Chantix Sucks!

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I posted. Let me fill you in on the Chantix. Um, it was absolutely positively no good. Here's how it went:

Friday (Sept 5th) I started taking the starter pack, which puts the drug into your system gradually. Monday (the 8th) I went to work, and I don't know what was up my @ss that day, but I wore heels. Later that afternoon my knees were hurtin' something fierce. I chalked it up to the heels and the cooler weather. Wednesday I woke up (at the lovely, regular time of 6:40!!) and opened my mouth to brush my teeth. This crazy pain shot into my jaw. Sort of like an ice pick going into my ear. I thought it was odd, but I had shit to do. I had to get the troops ready. As I was drinking my coffee (smoking my cig), I remembered to take my morning Chantix. Literally, as the pill was going down my throat, a light bulb went off in my head. "Huh, I wonder if this crazy pain that's happening every 10 minutes is related to this pill?"

So, I hop online and check the Chantix website. No mention of jaw pain as a side effect. Well, then I Google it. I read stories about joint pain and jaw pain, and one man who complained of jaw pain, walked out his front door and dropped dead. Needless to say, I stopped taking the Chantix. I called the doc and told them the story. They called me back with "We talked to the pharmacist and he read the insert. There's no mention of jaw pain." Wow, thanks. But did I not tell you that I can read, and I already know that it's not listed as a side effect? So, I bitched out politely told the nurse that I would either call her in 2 days and tell her that it WAS the Chantix, or I'd call her in 2 days to look at my frickin' jaw.

Then I talked to my father, who reminded me that jaw pain is a symptom of having a heart attack. Which completely freaked my out and I totally over reacted and contemplated the fact that I could drop dead at any second. I drank a ton of water, took some aspirin and clung to life.

So, the point is, I guess Chantix does work great for some. But if you get the funky symptoms that I got, get the hell off of it. Quickly.

In other news, we (the kids and I) went to Rock the Quarry (a fundraiser for the Panhandle Trail) on Saturday. The kids had a blast, even though we got rained on a little bit. My SIL won $200 in the duck race, and we all ate too many snow cones. But the cutest thing was Chloe. She SOOOOO wanted to work at the 'Beer Store' that Aunt Mary and Aunt Missy were at. She sat in a chair behind the table and was just itching to help. She kept asking me if I wanted a beer, and told me that I needed to be her 'cutomer.' She did end up helping, taking money from the customers and handing back change. She desperately wanted to pour a beer, and reached her fat little hand up when Mary would pour a draft. It was just really darn cute.

And here is the whole thing that really motivated me to write on this blog tonight.

Yet Another Bush Jr. Jersey T-Shirt

Um, is that t-shirt not just hysterical? I saw it on the CafePress blog in bumper sticker form. I really don't buy political stuff (Well, except for my Onorato's a Jagoff t shirt, but that's more personal). I think this one might get bought.

OK, happy day!

What my kids say

Well, I thought I'd start posting some things that my kids say to me. Partially for entertainment value, and partially so I don't forget when I'm old and gray. So, here are some things I remember from the last week or so. Right now they're all from Becca. Chloe definitely has big huge conversations with me, but she hasn't started questioning the world so much yet. Well, except by asking 'Why?"

So, last week we're in the car driving to the bank and here's the conversation I had with Becca

"Mom, do bears eat people?"
"Um, well, not usually."
"Well, I think bears eat people, because people are full of meat. And bears like meat."

OK, point taken.

Then, one morning as I was getting Becca ready for school, this was the scene:

"Becca, come on!  You've got to get your outfit on and come down and eat your waffle!  And we still have to do your hair!! You don't want to miss the bus!"

Standing at the top of the stairs, with her hand resting on her hip, she says:

"Geez Louise, Mom!  You sure are one bossy woman!"

Um, ok.  Point taken again.

She also was kissed by a boy on the bus.  She had a half day that day, and got home about 12:30.  She didn't inform me of the kissing incident until 5:30!!!!  Um...HELLO!!!  Where where have you been all afternoon!!!!  I got the details, which were that she was kissed on the cheek by a boy that she DID like.  She thought it was yucky.  She no longer wants to marry this boy.

Chloe has been adjusting pretty well to Becca not being around.  The house is much calmer.  But I definitely can't wait to hear how Becca's day went when she gets home.

On another topic, I started taking Chantix yesterday.  My quit date is Friday the 12th, which will be the first day I'm at the restaurant during the new smoking ban.  There are a couple of girls at work who have started taking Chantix, too.  I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

A whole new world

Well, Becca had her first day of Kindergarten today. She was totally and completely adorable!!! I'll post a pic later, but she was grinning from ear to ear. I, however, was all emotional and cried like a baby. I was just so proud of her!! She hung out with the big kids and climbed right up onto that school bus with no problem. I can't believe that we're starting the whole REAL school deal. And Chloe starts preschool next week. She's been there for a summer program, so I'm not really so worried about her.

I got a response from our buddy Dan Onorato. It was basically a canned response, with a little bit of personalization at the beginning. And it wasn't from him, but from an assistant. It was basically a bit commercial for Dan, stating all of his fantabulous statistics and what a swell guy he is. In fact, I'll copy and past it for ya, just in case you want to read it.

August 25, 2008
Dear Ms. Downey:
Thank you for your email. County Executive Onorato asked that I respond on his behalf.
Allegheny County is required by federal and state law to provide a $30-million local funding match to Port Authority each year. The revenues from the drink tax and car rental fee are dedicated for this local match. Without the drink tax and car rental fee, the County would have to increase property taxes by $30 million in order to meet its legal funding obligation to Port Authority. Four leaders of F.A.C.T., the group promoting the repeal of the drink tax, testified before County Council that they would prefer a raise in property taxes. The County Executive is strongly opposed to raising property taxes to fund mass transit.
Allegheny County is not authorized to collect any tax that it wants. The County can only collect taxes that are authorized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At this time, the Commonwealth only allows Allegheny County to collect the property tax, drink tax and rental car fee.
Please be assured the County Executive has been creative – cutting spending and increasing government efficiencies. During his first four years in office, Mr. Onorato has reduced expenditures and streamlined government by removing 626 employees from the County payroll, and Port Authority reduced its workforce by 375 employees earlier this year. That is a total reduction of 1,000 public employees in four years, which saves taxpayers approximately $50 million annually.
County Executive Onorato was also the primary advocate of row office reform, and come January 1, 2008, we will have successfully reduced the number of row offices from 10 to four, which will save taxpayers at least $1 million annually.
The County Executive has also embraced opportunities to consolidate government functions and eliminate duplicated services to improve efficiency and save taxpayers money. In a two-year period, the Onorato administration reduced the number of 9-1-1 call centers in Allegheny County from five to one, which saves $3 million annually. The City of Pittsburgh’s fingerprinting operation was collapsed into the County’s, and the Pittsburgh Municipal Court was merged with the County court system.
The County and City signed a joint telecommunications agreement that will result in $4.5 million in savings over the next three years, and the County has also taken over purchasing for the City, which improves the efficiency of purchasing operations and results in significant savings for taxpayers. Finally, the County and City have formed an energy purchasing consortium that is open to the region’s hospitals, school districts, colleges, universities, municipal authorities, non-profit organizations and private businesses. This consortium has the potential to be largest cost-saving public/private partnership in the history of Western Pennsylvania.
In addition to these savings, County Executive Onorato cut taxes his first year in office, and he has successfully held the line on property taxes every year since then. Allegheny County has not seen a property tax increase in six years, while all of the counties around us have. During this same period, Armstrong County taxes have increased 35 percent, Beaver County has raised taxes by 19 percent, Butler County taxes are up 12 percent, Washington County has increased taxes by 24 percent, and Westmoreland County taxes have gone up 24 percent. Mr. Onorato’s decision to implement a base year assessment system has also brought stability back to Allegheny County’s real estate market and put an end to back-door tax increases.
Thank you again for contacting our office. We appreciate your input and we wish you success with your business.
Sincerely, Megan Dardanell
Office of the County Executive

All I have to say is blah, blah, blah. I chatted with some of the people from FACT (they're fighting the drink tax), and they opened my eyes to a few things. I had always wondered why the larger chain restaurants weren't really doing anything to fight the drink tax. She told me that a lot of the chains get money FROM Allegheny County just for opening their doors (she mentioned the Cheesecake Factory), and they get some big ol' tax breaks. What do the little restaurant and bar owners get? Diddily Squat.

She also mentioned how they are really concentrating efforts throughout the state in campaigning against the drink tax. Their thought was that we would Never, Never, Never, Ever want Dan Onorato do become governor (and that's church!). Because if he were to become Governor, that drink tax would almost definitely be state wide.

Anyway, she opened my eyes to a lot of stuff. I haven't officially responded to the letter yet. But I will. When I get some more energy. All that girlie-emotional-PMS-weeping from this morning has made me tired!

Just an update

Just thought that I'd let everybody know that my letter never received any kind of response from anybody official. I sent that letter not only to Dan Onorato, but to all of Allegheny County Council. And I didn't sent it as one big ol' spammy email. I sent it to each person as an individual. So, my final thought on that is...how annoying.

In other news, I didn't think it was exactly appropriate to post this on the Downey's House Blog, so I posted it here. This is just a little message to the two ladies (and I'm using that term VERY loosely) who attempted to destroy the pictures of my children.

Oh wait...you didn't hear this story. Let me back up. Seems that there was a table of women in their late twenties in the restaurant last Wednesday. Long story short, they were tipsy and acting suspicious. They took the picture of Chloe (located in the ladies' room) off the wall and put it in the garbage. That picture was rescued by Tony (DH). Later, they went into the ladies room and tore the picture of Becca off the wall, ripped the print out and crumpled it up. Um, WTF?!?!?! Tony had some very choice, loud swear words for these chicks. They are barred. (and just in case you didn't know, you only get barred from Downey's House once). They then proceeded to walk out on their tab. I'm going to leave all of the loud, adult, descriptive conversation out of this post. The police did send these ladies citations. I have to say, that if I was at the bar when this happened, I might have gone all crazy on these chicks. I mean, taking a picture off the wall as a joke or on a dare is one thing. But if you touch the pictures of my kids, you life is seriously in danger. Just had to share. Oh, and my message for them is that I hope I can see how karma gets them back. Karma has a great way of taking care of bad people.

Have a great weekend!

Dear Dan Onorato

Dear Dan Onorato and Allegheny County Council,

You don't know me. My husband and I bought a restaurant/bar in May. You are ruining our family.

'What?!?!?.' you might ask. Well, let me explain a bit. We are living my husband's dream. He has always wanted to own a bar. He and I put our time in working for others in restaurants. Once we got married, purchased our home and had our children, this was what we concentrated on...our own place. We worked hard, did our research and took a gigantic risk. Our restaurant, Downey's House is truly a labor of love. It is a family affair. We are partners with my husband's brother and wife. The place is comfortable, not corporate. We are straight up and law abiding. We become friends with our customers and truly love what we do. So far, no problems, right? Think again and read on.

As we were getting into the business, we saw the Allegheny County Drink Tax come into play. Now, I'm the numbers person in our operation. I didn't let my head think about the numbers before we were actually 'in business.' As we opened the doors and started selling, my head had to go to the numbers. Because we opened at the very end of May, I knew the true test would be our June Drink Tax. I paid a few hundred dollars for May and placed the Drink Tax in the back of my mind.

In the mean time, our business was chugging along. It's hard. Tony and I have two small children, Rebecca (5) and Chloe (3). We hired his sister to watch the girls three days a week so I could come to the restaurant to do the administrative work. Tony was at the restaurant a minimum of 12 hours a day. I believe that after opening on May 27th, his first day off was Father's Day, June 15th. But Tony was happy being at the bar. He was on cloud nine.

At home, the kids missed their dad. A lot. And, quite honestly, I missed my husband. But we knew that the first year would be rough. We aren't just owners. We are owner/operators. We were not blind to the fact that it would take a lot of work and a lot of hours. June came and went, and the day to figure out the taxes was here. After I wrote out a check for about $2,000, I just about threw up. July comes and goes. Today I sent in my check for about $3,000. Those amounts would make the normal person assume that we are having fantastic sales, and therefore rollin' in it. Um, not the case. But that's not the point. I started to think about what my business could do with an extra two or three thousand dollars a month. The first thing that came to mind was not to give ourselves a raise. I thought 'Wow, I could hire a manager to run the bar a few days a week. I would actually get some family time back!"

Would I like to see the drink tax go away? Absolutely. But even a little bit of consideration would be nice. The Drink Tax is a very large, bitter pill to swallow. It might be a little bit less bitter if it were 5%. From what I've read, it seems that you've already collected the money you needed for the Port Authority. I don't believe it is necessary to continue to bleed the small businesses that give Allegheny County its character and individuality. It doesn't seem to me that politicians are creative people. But I ask you, dig deep and tap into the creativity that is inside you to come up with another solution other than the Drink Tax. To say that it is the Drink Tax or Property Tax is simply absurd. Think outside the box.

And maybe I'll get my family time back.

Hello again!

Wow, it sure has been a while! We're finally getting 'into a groove' at the restaurant. The opening was completely crazy, but business has been good. It's really such an awesome experience, and we're all learning and adjusting as we go!!! I'd love it if you came to visit us for lunch, dinner or fun! You can get directions, phone number and such at our website, downeyshouse.com. The site itself is still a work in progress, but it's getting there!

Well, the reason for this post was actually because I got a great Zazzle.com coupon in my email today. You can get free shipping on apparel if your order is $40 or more until July 25th. Just enter the code SUMMERSHIRTS when you check out. That's a pretty darn good deal. I think I'm gonna go get me some Downey's House shirts. Here's one that I added the other day:

You can move the logo around, make it bigger or smaller, and put it on all different kinds of shirts. Anyway...stay tuned to this blog for my open letter to Dan Onorato. I really hate the drink tax.

PittGirl

Can I just say that I love reading PittGirl's blog. And as some icing on the cake, she had this picture on a post today:

You can read the post by following this link: http://theburghblog.com/2008/05/08/pittgirl-wins-with-100-of-the-vote/

Now, let me say that I really haven't had too many problems with the PLCB with the transfer on the liquor license, but they really do need to look at giving up the liquor stores.

And that's all I have to say.