I think it’s a good idea…

So, as the advisor of Student Council, we do a service project every month….or longer if you count what’s gone on with the soup drive. It’s been pathetic to say the least, and I had to whip my council into shape…but  I digress.

One of our fundraisers that we’re doing is “hats on day” and it goes to benefit something to do with cancer. We’re thinking Gilda’s Club.

Well, we decided to do it right after spring break, and the kids would donate a dollar each to wear hats. We normally don’t allow them.

 

So, I figure that the pricing structure would work like this:

Yankee hats or Chicago Cubs hats: .50 (Discounted rate…still generating funds, but discounted..)

Other hats 1.00

Red Sox hats: 2.00

It works for me…

 

Even the principal says that it’s a good idea…because that’s what you get for rooting for the Red Sox.

 

so there.

And we’re back!

It was a long week off from teaching. I spent 99% of that time off over at the “bux, dealing with the specials and entitleds of the world. We also had computer drama…as both computers kicked it in different ways over the break…

First, the big PC decided it was going to refuse to boot-sounds like a software problem to me-but who knows…and then, my darling child cracked the screen on the Mac…and that was even more fun that resulted in sobbing in a chair.

Then, we had the BOGO drink incident at the bux.

And that was only the first half of the week…

So, now here I am at Monday again, and I’m, as usual, in up to my eyeballs with things to do. I’m re-strategizing for the two classes that I left teh software home for and I’m trying to desperately catch up from not having a computer for a week.

So, all my plans of getting ahead, all of my free moments that I should have spent planning, ect were spent trying desperately to get a computer…

So, as always, I’m a day late and a dollar short.

A stage I wish we’d skipped…

Isaac is not your normal kid. Seriously. there are some times, he’s as normal as they come, and others, well…not so normal. He eats weird food-onions, sushi, all sorts of asian-he does things on his own time and terms and then he does other things at normal pace.

 

With a language delayed child, you never know where the delay will end and the age appropriateness will begin. I think we’re at that point. 

We’ve entered what I’ve been dreading. 

the “WHY” phase.

 

everything is “why?”

 

I’ve even said “Because I said so..” and that doesn’t counteract the “why”

 

Oh, save me. Could we have skipped this stage altogether? This and the “I must visit every public potty on the face of the planet” stage?

Green Apron Tales-Lack of reading comprehension does not equal a discount!

So, before I get into the latest and greatest, at the ‘bux, I need to thank the people who made my return to the computer possible-the Apple Store and the Drama Queen! Holy cow, yes the Drama queen came through! I mentoned that both computers bit the dust, and she mentioned that she had a computer just sitting there…and lo and behold, it is truly OURS! woohoo! then, Doug was able to Frankenstein our Macintosh, as Isaac killed that a while ago, so we bypassed the screen for an external monitor and a new power cord…yay!

So, back to the title of this post-
this week, since I was off from school, I did a full week at the ‘bux. It was quite entertaining as a week. So, the biggest thing that happened were the delusional customers. Let’s start wtih Monday.

Monday, a customer came through claiming we had a sign up that said that if you purchased a tall drink with a registered Starbucks card, you got a tall drink freebie. Ummm…really? I didn’t know that. So, I grabbed FloridaShift and asked her.She had no idea, She told me to just do it and tell them that it wasn’t the promotion and this would be the only time we’d do it for them. This is a common practice, and it’s really not a big deal. So, they left happy. On Tuesday, they came back again, and came through the DTR once again. They said “we’ve got a registered card.” I’m looking at the order, and I see NOTHING that’s coming off of their order. No soy, no syrups, no nada. They came up to the window and I gave them their total, and recognized them. They then asked the following:
“where’s our free drink? We’ve got a registered card!”

Yeah. Right. Here we go…

So, I politely explain that there’s no such promotion and there’s no such thing as a free tall drink unless you buy a pound of beans. They began to arugue with me, and I noticed Big W standing there. I grabbed him and told him the situation, and asked him to handle it for me.
So, Big W went up to the window and started conversating with the couple. He explained that there was no such promotion and that the only way that you can get the full free tall drink was to buy a pound of beans. they had not done that. The couple continued to argue that our sign said that they got a free tall drink, and Big W said that he would go and look and see what the sign said. If it was misleading, he’d redo it, but he was sure it wasn’t misleading. He was quite diplomatic about it…but seriously, these people were stuck on stupid.

So, Big W came back in and said “the sign’s not misleading. Just because their reading comprehension is sub par, doesn’t mean they’re entitled to a discount.”

Damn straight.

He even said that they were stuck on stupid.

Heh.

Morons.

Wonder if they’ll try this a third time…one never knows…

You know your child is sorely misguided on their alphabet when…

sitting at a ‘Bux, having a hot chocolate, going over the letters in the code for kids’ hot chocolate  (KHC) this conversation happens…

me: “what letter is this?”

Isaac: “That’s a K-that starts K_______ (a friend at school)”

Me: “Ok..what’s this letter”

Isaac: “H- that’s for  horse! And that last letter, that letter is STARBUCKS!”

AFO-oh no!

About 7 months ago, we took a chance on taking Isaac’s AFOs (otherwise known as “fire trucks” because of the fire truck we had on the back of them for him) off because he had outgrown them, and we wanted to see if he could maintain a normal gait pattern on his own. Plus they were giving him all sorts of rotten proprioceptive input that he didn’t need and his body was misinterpreting.  He was doing ok for a bit, but was back up on his toes pretty quick.

So, a few weeks ago, I got a note from the PT, asking if we could think about AFO’s again, and I immediately went to the phone to call the insurance to prevent a debacle like we’re still dealing with. I got the name of the places that our insurance covers, and the one that the school likes to deal with isn’t covered by my insurance. Go figure.

So, we went to the one that my insurance covered. I made the first phone call and got an appointment. I was told that it would be a long appointment…and that it would involve casting of Isaac’s legs to make the AFO’s.

Now, last time this happened, it was an ordeal. The people came to Isaac’s school and then they casted a screaming child (mine) and used a cast cutter to take off the molds. yeah. Those suckers are loud and scary. Not to mention that it was not a fun time for any of us involved. I was not looking forward to this time. Doesn’t matter that it was 2 years down the road…doesn’t matter with all of the other details. I just know it wasn’t on my list of  fun things to do wtih Isaac! It was something that I just never, ever wanted to repeat. Listenng to my child scream in terror as they started up the cast cutter was NOT fun at all.

So, we get to the local orthopedic lab, and the prosthetitician comes in, and he had a sort of odd gait to his walk…and of course, I noticed that he was walking wtih a prosthetic leg! Holy Cow! The reasons people do what they do for a living…but I digress.

So, he brought a sample AFO in for Isaac to see. He had no idea that Isaac had already had a pair of them before and outgrew them. So, as he was asking me the questions and I was answering, my small monkey decides he’s going to try and put the afo on and get his sneaker on. He had it about halfway on, when he realized it didn’t fit him at all and that he couldn’t fit the entire thing into his shoe. The prosthetician thought it was hilarious, and that was when I dropped the “he’s had these  before” bomb. It just never came up until that point. Seriously. I wasn’t hiding anything, but it just never came up…between asking about skin sensitivities, how long he’s been on his toes and all of his PT/OT history.

Then, the casting began. I was planning on taking photos, but with a wriggly almost 5 year old on my lap, it wasn’t really in the cards. The casting is just what you would find if you had broken a limb or needed a regular cast for any number of reasons. They broke out the sock, the fiberglass and did the whole wrap around thing.  Isaac sat and whimpered a smidge, but the carabeener full of designs kept him busy, as he decided what he wanted on his AFOs this time around. This prosthetic lab didn’t have single designs, they had an assortment of all over designs. We flipped through the ring as the first cast set. We saw rainbows (not interested), camo (mildly interested…) space aliens and rockets (oooh…want that!) and then, we flipped over to what would be the official choice for Isaac. A pattern called Fly n drive. This has cars, airplanes, traffic signs and checkered flags all over it, and to boot, he got the choice of a white or blue fly n drive. He picked blue. Blue and cars. Shocking? Not in the slightest coming out of my kid.

We then came to the time I dreaded…the take off of the first cast. I braced myself and took a deep breath. Then, out came a pair of bandage cutters and a carpet knife! Holy macaroons! No cast cutter! HOORAY! The prosthetician said that he never used cast cutters unless it was 100% unavoidable, as the cast cutter tends to scare the kids (no shock there) and can make the child pull back and ruin the casting.

So, one perfect cast down…and one to go. How’d we get the second one done? We did what we do in times of stress in this family-we talk NASCAR.

We began having a conversation about Isaac’s favorite, Jimmie Johnson, and then we went on to the entire Hendrick Motorsports stable, as well as a few other things. I know, odd line of conversation, but considering the prosthetitican was into it, and knew just as much as we did, it wasn’t bad. It helped us get the second cast on and off…and shoes and socks back on.

 

We go week after next to pick them up and get the tweaking done. Can I tell you I’m glad we have insurance, as we found out the same day as the casting what our portion would be…and it’s not pretty. Seriously not pretty. I don’t know what we’d do if the insurance didn’t cover 80% of these. I’m not going to list what our portion is, because it makes me sick just thinking about it all. I’ve had people’s jaws hit the floor when they realize that our portion is only 20% of what the total bill is. ARGH.

 

But next Tuesday-photos to follow of the new AFOs…and Isaac proudly displaying the pattern he picked.

Green Apron Tales-Stuck on Stupid

Things have been pretty tame at the ‘bux lately…and that makes for no Green Apron Tales of substance. We’ve had your basic water filter problems, annoying people demanding breakfast sandwiches (which are coming in April…oh, bloody hell…but that’s another thing..) and the usual dimwited minutia.

This was until the other day. We got a rash of people who just took the cake in more ways than one.

CentralShift coined the term “Stuck on Stupid,” and it seems to fit. Seriously. The rash of people through the drive thru have gotten increasingly more and more insane as the weeks have gone on. Here’s a smattering of what I’ve encountered.

Stuck on Stupid the first:

It was 7:30 am. Woman orders a kid’s hot chocolate and a bottle of water. Total cost: 3.45. She hands me a 50.

Now, at this point on a Saturday morning, I don’t have enough change to break that sucker. Seriously. So, I ask her if she has anything smaller. She says no. I ask her if she has a card or some other form of payment…

and she says:

“No. I have MONEY.”

Oh, really! That’s what that is? Seriously? She got all 10’s 5’s and 1’s back and then had the nerve to ask me for a 20. Umm…those are locked in a drop box…so, no. I don’t have any. She got all huffy and went away.

Stuck on stupid the second:

I’m in the back, pulling pastries…and then all of a sudden, I see Drama Queen jump about 5 feet when she hears a horn blast…

“I didn’t know where the speaker was, so, I just pulled up.”

this woman has been at our bux several million times. She KNOWS where the freakin speaker is, and she knows that her coffee and food will totall 3.45. Yet, this is what she said, after I told her the total 5 times…

“So, how much is all of this? Isn’t that a bit expensive?”

Stupid.

Stuck on Stupid the 3rd

Pulls up to the window: ” I want a mocha-non fat, extra hot with whip!”

DTR person (who is not me): What size

Person repeats her order like we’re stupid 10 times.

For cripe’s sake-just give us the SIZE..SERIOUSLY. SIZE!!!

See? 100% stuck on stupid.