HIPPA matters, does it not?

OK, so there's this thing called HIPPA, the Health Information Privacy Protection Act. It means that if you're a medical provider, and you receive information from a patient, that you have to keep it CONFIDENTIAL. And yet, the other day I saw a practitioner that was covered by my insurance -- she had managed to "lose" my insurance card copy, and needed it again. And, she acted like it wasn't a big deal... but to me, it was! My insurance card holds info on my entire family -- and "losing" that breaks all the rules.

I think I need to let my insurance company know.

Sick violation

What do you do when a person you thought was a good person, turns out to be a soul-less sociopath? How do you cope with that? I'm struggling with it, and it still just stuns me that someone I thought was a normal, decent, responsible person was instead a criminal. And that that person decided to steal my signature as "their own" to get money. It's just... difficult to believe, but it's true.

What will happen to this person? Prison looms, it will be a life-changing experience for them. PRISON. Federal prison! YEARS behind bars, all for... money.

Sigh. Money is NOT the most important thing in life!!!!! It just makes me sad to think that someone I saw day-to-day, face-to-face, could be such a crook, and all for... money.

I am so thankful that I am not that kind of person. And I look forward to seeing that person get their just deserts.

Live out loud, because there's no such thing as privacy any more

(And if you think there IS, you're probably old, or a tribal nomad.)

I had a conversation with a coworker today, who gleefully told me about an issue that's cropped up at his alma mater, Univ. of Northern Colorado. Seems one of his UNC profs has been charged with some sort of "sexual misconduct" -- and he said that within about 24 hours, it was all over Facebook, and all his old buds from college who knew the prof were hooting about it. The story's here.

So, what's the point? Simple: that no matter who you are or what you do, nowadays you have to just assume that if you do something assinine, it WILL get out, and it will probably get our like wildfire once it hits Facebook. Especially if you have people anywhere in your "seven levels of connection" who are regular Facebook users.

So, if you do something stupid, or something illegal -- it WILL catch up with you. There is no stopping it.

Makes you wonder how "image managers" of the next century are going to work!

I am waiting and hoping to see a story break on Facebook, and I will watch with joy when it does.

Weird dreams about work

Given that things have just been WEIRD and UNSETTLING recently, I guess it's no wonder that I'm having trouble sleeping. My dreams have morphed with people from my current life, to scenarios from my previous life... putting, say, people I work with now into the situation where I was working or living ten or more years ago. THAT's strange. I'm sure a lot of this is simply because I spend so much time with coworkers, that they'd naturally appear in my dreams (and at least they're not nightmares!)

Growing veggies

I've got tomatoes, basil, Japanese eggplant, and three types of peppers growing in the back yard. So far, I don't have high hopes for the eggplant -- it looks like there are a whopping three blossoms going. The tomatoes are looking pretty good, including the hanging "topsy turvy" one I got for Mother's Day, where the plant grows out of the bottom of a hanging container, and then grows upward. It's very strange, but looks like it has a lot of fruit.

Stephen Covey talks about the law of the farm -- that you cannot throw corn seeds in the ground, and expect to sow an abundant crop the next day. It takes patience, much toil, nutrients, and time. We all need that, don't we?

I've been in analogy-mode this week, thinking about what it takes to learn and master new skills. I'm studying Spanish. It's frustrating and awkward to speak this new language -- it slows me down, I have to take baby steps, but I know that if I continue to apply myself, eventually I will become fluent.

That's the ticket -- time, attention, and much toil, to get what you want.

****THINGS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET I REALLY LIKE***

Last night I walked into the family room, and found Ayla watching the movie "Cool Runnings". I stood there a minute, and it hit me how much I really like that film, and that I had not thought about it in at least five years.

Ayla said, "I remember seeing this over and over when I was, like, nine." -- that's because it was one of the movies I had in my fairly small video library. But yeah, she did watch it a bunch, because I had it on. I loved the story of gumption and redemption, and success in the face of defeat. And, the music made me happy.

So -- I want to start a list of things that I just plain LIKE, so I don't go another five years before I suddenly remember I like them. And if it's a long list, I don't care.

At first, I thought I'd just publish it here -- but on second thought, I think I'm going to be more organized than that, and start a spreadsheet that I'll save to my Desktop for this. And, if at some point, I want to share some of the list, fine.

But for now, it's mine.

My idiot dog jumped off the roof this afternoon

This is one of those situations where, if I had somehow been outside with my video camera in hand and rolling, I'd probably win big bux on some "stupidest videos" game show.

Preston McGinty, now AKA Flyboy, noticed that Marty had left his office door open, and, given that the temp today was in the mid-80's, the office window was open. The office is on the second story, and the window opens onto the roof of the garage.

So. Our neighbors across the street were treated to the sight of Preston, the `60 lb. Irish Wolfhound, climbing out the office window on the second story, skittering down the shingled roof, and jumping off onto the cement driveway.

Stupid-ass dog.

The miracle and surprise is that I'm not sitting at the emergency vet hospital right now, waiting while they fiddle with multiple broken Wolfhound legs. Nope. The idiot is just FINE, thankya. Matter of fact, the doofus seems to be QUITE pleased with himself!

Harrumph. Idiot dog.

What else? I've started swimming laps while listening to my audiobooks, and I LOVE it -- I can make an hour disappear without hardly even noticing it. But, I think Marty and Ayla are appalled by the way that I manage it. Two snack-sized Ziploc Baggies wrapped neatly around my Creative Zen player, with the player attached to the top of my head via a rubber band or clip. We went swimming early this morning before work, and they both just laughed at me. I don't care -- THEY were farting around; I was actually swimming many laps. Hah. But I admit, I'm sure it must look pretty silly. Good thing I usually swim where there are hardly any people there.

Ugh. I am so very close to turning 47. THAT feels OLD to me, even though I don't feel old. In my head, I think I'm probably somewhere between 29 and 34, that's what it feels like. I don't feel like I'm pushing 50. 50 feels OLD to me! Ancient. I honestly feel like I'm still almost the same as I was 15 years ago. OK, I'm not quite as limber, and a little slower... but in my head, I haven't changed a bit. No idea what that means.

How I hate housekeeping

And I guess that's TOTALLY unusual, right? Everyone else likes to clean house? OK, I've been putting it off, and I need to just buckle down and get it done.

I had been paying a housecleaning team to come in every other week, but it was just crazy expensive. $160 a visit! That's way more than I can really afford for such a luxury, and they really did go overboard on every visit. Sure, the place was spic and span, but I just don't see the need to move furniture every single time! I'd be fine with just paying somebody to do the kitchen and bathrooms, vacuum and dust, and be done with it. Hopefully I'll be able to find the time to hire somebody again soon, because I can't stand having to use my weekend time for this! Bleah.

OK. Enough stalling. Gotta go get the work done. Harumph.

The reward later today will be going to see the movie UP.

thunder, thunder, thunderation

those were words from a basketball tournament cheer I vaguely remember from elementary school in San Francisco. All of us St. Cecilia kids would head over to Holy Names School (because unlike us, they had a Gym), bedecked in our Blue and Gold finery, and we'd cheer on our IRISH, our team. The St. Cecilia Irish.

I cannot remember what the HN team was called, but I know they were wearing white and red, those were their colors. We'd be in blue and gold -- they'd be in white and red... vivid memories of, maybe, 7th grade, carefully tying blue and yellow ribbons in my long hair, to 'cheer on the team".


And why the hell is this occurring to me now???? Because as I started typing, the THUNDER started rolling and rolling again outside. What a week of storms we've had! It's been crazy.

All in all, today feels like a very good day, like it's going to be a very good weekend. I'm preparing for Brenna to finally up and move to Florida, which I know has been in the cards for quite some time, but still it's going to be tough to have her... NOT-HERE. She hates to hug me, but still, being in her physical presence is a balm for me. Having her on the edge of the continent will be, tough.

But that's the nature of things.

Work has been stressful but so very satisfying, and different. I know I have been ignoring the staff, but at least I told them to expect this for a few weeks -- and heck, it's good for them to have to just manage around me. I'm not expendable! Good to have them make decisions, even if they decide on things that would differ from my own approach. Learning, we're all being presented with opportunities for learning.

It's turning into a beautiful June in Colorado. Birds everywhere, which is lovely to listen to. Squirrels chattering outside the window. Glimpses of coyotes now and again, especially at dawn. Love it.

Saturday, ah, Saturday. Freedom, MY time. Love it.

OK, the shoe fetish thing...

So, I'm waiting for video to render for a work project, and while waiting, I've been surfing eBay for shoes in my size. Nothing has changed, apparently -- in my size, the biggest group of shoes tend to be labeled something like "sexxxy dominatrix pumps, 6" spikes" and so forth. (OK, that might just be enough to get me blacklisted or something, who knows?)