cell phone voicemail indicator

Remember how ever since I got my Boost cell-phone last year, the voice-mail indicator has not worked? Last January, after activating the phone, I spent a couple hours on the phone with customer support, and they were not able to get it fixed, and finally said I'd have to contact Motorola, as it must be a problem with the phone itself.

Well. Last week was the first time I accidentally did not add money to my account prior to the expiration date. I was a few days late - not late enough that I lost my number or anything, just that my phone services were temporarily disabled.

Yesterday, after turning on my cell-phone, I was surprised by a message indicating that I had 4 voicemails! And a little envelope icon displayed at the top of the screen!

So, having my account expire must have fixed or reset whatever the problem was.

(no subject)

Sometimes when something does not make sense, I ponder it for a while, and then, not coming to a solution, I stop thinking about it and eventually forget about it. I wonder how often this happens.

Yesterday Q forwarded me an email, actually a joke written as if it were a real story, about an atheist. It was not a funny joke, and was basically implying that atheists are fools. I pondered for a while, as to why he would send me that email. He knows I am agnostic. Or at least, I was pretty sure he did... doesn't he know that agnostics aren't that different from atheists? Or did it really not occur to him that the email could seem offensive to a non-Christian? Anyway, after thinking about it for a few moments, I closed the email and, not having come to an explanation, stopped thinking about it.

Today though, after seeing it still in my inbox, I decided to reply to it, and so I did. I guess part of it, is that today I have time to do so, and yesterday, I did not. But it might also be related to hormones making me feel more argumentative, as it is pre-blood week.

Yesterday and today, I've also noticed myself being annoyingly indecisive. This seems related to hormones too. I can't say how long I spent in the pharmacy store yesterday, first browsing for an acceptable pseudo-ephedrine-containing decongestant, then browsing the cards, and then trying to decide which 2-for-$10 sweat-shirts I wanted to get for myself (which colors, which size, which style). I felt embarrassed at the thought of anyone watching me take so long to decide which things to get.

Today, it took me a long time to decide whether or not to wash the bed-sheets.

It seems odd how hormones could make me indecisive.... or is it not the indecision which is unusual, but my annoyance at the indecision? Perhaps I am always this slow, but it does not normally bother me?

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While I had that cold, I determined that phenylephrine did not seem to clear up my congestion at all. That's why I was shopping for pseudo-ephedrine, so that I'll have it on hand next time. They no longer have the pseudo-ephedrine products out on the regular shelves, so I was browsing the little cards they have on the shelves instead. The cards show the same info as the actual product labels.

When I got to the check-out, I handed the cashier the 2 cards I had selected. It turns out one of them was out of stock. The other one, a children's cold syrup (I prefer sugar syrups to the artificial sweeteners which are in the adult syrups), was available, and the cashier held the bottle in his hands for several moments, turning it and seeming to study the label. That struck me as odd. I was embarrassed at how long it took me to choose my items, and then I felt uncomfortable too at the checkout, wondering if the cashier suspected me of buying the pseudo-ephedrine in order to make illegal drugs.

pickyness

I am picky about things.

I buy certain brands of tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels, because of the higher content of post-consumer recycled fibers in them.

I buy the unscented type of fabric detergent... Actually, I've only ever bought one of these, last year, but the bottle still isn't used up. Yet now I'm of the mindset, that I prefer unscented fabric detergents. (even though some of the scents which are advertised sound nice... I wonder if they are really nice, or if they'd make me sneeze?)

Most cold syrups contain artificial sweeteners. I don't buy those, because I feel that artificial sweeteners are unhealthy. Many non-prescription tablet-form drugs have lactose in them - I don't buy those because I am vegan. Most soft-gel types of drugs contain gelatin - I don't buy those because I am vegetarian. So it takes me a long time, when buying drugs, just to find the ones which are acceptable for me.

Pain relievers... I shy away from any except Tylenol / acetaminophen. I'm not sure why, exactly, except that I've only ever used acetaminophen, and I'm not sure whether the others are more unhealthy, or if they might affect me in a negative way. Logically, I should just try the others out and see how they work, but... I shy away from it.

Actually... when they first came out with other types of pain relievers, the first ones I remember were marketed as being good against PMS symptoms (including bloating) as well as menstrual pain. I never had problems with bloating, so I had no reason to try those brands. Also, the PMS-association was a negative one for me - I did not like having a period, and did not like being a woman, and therefore I did not want to take the medicines specifically made for women and periods (even though the only thing I used pain relievers for, was against menstrual pains back then.)

Food - I'm vegan, so that makes me pretty much picky about everything I eat. I also prefer organically-grown foods. I also prefer things with natural flavors and colors, instead of artificial.

Tick-tocking clocks. They drive my crazy! I used to have one in my room when I was a kid, and it didn't bother me then, but nowadays I can't stand them.

When it comes down to it, I'm pretty picky about everything that comes into my life. If there's going to be something which is going to take up space in my house, and which I'm going to utilize, I want to make sure that it is exactly the kind of thing that I want.

It sure does make it hard for other people to get me things, though.

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When Qiao took me, FF, Bro, and Pard out to eat last week, I realized that I'm not the only picky one in my family.

FF does not like MSG - it makes her feel pressure in the sides of her head. Bro does not like MSG either - he talks about how unhealthy it is. He talks about how unhealthy a whole lot of things are. MSG however, does not bother me. It's a natural substance which has been used as a food additive for a long time, right? So, it doesn't bother me. I accept that some people like FF are sensitive to it, but I don't seem to be.

FF reacts badly to sucralose - it gives her headaches. I stay away from sucralose because it is one of those artificial sweeteners, and I think they are unhealthy.

Bro and Pard both felt that the water served by the restaurant (as well as the water at FF's house) tasted unpleasantly of chlorine, even though it tasted fine to me. I suppose I must be used to it. In Germany, they clean the water with ozone instead of chlorine, from what they said.

(no subject)

Now it's time to go to bed, and I haven't even eaten dinner yet, because I was writing the below posts.

I felt a need to get those posts out of my system, though. There's another one in my head, but I guess it can wait. None of these are really important, but I just felt like writing them. Possibly something to do with hormones, too.