Would someone please send that nurse to charm school?

Since this is my place to whine (and you can't stop me!) i feel the need for a good whinge (British word meaning "to complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner." The Free Dictionary.)

i've spoken of the Chronically In Pain Clinic at Kaiser before. Previously i've dealt with a delightful R.N. who soooothes me and makes me feel like i might live. If she is cream, the other nurse is vinegar gone bad. She sounds bored when speaking to me on the phone. She does stuff like she did today where i was talking to her and saying "i really don't want opiates, they seem to have bad side effects for me--is there not something else the doctor can try that isn't an opiate?" Her answer was "well, they use Motrin." Her explanation being that the doctor is known for treating pain by getting a good level of opiates in a patient's system and keeping it that way. But what if said patient does not want said opiates in her system? Let's just say, they make parts of her system which should be on the move think they're doing a charade of the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Not good.

i recognize i can be a bit of a babbler, so my hubby The Skimmer says. But i think i was just trying to give Nurse No Charm the important details to take back to the doctor. As i am saying, "call me back on the house phone," she suddenly says, "I'm hanging up." "Whaa?" i say, though i should be used to her Non Charming ways. "I'm hanging up now," she says, and laughs. "Oh." i say. What else does one say in that situation? i'm a nice person. i've know enough other people from the not-a-nice-person pool to recognize that i try hard to be kind and polite and such. The part of me that wanted to dip into that other pool wanted to say, "So sorry to bother you!" (or something equally junior high.) But the nice side won out.

i mean, isn't it her job to help get this settled to everybody's satisfaction? This cartoon i found today sums up my present state of being, given the fibromyalgia, the achy flu and snotty nose i have and the difficulty breathing that earned me a breathing treatment at the doctor's yesterday:

i am getting very close to grumpy. i realize i don't deserve special treatment, but how about just some good ol' fashioned kind treatment?

i feel somewhat pathetic, and perhaps spoiled by the people skills of the Nice Nurse. Perhaps i really am just the dog below--

Saturday in Bridgewater.

Today we had a family morning at my son-in-law's work. He's a doctor in a practice with four other doctors. It's been a while since some things have been done--i mean, they've been doing their doctor-ly work, looking in ears and throats and wherever doctors are prone to look. But the building is looking somewhat tired and old, so he and the others want to give it a little lift--a new hairdo and a manicure at least.

They are part of the NHS--National Health Services, i think it stands for. Everyone is taxed which pays for their medical needs. It's not a perfect system, but neither is the American one. Unfortunately, what that means is they don't have the Kaiser-like money to spend on cool buildings and giant art for the walls, but they want to do what they can. If this means the doctor takes in his drill on a weekend to rehang the toilet paper holder, well, that's what we do, then!

We did a variety of fun little things--brought back the wood from beneath the layers of hand grime that had built up on the beautiful stairway handrail, scrubbed the steps themselves, covered some bulletin boards in fabric, sifted the assortment of gossip magazines and home and gardening magazines into a manageable amount. Sadly, there were probably two men's magazines in the whole bunch, making those an easy choice to keep.

The two little grandBrits did a great job of keeping themselves happy and busy, playing with the child toys in the waiting room, watching Curious George on grandma's laptop, checking up on mummy and daddy.

And so the process of brightening begins. Maybe Shawn will have this baby soon and i won't need to scrub any more stair treads.