Light

Sometimes, when they ask you, "is your plant getting enough light?", they don't mean is it in the sun.  They mean, "Does it get enough light throughout the day?" and "Is it the right kind of light rays?"

If you're having trouble with your orchid, I recommend changing the light bulb to a full-spectrum bulb...and if you live in Minnesota, make sure you leave it on for a bit longer that you'd normally.

It's dark here.

Science Proves Women Are Better In Stressful Encounters

This is fantastic!  Scientist in Montreal have just proven that men, but not women stress out laboratory animals, JUST BY BEING IN THE ROOM.  In fact, men don't even have to be in the room- just their clothes.

Not kidding.

This has dramatic ramifications for scientists that are using animal models (that means experimenting on animals as analogs to humans) who are investing the basis of life and new drugs.  But beyond that, it implies that doctors and nurses SHOULD BE WOMEN.

NOT MEN

WOMEN

Because patients do better with women than men, just because of the hormones that men secrete through their skin.

Wonder what it means for lawyers.

Wonder what it means for presidents.  Wouldn't you think that it would mean that people going to be MOST COMFORTABLE BEING IN A ROOM WITH A WOMAN LEADER THAN A MAN?

Soak it up, ladies.  If you felt like you ever needed proof, this is it.

Bubble Bath Song

Something short and cute for your little girls:

(To the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle")

Bubble, bubble in the tub
White and foamy while I scrub
Bubble, bubble in the tub
White and foamy while I scrub
Soap and water get me clean
While I sit here like a queen
Bubble, bubble in the tub
White and foamy while I scrub

Yes, Yes, Yes

While I don't flip companies, I do work an hourly rate.  And I think we SHOULD be able to counterbill for our wasted time.  We should be able to do it anyone who wastes it.  That includes companies that don't enable us to work from home or from an office near our homes.

Hell, I mean, most of us do work in an office building, and with the exception of industry secrets, why on EARTH should we be required to commute to our jobs?

This is my novel concept for dramatically reformatting the American work life:  Remove the Rat Race.

There should be local office buildings (we've all seen them- they're vacant and cheap).  People should either be allowed to work from home or from a local office.  Screw the 20+ minute commute each way.  WALK TO WORK.  Studies have shown that the exercise increases our creativity, decreases stress, and saves gas.  That is in contrast to getting to work stressed out because we're late, missing out on exercise because we had to sit in our cars eating pre-fab, high-calorie "to-go" foods and get to work in "great" condition.

This should really be an American policy.  Commuting should be made a luxury tax on companies:  they should be renting space in local work offices or letting us work from home.  The savings to everyone would be ASTRONOMICAL.  WebEx, Google Hangouts, Skype...companies don't NEED YOUR ASS IN THE SEAT IN THEIR OFFICE for you to be productive and overseen.  We've become a society of "good enough"s and this is why America is about to loose out to Communist China as the world power in 2016.  (yes, that is when the GDP of China will overtake the US...for the foreseeable future.)  They're happier, according to the new GNH (Gross National Happiness Index), and they strive.    American's are fat, lazy, and have a "good enough" attitude.  And most of it's because we're all so F@#in unhappy at our jobs that we just can't get motivated to do more than the bare minimum.  

Think about it.

How would your pain in the ass job change for you if you didn't have the commute?    If you could get your chores done while listening in to a 2 hour conference call instead of doodling on your page or sneaking chat messages on your smart phone?

Perhaps we wouldn't be in the mindset of "I need to bill the doctor for this hour because he's wasted my already overpacked work time". Perhaps we'd have more time to go to the doctor if we didn't have the daily commute.  

Then again, perhaps doctors should work nights and weekends and save us all from having to take time off from work to go see them.  I think that would add to the GNH, too.

How McDonalds Destroyed Your Happiness

Last week, I was between Netflix series, and searching for something to "watch" while working on my laptop during my "off" hours.  I came across another TED  series on Capitalism.  Torn by mixed feelings of groaning because it will be about one of the most boring topics ever- economics- and reminiscing about people I once knew, I decided to put it in the queue...just in case I somehow overcame the overwhelming gagging reflex I was experiencing thinking about watching a documentary on accounting.

After all, it was a TED series, so how bad could it be?

Gag, gag.

And then it happened:  I needed something to bore me to sleep following an exciting night of 2-year-old-molar teething.  So, I clicked on it.

And to my surprise, the series wasn't really about accounting and money, at all.  

It was about sociology and psychology....

...and an overwhelming message from the speakers:  too many choices make people miserable.

WHY?

I mean, it's anti-American to think about purposefully limiting your choices.  How could people survive if they couldn't customize EVERYTHING.  What if it wasn't all a la carte?

The problem arises from everyone being treated as equals.

I KNOW!  Another anti-American thought:  people aren't and shouldn't be treated as equals?

No, but it's all about blame.  If everyone is equal and you're not as rich as Bill Gates, it's because YOU'RE doing something wrong.  When people weren't equals, it was easy to say that your problems were thrust upon you and blame "THEM".

Furthermore, there's so much peer pressure to BE Bill Gates that we spend OUR ENTIRE ADULT LIVES second guessing ourselves.  I think I'm the biggest offender of this.  

"Sh@T.  I shouldn't have said that.  They're going to think XYZ."

"Crap.  I should have taken the surface streets."

I mean, even our daily commutes are doomed to add to our stress levels (and thereby shorten our already stressed out lives) because we have too many choices on how to get work and back.  Don't believe me?  Know someone who lives outrageously far away from the office?  Are they ever stressed out about the commute.  I bet not.  Because there's really only way for them to get to work, so they "live with it".

And that's just what all of these very brilliant scientists who were giving the TED talks on "capitalism" were saying:  all we want is happiness and health in life.  Choices stress us out.  Despite all of the advances we've made in our technological renaissance, more people are depressed, severely depressed, and suicidal than ever before.  

My generation is the first in America that is expected to live a shorter life than our parents, and while I can't deny the disgusting over-indulgence of Americans in ANY and ALL kinds of food does play a part, you also can't deny that the major killer of the technological renaissance is STRESS.

I personally have never seen so many people in their 30s going gray who weren't landing planes on aircraft carriers or fighting fires.  And it's even worse for us because we are no longer allowed to go and be firemen and policemen.  We're all expected to go work in an office cubical somewhere, typing endless chains of meaningless emails and abusing PowerPoint.  We are not expected to achieve anything...except perfection.  In fact, there's no way for any of us to really achieve anything because we're not building anything...really.  Projects in IT last 2-10 YEARS.  Building a house lasts 2-6 MONTHS.  How many opportunities for success do you have in IT? 

And it all comes back to choices.  Project leaders can't make choices, which drags out our ability to achieve.  We can't decide which road to take to work or which 401K investment to make and stress about it.

And then most of us go to McGag's and fumble around at the front of the line because we can't make up our minds about what we even want to eat.

..not that it matters, anyway, because it'll all kill you.

The Mystery Spot on Steriods

It was the coolest thing:

The Mystery Spot.

Ever been?  or perhaps to something similiar?  It's a house that's center of gravity is in opposition to it's appearance.  So, if it appears to tilt to the right, but the center of gravity is to the left, you'll walk crooked.

Seriously.

It's one of those cool things about physics.

But while I enjoyed going to the Mystery Spot, I don't think I'd ever want to live there.

Or here, either, as it appears to have a serious problem with the local gravitational force:

I wouldn't want to hire this realtor, either.

Messaging

My parents were part of Ma Bell back in the day, so I grew up learning about "the phone company".  I also learned about Turnkey products, packaging, and this thing called the "ethernet" before they were purchasable products.

I remember going to "the phone company" on school holidays with my sister and watching my mom make punch cards for the computer.  I remember fantastic, all-day, Christmas parties (back when they were called Christmas parties) where there were tables and tables of edible yummy goodness for a little kid to sneak on the way to the bathroom.

Part of my education into the world of "the phone company" was how to leave a good message.  

• Speak clearly
• Speak slowly
• Give your name
• Give your return number
• TELL THEM WHY YOU'RE CALLING (BRIEFLY)

Why is it, then that companies are so good at omitting the last bullet point?  Particularly the dishonest companies like a certain national carpet company that advertises free rooms of carpeting?

While my only empirical evidence is via my time as an assistant for physical therapy clinics, I do know this:

The only reason that people don't want to leave a message is because they don't want to be held accountable for the RECORDED NOTE THEY LEFT YOU.

So, if you happen to encounter this practice while you're shopping around, I HIGHLY recommend that you look elsewhere.  Otherwise, when you have a problem, you'll be playing phone tag just to find out how to submit your complaint.

Really?

I used to love bubble baths.  All the foam.  All the herbal aroma.  Listening to the bubbles burst.  That weird metallic salty smell from Mr. Bubble

My years in chemistry taught me that the weird metallic smell is because t's SLS- Sodium Laureate Sulfate..that's what makes the foamy bubbles.  You might remember Mr. Bubble as a bunch of soft white flakes...which turned out to be toxic when inhaled (It's amazing we all survived our Mr. Bubble bubble baths)

So, yeah....

Fun.

I was really excited when my daughter got her first bubble bath...

...and now that she's hysterical fear of the bubbles, she really enjoys it, too.  And asks for it by name, now (ah, how the marketers would be so proud of her).

But like all things, the price of our dear old Mr. Bubble solution has skyrocketed.  So, like all good couponers (I think that's actually the term...), I've been shopping around for the lowest price.  (It's currently in-store Target).

I was horrified, however to find this product ->


WHY?  Do we really need to encourage the use of propellants on our children!?  Wasn't huffing a huge problem- so big, in fact, that you had to show your driver's license to buy Redi Whip?  Are you going to have to show your license to buy Mr. Bubble now?  Not that the product is in any way ecological- just the opposite- very toxic to the plants and soil and water table.  But did they need to improve that handicap?

Three, Two, One, Contact!

Moving?

Have wall-clings?

Didn't save or lost the paper they came on?

Buy a new roll of waxed paper for yourself.  It's a great place to store them (and, yes, they do come off again, just as sticky) and the roll provides a safe storage place for the move.

Centered Touchpad

It's a real problem trying to find a laptop with a centered touchpad.  For some reason, ALL laptop manufacturers have moved the touchpad to directly underneath the left wrist.

And why have they done this?

To include a 10-Key.  (For non-accountants, that's a number pad)

How many of you use a number pad?  Is it because you use a lot of numbers or because you are just lazy and don't know how to type?

So, we're left with crummy laptop design.

Don't think that's a problem?

When was the last time you tried to type while balancing the entire laptop on your right leg?  It's possible with a 15" monitor, but when you get into those 17" monitors that weight 7lbs, well, you tell me if you're pushing down with your left wrist to hold the laptop in place or it will take a sommersault off your right knee.

Otherwise, you have to type to the left.  Like, literally.  If you balance the laptop in your lap evenly, then you have to shift your whole typing posture to the left.



There are already tons of people complaining of right shoulder pain from having to stretch across...and numb right elbows because the laptop cuts into you forearm in that position.  Don't even get me started on the wonders it does for those with carpel tunnel disease.

So, that's fun.


You just have to wonder who they pulled in for customer experience votes on this.  From my personal history, I know that companies claim that they're doing a "customer usability test" and it's the token 3 to 6 complainers that they know of.  Those complainers set the tone for the entire project...and they're used as "mean averages"...like, this is what most people want.

I did do some digging...ok, a LOT of digging.  It turns out that manufacturers do offer a laptop with a central touchpad...in crummy resolution and 10-13" screens.  So, if you want a central mousepad (which would be the most common users of the laptop), you can't get a good monitor- just something small and pixelated.

My husband had an excellent suggestion:  why not make the mousepad movable?  Like it can be locked in place or slid to one side or the other.  And while they're at it, why not make it so that there's a little "tilt keyboard" button that allows you to tilt the keyboard to the correct ergonomic agile for typing?

So, Samsung, Toshiba, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus...you all suck.  You should have done your won studies.

Only MSI and Sony offer a 15" or larger laptop with a central mousepad (and those guys only make one)

Guess which one I'm buying...

(and, yes, Apple does only make a centralized touchpad.  Kind of interesting, actually, because it's the only feature I like on a Mac...they're also twice as expensive)

Dumbest Laptops Ever

So, I use my laptop as a "Desktop Replacement".

In other words, I don't have a desktop.  I only use the laptop.  And I used it all things, all the time.

So, imagine how excited I was when all of the manufacturers moved the mousepad from the center of the machine to the left side.

HONESTLY!?  ARE THERE THAT MANY SOUTHPAWS IN THE WORLD!?!

This design is exceptionally dumb because if you're actually trying to type on the machine, your hand is now resting on the mousepad WHILE YOU TYPE, SO IT KEEPS JUMPING AROUND.

Like, I said, DUMBEST DESIGN EVER.

But, then I was humbled.


Because I found this design:

WHO COMES UP WITH THIS!?!  Not only have they moved the mousepad up to ABOVE the numbers where it's hard to reach and now you need an armrest to page through a doc, but they HID IT UNDER THE MONITOR!

You just have to wonder what they're smoking.

Working Class

So, why is it that women are identified in relationship to the men folk???  I GUARANTEE these women not only did the same job that the husbands did, they also did the laundry AND the meals AND the gardening (because agriculture is a women's purview).

This seems to be especially true in fairy tales, be it from Grimm or from Hans Christian Andersen.

For example:

The Shoemaker's wife ("The Elves and the Shoemaker"- Grimm)

The farmer's wife (Rapunzel- Grimm)

The Marsh King's Daughter (Andersen)

The miller's daughter  (Rumpelstiltskin- Grimm)

The woodcutter's wife (Hansel & Gretl- Grimm)

The carpenter's wife (Canterbury Tales)

The fisherman and His Wife (Grimm story)

While this is just the top few, you have to wonder why women don't get any credit.  Why couldn't it be "the Millers' daughter" or the "farmer's husband"?  It seems to be that the reason why women aren't treated as equals in today's world is because we are still identified by what our dads and husbands do, and until we get credit as positive characters in parables and fables, we'll never be considered more.

Vinyl

I went shopping today for training panties for my daughter.  Evidently, they call them training paints, but whatever.

I found some on Amazon with cute little cupcakes and got those.  And I then I got some of the plastic, vinyl pants to cover them...for the expected accidents.

After a couple of days of accidents (and me not being quick enough on the laundry), I found myself in the position of having to run to Target for some more stock...only they didn't have what I needed.  After tracking down a stock boy (that looked like he wouldn't have a clue about diapers vs. training pants), we got a hold of the stock manager who took us to where they used to be stocked.

There was one opened bag of training pants and no vinyl covers.

Evidently, Target doesn't carry them anymore...they don't feel it's important to sell the vinyl pants.

I was shocked.

I went to WalMart.

Guess what?  They don't sell them, either.

Then I went to CVS- nope,

And Walgreens- nope.

No wonder day cares won't allow cloth panties!

The problem with the disposable kind is that the kid can't tell they're wet.  If they can't tell they're wet, they won't learn NOT to pee in their pants.

It seems to me that we're making it awfully difficult for children to learn this very basic skill.  We all know about how Freud studied adults that had childhood difficulties around toilet skills....What kind of messed up adults are we building now?

Why?

Why is it necessary to have a hidden platform inside of boot?

I mean, this isn't even a true platform shoe- it's a high-heel inside!

Not only does this look dumb, but you experience all of the unpleasantness of a high-heel for the appearance of an ugly flat boot!

I'm FAMOUS!

I'll admit it.

When I played Careers as a kid, I knew that the Fame stars where the way to go..especially if you went through Space and hit the Jupiter (or moon mission- depends on the year, I guess) that you were pretty much done for your score card.

(who would have guessed that it would have been so predictive?)

And I don't blame anyone who feels that they want to BE famous.  (well, I personally think it's a poor choice for safety, but their lives, right?)  So, when one of my favorite writers (well, THE favorite writer-better than anything I've ever read- EVER) finally makes it BIG and is recognized for his brilliance and gift, well, I feel pretty great about having been there in the beginning- a well kept secret amongst us fantasy readers.

Yes, I'm talking about George RR Martin, author of the now famous Songs of Ice and Fire series.  

With my photographic memory, it's very difficult for me to enjoy reading a book more than once because I remember it too well and, frankly, the writing isn't that impressive.

But with the Songs of Ice and Fire, I read the first book and immediately had to read it again-

back-to-back.

It's that good.

So, when I heard (years ago) that they were making a mini-series (and now a movie) from the first book in the series, Game of Thrones, I was pissed.

Why?

Because, while it's great for the author on the surface, it actually sucks because it's basically digesting the writing that the author crafted out over years of his life and making the equivalent of a Cliff Notes abbreviation of the work.  Because, honestly, how many people are ever going to read the books now that there is a video version?  Who is ever going to really meet feisty Aria Stark now that they have been exposed to casting director's incorrect, beautifying interpretation of the horse-faced daughter of Ned Stark (who is portrayed by the same irritating villainous actor Sean Bean who's been in just about every fantasy movie ever made)?

Just makes me sick.

Pretty soon, we won't have novelists- we'll only have screenwriters.

The Biggest Crock

So, I have made several complaints against corporations...and good ones.  But I think that the biggest crock is Title Insurance.

This is a dollar amount that you pay to the title company in case they didn't do their job right when researching the title (aka deed) to your property.

This is in ADDITION to the astronomical fee that they collect that is a PERCENTAGE ratio of mortgage to purchase price of the house that they collect when closing.  About this, we should be clear:

THEY DON'T DO ANY MORE WORK FOR A HOUSE COSTING 85,000 THAN FOR A HOUSE COSTING 1.2 MILLION.

They just get to collect the percentage.

(in fact...the older homes have MORE work in photocopying old deed and sales documents because they've been around longer)

Now, I do understand the difference in price between torrens deeds (the full deed of the land back as far as they can collect it) vs. abstract (just the last sale of the house).

But what I don't understand is why these companies are necessary anyway.  You CANNOT just buy the house from the owner like you can buy a used car.  It should be that easy.  Title companies don't do anything except photocopy and pull the records from the city auditor's office.

It's just a red tape loophole that is now required...and they don't even have to do a good job to be paid...because you have to pay them once for the good job and once for the errors that they make.

Flakes

I love the snow.

I love the fall most of all, but snow and Xmas- well, that's just about the best.

But it is APRIL and it's been cold and snowy since NOVEMBER.

We're tired of SNOW.

By the Celtic calendar (which aligns, usually, with our seasons), spring starts on Feb 2.  By the modern, American calendar, spring starts on Mar 20/21.

It is now April 13.


So, when I go one of my frequent .com haunts on APRIL 13 and see this:

I get a bit berserk.

Knee Brace

Now, I know about Photoshop.

HOWEVER, you'd think it would be easy enough to get people into a knee brace and take a snapshot...evidently NOT, as I found out the hard way from ordering a McDavid knee and ligament brace.

You'd THINK that, because of the obviously ripped male leg here, that this brace would accommodate a muscular leg.

 EVIDENTLY, they have not heard of this "new" invention call elastic- it stretches.

Nor, lyrca, either, which has a better longevity than it's related stretchy invention.

And I guess that's why they needed to Photoshop in a leg into each of their leg brace pictures.

BECAUSE NO ONE COULD POSSIBLY FIT ONE OF THEIR BRACES OVER THEIR CALF MUSCLES, MUCH LESS OVER THEIR THIGH!

But at least their picture isn't as bad as this one...

What's wrong with this picture!?

 

(Mueller knee brace)

or this one?

(McDavid knee brace)

And then my husband told me about Photoshop Disasters.  If you think that clothing models aren't retouched, please click on the "Baroque Anatomy" and have a laugh.

The best part is that the product manager of these companies ACTUALLY IS OKAYING THESE before they are sent to press.

It's amazing.

Irritation Makes People Violent

I know what you're thinking:

DUH

 But in the age where video game companies are touting the stress-relieving powers of playing a few hours of Tetris, this study by independent scientists have found that that just isn't so.

What they have found (and what we all know) is that the irritation and frustration factor in a puzzle game is more toxic to a person's sanity than Grand Theft Auto.

But what they fail to mention is the extrapolation that can be drawn from these findings.  There's a common adage that we're all promoted to our level of incompetence.  Whether because you can't keep up with the technology or because you can't deal with the BS, it's still incompetence.

And incompetence is the most frustrating, irritating experience a person can live through.

So, in a society where we aren't allowed to work in our "dream jobs" (just something to make the mortgage), are we intentionally setting up "postal" situations?

Really makes one wonder how society would be different if we got to be the astronauts and artists that we wanted to be as children.

Unmanly Padding

After multiple uses of a caulk gun and getting welts from the release trigger, I honestly wonder what is so unmanly about a little padding?

Trust me, you're just as much of a man for dealing with the sticky goop without having welts and calluses.

"Are you a god?"

And that famous line from the classic Ghostbusters came to mind today while I was asked, for the second time in a week, if I'm a certified medical coder.

And the answer, "Actually, yes, I am."

It's really the only answer to the question.

Honestly, how hard is it to read a list of symptoms and mark the right number down?  And if you don't see your specific symptom, you give the generic symptom for that category.

It isn't brain surgery, here (which is ICD-9 #348.99)- it's just looking stuff up in a freakin' table.

And it's on Wikipedia.

Something I did find out, though, that you should also know:

1. Doctors charge their time against CPT codes.  This is a different list of codes that summarizes the amount of time and "thinking" that they had to do while treating you.

2. Hospitals and clinics charge their facility time against REV codes.  It's the same type of thing- it summarize the amount of time and equipment that you used while in their facility.

3. Insurance pays on the diagnosis code (ICD-9 or ICD-10) that is submitted to them.  In other words- what, in the end, were you treated for?

And, no, you're not allowed to see the specific billing information between these companies for your account.  You can ask each to audit their billing against your medical records, but you can't even have them confirm that they have the right medical records unless you take them to court.

Also, as any programmer will tell you, using different codes for the same thing creates all sorts of anomalies...which is EXACTLY what they want to do.  If they wanted to make it straight forward and honest, each of them would use the same code.

Camo

When I was in high school, we decided to paint our Easter eggs one year.  Acrylic paints instead of vinegar dye.  Smells less and we got to paint instead of tie-dye.

Well, I being that slightly obstinate teenager type, decided to paint one of the eggs in green army camo.   Yup, I was pretty proud of myself because I got the colors so close.

No, I wasn't into army things.  I was just a bit contrary.

Yes, it was a real egg.

Can you see where this is going?

I don't know why I was so determined to paint a hard-to-find egg.  After all, my dad is the king of egg hiding.  He'd hide eggs INSIDE of the hollow furniture!

After a fantastic hour of egg hunting in the 90+ degree California spring, we had to call it.

We never did find the egg.

And to this day, it's a family STORY.  Irish Lass and her camo egg.

So today, when I saw this product, I had to wonder what the hell they're thinking:



They don't only color the eggs like nature- they add texture, too.

Of course, I was a little relieved to see that they are plastic and not dye and decals for real eggs...because they have an indoor version, too.

Exhaustion

This is something that I honestly have never experienced before.

At least, not when I compare it to how I feel now.  Being a full-time+ working mom with a toddler and a house...it leads one to a level of exhaustion that I can't compare to anything else.  Add to it the fact that (yes), I'm still breastfeeding and my husband just put a nail through his hand (so he's out of the picture for helping)...well, it's just impossible.

I've often though about what I will tell my daughter for advice about when to have kids.

My family has always had kids early (early twenties).  And they're around now and get to do other things with their lives.  Well, I guess it's that they were non-retired, empty-nesters.  But looking at when I had my kids, I realize that I'll never fall into that bucket...unless I don't retire (which, let's face it, is a real possibility with the current state of economic affairs).  I got to do all of that "other stuff" when I wasn't tired all the time, or have the perpetual pains in my hips and legs....But then on the other hand, I didn't have the means to really do a lot in my youth, either.  But I also managed to get my graduate degree and have two other careers in there that I enjoyed getting to do- I could never have been a scientist and had a kid. The critical thinking just doesn't happen on a tired brain.

I don't know, it's an interesting dilemma:  when is the best time in your life to have kids?

I know that we'll be able to go on family adventures soon, but we're not going to be able to manage Munchen or Tokyo or Edinborough.  The price alone for such a family adventure is prohibitive.

I don' have an answer.

I just don't know that the modern world sets time aside for people to be parents.  They're expected to continue to slave away 5 to 7 days a week, 40 to 70 hours per week in order to stay out of poverty.

It really makes you angry when you realize the delusion that we've all been under for so many years.

What, Spring?

Never a dull moment in Minnesota...

....once the snow melts.

It Never Ceases to Amaze Me

How when you go to a CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, nothing is designed for children.

We're talking about about 1/4 to 1/2 of the patients that are too small or don't know any better and need things designed for them.

FOR EXAMPLE:

1. No children toilets.  They don't even have the little commodes.  They don't even have the little toilet seat adapters for small butts so that you don't traumatize your little one when they almost fall into the big potty.  They don't even have stools or low sinks so that they can wash their hands!

2. "Toys" that are not age appropriate.  While cute and a nice thought to give the kids a little something fun to take home at the end of the day, but when the toys are small enough to be stuffed up a nostril, you kind of have to wonder what the F these people are thinking.

3. Dolls.  I'm sure we all remember the Patch Adams movie that made famous a doctor that tries to make a hospital visit not scary for kids.  There was a huge trail of copy-cats after it came out. Well, what happened?  Now, the doctor's don't even bring in a doll to show the kids what they're going to do before they pull out some rather scary looking instrument and shove it in their ear.

Just makes the whole trip even more miserable.

Something Fun

I love jigsaw puzzles, but with a little one, getting them out is kind of impossible.

This site is a great substitute for the real thing:
http://thejigsawpuzzles.com/