Shari’s Gone Country

Ya’ know… it could have been worse.

Oh, you didn’t know there was more than one crash? Yes, “Shari’s Gone Country” has been missing in action for a few days. That is the result of a hardware failure at the datacenter.

At the same time, I’ve gone missing in action thanks to a tooth that “went sour” and abcessed… not a fun thing. You see, I look more than “chipmunky”… I look like a pocket gopher with a full pouch.

That’s really bad news, too… Cindy dispatches those critters with her handy .410 shotgun!

Now, let me tell you… when you live in the desert, have no income ’cause you don’t have a job, you’re at the mercy of “the system”. Thankfully, we have a clinic in Enterprise (17 miles away) that at least provides an evaluation. The Physician’s Assistant is very nice and knowledgeable… except about teeth and abscesses that occur.

I got lucky, if you could call it that.

The clinic knew of a free dental clinic in St. George (67 miles one way). The catch… I had to get there within the next 4 hours for an “intake evaluation”. That means they’d discover I have no income, I have a very swollen jaw, and say… yep, you’re qualified. See you at 10 on Friday… two days later.

The PA had also prescribed a “kick butt” antibiotic that they assured me was on the Wal-Mart $4.00 generic Rx list. She had wanted to shoot me, but didn’t have the med on hand, so would have to pick up a ’script while I was in St. George. Enterprise is too small to support it’s own pharmacy.

Wouldn’t you know it. The folks at the Wal-Mart in Bloomington were being their usual selves. We arrived there at 4:25 pm to pick up a ’script that had been called in at 1 pm. No, they didn’t know anything about it… oh wait… “have you been here before? We found it… and need more information from you.”

At that time, we again confirmed the kick-butt stuff was on their $4.00 list, and they agreed.

Forty minutes later (after standing in line three times) the cashier said “that will be $49.52 please”. Say what?????

Now it was after clinic hours, no one answered the phone… Good Grief, and I was supposed to take this stuff IMMEDIATELY… as in as soon as possible after we could hustle our butts from Enterprise to St. George.

So, ask the nice pharmacist… how much could I get for $4.00? I could see at least 14 maybe 20 tabs in the bottle. By my math, that would let me get started on this stuff while we got a different ’script. Even if there were only 10 in the bottle… at $49.52 that would be $5.00 per pill… but no, there were at least 14 or more.

His reply… each pill is $12.00!

I’ll do your eyes a favor and not repeat what I wanted to say besides “see ya!”

So, it’s back to Beryl with no meds. But there’s good news… Jackie the PA had prescribed a combo of Ibuprofen and Tylenol. I could run the dose up to 800 mg of Ibuprofen (had to figure if it was in the Tylenol product). Now, that stuff kicked the pain… and even helped reduce the swelling.

Let’s see… It’s now Wednesday night. This tooth went bad over the weekend, and the swelling started Monday night. So there was little sleep Monday, less sleep Tuesday… I mean even the dog slept on the couch since I was flopping around like a fish out of water.

I did get a good night’s sleep Wednesday night.

Thursday… it’s back to St George to a different pharmacy for the ’script. Only this time, I take the “Enterprise Senior Bus” as Bev is the driver. We leave our house shortly after 8 am.

Now, the road to St. George isn’t exactly a super highway, except for that nice smooth 4-lane section at “The Ledges”. The bus isn’t one of those smooth-riding coaches. It’s a rattle-trap with few amenities other than heat and air conditioning.

The good news… about 11am I finally take the first dose!

The rest of the day is spent ferrying folks from place to place. We go to Costco, Deseret Books, Wal-Mart, IFA and finally to lunch at “The Golden Corral”, an awesome buffet. Not having eating more than a couple of small containers of yogurt over the past 60 hours… I’m famished. Thankfully I can handle the meat loaf, mashed potatoes/gravy, mac and cheese, steamed zucchini, and even bread pudding.

That took the edge off!

And with that, one more store stop and then back to Enterprise to off load the groceries and supplies into the truck and on to Beryl. Boy did the hot pack feel good when I got home!

For all you intrepid readers of Shari’s Gone Country… welcome!

I’m still putting the finishing touches here, such as hooking up the photo gallery, and creating truly workable tags, but I’ve moved all the old posts from Blogger. I’m sorry about not moving the comments, but was unable to totally control all the variables.

If I find a way to move the comments and maintain all the integrity (IP addresses, dates, usernames, etc) I will do so in the future, as I’m not readily deleting that blog, simply redirecting it here.

Watch for posts regarding our activities this past week… it’s been another wild ride!

Ok, so I’ve been around for a long time… old dogs CAN learn new tricks, when the information is presented properly.

I’m studying an e-book I got by way of a theme designer. Over at Four Country Gals, I chose to go with the WordPress script and upload it to my own server, rather than stay here at blogger. Besides looking for personal growth, I had an intuition I’d be able to drive traffic and attract attention more successfully with a unique domain, and hosting.

First, here’s a link to the book I found, complements of SK Design Studio. It’s called WordPress Complete Book

I’ve been learning about Technorati, and have now filled in my Technorati Profile. I know… I’m a little slow on the uptake… but hey… at least I’m learning and gaining an understanding.

Living here in the desert with a three other “city gals”… well, actually “island gals” from Put In Bay, Ohio, I often have to search for information either to support something I’m trying to explain to them, or to get my “thinking cap” cranked up.

So, where do I go for information?

One of the places I go is to a forum I found earlier this summer. It’s a new forum, but is comprised of several very knowledgeable and helpful women around the world. We have members from several regions of the USA as well as Canada, and NZ.

We all share a profound joy for life, and living simply, in harmony with our surroundings. Most of us have at least a garden to enjoy, and some of us have small farms. A few of us actually have enough land and produce to have market stores, or participate in Farmer’s Markets.

One of the things I really appreciate about this forum is the complete lack of “swaps, and barters”, as well as no politics or talk of religion. There are plenty of forums for these activities, and I do read them, also.

I’ve discovered several really great ideas from the gals here that haven’t been discussed elsewhere.

Here’s the one idea I’ll be implementing that will save us hundreds of dollars this next spring.

Another new member had asked for specifics on starting a compost pile, like the proper ratios of “greens to browns” and moisture, as well as the use of a “barrel composter”. I followed up with the fact that here in the desert, our challenges are somewhat unique.

We have a lack of moisture, wide temperature swings and persistent winds.

Lucy from Boulder Belt Blog suggested I use landscaping fabric to cover the fully built pile. It will let the pile breath, while helping conserve the moisture (something a blue plastic tarp won’t do). It will also allow any moisture we receive (mostly snow) seep into it . By weighing down the edges, it won’t blow away in the wind.

Here’s why I said it will save us hundreds of dollars… we need at least 100 cubic yards of garden-ready “dirt” this next spring to go into our new raised beds (all boxed in with 2×12’s). To purchase that much dirt would cost me over $800.

Ladies of Women Who Farm… I really appreciate all your help, and I love being of service to y’all, too.Living here in the desert with a three other “city gals”… well, actually “island gals” from Put In Bay, Ohio, I often have to search for information either to support something I’m trying to explain to them, or to get my “thinking cap” cranked up.

Finally, a technician with the brains we needed…

For two years, we’ve been connected to the wrong satellite. The guy who set up our dish must have been asleep, or too hot, or just in a hurry.

Since shortly after the first of August, we’ve been experiencing extremely slow Internet connections through Hughes Net. The support folks thought maybe our dish had been tweaked because of all the wind we get.

So, we’ve waited until today for a service tech to drive over 150 miles to fix stuff. It took him less than two minutes to determine our dish was pointed to the wrong satellite. A quick trip up to the roof to re-position the dish and voila! Now we have the highest signal strength and the fastest speed we’ve ever had.

Now I’ll be able to get stuff done in record time!

Has it really been a week? I’m pleased as punch to post this “Blog for a Year” update. I’ve broken through to page 3 on the results. With 256 votes I’m in 38th place.

Also, I’ve issued a press release through Free-Press-Release.com. This is a service I’ve used with some success over the past 3 years. Compared to other services, it is reasonably cost-effective for getting the word out. They’ve also added a number of new services which makes it even more effective.

You can read my press release here. Be sure to send this press release out to everyone you know. They make it very easy with simple forms to use.

How do I stack up against the other competitors?

I’m not gaining any ground on the leader. She’s very popular on an extremely large social bookmarking site. You can help me overcome that large lead by voting for me daily, sharing my nomination page with your friends and encouraging them to vote for me, too.

Remember, this blog forms the basis for my new book about “The Country Girls” as we continue our adventure here in our little corner of the Escalante Desert Valley.

How sweet to find a comment from Kay at “The Rustic Cottage“!

She has awarded this blog (and it’s author) the “Nice Matters” Award.

Developed by Genevieve at “Bella-Enchanted”, this award is passed on to seven other bloggers who epitomize “nice”. They are “good people”, they inspire others in the blogging community, they’re good blog friends, and they work to spread a positive influence throughout the blogasphere.

So, now it’s my turn to pass this award to seven others who inspire me, and who I believe are entirely deserving of this very pretty “Nice Matters” Award.

My roommate Cindy, who writes “Country Musings“. You may not see much of her, as she’s also extremely busy and doesn’t get out to socialize much… but she’s one of the nicest and most inspirational women around.

Eshtermay, author of “The Heart of a Pastor’s Wife“. She doesn’t know me, as I “lurk” at her site. I love the inspiration and especially the lessons for women as we all grow in our faith.

Susan, the author of “Farmgirl Fare“. Her blog informs, educates, entertains, and really serves as a basis for frequent inspiration.

Andrea, author of “A Ribbon Afficianado“. Here’s a woman who’s very comfortable with herself and enjoys helping others move forward in life.

Lisa, author of “LifePrints-Good News for a More Compassionate World” searches high and low for the really “good news” of the world. What she finds will make your heart happy.

Lucy, author of “Boulder Belt Blog” is one of the real leaders in organic, farm-direct marketing. She provides a ton of inspiration to those of us just getting started. Thanks to her trail-blazing, we’ll all make fewer mistakes.

Clare, author of “Farm Style by Clare” and also the “Global Moderator” of “Women Who Farm“. She works tirelessly to help and inspire other women who not only own our own farms, but who are also “city girls” wanting badly to become “farm girls”.

Time to bring y’all up to date on this incredible contest.

As of today, I’m now in 46th out of about 180. Goal is to become #1, and get paid to write this blog for a whole year.

What will it take for me to become #1?

The leader is some 12900 votes ahead of me… and she’s really working the crowd at BlogCatalog. That kind of keeps me from doing much direct promotion there.

I really need your help. You can vote daily for me.

Here’s how I can help you remember to vote… subscribe to my blog using your favorite feed from my “Blog Stuff”. Each time I update this blog, you’ll get a notification… That should help you, eh?

Ok, right now, before you do anything else… click here and vote for me!

Yesterday, as I was looking for ways to spiff up this blog, I discovered (thanks to “On the Shores of Carpenter Creek“) a contest… one where the prize is really sweet.

You see, if I win… I GET PAID TO BLOG FOR A WHOLE YEAR.

Now, I’m in need of your help.

First, you’ve simply got to vote for me today, tomorrow and every day for the rest of the year. You don’t have to make any monetary contributions, unless you feel it’s really worthy to help fund this great “social networking experiment”.

I’d appreciate a comment from you at least on your first vote.

More importantly, I really need your help getting the word out. Sure, I can do (and will do) some mailings. I’ll do all the the things I’ve learned to do regarding marketing my site… but to make it truly viral… I really need your help, too.

Here’s a quick step-by-step on how you can help.

1. Vote for me.

2. Tell your friends about my blog, the contest, and ask them to vote for me. Remember, you can vote once each day from now on.

3. If you link back to me, be sure to let me know, and I’ll add you to my blog links.

4. I really love comments. They’re good for you and me… remember the “search engine spiders”… they get hungry, too.

Ok, that’s enough steps. Like I said… thanks in advance for your oh-so-welcome votes.

Ok, I’ll admit it… I’m ducking the outside heat.

So I at least “look productive”, I’m hunkering down and getting this blog spiffed up. Yesterday, and this morning, I’ve been looking up other “farm woman friends” and adding their links.

Now, I really expect that you’ll take the time to read some of their posts… you’ll be amazed at what you learn!

What’s with all the extra ads?

Well, I’ve got animals to feed, too. It costs you nothing but a click to help me pay the bills.

This ad service is a part of a new “international, digital community” which eventually will even have it’s own digital economy.

Two other things…

First… I’ve been introduced to a website rating service. Please stop by Farm Divas. Rate my site, and leave your comments.

If you have a site or blog about farm women, be sure to add your site.

Second… I’ve begun labeling my posts (as best I can). That way if you’d like to read more posts in specific topics, all you have to do is click on the topic. You’ll always get a new window, so you shouldn’t get too lost.