Surface of the Sun

I could be just a giant wimp, but I like to think people in the Southwest who tell themselves it's a dry heat so it's much more tolerable than when humid, are just nuts. It's similar to what people in the Northwest say about how the grey and rain are worth the 3 weeks of beautiful weather (it is amazing). All true, BUT it's still 99 degrees out at 10pm or you haven't seen the sun since June. Here's the thing if you feel like you have to justify why you are living somewhere it's time to move. Or stay, but stop pretending like I didn't just sweat off an entire dress size while talking on the phone last night, because I have no phone reception in my air conditioned room. Oh did I mention I am in Arizona? Well I am and it's hot out. Even at night.

So with that in mind I thought I would get myself in the mood for a lovely Friday with hotter than hell temps with a little Len, Steal my Sunshine. I like to share as well. 

Hope your Friday is a little cooler than mine and that you have a fantastic weekend.

Sticks and Stones

Over the last few years I have been connecting and discovering so many interesting bloggers/writers on the Internet. There are so many talented people whose voice jumps off the page and captivate me on the first post and I haven't been able to stop reading since. In recent months I have read some incredibly powerful and moving posts that tackle difficult topics such as mental illness, body image acceptance, grief, abortion, domestic violence and sexual orientation. These posts were so heartfelt and incredibly brave for each person to write much less hit the publish button. This is why I was so stunned to read the sheer hate in some (not all and definitely not most) of the comments of these posts. Conflicting views and not agreeing with the writer is something that should foster discussions, view points and intelligent arguments from all sides. But the comments of wishing people ill, death and just plain hate made me feel sick. How is it acceptable to wish such dreadful thing for people? There is freedom of speech and there is hateful, useless words that people use to attempt to harm others. They say that words will never hurt you, but they do. I am not trying to suggest that we censor things that we don't agree with, but rather encourage people to use their words without hate to help us all understand each others point of view. While I may not agree with everything you say I respect it when it is presented without hate. I can only hope that others will do the same.

Who knew?

Who knew that bronchitis with a side of ear and sinus infection could suck so much? Yeah I know, everyone, but me. I keep thinking that I will wake up and it will all be over. So far it hasn't happened so I am still waiting. Maybe tomorrow will be the magic morning. All this sickness has resulted in my weekend being filled with Ice Road Trucker marathons, reading and Internet surfing. I know, try to contain your excitement for me. Today's post would be filled with puppy and kitten pics, but I came across this instead: http://www.wolfhirschhorn.org/2012/01/amelia/brick-walls/ (the link can be a little tricky and you may need to reload it to get to the page). I suggest you read this before continuing on so you stay in the loop.

My opinion on this matter as a whole is really of no consequence, but what makes me blindingly angry is that a DOCTOR has made the decision whether or not to save someone based on what he 'thinks' is a quality of life for a person. I am not debating what is considered a quality of life. I clearly have stated in my living will what decision will be made for me regarding MY life and where the line is drawn. These parents are making the decision and providing the kidney (no transplant wait list, not taking anything away from anyone else) on behalf of their three year old daughter and are being denied based solely on the fact their child is "Mentally Retarded" and the hospital will not perform the surgery. I don't think that is right for many reason, but the number one reason is where does the line get drawn from there? Does anyone with a mental delay or issue get denied because they aren't as quick as others? Do we start giving out IQ tests for transplants? To even contemplate this turns my vision red so I signed the petition and passed on the information. If you wish to do the same you can go to here: Sign the Petition

Now you know.

Back to kitties and puppies tomorrow, promise.

Health Care is two words worth lots of money

After I quit my job in September I looked into several insurance plans (COBRA is not an option unless you have a bank roll) and came to realize that for me and my situation having a full insurance plan was throwing money away. If I went with the standard individual plans (Ha! Standard, as if. These plans are more confusing than IKEA furniture directions) I would be spending more money out of pocket each month than I would if I went to the doctor for my yearly appoints with one or two unplanned visits and paid cash. That's not even counting the deductible that I would need to meet. So I decided to purchase the catastrophic insurance aka "Cancer Insurance" that kicks in should you have a super duper bad disease but doesn't cover anything else and decided to roll the dice on the rest.

Yesterday was the first day that I had to go to the doctor without insurance. Things had gotten pretty uncomfortable with my 'cold' and the BF told me it was time to see someone and I agreed. After a little research for a clinic close to where I am I came across the Minute Clinic (MC) located in a CVS not far from where I am at and decided to try this out as opposed to a Urgent Care (nothing against urgent care, but I didn't feel like waiting in line). Turns out the Minute Clinic was exactly what I needed. I arrived and filled out my information on a computer (general information and why I was there) and was immediately taken into a room with an LPN. After an in-depth Q&A session, my vitals were taken and she asked me a few more questions and concluded that I had a sinus and ear infection, chest congestion and an asthma flare up (the last one I knew about). I was given my prescriptions, asked if I had any questions and if it was ok for her to follow up with me in a couple of days (when was the last time your doctor followed up with you?). After talking with the girl at the CVS pharmacy she was able to make sure any of my prescriptions that could be generic and/or discounted were and for under $200 ($89 MC visit and 4 prescriptions) I was out the door. That was actually one of the better medical visits I have had in recent years.

I am not implying that this is the best solution for everything and in fact it isn't. For what I have going on this was a quick, easy and inexpensive solution (Visit the MC site for a list of services they offer). For those of you without insurance this can be a valuable resource, but there is still the issue that we don't have affordable health care readily available everywhere (MC is not available at all CVS or even all states and there are similar clinics at Walgreens that I found online but have not personally experienced). Long and short of it is that I am not an expert on this, but I am getting informed. I have options and picked one that made the most sense for ME. Even if you have insurance through your company, state or spouse you should learn about how the health care changes affect you. http://www.healthcare.gov/ is a good place to get started on understanding how the Affordable Health Care Act can help you (or not). Reading opinion pieces on how people think this affects you is not good enough. What works for me may not work for you so get educated. Affordable health care should not be so hard.

*Update - through the power of twitter I was given this handy link which is a great resource for finding a clinic (any clinic) near you! http://hc311.com/

Getting off my soapbox now and back to the beach.

PSA - UGG Edition

So in full disclosure, I do have a grey pair that I wear at home to take out the garbage or when I am in the mountains (As if). That is the only reason they leave the house. They are like crocs, they may be comfortable but people think you look stupid when wearing them. It's true. Consider this your PSA for the day.

Somewhere in the middle, but not completely lost in translation

A few things I have learned over the last few days here in Holland. I know more Dutch than I think and I can drink more coffee than I ever imagined! Bottom line is I might be able to survive here without Nordstrom's up the street (but it's doubtful for periods of time longer than two months. A girl has got to get her shop on with her own personal shoe satan, hi Steven!). It's funny I have been to Europe several times and visited so many shops without ever feeling out of place, but this is the first time I have had a feeling of I may not totally understand what I am doing. This may be because I don't want my boyfriends family to think I am a complete American idiot (now I can't get Green Day out of my head), but I think it's because for the first time I am in a smaller and less touristy portion of a country. It's a great learning experience, but a humbling one. The goal is to make sure my parents don't have to hang their head in shame on my behalf or for me personally to cause an international incident. Fingers crossed.

I thought today would be a good chance to answer some questions for my friends and family that they have been asking and to give just a little bit of a FYI for traveling in Europe. I ran across a rather alarming thing that I have not had a problem with in the past, but is becoming an issue for all American tourists shortly!

Are Holland and the Netherlands the same? No, but kind of. There are twelve provinces in the Netherlands, two of them are North Holland and South Holland. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague (the largest cities) are all located in these two provinces which is why you associate Holland and the Netherlands. So Holland is in the Netherlands and the Netherlands is not entirely Holland. Make sense? No, sorry that's the best I got. Here is a map. 

Do you speak Dutch? No, but I am learning.

Can we visit you? Yes, but only if I am here. I may be in California so double check before coming. Showing up on my door step may be a bad idea for you.

So now for the PSA/FYI:

If you are going to visit the Netherlands or Europe you may want to know about this. Europe is moving all card payment sources (POS) to what is referred to as a chip and pin type of card. We in the US do not have the chip and pin in our cards...yet. The other day I went to buy allergy medicine and couldn't use my US credit card or debit card, because it did not have a chip. Since this was new to me I didn't argue, but just paid cash and went on my way. Of course I came home and searched the internet to figure out how and the heck we are supposed to buy things here. From what I can find out is that you can argue with the clerk to have them swipe the card, but they may not know what to do and you may have to force them to do so. Not a super awesome plan. The best thing to do is to have cash on you to pay for items and avoid having to push for them to swipe your card. ATM's will still accept the mag stripe on the cards so you shouldn't have a problem obtaining cash.

It seems the US is trying to get this implemented into our cards but they are taking their time. I found a few good articles on this if you want to find out more information below.

http://travel.usatoday.com/deals/inside/story/2011/04/Travel-friendly-chip-and-pin-credit-cards-coming-to-US/46327546/1

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/231400073

The reason behind this is apparently in Europe they have a massive skimming problem and the chip and pin make it much harder to steal from the owner. At least until the thieves find a way around that too!

This is just good information to have! 

Please Stand By

As previously mentioned I am on site at an event in Anaheim, California. This has put a bit of a cramp in my day and definitely in my ability to get my posts up. Since this is my last show with my company I am going to be a bit delayed in getting some posts up, but I will return to regular posts next week. In the meantime you should check out my Facebook page to get a load of my favorite sparkly guy. He is fantastic and may have me arrested for taking so many photos.

Be back soon...

Shann

Off on Holiday

So my original plan was to keep the posts coming during my holiday in Italy, however I need a full break from the interwebs so I will be taking off this week and will be back at it next Monday with a whole bunch of new stuff.

See you then! Ciao

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

235 years ago today The Declaration of Independence was approved as the official wording by congress to back up their vote on July 2 that actually declared their independence from Great Britain and was for all practical purposes propaganda to inform everyone they were 'free' of British rule. The actual Revolutionary War was started a year prior to the document declaration and the war continued on for several more years after. It was a long and tiring war, but with quick thinking, luck and a little help from the French, we are not declaring allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II today.

I actually try to read the Declaration of Independence once a year. Not just because I am a history freak or that I like reading, but because it is fascinating to me that a document that was written 235 years ago still holds up. It's not a long read and you can just skim it if you like, but it encapsulates the very reason why they were fighting and why this country needed to be free from British oppression. The battle for Independence began years before the Declarations inception and continues to be relevant to this day as both a reminder for us (Americans) and for inspiration for other countries that are still fighting their own Independence.

You can read a transcript of the Declaration of Independence here.

Happy 4th of July!!


Without Freedom of Thought there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as Public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.

Benjamin Franklin, writing as Silence Dogood, No. 8, July 9, 1722

History of Memorial Day

Memories are funny. Sometimes out of the blue you remember a little moment in time that comes back with such clarity that you can't believe this wasn't always at the forefront of your brain. I was about 5 or 6 and my mom and I were heading out of the grocery store and there was an older gentleman with a funny hat and suit with a tiny red flower in the lapel. My mom gave the gentleman some money and he reached for the lapel and plucked out the flower and handed it to me. Oh I had no idea what the transaction was about, but I knew I had a pretty red flower. I kept that flower on my vanity for weeks!

From the time we started school we knew about Memorial Day, even if it started with us just knowing it was a day off of school. As we went through the years we learned that is was a day that we remember those that were killed and fought for our country. It's a day of remembrance, a day of honoring and a day of being grateful for having what we have because people fought to get us here.

Did you learn how this all started? Red Poppies

Update: a post from the NY Times to round out the education!

Public Service Announcement

I was going to post something else today, but prompted by someone that I saw on my drive in to work today I feel the need to spread a little PSA.

Leggings are not pants. They are thin and I can see through them, which means if I can, everyone can. If you want everyone to see your underwear super, but if you think we can't you are mistaken. Please cover your ASSets and wear a tunic or sweater. Might I suggest this or this. Both of these options cover the bits accordingly and are super cute.

If you are in question about what you have placed on your legs and if they are pants or not BuzzFeed has provided a handy little diagram to help you out: Am I wearing pants? This also made me laugh out loud.

Thank you,
Shannon

PS - I think I might be in love!

They do not go with leggings!

You can find them here, but they will easily cost you a vacation.