Welcome · to.....

November 2nd.... 73 degrees and sunny.

TAKE THAT SUCKERS.

 Well.... because good things can never last ;)  I've been dealing with yet another medical issue.  As some of you may know, I have Gaucher's Disease which basically means my body doesn't produce an enzyme called Glucocerebrosidase so I get bi-weekly IV enzyme replacement therapy infusion to keep me moderately healthy.  The only company that makes my drug (cerezyme) has been in the news lately for good, and bad.  Gezyme (the company) is one of the fastest growing and profitable medical entitys right now making profit in the billions every quarter, while leaving people like me to try and find coverage for their medication that costs $65,000 a month.  Yes, $65,000 a month...no typo.  Luckily for me, I have excellent group insurance but I'm always worrying.  No more worries, though!!  They had a virus in the ONLY bioreactor they use to make my medication so they entire operation was shut down.  It takes 120 days from start to finish to make one batch of the drug and it's only good for a few weeks (it comes freezedried and I have to mix it, it's only good for 22 hours after mixing).  The FDA shut down the production until the entire plant was sterilized and clean and they were just given the okay to start production again.  

What does this all mean?

Well, in layman's terms.... it means I'm fucked.  I now get to go up to 6 months without my medication.  Woohoo.  On one hand, it will be awfuly nice not getting a 1-3/4" needle stuck in my chest every other week (I have a porta-cath which is below my collarbone) but on the other hand, the last time I missed my meds I ended up in the hospital for a week because of the pain and fatigue.... and this was only after missing 6 weeks (3 infusions).  There are a few trials of some new meds that I can go on, but it's a constant fight with my doctor, who I haven't even met yet.  HMOs... fun, aren't they?  And even then, there aren't any drugs avalable that mimic Cerezyme, the drugs simply flush the sugars and whatnot from my body which from what I've heard ( I know a few people on the trials) causes some major side effects.  To the point where 2 people had to go on long term disability.  Lovely.  

I don't really have a whole lot of people to talk to about this (there are less than 5000 people with the disorder in the US) so I figured I would vent a bit on here.  It's scary.... really scary.  I'm already taking vitamins/minerals etc. and have changed my diet drastically (nothing processed, mostly fresh fruits/veggies/meats) and have unfortunately cut out most exercise (except for stretching/mild yoga) because without my infusions I could easily break a hip or knee.  This is all preventative, so hopefully it will make this go by a little smoother.  Scott's helping....kind of.  He doesn't really understand what I'm going through and assumes that if he feels okay, that I should feel okay which is putting a bit of a strain on our relationship.  

I may or may not keep this updated through all this, but I'll certainly try :)

Since I'm a sucker for deccasmooth , I'm going to update a bit :)

The only plant in the world that makes my medication had a viral breach and the word on the street is that new doses won't be available for 4 months or more.  We'll see how that goes.

Me and Scott adopted a new dog :)  A kelpie mix we've named Shiva, because she has separation anxiety and tends to destroy things in our absence.  Right now all three of us (me, Lola and Shiva) are sitting on the couch relaxing, enjoying the beach weather.

The girls!

My sister is moving out next month!!! YAY!!!  So me and Scott will have the house to ourselves.  It'll be pretty tight money wise, but we've got a rock solid budget and it won't strain us too terribly.  Tom should get back from Iraq in the next few months, and he said he would move in with us temporarily to help us save money before he gets a place of his own.  

Both our jobs are doing well, making some moolah, payin off bills, ya know.... lame ass grown up stuff.  Scott's going to Equador and the Galapagos to do some photography and whatnot with his dad later this year, and me and Savannah will be going to Germany for Oktoberfest next year.  So, lots of traveling and whatnot in the next year or so. 

That's about it...life is pretty comfortable and boring  :)

1 whole year. Me and Scott 'celebrated' our One year anniversary. Intense. Job is still AWESOME, and we're breaking ground on our new hangar next month. That means that I won't have parts sitting around in cardboard boxes after fall of 2010!!! So exciting! Me and Scott are renting two bedrooms in my house since my old roomate decided to leave in the middle of the night two days before rent was due. It's alright though, because Scott, Lola and I have twice the room and since both of our workplaces are doing so well we have the extra money to pay for it. My house has been calm and we're going to start revamping the living room as soon as I get the okay from the landlord. I've started taking flying lessons (4 hours clocked so far!), Scott is buying an M3 in the next few weeks, Lola finally gained some weight and grew back the hair she was missing (she was in piss poor shape when we got her from the pound) and a bunch of people I know have become raver kids. Yuck. Life is good:)

Why can't people realize that you don't have to be a DEMOCRAT or a REPUBLICAN?

This 2 party system irritates me. Most everyone I know is for Obama, but I've been for Burr for quite some time. People for McCain....well... I want to shake some sense into the people who are voting for him based solely because Palin is a woman. She doesn't give a flying crap about womens rights, republicans as a group are generally anti-feminist pro-'traditional values', whatever the hell that means anymore. Maybe women should stay at home to take care of the 2.5 kids and dog while her husband is away at work, then when he gets home she had better have a hot meal on the kitchen table and be waiting in the living room next to his la-z-boy holding his slippers, pipe and newspaper. Oh...wait.... most households can't survive on a single income anymore...and the husband/wife will eventually leave their spouse for someone prettier, younger or richer... so much for family values. Sheesh.

Doesn't anyone remember Geraldine Ferraro? The FIRST woman to run for vp in '84?? Palin is not the first, nor will she be the first woman actually elected to that position. I don't like Obama's health care reform, nor his wishy washy stance on abortion or gay rights. It's political suicide to be for choice or gay rights, so he's being very unclear. McCain on the otherhand.... well, let's just call him baby Bush. You know how well that's gone. Now, I've done great during the Bush administration, was never really broke, had some good jobs, have a nice house etc. etc., but what I experienced wasn't all that normal. Food is way more expensive, gas is insane (I wouldn't drive but we have zilch in public transportation where I live) just the cost of goods alone is going to be breaking peoples morale fairly soon.

Vote Libertarian, pro-choice, smaller government, more personal responsibility.

It's been a while...
Between a really shitty internet connection and working 50-60 hours a week I just haven't had much time to do anything with this journal thingy.

Quick update.
Working far too much, but I got my official promotion and a huge raise, so at least I'm making good money.
Finally finished my BA
No more tattoos, but I did stretch my ears to 4g
Dating a wonderful boy who is taller than me, and has no tattoos and no piercings. Plus, he's 4 years younger than me and a computer/star trek/anime nerd. Totally not my normal 'type', but for some reason it works with us.
Got a new debit card?
Haven't had a sip of alcohol in weeks, which is weird for me.
Fell on my ass last night cruising around in my friend Chris' wheelchair. I have no equilibrium, so that would explain it.
aaand, I need two more people to move into my house asap. Two of my roomates gave their 30 days on Feb 1st. I can't stand them, so I'm not bothered by it.
That's about it.
Life is good :)

This journal is done for. There are certain people I don't really want reading it, so I'm starting a 'new' one.

I'm going to add a few people, if you really want to read the ins and outs of my lovely life, add

I leave Sunday for an entire month of 'business meetings and training' in Bakersfield of all places. They decided I have more potential than originally thought, so they're sending me to a more experienced manager for training. I've been working nonstop 10+ hour days for the past 11 days (including my lovely 14 hour day in Ventura...) and I have to do a 9pm to 7am shift tonight.
My tattoo artist disappeared again, so now my arm is stalled for a while. I suppose it will give me some time to save up some cash (or 'scrilla', if I want to get punched in the boob by Chelsea... she hates that word) since everything is comped, and by the end of this year I will be the proud owner of a 2007 Mazda3 4 door wagon.
My sister finally moved out, so things are finally coming together at my house. Rooms are getting painted, furniture covered and clean and appliances fixed. I fixed the stove, refrigerator AND dishwasher yesterday so things are in decent working order.
Adam came over last night and told me that he's looking for a boyfriend for me. When I told him no, he wouldn't take that for an answer. Thank goodness I'm leaving. I love that boy to death, but sometimes he just needs to back off.
Besides, I'm getting pseudo married next summer, unless we find other people in the meantime. Who knows.
So, here's to being stuck in Bakersfield until Nov 2, and if anyone is really that bored, feel free to join me. :)

So, I might be engaged?

A possible Vegas wedding.
I'll keep everyone updated.

I swore to myself that I would NEVER go to Farmers in slo during WoW week.... (for those of you not in the know, WoW is Week of Welcome for Cal Poly students... it's the week before classes start and everyone is moving in and getting situated. It's a fucking nightmare)

Then, stupid Traditional Tattoo just haaad to have a piercing special. So me and Chels and Ally went to Sushiya (which was surprisingly good) and we went and got a couple piercings. I finally got my earlobes done again (I let them heal for a long time after I stretched them to 00) at 10 g. Chels got her bellybutton done.
Super fun.
I think Max hates me for some reason. He won't return my calls and hasn't really talked to me in almost a week. Going from talking more than once a day and never going more than 2 days without seeing eachother to this is really odd.
bah.
I need to find a guy willing to dress in lederhosen for Halloween.

I got the job :)
So that's a load off my mind right now, considering my unemployment has been so difficult to get a hold of.
I was also admitted into the hospital for a couple of hours today due to 'fatally high potassium levels/possible kidney failure' from the bloodwork I had done yesterday. It's not pleasant to have your physician frantically call you telling you to get to the ER immediately, and that he already called in a request for me.
Turned out to be a lab error.
So I spent 4 hours in the ER of Twin Cities hospital, hooked up to an IV and EKG machine just for them to tell me 'oops, we made a mistake'. Bastards. Then, they take out the IV THEN tell me they need more bloodwork. So, I've been poked three fucking times in the past two days (my infusion was Monday) and I'm not super happy about that.
The nurse who was starting the IV was making small talk with me and he asked me why I was in, and I said 'apparently I'm dying of kidney failure', and he looked at me with this bewildered look on his face. I guess even in the face of pseudo death you have to have a humorous attitude towards life.
So, a wasted day.
and I'm getting really really close to saying things that I've never ever said in my entire life.
We'll see.

I need to get out of this country.
I was talking to Arne, who called me from Freiburg earlier today (which was exciting in itself, since I haven't had the change to have a conversation in German for quite some time, and boy was I rusty!) and just talking with him and discussing certain things makes me want to move over there as soon as I possibly can. I have a limited amount of family over in Austria and Germany, and at least one of them is willing to lend me a room to stay in until I can get my own place.
Unfortunately, I'll still be in the US for another 2 or so years because of my new job, but at least that will give me time to save! I figure, I'm going to give myself 5 years, so by September of 2012 at the ripe old age of 28 I want to be living in Germany like I've planned since I was 13 or so.

Adam turns 21 in 9 days. Tom turns 21 in 3 weeks. Thank god for that, because my old 'drinkin buddies' aren't speaking to me because apparently hooking up with 16 year old girls is way more important than keeping in touch with friends.
Is it too much to ask to go out for a drink and play some pool with friends? Apparently so.
In other news, I got a job offer as a manager of a convenience store... granted, I never wanted to work in service, but with a starting salary of 38000 a year, plus 2500 a semester tuition reimbursement and full health benefits I can't really go wrong for now.
Unfortunately, if I do get the position I'll have to travel to Sacramento for training every week, for a minimum of 8 weeks and just come home on the weekends. I'm going to be alone in a hotel during the week, so I could use some company if anyone gets bored.
Chels finally moved in, and Amanda will move in next week, my sister is moving out (thank goodness) and Jason is moving in soon after that so things are definitely looking up for me right now.
Tschuss!

Well, it's come down to this.
I need to sell my beloved P-bass.
It's an 04-05, metallic maroon, white pickguard. I have all the original tags etc. for it, and I'm willing to let it go for $300. $350 with case and strap, if you want that.

Bleh.
If you know of ANYONE who wants a beautiful bass, please contact me asap.
Thanks!

A restaurant down the street recently closed down, and threw all their crap in a pile for disposal. We went by and rummaged through it and found a lot of reallllly neato stuff. We got about 5 boxes of dishes, 2 flats of glass cups and 2 booths with tables. We've decided to make our kitchen into a 50's style diner, so it should be fun.

Being unemployed is really boring.

So, unemployment has been kind to me, and my UI check is only about $40 less a week than I was getting paid to work full time. Basically what that means to me is that I'm going to take 2 or 3 weeks off from working to relax...play guitar.... redecorate, and generally have a loooong vacation. I'm on day 8 right now, and I have the worst case of cabin fever EVER. I went to Montana De Oro with the boys yesteday and hiked along the beach, relaxed at the house, got in an argument with Adam and spent far too much time texting David.
I need to get out immediately and do something.
Any ideas?

I went to my dad's shop yesterday.
Most people get really intimidated and uncomfortable walking into an auto shop, but I've never felt more comfortable and happy than when I'm there.
It sounds silly, but that's where I need to be. I feel so at home at the shop, joking around with the guys, fixing cars and generally working with my hands and body.
My aunt and uncle also work there, and my aunt Carol is going to talk to John and see if he has a position open for a clerical person/part runner/oil changer etc. person. Just a general shop gal, really. I'll find out tomorrow :)
And, as an addendum, I love my boys more than anything in the world. They are the most amazing people on the planet and always have my back. They make my life better in innumerable ways and always make sure I'm happy.
I'm so stressed out that I'm actually being sappy.
So sad.
:)

I've decided to let the company lay me off.
I'm going to make the 'official' announcement tomorrow to my boss, but I'm really glad he gave me the option, so I can collect what little bit of unemployment I am entitled too. I have enough saved up for two months rent, so finances shouldn't be a problem for the time being. Unfortunately, the pirate party is next weekend and I would really like to drop a bit of money on that, considering the local porn outlet has some pretty nifty pirate hooker costumes that I'd like to wriggle my enormous breasts into.
I already have three interviews set up for this week, with a few more to schedule, so getting a new job really isn't that big of a deal. I figure, with the pay cut I'd be making about $60 a week more than unemployment will offer me, and if I can spend my day on interviews and actually looking for jobs, instead of trying to schedule them in the evenings and on weekends, I'll be much better off in the long run. Flexibility is key.
Friday will be my last day. So, inevitably, we will be having a 'Jesecca is jobless' party at the house. Hopefully we'll get enough money scrounged together by tomorrow to order that keg of Newcastle we've been wanting....

They're doing lay-offs at my company. My position has officially been eliminated and they're moving me to either the machine shop, or the production floor. At a $7 an hour pay cut. Fuck.

I need to find a decent job and FAST.
I move departments next Monday.