My yard used to be a playland
One of the many advantages of my job is that I work at home sometimes, especially in the summer. [Read more →]
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Now that it has decided to jettison its classic slogan, top ten suggested new slogans for Fox News
10. “Nobody Fox with the Truth Better than We Do”
9. “Ruining America Since 1996!”
8. “At Fox News, ‘Harass’ Is Two Words”
7. “Proving You Can Be Right and Wrong at the Same Time”
6. “Where Journalism Goes to Die”
5. “Deutschland Über Ailes”
4. “You Can’t Handle the Truth!!”
3. “The Inside Poop, Straight from the Horse’s Ass”
2. “For Fox Sake!”
1. “Unfair and, Especially, Unbalanced”
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
You dummies want screens…
I know it’s all too easy to say “this jumped the shark” or “that jumped the shark” about moments in our entertainment-addicted/addled/saturated culture, but a few commercials I’ve seen have really pushed me to wonder how, well, stupid they think we are. [Read more →]
Top ten classics being made into superhero movies
10. Little Wonder Women
9. Of Human Torch
8. The X-Man Cometh
7. Daredevil and Daniel Webster
6. Kiss of the Spider-Man
5. Doctor Strange and Mr. Hyde
4. Anne of Green Lantern
3. Of Mice And Superman
2. The Naked and the Deadpool
1. The Groot Gatsby
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
Back and Broke in Philly
Back in Philadelphia was when I first saw my father as weak, as dependent, and as a guy who didn’t like working. Despite his lack of funds he seemed insistent on this last point—he would avoid work entirely unless he found what he considered to be his proper position. This was when I first saw that he’d possibly risk getting booted onto the street rather than take any job. In 1991 we were in the heart of the first Bush’s recession, and it didn’t seem like there were many of those idealized white-collar management positions around. My father was overweight, unemployed, under massive debt, and for the first time in my life, I saw him as old. He hadn’t had a full-time job since 1987, and I could see he wasn’t looking forward to searching for it. He knew the companies didn’t want him anymore, at least not for any kind of lucrative position. [Read more →]
Talk is cheap… but it’s not disappearing just yet
It’s a pretty regular occurrence lately. I’ll be in one part of the house, and I get a text from another part. Now, I know you think that I’m a high-paid blogger, living in a mansion that requires long-distance intra-abode electronic communications, but the truth is that my living arrangements are modest, with all parts reachable via shout, if not slightly elevated voice. [Read more →]
Top ten dog one-liners
10. To err is human, to forgive, canine.
9. My wife wanted me to help her start a dog collection, so I gave her a couple of pointers.
8. I’ve had no luck at all trying to teach my dog to dance, because he’s got two left feet.
7. I’m pretty sure that, if dogs could talk, their most common phrase would be, “Are you gonna eat that?”
6. When I took my dog to the flea circus, he stole the show.
5. A German shepherd craps on my lawn every morning, and today he even brought his dog.
4. I tried to teach my dog how to fetch, but he just doesn’t get it.
3. I lost my dog, and I don’t even have collar ID.
2. I went to our local zoo, but all they had was a dog in a cage — it was a Shih Tzu.
1. My dog has been sitting outside in front of the snowman for an hour, just waiting for him to throw one of those twigs.
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
Oh, hell no
Sometimes something seems like a good idea, and then it seems like the worst idea ever.
I’ve been going to Moffitt in Tampa for all my cancer fun. It takes some time to get there and back. Every time I have an appointment I plan for a three hour minimum trip. I call it the three hour tour (if only it would end with me stranded on an island). I’ve been happy with my care there, minus a couple of hiccups and the very long time that it takes to get certain appointments.
That being said, when my oncologist at Moffitt suggested that I didn’t really have to drive there for chemo if I wanted to get the infusions somewhere in St. Pete, that sounded great. I could get my heart checked at Moffitt and get my port put in, then go to the oncologist in St. Pete who had previously been at Moffitt and now had her own practice. This all seemed like winning to me. Cutting my commute by two thirds sounded like a no-brainer.
As soon as I had the port placement scheduled I called the St. Pete office to schedule chemo. It doesn’t work like that, of course. First you have to get a consultation, and I couldn’t get that until a week after my port was put in. The first warning bell went off when the appointment setter said that it might be a week “or so” after the consultation before I could start chemo. This was due to checking with insurance, time it takes for meds to arrive once ordered, and available openings. I should have told her to forget it and I should have just called Moffitt. I want to get this over and done and move on. I did not call Moffitt. I just said: “Ok.” Sigh.
I waited for the consult, which was today. As I pulled up to the “cancer center” I began to feel like this was not the place for me. It’s in a sort of strip mall. When I walked in, every ounce of my intuition screamed “NO!” There were dirty (yes dirty, like scuff marks and smudges) walls. The chairs were older than the office chairs at my kids’ underfunded public school. The carpet was dingy, the “art” was mismatched and faded. Maybe that doesn’t sound so bad. Maybe I sound like I’ve got a case of the first word problems. Maybe I do. In my experience, though, environment is always a reflection of something, and that something is usually not good. I looked at that uncared for space and connected it to the care that would be given to me. Beyond that, as a chemo patient your immune system is a mess. You can get infections or illnesses so easily. It really should be the cleanest joint in town. There was a giant TV, though, constantly playing local news (cheerful as ever), so there’s that.
Being the nice midwestern girl that I am, I waited to see the doctor anyway. I thought that it was possible that she would be wonderful and thorough, and that the back of the office would be tidier. My blood was drawn and the girl did a great job, it was painless. Then I was led into an exam room. It looked the same as the waiting area, though cleaner. The doctor was lovely. Young, great hair, very professional attire that she probably got at Banana Republic or Ann Taylor. She mostly said the right things. She joined the practice 9 months ago. The doctor she joined has been there 25 years. I mentioned the environment of the office in what I think was a light hearted way, and she said that sometimes the crooked pictures on the walls distracted her while she talked with patients. “But,” she reflected, “the important thing is that our infusion area is comfortable, nice recliners.”
It didn’t look comfortable to me. It looked dark. It looked scary.
She introduced me to the nurse in charge of the scary room. The nurse didn’t even look at me. She just took that moment to tell the doctor that she wasn’t feeling well and list her symptoms.
At the desk as I was leaving the receptionist said that they would call me after my drugs had been approved, ordered and delivered. “If you don’t hear from us in a week or maybe a week and a half, give us a call.”
Say what? If I don’t hear from you? Should I be expecting you to just forget about me?
I replied that if I didn’t hear from them in a few days I would be calling, because I just wanted to get past this. I said it with my nice girl smile, and everyone smiled back.
I was already thinking that they wouldn’t need to order anything for me at all, I just had to settle it in my mind. I called someone who works in the oncology field and has been through this herself. We were 100% in sync. No chemo at this place, not for me.
I called Moffitt as soon as I got home. Hopefully I’ll get a call back tomorrow to schedule my chemo there. More three hour tours to come, but at least I know the care is good, the physicians have high standards, and someone does a good job tidying up at night.
Top ten horses least likely to win next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes
10. Appaloser
9. Not-Very-Thorough-Bred
8. My Little Pony
7. Night Mare
6. Tripod
5. Seattle Stew
4. It’s A Grand Old Nag
3. Feckless Equus
2. Shouting Myself Horse
1. Sean Spicer
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
