letusdare

How to live with dogs and breathe (cats too, I guess)

Not used to being a trend-setter, I was quite excited to see in my local paper today that I'd started doing something almost two years ago that only recently became quite the thing. And that this thing is popular because a model demonstrated it on Oprah.

Here's where I'd like to say that the trend is an easy and glam way to fix hair, apply makeup, decorate with style, eat less fat, or earn a fortune. Nope. Can't do it. It's something with far-reaching impact and an ugly name.

It's called nasal irrigation.

For those of you thinking "Ugh" or "I thought this was about dogs," I hasten to add that this does involve dogs. I can't do anything about the ugh-factor, but it doesn't bother me any more. It's far more ugh-worthy to be unable to taste the gourmet cooking of your friends, enjoy a burger from your favorite joint or fake your way through judging a barbecue sauce contest. All of these things transpired in the months of 2006 and 2007 that I was unable to taste a darn thing.

Where do dogs enter in? My nose shuts down (and then of course my sense of taste) because I am allergic to most things living and not. This includes four-legged creatures and dust bunnies with an unknown number of legs. It includes, surprisingly, peanuts (which I love and which my doctor was surprised to see I reacted to as well). It includes cedar, mold, grasses and most trees.

When I look at the list of things that irritate my nose, lungs and skin, I think it would be easier just to list the things I am not allergic to. So in an attempt to salvage sanity, I look at the list rarely, enjoy the occasional peanut (the doctor said to "watch it," whatever that means) and to refuse to give up animals, which are a Big Deal in our household. And anyway, I am probably allergic to two-legged creatures too and I happen to like them. Or most of them.

Although the story in my  morning paper revolved around alarmingly gigantic neti pots which I am sure work just fine, I choose to use a plastic squeeze bulb which is smaller and won't break or hurt the floor if I drop it. Which I have several times. I make up the saline solution recipe that my doctor gave me one pint at a time, and use it as often as I need to. Sometimes it's just once a day after my morning walk. Sometimes it's several times a day. Depends on what's blowing around outside.

It's cheap, easy, and it keeps me smelling the delicious things I love to cook and eat. My sense of smell had deserted me for such long periods in the last two years that I am even happy to get a whiff of the more unpleasant odors of life. Use your imagination here.

Because the story in my paper didn't give the recipe for this miraculous solution, here it is:

1 pint distilled water, room temperature
1 teaspoon sea salt or canning salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix well and use in good health. (I added the good health part myself)

The contents change slightly depending on your doctor. I have compared notes with a similarly allergic relative who said she never used baking soda but that the doctor told her to always use distilled water. Did your doctor demonstrate how to use it, I asked her. She told me it was a bit of a trick to learn the proper way, but her doctor helped by saying to gently sniff. That I can do, and I don't worry about anything else...like doing it the way some robed gentleman does in another country. Now those pictures are intimidating!

It works for me. If you try it, perhaps you will, like me, discover what the world is like without antihistamines and decongestants. I haven't had either since June 2007. And I can smell most things...even Sam, who doesn't stink all that much.   

For '08, eight doable resolutions

Usually I don't celebrate the year's end or list new modes of behavior for the new year. My thinking is that one holiday is pretty much the same as the next, (although sometimes a holiday equals an extra day off on a weekday), and you shouldn't depart too much from your daily routine.

That said, I confess that I am cheerfully bidding 2007 goodbye. After a death in the family, a series of injuries sustained by relatives, expensive car problems occurring hundreds of miles from home, dog behavior issues, a continuing war, and bewilderment at the state of our national government, I am ready to look to the future.

Without great experience at making quality new year's resolutions, I resolve these things in 2008:

• to spend more time with family and friends
• to walk Sam daily while keeping an eye peeled for cat poop
• to clean up my native garden before spring
• to move all delicious food items far from the edge of the kitchen counter
• to speak up for the presidential candidate who wants to lead all of us
• to volunteer more often
• to write daily instead of almost daily
• to finish the book I've been working on since 2005

That's eight for '08. All are measureable and attainable, and I am going to get started today.

Update on Sam's story: The motorist whose bumper Sam ran into two mornings ago stopped by that night to check on him as she returned home from work. I thought she might revisit the scene as she was so concerned about the incident. She had worried about Sam all day. We hope our words alleviated her concern. "I am the person who hit your dog," she said to my husband. "No, you are the person whose car he ran into," he replied. True words.

Sam and I took a walk today, our first since the unfortunate series of events. He watched cars carefully, but showed no notable change in walking gait or snuffling habits. He still required frequent reminders to drop the street debris he finds so appealing and to not walk in front of me. His life goes merrily on, and I am taking my cue from him. Everyone should have a happy dog.

Happy New Year to all. 

 

What color lipstick for that oinker?

The fad today is for companies to emphasize customer service. It's one of the few ways that big corporations can distinguish themselves from their competitors. Some companies "do" customer service very well, and if any of them are reading this, they will not be surprised by the content. Perhaps they will appreciate it, but this is not for those who already get it.

This is for Giant Corporation. You know who you are. You claim to emphasize customer service but you either don't really care about it or don't have a clue about what good customer service looks like.

First, here's what good customer service does NOT look like: It does not look like a pig wearing lipstick. There is no way to say it more plainly, and if you think about this a while, you will get it. Lipstick, pig, mental picture. Etc. 

Without further delay, here are some things that the Big Guys might want to ponder before they do a new PR campaign about the great importance of customer service:

LESSON 1
This is for banks that have gotten too big for their britches: Do not leave your customers waiting on hold for 20 minutes only to tell them, when you do deign to provide a real person to talk to them, that to do the simple thing the customer is requesting will cost said customer a fee. You could do this for free for most of your customers, and most of us already know it. Furthermore, we also know a bank down the street that will do it for free. And further furthermore, since you have put your customers out recently with computer systems that have failed big-time, and since you often put them out by making them wait on the phone to talk to a real person, you NEED to do something nice for them. Like not charging a fee for a routine request. Additional tip: Customers generally don't like you telling them how they should spend their money.   

LESSON 2
This one is for "service" organizations looking for new members. Do not call and leave a message on the potential member's answering machine commanding them to call you back without giving a reason. Not even in a nice voice. Because of who you are, most reputable companies will call you back. But you already know this; it is exactly why you leave them the message to call you back without saying what the heck you want. When said company owner does call you back, do not try to make them feel swell about the phone call by saying because their are no complaints in their file, you are inviting them to join. This is like getting an invitation to a wedding and then being told where to send the money or a gift. It is not polite to ask for money after you have invited someone to do something. Did your mother not teach you this? Do a lot of people RSVP favorably after getting such an invitation? Are the businesses that you can successfully intimidate or deceive really the "guests" you want?

LESSON 3
This one is for businesses that conduct business via contracts. Could you please make the contracts shorter than a novella and write them in the real language of your country? Once one gets to "ee. The exception to this rule, (see Amendment VI Article 1) applies when you can show that you were insured by a credible..." TWE-E-E-T! Come back, Guys. Let's take that ball out again.You lost most people back on the amendment clause. No one should have to thumb back through 10 pages and forget what she is looking for before she finds it. The best sentence construction includes subject, verb, and meaningful content. No adjectives like "credible," especially if "credible" then needs to be further explored on your definitions page.

LESSON 4
If you truly want to offer your appreciation for a "longtime customer in good standing", then go ahead and do it. You don't need said customer's permission. You don't need to call them and bother them at work. You don't need a commitment from them. Oh...you DO need a commitment? You want them to sign a contract to get said deal? Then it's really not appreciation for being a "longtime customer in good standing" -- is it? So don't say that, please. Just say that you want them to continue giving all their business to you and they can get a pittance off this month's bill if they will only be loyal to you for the next 24 months. Make sense?

The lessons could continue, but that's enough for now. Simply put, what most companies need is not better trained customer service representatives, as they often say in public. What they really need are better policies. For the record, good customer service is not better PR. It's policies that don't abuse the customer. You know...the ones you say come first?      

Lady Bird, the Plaid Hat, and me

The photo is 1966 vintage and I am wearing a Plaid Hat. I capitalize those two words because the hat seems to require it. I look at it now and wonder what possessed me. It is like third living presence in the photograph.

Believe it or not, the Plaid Hat, though large, is not the most notable thing in the photo. Lady Bird Johnson is.

There is Lady Bird, the Plaid Hat, and me.

In the era of the Plaid Hat, I was a docent at the boyhood home of Lyndon Baines Johnson. I volunteered at the LBJ home because my mother and my sister did. Mom thought it would be a good thing for all of us to do. I didn’t know the word docent then and barely do now.

In those days we were known as tour guides. We took groups of people through the small home. The parlor still sticks in my memory today, and I think it must be because it held some of Lady Bird’s artifacts.

Back to Lady Bird. And the Plaid Hat. In my defense, that was another era with its own style. The photo was taken at the Texas White House in Stonewall -- the LBJ Texas White House, as opposed to the other one -- for a tea given in honor of the tour guides….er, docents, of the boyhood home. My photo, autographed by Lady Bird, is addressed to me “with best wishes.”

My sister, using her older-sister wisdom, hangs her photo with Lady Bird on the wall. She, of course, has older-sister presence and is looking at Lady Bird and smiling. I am looking at the ground or perhaps at Lady Bird’s shoes -– anything to avoid looking at the camera. My photo went into an album.

Perhaps, though, it’s time to relocate it to a more public space. I am thinking that if this shy, gracious woman who became the first lady of the country (following Jackie Kennedy! as a friend pointed out) could aim her dazzling smile at the camera, then I should have enough grace to hang her photo. The first lady doesn’t seem to mind the Plaid Hat (which seems to be smiling and waving at the camera). At least it’s a muted green Plaid Hat. My sister’s Plaid Hat was and is forever red.

That Lady Bird paid no mind to the hat is a tribute to her Southern gentility and is the epitome of this woman who accomplished so much from her first lady bully pulpit. I could say more about her, list some of her stunning accomplishments. But that’s been done and done, by people who knew her better than I did.

I will just say my silent thanks from this small-town Texan to a first lady who was as big as the great outdoors. The Plaid Hat not withstanding, the photo op, like the first lady’s presence, meant the world to that girl of 15. And to this much older woman.

In my dreams, that girl is doffing her Plaid Hat and not staring at the ground, but looking right at Lady Bird.

Falling on deaf ears

More power to the political blogs. I like them and I seek out the ones that I know are expressive and entertaining or that share or reinforce my viewpoint.

But, and this is important, I always know what I am getting into when I read one. I know the author, or if a link is forwarded to me and I go off on my own search, I know in advance what to expect.

The same cannot be said for unsolicited opinions or, in this case, unsolicited email. It comes into my home just like a phone call, and if I know the person, I open it. And more times than I can count, I have opened up white papers, jokes and all manner of political statements that I neither agree with nor want to read. In this way I have learned what names to look for on emails and which emails to dispatch without opening.

And still the emails come, and with them, a nagging question. Why do these people who don’t know me all that well insist on lumping me in with the rest of their address book and sending me junk that I find offensive? I know, I know…it’s easy to hit the delete key and if I really care why they are sending them, I should ask THEM, not the pubic at large.

But what I am really seeking here are theories because I don’t understand the mindset of people who do this. Why would you send anything that expresses your personal opinion to the personal email address of someone you do not know all that well? Is it possible the senders really know my political beliefs and are trying to change them? Or perhaps they really cannot believe that there are people whose email addresses they possess who don’t believe the same way they do? Or maybe they get harsh email responses back all the time from those on the receiving end, and because I have remained silent, I am the only one, or one of a few, left on the list?

Here are suggestions for senders to follow before hitting the ol’ SEND key. To wit:

• People who don’t know you very well probably don’t care what you think about illegal immigration, gay marriage, Democrats, Republicans, abortion or religion in general. Some of us have our own views that we developed as carefully as you developed yours. And they are indeed different from yours.
• Even if those on the receiving end are distant relatives, or relatives by marriage, they probably still don’t care.
• Even if you are in a club or group with them, see above.
• If those you don’t know want to know what you think, they will ask you. Most will not.
• Stick to sending your opinions to those you know well unless people ask for them or unless you are paid to write them. Then the people who agree with you will read them and nod and maybe send you responses like “Yes!” or “I couldn’t agree more!” And the people who don’t agree will tell you why you are wrong and maybe call you names.
• Write a blog if you feel the need to broadcast your opinions. It’s what the rest of us do.

The author writes fiction for young adults with strong heroines and heroes. See more of her work at www.mudpiepress.com

Calling for a curative

I started the Let Us Dare blog to address writing and editing topics. But today I'm going to stretch the form a bit to include an issue that may not seem related. Please read on. You'll see it's quite related -- just a bit indirect.

As I read in the latest issue of Newsweek about a doctor working on a cure for all manner of diseases with a single kind of drug, my first selfish thought was "Great -- who's going to be able to afford that?"

The question was rhetorical. I know that under our current system, only those with good insurance or lots of money will get the treatment. That means people who get full benefits through their work, the wealthy who can afford to buy anything, and the U.S. senators and representatives whose health insurance I help pay for.

I think of medical advances in a new way these days because I see them from the point of view of a person who purchases private insurance and in return receives little coverage.

When I quit my job more than three years ago to develop my own freelance business, I felt trepidation about the insurance coverage I was leaving behind. It was very good, insuring my freelancing husband and me for very little. And in fact the company required us to take the coverage or prove that we were otherwise insured -- a policy our government should take note of.

We were spoiled. Like so many others working for a company with good benefits, we had only a small idea of just how good the coverage was. I think that's a big part of the problem with the uneven insurance system in this country. Those with the economic power to do something about unequal insurance and medical care either don't know a problem exists or don't care. Our politicians have no stomach for correcting these ills -- yes, it will be a huge fight -- and are glad that so many are lulled into this false sense of well-being or a feeling of "I've got mine." Those who want to fix it probably remember the pillory of Hillary.

My husband and I researched purchasing private insurance before I left my job, but were troubled by what we found initially and decided to continue my workplace insurance via COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, for a few months while we further looked into private insurance.

We did purchase private insurance. We've applied with about half a dozen companies and have switched coverage once in three years. One salesman told me we'd probably switch five or six times over the next few years because we wouldn't be able to afford the ever-increasing premiums. And I feel like Jason seeking The Golden Fleece. If only I had my own Argonauts and Medea-like cheerleader.

What I have found is a wealth of companies eager to insure us. We'd like a high-deductible plan with a co-pay? No problem. We’d like a prescription drug plan? No problem. Yes, our doctors are in their plan -- no problem. Then the underwriting begins. Remember all the "no problems?" Suddenly, there are plentiful problems.

For example, my lifelong asthma is a big problem. One insurance company didn't want to cover me at all until I wrote a letter assuring them my asthma was completely managed. Another refused to cover asthma or anything related to asthma for at least two years. The insurance salesperson told me to write a letter after a year, asking that the prohibition of coverage be removed. "And they'll remove it just like that?" I asked. "Why?"

"They're good people," she said.

Hmm. I wrote the letter a year later and received one back asking for a letter from my physician about my medical status. I haven't asked my doctor to write that letter yet. I suspect the insurance company wants a letter saying I no longer have asthma. Why do I think that? Because another salesperson told me his company would put a non-coverage rider on the policy for a year, then all I had to do was send a letter saying my asthma was cured…or something like that.

Compounding the problem is that my doctors seem to have no idea what their patients face. When I asked one doctor recently about a cheaper medicine for asthma, he said he could prescribe that, but I had to keep using the other medicine too. "And then you will have two co-pays," he said.

"You think I have co-pays?" I wanted to ask. But I didn't. I've told him before about the insurance situation, but I can't expect him to remember. It's not his responsibility. On the other hand, I do wish doctors would become more informed overall about the lack of quality insurance coverage for their patients and tell insurance company underwriters that they have no right to practice medicine unless they are physicians. It would also be nice if a doctor who knows about asthma would educate others that managed asthma doesn't mean "cured" asthma, and that not treating asthma creates more expensive health problems than preventing it with medicine.

Policies must change in our country to create a more equitable system for those of us who purchase private insurance and for people who cannot afford to buy insurance. Don't get me wrong -- I am not asking for free medical coverage. I am asking that someone with the authority to do so require that insurance companies offer actual coverage for the premiums they charge. (Note to insurers -- sending me blizzards of paperwork with coded reasons why you cannot/ do not cover a doctor visit or flu shot does not equal coverage.)

I am asking that insurance companies be prevented from increasing premiums by 42 percent or more per year, which our insurance did this year. I am asking that those of us who try to be responsible and pay our medical bills not be charged with the bills of everyone the government refuses to be responsible for. We can't afford it, and our country cannot afford not to offer universal coverage.

I am going for that Golden Fleece. I hope to someday write that I am no longer carrying Hera on my back and that I am no longer being fleeced by an insurance company.

Any Argonauts out there who want to join the quest?