The Day Surgery Waiting Room

You definitely need a helmet or, at the very least, good ear plugs when you wait around at a hospital. As I sit here for the second time this month while my father has cataract surgery, the television is blasting an episode of Judge Joe Brown. Since I've never seen the program, I may not be qualified to evaluate, but I suspect this may be one of the most annoying shows in TV history. Bear in mind that is a very bold statement from someone who used to watch The Price is Right as a child.

This day surgery waiting room is quite unpleasant, but perhaps no worse than the eye surgeon's office where we spent several hours during the many preoperative visits. There we squeezed into a very large jammed packed area where patients wait to see one of two doctors in an elaborate winding path through multiple stopping points. The goal is to actually make it to the room where a real doctor sees you - for 3 to 4 minutes.  Yes, folks, it's runs like a factory and is just as impersonal.

Now we all know I'm cranky and impatient, but anyone would find this irritating. I also found it sad reflection on a health care system controlled by the insurance industry. The process has to run like a well-oiled machine or it can't run at all. On a positive note, my dad can see great now. Thanks for listening. Oh, and please spare me any more Judge Joe Brown.

What Must It Be Like?

Today I feel a little sick. It's probably just a touch of the flu, but  I feel tired, weak and dizzy. I had to pass on an early morning couponing excursion and a trip to the gym. I've been trying to do a few chores around the house but find myself having to sit down to rest every few minutes. Everything is a bit of a struggle. In short, I can't do what I want and need to do today. Poor, poor pitiful me? No, not at all. I will be fine, or as my mother says, "right as rain" in a day or two. So what's the point of all this? It made me think about people who live with chronic illnesses and who are not  able to simply bounce back after a little rest.

It made me think about what it must be like to be young and living with cystic fibrosis. To have the desire but not the energy to move through life with the zest and the passion you feel in your heart. To miss and worry about your young son and your husband when you have to be  hospitalized and away from them. To  need a double lung transplant at the time in life when most of us are healthy and strong with hopes and prospects for a bright future.

There is no way I could even begin to know how Aimee Driscoll feels, but I do know that we can help her and her family through the Second Chances Foundation. Please visit and like the page at http://www.facebook.com/2ndchancesfoundation  Please consider sending a donation and/or attending one of the foundation's fund-raising  events like the upcoming Halloween Masquerade Ball on Oct. 26th at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston.

Of course, I would love to see you all at our Couponing Workshop Tuesday, October 23rd at 6:00 PM at Kaplan University in Lewiston. Maureen Hopkins of 2012 - A Year in Coupons ( http://2012incoupons.blogspot.com/) will be talking about using coupons and taking advantage of store rewards to get the best deal possible on things you use every day. We will also be raffling off a fully-stocked coupon binder and a CVS gift card to jump start you on your couponing adventures!

If you can't attend, you can send checks made payable to Second Chances to Oxford Federal Credit Union, 225 River Rd., PO Box 252, Mexico, ME 042576.

Who Needs Sleep?

You really need a helmet when you agree to get up at 5:30 a.m. to go couponing with Maureen. This is especially true for Spring Ahead Weekend since 5:30 is really 4:30 in the morning. (No, you can't fool me and I'll still be subtracting an hour every time I look at a clock for the next week.) At any rate Maureen can be persuasive and I do enjoy the occasional Cadbury Egg for the stores involved, so I agreed.

We stumbled into the CVS store when it opened at 7 (really 6 remember) and I had my marching orders. "Go to the chip aisle and get four bags of Chex Mix." I started to hurry until I realized there was no one trying to elbow me out of the way, retrieved the loot, and awaited further instruction. Meanwhile Mo buzzed about filling a shopping cart while I yawned and checked in on Foursquare.

When checkout time came around, the Coupon Queen of Windham handed me two coupons and told me to use the $3.79 ECB (that's extra care buck for those of you not in the know) that I got the last time we  did this. Imagine my surprise when after all was added and subtracted the clerk said "That'll be 21 cents." I was so surprised that I giggled. How embarrassing!  Coupon assistants are not supposed to giggle, but my mentor should have better prepared me.

Still chuckling we headed to a second CVS store where I repeated the Chex Mix Magic and also got 36 rolls of toilet paper added in for about two dollars total. Hey, I just follow along, do as I'm told, and laugh a lot. If you want the details and the secrets, read Maureen's blog - 2012 - A Year in Coupons at http://2012incoupons.blogspot.com/

YouNeedaHelmet When You’re Working on Your Family Tree

Seeing all those television ads for ancestry.com got me thinking about my own family genealogy. Of course, I’m referring to that monumental project I worked on in the late 1970’s and hadn’t looked at for decades.  After navigating my way around the web site, I decided to rummage through the basement to find my musty boxes of photographs, ephemera and notes.

Here are a few long forgotten things I found:

I also found hand-written notes and amazing photographs from as far back as the 1880's.

Who entrusted me with all these treasures and when? Thank goodness I kept those tired, well-worn boxes with me through all my many moves. I've spent the last three days just totally absorbed. I hope I can finally honor that trust now. I'm going to finish what I started in 1977. Wish me luck, and, of course, I'll keep you posted.