Thanks for the Chicken!

Once again Nancy Snyderman is using The Today Show as her bully-pulpit!  She is extremely and BLINDLY pro-vaccine.  She wantonly ignores the thousands of children killed or injured by mandatory infant vaccines.  Namely the DPT shot!

My letter to the Today Show:  (I am sure they will ignore it)

Once again, I find Nancy Snyderman’s article on vaccinations unconscionable!

I have a family history of contraindication to vaccines!

When the AAP can GUARANTEE that their vaccines, notable the pertussis vaccine, is NOT toxic and a danger to infants, then she has a case, but at this point, she is 100% out of line!

My eldest child had an anaphylactic reaction to the DPT shot and almost died!  Against my better judgment,  I inoculated her with the series.  Despite a reaction to the first 2 shots, the pediatrician insisted she complete the dose.  Supposedly, her reaction was ‘below the guidelines’ for contra-indication.  A few hours after her 3rd shot, she was non responsive and blue!  Thank God I had switched that appointment from evening (7:30) to morning (10 AM), or she would have surely died in the middle of the night!  I credit her life being saved to the nurse in the pediatrician’s office, as I rushed her there because it was closer than any hospital. The emergency room staff at LIJ also brought her out of seizures from the shot.

Long story short…my 3rd child also had a reaction to the DT component of the shot…again an INSISTENT doctor.  This pediatrician had a similar attitude to the doctors you profiled on the Today Show 9/1/11.  Her attitude was “I would lose one child – for the Greater Good!” 

There are certainly ways to keep non-vaccinated children away from children with compromised immune systems.  AND….as a parent…I would take a few days in the ER with whooping cough over an infant death ANY DAY!

Social Media is Improving Customer Service!

As one who constantly rails against poor customer service, I must say I am noticing a slight change in the trend!  Utilizing social media to @mention the issues gets my problems on the radar of the company execs or CS managers.

1. It began with a less than stellar experience at a local restaurant.  It was a minor annoyance but the way the shift manager handled it is what sent me to Yelp and Twitter.  I gave the restaurant  a “meh” rating and complained about the manager-on-duty.  I  tweeted that the manager-on-duty was clueless.  Within 24 hours, I had the restaurant manager following me on twitter and yelp, and messaging me with apologies and an invitation to dine again on the house.  She has followed up with me a few times so far, and I can say my opinion has changed to positive.   http://www.yelp.com/biz/big-city-tavern-fort-lauderdale#hrid:JBPHmwqKG_CtjK9rc7YKKw/src:self
2. My second experience was to tweet about my (constant and chronic) problems with #ATT.  Lack of service, email problems, billing issues, etc, you name it, I have experienced it.  For the past few years, ATT has been non-responsive and even hostile.  Once I started tweeting….everything changed!  I have had techs at my home 4 times now, I have at least 4 execs troubleshooting my accounts.  I have received innumerable credits (some of which I deserved, some are gifts).  I guess tweeting with #ATT and @ATT got me on the radar, and put my issues out there for others to see!
3. I was social-media-emboldened by this time, so during a few service calls to #iRobot to complain that my Roomba died a premature death, I threatened to tweet and blog about my experience.  Roomba cost is over $300 and they give a year warranty. (they were trying to convince me to buy a totally new Roomba for a 20% discount…yeah right!)  I spoke with 3 CS managers, and not until I mentioned the word “tweet” did I get any satisfaction.  They completely replaced the device at NO COST at all.  Of course, this is a ‘one time courtesy’, blah blah blah.  What it is in reality is a social media courtesy.  Fear of the hashtag!
4. Yesterday’s experience was with #Apple.  I will not bore you with details, but suffice it to say Apple Customer Service has deteriorated greatly in the past few months.   The ‘geniuses’ are dum-dums.  Over the course of 3 days I was frustrated with Apple TV and my iPhone.  The first 3 CSRs I spoke with were unhelpful.  I tweeted once or twice mentioning ‘bad customer service’.  Finally yesterday, “Ephraim” understood my issues with both the devices and the CSRs.  I am now receiving some free Apple products in the mail!  Apple NEVER gives free stuff!

These 4 experiences were over the course of one month!  Outing these issues in public forums such as Twitter, Facebook and Yelp does more than remove the typical response “You are the first customer to have this issue”, it also provides the company stakeholders with real customer interactions.  Gone are the days of an ATT CSR telling me that his/her supervisor is not available.  I have a direct line to them via Twitter!

As a result of having an impacted tooth removed surgically, the root from the adjoining tooth was ‘nicked’.  10 – 15 years later, that ‘nick’ ended up fracturing the root of my tooth. 

My dentist told me I needed it removed and a bridge put in its place.  I was not a candidate for a root canal, or an implant because she claimed my bone was weak.  Hesitantly, I went ahead with the procedure. 

Now let me let you know a little about me.  I ask questions, many questions.  Before having my first child, I researched childbirth for close to 2 years.  I like to be informed.

When I asked the dentist about the process, she started to label me as “that one”.  When, after 4 shots of novocaine, I was still not numb and asked why, she told me “you ask too many questions”.  It eventually took SIX shots of novocaine to numb my mouth and instead of pulling the tooth out of what she called a weak bone, she had to DRILL the tooth out of my head!  It turned out tht tooth was firmly implanted in the gum and bone.  She was wrong all along about what needed to be done.

My entire face ended up being black and blue for 4 days after, and the temporary bridge kept falling out.

I went back yesterday for what she indicated would be ‘an impression’.  When she pulled out the novocaine again, I asked why she was numbing me again if all we needed to do was take a rubber impression.  “oh you’re THAT ONE”    I was told that she needed to wrap each tooth in string and it might bother me.  This was a lie.  She proceeded to drill the teeth on either side down even more than the first time.  When I flinched from the pain of drilling an already drilled down tooth, she got extremely annoyed.   Once again, it took numerous shots of novocaine to numb my mouth, and she acted like it was MY FAULT.

She again told me I ask too many questions, and ‘do I want to be a dentist?”  When I firmly informed her that I was a consumer who was paying her (over $2000) for the service she was providing me and I wanted to be informed of what she was doing to MY BODY, she shut up.   She finished the procedure with veiled hostility. 

Then I learned I would have to be drilled AGAIN in 2 weeks when she puts the crown in place!?!?  Why can’t she do it right the first time? 

To boot, last year, she told my son he had 7 cavities.  When his father took him to his dentist, he said most were just stains.  He had 2 cavities.

Insurance is such that I have very few choices in my area.  I’ve been forced to use her, or travel half an hour to another dentist on my plan.  On top of it all, her front desk clerk is snotty as hell.  

From now on, I will be driving half an hour from Weston, FL.

Have you noticed Google’s image has been replaced by a barcode today?  It is the 57th anniversary of the patent of the omnipresent barcode…later to become the UPC.

Bernard Silver and Norman Joseph Woodland received the patent on October 7, 1952. The original barcodes were circular in design.  It was soon determined that equipment needed to read the barcodes was well into the future.

Originally barcodes were used to (unsuccessfully) label train cars.  The first successful application of barcode scanning was on June 26, 1974, when NCR implemented it in a supermarket in Troy, Ohio.  A pack of Juicy Fruit Gum was the first item to be ‘scanned’.  Now these barcodes are ubiquitous.  Even cellphones have 2d scanning software to ‘read’ barcodes.

I wonder how soon we will all have barcodes tatooed on our bodies!

Today is also my grandfather’s birthday.  He would be 111.  Happy Birthday in Heaven Grandpa!

When you were born, you didn’t come with an owner’s manual; these guidelines make life work better.

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s the only thing you are sure to keep for the rest of your life.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called “Life on Planet Earth”. Every person or incident is the Universal Teacher.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of experimentation. “Failures” are as much a part of the process as “success.”

4. A lesson is repeated until learned. It is presented to you in various forms until you learn it — then you can go on to the next lesson.

5. If you don’t learn easy lessons, they get harder. External problems are a precise reflection of your internal state. When you clear inner obstructions, your outside world changes. Pain is how the universe gets your attention.

6. You will know you’ve learned a lesson when your actions change. Wisdom is practice. A little of something is better than a lot of nothing.

7. “There” is no better than “here”. When your “there” becomes a “here” you will simply obtain another “there” that again looks better than “here.”

8. Others are only mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another unless it reflects something you love or hate in yourself.

9. Your life is up to you. Life provides the canvas; you do the painting. Take charge of your life — or someone else will.

10. You always get what you want. Your subconscious rightfully determines what energies, experiences, and people you attract — therefore, the only foolproof way to know what you want is to see what you have. There are no victims, only students.

11. There is no right or wrong, but there are consequences. Moralizing doesn’t help. Judgments only hold the patterns in place. Just do your best.

12. Your answers lie inside you. Children need guidance from others; as we mature, we trust our hearts, where the Laws of Spirit are written. You know more than you have heard or read or been told. All you need to do is to look, listen, and trust.

13. You will forget all this.

14. You can remember any time you wish.

 (From the book “If Life is a Game, These are the Rules” by Cherie Carter-Scott)

One of the funniest things from our concert last night was when my husband disappeared for a good 15 minutes.  He had gone to the men’s room during a ‘new’ rather uninspiring song.  This is always the time when most people choose to take a bathroom break.

When he got back, he said “this is the problem with a 50+ event”.  THE LINE AT THE MEN’S ROOM IS LONGER THAN THE LADIES ROOM!

Ahh.. the prostate = the great equalizer!

What is amazing about my generation is the passionate way we love our music.  The consensus from anyone I meet at the trail of ‘retro’ concerts I attend, is always that our music and the movement that came with it (or vice versa) was a world changing event.   Music was a medium to express and deliver messages.  The artists communicated through their songs, and during those turbulent times, the messages were sometimes gentle and serene and peace oriented, but they also expressed outrage.

Baby boomers ARE their music.  The sounds of our youth shaped us and BECAME us and we became the words and messages in the songs.  We became the passion in the endless jams that spontaneously developed.  We became the peace in the words of love and acceptance.  Witness the impact of Woodstock!  We created a revolution, both cultural and political, through music!

While we have seen CSN (and CSNY) many times before, the poignancy of seeing one of the icons of Woodstock 4 days after the 40th anniversary of Woodstock was moving. 

They started with an acoustic set and opened with Helplessly Hoping (yawn).  They played favorites like Wooden Ships (always gives me chills), Guinevere, Deja Vu, Southern Cross Almost Cut My Hair, Teach Your Children, Our House and ended with an audience rocking Love the One You’re With.  They came back for 2 encore songs.  I was disappointed in 2 things.  One that they didn’t open with (or even play) Woodstock.  And two, that they didn’t play Carry On.

The concert was less than 2 hours, but for sexagenarians, that’s good.

As a long time fan of Jackson Browne, I was thrilled last year to get his new CD “Time the Conqueror”. On the cover, he appears in a full grey beard and sunglasses. The album, as with many boomer musicians lately, was full of nostalgia and reflection. Obviously he is at a point, as are many boomers, of taking stock and while not looking back per se, ‘forgiving’ the past, and at the same time being a victim of time. The songs are political, but also poignantly timely. Lyrics such as: “If we could just believe in one another” & “How long do we imagine we will be free?” certainly address the moods of the day. Jackson Browne has been referred to as the songwriter’s songwriter. He is a poet.

As a long time fan, unfortunately, I had never seen him in concert. Earlier this year, I told my husband that there were 2 performers I had never seen, that I would be sure to see if they were to ever tour again. Jackson Browne and Cat Stevens. A week later we heard that JB would be touring. We combined a trip to my parents with the concert at Foxwoods! It was phenomenal!

After buying the Time the Conqueror CD, I was shocked to see that he looks like he did 30 years ago, but most of all, his voice hasnt changed a bit. What a fantastic romp back to memories of 30 years ago! The only disappointment was that he didnt play Late For the Sky.

Now if we could get Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam, to go on tour!

I have always been a fan of the music of Leiber & Stoller. My husband & I have seen “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” multiple times. 4 for him, 3 for me. As a matter of fact, we just saw a local performance of “Smokey Joe’s” THIS Saturday at the StageDoor Theatre in Coral Springs.

Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller wrote songs for the likes of Elvis, Bobby Darin, The Coasters and so many more. Their music is a constant presence in our culture with hits including: Kansas City, On Broadway, Jailhouse Rock, Spanish Harlem, Love Potion #9, YaketyYak and Stand by Me.

“Stand by Me”, as performed on this video, has even more significance today than ever before..

My husband has a “favorite car”. It is the Volkswagen Eos hard top convertible. He LOVES it. I don’t. (usually)

My complaints are: 

1. the seat is made for a 6′ tall person.  The headrest hits me in the back of the head in such a way that I have to look down into my lap when I sit there.   If I sit up so I can actually look straight ahead, I have absolutely no back support.  Usually I take a pillow for some kind of lumbar support, but that becomes a pain. 

2. With the top down (as he always wants) I either end up with sand in my eyes, a mess of hair or hat head.  Not to mention the flying papers or packages from the store.

3. In Florida, the seats are HOT!!  Heaven forbid he get fabric seats!

Yesterday morning, my husband came to me with a dilemma.  He had an early morning appointment, but had a flat tire!  I offered to switch cars, and I would wait for the AAA guy.

The AAA guy fixed the tire, and I was on my way to work by 8:30AM.   I was PREPARED this time!  I had my pillow, my hat and sunglasses.  As I opened the top (what’s the point of a convertible if you don’t put the top down), I gloated at how ‘futuristic’ the process was.  Wathcing the Eos top go down is like watching the “Transformers” cartoons.  I drew a crowd in my neighborhood.  The Middle-School kids on their way to school stopped and gawked.  It was fun!

Buzzing down the boulevard with my red hair flying, I felt about 25!  The 60 degree morning blowing over the top of my head was exhilarating.

The difference is, my office is just about 5 miles from home, I dont have to get on the highway, like my husband does.  Highway driving in a convertible is not a good feeling to me.  Now that I think of it, maybe my next car will be a convertible!   With FABRIC SEATS!