Final Class

This is my final class for Medical Office Administration, and to continue my torture I took the last class online. This will be my last online course that I take for a while.

I thought online classes let you go at your own pace. You can go in and work away all you want, maybe get ahead, maybe not. The first online class I took had all the modules open for you to see and you were able to go at your own pace, with exception to the group work. This doesn’t seem to be happening anymore. The pace now feels like a weekly class where you have to wait each week for the module to be opened; I might as well have taken the course in class.

I find working in groups online completely frustrating to put nicely. I understand in today’s world when working in an office you may have to work in groups and those people may not all be within your office, or even within your country. In the past I’ve worked with people in India and Israel. However, in the workforce you are being paid, there’s a bit more motivation when money is involved; if that doesn’t motivate them you can always complain up the ladder. Since group work counts as part your grade, you end up with two types of people who may not always understand the meaning of the words “group work”. You have some people who simply sit back, do very little and enjoy the ride/grades. Or those who like to take charge (takeover) and run the project practically by themselves. Either way, when I’m on team I like to believe that I do pull my own weight and contribute to the team. I attend conference calls, show up for meetings, and provide input and feedback.

I never really got into video games. I like card games and board games; you know where people are actually physically with you when you play the games. So when we have typing exercises on a children’s website (yes, it is geared towards children) and you have lines moving, bright colours all over the screen, and action games to practise/play, these things don’t help me; they bother me and cause me to make even more errors. Yes, they have 1 or 2 options to change around the settings but, then the test become really small. I’m an adult over a certain age (and still in denial); the eye sight isn’t what it used to be.

Tally ho,

Dee

De-cluttering

They say “if you haven’t used it for about two years then you don’t need it.” I always wonder who “they” are that come up these obscure quotes. I mean there are the famous quotes by those famous people, but others make go hmmm.

So I’m trying to de-clutter my condo in preparation for putting it up for sale. I’ve started with my closets. I brought two bags to the Goodwill and gathered up my winter clothes to take over to my mother’s place. I packed all of the ex-boyfriend’s winter stuff in a couple boxes and they are ready to go. Any day now would be nice; take it and go. Maybe if I write it often enough it will come true. And if that works then the next thing I’ll write about will be winning the lottery.

It’s amazing all the stuff (and it is just stuff) that we gather over the years; whether we need it or not. Sometimes we buy it because it was such a great sale. Other times it was because of some reason or the other. I’ve gotten better over the years, even if it’s an amazing great deal or practically free; I simply don’t need it.

I simply don’t need a lot of things in my life right now. I should just take the cat, my clothes and go. However, I do own the property. So the de-clutter will continue.

Psst…any day now would be great.

Cheers,

Dee

Hot enough for you?

Yes it’s hot. No, not just hot, but sticky humid hot. My A/C barely turns off; not that I’m complaining its nice and cool inside. But I’m glad I won’t be seeing the hydro bill for it. I used to be on the Condo board so I would sometimes sign cheques for the monthly bills if one of the other board members was away. The bills for this summer will be high, crazy high. From the cold winter and this hot summer the monthly maintenance fees will go up again next year. That’s one thing I won’t be missing from living in a condo. The awesome view I have, not having to shovel the snow or cut the lawn that I’ll miss, but the monthly fees, no.

The ice machine in the emergency department kitchen is out of ice. The thing is as big as an 18 cubic foot fridge/freezer and it’s out of ice. We all know it’s out of ice but we keep trying to push that big button once in a while to see if anything comes out. Kind of like when you see those wet paint signs and you still want to touch it.

When you’re hot you should drink more fluids to keep yourself hydrated. I haven’t been to any restaurant patios during this little heat wave yet, but I imagine that they are packed or almost empty; as in too hot to sit outside even with a cool beverage in hand. However, if that cool beverage contains alcohol, once inside you not only will get you drunk but also rises your body temperature a bit. Like the 3 people I had in emergency today, who were found in different locations lying on the ground passed out from drinking all day in the hot afternoon sun and humidity; body temperatures of 40.9 degrees and higher.  Can you say heat stroke?

I searched for some “it’s so hot …” jokes and found the following:

·       It's so hot that I saw two trees fighting over a dog.

·       It's so hot I actually felt emotionally close to our air conditioner this morning; it completes me.

·       It's so hot that Donald Trump’s hair won't go outside.

·       It's so hot that I have found out (the hard way) that my seat belt buckle could be used as a branding iron.

·       It's so hot that you discover that it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.

We love to complain about the weather; it’s either too hot or too cold. It’s all part of our nature. Honestly, I think I would miss the change of seasons if I lived somewhere that was the same all the time. We’ve been living like we’re vampires for the past few days, only coming out when it’s dusk and the temperature is a few degrees cooler. Let’s try to somehow enjoy it. Yes a nice cool pool would help, but so can running through the sprinklers. If you have kids you can do this in public. If no kids, make sure you are with friends and beverage in hand, and in the backyard of your own property. This way the neighbors won’t call the cops about some crazy person running their sprinklers on their front lawn.

Cheers,

Dee

Second Chances

 

In life we are sometimes given second or even a third chance for something. Whether it is relationships, health, love, happiness, work etc. To me the Universe hears our thoughts and prayers and tells us “Okay, I’ll give you one more chance, try not to screw it up.”

I’m ending my relationship with my boyfriend of 5 years. I can honestly say it has been the most interesting and difficult relationship I have ever had; we’ve lived together for the past 4 years. The stress levels that I’m going through right now I have no words to express them. Well I do but that is a lot of bleeping involved. But since it seems to be the norm for me lately, it’s kind of normal. I don’t remember what it’s like to not have “stress” in my life. I need to be me again which I haven’t been for a while. Relationships should be give and receive, not just take, take, take. Along with empty promises.

When I was younger (my God, old people say that) I would always wonder when I saw all these beautiful, smart, funny, loving, caring women with no man/partner in their lives. I now know why. We just can’t be bothered with some men. I have no interest in taking care of a grown-ass man who won’t take care of himself first. And doesn’t think. If you are depending on me to be a man, then you are not the man for me, period. Some might read this as “oh she’s bitter” or something. Last year I would say I was kind of bitter, but I’m way past that now. I don’t even argue with him anymore. And you know when a women stops arguing to be afraid, very afraid. My energy is much too valuable to be wasting it like that. I know what I want. I know who I am. I know what I will and won’t put up with. Period.

I’ve been talking with a guy I used to date years ago; we kept in touch over the years. We both agree that we have this connection and the communication has always been excellent. I know all of his business and he knows all of mine. He lives Quebec, which I think played a factor in why it didn’t work. But we’re both older and wiser now, so we’ll see if anything comes of it this time around. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, but we’ll always have our friendship first as the foundation. That’s important. So I thank the Universe for this small second chance and for my class test too.

Cheers

Dee

To be or not to be proper.. writing that is.

I used to write because I liked writing my thoughts or stories; actually let me clarify that. I have all these wonderful stories in my mind; some make it to paper while others are still floating around up there. The ones that do make it to paper will probably never see the light of day, but I know that they are there. However for my medical documents class, which has us reading a very dull medical document textbook about proper grammar and literally every writing rule known to mankind, is really killing my passion for writing. Every time I write something now I wonder if it’s the proper format. What comes first, what goes where, what goes last?

Do I write like I speak? I think so. Or in my case, yah. Is it always proper? The answer to that big ole question is, nope. I would probably drive myself crazy if I had to constantly think about how every word relates to the each other, or to the sentence, the paragraph, etc. Where’s the joy in that? I understand that what we are learning is needed if someone wants to become a medical transcription. I’ve even gone back to my other post/journals and looked them over. The more we learn the more critical I’ve become; I did find a few typos. It’s weird that you can write something, look it over a dozen times and not see them. Then when you look a week later they stick out like a sore thumb. I find myself looking and question everything I read now, even my silly romance novels (don’t judge).

Most romance novels are actually nicely written, not document textbook style but none the less well written. I did buy a book once directly from the author at an event somewhere. She talked it up really good so I purchased her “self published book” to support her; she has the courage I lack. Now I’m no literate expert, but it was so badly written I couldn’t even be bothered to finish it. Kind of like those 50 Shades of Gray novels. I like to read a few pages to see if I like the style and content before I purchase a book (yes I ignored my own rule for the self published one, but she was watching me), I couldn’t even buy them.

I still applaud these writers for putting themselves out there, and putting pen to paper for all to see. One day soon I hope to have that courage. It’s on my bucket list.

Ciao

Dee

Picture: http://www.hallmark.com/online/maxine/crabby-road/

Changes

I had written something else for the journal this week and then decided not to go with it. This week has just been a week of changes I guess.

I’m going to be listing my condo for sale soon and spent a few hours looking at granite slabs this week to replace my kitchen counter. There are so many wholesalers up on Jane Street in Concord; I only visited four of them. There are some many patterns, some really nice ones and some so tacky they’re fabulous. Others are just completely ugly as sin. I know each to thier own, but wow. I guess the Universe was trying to tell me something as I kept choosing the same pattern over and over and to simply go with it, Bianco Antico.

Next was having the installer’s dad come out and measure the counters. He was a very nice older (retired home inspector) Polish man with twinkling blue eyes. He did however leave some rather deep scratches in the areas near the brackets for the glass breakfast bar. I wanted to donate the counter and breakfast bar to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore. I hoping it will be salvageable for them to reuse instead of ending up in the landfill.

I’m still debating if I should change over the appliances to stainless steel. They’re currently white and so are the cabinets. I saw another listing for the same unit as mine but it was five floors up. I think mine has better original finishes (plus updated bathrooms) and they don’t have stainless steel appliances either, but they are asking for $249,000. Our units are only 642 square feet. Again, whisper with me now $249,000 dollars. However, we are in the downtown Mississauga, across the street from the Mississauga Celebration Square and Square One. I will be keeping an eye on the listing to see what happens over the next few weeks to finally decide if I should change the appliances to go with the new granite countertops; they don’t have that either.

Dee

  picture:google images-dowtown mississauga

Makes you go hmmmm?

My week has been just there.

Work was busy, not crazy busy, but just busy. Wish we had more hours. I now see why so many hospital staff work at more than one hospital. However, some enjoy part-time hours because some days are just crazy busy. Many departments are only hiring part-timers, however many people in all areas are also looking to retire early. Smile.

I think my typing is getting better, although as I mentioned before my fingers are so tired some days I feel like my mother complaining about how her hands feel stiff sometimes. I also find that I’m thinking about the things I type. For example, one exercise was about showers/baths and water consumption. Sure enough when I’m in the shower I think about that exercise and water consumption. Really? Old people think like that. I’m really not liking getting older.

Old people also think about bucket lists, I don’t have a bucket list. It would help if I had a lot of money too; or met a really old guy who had lots of money, and no dependents, and falls madly in love with me and wants to leave me a lot of money. Bucket lists would give you (well in my mind that is) that younger 30-something spirit.

Like the 90-year-old skydiving grandma. I guess you have no fear at that age. Now, what would be on my list? What would be on yours. What’s the first thing, what’s in between, how many and what would be your last item? Okay, to many questions makes you go hmmmm, doesn’t it?  Have to really thing about this. I’ll probably forget in a few days, but hopefully the thought is planted and floating around.

Now to find the old guy.

                                     

Ciao

Dee

Old habits are hard to break

So are old typing methods. Plus, it doesn’t help that when at work due to the applications we use our hands are all over the place, including the function keys. We’re also very right sided; to the point where I have to wear a wrist bandage/guard thingy to prevent carpal tunnel. If I don’t wear it and we’re busy (which is most of time these days), I can feel it in my wrist, forearm, and sometimes to my neck. So I wear it.

The keyboards are old. The pull out on the side that holds the mouse seems like it was an after thought it, it’s slightly lower and awkward. However, we finally did get some new chairs that can be properly adjusted and they have arm rest as well. Now if only the desks, the computers and the keyboards would be upgraded then everything would be considered modern. Like the 5 years ago modern. The new building of the hospital has nice shiny things. Oooh, ahhh. So jealous. Sad the things that make you jealous as you get older.

My point I’m trying to babble on about, is that after working a long day at work in emergency registration, with some people telling me I’m not nice because I’m asking all those questions when they are dying; and yes, as long as you can talk we will be asking you all those questions. So no, you are not dying. My hands, my mind, and my soul are tired. I’m up and down and all over, it’s exhausting. Sometimes I don’t feel like sitting in front of a computer to practise typing. I can feel the stiffness in my fingers when I try. Yes I played the piano and the flute when I was younger, but the operative word being “younger”. I haven’t practised piano in years. Okay, we’re pushing a decade or two. Shhh.

The happy place on my U-curve needs to kick in, like now. Any day now would be great.

Dee

picture: http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/bds/bds1212/bds121200977/16680692-tired-businesswoman-

New class. Here we go again

So here we go again, writing a journal/diary/blog for class again.

This time it’s for Medical Documents. Really. As to why we need to write a journal for Medical Documents is beyond me. Since I’m taking it online (yes, I’m doing yet another online course; let the good times begin) I assume it’s to see if we can put together a sentence properly, and I mean properly. When reading the assigned text book and going over all the grammar we supposedly learned in grade school, nouns, adverbs, and all the proper punctuations, it’s amazing how much we learned. It’s also amazing how much we have forgotten. I mean, I don’t remember learning about nonessential phrases, or parenthetical expression, but the paragraphs I’ve just written has them. Ha.

My first journal entry for this class was quite brief. My second entry existed, well in my mind it existed and it just failed to make it to paper is all. No excuse, but I can explain. I was working nights that week out of the blue and I remembered I had to do it, but when working nights is not part of your regular schedule you tend to get a bit absent minded and lose track of things, especially what day/time it is. Also my mother’s house, which is a semi-detached, was affected by lighting that had struck the neighbour’s house. The wall that is between them blew all her plugs and few others in different locations; along with the phones, TV and the cable. So I helped her in dealing with the insurance, cable, Bell Canada, and the hydro people. Luckily, we have a family friend who is an electrician and he went over right away to make sure things were safe.

I had mentioned in my first med-doc journal that I was going to look for my piano timer to help with my typing speed. While at my mother’s house, I looked for the timer; which is called a metronome by the way. My mother thinks my niece took it when she was learning piano. This means I’ll never see it again, sniff... sniff. Oh well, I still have to slow down and focus. My mind is constantly wondering while I type. I see the letters, think of my finger placement, might even say the letters softly, yet my mind sometimes wonders off. How I am suppose to write my best selling novel?  Those games don’t help me; good ole practice is my thing. Maybe I’ll use voice recognition when I write my novel(s). Yet, the way my mind wonders that might be scary to see down on paper, but it would be very interesting. Smile.

Ciao for now,

Dee

Friday Nights

Friday night.

I’ve had a long week and here I sit with a glass of wine, trying to figure out what to write for this week, sounds sophisticated doesn’t it? Except for the fact I woke up not too long ago from a nap because I’ve barely slept for the past few nights, worked, had classes and ran around all over the place today with my mum. So here I sit with a small glass of really nice wine in a glass that has the Roadrunner on it; not your average classy wine glass is it. Maybe I’ll start a trend.

I remember the days when Friday night meant coming home from work, chilling, taking a nap and hitting the road around 11pm to venture off to whatever club or pub was the happening. Spend a stupid amount of money, might repeat it on Saturday night and then back to work on Monday. Now, we pray that we make it to the end of the week without doing bodily harm to someone at work, pray we don’t have road rage driving home and hope the house is still somewhat clean. Because if you meet someone’s sock(s) at the front door and the twitch in your eye returns (and be very scared if it’s only one eye twitch) it’s safe to say you will probably lose it on the first person you see, including the cat. This is the highlight of your Friday nights now baby.

I was curious about what older adults these days do on a Friday night. Last year the girls and I would occasionally go down the street to a local bar/pub. For a while it was a happening place for 30-50 yr. olds, and then for some reason it died down. The place closed and I think it was sold to a new owner; haven’t had time to check it out the new place yet. Why did it die down? My guess is that we (being those 30-50 yr. olds) can’t afford to go out every weekend like we use to. We have bills to pay, mortgage, family responsibilities. Plus, we’re probably just too tired. The concept of date night is great, when you’re not tired, cranky, and actually feel like spending quality time with your other half and want to have a real adult conversation. We just don’t go out like we use to and it’s hard to for places that will cater to us for stay in business for long.

I Googled “things to do on a Friday for older adults” and got hits about insomnia, elder abuse. So I Googled again and got everything from taking a bubble bath, going to a museum, club (like I want to be in a sea of 20-year-olds) curling, dinner, movies, etc. There are things out there but it depends on whether you are by yourself or if you can drag someone along with you.

So with my roadrunner cup of wine, I sit and write. Later I will try to track down my teammates as we have a few projects to work on (remember my steps blog) and then pickup a medical textbook and read until I fall asleep. Welcome to the new Adult (sometimes student) Friday night. My Generation X peoples where are you?

Cheers,

D

Adult Acne

Adult Acne.

As if I didn’t have enough issues in my life, actually let me re-phrase that as, enough stress in my life. Now add to it adult acne. You remember that dreaded thing you had as a teenager, it was almost a rite of passage into your adult years. Everyone had it from the mild, like me to the extreme. But it was all part of puberty along with raging hormones, and that awkward first kiss.

So why do I have even more acne now than I did as teenager? Ask the almighty Google (honestly, what would we do without search engines, that’s a whole other topic) and go through the list of reasons and my new middle name “stress” pops up. Nice.

According to the various articles (thank you aging population) it’s very common and the majority of women between 30 - 50 are victims. Yes I said victims. Increased stress levels (I actually saw the words chronic stress) and hormonal changes are some of main causes that can cause an overproduction of the oils on our faces that clog our pores, which create blackheads.

So how do we get rid of them? In a nut shell they say a healthy lifestyle and limit the stress. Ha, and Ha again. Wait one more haaaaaaa. And no chocolate is not a direct cause, Hallelujah. I’m not a big chocolate freak but I do like the occasional sweet treat. We should use adult acne products, and or, see a dermatologist. Honestly the amount of money I’ve spent on products I should have just gone and seen a dermatologist. Lastly, proper cleansing techniques don’t over scrub.

Again, that freedom 55 or 65 is really looking good, seriously. I’m booking an appointment with the dermatologist.

http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/elizabeth-tanzi-md/adult-acne-common-frustrating-problem

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/conditions/my-adult-acne-wont-subside-what-can-i-do/article623477/

http://beauty.about.com/od/skinflaws/a/adultacne.htm

U-Curve

I’m a lot happier now than I’ve been in the month. I quit my condo board, just too much on my plate right now. A few weeks back it was like if anyone looked at me the wrong the way I’d want to snap their heads off; then sit alone somewhere, usually my car and sometimes cry. I don’t know why I find comfort in my car but I just do.

School is still frustrating. I’ve done this b4 (not the online) so not sure why I find it such a struggle right now.  I talk to other mature students about how frustrating online courses are and then they tell me they also tried and gave up. Are mature students simply programed differently? Most of us didn’t grow up with laptops or IPods attached to us with everything easily accessed at the tips of our fingers.

 

The other day I typed in Google “30s 40s and unhappy”. I found a study a few years back called the U Curve that said we are at our unhappiness, depressed at this age. According to Prof Oswald "The 30s and 40s are therefore painful times when reality sets in but when you get older you've learnt to accept yourself”. Yep, I feel it. That we are in a U curve and currently at the bottom of the curve right now.
I am not alone, thank God. Reading this surprisingly made me feel happier.  Yes misery does like company.
Here’s one of the articles: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1576872/44-is-the-age-of-depression-say-researchers.html.

I used to laugh at those Freedom 55 commercials, it’s looking real good these days.

...steps

 To add to my step process: If you are put into an online team and find yourself constantly chasing them down to work on an assignment, make sure you copy the teacher. You may have to submit a project with half the team or on your own, at least the backup will be there to prove you’ve tried.

Steps

A few weeks back the online program was down for a whole week. Gotta love technology.

 Was thinking other day that there should be an easy (operative word being easy) rulebook or guidelines for this system, because whomever designed it clearly did not involve the end user, the adult end user that is. Especially one that is taking an online course for the very first time.

I tried looking for something but all I found was characteristics of the adult learner and or, teaching the adult learner. Yes we are a different group, we think and react completely different. When I first learned the Blackboard 1 system I was in the classroom with a teacher. Good. They took a bit a time, not as much as I would have liked, but still it was something to show us a few things. So for their next generation Blackboard 2 that was similar we had no guidance. No teacher actually showing me where to go and I was left on my own to figure it out. 

So what does the adult learner do:

Step 1. Freak out. Yes freak out, curse, and curse some more. Just get it all out for a day, or two, or even a week but let it all outttttttt. Trust me you will feel so much better.

Step 2. Email (that is once you figure out how to do it on the new system) your teacher asking a lot of course related questions. And if you happen to be put into a group for assignments, chances are that they are in the same boat. It’s the blind leading the blind. Plus you may end up to babying the young ones. I’m really am too old to chase some people’s children down to get them to do their part of an assignment. Your teachers will probably curse your name upon seeing yet another email from you, but meh, they are there to guide you, non?

Step 3. Now calm down. Chances are you’ve probably read too much into what is needed to be done. You see young people don’t have all those so called live experiences that were supposed to have, so I know when I look at problem/question I over think it. I’m like it can’t be that simple, right. But guess what, it can be. We Adults like things straightforward. So when you first look at Blackboard 2 with all your online course stuff coming at you from every direction and you think your mind is going to explode. You might even find yourself saying “what have I gotten myself into”, don’t you dare quit. Take a deep breath, pray you don’t strangle someone and relax a bit.

Maybe I’ll end up writing out more steps as I go along. However, I don’t have time to fully write and or read another thing. I’m not working today (notice the time of this post) but I’m behind with both with school and home life. I’m doing laundry right now (again notice the time) Ahh the joys of the adult learner.

So that’s where I am right now, steps to be hopefully continued.

dee

Ever get woken up either in the middle of the night or super early in the morning?

Like when your cat decides to launch themselves from the headboard and land on your stomach and your eyes pop open and your body decides to say ughhhhh?

You can sometimes get back to sleep (somewhat), or you kind of lie there and your mind gets flooded with all you've been thinking about lately; school, work, payback to the cat, school...

Well I'm up now, hence me writing in here at 7:46am and school is on my mind.

I keep thinking what have I gotten myself into with this online course. I like face to face interaction. I still have no clue what I'm doing.

Yes I can say this is a new challenge, one that is exciting and overwhelming at the same time but I just want to....something...scream. Maybe I'm feeling the affects of SAD... or a midlife (early, real early) crisis.

Last week was a long week at work, the hours alone were exhausting. It was also the time of year that SAD, seasonal affective disorder is the highest. Had a lot people, especially kids come in under crisis http://www.680news.com/2012/01/17/january-17-winter-woes/ .

So got some things off my mind for a second, going to try to get some get a nap before the alarm goes off.

Dee

Okay so this is my very first Blog.
This is part of my Business Communications course and we need to write a blog. You can tell by my lack of excitement to this it is something I rather not do but, maybe I'll like it, maybe I won't.

I'm not one to have my life as an open book. I have a Facebook account, but not many pictures or post are there. My close friends know not to send me important invites/info there because by time I actually read or respond to them the event will be over. I don't Twitter, or that latest thing Instagram that I've heard about in the news.
Yes I said the news, that form of media information that tells you what's going in the world that you hear on the radio, or watch on TV. Why do we need more?

I actually had to Google what a blog was; to me it's a modern diary. Open to public for all to read. Really. Why? Why do I need to know (or share) all the thoughts happening in your head?  My head can be a scary thing sometimes. We all have things to do, places to go, people and pets to look after. Is this an escape (like the original concept of a diary or journal), maybe? I guess I will find out.

Like I said it's for school so we shall see how this goes. My goal is to write, wait gotta get the lingo right, my goal is to blog about being an adult student (you know we don't learn as quick as you young ones), and having to balance all the other great and wonderful adult stuff in our lives that makes it a living hell... I mean a living pleasure, that's it.

So Ciao for now, gotta go study
Dee