What's on your mind today?

[MommaSquid]

Shit, does everyone know someone with cancer?   My dad was just diagnosed with colon cancer.    He's scheduled for surgery next month and a bunch of tests between now and then.

[quizlixx]

Shit, does everyone know someone with cancer?   My dad was just diagnosed with colon cancer.    He's scheduled for surgery next month and a bunch of tests between now and then.

uh, i don't know anyone with canc...oh wait, yes i do.

[McQ]

wow. Sorry to hear about all of this. Too much sickness and disease in one thread!  

I don't know anything about starting online petitions. Keep looking for people who have done it before, I'm sure you'll find someone, afreethinker.
Lung cancer (there are many types) is one of those insidious cancers that can go undetected for a long time. Same with ovarian. They're bad news. With all of them, early detection and treatment is key.

I have the "opportunity" to see all types of people with all types of cancer every day. It is a humbling experience. And in the past four years, both my wife and one of my sons have been diagnosed with cancer. Both my parents died of cancer. I'm pretty much tired of freaking cancer. But you deal with what you can and keep going on I guess.

[Tom62]

On my mind today is that I've got to finish my coffee, shutdown my PC, quickly pack my luggage and go to the airport for another one week vacation.
CU all back on the 29th!

Cheers, Tom

[rlrose328]

Have fun, Tom!  Where are you off to?

We're off on another cruise this weekend, the hubby and I alone.  It's just overnight, a repositing cruise from Seattle to Vancouver BC, but it's for our 15th anniversary, so we're psyched.  The best part... the NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) called Tuesday morning and offered us an upgrade from our Mini Suite to... get this... one of the 4 Owner's Suites!!!  And for only $150!!   We'll NEVER afford to do the Owner's Suite for one of our Alaska cruises, but for the overnight, it will be fun to live like the rich.   :banna:  :banna:  :banna:

We're tickled.   This suite is bigger than my first apartment.  One of the TWO balconies is as big as the room we had 2 weeks ago to Alaska!  

Of course, this will spoil me forever on anything smaller than a balcony room but whatcha gonna do.

[McQ]

Hey, Tom and Rose, have fun on your trips! And Rose, the owner's suite.......NICE!  

[jcm]

Shit, does everyone know someone with cancer?   My dad was just diagnosed with colon cancer.    He's scheduled for surgery next month and a bunch of tests between now and then.

it scares the crap out of me. I've been on a health kick for a while trying to eat right, exercise, reduce stress, drink water. But from what I've seen of cancer, it doesn't matter what you do. I really think the cause is in stuff we use everyday, it has got to be. Tons more money needs to be thrown into the research or cancer.

I am really sorry to hear about your dad. My mom's friend/neighbor has been dealing with some nasty cancer for a while now. I feel so bad for everyone dealing with it. I hope soon we can look back on cancer like we look back on polio.

[jcm]

Have fun, Tom!  Where are you off to?

We're off on another cruise this weekend, the hubby and I alone.  It's just overnight, a repositing cruise from Seattle to Vancouver BC, but it's for our 15th anniversary, so we're psyched.  The best part... the NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) called Tuesday morning and offered us an upgrade from our Mini Suite to... get this... one of the 4 Owner's Suites!!!  And for only $150!!   We'll NEVER afford to do the Owner's Suite for one of our Alaska cruises, but for the overnight, it will be fun to live like the rich.   :banna:  :banna:  :banna:

We're tickled.   This suite is bigger than my first apartment.  One of the TWO balconies is as big as the room we had 2 weeks ago to Alaska!  

Have you traveled NCL before? I hear they are nicer than royal carribean and carnival.

after seeing the movie wall-e though...don't want to cruise again.  

[rlrose328]

yeah rub it in!!!

This will be our 4th cruise with NCL.  We've done week-long Alaskan cruises 3 years in a row now (the third one was 2 weeks ago).  We did inside cabins (no window or outside light at all!) the first two and this year, they called the week before the cruise and offered us an  upgrade to a balcony room for a small combined fee that was $600 less than if we'd booked the balcony room to begin with!  It's a crap shoot on the calls like that and the one that got us this upgrade this time, too.  

We LOVE NCL!  We haven't gone on any others, though, so I have no point of comparison.  NCL has been good to us (upgrades!!  woohoo!!!).  It's freestyle cruising... many restaurants to choose from, three of which are included, the rest have an extra fee (the steakhouse is SOOOOO worth the extra $20!!!).  Chocoholics Buffet 2 nights before the end.  No enforced dining companions or mandatory dressing up.  Great excursion opportunities.

The Norwegian Pearl has a 20 foot video screen in the main atrium that they use for WII gaming in the afternoon.  There's also a climbing wall and bowling alley on the Pearl.  This year, we're on the Star for both cruises.  It's 7 yo and showing it's age in a few small places, but they've gone mostly smoke-free, which is a bonus for us.

And the Kid's Crew is all included (except during port hours, which is a small fee) so the kids get their own activities, all over the ship, so you can enjoy kid-free time when you need it.  They do pirate makeup and "invade" the ship, have a talent show in the big theater, meet the performers and get a private show (this last time was a magician, so the Kid was tickled), do a scavenger hung and pizza making party for the entire family, meet a ranger (while we were cruising through the glaciers) and talk about the nature we're seeing, t-shirt decorating (free), and much much more!   :eek:  :eek:  

[SteveS]

I've never taken a cruise, but I've always wanted to take a boat truly off-shore.  I just think it would be cool as hell to look all around and see nothing but water.  Seems like it would give a tremendous sensation of freedom.

[jrosebud]

Having a terrible time finding a job.  I never finished college after we moved for my husband's job; I stayed home with the kiddo.  Now she's in school and I want to do something full time so I can go back to school in a year or so.  I'm a social dumbf*** when it comes to interviewing, though.  It should be simple for me to find a job at a book store, but I blew my interview.  Nerves.  Arrrg.  *faceplants*

Any ideas on other places to look (that preferably aren't retail)?

[curiosityandthecat]

Having a terrible time finding a job.  I never finished college after we moved for my husband's job; I stayed home with the kiddo.  Now she's in school and I want to do something full time so I can go back to school in a year or so.  I'm a social dumbf*** when it comes to interviewing, though.  It should be simple for me to find a job at a book store, but I blew my interview.  Nerves.  Arrrg.  *faceplants*

Any ideas on other places to look (that preferably aren't retail)?

Local university libraries. ).

[Kylyssa]

I went a month without blood test being read and found out my potassium was below normal I could have had a heart attack instead I have muscle weakness and other issues because I went so long without treatment.Now we have a friend who could die because his test results weren't read earlier.

This is a nationwide issue.  My Mother's death was the result of unread blood test results.  I found out I have a 3cm brain tumor by accident - I got a copy of my medical records to apply for Disability and read through them.  The tumor was on an MRI I'd had almost a year earlier.  

Frank Frazetta, famous fantasy artist, couldn't get diagnosed and was put in a mental institution because he kept claiming to be ill.  It wasn't until he was nearly dead that a physician finally ran some blood tests and diagnosed his (highly treatable) thyroid condition.  The delay in treatment permanently damaged his health and I can't imagine the mental trauma from being locked up for being physically ill.

Our health care system sucks not only because of soaring costs and privatization - it sucks because of many doctors' attitudes.

[rlrose328]

I've never taken a cruise, but I've always wanted to take a boat truly off-shore.  I just think it would be cool as hell to look all around and see nothing but water.  Seems like it would give a tremendous sensation of freedom.

It is that, Steve... when we go to Alaska, there are a few points up by Canada where they go far enough off shore that you can see nothing but ocean in all directions.  IT's awesome!

This weekend, we were always in view of the shore, and it was so damned short!!  We're probably not going to do an overnight cruise again.  The suite was AWESOME but too much room for us... and the butler, well, we had a hard time with that.  He kept insisting on serving us and Joe kept insisting he didn't need the service.  LOL!  It was quite humorous!  

[rlrose328]

Having a terrible time finding a job.  I never finished college after we moved for my husband's job; I stayed home with the kiddo.  Now she's in school and I want to do something full time so I can go back to school in a year or so.  I'm a social dumbf*** when it comes to interviewing, though.  It should be simple for me to find a job at a book store, but I blew my interview.  Nerves.  Arrrg.  *faceplants*

Any ideas on other places to look (that preferably aren't retail)?

Sorry... I can't help you there.  I'm doing an at-home med transcription course and it's really fun, but I dread the job hunt that will follow.  I feel so out of touch since quitting when the kid was born and now he's in school and I can only clean the house so much... but I was in management when I worked and I just don't want to make that kind of time/soul commitment right now.  Ugh.  I feel for you!!