Another St. Patrick's Day

I did not get a picture of my non-Irish looking girl (she actually does have some Irish in her; though not confirmed by DNA but family history) when she dressed in green the first year she attended Vista Elementary School.  I did get her picture today -

Happy birthday to my brother, Patrick and his grandson (my great nephew) born on the same day.

Feeding the Mormons

posted 12/10/2016

          Our ward did something different for the Christmas celebration this year.  Instead of the traditional dinner that is normally done, we had a Christmas breakfast.  And the Relief Society wasn’t in charge of fixing any of it.  It was catered!

          Last year, we had it in the Skyhawk room in Myrtle Creek – which seems to be a popular spot for annual events – and not just the cafeteria between the elementary and middle schools.  But this we had our breakfast at the Bible Christian Center in Riddle.  The inside of the facility definitely seems a lot bigger than the outside.  I was impressed.

         

          We had the option of scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage patties, muffins, fruit, and in addition to the drink choices of milk, cran-raspberry juice, orange juice or hot cider.  I used a thick raspberry syrup for my pancakes and it was delicious.

          After an hour, the adults sang 7 different Christmas hymns while the primary went into another room to prepare for the program that was to follow.  Ten, including Jenna (who is not really in primary anymore) returned, dressed as angels.  Hayden was the only boy dressed as an angel.  The other two were dressed to represent Nephi and Samuel, the Lamanite.  The other two girls in primary wore their Church clothes and acted as the narrators.

          Jenna and I both sat at chairs that had stickers beneath.  Our sticker entitled us to take home a star to hang on our tree.

Angel robe and halo

star ornament 

My Shared Primary Class

          As I have mentioned in previous posts, my first calling in this ward was with teaching the sunbeams.  I have never seen a physical attendance roll in the entire time I've been here, but I believe there were four sunbeams in total.  I think the most I ever had in my class at one time was three.

           My first experience in that class was a visitor named Dylan.  I live in an area where there are many members who are related to one another.  I think Dylan was a nephew of the former sunbeam teacher who had developed a comfort zone with teaching sunbeams. She seemed to hover just a bit to make sure I was doing the calling justice.  She had been newly called to Young Women's.  I had heard her give a talk just the week before and thought it was an awesome calling for the young women to have her on board.

          Dylan doesn't come every Sunday.  But he's been there enough that it seems like his name would have been added to the roll - but I don't know.  The most I ever had in class at one time was three.  After Skylar and his mom had moved out of the ward, it was mostly Emily by herself - which did not thrill her.  She didn't know me.  It was scary for her to be in the room with me.  And she cried for about a month before she decided to become a horse (see here)

          The following year I had her cousin, Hayden Braun, who was also not thrilled with the idea of being left alone with this stranger - though he seemed to come around a lot faster than Emily had.   For about a month his dad (who had actually called me to the position) sat with Hayden while I gave the lesson.  Bro. Braun had somehow felt impressed by my teaching methods.

          In this post I explained how I came to transition from Sunbeams to Valiants.  It is the larger of the two classes - with at least eleven children - though the most that have come (since I have been teaching) is eight.  Danny has returned to teach the class.  She comes to church for just one hour to teach.  I try my best to discipline Helen and Thomas.

          Both of them have to have something in their hand to wiggle, to rip, to play with, to destroy . . . Helen actually absorbs everything being said.  It amazes me that she actually knows the answers - or most of them anyway.  Thomas on the other hand seems focused on anything NOT related to the lesson - unless he happens to wearing his glasses - which unfortunately has not been every week. When he has his glasses on, it almost seems like he is a different child.

          I actually described Thomas in this post  though I hadn't shared his name. There have been a number of times I have said to Roland:  "Please explain something to me as though you were explaining to Thomas Jay." 

            I think of the eleven class members, I have already mentioned five of them in one post or another - I suppose because Jenna had been in the same primary class with many of them. Thomas had been in the CTR class when Jenna started attending Young Women's and did not start the Valiant class until just this year.

          When I was teaching, I asked Roland to please sit with my class - particularly Thomas.  Roland often has a way of teaching children and keeping them in line.  I figured that since he had already made a connection with Thomas that Thomas would listen to him.   Thomas had somehow made a connection with me while I was still teaching Sunbeams and he was a CTR.  It was with his extended family where Jenna, Roland and I had Thanksgiving in 2016.

           It had been during the hour that both primary classes meet in one room for singing time and sharing time. Thomas would choose to sit next to me when I was teaching Hayden - or perhaps it wasn't always by choice.  Often there are just certain individuals who cannot sit together.  The primary leaders didn't like Thomas to sit with his sibs or cousins.  As I mentioned, Thomas feels the need to keep his hands busy - even if it is to taunt others.

           For the most part the class members are eager to participate: read scriptures, say prayers, and so forth.  Helen and Thomas have both expressed their lack of desire to read - which is okay.  I'm not going to make anyone read if they don't want to.  I feel more like a referee than a teacher.  Especially with Danny returning to her position. 

          Danny and I have two totally different teaching methods.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  I think of it as an early introduction to diversity. Whatever works, right?  Danny sets up the chairs against the wall in a straight line putting a great distance between herself and the students.  I put the group in a circle.  I have allowed for more reading thus far.  Danny incorporates more videos and games.  We both ask tons of questions.

           Our largest class (well, since I have been a part of it) was yesterday.  The only two missing were Callie (who has been active for the most part during Achievement nights, but I think I have only seen her attend Sunday meetings four times since we moved to Myrtle Creek) and Krystal, (here) who has been coming with her grandma until her grandma went out of town.  I had called last night to see if we could pick her up this morning.  I never heard back from the family.  We haven't had any luck getting a hold of them on Sunday.

           Two of our class members will start young women's this year.  Callie and Lisa.  Lisa is Thomas and Emily's oldest sister.  She is really smart in math.  Though she's still in elementary school, Jenna says she has seen Lisa at her middle  school as she Lisa takes math on a level higher than her elementary school. Callie is also attending  Coffenberry Middle School but Jenna says they don't interact with one another.

           In the past Lisa had been invited to sit with Emily during singing time when Emily was having a hard time making the transition from nursery to sunbeams.  And Ann was allowed to sit with Hayden.  Ann and Lisa are both focused enough to comfort their sibs while still paying attention to their leaders. 

           Christopher actually does do better with the CTR class than he did in sunbeams.  Helen has tried to "mother" him the way Lisa and Ann had done with their sibs.  But Helen is HORRIBLE.  Christopher does much better without her.  Both the CTR instructor and I have requested to keep Helen and Christopher separate - thus separating Lisa from Emily and Ann from Hayden so that we're not playing favorites.

Visiting Salem

                It seems highly possible that we will be moving again within the next 2-3 years.  Roland wants to start a business, and we considered an adult day care in Myrtle Creek - we had even found the most perfect building and location - but the business will need to be open 6-8 months before we can get the benefits for Veteran and Medicare support.  It would be less costly just to take over someone else's business or become a sub company and partner with a business that already has a name; they would be our parent company, I suppose. 

        He has talked to a woman in Taggart who offers adult day care as well as residency.  We are just interested in doing the daycare portion at this time.  Or he is, rather. I have not made it a secret with how I feel about business.  I don't want to get into food.  I think Roland would rather just leave Myrtle Creek and go to where he can not only create a business, but establish cliental - which actually doesn't seem so promising in Myrtle Creek.  Roland will have to educate potential cliental on whatever business he chooses - where some of more populated cities are already in the frame of mind to except (or even accept) whatever kind of business Roland may open.  

         I personally, will have a very hard time leaving this area.  I love the close-knit - pull-together community that we currently live in - not necessarily offered in larger cities.  Roland's always talking about moving to Eugene - which is my opinion seems to resemble Salt Lake City in many ways.  No.  I don't want to live in Lane County.  I'd be willing to move to Polk or Marion County.  I wanted to prove to him that Eugene and Portland are not the only two cities in Oregon with business opportunity.  On Saturday we went to our state's capitol city: Salem. 

        Most of the items I had written on my list for outdoors and the weather was quite overcast and often raining.  The Riverfront Carousel is an indoor carrousel.  It was a two and a half hour drive each way, but I think it was worth it to capture Jenna's smile. 

        We first stopped at a Burger King in Cottage Grove.  We were hungry.  She always asks for a crown.  I think at least two of my boys would do the same, and proudly wear the crown.

        The name of Jenna's horse was Razzle Dazzle.  She noticed the horse's medallion right away.  I don't think I would have noticed.  We thought it to be exceptionally cool.

I thought she should be on the outside  so that she could grab rings out of the fish's mouth.  The person that ends up with the "brass" ring gets another free ride. 

Jenna leaned out to grab the rings.  I think we had seven of them.  Assorted red, white and green.  But there was a heavier ring to represent the brass ring. 

        So Jenna went around again and smiled widely as she collected rings. 

        We took a short walk around the grounds and took a few pictures of the riverfront. 

       

        After Jenna finished with her delight at the children's playground (which she is obviously too big for)

        We headed to the Salem Public Library.  We were allowed to park for free as there was an event going on.  Several tables had been set up by members of the community to advertise places of business - sort of like an indoor fair without the food or rides.

        Jenna loved earning prizes and demonstrated her skills on ukulele. 

        The instructor's were impressed with how quickly she picked up on the fingering, but Uncle Bill had showed how back when we were still living in Utah.

        I have a cousin who lives in Salem.  Unfortunately we have not been able to touch base (except through facebook) since we arrived in this state.

        I had a lot of ideas in my head about what to post and how many new blogs I could create.  It was the weekend and my family became a priority over the keyboard.  Or else I have been tired.

        It snowed on Sunday morning.  Jenna was really happy about that.  We drove to Church in the same conditions we had faced all too often in Salt Lake . . . but it was gone long before Church let out.  Weird.

Honoring the Memory

                The school held a hat day sometime last month.  Jenna couldn't find any of her fedoras and so she took the plastic tiara that she had received during a young women's lesson earlier that week.  Meanwhile she found a fedora but ended up taking the plastic crown anyway. 

                Through the course of the day she would ask guys to try it on and take pictures.  On February 10 she posted pictures other friends on facebook.  At least nine guys proudly wore that crown.  One of them was Andrew.  She did not get one of Nick.  The last words she said to him was to ask him to put the tiara on his head.  The last words she had said to Andrew was to let him keep a pencil that he had borrowed.

                Someone had taken several facebook pictures to make a collage.  Her photo of Andrew was included in the tribute that was passed from wall to wall.

                I have been disoriented, so it's not hard for me to imagine being so out of it that I don't know where I am or how I got there.  I've also been sedated.  I have watched enough sci-fi movies to imagine what it must be like to open my eyes only for a second to have someone stick me with a needle to put me back to sleep.  I can imagine what it's like to wake up in a hospital and wonder what I am doing there. 

                I can't imagine being told that six members of my family were lost in a fire during the wee hours of the morning - while the majority of the community slept.  I don't even know if they were aware of the fire or just who called it in. The reporters didn't say how the fire was discovered.

           
                It hasn't even been a week since my last post, and yet it feels so much longer.  Nick's life was lost with three other children whom he treated like brother and sisters.  Andrew and his mom passed away the next day at the hospital in Portland.

                The father figure is still in critical condition.  I don't know if he will survive and continue his life on earth or if he will be called to return along with his family. I can't even imagine.  How would I react if I was left alone to survive without them?  How strong am I that I would have the courage to go on and face life with an attitude pleasant enough that others would continue to want to be there for me.   Would I blame God?  Would I blame myself?  Would I constantly be in denial and wish it was just a horrible scene from a televised movie?  My prayers is for this man to find the strength that he will need.

                Jenna says the attendance at school has been less than half.  Coffenberry changed the facepage to profile the two boys who had attended that middle school.  Now they are selling tee shirts in honor of their memory.  They will not be forgotten. See here and here.

Let's All Wear Red Tomorrow

            Our local news comes from Eugene - located in Lane county which is north of Douglas.  The news stories usually start off with some criminal activity in Springfield or Eugene.  Sometimes human interest stories in Eugene.  Rarely is the focus ever on Douglas.  Except this morning.  And updates throughout the day.

            Tri City recorded population is 3,931, but Myrtle Creek says 3,439.  I would guess both cities put together fall somewhere between the two numbers as we use the same zip code.  The city of Riddle lies just south west of us.  Their recorded population was 1185.  That number has gone down by four due to a tragic fire.

            I first heard about it after Jenna returned home from school.  She reported that one of her classmates was killed in the fire, and another in critical condition at Legacy Emmanuel Medical Center in Portland  which is more than four hours away by car. I don't know how they (his mom and dad also survived) were taken. 

            I remember a helicopter landing in the parking lot of the church that I lived across from in Kearns, Utah.  It was there to life flight a victim to Primary Children's hospital in Salt Lake.  Life Flight was offered, along with a lot of convenient medical options.  The options don't seem so convenient in Oregon - at least much of it.

   

            There is so much devastation in our small little community.  The names of the family members had all been released to the press.  The children who lost their lives were 4-year-old Gwendolyn Howell, 7-year-old Haley Maher, 10-year-old Isaiah Young and 13-year-old Nicholas Lowe. 

            Jenna said that all the kids at her school are wearing red in Nick's memory and perhaps to show their support to Andrew who's still alive - we hope.  Our prayers are with the family.  

Thank you to all the men and women who serve as firefighters.  Thanks to all of thos who are willing to serve on the volunteer fire departments.  God bless you all.

That was a Painful Week

          As I mentioned in my last post, I am up to two classes again. In one accounting class I am required to used QuickBooks online.  The other feels like a refresher course - though I think I'd get more out of it if I had the same instructor that I had for 101 and 102. 

           My payroll instructor wasn't exactly monotone, but his voice did seem unenthusiastic for the most part - as though he'd rather be sitting in a dentist chair getting his teeth drilled than having to teach a class.  One instructor that I have is at the other extreme - trying to compensate for the less-than-exciting material by being "overly" enthusiastic.  I almost feels like I am taking a class taught by my brother-in-law.

           The instructor I like listening  to the most is the one I have for QuickBooks.  He's not boring.  He's not overly enthusiastic (like it's forced) When I am listening to his lecture, it feels like we are one on one and he is showing me what icons to click on and is great as explaining why.  I think his voice is easy to follow.  I like his class better of the two.

           Before the class even started, I had received an email from my  dean to set up an account in QuickBooks.  In the event that my information was put on a permanent junk-mail file, I chose to open the account on hotmail - which I keep open to use as a unwanted email account.  Unfortunately, when I had created the final step I used my hotmail user name but with a yahoo attachment - thus making my user name at hotmail invalid.

           The problem I had been created by me, and couldn't seem to be corrected - at least not in the time frame I was looking for.  Much of the communication from their end was being sent to a non-existing account - at least for me.  Thus I created a brand new account from my yahoo but with a different user name.  I didn't figure I'd be able to do anything with that class until sometime today.  Boy, was I ever surprised to have my account activated the following day.

          And so I worked on that.  But I seemed to be missing some steps or couldn't take screenshots with the appropriate information as it was not being displayed.  It took me three days to complete my assignment (good thing I was able to start it earlier than I had believed)

          Meanwhile I seemed to be neglecting my other class.  I managed to struggle through that and turned in both assignments yesterday.  I probably should have saved my assessments for today, but decided to do them yesterday.  Unfortunately I didn't do well at either one.  Let's hope I receive a better grade on the assignments.  That has actually been the case thus far.

           Meanwhile I've been neglecting my blog - not to mention other blogs I've been reading.  Jenna was home from school yesterday and I had attempted to spend quality time with her so she didn't feel neglected.  I skimmed over my primary lesson but will need to go over it again.  In addition I've been attempting to clean the house - or tidy it up a bit. 

       

          After over three months of not having full time missionaries in our ward, they have returned and so we will be feeding them tonight.  I wonder if they have  A Voice from the Dust in their collection.  It was suggested to show to my primary class about the three witnesses.  I suppose I can ask.

Recognizing Effort

                My appreciation for art is so-so.  There are certain paintings that appeal to me for various reasons - and perhaps on a subconscious level, it is the lighting and balance and whatever other techniques are used by the artist.  Usually, it is the subject of the painting.  That is what I am focused on, not the colors, tones, hues or layers for example.  All the detail that is put into a professional painting seems overwhelming to me and actually seems to detract from the beauty that I had seen there initially.

            In college, I once took an art appreciation class - just to force myself to understand and hopefully appreciate it more.  It backfired. I was so put out by the symbolic gestures and the history, it's a wonder I didn't drop the class.  I would struggle with these foreign concepts and tried to apply them to whatever piece of work we were doing.  I tried really hard.  Or so I believed.  My work and effort were below average and therefore so were my grades . . . . until one assignment that we did in crayon.

            The subject was a milk can.  Our instructor said to pick out all the colors that were reflecting off the milk can and underneath the surface and this and that and lighting, shades and hues and . . .  my poor confused brain.  I really didn't understand what he was talking about.  As I wasn't doing particularly well in that class anyway, I decided to "fake" it.  I got out my box of crayons and started scribbling a variety of colors over what would become my milk can.  I scribbled one area with a white crayon and one with a black crayon to that when I went over the entire milk can with my grey crayon, some of it would appear lighter and some would be darkened. 

            I was in the midst of covering all the scribbles with my gray crayon when the teacher came around and complimented me on my good work.  Was he for real?  Did he really believe that I had really seen the blue, orange and green scribbles in the can?  I wasn't even trying.  I hated creating "art" and I just didn't even care anymore.  That was the day I stopped trying to better myself in that particular class.  My grade point average had gone up after that.  It felt like a slap in the face, really. It didn't seem appropriate that I would receive the message: "you'll do a whole lot better if you don't try"  That's not right!

            I did not post last week as I had devoted so much of my time to my payroll final - which by the way, I never did finish. I did try.  Boy, did I try.  I burned out more hours on this one assignment than I had any other in my entire lifetime - or so it seemed. My final grade for the class came as a surprise. I was pretty certain that my instructor would not be going through each and every single answer of each and every single student.  Apparently, I did enough that he did know I had at least tried (on the final, excel would not accept the wrong answer - so it was either come up with the correct answer or leave it blank)

            I am more satisfied with my grade and my accomplishments that I earn.  I'm not an accountant yet.  I don't like numbers.  I don't like business.  But I do enjoy learning.  I'm grateful for the opportunities I have been given that I may accomplish even more.  Perhaps one day I'll actually develop a love for my "career".  Right now I'm just tolerating it.

            I've finished payroll and am now taking two more accounting classes.  I think they will be easier than payroll.  I don't know if my instructors will be as easy as my last instructor.  I suppose I'll have a better understanding later this week.

My Hair Loved WEN, my Scalp . . . Not so Much . . .

          I had heard that a lawsuit had been brought against WEN® Hair Care Products,  although I hadn't known when or why.  I recently looked it up on line.  I don't know how many articles share this information as I read through only a few.  I personally haven't had a problem with the product itself.  If there was any hair loss, it went unnoticed.   I LOVED the product.  I immediately felt a tremendous difference with the texture of my hair and Jenna's hair.  I could actually attempt to style our hair without cringing.  I loved the feel of my hair and heard that it smelled great.  I wasn't happy with the "build-up" that seemed to be forming on my scalp - though I never blamed WEN.  As I have stated in several posts before, I have a LOT of hair.  Often the thickness gets in the way and my scalp doesn't always get a proper rinse. 

          The WEN ads made sense to me - why do we feel the need to have a shampoo to clean and then a conditioner to tame the blow of the harsh shampoo?  WEN claimed their product (the cleanser cream) replaced 5 bottles (shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, leave-in-conditioner, detangler) but then they mail you a kit with SIX containers.  I was interested in their conditioneing cleanser, not their anit-frizz or treatment mist . . . come on!  Why are you sending me six things to replace five?  And that hurtful brush!  They must have had an overstock and started including those in packages.  No thank you.  I wanted the cleanser ONLY

          I don't know how many packages arrived before they finally got it down to just two bottles of cleanser only, but they were still sending them too often.  I think if I used the product two or three times daily, I may have run out, but I finally called and put a permanent stop to it.  I said I'd be moving to Oregon and may provide my address at a later time.  I have moved twice since leaving Utah and have run out of cleanser but do have two tubes of the anti-frizz left.  Do those things expire?

          I don't plan on starting back up again.  I do miss how my hair felt.  But my scalp does not miss it.  Attorney Amy Davis (here) explained it this way, " It’s like using lotion to wash your hair. So instead of removing the product when you rinse it off, it just becomes impacted in your hair follicle.” Okay, I can agree with that comparison - although I think "lotion" would have been gentler to my scalp.  Build-up made it itch.  But I've always had dry scalp.  It wasn't just when I used WEN.   though the itch seemed to be more present when I was using WEN.

          Everybody’s scalp is different.  We all have different hair types.  We all have various reactions.  I Things happen.  Sometimes we have control.  Many times we do not.    I’m not trying to endorse the product, nor do I defend them.  There are things I loved about the product, there are some things that didn’t work for me.  That’s life.  

In the Event that Heidi may be Searching . . .

            When commercials come on, Roland will usually watch them and critique them.  Depending on the station, he will sometimes tire of them and start changing channels.  Recently during his channel hopping, he landed on a program focusing on individuals searching for  biological connection.  As the story unfolded, a connection was made due to a facebook post in which the biological mother wished her unknown daughter a happy birthday.  It matched the same birthday of the child who was seeking her mother.  It got me to wonder if the boys half sister on their mother's side might be looking for her biological past.

                About six months before Roland met his first wife, she had given birth to a part white/part Asian daughter.  She'd given her up for adoption and said that the adoptive family had named the baby Heidi.  Roland said he was willing to raise the baby as his own, but Deborah said that it was too late - which I find odd as almost every adoption I have known about has had a one year wait-to-see-if-the-biological-mom-may-change-her-mind requirement.

            I remember Tony having mentioned it first.  He was hoping to establish some kind of connection.  I don't know if that will ever happen in this lifetime.  Heidi would be about 33, I think.  Possibly turning 34 by the end of the year?  Roland does not have many details to go on, and I have even less, I'm sure.  I suppose if Heidi were to look for answers about her biological mother, she would have to ask Aunt Judy - as she seems to be the family matriarch, but I could be wrong.  She may have at least some clue to who the biological father might be.  Roland doesn't have any information.

            Clyde & Barbara Walden [not their real names] gave birth to eleven children. Five are now deceased along with mom and dad.  Judy is their eldest daughter.  I met her for the first time after Jenna had turned two.  We had missed Clyde's funeral by only three days and had been invited to the family barbeque (here) - which is when I met at least eight of  Deborah's siblings and their families.  Waldens are truly hospitable people.  If indeed, Heidi is looking, they will definitely embrace her.

Quality Customer Service? A thing of the past

          I'm actually quite impressed with Roland's phone skills.  I got rid of cable as we were paying outrageous amounts each month.  We have been able to pick up six stations with an antenna we purchased, but there was a day when I'm assuming the weather had interfered and we were only down to two.

          As mentioned previously, Jenna and I could live without the TV or cable.   We watch it because it's there, but would not miss it if it wasn't.  But Roland likes having the TV and had called another company to see how much cable would run.

          So our internet was with Charter.  We NEED the Internet.  Roland works from home online.  We both go to school online.  We need the Internet.  We do not need the cable.  Nevertheless, Roland found a great deal in which Frontier promised a cable and Internet package for the same amount that we were paying Charter for Internet only.  The first call placed was answered by a young guy from California who was living in Salt Lake.

          Why the heck would we be calling Salt Lake?  I had never even heard of Frontier until we got to Oregon.  The guy was friendly and after the information was exchange, we got a little personal (which I know is how he's from California) and he told us some jokes before he hung up.

          Our cable contract is through Dish and NOT Frontier.  And of course we are locked into it now because apparently Roland's electronic signature proves that.  The cable box was sent - but Roland wasn't sure how to connect it.  Someone came out to connect it and we had a SLOW connection.  Not even 12 full hours. Fortunately we had not cancelled Charter.

  

          I don't know how many times Roland has been on the phone with Frontier - asking employees for their first and last name and employee identification (because thus far none of the employees have been willing to give his or her last name - which I don't blame them.  Most have been good to give their employee number - or a number anyway (how do we really know) as Roland explains for the umpteenth time that "I need this for work . . . I was very clear about that from the beginning"  He always tells the employees to make notes on file and asks for the supervisor and that supervisor's supervisor.

          He is calm.  Although he is frustrated, he doesn't express anger.  But he does become more irritated with each call explaining himself again and again.  We still have the box.  We have asked for a box to return it in.  I have even taken it to the two locations here in Myrtle Creek - a warehouse downtown and the communication center? in Tri-City.  It was closed.  I wonder if it ever opens.  Or why it's there. 

          Frontier will probably go out of business.  We heard that from an employee.  No kidding.  I don't guess their exceptional customer service would have anything to do with it.

          I've been dealing with crisis of my own.  We're doing our taxes.  Need I say more?  No matter how prepared we believe we are, we're always missing forms.  At least three 1099s.  And so I've been trying to make contacts with each of the companies getting nowhere fast. 

          Actually, I did make progress with one company.  I've listened to at least 7 different recordings for another.  I finally left my phone # when I was given the option to leave with a promise of a call back within 24 hours.  Oh, they did call back alright.  But it was the WRONG company.  I was contacted this morning by one who received my phone number.  It took us a few minutes to realize that the number I retrieved from the other website had been connected to the other at one time, but was no longer a part of them - therefore she couldn't help me.  (Ugh)

          And the one human I get has an accent so thick that she had to slow down when pronouncing "Annual Summary" because I was hearing "Animal Movie" and I knew that is not what she was saying.

          I wish I had the patience and control that Roland does when he is speaking over the phone.  I am just too dang emotional.  Customer Satisfaction really hasn't seemed very satisfying this century.   

       I told Roland that one of the things I really like about living in Oregon is that I feel like a person and not just a statistic.  When I am calling corporations I feel even less than a statistic.