#we don't really have. the money to spend on vet stuff. unless i take it out of my own pocket

[datastate]

wah, my cat's thankfully doing well... poor thing lost one of his front teeth and i was really worried it'd affect his eating/mood, but he's actually been much more active now that the rotted tooth is out :'] i'm so glad. he still has moments where he flinches, but i've been checking it and it hasn't bled since the initial day he lost the tooth + none of the other teeth seem affected as far as i can tell (though i'm no vet). it'll be hard to get him to be accustomed to me brushing his teeth since he used to be an adult stray, but i've been making an effort to help him understand that this won't hurt him so i can brush what's left to help him maintain it

[raspberryconverse]

So back in January, Lola got an infected toe (see footnote on this entry). We thought she fell in one of Mable's holes, but the x-ray didn't show any broken bones, but it was an infection, not a tumor because it responded very well to antibiotics. After the $800 visit (which my spouse actually paid for, even though Lola is my dog, because I didn't have that much in savings*), my spouse suggested we get pet insurance for her. She's old (10½), so it'd be better to get her covered now before her health starts to decline because of age.

Well, that was a total crapshoot.

First off, the insurance company found in one of her vet records that she was an American Staffordshire Terrier and determined that meant she was not, in fact, a mixed breed dog (even though she totally is and is actually only 23% AmStaff) and they decided to raise the premium on her policy by about 50% unless I get the vet to send a letter saying that she's not (there was also a miscommunication because my spouse talked to the vet about it because phone anxiety and offered to write it and just have them sign and fax it over, but I didn't know my spouse was expecting me to do it because they said "we" have to write the letter). Now, I got an email saying they did a review of her vet records and are basically not going to cover a whole bunch of shit, including anything dental related because she has tartar buildup. So IDEK what I'm paying $150 a month for now.

I didn't even want to do the insurance thing in the first place because they tend to be expensive and not cover anything worthwhile, but I trusted my spouse and signed up for the plan they found. Now that I've found out it isn't going to cover anything, I've wasted at least $500 on premiums that could have gone to more important things. My spouse pulled their typical, "It's all my fault, I'm a bad person" deflection they always do when I get mad about something they did/said and that sent me off the deep end. I really lost my shit after that. Like hysterical sobbing.

But here's the kicker: I was eating lunch at the table and my spouse asks if I took my medicine today.

Oh, fuck no.

I can't even begin to go into how fucking insulting that question was. Like, I'm upset, so I must have forgotten to take my medication, right? You've got to be fucking kidding me.

"Well, I was just trying to make sure you were ok."

"No, I'm not fucking ok! I haven't been ok for a long time and I can't fucking doing anything about it because I can't get my fucking blood pressure under control!"

God, I really fucking hate myself.

Oh, and my spouse also offered to give me the money I spent on premiums for this shit insurance, but that doesn't fucking help with anything because it's still money lost. At the end of the day, it's still money that went to a scam of a company and no towards, IDK, a new screen door or something. Whether it came out of my account or my spouse's is irrelevant because we're supposed to be a team. I mean, my spouse's bonus is going towards stuff we need for the house. They don't have to spend it on that, but they're going to. So whether I paid it or my spouse did just doesn't matter because we still need to try to use both our incomes to pay for things that need to be done. Money I lost is still money that could have been put elsewhere.

*I also have my Petco credit card as the main payment method on our rewards account, so I actually had at least $800 put on my card towards cat food and litter in the last year without my spouse reimbursing me for it, so we determined we're even when it comes to that. Basically, Lola is my dog, Meeah is my spouse's cat and Mable is both of our responsibility. I got Lola before I met my spouse and I never wanted a cat, but Mable was a joint decision. Plus, we don't have all our money go into our joint accounts to allow us autonomy, but we do both throw extra money in there if we need it for something.

[tincansamurai]

you don't gotta do shit with no investigation! no one is telling you to uncritically trust every ask you get! i have gotten asks that didn't check out, that i have ignored, that i found listed by the vetters as scams. none of the people vetting stuff have ever said to just blindly donate to everyone in your inbox - they know why the shit they're doing is so important

so when you see these posts that go around and say that, but then extend that logical skepticism to not trusting vetted stuff - that shit is evil. there is no big "trusted" outside system in place that gazans can use to ask you for help. not trusting the thoroughly transparent and documented vetters means not trusting anything outside of the totally helpless and tbqh useless right now system of official charities. we know aid isn't being let in. we know paying extortionate amounts of money is the only way people can leave. we know that prices are inflated as fuck on the goods that do make it in. we know how many fucking hospitals have been shelled to ruins. we know that israel is letting in body bags but not bags of flour.

if someone opens with an anecdote that suggests giving money to people directly is good regardless of what they spend it on, and then says "but actually, you can't listen to anyone who is asking you for money because they may not be who they say they are, and you can't listen to the people who checked them to see who they are, because that guy's probably in on it" - that's someone trying to trick you. "i would give a homeless guy money even if he spent it on drugs! unless i thought he was a rich guy pretending to be homeless. which i happen to think is the case for every homeless person. his friend told me he's actually homeless but that's kinda he-said-she-said don't you think? so give to the salvation army instead! that's what's really effective!"

it's so transparent what the goal is when you take note of zionist blogs calling these "nigerian prince scams". these posts are just the same thing wrapped in some cheese so you won't recognize it

"if you give money to a homeless guy and he spends it on drugs well at least the actually homeless guy got some money, you don't know if someone on the list can be trusted because vetting is just 'trust me bro' " ouuughhhhhhh these people doing this hard fucking work have been SO TRANSPARENT about how they do it and even post telling you how to look out for scams and acknowledging they exist. they're not running a fucking evil arab thievery webring. why would they post about scams and let you know about accounts to block and then meticulously maintain spreadsheets of other funds? why would they tell you how their process works? why would they show video of their contacts talking to people and physically verifying the issues they are facing? do you really think someone in FUCKING GAZA, RIGHT NOW, is thinking "oooo i bet i can milk some extra cash out of this hehehe"? like, fuck, sure, some people are stealing pictures, but to say not to trust the vetted shit is basically to tell you to ignore every individual palestinian asking for help ever. where do you draw the line that lets someone become legitimate? how do they prove themselves to you if direct in person communication doesn't meet your standards? do you need more white people involved? do you think the people asking for money for esims are scamming you too?

[hiddeninthefoothills]

This is a long ass, poorly written rant just FYI.

Moose went to the vet yesterday just for a standard check up and blood work. Everything came back normal. He does have a funky thing with one of his teeth so he will need another dental.

Sometimes I think about how much I am judged with what i prioritize. My animals are my number one priority. I am lucky enough to have a partner that understands this. He is fine with dropped $1000 on a dental. My parents never really prioritized their animals health unless there wasn't something OBVIOUSLY wrong. They would let their vaccines expire, not get them groomed unless they made me do it, only got them dentals when their teeth were so bad the vet was pulling a ridiculous amount of rotten teeth out, ect. I am not perfect, Kiba needs his vaccines updated. However since Moose is a working service dog, he got priority first. Kiba will be updated as soon as we pay down the care credit.

Anyways. What I feel like my parents don't understand, is own an animal is a privilege and a huge responsibility. I own five mammals (2 dogs and 3 cats). We drop thousands of dollars on their standard vet care every year. We drop around $150-200 a month on supplies for them. And I wouldn't change any of it. I genuinely love caring for, and spending money on my animals. It makes me happy seeing how nice their lives are. (Please note, i am fully aware how privileged i am - my partner and i have decent paying full time jobs). My parents make a over six figures a year and have a fuck ton of money in a lot of different accounts - and this was before my grandmother passed and they recieved a six figure amount from the estate. Yet they don't spend a little money to make sure their animals are in good health. (I know vet care is expensive but when you take on an animal you are signing up to pay for that stuff, and they have amazing financial aid programs for vet care in our area). All of our animals growing up died suddenly. All. Of. Them. The most recent was Lucy. She had cancer and it had gotten so bad the disease was EATING HER HIP AND JOINT. But my mom didn't do anything about it until Lucy was severely limping. She got the news about Lucy's cancer and the dog was put down a few days later. Oh yeah, and my mom asked ME TO CALL AND MAKE THE EUTHANASIA APPOINTMENT. I noticed this had happened before too. Lucy would get UTI's a lot. My parents, brother, and i were walking Lucy and Bodhi and i noticed Lucy was peeing STRAIGHT BLOOD. I even walked to the grass and put my fingers on the bloody urine to show my mom. My parents called me dramatic and it was weeks and weeks until my mom took that poor dog to the vet.

I guess what I am trying to get out is fuck my parents. They shouldn't own animals if they can't even do the bare minimum. Oh. And to top it all, my mom purchased a golden puppy about three months ago. Soooo she can spend $3000-4000 on purchasing a dog, but can't get her animals regular vet care? Yeah fuck that bitch.

[ahlnandco]

Welcome to AHLN &Co

I am launching this blog AHLN&Co as a way to help myself brainstorm and navigate through these "muddy waters" we call life; as well as, to share personal Canadian experiences with an online community in hopes to create positivity and perspective on various aspects of living with a focus on health and wellness.

Although 2018 was a strangely unique and exciting year, first full year post graduation, first full year living on my own in a new town, single, with practically 1 or 2 friends and no family out here, there were a lot of highs and lows this year, and things I hope to change for next year!

Highlights for 2018:

-Started and ended my first ever 3 month online relationship

-Started and ended my first ever network marketing company while meeting multi-million dollar mentors in Memphis, Tennessee

-Successfully went to the gym almost daily and am finally able to 3 chin ups and 10 push ups and run for 10 minutes straight

-Went on my first full family vacation in the last five years to Dallas, Texas for my cousin's wedding

-Started in my first ever musical production of Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella

-Started Piano Lessons and had my first piano recital

-Went to Vancouver, British Columbia to celebrate one of my best friends wedding with a group of my besties

-Went to Winnipeg, Manitoba to run Mud Hero 2018

-Wrote the MCAT on my Birthday that I started to study 1.5 months before and epically failed (30th Percentile)

-Rode a Pontoon for the first time and got to go tubing for the first time and participated in my first ever boat parade

-Went to Niverville, Manitoba to celebrate another one of my best friend's wedding

-Visited home for many weekend trips and reconnected with friends and celebrated birthdays

My Top 2018 Moment

- was Vancouver, British Columbia- it was truly a relaxing Vacation with absolutely amazing company, started out with walking around downtown Vancouver, riding a ferry, eating food, hikes up through Lynn Canyon, Whitewater rafting in Squamish ,British Columbia, learning Black Pink's Boombyah Dance ,hitting The Red Room a nightclub in downtown Vancouver, making a day trip to Seattle and checking out the Public Market Centre, harbor and riding the Ferris wheel, then getting lost getting back to downtown Vancouver and just missing the Vancouver night market, but finding an amazing late night Asian food place that had super cheap food, having late night heart to hearts, then taking morning runs through Kitslano and up and down Jericho Beach, and experiencing the first of my immediate friends getting married with an amazing reception, with the drunk after effects of my friends as well, then spending an amazing day with friends exploring downtown Vancouver, and a day at the pool and an amazing night in where we got 100$ of free food due to an order mishap, honestly one of the best trips ever!

My Worst 2018 Moment

-was probably my Birthday, the day before I was a wreck stressed about the MCAT cause I still had 60 percent of materials to cover and failed a bunch of the practice questions, was scared I was going to be debilitated by the difficulty of the MCAT, so much so I could no longer study, then was stressed out visited my sister and played games and ate fried chicken all night, then MCAT day honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought, I just didn't know my stuff well enough, then after all the excitement of the test, the rest of the day felt mediocre but got to spend it with family so that was nice...to be honest it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either it would have been really nice to go dancing or karaoke or even spend the night with friends, cause that night I realized my family had out grown me, being a single mid 20s new grad, I am extremely single and ready to mingle whilst being the youngest in my family, despite my niece and nephew, it is very easy to feel left out, but I was glad I had them at least!

Overall though, I don't want to seem ungrateful, but 2018 was a great year looking back, but as I lay here writing and reflecting about moving 6 hours away from home and making my first 6 figure salary, half which went away in taxes( fyi joys of being Canadian) and the other quarter went back to payoff my line of credit for school, which I am officially one paycheck away from paying off (another joy to being Canadian, living at home and going to school, lower student debt), then a chunk going to car payments, rent, and insurances, does leave a fair bit amount for travel and shopping compared to someone making less, by moving to a new town with less to do and eat, I should be able to save money, but with less than 700$ in the bank, and not enough days to visit family, travel, explore, experience and gain new skills, I really want to go back to school to become a doctor, the perks of being a doctor in Canada, their high fee for service pay, and the lack of physicians in rural areas, the diverse nature of the field with a lot of growing potential, and the flexibility of hours depending on the field of medicine, disadvantages to being a physician may be the hours, the patients that don't really care about themselves, you work alone, and you don't get paid vacations or benefits, or pension. Currently, I work a steady Monday to Friday job 8 am to 415pm, I get 4 weeks of vacation, 2 travel days, benefits and pension, and make a six figure salary but after taxes it definitely 5 figures, I live six hours away from home, and if I moved back home the job market is severely lacking, would be making less meanwhile going back to a higher stress and more competitive job market!

To someone that end up reading this, I apologized, as this post if it was visually perceived my life would seem interesting and great and to be honest, I think I would be okay if I wasn't single, possibly married and had kids, because my life right now has a sense of balance. But as I lay having only been kissed once, single af, in a rural community, that has limited opportunity for me to pursue my interests such as Kpop dance classes, or classes for haikaido, and limited opportunities to meet people, meanwhile being so far away from my close friends and not being able to implusively go on road trips for the long weekends with friends and family. I need to move back to the city, but logically I can't if the job market means me having to work harder for less, so switching careers is the way to go!

Being a student has its perks, yes school is hard and you are constantly stressed by studying, and life passes by, but with 3 months of summer to catch up on or work, I call that balance and you are working towards self improvement and a finite goal! Although being a physician in my opinion has one of the best payoffs as a degree, there is a downside to my dream, my grades are mediocre for medicine, so I have to almost perfect the MCAT in order to be eligible, if I'm serious about this career move I may need to go back to school to boost my gpa, which means more money!

But that is the reality, as a Pharmacist, yes I may be able to learn the stuff a physician knows and apply it to an extent, but I will never have the full rights to use my knowledge, and unless I own my own pharmacy I will never truly be able to dictate my own hours, that is why becoming a physician is my goal. Becoming a physician is such an challenging process as they work for the right to apply their knowledge and provide direct care for patients as primary providers, meanwhile until the public is aware of allied health and the other health care providers there will always be a shortage of physicians and a demand for them! Same thing to any profession though, you are vetted and tested, such that you may have the right to supply information knowledge or care, but physicians are one of the few that can be incorporated.

As I continue this post by airing out my thoughts, my goal for 2019:

-ace the MCAT

-lose weight and reach my goal of 180lbs (currently, 196lbs to 198)

-get abs and be able to do 10 chin ups, 20 push ups, and run for 20 minutes straight

-apply for medicine (goal is to get an interview)

-save at least 20-25% of my income (redirecting the money I would have spent paying student loans)

- consistent posting on this blog, if not daily, weekly, so by the end of 2019, I can see my year in review and track my progress!

When I think about it, people are going to hate me and hate this Tumblr cause it is literally first world problems, but when people say TIME IS MONEY it literally is! We all have the same 24 hours in a day, and it is up to you how you choose to spend it, and hopefully I spend mine wisely! #Self-Care #Self-Improvement

Ps. Physicians if they worked full time in a northern community they could make 3-6x more than a Pharmacist, just saying (perks of being Canadian) but the goal is work less get paid more so... Work one-third of the year for the same amount of pay! #TenYearGoal