A Sign from the Great Beyond

Matthew and I went to a celebration at a local bar and grill last night to commemorate Joe Titone's 35th birthday. There was family, friends, beer, pool, and music, altogether a night Joe would have really enjoyed. At 5:50 PM, the exact time Joe was born, we toasted to his memory. At that same exact moment on the jukebox Jimmy Buffet's Margarittaville song came on. Joe was a huge Jimmy Buffet fan! None of us requested the song, nor did we find anyone who did. If you ask me it was Joe letting us know that he was there!!

Don't be Fooled by the Commercial...

This post is for all the women out there who read my blog, although you men should care about this too. It is in regards to this pharmaceutical called Gardasil. Gardasil apparently prevents cervical cancer and is being pushed to young girls and women as some sort of miracle vaccine.

I want to urge all of you to not get this vaccination. At least not right now!

1. Gardasil hasn't been out that long and hasn't been tested to know its long term side effects or consequences.

2. The average age of woman who are diagnosed with cervical cancer is 48, so why is the drug being pimped to young women and girls who have a very, very, very slight chance of getting it? Why not to women in the age bracket most likely to be affected?

3. Merck's agenda should be closely scrutinized as they are also trying to push legislation that would require this vaccine be given to all girls above middle school age. Again, why?

4. The vaccines (a course of 3 shots) are extremely expensive ($360), most insurance companies will cover it, until the woman turns 18, than it isn't considered necessary.

5. The vaccine doesn't work for life. There are booster shots that need to be administered. Of course, these booster shots would be at the woman's expense (after age 18) if she chose to continue treatment.

6. I have been unable to find any proof that cervical cancer, in any way, has been avoided in the age group of 9-26.

Further studies and long term consequences of this drug need to be investigated before mass legislation is passed to require this vaccination in all young women and girls. I urge any of you who are considering this vaccination to do a little research and read about it...don't just trust what the commercial tells you!

Where is My Bail-Out Mr. Obama?

There is an old saying that "knowledge is power". I am beginning to believe that knowledge leads the way to hopelessness and despair. I say this only because after listening to two weeks of Jerry Doyle (see the previous post) and getting the straight skinny on what is happening in the world of politics and our federal government...well...we ALL are so screwed.

Remember all those billions of dollars the taxpayers "agreed" to give to the banks, TARP money as it is called? Remember how that was supposed to help the common person? Remember how people were going to keep their houses and their jobs? Remember how this bail-out was going to keep kids going to college?

Well, from my vantage point in little ol' Tucson, Arizona, that isn't happening!

I just got my financial aid notice for next year. Hey, guess what, the Federal Government (with whom I get my student loans) has offered me money, but not enough to cover the outrageous tuition hike that U of A imposed on its students. Thanks!

Oh, and Bank of America has decided that my 7% interest rate on my credit card (used for buying school books, additional fees that U of A secretly adds that loans won't cover, and parking permits) isn't enough money for them, so they have notified me that they will be increasing my interest rate to 14% effective May 1st. Might I add that this isn't just me, this is thousands upon thousands of loyal and trustworthy consumers who have never missed a payment and have never been late. This is 100% a money making decision (and a desperate attempt to screw over the consumer before legislation is passed that would prevent exactly this happening)...OH, AND BANK OF AMERICA ACCEPTED TARP MONEY FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT! Why exactly do they need to raise their rates if they received bail-out money????

So, Mr. Obama, I don't have enough money to go to school next year and I can't use my credit card, so where exactly is my bail-out?

Jerry Doyle

Part of my birthday gift from hubby this year was a year subscription to the Jerry Doyle radio program. This entitles me to download his radio program to my iPod so that I can listen at my convenience, since I am NEVER in the car when he is broadcasting.

Most of you have probably never heard of him (you ubber geeks out there will remember him as Michael Garibaldi from Babylon 5), and I am guessing most of you probably won't like what he has to say, but I think he is fantastic. He says what he thinks, he pulls no punches, he cowers to no one, and he is about as politically incorrect as you can get on the radio. I love it.

I got an opportunity to listen to him speak yesterday at the Desert Diamond Casino and very much enjoyed it. I even convinced my sister and Tim to come along and they seemed to really respond to what he had to say.

If any of you run across his program (in Tucson on 104.1 FM) I urge you to give him five minutes of your time, I think you will learn a lot.

Thirty and Exhausted

I refuse to believe it has been over a month since I last posted. It feels like just yesterday. So much has happened since than.

#1, I turned thirty.
I didn't think it was much of a big deal until a week before it happened and Matthew was ribbing me about how I was going to be old now, and I broke down crying. I don't know who was more surprised, him or me. I had a great birthday with family and friends, and I must admit everyone was so wonderful to me, there was very little "over the hill" talk or greeting cards speaking of geriatrics. For that I am most grateful!

#2, I had a nervous breakdown. Not the hospitalizing kind, just the kind that prevents you from functioning like a normal human being. In hindsight this was probably exacerbated by the whole thirty thing, but mostly it was school. I 100% underestimated the toll the U of A would take on my sanity, my time, my confidence, but mostly my relationships. I honestly don't know how people do it. Every waking hour of my day is preparing for tests, studying for quizzes, writing papers, doing presentations, and writing lab reports. I have nothing else in my life and it drove me (and continues to drive me) crazy.

This, of course, brings me to #3. I changed my major and minor, or more accurately, I flip-flopped them. My major is now Anthropology and my minor is Biology. This came about for more reasons that I can begin to list, but mostly because I love anthropology and archaeology and I am tired, after 2 (full time) years at Pima and 1 year at U of A, of taking very few classes that I like. Plus, if I have to take another minute of chemistry, I might start taking hostages. I don't love biology but anthropology requires that I establish a minor and since I already have so many biology classes, it makes logical sense to make that my minor instead of starting over. The switch doesn't decrease, nor does it increase my time at the U of A, which is still estimated at 2 more years. If I was going to make the switch, now was the time.

I have to thank Matthew and my sister for being the voice of reason over the past month and for tolerating my incessant whining and crying. They stayed positive, reasonable, and understanding when I probably didn't deserve it, and for that I am eternally grateful. It is those two who lifted me up and dragged me along until I could support myself.

#4. [removed by request]

#5, as many of you have already heard, is the news that Matthew's Grandma Eileen and Aunt Sharon were hurt terribly in a car accident in New Mexico almost a week ago. Matthew is driving to Albuquerque as I write this to be with his family. The prognosis is better today than it was just a few short days ago.

The information, as I have it is, that Aunt Sharon was driving (Grandma Eileen the passenger) on the freeway, when either a collision or a near collision caused Aunt Sharon to swerve. The swerve caused them to enter the ditch in between the lanes of traffic, where the car flipped. The air bags did not deploy.

Grandma Eileen has a broken vertebrae in her neck (which they will be unable to fix due to her young age of 89), her arm is broken in 3 places (it is our understanding it is all three bones in one arm), and she had bleeding on the brain. Grandma's surgery on her arm took place yesterday and she did astoundingly well!

Aunt Sharon is considerably worse. She had multiple lacerations to her face due to broken glass, her jaw is broken in two places (they intend to repair this today, I believe), both eye sockets are broken, and a bone which leads from the cheek to near her ear is also broken. Due to this broken bone they are concerned about deafness. Until yesterday she was under heavy sedation, although I am told she woke up yesterday, very confused, and when asked if she was in pain, she nodded her head. This is so good on so many levels, she can hear (at least out of one ear) and her brain hasn't been affected to such an extent that she cannot communicate.

They both remain in critical condition and we anticipate their recovery to be long and arduous.
Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated at this time, as we all hope they make the type of recovery that will allow them full and happy lives.

As you can see, never a dull moment in the Phillips' household.

I shall take my leave now, and promise to update again soon, but I am sure most of you have been around long enough to know, that is a lie.

Until Next Time!