It's always something scary. Or irritating.

So, our boy had an appointment for a panoramic dental x-ray today.  You see, a year ago, he had one done, which revealed a small "radiolucent spot with a radiopaque outer rim."  Or some such crap.  We took him to an oral surgeon, much to Blue Cross's chagrin, who didn't want to do much of anything.  He said that, with the placement (directly under the roots of his bottom incisors), anything he did would be potentially devastating.  He recommended a "watch and wait" approach.  He recommended x-rays in a year.

So here we are.  The small spot below the incisors?  The same.  But now there is a much larger, irregularly shaped radiopaque spot underneath our boy's wisdom tooth and extending to just below the adjacent molar.  #31, I believe.  This is big, it's not tiny like the thing under the incisors.  So it's back to the oral surgeon.  The dentist said "it might just be swelling from the wisdom tooth starting to impact," but this is the same dentist who totally missed my salivary stones and insisted that pulling our boy's deciduous canine wouldn't inspire the adult tooth to come in (even though, a year earlier, that's exactly what his old dentist did for the canine on the other side, and it worked).  So I don't know.

I don't know.

What I do know?  Is that we don't have dental insurance.  We have GEHA, which is a supplemental thing, but when you're knocking a three grand bill down to fifteen hundred, it's still a grand more than you have.  No idea how much this is going to cost, only know that we don't have it.  But we have to know what's going on here.  Our insurance really balked at covering the Oral Surgeon last time, tried very hard to insist it was DENTAL, which they don't cover.

Oh, sweetie.  Be okay.  Please.

Today's x-ray, unmarked

And labeled for your viewing pleasure

So, the dog's training is paid for.  I actually thought we were going to wait a month, see how my medical stuff comes out, but it's done now.  Gotta tell you, I don't want a pelvic, I don't want a mammogram, I don't want to step on that scale and have to feel like hell about myself.  But I DO want the CLEAR results of that mammogram, I DO want someone to say, "Everything looks normal," and I absolutely NEED my metoprolol script re-upped.  And if I don't go for the pelvic, then I have to go to the GP/PCP and ask HER, and I sure don't want to do that.

Medical care exhausts me.  Co-pays exhaust me.  But, being someone who's lived without health insurance for long periods?  It could be worse.  I recognize that.  

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Been reading a lot about the Steubenville rapists.  Been seeing all the sympathy rolling their way.  

Because, hey, if you can't blame the victim, who CAN you blame?  Not the RAPISTS, clearly.

Let's get something straight here--no matter what she wears, says, does, no matter how she acts or how much she drinks, no matter where she walks, drives, or passes out, the RAPIST is the one who calls the tune, the RAPIST is the one who decides to RAPE.  I don't want to hear about the rapists' promising athletic careers or academic whatever-the-hells or, gosh, how sad that they'll be registered sex offenders.  What else do you suggest they register as?  They are, after all, SEX OFFENDERS.  Stop acting like they're poor little victims.  Their poor little victim had her name, her reputation, and her very life strewn out and torn to bits in court in defense of rapists.

Of rapists.

If you don't like rape, don't rape.  If you don't want your sons serving time for rape, teach them not to rape.  Teach them to respect women--all women.  Teach them that their hands and their penises stay to themselves unless expressly invited.  Teach them that alcohol poisoning and Rohypnol  are not forms of consent.  Unconscious or barely conscious can NEVER give consent.  

Period.

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Hubby picked up The Hobbit on Blu Ray last night.  From what I understand, the wonky 48 frames per second gig won't translate.  I get the feeling I'm glad about that.  Just finished watching it, and I'll get into it tomorrow.  Not feeling all that charitable tonight, will probably be less critical after a night's sleep.

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I want to take a moment to discuss "slactivism."  You know, the whole "I clicked a button, I forwarded an email, I shared a meme, I've DONE something!" thing that seems so common these days.  

Hey, I share memes--not because I think I'm raising money or making change.  I know better.  I share memes because they're funny or because they reflect my feelings about something, and I share them with folks I know likely share my opinion.  Every once in a while, if I know someone's open or on the fence, I'll share something that I think might nudge them over.  If it's something not wildly inflammatory or insulting, that is.  I don't consider that "slactivism" because I don't think I'm being an "activist," I don't think I'm accomplishing anything other than amusing myself and my friends.

I guess, to me, the term "slactivism" refers to people who post a meme (or a magnetic ribbon on their SUV) and feel they've done something, like their obligation to be active and humanitarian has been fulfilled.  You know, with stupid crap like this:

Which came with the following stupid caption:  

I am not asking you to hit like but i am asling

you to please Share .

Poor baby Suffering from Cancer , For every

share of this pic , Facebook will donate $1 to

the parents of this baby .

___________Sharing will Take Secs ___________

_______________ Please Help____

Okay, folks?  People?  Please?  This sort of thing is ALWAYS BS, okay?  ALWAYS.  Facebook/Microsoft/Apple/FEMA/Walmart/WHOMEVER is NOT going to donate WHATEVER amount to WHATEVER sick baby based upon your clicks, forwards, or shares.

Period.  So stop it.  You're like a virus, you just eat up bandwidth and waste people's time.  Stop it.

STOP IT!

On a related note?  "LIKE this soldier/baby/child-in-a-wheelchair/legless-dancer/bedraggled puppy, SCROLL if you hate them" memes?  Those are also not activism, they don't accomplish anything, and trying to guilt people into sharing your stupid crap is . . . well, it's stupid crap.  Stop that, too.

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And now that I'm all done yelling about stuff, do me a favor?  Check out my comparative reviews of CAMERAS and CHOCOLATE.  Because they really do go together, and if it weren't for cameras and chocolate, I'm not sure life would be worth living.

And that's all, I think.  Except for some bad paneling.  I know, I know, I promised bad RED paneling, but that's on my iPad, and I haven't sent it over yet.  Until I do, have some turquoise with  . . . is that coral?  Salmon?  LOL, what ever it is, it's perfectly precious!

Do not reprint without permission. © KAQ

Vegans and Sex Offenders and Facebook, oh, my!

So, I'll start with the vegan.  We've been Facebook friends for a long while now--never met "IRL," but she's the friend of friends, and she can be very smart and funny.  Unfortunately, she's also frequently strident, condescending, condemning, intolerant, and flat-out insulting toward folks who don't share her dietary peccadilloes.  Yes, this is the same woman I wrote about the other night.  Well, last night, she reposts a story I'd posted (here:http://www.upworthy.com/bully-calls-news-anchor-fat-news-anchor-destroys-him-on-live-tv?g=3), but uses it as a weird way of defending her smoking.  That's right, the woman who spends at least a little time every day insulting folks like me who are omnivores pumps cigarette smoke into her body on a daily basis.  Her argument?  Why isn't it okay to slam this woman, but it's perfectly fine to slam me for smoking?

As someone who has struggled with both weight and nicotine addiction?  I felt uniquely qualified to answer that one.  And I did.  I said, "Because my fat doesn't waft across the room and clog up your lungs, your sinuses, or cause asthma attacks.  My fat doesn't cause YOU to suffer chronic ailments.  My fat doesn't stink like a wet, lung-y ashtray, and it doesn't coat the walls and blinds in homes I rent." 

Harsh?  Maybe, but it was a stupid comparison for her to make--smoking and weight are like apples and anvils.  Weight is its own problem, and you can't make smoking LESS bad by saying, "Yeah, well, what about fat people?"  That's just a dodging tactic.  I know, I did it for years.

She gave me every crappy excuse *I* ever gave when I was caught up in the throes of nicotine addiction.  She argued that SUVs put off more pollution than her cigarettes (yes, but I'm not trapped in a room with SUVs, cigarettes can't carpool six people to work, and aren't you old enough to realize that pointing at someone else's failings doesn't excuse yours?), that health insurance costs more for smokers (sometimes--ours never did), etc.  And, being a little tired of her, I said, "You know, I used to say the same silly crap when I was trying to avoid facing just how lousy an addiction to smoking is--it was silly when I said it, and it's silly when you say it."

She dropped me.  After almost two years of my biting my tongue and not fighting back when she told me what a slob I am, what an uninformed, sloppy pig I am for eating meat, how my diet is single-handedly responsible for every ill in the world, she dropped me.  After almost two years of her posting "natural news" article after "natural news" article, post after post on the magical wonder-qualities of veganism, after her astoundingly silly posts about how it's abusive to train dogs because . . . oh, hell, who knows why, she dropped me the moment I actually argued back. 

Saved me the trouble, I guess.  See, that's why I never argued back for these nearly-two years--because I had her pegged as one of those who can dish it out but can't take it.  I was right.

Now, on to the sex offenders, eh?

I got a message from one of my dearest friends that an old classmate of ours--a classmate who is a registered sex offender--is back on Facebook.  This guy has a history of "enticing minors," and he knows he's not supposed to be hanging out on Facebook (he knows it because he's been tossed off Facebook before because of his sex offender status).  She reported him again, and, no doubt, he'll disappear again.  For a little while.  Since it's been a while (and because my niece and nephew still go to my Mom's house pretty frequently), I pulled up the state sex offender registry and started checking.  And WHOA, there's some guy who's on my Facebook friends list!   AND he's non-compliant!  Wow!  And what's that?  Some sex offender with multiple charges and child victims just moved in two houses down from my Mom's place!  Obviously, all I can do is warn my niece and nephew, and let the poor woman with the two young daughters next door know. 

Before you think I'm some pitchforks and torches type, I'm not.  I absolutely believe that sex offenders should be rehabilitated and given another chance.  However, this guy's already been convicted twice, with the offenses more than three years apart.  So he's had his second chance.  He blew it.  That aside, I still don't want him driven out or hurt, but I believe wholeheartedly that the parents in his vicinity have a right to know so they can protect their children.  Imagine how awful it would be if this man attacked one of those neighbor girls and I had never warned them?  This isn't the first time there's been a sex offender on the street--there was one just across the street a few years ago.  We all knew, all our kids knew, but no one harmed him, no one damaged his property or treated him badly.  We just watched our kids and made them aware that they weren't to hang out there or in any way engage in depth with the guy.  It worked.  No one got hurt, everyone was safe, and the guy wasn't hassled.  Like I said, I'm all for rehabilitation and a new chance at a good life, but, as a parent, I need to be aware.

On a totally unrelated note, what's happened to my Muscadines?  Last year, there were tons of them at the stores, but this year I only found them ONCE at Walmart!  None at Wegmans, none at Shoppers or Giant--what the heck?  I've been waiting all year for more Muscadines!  If you've never heard of or seen a Muscadine grape, they're an east coast phenomenon, they're native to Virginia, the Carolinas, etc.  They don't ship well, so I'd never seen one in Utah.  The flavor is very sweet, with an intensely tangy, smoky skin that slips right off (though I eat the skin).  Amazing!

Muscadines--yes, they are that big.  If they were green, they'd be "scuppernongs."

And that's been my excitement for the day.  Tomorrow is Charlie's birthday.  Our one year old puppy!  We're going to take him to Petsmart and get him a treat.  We sure do like him.

Charlie, fresh home and ears flat-no clipping, just needed tape.

Charlie, with Fala and the boys, ears taped up with medical tape.

Charlie and his beautiful ears today.  Singing.

Oh, and one last thing--tonight our President, Mr. Barack Obama, is facing off against Mr. Mitt Romney in this campaign's first debate.  With all due respect, Mr. President, hand him his backside and gently nudge him on home.  Thank you.  For everything.