I have always liked them... here is one that my step-father sent me today via email. Thanks Don.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water And placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.

The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ... boiling water . Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter.

The email goes on to explain more, but I like people to come up with their own application / interpretations of analogies.

So in retrospect I say the following to T-Mobile ... take this egg and shove it, I'm going back to drinking my coffee.

I HATE T-MOBILE... what type of shitty ass organization (using the term loosly) can hold a damn contract with you and not allow you to see it. Or let you purchase something and not give you a damn receipt? Where to the find the high caliber ass munches to work at this place... talk about the epidome of dumbassdom.

Here is a copy of the letter I was about to send to them...

I have to say that I cannot believe your company is still in business... What a bunch of idiots I have been on the phone with all day long. But I blame them about 10% and the stupid policies that you have in place the other 90%. WHAT KIND OF COMPANY CANNOT REPRODUCE ESSENTIAL BINDING DOCUMENTS SUCH AS RECEIPTS AND SERVICE AGREEMENTS AT A CUSMTOMER'S REQUEST? One that doesn't value it's customers and has no desire to be around for very long. You have infuriated me to a level I don't think I have ever experienced before. Your managers must have their heads so far up their own asses that I am sure they have shit stains on their chests.

I will promise you that I will never give another dollar to your sorry excuse for a company once our legal obligations to one another are satisfied.

but luckily my wife (whom also tried to get through their bull headed bullshit on the phone) drafted a much more adult sounding letter (that has been faxed since their customer relations department has no way for a customer to get in touch with them) Nice Customer Relations, JACKASSES!!!

T-mobile Customer Relations,

I have been on the phone with customer service for the past hour. I would like to have a copy of my service agreement mailed to my home or faxed to me, whichever is more convenient for you. The customer service representative, Adam #4836164, was of no assistance to me whatsoever. He insisted that he is not authorized to send me my service agreement.

As a T-mobile customer for the past 3 years, I feel that I am entitled to review my service agreement at any time. My husband and I recently renewed our contract and upgraded our phones online. The phones we selected both have rebates and we are attempting to gather all of the information requested on the forms (one of which is the service agreement). Unfortunately, we did not receive a new service agreement with our phones. I assumed that I would be able to contact customer service and request that a copy of the agreement be mailed to my home address. I was quite disturbed when customer service insisted they could not do this. As a customer, I am entitled to be able to review my service agreement and my contract with T-mobile.

After speaking with numerous customer service representatives, I eventually ended up with Adam #4836164, who informed me that he was a manager and that he could not help me with my request. I also spoke with him about canceling my agreement with you - since I have not seen a copy of any agreement that we have and he refuses to supply me with the agreement. He was quick to tell me that I would be charged $200 for canceling the contract. How can I be charged to cancel a contract that you will not let me review?

After careful thought and consideration, I am making this last effort to request my service agreement and any contracts that you believe that I have entered into with T-mobile. If you refuse to supply me with copies of this information, I will terminate my "agreement" with you and will not be responsible for any charges you assume I owe.

I hope this issue is resolved as quickly as possible and that you take my complaint seriously. In the future, I would hope that your customer services representatives would be trained on how to supply customers with copies of the contracts and/or service agreements.

If you have questions or would like to discuss this any further, please contact me on my T-mobile cell phone at 757-xxx-xxxx.(removed for privacy)

Sincerely,

Sherry XxXxxxxx (also removed)

God I am so pissed... when I say "God" I mean, "God, please rain all of your rath down on this asshat of an organization and anyone that has had anything to do with it's policies and 'customer service'".

Here is an announcement of the project I have been working on (out in San Francisco). Always nice to see some news on the work you have been doing.

They mention some of the work I did also... "upgrade to the latest version with an easy-to-use upgrade wizard" when they are spelling out the cool features of the Web based Control Center.

I have started playing soccer this winter (I know kinda dumb time to be playing, but so far it hasn't been too cold). Our team isn't very good and we are playing in Division I (should most likely be in Division II). But I am out there for the exercise and to get rid of some of my manly testosterone. I played defense in High School (which was the peak of my soccer career) but I have apparently gotten slow in my old age, last weekend I was getting burned left and right and always chasing people as they blew by me. But I have gotten better (with age) and playing smarter and playing midfield and forward, so I have two assists (I think we have scored 3 goals total) so not too shabby.

Will update the games as I play them. We are currently 0-2.

Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry I have been so non-present lately. Just been doing holiday stuff and nothing has really struck my fancy as interesting lately... so I've just been living. But I have gotten some complaints about depriving some peeps of their once a month entertainment so I figured I would take some time on this Christmas-eve-eve and write down some thoughts.

PEARL
After Thanksgiving Pearl told us that the doctor had gotten a 2nd opinion and that the second opinion concluded that there was some cancerous cells in the tissue surrounding the removed colon. This scared Pearl, but after talking to the kids and talking to the Chemo doc (Dr. Tan) she is feeling better about it.

Her treatment has always been expected to include post operative chemo in anticipation of some cells still lingering around. So all this information tells us is that some definitely exist and it helps the team of doctors know where to concentrate their treatments. So they have decided to include post-operative radiation in hopes of offering the best offense against her cancer.

She goes in Jan 3rd to have the temporary ostomy bag removed which is a big mental thing for her and will help her feel more "normal" (even though I think she is pretty damn normal already). She is looking really good... she looks healthy and she has started gaining some weight back which is great news.

CHOLESTEROL
So my weight loss is great, all of my "health statistics" are doing wonderfully, but given that Beebe3 died at 50 and Lois1 has high Cholesterol my doctor has decided that I should start taking some Crestor. Main side effects are sore muscles and potential liver problems, so I am going back to have my blood work done and have the liver checked out in 2 more weeks.

In case you are curious, here is a snapshot of Ben's Cholesterol:

Date       Weight  Cholesterol  HDL  LDL   "LDL/HDL Ratio"

---------------------------------------------------------

12/23/97    200      223        51   149      2.9

03/14/01    242      220        39   147      3.8

03/25/03    240      227        46   157      3.4

02/02/04    235      221        39   167      4.3

05/17/04    197      216        46   149.6    3.3

11/24/04    192      237        54   165.4    3.1

On the bottom of the blood test reports is the following chart:

     LDL/HDL RISK FACTORS

MEN     WOMEN         RISK FACTOR

-----------------------------------------

1.0      1.5       1/2 Average Risk

3.6      3.2           Average Risk

6.3      5.0       2 Times Average Risk

8.0      6.1       3 Times Average Risk 

The February appointment was my baseline to see what was going on prior to starting the Atkins Diet. And it worked, there is no doubting that... my weight loss was significant and my cholesterol levels improved dramatically, the doctor was very pleased, but given family history it is still wise to be on medication.

But since the drug has a potential side effect of liver problems and Atkins has a potential side effect of liver problems I have decided to switch back to the a low fat diet, trying to eat a lot more fruit and vegetables... less meat, keep the bread and refined sugar intake down, and so far so good... I swelled up there for a week, but today I was down to 188 which is right around my low anyways so I am pleased.

POKER NIGHT
So I have two groups of poker players that I play with... one is from work, the other is the boys in the family. I hosted the family poker night last month and had a good time... all in all I broke even (as I think I have every time I have played recently) so I have no problem playing for a few hours and not spending any money... to me that is a win. Hopefully I can get a game or two in during the break. I have 11 days off in a row (staring tomorrow) during the holidays so I am pleased to be able to finish up on the house and just relax.

I just played a super cheesy skymiles promotion game and apparently won 10,000 skymiles. Check it out at Dash to the Gate. Free skymiles are a good thing!

We are having a poker night on Friday with the young men from Sherry's family. Franklin, Mark, and Joseph will be representing the Everett's, Shawn and I will be representing the Tureman's and Chuck will be representing the Fergeson's.

Should be fun... will let you know how much I win!

Not much has been going on... we had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in town and then departed to go spend the rest of the long weekend at Sarah's house since the rest of my family was going to be there. It was good to see everyone.

Pearl is doing good, she is driving herself around and in really good spirits despite her lack of having my daily computer lessons.

We got to see Alison (Sherry's college roommate) and Chris last week as well. Apparently they have lots of new friends and don't need us anymore, but we do appreciate them stopping by to say 'Hi'.

Other then that... same ol' same ol' I need to do some stuff around the house and get it ready for visitors.

And great news! The lymph nodes are clean. So we have a the best results that we could of had... a 2nd staged case with everything reconnected and full functionality expected, and a VERY LONG LIFE :)

She had the staples removed from her stomach and is recovering and gaining weight daily. She is still staying with Sherry and I, but has been talking about trying to go home.... hopefully she will listen to reason, which is my middle name.

Next steps: January 3rd is the reverse ileostomy (removing the bag that she is using to go to the restroom and resume normal digestive functionality), and a follow up in a month to see how things are going. She will most likely start the final round of Chemo after the January 3rd surgery which is 4 months long.

So all in all today is a great day.

Pearl moved in without a hitch. She has been recovering with Sherry and lots of guests to keep her company. The home nurses came by yesterday to admit her into the home care program, and her assigned nurse is coming tomorrow for her first visit. Sherry has taken off work for these first couple of days and will reevaluate the status or Sunday night. But Pearl seems to be happy to be out of the hospital and in the care of her family with an occasional visit from the nurse.

She is eating and the swelling is going down as her body readjusts to all the changes it is going through. Her feet are swollen and Shawn purchased all of Walgreen's heating supplies for feet... heating pad, electric socks, the foot spa, the works. She likes the socks the best.

She is sleeping much better and has been napping regularly as she recovers. She has to get up often in the night to urinate as her water weight continues to drop which is normal for post operation patients. I fly home tomorrow and get in late at night so I can't wait to see both Sherry and Pearl. It's been hard to be away.