monanotlisa

Health update! Painkillers have kicked in, thank God. But almost 2 1/2 hours of reaction time was exactly 2 1/2 hours too long, and meant I was out for the count, away from my desk -- in the office and at home - on my couch, on a day when my boss would have appreciated me being around to respond immediately to questions in urgent matters. Of course, what sucked for him sucked worse for me. Need to take my analgesics earlier, only sometimes the pre-period twinges last for two days, and I don't want to be even more unkind to my liver than I tend to be.

For those of you just tuning in, it's nothing easily pin-pointed; I just have intense period pains for about 18 hours -- severe enough to render me completely non-functional, my nerve system going into the kind of overload that leaves me shaking while curled up in a fetal position, and let's not even get into the gastrointestinal side effects. The pain is worse (10 on a 10-point scale) than having a vertebra crushed (8 on said scale) or all the ligaments in one knee ripped (7), and yes, I wish I didn't have these latter two yardsticks. Could be endometriosis, but in that case it's not on my ovaries, which I'm told are "perfect-looking" Again, don't we all love being told we're beautiful on the inside where it matters? My gynaecologist theorised it could be located somewhere on my peritoneum. Which, as I gather, is a lot like saying, "That needle is totally somewhere in that haystack!" His eminently sage suggestion is, therefore, to cut me wide-open to see where that treacherous uterine tissue might be located. And I understand that in a fraction of cases, it can then be removed safely (whereas in 100% of cases, he receives a hefty sum of money for performing such surgery from our public health insurance funds). But, y'know. I'm just over thirty and have way too much hospital experience already. I don't really want to give this a whirl when usually, pain killers one day a month are perfectly sufficient to keep me functional.

Today was just not "usually".

I'm thinking this day would have gone a little better had it not started out so miserably by O2 cutting my mobile connection. Yep: Telefónica Deutschland cheerfully deactivated my SIM card.

I realise it's not the end of the world, but you know -- it's the end of people's ability to reach me for the upcoming weeks.

Backstory: I'd cancelled my O2 Blue mobile smartphone contract for purely price-related reasons: simyo offers the same smartphone mobile rate (up to 1 GB/mo.) for EUR 9.99 per month that O2 has on offer for EUR 15. A difference of 33% in monthly payments is nothing to sneeze at, and besides, my sister recommended simyo as her provider of choice, and award-winning to boot. Just, I cancelled my contract at the latest-possible minute, in late December, so while I received a confirmation text, I wasn't sure a company like O2 -- with negative entries in the "responsiveness" column -- would actually let me go by the end of January. Again, in case your system is different: What I definitely needed to even sign up with simyo, wanting to transfer my phone number, was the exact end date of my contract. So I asked for that -- kept asking for it, in my original cancellation and my more urgent enquiries sent via text and their online services. Every time (the last: 15 January) I received a "Please hang in there; we're processing!" response.

Yeah, you know how this ends: The SIM card was switched off today, and I'd never gotten a single line with the thus-required date -- not via snail mail, not in my e-inbox, not as a text, and not through a call. I will confess that my conversation with the poor sod in the call centre was not my finest moment.

callcentrenotlisa: I do have an entry here about us sending you a postal letter with today's end date on 2 January.
monanotlisa: So, do you suggest someone then stole it out of the metal mailbox in my house? And O2 didn't think of ever responding with the very same content to my subsequent enquiries? You can see that I find the circumstances a little suspicious, right? You making it extremely difficult and frustrating for me to switch to your competitor?
callcentrenotlisa: ...

I did tell him I fully well realised it was not his (personal) fault at the end. But there was probably steam coming out of my ears, and I'm so ending up on customerssuck. I take my means of communication serious. Cutie suggested I just grab a Fonic card and surf pay-as-you go for the weeks this switch will now require, but it's not my access only; I'm an urban dweller with several actual computers. The aggravating fact remains that all the texts my friends and family send me in the mean time will end up in the ether, and they won't even know.

Okay, phew. Sorry for unloading. But that's what the internet is for right? That, and porn. Also, pictures of kittens.

On to the good things, shall we?

1. My sister called me yesterday night to talk details of her upcoming wedding, with me as the maid of honour: Just a small but joyful celebration in Munich and Northern Italy, with family and closest friends (not a euphemism for inviting everyone and sundry). It'll be a much-needed breather.

2. She also called me inter alia to tell me how much she was loving Fringe, almost at the end of Season Two (and, she confessed, "a bit of a shipper" since "Jacksonville" :). She eagerly asked for Season Three on DVD. Since I own that but have currently lent it to Cutie (and not given up the chance of watching S3 as of Marionette once more, with him and his girlfriend) I have already procured another S3 set for her from the UK, and will sell this one to Cutie who wanted to own it anyway. Drives a hard bargain, the boy, though. Miser.

3. Since I was home on my sofa, I actually got my parcel of Portuguese wines hand-delivered to my door -- delivery was free! (Okay, fine; it's in included in the bottle prices, but still.) And the owner of that my fave Portuguese wine merchant added the latest issue of Weinwelt magazine for me. \o/

I had more, but I think I want to watch The Good Wife now.

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