otherwise and she won't leave things alone. Anytime I had to use my phone for GPS when we were traveling she would decide to pick it up and start touching stuff on the screen. I would tell her "Do NOT touch my phone" and she would ALWAYS touch it and mess things up to the point I would have to pull over and then try to figure out what she did and try to fix it and get back on track. I can't let her touch my phone or look at pictures on it bc she will start messing with stuff and won't give it back when I ask her to.

Now I'm tired and frustrated but I can't sleep because I'm going to have to keep checking on her.

Oh, and the ceiling in the kitchen is falling and has water dripping from it.
 
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Had a disagreement with my boss today. Probably a good thing the business owner has been on vacation this week.

I was the mechanic there. The manager wanted me to be a mechanic again and do some heavy wrenching and rebuilding a piece of equipment that I’ve been beating to hell as the machine operator by just doing the jobs as ordered.
I told the manager that’s not my job anymore and reminded him I wanted out of that and they finally found a good replacement for me as the mechanic.

It was short day for me. I know the manager had more work for me as a machine operator, but…. one job and I was done for the day.
 
The saga of the insulin pump and my mother's incompetence with technology continues. OMG, she's going to give me a heart attack and may end up killing herself with the insulin pump bc she's too damn stubborn and stupid (when it comes to tech) to know when to leave stuff alone. Now, I admit, the pump has its issues. The screen only stays on for 2 seconds anytime it has a warning or message or anytime we turn it on. It won't keep the screen on long enough to really see much unless someone is actively going through the menu. Anyway, it beeped saying her sugar was too high and asked to be able to give a larger dosage and then went off. That message was gone when she got the screen back on. Then she went through the menu and tried to double the regular dosage that it is set to dispense. It's set to dispense 0.5 units and she tried to change it to 1 unit, but she said it didn't work. But I don't know if it did or not and now I don't know if I can sleep because I'm going to be worrying about that. And I'm worried that maybe the cannula got bent or something and isn't dispensing it properly and I'm going to have to call the doctor's office in the morning to see if I can get some sort of emergency visit with the NP about it. I wonder if I can password protect the thing so she can't make changes and screw it up and kill herself with insulin. I'm about ready to just take it off of her and tell them to send it back if she can't be trusted to not screw with it.

Also, she wouldn't let me read the manual. She insisted I had to put it in her room for her to read and then she moved it somewhere and I don't know where she put it. I'm going to have to find online resources for it I guess. I was worried this would happen. She just won't listen to people and once she gets it in her head that something should be a certain way, she won't listen to professionals who tell her otherwise and she won't leave things alone. Anytime I had to use my phone for GPS when we were traveling she would decide to pick it up and start touching stuff on the screen. I would tell her "Do NOT touch my phone" and she would ALWAYS touch it and mess things up to the point I would have to pull over and then try to figure out what she did and try to fix it and get back on track. I can't let her touch my phone or look at pictures on it bc she will start messing with stuff and won't give it back when I ask her to.

Now I'm tired and frustrated but I can't sleep because I'm going to have to keep checking on her.

Oh, and the ceiling in the kitchen is falling and has water dripping from it.
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=+insulin+pump+Operator's+manual&ia=web
 
Oldschool, employers these days try to rope employees into all sorts of things that are not in the contract or job description. They especially love to tell people to do jobs above their paygrade so they don't have to pay someone the correct salary to do the work. Good thing your boss is hiring someone who can do the work instead of continuing to push you to do it. I'm glad you advocated for yourself.

Thanks, Snowman.

Mom wouldn't let me look at what her blood sugar was this morning and was being all pissy. She also slept with a heated blanket on and I'm worried it might affect the insulin in the tubing. She doesn't think about these things. My sister said the pump should be able to handle up to 120°F heat, but I don't know about the insulin inside the tube.

Yesterday I tried to pick up Mom's blood pressure meds because she's on her last pill and will be out today. it was out of refills so they faxed the doctor but encouraged me to call the doctor's office to get them to renew the RX. So, I called the doctor's office this morning, got put on hold for about 20min, and then asked them to approve the refill. This afternoon I called the pharmacy to ask if they heard from the doctor's office on the refill. They had not. Ugh. So, I might have to call back and stress that she is now out of this medication and needs it and the pharmacy closes at 6pm. We have so much trouble with the pharmacy and the doctor's office communicating (or rather not communicating) and stuff not getting refilled on time. As an aside, I tried to refill it last week via text messages but it didn't work for some reason. I told it to FILL and it did nothing. Tried REFILL. Then tried REFILL and the name of the medicine.

Just saw a news report that the new general manager of my power company got fired "for cause" after being on paid suspension for a few months. When he came in he immediately gave himself a huge pay raise that led the company to jack up their prices and then lie to customers to claim it was because the Mississippi River was low and it cost more to transport fuel or some BS. But prices didn't go back down when the river was back up. It was solely to make up for the loss in profit from paying the new guy over $300k or something. So, we will have to see if the prices will go back down again.

Meanwhile, I had to go get the 8' ladder from outside where my friend left it. He used it to spray flex shot on the roof of the shed. Had to bring it in through the sliding glass door. Stupid door got stuck and didn't want to open at first. Finally got it open and brought the ladder in. The ceiling in the front room is slightly lower than 8' so that was "fun". Getting the right angle to get it around stuff was a pain, but I finally got it in place, moved some stuff, and then had to get it to fully deploy. I climbed up and looked around (did not actually get off the ladder as no one was there to steady it) and couldn't see past the ductwork. There is not enough space to stand up in there so I will have to crawl. They didn't have respirators so I will have to wear a regular mask. No hard hats either so I will have to avoid bumping my head. Got gloves and kneepads though. Well, I will pick them up with my order. I'm hoping there isn't any damage to the roof and that I can find the source of the leak. It's pretty musty up in that attic and I won't be surprised if it has asbestos. I'm wary of the wiring up there for the lights. And I did not see ducts for the bathroom vents so I suspect they just push air into the attic.
 
Today is my bad luck day. Ha.
Bad hip pain woke me up early. Ugh. Let the dog out. He comes back in and hacks up twice. Something he ate outside, not sure what. Cleaned that up. He didn't want to go back out. I smell something, and he had diarrhea on the dining room floor. Cleaned that up. Just wanted to drink coffee. So husband gets up, so I'm getting stuff going for him. Sit and drink my coffee. Ha. He says to call Social Security exactly at 8 am, so I'm doing that. Amazingly, it was only a five minute wait. Get dressed, wake up little granddaughter, tell her to see if she can catch any kittens. She catches three....this is good. Go into the kitchen, break a handle off of a coffee cup. Look outside, and a humungous branch came down in the driveway and dinged the truck roof. Go out to try to move the branch, and it's gigantic. Not happening. Got husband breakfast and went out to do chores. Neighbor said he'd come over with the skidloader and tackle the branch. Picking the buckets of weeds for the animal runs....getting all muddy. We had rain last night. Husband calls on my cell and says he needs help. In for 20 minutes getting him ready, rebandaging his hand, out daughter calls. On the phone for 30 min. Then out to finish the buckets and finally start feeding all the animals....but husband calls and asks what time is lunch? And he wants to go to Farmers Mkt and needs to get to the post office before they close at 1:00......so I'm hustling, come in for a shower, wolf down lunch, load the truck stuff for the mkt, and little granddaughter and I pick up the "bad" cage with the three kitties in it to bring. The good cage was borrowed last week with those kitties. This one has a bottom tray that you have to hold on to. Well the (feral) kitty reached thru my end and clawed my hand, I let go of the bottom, and two get out. So only one free kitty made it to the mkt today. Little granddaughter is still there, I'll get her in an hr. Too hot for fowl sale, it'll be 103 by then. I am done with my rant...housework to do, and I'm not touching anything important, or I'll break it for sure.
 
Update and thankfully good news....little granddaughter just called from the market, and said a lady took the feral kitty. Even left the crappy cage. If we had the other two, she would of taken them, too. So four kitties to catch and get rid of. The catching is the hard part. We've gotten rid of 14 so far. And the adults now are all fixed.
 
The schools are finally out here and all the crap busses shuttled back to the shop where they can be ignored all summer. I have been through so many buses the last 4 months. Some I only had for 2 days and refused to drive them. The first one had no shocks, a cracked spring and seized calipers in the rear. I am not popular because I reported it to the DOT when they tried to give it to another driver. All the buses had to be inspected and more buses were grounded when they were inspected.


The replacement bus leaked copious amounts of water onto the control panel when it rained. I had to wear gum boots to drive it, so much water shed onto the floor. Big surprise, it developed electrical gremlins and started to do random bizaar acts of 'you've got to be kidding'. I got stranded out in the bush three times and reported them yet again.

The next bus blew the radiator hose and the one after that, the radiator drain plug because they cross threaded it.

They must be getting Boeing mechanics to do the work.
 
You know why I always buy cheaper used or off lease laptops that are like 2-3 years old but still function well? So when a border jumper knocks over her glass of water, said water pours all over my laptop and said laptop starts making a buzzing sounds then dies a wet painful death I don't feel quite so bad. Walked it down to the dumpster, smashed into pieces, collected the tiny hard drive and tossed the rest. Retrieved my backup, connected to the cloud, downloaded my stuff, connected my laptop to the hard drive via a USB adapter, transferred a few files and here I am back up and running. And now I have to go fine another cheaper used or off lease laptop to buy. Two is one, one is none.
 
And now I have to go fine another cheaper used or off lease laptop to buy.
I have been thinking of doing that too. I don't need a laptop. But I wouldn't mind having one to take on trips (as rare as those are these days). I currently use a Kindle Fire tablet for that. It works OK, but there is definitely room for improvement. I don't need gaming or anything like that. On-board graphics and sound are just fine. A 14" or 15" screen would do (larger than that gets problematic to haul around IMHO). My plan would be to load Linux on it. So business class is what I think I should be looking for. Solidly built - I don't want an el-cheapo where the screen hinge breaks on the third use. I know Lenova ThinkPads used to be highly respected, but I think even those are getting cheapened these days (I've heard their keyboards and trackpads are moving towards crap status, at least on some series of the ThinkPad).

Do you have any tips on where is a good place to buy quality used laptops? Any brand/models you would recommend? I've been a desktop guy all my life, and I build all of those myself. I don't know much about laptops.
 
Do you have any tips on where is a good place to buy quality used laptops? Any brand/models you would recommend? I've been a desktop guy all my life, and I build all of those myself. I don't know much about laptops.

I usually buy from backmarket.com or Amazon, sometimes eBay if the deals is good and the seller has a solid track record. Backmarket offers a one year warranty on all refurbished items, and they actually honor it.

I tend to stick with Intel processors in the i3-i7 range, usually 8th gen or newer, and no less than 8gb of ram but 16gb is better. I want an SSD hard drive, which is pretty much the norm nowdays, of at least 256 but I store stuff in the cloud so space is not a big deal to me. I prefer Windows 10 or 11. For brands I have had good experience with HP and Dell. Toshiba and Lenovo are okay too but feel a bit flimsier but thats also because they are thinner and lighter.

My big thing is the hinge system they use for the screen. Since I tend to buy based on specs and a picture I follow this rule: If it is two small hinges, one on each end of the screen I pass. If it is one long hinge in the middle, I buy. I have gone through enough laptops to know that is their achilles heal.

I shop in the $225-300 prince range and I don't have much trouble finding what I want in that range.
 
You know why I always buy cheaper used or off lease laptops that are like 2-3 years old but still function well? So when a border jumper knocks over her glass of water, said water pours all over my laptop and said laptop starts making a buzzing sounds then dies a wet painful death I don't feel quite so bad. Walked it down to the dumpster, smashed into pieces, collected the tiny hard drive and tossed the rest. Retrieved my backup, connected to the cloud, downloaded my stuff, connected my laptop to the hard drive via a USB adapter, transferred a few files and here I am back up and running. And now I have to go fine another cheaper used or off lease laptop to buy. Two is one, one is none.
LMAO...!!! 🤣
 
Do you have any tips on where is a good place to buy quality used laptops? Any brand/models you would recommend? I've been a desktop guy all my life, and I build all of those myself. I don't know much about laptops.
eBay, using a search of local sellers - within a few miles of home. Look for business and schools selling older used computers and components.

It’s worked for me. Depending on location it might not work for you.
 
I hate when its hard to find a riding cart. Mom gets enraged if they don't have them for her. Samsclub's riding carts are forever out of battery. One day I found a Walmart cart hidden behind stuff outside of Samsclub (the nearest Walmart was a few miles away) and brought it to Mom. Samsclub employees were all "That's not our cart!" and I said "Well, it was out front hidden next to the shed and my mom needs it!" Sucker ran better than any of the Samsclub ones.

So, Mom started reading the manual and misinterpreted something and is now insisting that I delete the Tandem app from my phone because she thinks just having it on my phone will "damage" the pump and the dexcom sensor. I argued with her back and forth and she said I don't respect her and went into a tirade and pouted for a few hours. She's calmed down now though.

I geared up and tried to climb into the attic. Found some nails sticking up. Ladder wouldn't stay still. Asked my brother to please come hold the ladder still and make sure none of the cats tried to follow me up. He was annoyed and said "in a few minutes". I told him I'd be waiting on the ladder. 20min later he still hadn't come out. I started calling to him. He started swearing and having a tantrum. Came out and said "What the *expletive* do you expect me to do?" I repeated it. He put ONE hand on a rung of the ladder and said "There!" but the ladder still moved when I got to the top. I asked him to hold it with two hands. He berated me and I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying bc he was doing his usual whining. He then called me stupid and said I shouldn't try to go up if I was having trouble and then he let go of the ladder and walked away. It tipped and I called him to come hold it again and he swore and came back and held it still enough that I could get down farther. It was hot as hell up in that attic too. I did see that there's shiplap spanning the joists on the underside, but I don't know if they would hold my weight. I will have to ditch the kneepads because they were too bulky and got in my way. Will also have to move some stuff to get the ladder closer to the east side.

Meanwhile, I had a plastic bin full of stuff on top of a cardboard box and the box crushed down on one edge and will no longer hold it. I'll have to get another bin for the stuff in the box. but now the bin is in my walking path and I have to step around it and I banged and scraped my knee on something while doing that.

Now it's time to change Mom's canula but I'm trying to find out how. I don't remember all of the instructions from the NP. I tried to read it in the paper manual book but my vision isn't good enough to make out the words. Will have to check the online one. but I'm sweating and trying to cool down.

Amish, I hope you're able to catch the other kitties and that the dog will be OK.
 
kids.png
 
I'm trying very hard not to swear, but I had to literally bang my head on the wall in frustration. Mom's canula and tubing were supposed to be changed yesterday. I finally got in touch with tech support and they walked me through what I needed to do without changing the cartridge. I told Mom I wanted to change it and needed her to go to her room where it is cleaner and easier for me to do the process-- also the supplies are in there. She waits until 4am. So, I go in there and what do I see on her nightstand? Her frickin' Dexcom receiver plugged in and on. It was trying to pair. I immediately unplugged it, turned it back off and tossed it where I hope she can't get it now. I told her she doesn't need it anymore. and she says "Oh, so I don't need this thing anymore either" and goes to remove her Dexcom sensor. Me: "NOOOO! You still need that!" For about the next 15min she argued with me that the canula and adhesive patch from the Tandem pump was the new sensor. i walked out of the room, banged my head on the wall a few times, vented to my brother, and then went back to explain for the fifth time that the tandem thing was just to deliver insulin and that she still needed the dexcom sensors to read her blood sugar and that the tandem pump also acted as a receiver to replace the dexcom receiver and that she still needed the sensors. She also started arguing about when the cartridge would need to be changed. It still has 105 units of insulin left. I think the pump will say when its time to replace the cartridge but I'm not certain. I know that the cartridge can go to empty before having to be replaced.

I'm hoping the info will sink in for Mom and that she'll stop arguing with me about stuff.
 
You know why I always buy cheaper used or off lease laptops that are like 2-3 years old but still function well? So when a border jumper knocks over her glass of water, said water pours all over my laptop and said laptop starts making a buzzing sounds then dies a wet painful death I don't feel quite so bad. Walked it down to the dumpster, smashed into pieces, collected the tiny hard drive and tossed the rest. Retrieved my backup, connected to the cloud, downloaded my stuff, connected my laptop to the hard drive via a USB adapter, transferred a few files and here I am back up and running. And now I have to go fine another cheaper used or off lease laptop to buy. Two is one, one is none.
I do that too mostly, did break down and bought a new Dell last year because it was on sale

Try Newegg, I have bought used laptops from them before and one lasted over 5 years
 
So, Mom saw that her blood sugar was high last night, I gave her pump permission to adjust the insulin rate to bring it down and she goes and eats ice cream after she was mad that her sugar was high. She seems to be incapable of approving the bolus adjustment and I have to do it every time because she never completes going through the menu and clicking everything. I think she's due for a cartridge change today. I'm not looking forward to going out in the heat.

Couldn't go and check in the attic today. It's already too hot but my coordination has been awful. I keep losing my balance and tipping over on flat ground and have to grab on to things. No idea why. Friend reported that one of his legs is asleep and he doesn't trust it to hold his weight if he tries to walk. I've had that before-- tried to stand up and fell straight to the floor. I'm also exhausted.

Meanwhile, I'm worried about Itsy because she's losing weight, bones are sticking out, she's not grooming herself well, and she keeps getting her fur stuck in her teeth. I'm going to have to clean her up. I don't know if its old age or if she has cancer. I've had this happen with cats who had cancer. Another sign is that she's absolutely ravenous. She eats and eats and eats but isn't gaining weight. Unfortunately, the vets here suck. She seems to be feeling fine. She's her usual cuddly and food-demanding self. But I want to take her in at some point to get her checked out and hope they don't misdiagnose her like they did with several other pets.

And I still have to clean up in the house and don't expect my brother to help. I already had to take the trash out yesterday and need to do more cleaning today. I wish he would lift a finger to help but he doesn't. It's so frustrating.
 
The traffic here lately has been terrible.
There are several road construction jobs going on on the usual road that the valley lowlands usually take to the mccall area.
So the other alternative hwy is the one in my neck of the woods.
Traffic always gets a tad bit busier in summer but it is offthe hook lately.
All the winnebago roadragers are headed to the mountains forgetting they are not in a city..they drive crazy on a screwy narrow canyon road that is not 85 mph , has bear, elk, deer , bigfoot rocks trees and the super fanny packed bike riders too now that are 4 feet wide with all their cross country crap ..
Gah..
 
People who dump dogs. So the two dumped dogs that I picked up a coupe of weeks ago have to go. At first they were doing really good just being loose at the house, if a bit destructive with chewing, but not anymore. Last week we discovered that they've been tearing up the waterline insulation under the house and other things. Blocked all access under there and they just dig to get under there. That is one thing that I will not tolerate. So Saturday we picked up a chainlink kennel to keep them in until we find someplace else for them. So far the only place that we've found that might take them is charging $70+ a dog for intake. The deal was they could stay if they didn't cause trouble.... whelp, they're causing a lot of trouble so they need to go.
 
That's a bummer but totally understand about the dogs. So often people get dogs, offer them no training, no socializing, no stimulation or exercise and then when they are adults and destructive or aggressive..get rid of them one way or another and then usually make a ton of complaints and excuses for why they are a problem.
Good , behaved , socialized, non destructive dogs rarely just happen..
Good on you for giving them a chance at least..
 
I just saw on the news that in some towns they are now fining people who dump dogs.
As for traffic, I got stuck behind a tractor going 15mph in a 55mph zone on the highway. It's not even legal for it to be driving on the highway- it's supposed to be in a trailer. If it was on one of the side roads or even in town it would have been legal. Kicker was it was a no passing area too. There was actually room for the person on the tractor to pull off the road and let people pass but he didn't seem to care.

Meanwhile, Mom still isn't understanding things about her pump, the dexcom sensor, and the app on the phone. Although, the NP did get to see how obtuse Mom is about it when Mom started yelling at me about the phone app even when we were talking about something else instead. She misunderstood something she read in the manual and was saying that having the app on a phone will somehow damage the sensor. The NP winked at me bc she got it and then explained to Mom that most of her patients actually use the apps to access the dexcom sensor and the pump and that it won't do any harm.

I have no explained to her over 50 times that she still needs the Dexcom sensors but not the receiver. The NP explained it to her during the appointment but she started up on the BS again tonight. I took a pen and drew a diagram. I drew a rough sketch of a woman with the dexcom sensor and the canula patch, tubing, and the pump. I then labeled everything and wrote on it that the sensor transmits the blood sugar to the pump and can transmit to a cellphone OR a smartwatch. Her first comment was "My breasts aren't that uneven!" when she looked at it. Then she read about the smartwatch and yelled "NO! That's WRONG! It CAN'T DO THAT!" Then she realized she misread something. She was also thinking that she has to always have the dexcom sensor on her right side and canula on her left. Ugh. This is going to be an uphill battle. She just does NOT listen worth crap.
 

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