The Castle

So my shoulder hurts, and I went to the doctor. And we tried a couple things and they didn’t work. So he sent me to the MAN! Super-neurologist. Pain specialist. That guy was indeed a skilled and professional physician. He tried a very special thing and it didn’t work.

So then the MAN said that there was a higher, more esoteric, almost hermetic knowledge held by one whose feet he was not worthy to clean, and sent me to him, with the warning “it can take a while.” Since the MAN himself was hard to see, I was full of the fear of this sage’s appointment queue, and today I nerved myself up to call.

September 22. (Forty years in the desert.) I made the appointment. I also made a “start over” appointment with my humble yet proficient physician, and let the MAN know how high the peak and how covered in mist, and the terrible length of the journey.

My brother told me to get tested for the autoimmune problem that has made his life hell. Hey, why not?

I’m still a little upset that the nature of my ailment makes mall shooting sprees difficult. I could shoot lefty but I hate brass in my teeth, and I can’t even use a machete too well without my right hand. I guess I’ll have to go amok slapping people, or kicking them like the Black Night in Holy Grail.. Suck.

medicine, it fails us now

a month wait in considerable discomfort to see doc for follow-up

$500 balance there because insurance is a pathetic goatfuck

five minutes with doc, who refers me to another doc. he warns me that it can take a while to see new doc

i point out that two months of discomfort is not optimal

he agrees and prescribes an antiinflammatory

drugstore says insurance requires prior authorizatio meaning they fax my doc who then faxes back a note saying he really means it when he writes prescription

i opt to pay up front so i don’t have to wait indefinitely for possible relief. cost $110

judy, a lowly clerk, out and out gives me a $30 store credit giftcard because i got screwed

conclusion: judy rules. the rest of them are quisling sellouts

No Smoking Caprine in Captain’s Galley Goat Slaughter E. Coli Poisoning Death Incident

Emphases below are mine:

ESCHERICHIA COLI O157, RESTAURANT – USA (NORTH CAROLINA): CAPRINE ORIGIN SUSPECTED

Date: Tue 19 Jun 2007
Source: Charlotte (NC) Observer [edited]

Health officials closed a China Grove, NC, restaurant linked to a deadly _Escherichia coli_ outbreak on Mon 18 Jun 2007 after learning some employees slaughtered a goat there in May 2007.

At a news conference, Rowan County Health Director Leonard Wood said that on Fri 15 Jun 2007 a former employee of Captain’s Galley Seafood Restaurant in China Grove told health officials a goat had been slaughtered in the kitchen. Wood said the restaurant’s owners confirmed the goat slaughter over the weekend. News of the slaughter was “very disturbing” to him and the restaurant’s owners, Wood said. “They don’t know if or when the restaurant will reopen,” he said.

On Thu 14 Jun 2007 an 86-year-old Salisbury resident died at Rowan Regional Medical Center of complications related to an infection of a dangerous strain of the bacterium _E. coli_ [O157:H7]. She was one of 21 people who got sick after eating at the restaurant, Wood said.

Health officials said they interviewed 26 employees and heard conflicting stories. The goat was slaughtered sometime between 11 and 20 May 2007, Wood said. Restaurant patrons got sick between 26 May and 3 Jun 2007, Wood said.

Health officials cannot prove the outbreak of the intestinal disease was caused by the goat slaughter, Wood said. It will be hard to establish a link without finding part of the goat carcass. “I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to confirm the goat (as the source of the illness), or anything, for that matter,” he said.

Greensboro lawyer David Brown, who represents the restaurant owner, said he believes 2 or 3 employees were involved. One had been with the restaurant for a while and was a person “in whom we had confidence,” Brown said. The other 2 employees were recent hires, he said.

Brown said he was told the goat wasn’t killed “for some religious or cultural reason, but simply a desire to cook the goat and eat it.” Brown also said the employees bought the goat from a local farmer and brought it into the restaurant after hours, Brown said. The employees killed the goat in the kitchen, but took it elsewhere to cook, Brown said. The attorney said the employees didn’t use the restaurant’s utensils.

Health officials announced the _E. coli_ outbreak on 7 Jun 2007. Officials said they learned of another suspected case of _E. coli_ on 18 June 2007, bringing the total to 8 confirmed cases and 13 suspected cases.

[Byline: Sharif Durhams and Adam Bell]

— Contributed by: ProMED-mail

[The association of _E. coli_ O157 and restaurants is not new and, in fact, undercooked ground beef from a fast food chain caused the initial outbreak of the disease in 1982 (1). Since then, outbreaks have occurred related to ground beef and a variety of other vehicles including unpasteurized cow’s milk, contaminated water (for swimming or drinking), petting zoos and contaminated uncooked vegetables.

Other domesticated animals have also been associated with the organism besides bovines, including goats (caprines). Outbreaks have been associated with unpasteurized goat milk (2) and ProMED has previously reported cases associated with goat cheese (20060512.1356). Not surprisingly, goats in petting zoos have been found to carry the organism in the gastrointestinal tracts (3,4).

Although meat from the slaughtered goat was not available for testing (hence, no “smoking caprine“), this outbreak is unique for this possible epidemiologic link.]
(This is ganked from the Pro-Med mailing list, available at )

DEAR THE CINGULAR/AT&T PHONE COMPANY

I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE IT IF:

MY PHONE RANG WHEN PEOPLE CALLED ME INSTEAD OF SENDING THEM TO VOICE MAIL

THE VOICE MAIL INDICATOR WOULD SHOW THAT I HAD RECEIVED SAID VOICEMAIL SOONER THAN 12 HOURS LATER

THE PHONE WOULD NOT CRASH WHEN LEFT UNATTENDED

THE PHONE, WHEN RESTARTED, WOULD REMEMBER MY NETWORK PASSWORD SO THAT I COULD USE ITS NETWORK FEATURES

THE PHONE, WHEN RESTARTED, WOULD REMEMBER MY WIFI AUTHENTICATION FOR SIMILAR REASONS

THERE WAS ANY INDICATION THAT ANYONE KNEW OR CARED THAT THESE PROBLEMS ARE OCCURRING

BEST,

substitute

I just canceled two credit cards.

Zeroed out balance, they were crap ghetto credit, goodbye.

1) HSBC. Polite and pleasant operator transfers me to “win-back” guy. He talks too fast reading the script and is hard to understand due to an accent, but very nice. After two attempts to sell me back, including a fairly pathetic 2% cashback offer and waiving the membership fee, he folds and agrees to cancel it and send me written confirmation.

2) Juniper/Apple Credit. Same type of operator transfers me to win-back guy. He is a “relationship manager” which makes me think of Dr. Neil Clark Warren. He doesn’t try to give me any deals. Instead he first tries to sell me on how great the card is, and is not chagrined at all to learn that I have 8% less interest and ten times the limit elsewhere. Then he issues a warning: if I cancel the card, it could have an adverse effect on my credit rating! He says this once and I point out that closing the account after paying it off is probably not a minus. In a more ominous tone he asks me to reconsider because it could seriously be a negative MARK on my CREDIT RATING if i canceled. “Oh no you don’t,” I say. “Enough with the threats; that is not cool. Immediately cancel the account and send me written confirmation.” He folds too.

Nice bullying, Juniper/Apple!