The Vent and Rant Thread

[Rumpelteazer]

And that was my sleep for the night (at 2 am).

I was woken by a strange noise and after a couple of minutes I realized it sounded like a roof tile moving/sliding. I looked out of a window on both sides and didn't see anything obvious. But it's dark and might have happened above the windows. Or it might even happened on a neighbour's roof and the sound travelled.

Granted the last couple of days have been windy. However, on Thursday and Friday both neighbours had their gutters and roof checked and repairs made. They offered me a discount, first the standard discount for multiple neighbours having work done at the same time. A day later I got an even better offer that I wasn't allowed to tell the neighbours about. Which made me mistrust them. After some back and forth through messaging with my sister (who's on vacation) on Thursday we decided to hold off on having our roof done.

I suppose the chances of a roof tile moving at one of the neighbours is probably higher than that is ours, since people have been on their roofs. Those workers shouldn't have been on ours. But again, it has been windy. However, if it turns out to have happened on our roof I'm suspicious about it. It would be a very big coincidence if a roof tile slipped just after we got an offer for checking/repairing our roof.

Going outside is useless, it's too dark to see. Plus, at 2 am there's nothing I can do about it. There's still a chance of rain in the next couple of hours. So I expect I'll get little sleep tonight.

There is one last possibility and that is that I dreamt it; I was mostly asleep when I heard the sound. And with the roof being on my mind these past couple of days my brain might have produced the sound. Won't know until it's light, or when it starts leaking if it rains.

[badgoodDeb]

Wishing your roof well!

I keep dreaming about ding-dong-ditchers ringing my front door bell. It finally happened when I had family staying with me -- and they heard nothing! So I've determined they are probably all just dreams. Sigh. They wake me up pretty thoroughly, though.

[Rumpelteazer]

I can't see anything amiss with the roof. I can't see the two rows of tiles just above the dormer window, though. I'll keep an eye out for the neighbour across the street and will ask if he can check it out for me from his upstairs window.

But it looks like either my brain made up the noise or, I realized earlier, it might have been a bird sliding down the roof. It still sounds strange to me when there are birds on our roof, so it might be that.

I hardly got any sleep. about 90 minutes before the sound and maybe the same afterwards (I did doze for a while).

Rain isn't expected until tomorrow, and only a little. So hopefully I'll see the neighbour before then. Otherwise I'll keep an eye on my dormer for leaks.

On the roof at the back I did see one tile with the bottom slightly lifted. I'm not too worried about it. And in a couple of weeks the solar panels are going to be installed, so I'll ask those guys if they can straighten that tile.

[Terisa de morgan]

Glad it has been a dream and I hope you can talk to your neighbors and those tiles are fine too.

[Rumpelteazer]

This repairperson from the garden furniture store is coming this morning. He'll arrive between 8 am and 10.30 am. It could be worse I guess as time frames go. But I'll be cranky when if I got up at 6 am only for them to arrive after 10 am.

Hopefully he can get both tables put together properly. The small table is a fairly easy fix I think. The big table might be problematic (holes for the bolt on the table and legs don't line up).

[Rumpelteazer]

It's the time of year I dread; time to come off my anti-histamines. In spring I start taking it for my hay fever and continue through summer because it helps reduce my heat-triggered eczema.

When I stop taking it I always have a couple of day (mostly nights) that I'm itchy all over and sleeping is hard because of that. Add to that a warm night and a mosquito bite and I got all of 5 hours of sleep.

[ownedbycats]

My cat found the hiding place for the catnip, but can't get to it. So instead she sits nearby and repeatedly screams.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

My cat found the hiding place for the catnip, but can't get to it. So instead she sits nearby and repeatedly screams.

And whose fault is that?

I don't bother hiding catnip toys. Yeah, that means the cats lose interest after a couple of days, but so be it. After a while I order a couple of new ones, they're cheap.

[ownedbycats]

It's dried catnip in a bag.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

It's dried catnip in a bag.

Keeping catnip in your home and trying to hide it from your owners is a recipe for catastrophe.

[Deskisamess]

Doctor's offices and their informational phone calls can really suck.

Took my 93 year old mom for an ultrasound of her kidneys and bladder last week, as her kidney function is reduced. It's most likely for not drinking enough water, but she is stubborn and not terribly agreeable at this point. She lives on her own still, and has no major health issues, and is of very sound mind. She's not been eating enough either, but we ran around quite a bit last week and she seemed fine, for almost 94. I should mention the ultrasound showed her kidneys to look normal, but she does have a 4 cm cyst on one of her ovaries. She has no pain from this.

So the doctor's PA called me yesterday. Jumped right to, "It may be cancer, we need to decide on treatment or hospice..." Mind you, there was no type of warning etc. But as the PA is reading me the notes from the Dr, she is not making any sense. Turns out the Dr uses a "speech to text" software, that jumbles it all up, so the PA sounds nuts as she tries to read this report. Don't forget, my mom has no pain, no signs of cancer, other than this cyst that could have been there for years.

I told the PA to back up, and asked how we went from a simply kidney ultrasound to cancer and hospice. She sort of mumbled some more, so said I wanted to know if the Dr wanted to do more blood work for cancer markers, or to check her kidney function again. She said she'd call me back, which she did a few hours later.

So I unloaded on her. Told it was highly unprofessional to start a conversation with the C word and hospice, for not addressing the original issue, and for sounding totally confused as she tried to make sense of the Dr's notes. She was supper defensive of course, and said it was because the notes were so confusing. I told her she should have sorted out the confusion before calling me.

Can you imagine my elderly mom if they had called HER, and not me? I'm still steamed.

I have not said anything to my mom, or my 2 siblings. My sister would get all worked up about and she is currently living 12 hours away. I don't think this is cancer, but will try to talk to the Dr. next week when we return from a little trip.

[ApK]

^Yup, people are idiots.

[BetterRed]

@Deskisamess - If by PA you mean an administrator with no clinical qualifications then IMO it's the doctor who is unprofessional, here it could even be unlawful on privacy grounds if nothing else. Thankfully we get to choose our primary care doctor(s) rather than an insurance company or government algorithm.

BR

[Deskisamess]

PA is Physician's Assistant. They aren't doctors, and are supposed to assist the doctor's in dealing with non-emergency situations, and communications like that phone call. I did request, last year, that my mom only see the doctor now when she goes in every 6 months. It's not unusual for the PA to handle the regular checkups, but I told them at 93, my mom needs to see the doctor each visit.

My mom has seen this doctor for 30 years I think...this is the first time I've had a bonafide complaint about anything with them.

I have mixed feelings about the doctor herself. She is very down to earth, and genuinely cares. She is very no nonsense, and she doesn't overbook, so you're never left waiting for hours. She is loud, but maybe because many of her patients don't hear well. She is very overweight, which bugs me no end.

[BetterRed]

Aah - what we call a Practice Nurse or a Nurse Practitioner (they can prescribe some pharmaceuticals and order diagnostics).

Given the diagnosis wasn't routine, I still think the doctor should have called you or at least briefed the PA verbally.