At Reg's recent AAU tournament, fans were required to pay using a QR code. Well, nothing says YOU CAN STAR IN YOUR OWN PROGRESSIVE COMMERCIAL like being a grown-ass woman and trying to 'splain YEAH, I DON'T DO QR CODES.
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| At my hotel in Milwaukee, I could've accessed the TV using a QR code, but as I gear up for my time to shine in a Progressive commercial, I did the old fashioned thing and used a remote. |
My phone doesn't like to be bogged down with too many apps and such.
I'm not all that different than my phone. I don't like to be bogged down with stuff either, like, shall we say SIBO? This illness started well over 5 years ago. I've sunk thousands of dollars into trying to figure it out, plus the time. Oh, the time and the lost sleep.
I've had a colonoscopy I didn't need.
Visited three rheumatologists (pinky trouble might stem from celiac, but it also indicates SIBO) and taken anti-inflammatory meds for years.
Dealt with a mysterious rash at the top of my ribcage for years. *wait, Ernie - why no pictures of said rash?*
I've had a pelvic scan and an internal ultrasound, because I wanted my OB to locate my additional fallopian tube or whatever rogue part was apparently floating around my insides.
Then there was my ER visit on Halloween, which cost $3,500 even though we already spent over $12K on epilepsy related expenses last year.
I've had blood drawn by the gallon.
I have a follow-up appointment the end of June, when I will ask if this SIBO thing could've lead to me being on cholesterol meds. My doc kept saying it must be hereditary, but no one in my fam has this and SIBO can mess with so many things, digestion, metabolism, etc. Maybe I'm grasping at straws, but it seems sort of suspicious.
The worst is that I dealt with a doctor shrugging at me regularly framing my situation as 'YOU PROBABLY ATE GLUTEN.'
OK, enough whining. I'm glad to get an answer. It feels like a miracle. 10 days after my positive test result landed in my portal, I got a call from my doc's office. Who says healthcare in this country is a mess? I'm to take a pair of antibiotics for 2 weeks. No alcohol.
Next weekend is Ed's graduation, so I'm delaying my treatment by a few days. What's a few more days? Insurance has to approve the meds anyway and they need to be ordered, because these aren't your run-of-the-mill drugs.
Ed was relieved to know that I'd be able to drink. I'm hardly the keg stand type, but glad to know he's ready to celebrate with me. I've created the photo part for his banner and another one for his girlfriend - I just need to get to the library and heat press them.
Yet another flashback to the early days of the Ernie/Coach story: I once shared the story of my FIL driving to O'Hare to bring Coach his antibiotic at the gate. (I didn't remember that this was a 2 part post - SO very long ago, posted before I had ANY readers). This ordeal happened pre-9/11, so people could go to the gate. I offered to drive Coach to the airport after his sister's wedding a few months after my pig roast. Since cell phones weren't a thing, we didn't realize his dad was driving to the airport with Coach's forgotten antibiotics. We were kissing in an off-the-beaten-path area and when we came around the corner for Coach to board his flight back to Omaha, his dad was PERCALATING at the counter. Eek.
"GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!" he shouted as we approached, slamming Coach's meds down on the counter before storming away.
When Mini was home at Easter, she went BACK to the doctor to get treatment for a cold she's had since winter break. I picked up her 2nd round of antibiotics a few hours before I drove she and her friends back to ND. We were about to get on the expressway, when I asked her, DO YOU HAVE YOUR ANTIBIOTICS?
No, she did NOT. Like father, like daughter. I did a U-turn and she called Coach, so he could run out to the driveway with her drugs. We were racing to get back for the girls to attend an Evans Zoom at the dorm.
When Coach handed her the pills thru the window of our barely slowed down car, he hollered in a faux upset voice GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. Ah, memories.
Friends or foes: So, my folks and Coach's folks WERE friends, GOOD friends - but our engagement upset his folks. He was about to start PT school. They were grouchy, begging him to change his mind, etc.
We'd dated for over 2 years. When I was looking for a recommendation, his dad shouted at me. I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU HAVE TO GET MARRIED RIGHT NOW! I simply asked if he'd heard any good bands as a wedding guest. I thought if we involved them in the planning, they'd be less grumpy. My guess was a tad off.
They told Coach that it was an occasion of sin to get married if we weren't planning to procreate on day 1. They assumed we wouldn't have kids until he was done with school. (Lad was born when Coach was a student. I was a worker-bee with money saved, so we managed. Ask me about the joys of buying day old bread and crafting ornaments as Christmas gifts before HGTV was cool).
REGARDLESS, I was their friends' daughter - who was pretty fabulous, obviously. I was a hard-working, fun, nice young woman, who was raised with the same Catholic values that are so important to them. They were rude, frowny faces during our engagement. That was a LONG time ago. They've continued to be opinionated, bossy-pants types. It's fine. They mean well, but we tend to keep our distance.
Has my in-laws' behavior informed my future MIL persona . . . why, yes - I do believe that it has. You're welcome to all of my future son/daughter in laws.
Our parents are friendly to one another at family gatherings, but my parents no longer count them as friends. I guess I may be a 2nd class citizen in my family of origin, but someone else treat me as a 2nd class citizen? Not having it.
Coach was in SC for the weekend with Reg for b-ball. His brother lives there with his wife and 9 kids, so Reg squeezed in a lot of cousin time. I prioritized writing. It felt glorious. I got some things submitted - they'd been mostly done, but needed some fine-tuning. Who has time for fine-tuning, usually? I also enjoyed some wine and laughs with Delilah.
What did you do this weekend? Fine-tune anything? Do you do QR codes? Do you have your sh*t together?
24 comments:
Yeah, I’m not about to add more crap to my phone. I refuse to put any financial information on my phone, either. How easy is it for that to get in the hands of someone else? Those Progressive commercials crack me up! I’ve been known to wash my garbage cans.
Two weeks of antibiotics and then you’re cured? Or will there be lifelong food restrictions?
Sorry about the in-laws. I wasn’t exactly a fan favorite of mine, either. And my parents and his never had anything in common, so it always felt awkward at my kids’ birthday parties. Funny story: I was excited to meet my daughter’s future in-laws when she got engaged but my daughter informed me that it wasn’t like we’d ever be friends. I didn’t understand until I met them 🤣
The US health system is so strange to me. It's so expensive to get treatment, and the insurance system just seems so complicated and bizarre. Believe me, the Canadian system is highly imperfect too, but in a different way. There is no paying out of pocket generally, unless there is a special service or private treatment. What happens if someone can't pay $12K for epilepsy meds? Does their kid just suffer? It's so weird to me.
All you need for QR codes is your phone's camera. That's it.
I got along great with my in-laws until they figured out that I was helping their son learn to stand up for himself against all their bullshit. Things changed pretty quickly after that.
Bijoux - The commericials are so funny. I see my sisters in them quite a bit, figuratively speaking - but I fear that my phone issues could land me in that same league.
I hope that the antibiotics will cure me, but this thing is hard to get rid of. I do the antibiotics and then we see how I feel and figure out if it worked or not. If it does work, there is still a high chance of reoccurance. There are no food restrictions, that I know of.
I have so many MANY tales surrounding my in laws. My folks tick me off from time to time, but they've always treated Coach and all the other in laws really well. Coach has no complaints about them (except maybe family gatherings on my side start early and run long), except how they play favorites . . . and I don't rank at the top of the list.
Nicole - The insurance thing is mind blowing. Other countries do it better - so why can we not take a page from their book? I keep meaning to share my frustrations with what happened with our health insurance recently. There was some sort of jedi mind trick and our coverage changed and we didn't know it. I've added the story to my list of posts to draft. By the way, that 12K for epilepsy is not for his meds - those are affordabe, that is the amount we paid for all of his EEGs and tests and ER visit, etc. Ouch. I imagine if we were living below the poverty line, we'd owe less -but we'd also have less choices of doctors, locations, etc.
QR codes go from your camera to the net. You Can Do It!
I do love those Progressive, don't be like your parents, commercials.
Five years you've been dealing with SIBO and all its weird effects. Five. years. Goodness. Praying the antibiotics kick its ass, but what is the protocol after that? Anything specific?
Your Inlaws sound just lovely. 😳😜 GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!
Nance - I don't have an iphone and my phone does not have a QR reader. I would have to upload a QR reader, which I've done before but when my phone whines that memory is an issue - I delete it.
Your in laws seem like the controling type. I have some experience with that. My husband would NEVER, EVER correct his parent or stand up to them. When they upset me, he wouldn't want me to speak my mind. Well, that went against my natural state and caused a real struggle. Finally, Coach recognized at long last that if someone is gonna tick me off, it is best to stand down and let me do my thing.
Suz - I do know how to use the QR code, but I don't have a reader installed on my phone. Coach uploaded it when I needed to go get tested for covid because that was how I had to check in at a testing place I was going to. I deleted the QR reader because I wasn't using it much. Now it's everywhere.
I think it is 5 years, because it has been about 5 or 6 years since I started struggling to sleep when things in my pipes woke me up when I felt them 'turning'. When I had the SIBO test, I had no food or water. They gave me a tiny thing to drink and it recreated the pain in my side that wakes me up. I was like WAIT A MINUTE? IS THIS PAIN A SIBO SPECIFIC THING? I don't have to eat a certain diet, that I know of, but the antibiotics might not work. I might need to do another round of meds, etc.
My in laws are a very unusual breed, for sure. Coach likes to say they mean well, but even when I squint really tight - I can't see it. They are uber controlling, as are my parents but my folks do trust their offspring to follow the faith, etc. His parents STILL need to give us unsolicited faith instruction. I'm a GROWN UP (who can't read QR codes).
Not into QR codes. I try to use my phone for as little as possible. They just mean more work for me. My in-laws have demonstrated that I am a second class family member since the beginning. Do I care at this point? Heck no, I know I have my sh*t together-- and they don't.
I really hope that the antibiotics do the trick! Good luck with it.
Your father-in-law sounds like a bit of a bully. I'm sorry they don't treat you well, but glad that someone (you) is finally standing up to him. Sounds like his kids would never challenge him. I laughed out loud at why he didn't want you to get married. SO....my parents were devout Catholics, and we were raised to be be church-going kids that followed the churh rules. HOWEVER, my parents had 5 kids with a 6 year gap between myself and youngest, the one and only boy. My mother (born in 1920) once proclaimed "if God meant sex only for procreation, he wouldn't have made it so darn much fun!" So, you can see where they stood on birth control; makes sense to me.
We put QR codes on a lot of stuff at work and I never see them get used.
I spent Saturday waiting on a contractor to come repair the roof, lost a shingle in a windstorm in March and had more damage from another windstorm and Thursday night, it started to leak. I guess the pictures of the now water stained ceiling got me bumped up the priority list!
I got lucky and the gastro I saw, gave me a bunch of sample packs of the antibiotic I needed to take, so I didn't end up paying anything for them.
I don't feel like I have my sh*t together and with the plastic sheeting still draped around the living room (in an overabundance of caution), it doesn't look like I do either!
I do QR codes, but I heard on the radio that maybe I shouldn't?! Because scammers put fake QR codes over the real ones, and then you scan it and you're hacked! So I think my QR code days are behind me.
Your in laws sound like a treat.
So very glad that you are getting antibiotics! Hooray!
So your parents are crazy AND your inlaws too??? Yikes!
I don't understand why you can't just use your camera - no QR reader necessary.
Also, Coach fake yelling GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER has me chuckling!
I got to meet your in-laws! Your mother-in-law came to my wedding in OHIO, which I thought was very kind of her. I only recall her being very quiet. However, I don't remember much about your FIL. Sounds like that is for the best. 🤣
I'm glad you'll be able to get back to normal soon!
Ally - I use my phone for plenty of things and why must we rely on them for paying to get into our kid's b-ball game too? Enough already.
I like your tie in with having your sh*t together, well played. It's strange to me that parents aren't more welcoming, because this is NOW your family. Duh.
Pat - I hope the antibiotics help. I fear that the issues that I think stem from SIBO will stick around and I'll be like WAIT, I THOUGHT THAT WAS SIBO? Next week will be interesting.
Your mom is cracking me up. So funny. Coach and his siblings avoided standing up to their dad. I think he was fairly abusive when they were young and they are all afraid of him, or they were. At this point he has mellowed out. He is a bully. Beyond that, he claims to have a very strong faith, but he really isn't always kind or interested in other people. For example, he knows very little about me. We once arrived at their house (pre-kids?) and we were standing there chatting. He was in his recliner. He waved me out of the way - I was in front of the tv and he couldn't see the score. What on earth? How about being interested in the conversation?
Jenny - I've had to ask for menus at restaurants because they now just stick a QR code in front of you and expect you to order that way.
Sorry about the home repairs. Waiting around for a repair guy is not a fun way to spend your Saturday. I'm gonna guess that you have your shit together more than you are admitting. Good luck with the repairs.
Suzanne- Look at me, I'm being cautious and I didn't even realize it. Ha.
My in laws are a rare breed, for sure. I'm envious of people with wonderful in mother and father in laws.
Kari - I forogt they were at your wedding. You killed me with this comment about not meeting my FIL for the best. You would most likely not enjoy him.
Fingers crossed that the meds work.
Beth - My parents play favorites and my dad puts too much focus on intelligence, like intelligent isnl't enough. Genuis - that's where it's at.
I consider my in laws to be religious zealots. I have a strong faith, but I don't shame other people or correct them or direct them without their request. They judge a LOT.
My phone does not read a QR code without a reader downloaded. MY phone is quite old, for one. It is also not an apple phone, it's an android. I tried to get in the game with the camera thing pointed at the code. No cigar. Another dad on the same team used his phone to do the QR thing and I paid him back.
The antibiotic hand off in the middle of the street was hopefully as close as I ever get to a drug deal. It sure brought back memories.
We used the QR thing to log into our Amazon Prime account or Netflix when we were staying in Hilton Head over the winter. Depending on your phone, you actually don't need to add an app to do it. Just use your camera. I was impressed at how quick and easy it is. Like you, I don't like to add apps, so just using the camera worked for me. Sorry to hear about your troubles, but am not up to speed to know what SIBO is, will have to google when I'm finished here. Hope things improve for you soon.
Sandy - I think my phone is too old. I don't think I'll have this phone for much longer. My kids are bugging me to get an iphone.
The SIBO thing happens to people with celiac. I've been begging my GI to figure out what my issue was for years and he just shrugged and said I probably ate gluten. I started losing weight last year and my GP was like TIME FOR A NEW GI. My new GI figured it out.
Ugh, the SIBO thing is super sucky - I felt much the same way when I was finally diagnosed with sleep apnea which I had probably had at the onset of puberty (tiny airways), and realized all the ways not getting restful sleep had screwed up my life.
The 'get your shit together' thing is hilarious though.
Ali - Ugh - that is an awfully long time to be dealing with a health issue without answers. I've tried so many different things - don't eat corn, don't eat after 5 pm, drink gallons of water daily . . . I do hope that all the things I believe to be impacted by SIBO become non-issues soon.
Coach doesn't have as great a memory as I do, so it is pretty impressive that he thought of the 'get your shit together' reference in that moment.
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