I had a horrible day at work today. My back was in agony after working yesterday, and I was in no mood for any silliness, but I got chewed out by a guy at our corporate office because I sent him and our general manager an e-mail asking them to clarify a detail in the return policy, which another associate had screwed up on yesterday. The guy called me and chewed me out, making the mistake my problem and told me I had to fix it today.

Basically, a customer was given too much money back for a return, and this guy (let’s call him N) wanted to get our $12.80 back. He e-mailed us some absurdly complicated and unintelligible instructions. After calling my manager and thinking about the problem, I decided we should do something else. Basically, N wanted the charge the customer (who was not there and has no idea there’s a problem) another $50 on her credit card…without her authorization and without her even knowing about it! I think that’s actually illegal, but whatever. He then wanted to give her some strange amount as a refund…honestly, it didn’t work out correctly, and I thought maybe he had smoked too much crack. I e-mailed N my plan, and we waited to hear back from him for hours. I did the simple price adjustment and charged her credit card for only the $12.80, instead of doing the elaborate procedure he wanted. I thought everything was fine, until he called me about an hour before closing time saying he just got my e-mail and insisted that I do it the way he wanted, because it was the “only correct way”. This guy doesn’t understand one thing about retail. I got so mad, I wanted to quite on the spot and tell him to go fuck himself. Instead, I called my manager, who told me to call the General Manager at corporate, where I finally got an answer I wanted. The GM, “J”, told me to leave it for my manager to deal with, that N should never have bothered me with the issue (especially on a weekend), and that she was very sorry. The issue is now completely not my problem, but if N ever calls me again, I may find it very hard to be polite. He’s just such a pompous idiot!!

I stole this book meme from Kell over at Life gets in the way. Thanks, Kell!

1) Bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien (my favorite book ever!)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I’m saying this counts because I’ve read most of them)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (didn’t finish it in high school, so I want to try again)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (another favorite!)
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (it’s the only one I’ve read and I don’t remember it)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath (LOVED it!!)
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (another favorite!)
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So, that means, that out of these 100 books, I’ve read 33 and I intend to read 30 more. Who knows if I ever will, but I’m working on it!

I’ve been thinking recently about the many different spiritual paths around the world, particularly the pagan and Earth-based ones (since I relate to them the most). In many places around the world, the geographical area in which people live determines their religion. For thousands of years, almost all people in one area shared the same religious faith, whether it was the ancient Celtic religion in Ireland, Britain, Wales, and France, or the ancient Greek religion in Greece and the surrounding areas. Many contemporary pagans are able to feel an affinity with the traditional religion of their particular homeland (this is obviously a generalization), but here in America it can be more difficult. Most of us come from all over the world and have widely differing ethnic backgrounds. Since I don’t have one single ethnic background, and my homeland’s spiritual tradition belongs to the Native Americans, I sometimes feel like I don’t belong to a particular spiritual path.

Here’s a little background on me. I live in Western Washington, near Seattle, a place alive with astounding natural beauty, something that I respond to on a spiritual level. The photo above is of Fort Ward State Park, located on Bainbridge Island, where I grew up. The sunlight coming through the leaves is still something that makes my heart leap a little. My ancestors were Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Swiss-Italian, and of all of these, I feel most connected to the Irish ancestors on my mother’s side. For years, I have been interested in the religion and mythology of the ancient Celts, so of all the different traditional religions, that is the one I connect to the most. But I don’t feel that it’s where I belong. Ireland is not my home…Washington is. I feel like that religion doesn’t belong here.

So where is my spiritual home? Is it the home of my ancestors (of whom I know almost nothing), or is it my own homeland? I will probably never come to a decision about this, as I feel a part of many places around the world. But when it comes to my own spiritual path, it will most likely be something that comes from inside me, whatever it is. I will probably never follow any organized religion again, but that’s OK with me. I will continue to enjoy the spiritual connection I have with my home and keep on searching until I find some combination of beliefs that I feel comfortable with.

This awful back pain has made me irritable, so I took it out on my blog. I changed it to this temporary theme until I can figure out what I want it to look like. I may keep it this way for a while, or I may change it tomorrow. You just never know, do you?

I like being mysterious and unpredictable.

So, I went in for my final consultation with my chiropractor on Saturday. He was going to go over my x-rays with me and suggest a treatment plan. I thought it was going to be straightforward…but it wasn’t. Apparently, he combines this visit with some sort of lecture on chiropractic care and its benefits. There were supposed to be a few other people, but since they didn’t show up (and now I know why) I got the special one-on-one version. Here are some of the highlights:

• Chiropractic care can cure almost any disease, from diabetes to asthma. He told me stories of paralyzed people being able to walk again, people with terminal illnesses becoming cured, and all sorts of insane claims.
• Painkillers, like Advil and Aspirin, are extremely harmful to us. Since they have to travel throughout the bloodstream, they not only kill your pain, but they kill a little bit of your heart, a little bit of your stomach, and on and on until they’ve shortened your life. There are 47,000 deaths a year from Aspirin. No one should ever take these pills. Ever.
• According to the Bible, human beings should be able to live to age 120. Why don’t we then? Because our spines are crooked, that’s why. If everyone had a chiropractor, they would practically live forever.
• God did not give us life to have aches and pains. Aches and pains are unnatural (and probably come from a devil living in our spines).

These are just some of the very disconcerting things I heard during this little presentation. I always respect others’ beliefs, and I don’t really have anything against Christians (OK, well, I do, but that’s another story), but as a medical professional who manipulates my spine, I would rather know that they base their knowledge in scientific fact, not in passages from the Bible, which in my opinion is a load of crap. Needless to say, I cancelled today’s appointment, giving the excuse that I couldn’t afford any more treatments. Not that that isn’t true…they were going to charge me $285 a month to see me 3 times per week. I have e-mailed my primary doctor, asking for a referral to an orthopedic specialist, someone who actually went to medical school. What a revelation, huh? 

Most who know me know that I have a stupid, crooked back. The technical term is scoliosis of the thoracic spine. Well, after lifting some heavy boxes at work last week, my back decided to completely go out. Now, there’s really no such thing as a back going out, but it’s the only way I can describe the crippling pain that has made everyday tasks almost impossible. The last time something like this happened, my doctor gave me some muscle relaxers and told me to do some stretches. The thing is, my spine is completely misaligned in at least two places (at the top, and in the middle region), and only a chiropractor can do the kind of adjustments I need. My medical insurance doesn’t cover chiropractic care or physical therapy unless it’s post-operative, which of course doesn’t apply to me. My parents told me to just wait until I get better insurance before I seek treatment, but that could be a year or more away.

I finally got fed up, and after not being able to get rid of the pain on my own, I made an appointment with a chiropractor that a former doctor (who I really respected) had recommended. I had an initial exam and some x-rays done on Monday, had my first adjustment on Tuesday, experienced more pain at work on Thursday, and had my second adjustment this morning. I’m in complete agony now. My boyfriend gave me a massage and rubbed Icy Hot all over my upper back, I’ve taken a double dose of Advil, and I’m now propped up on the couch with pillows, trying not to move too much. Even typing this hurts. I have my second consultation with the chiropractor tomorrow, where he will go over my x-rays with me.

My parents are concerned about me seeing a chiropractor, and are afraid he’s going to hurt me even more. I’m going to request that he send my x-rays to my primary doctor, so that she can see what’s going on. I want to make sure that the course of treatment I choose is right for me…I don’t want to become permanently disabled because of something he does to my back. The whole situation is frustrating, painful, and scary. I need my parents help paying for this, and I don’t even know yet how much it will all cost. The chiropractor was telling me that scoliosis like mine usually needs about 18 months of constant adjustments, but if that is what it takes to give me relief from this pain, I’ll do it. My mom thinks I should just have a breast reduction, but that won’t fix the curves in my spine. Maybe nothing will.

Today, while recording voice overs for his popular news show “Meet the Press”, respected journalist Tim Russert collapsed and died of a massive heart attack. He was only 58. This is a tragedy, not only for Russert’s colleagues at NBC, but for the entire journalistic community, as well as the entire nation. Major political figures, including both presidential candidates, President Bush, and the Clinton family, as well as all major news stations (including NBC’s arch-rival Fox News) have spent the day in mourning. Everyone respected Russert, even those who disagreed with him politically. They knew him as a kind man with a good heart, someone who was intelligent and yet accessible.

I saw the news story on the internet announcing Tim Russert’s death as soon as I got in to work. I’m dealing with a very bad back, but all my pain was forgotten as I stood there, shocked at the story. I almost started crying right there on the floor. I have watched “Meet the Press” several times, but I knew him more as the best political analyst on television. His assessment of the nation’s political environment were so spot-on and easy to understand, and he came across as more trustworthy than anyone else. I had been looking forward to watching him and the rest of the NBC team on election night this November. Now, the nation’s political coverage will always be lacking his in-depth analysis, but more importantly, his friendly demeanor, amazing attitude, and his smiling face.

Now, the majority of our customers (maybe 51%) are nice, polite, and tidy. But the minority, a very large minority, are rude slobs. This rant is dedicated to those 49%.

I have a couple of ground rules for you when you visit my store:

1. There is usually only one person on duty, and that person is responsible for everything. Please don’t assume that you can monopolize that person’s attention.

2. Are you so lazy that putting back the clothes you try on is just too much work? Why is it that everytime I go back to the fitting rooms, there are armloads of clothes: on the floor, inside out, hung up inside out and backwards, or just flung every which way? I’m here by myself, dammit…clean up after yourself!

3. Please…if you bring kids into the store, WATCH THEM. I’m tired of them pulling things off racks, spinning the racks around, and generally making a mess. I know it can be hard to watch them, but if they’re so unruly, just leave them at home.

4. Yes, we have a very strict return policy. Stop trying to get around it!

5. When you knock something off a rack, don’t just leave it or sling it over the rack. Hang it back up. It takes maybe 2 seconds. Remember…I’m only one person and the majority of my job shouldn’t be cleaning up after you damn slobs.

Now, a message for my idiot employers:

You say you want this store to be a bargain store. That’s fine…there’s definitely a niche for that. But why does that have to include drastically lowering our standards, so that the store looks like crap and even wrapping our customers’ purchases in tissue is too “posh”?! We shouldn’t want to be as crappy as the other bargain stores…we should try to raise the standard altogether. Our customers are loyal to us because we have the look and feel of an expensive boutique, and yet our prices are extremely inexpensive. Stop trying to turn us into a cheap imitation of some low-end, low quality, ugly little bargain store!

Oh…fix our damn zippers. Almost none of them work. And PLEASE fix the sizing. The average size of an American woman is a size 12…our extra larges only fit maybe a size 8. No one needs to feel that fat when trying on clothes. Half the women who come in here find they can’t fit into anything and leave feeling depressed.

…..OK, I think I got all that out of my system. I feel much better now!

As you’ve no doubt noticed, I’ve changed my blog’s theme…again. I know I do this all the time, but I’ve fallen in love with this theme, which I’m also using on my book blog, Crescent Moon Book Reviews. However, don’t be alarmed if it changed again…like, tomorrow.

Have a nice day!

No, I haven’t forgotten about this challenge! I’ve managed to distract myself with other books, though, so being the creator of the challenge, I’m giving myself an extra two months to complete it. I’ve only finished one book so far, and there are other books, outside the challenge, that I want to read. So, I will always be reading at least one book from my challenge list, but I will also be reading others. Never fear, though….I WILL finish this challenge! You’ll be able to read my reviews on my book blog, Crescent Moon Book Reviews, and of course on BCF - The Reviews.