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Still in love with Howard Dean. . .

Happy Birthday!! (and thank you!!)

Niagara Falls, 1911

Thanks, Monica ♥

New Moon in Scorpio Monday, November 16, 2:15 pm EST

Great Deep Blue Hurricane 765

Thursday, November 12, 2009 7:58 PM, EST

We got a call from the medical center here. Ally will start Chemo next Friday. It will last for 4 days, and she will be admitted to the hospital for those 4 days. Most likely she will be re-admitted on Thanksgiving or the day after for a fever. This chemo is going to hit her hard and we were told to expect more admissions and LOTS of transfusions. November and December are going to be long months. Luckily we have very understanding work places!

As of right now we have a date of January 7th for the surgery in NYC. The doctor down there is hoping something opens up before then.

klashkid

Verizon: How Much Do You Charge Now?

By DAVID POGUE

Starting next week, Verizon will double the early-termination fee for smartphones. That is, if you get a BlackBerry, Android or similar phone from Verizon, and you decide to switch phones before your two-year contract is up, you'll be socked with a $350 penalty (it used to be $175).
This fee drops slowly over time ($10 a month), but after two years, it's still $110. If the premise of the early-termination fee is to help Verizon recoup its original cost of the phone (see my analysis here http://bit.ly/pOkXz), shouldn't the fee go down to zero at the end of your contract?

This move doesn't help Verizon's reputation for steep pricing and aggressive gouging.

What bothers me more, though, is another bit of greedy nastiness that readers both inside and outside Verizon have noticed.

Here's one example, from a Verizon customer:
"David, I read your posts about how the cell carriers are eating up our airtime with those 15-second 'To page this person, press 5' instructions, but I think Verizon has a bigger scam going on: charging for bogus data downloads.

"Virtually every bill I get has a couple of erroneous data charges at $1.99 each--yet we download no data.

"Here's how it works. They configure the phones to have multiple easily hit keystrokes to launch 'Get it now' or 'Mobile Web'--usually a single key like an arrow key. Often we have no idea what key we hit, but up pops one of these screens. The instant you call the function, they charge you the data fee. We cancel these unintended requests as fast as we can hit the End key, but it doesn't matter; they've told me that ANY data--even one kilobyte--is billed as 1MB. The damage is done.
"Imagine: if my one account has 1 to 3 bogus $1.99 charges per month for data that I don't download, how much are they making from their 87 million other customers? Not a bad scheme. All by simply writing your billing algorithm to bill a full MB when even a few bits have moved."
As it turns out, my correspondent is quite correct. My last couple of Verizon phones did indeed have non-reprogrammable, dedicated keys for those ridiculously overpriced "Get it now"-type services that I would never use in a million years.

At about the same time, I got a note from a reader who says he actually works at Verizon, and he's annoyed enough about the practice to blow the whistle:
"The phone is designed in such a way that you can almost never avoid getting $1.99 charge on the bill. Around the OK button on a typical flip phone are the up, down, left, right arrows. If you open the flip and accidentally press the up arrow key, you see that the phone starts to connect to the web. So you hit END right away. Well, too late. You will be charged $1.99 for that 0.02 kilobytes of data. NOT COOL. I've had phones for years, and I sometimes do that mistake to this day, as I'm sure you have. Legal, yes; ethical, NO.

"Every month, the 87 million customers will accidentally hit that key a few times a month! That's over $300 million per month in data revenue off a simple mistake!

"Our marketing, billing, and technical departments are all aware of this. But they have failed to do anything about it--and why? Because if you get 87 million customers to pay $1.99, why stop this revenue? Customer Service might credit you if you call and complain, but this practice is just not right.

"Now, you can ask to have this feature blocked. But even then, if you one of those buttons by accident, your phone transmits data; you get a message that you cannot use the service because it's blocked--BUT you just used 0.06 kilobytes of data to get that message, so you are now charged $1.99 again!

"They have started training us reps that too many data blocks are being put on accounts now; they're actually making us take classes called Alternatives to Data Blocks. They do not want all the blocks, because 40% of Verizon's revenue now comes from data use. I just know there are millions of people out there that don't even notice this $1.99 on the bill."

Well.

Look, it's very simple.

The more Verizon gouges, the worse it looks. Every single day, I get e-mail from people saying they're switching at the first opportunity, or would if they could. In time, the only people who will stay with Verizon are people who have no coverage with any other carrier.
Every company's dream, right? A base of miserable customers who stick with you only because they have no choice.

I realize that it's a business, that Verizon exists to make money. But the part I don't get is, why doesn't Verizon calculate the business cost of making customers unhappy? Surely some accountant can show that customer anger over these fees and dirty button tricks translate into negative corporate image, and therefore lost business.

Why wouldn't it be a hugely profitable move to start pitching yourself as the GOOD cell company, the one that actually LIKES its customers?

Here are four baby steps: (1) Let us bypass the 15 seconds of pointless voice mail instructions (Verizon is the only carrier who never responded to my campaign; see http://bit.ly/nIgE2).
(2) Make your early-termination fee reflect your actual cost, rather than being a profit center in its own right.
(3) If a data connection is obviously an error--under 10 seconds, say--don't bill for it.
(4) And for heaven's sake, quit imposing your own profit-center buttons on our cellphone designs. If we want to go online for $2 a megabyte, we'll find a way.

listener (Thank You!!)

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 8:10 PM, EST

We got a call from Ally's New Hampshire Oncologist this evening. They are still working out a plan, but it looks like chemo will most likely be some time next week. They will have to insert another line (IV or PICC) to do the chemo, but it is only for 4 or 5 days. We pretty much feel that we want it done as soon as possible to get it out of the way, and get Ally recovering so she can have the surgery in NYC.

We are SUPER excited to have tomorrow off to play in the playhouse, bake some cookies, and do a little shopping.

Monday, November 9, 2009 5:27 PM, EST


New York Story:

Friday - Our schedule was: 8:00 MIBG scan and bone marrow biopsy followed by a quick chat with the Doctor to go over results and make sure we were good with the new plan. We figured 11:00 at the latest (this hospital is on time!!!) giving us the rest of the day to explore NYC
What really happened: 8:00 MIBG scan and bone marrow biopsy.
10:00 Ally is returned to us VERY groggy. I ask the nurse if there is anything else for us. She didn't think so, but told us to check in with the desk. Daddy checks in and comes back with the news that they want more urine.
10:05: We are back in the procedure room getting a 4 hour urine bag place on Ally. This is a bag that is attached to her with a long tube attached that empties into another bag and will collect pee for 4 hours. They work really well for boys, and tend to leak on girls.
10:10 We are told we don't need to stick around, just be back around 2:00 to take it off. There goes our day......
We decide to go back to the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) because Ally is already saying she does not like this "funny diaper"
We carry her the 5 windy blocks back to the RMH and arrive there about 10:25
10:40: The phone rings and the doctor is ready to see us. We tell them we left the building and can be there in 15 minutes. We get ready to go.
10:43: They call us back and tell us the doctor can't wait that long, but they want us back on the floor so we are there when he is ready.
11:00: We arrive back at the hospital and let Ally play in the playroom. She has been crying to get the "funny diaper" off the entire time. She begrudgingly plays.
11:15 They call us to see the doctor. No surprise on the MIBG scan, no news on the bone marrow yet, chemo will probably begin this week...or whenever the NH medical center calls us (hopefully this week) and the surgery will be 4-5 weeks later (Christmas in NYC!)
11:30 We go back to RMH and lay Ally down for a nap.
12:30 Ally is awake, but just lies about on the bed, asking to take the funny diaper off. She is very proud of herself when she pees and can see it in the tube...2 year olds are fun!
1:45: Back to the hospital (carrying Ally again) to take off the funny diaper. Ally is HAPPY!

Later that evening...We are in the elevator at the RMH and a teenager and her mom join us. The girl has a few tubes of chemo running on her. Ally says "That girl funny diaper too!" for all to hear. Ahhhhhh.....gotta love her!

Fun Tid Bit: Ally yells "Hot Dog" when she goes down the slide!

Sunday, November 8, 2009 6:04 PM, EST

Today was the big reveal for Ally's playhouse! It is beyond words. Ally had such a good time. Daddy and I could tell she REALLY liked it, because she continued to play even though there were lots of people around. We couldn't invite EVERYONE to the party, so if you didn't come today, let us know if you are going to be in the Concord area and you can stop on by for a private showing...you will have to go down the slide though!

Pictures are up at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/giraffe7219/
There are also pics from New York...only a few because the hospital does not allow cameras and we didn't want to take pics with other kids at the Ronald McDonald House for privacy reasons.

Daddy and I are looking forward to Wednesday when we both have the day off to really get to play with Ally and explore all the super stuff she got. Speaking of super stuff she got...Ally sort of ripped through all her presents before we could take note of who got her what...so THANKS! everyone who got her something for her playhouse.

More stories about New York later in the week!
Did I mention we are happy to be home?

Have a great week...hug a Veteran.

Nora

Regrets


One, watching you
taking yourself to someplace
dark and smokey
running from those who
hurt your heart
watched over by dark men
flickering with bits of gold
here and there on their persons

Born a brass band girl myself
swaddled in love of kind hearts
waiting for blue skies and bright sun
and larks
I could not follow

Perhaps
next time



jjl
7 November 2009

Friday, November 6, 2009 5:55 PM, EST

New York is exhausting! We are very happy to be headed home tomorrow.
Ally has made some friends in the playroom here. It is very cute to see her playing with other children. She fits in well with one little girl who has a similar disposition.
We are VERY impressed with this hospital (and still love DHMC). The receptionists remembered our names and were very helpful whenever we had a question. The hospital nurses and doctors are great at telling us what we need to know in terms we can understand without making us feel stupid. We are not really looking forward to the surgery, but at least we know we will be in very good hands.
Lack of sleep and carrying Ally back and forth to the hospital 3 times today (a total of 30 blocks) has made us VERY tired! I will be sure to tell more about our adventures here, including the silly diaper she had to wear today.

Home Tomorrow!!!

Have top, will travel. Is a wooden base, legs, doable, Cooter?

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 3:57 PM, EST

We are back from the doctor's visit. Our plan has changed....we shouldn't be surprised by this, but it did catch us off guard a bit.
Our new plan: Ally will get a round of chemo where she will need to be admitted to the hospital. She will then have another surgery. If those go well she will have another round of chemo followed by the antibody therapy.
Positives:
1. The chemo can happen at our local medical center and will last about a week.
2. The surgeon (In NYC) is world renown.
3. The antibody therapy requires us to be in NYC for only 1 week, instead of 2, like we previously thought.
Sad note:
Ally is going to lose her hair again. Grrrrrr. We will be on the lookout for some cute winter hats.

Ally is not a fan of the city. While we were out walking this morning she wanted to be carried and was holding on very tightly. I am sure by Saturday she will not want to leave...until we remind her of her playhouse.

Tomorrow Ally has a CT scan and an MIBG injection. On Friday she has an MIBG scan and a bone marrow biopsy.

Thanks for all your well wishes...
Bagels and pizza are tasty in New York!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 5:56 PM, EST

We have arrived in New York. Our journey began around 9AM this morning, and we got to the Ronald McDonald house around 4:45. It was a long day, but Ally did fantastic on the train, even when it was delayed for about 30 minutes. We are just going to get some food and settle in. Tomorrow we meet with the doctor.