Warts and All

Okay, people who are grossed out by feet should stop reading now. You've been warned so if you get grossed out, it is not my fault and you'd better not complain or whine later.

I have fairly normal feet, but the heels of my feet get really dry, sometimes so much that they crack and bleed, which hurts a lot. About three years ago, my doctor prescribed a strong lotion to put on them to prevent them from getting so dry. Unfortunately, the lotion did absolutely nothing for the large callus that had formed on my heel. The doctor and later dermatologists told me that I should just use the lotion and a pumice stone regularly to gradually smooth out the callus. It didn't work at all and I have had the callus for about two year now.

Two months ago, I began seeing a new dermatologist because I wasn't convinced that the one I was using was that great. I asked this new dermatologist about my callus and what I should do to get rid of it. She hardly even glanced at it and said, "oh that's not a callus, that's a wart." Seriously? While I am not thrilled to have a wart and the treatment of said wart is not the easier thing, what really gets me is that multiple doctors have looked at this and misdiagnosed it repeatedly.

Pocket Susan Advice: Medical treatment is expensive even if you have insurance. Be sure to make the most of it, by only seeing physicians that you really feel comfortable with and whom you feel are really good. If you find yourself questioning a diagnosis as you leave an appointment or wonder if your doctor listened to anything you said during the consult then it's time to find a new doctor.

Racing to the Photo Finish

I would not be surprised if my laptop dies any day now. The poor thing has served me faithfully for about six years now and, quick frankly, it deserves to rest. I just had to have the fan replaced and now it's issue is burning CDs, which is how I planned to save all of my photos/documents/etc. Now I am scrambling to upload photos to flash drives and Shutterfly. This has become particularly urgent since I realized that the photo CDs I had burned earlier this year are a mess and unreadable in another computer. It's going to be a tight race, I just hope I win.

Pocket Susan Advice: I got an interesting offer from Shutterfly the other day. They allow you to pre-pay your print purchases so that they equal out to $0.12 or less per print. This would be great if you know you're going to need photos for a scrapbook or after a wedding or if you always include a family photo in your Christmas card. The link for Shutterfly is www.shutterfly.com and the page specific to the pre-paid plan is http://www.shutterfly.com/shop/Prints-Posters-Prepaid-4x6-Plans/product_c10004-p2015

UPDATES: Please Accept My Apology

I have over ten posts dating back into April that I haven't had a chance to finish and publish. I will be working hard this week to wrap those up and get Pocket Susan up to date. I will also be adding some photos to early posts that are long overdue. So please be patient and accept my apology for the delay.

Some new updates that are completely out of order:

• A picture of the weird blue towel left on my doorstep (11/6/08)
• Google: Susan (4/29/09)
• Sales Are Good, But Free Is Better (5/3/09)
• Cozy up to the Fireplace (5/7/09)
  

More updates to come. Oh, and a shout out to my Mom who finally figured out how to get to my blog! Woo, go Mom! :-)

Marathon

No, not the running kind. I did buy some awesome new running at shoes at Rogue Equipment with the help of my friend Cindy, but that's not what I'm talking about right now.

I came home on a Saturday evening with no particular plans and started flipping through the channels. When I came across VH1's 100 Best Songs of the 90's I realized that there was no hope for going out. I LOVE TV marathons and am so easily roped into an entire day on my couch. Just one episode and I am a captive audience for as long as the episodes last.

This particular marathon is one of my favorites because although I was born in '82, this is the music that raised me. I cannot think of any other decade that has more variety in the top 40 songs than the nineties. Think about it: Mariah Carey, House of Pain, Eminem, Beastie Boys, Sinead O'Connor, Vanilla Ice, Hanson, Celine Dion, REM, MC Hammer, Pearl Jam, TLC, and lest we forget, Britney Spears. I could go on forever or you could just look at list on the link above. Love it. And iTunes loves that every time this show comes on I inevitably download a dozen songs.

Cozy Up to the Fireplace

My neighbors are a little bit odd and I am not sure what to make of them. Don't get me wrong, Debbie, the mom, is cordial and friendly. But certain things just strike me as weird. A) I think they're the ones that put the blue towel on my doormat because their cat always sits on my doormat instead of theirs. B) When I moved in August, Debbie told me that she lived with her high school age son, but I didn't actually see him until November. Since then I have seen/heard him twice. C) The stockpile of wood on their patio is out of control. Yes, our apartments do have working fireplaces but we're in central Texas for pete's sake. There were only a handful of nights during the whole winter that were even close to cold enough to necessitate a fire. What on earth would make Debbie think that purchasing this much wood was a good idea?

Sales Are Good, But Free Is Better

I have decided to move when my lease is up in August. I really like my apartment (and promise to put up some photos one of these days), but it's amazing central location makes it a tad expensive. Unfortunately, I'm going to be just a little bit short for a down payment so I will have to rent for another year. By moving a little further out, I will pay about $200 less per month for a comparable apartment. That will add up quickly to pay off student loans and get a good down payment for a house.

Anyway, when I went to get the mail today I had a fantastic surprise that will make moving a lot easier and cheaper.

The back says, "FREE BUBBLE WRAP! YAY!!" It came that way, I actually didn't write that. And the whole box is filled with bubble wrap.