Monthly Archives: August 2009

Five things I hate about Twitter

Posted on by
20

As addicted as I am to Twitter, there are some things about it that irk me. There are a lot of great things about the site, but here are some of the things that keep small children up at night and make dogs howl at the moon:

Spam accounts As in, porn. If I get one more “check out my naughty pics” tweet or one more follower with an avatar of a picture of some girl’s lips wrapped around some guy’s wiener, I’m going to go crazy. I initially made my account private to keep out the spam, but found that it was hurting me rather than helping me (I talk to a lot more people now)! Now I just spend a hell of a lot of time blocking these accounts, which gets on my damn nerves.

Direct messages trying to sell me something DMs saying “thanks for following, check out my website at blahblahblah” sent by some robot website every time someone follows you back are lame. I’d much rather get a REAL personal message saying something like, “please don’t follow me back, you suck,” than get one of these. It’s impersonal and I kind of take offense that you can’t be bothered to send me 140 real characters of friendly speech.

People following me for no reason These people never talk to me, have never talked to me, and never will — even when I tweet them or DM them. These people don’t even have anything in common with me. Their sole agenda is to get me to follow them back so that they can be oh-so-elite with thousands of followers. Pfft. I’m not biting.

The number game Twitter has a sort of unwritten rule: the more followers, the more popular you are. This is why people follow me for no reason (see above). I think this popularity contest is worse on Twitter than it was on MySpace. (I don’t really see it as a problem on Facebook. I’m not sure why.) I think because Twitter is so simple, people measure their success with numbers (which is natural, I guess, but still lame). It’s not lame, however, if you’re actually interacting with your followers. But if you’re just trying to look cool, go home.

Replying to my new blog post tweet, instead of commenting on my blog I know this might make me look like an ungrateful douchebag, but come on! Comments make me happy. They make me feel like I’m not talking to myself. They validate that my thoughts are worth something. Plus, when other people see comments on a blog post, they are more likely to comment themselves. It’s some weird psychological chain reaction, but it’s my chain, and you are breaking it! If you feel the need to tweet about it, how about commenting on my blog and then retweeting the post? It’s a win-win!

Strangely, I feel a lot better now.

What about you? What do you hate about Twitter? Post a comment and tell me (and maybe RT this post)!

An open letter to people who think it's okay to buy cheap, scratchy toilet paper

Posted on by
6

Dear people who think it’s okay to buy cheap, scratchy toilet paper,

IT’S NOT.

When I am forced to use your bathroom, be it restaurant, work, or home, I need to be assured that I will not walk out of your restroom with paper cuts.

One-ply toilet paper does NOT save the environment; I end up using more than I would normal toilet paper to get and feel clean enough.

If I need to blow my nose in it, I don’t want my boogers on my hands instead of on the tissue. (As does the company cokehead with a bloody nose.)

We the people deserve more! Your friends, family, and employees deserve more! YOU deserve more! You don’t have to go all out. You can buy relatively inexpensive soft or quilted toilet paper at Walmart, Target, Rite-Aid — even stores like Store 40 or 7-Eleven carry the good stuff! Open your eyes to a whole new world of comfort, and get off your damn “I wanna save money” or “I wanna save the environment” high horse. A sore tush is not worth it!

All of my hope lies within you, dear people who think it’s okay to buy cheap, scratch toilet paper. I trust that you will make the right decision.

Join the revolution! Repost or print this to encourage those too cheap to care about your bum!

I'm diseased

Posted on by
14

A few minutes ago, the receptionistMelissa (another PA?) at my PA’s office just called me with my latest blood test results. She didn’t ask me to schedule an appointment. She actually gave me the results over the phone.

She said my Lyme test results were still pending, but that the other tick-borne disease (ehrlichiosis) came back negative. She also said that my B12 levels are stable, so I should take a daily B12 vitamin to keep them that way.

Then she said that the double stranded DNA test came back positive — which can indicate an autoimmune disease. I may have sounded perversely excited when I gasped, “Really?”

She then said that Pam (my PA) wants me to see a rheumatologist for further testing. I picked a specialist from the list of names she gave me, and she said that she would fax over the referral. Someone from Dr. Greco’s — not to be confused with the neurologist I saw, although I think they are related — will be calling me to schedule an appointment.

As crazy as it sounds, I’m actually excited that something came back positive. I’d like to think that it’s only a matter of time before they figure out what’s been kicking my ass for the last two years. I like that I can say, “I have some sort of autoimmune disorder and they’re figuring out what,” when people ask what’s wrong, rather than, “I don’t know.”

It’s kind of nice to have hope again.

Update 08/20/2009 Just got off the phone with one of the receptionists. My Lyme Disease results came back and are NEGATIVE. So, forward mighty steed with the autoimmune disease testing!

Purging my cache

Posted on by
4

At work, we use a content management system (CMS) called Town News. We have to purge the cache all the time because the CMS updates our website about as fast as those turtles on that high-speed internet commercial.

Sometimes I need to purge my cache, too. Here are some things that are really bothering me right now:

  • 50mg of Tramadol isn’t cutting it anymore. I guess I’ve built up a tolerance to it, even though I don’t take it that often. I had to take 100mg last night to cut my pain down to a dull roar, but this morning I’m still kinda feeling the medicine. Hopefully it wears off by the time I leave for work. I can’t afford to miss a day.
  • Someone very important to me is currently not talking to me. There was an argument and I was a little harsh, but I thought we’d talk it out the next day. Instead, this person has been ignoring me for the last two days, and I’m not sure how much longer it’s going to last.
  • I had a panic attack for the first time on Saturday. That same night I had a couple of breakdowns, and I had a couple other breakdowns yesterday and last night. My anxiety level is ridiculously high. It bothers me that I can’t handle much of anything anymore. I think most of it is because of all of this chronic pain drama. I can’t even handle a doctor’s appointment or getting off the wrong highway exit anymore.
  • I feel like a failure, quite often lately. I can’t seem to convince myself that I don’t suck. Every time I butt heads with someone, can’t get something to work, am in pain, or just feel down in general, I take it out mentally on myself. I guess it’s better than physically, but then again that’s coming next. That’s just the way it goes.
  • I think I need some me time, but I’m pretty sure I need to let work know two weeks ahead when I want to take my vacation. School starts in two weeks, so there’s really no point in a vacation if I also have to go to class. So much for taking a trip this summer.
  • And speaking of “in two weeks,” my 21st birthday is coming up (it’s the 28th, so yay for being able to go out and party on a Friday night)! I’m not very excited, though. Not with things the way they are right now. I could care less.

And there’s your bright and sunny morning blog post, brought to you by the always happy Elizabeth! Now enjoy this brief message from our sponsors, and I’ll be back with something less angsty — eventually.

Staying cool and nerdy all at the same time

Posted on by
4

I was going to write a super update about awesome stuff but since I got distracted — read: Twitter, WordPress.org, Ning — this lame one will just have to do.

I went and got that blood work done earlier this morning. It should be illegal to get up before eleven on the weekend. Seriously. I am so sleep deprived and it isn’t even the work week!

Anyway, while the nice lady took big vials of blood from me, I considered asking her to rig the results so I could have a diagnosis. Seriously. I thought about it. She seemed sympathetic, so she might have done it.

She told me to drink some orange juice since I had so much blood taken. None of the phlebotomists I’ve had draw my blood ever mentioned that before. She said any time you have large quantities or large vials taken, you should drink O.J. Maybe this is a sign that my luck is turning around; between the super awesome PA I’ve been seeing and now this really helpful phlebotomist, I’ve been given reason to believe that now I’ll get some answers. Maybe.

Last night I went with my sister Lauren to Nikki‘s to watch the Degrassi Goes Hollywood movie. It was pretty good, even though there were some things I didn’t like. I’ll have to post a full review later, after I watch it again. (Yes, I have no life. Thanks for reminding me.)

Now I’m headed out to have lunch with my great-great-aunt Betty with Mom and Lauren. After that, as long as I’m feeling up to it, Lauren and I are going to Lake Compounce for the day. It’s supposed to be really hot today, so I have a feeling we’ll spend most of the day in the water park. And of course I’ll have to ride the Boulder Dash.

What are you doing this weekend to stay cool? Leave a comment and tell me.