On Thursday of last week my Beloved received a phone call from the friend from whom we had originally arranged to rent a condo from at the beach. She was telling us that "our" week had not rented (for her full price) and if we wanted we could still use it for the week. A frantic bunch of phone calls later my Beloved and COWGIRL (re)arranged all of the appointments and other things that running a house involve and Viola! I love the beach and all, but when there are eight people (2 adolescents, 1 preteen, 2 teenagers, 2 mothers, and 1 father) in a one bedroom condo... let's just say there is not much in the way of serenity. When i was picked up by my new employer though... a lot of things changed... like vacation. I've lost all of my vacation sans 2 personal days for the first 6 months. Then i start back at the beginning with only 2 weeks.
Speaking of new work benefits... i may have a problem. I have been taking Strattera to help me with my ADD. Unfortunately my new Health Insurance has an unusually large deductible BEFORE they pay anything (other than for yearly preventative health appointments). Well, Strattera is apparently VERY expensive and the type of reimbursement account i have set up to help me with the out of pocket expenses is the type that builds slowly and so i do not have enough money to pay for it. As a test i have not been taking it since Friday (i know, you are not supposed to change the Rx, i.e. when to take it, etc., without consulting your doctor - yet another out of pocket cost) in order to see if i noticed any difference... unfortunately... i have. I have been feeling a little 'loopy' from time to time AND i am noticing a lot more trouble keeping the "plates spinning". Not doing well mentally in that regard. This is affecting my work, which can affect my ability to provide for my family, not to mention in my relating to others. All of this, with a negligible increase in my paychecks. I am grateful that i even have a job to go to right now... but the vice is squeezing tighter and tighter. Ever see that car commercial with the hamsters running on their wheels?
Speaking of rodents... for some reason i had a 'mental image' of how one might be able to get a picture of God's sovereignty and our (man's) free will. Now, i know this is not a perfect representation, but it is what came to mind. It's kind of like the old mice in a maze experiment. Mice are sent to run the maze without any direct interference as to which direction to go etc. Now, the scientist is in control of everything about the maze with the exceptions of making the mouse make any sort of decision. The scientist puts in incentives, or can move walls at will, etc. but the mouse is free to choose to accept the incentive or to take the new pathway etc. This is an imperfect example of the relationship between God and man, but i feel it represents a decent enough parable to help my feeble mind. While i am not some science experiment navigating for some piece of cheese, i am a finite creature that is unable to see the entire maze (which is all of creation by the way). God has revealed Himself and His desire for a relationship to me (and to others) in various ways. I do not always accept the "piece of cheese" or easier path. And yet God does interjects and sometimes even manipulates the "maze" (i.e. like miracles, both seen'/etected and unseen/undetected), but at no point does He impose His will upon me to choose this or that. In the end He allows me to make my choices, and receive the rewards/penalties. This really is an over simplification, and can easily be twisted out of proportion. But it works for me.
Speaking of Rodents... MouseHunt is getting a pretty major overhaul today. Most of my readers will not know what MouseHunt is, or even care, but i will blather on anyway. The "backbone" of the game is getting recoded, as well as the graphical interfaces. This results in a pretty significant overhaul. Anyone who has worked in IT, probably NOT on a game though, knows what this is like. Basically it is the equivalent of taking your PC, erasing the hard drive and rewriting the operating system to get it to run the programs more efficiently. All the while of having (literally) 10's of thousands of users all clamering to know when are you going to be done, why can't i play the game, you guys suck - can't even upgrade your own system more efficently, etc. Never mind that these guys have been working on improving the program, making it a better experience, for over a year AND they announced it in advance. They told the users what to expect, how long it might be down, what they need to do in order to ensure there is a smooth transition, etc. I've said it before, and i will say it again here, i am really enjoying this game! It is a game where i have to solve problems in order to catch the prize mice, i do not HAVE to spend real world currency to play the game if i do not want to, other players are not constantly sabatoging my efforts to improve - not only that, there is a really good group of players helping many of the more Novice players - to include doling out advice AND "gold" to help them along. You can play with a "team" of friends OR go solo. I am enjoying this so much so, that i do not play any other games on facebook at this point - i just don't have the time anyway, so i might as well focus on a game that i can enjoy.
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