Day 13 And I AM IN CHARGE HERE...NOT CHARLES!!!

Charles is my new neighbor 2 floors down who left me a nice note taped to my door late yesterday... (Don't know how to knock Charlie? I was here when you must have tip-toed up). The note was addressed "To Whom It May Concern" and was asking me to remove the bird feeder from my deck because the seeds had made a mess on his patio below. He further stated that he had "asked the birds and they didn't mind" and then also requested that I come down and sweep his patio.

I must say I was rather shocked at the boldness of Charlie's requests, as he apparently just moved in and left the note the same day, and while I am a pretty NICE person most of the time old Chuck hasn't seen nothing until he's seen how someone going through EFFEXOR WITHDRAWAL can behave!!! :-)

Seriously, I had a bit of fun with this (in my own little way), and not only did I compose some funny responses for CHARLES, I asked for suggestions from my friends and family too.

Some of those responses I won't be able to publish here :-( and none were ever delivered, but just the same, the entire fiasco made my day!

So for a bit of light-hearted fun today I have copied my responses and those that are publishable from others, here below:
(Names have been withheld to protect all identities. :-)

To Whom It May Concern:
(Err...Charles),
Where the hell did you come from? Last time I looked, (yesterday), Unit #23 was vacant.
You must have moved in during the night huh?
Well, I am sorry but I cannot comply with your request. You see, I am doing a top-secret research project for the Audubon Society. It is called "How to feed and enjoy the nature of birds in your own backyard."(AKA "How not to give a R--- A--- if you P---- O--- your new neighbor two flights down when you mess up his patio with bird seed".
I asked the birds and they said " leave the feeder where it is and ask your neighbor to either move out or clean up his own ------ patio!" There you have it!
Sincerely, Freda FInch
@ 1-800-GET REAL

Sorry Charlie-
But you see, I have no way to get down there...I am a quadriplegic and really my only enjoyment in life is watching the pretty birdys out my window.
I will send my husband, (who by the way is working 3 jobs to pay for all my medications), down on Sunday to clean up those bird seeds. Maybe while he is there you can show HIM how to talk to the birds too...He said he would really like that!
Sincerely,
Freda Finch
@ 1-800-KIS-MYAS

Hey Chucky-
My husband says if you are talking to the birds then you are probably IMAGINING those sunflower seeds!
So BUZZ OFF...(like a BEE okay?)
Sincerely,
Freda Finch
AKA Pretty Birdy Watcher
@ 1-800-GET-LOST

You're going in the right direction.
I would not add the "My husband says..." part. It denotes a helpless
reliance on a mate, and steals some thunder from the quip.
Try this variation on the one above:

Dear Charles,
If you spend any great length of time speaking with the birds, then
you are most likely imagining the sunflower seeds. Next time you have a chat with your aviary chums, could you please remind
them to clean up after themselves.
For future reference, I am also not responsible for cleaning up any dung
your pink elephants might deposit on your porch/patio area.
Sincerely,
Your Neighbor



Charles
I found your note conveniently taped to my door. I can only assume that you
are new to renting and living underneath someone. Don't fret though, my son
and his wife live on the bottom floor of an apartment building and they have
learned to deal with all that comes along with that. . . for now. (They will
be purchasing their own home soon.)
Anyway, I am certain you will soon be able to decipher a legitimate issue
from a petty inconvenience and the reasonable actions to take.
I will attempt to shift the feeder in order to reduce the amount of
leftovers being distributed to your patio below. I do not feel obligated to
sweep your patio, for the same reason I do not feel obligated to clean up
all the bird scat around the property. That would be ludicrous.
I appreciate your willingness to inform me of your concerns, but request
that from now on you limit your notes to those issues that are "noteworthy"
or have some significance.
Your neighbor above,
Etma Shorts
Or Idan T. Care
Or Sharon Seeds
Or Robin Finch
Or Reah L. Mesmaicker

P.S. If you find yourself speaking to the birds often, you may want to seek
professional psychiatric assistance.

(OR I COULD SUGGEST SOME DRUG THAT MAY BE BENEFICIAL....:-)
~deb~


Your responses were funny ... I personally would recommend that you and (your husband) should avoid putting any
letters on his door in response to his ignorance, (come on, he talks to birds, he is *crazy)...
In other words, steer clear of any trouble, honestly. Have you seen this guy?
I'm actually not sure what I would do in that situation, maybe apologize to him and move your feeder
(Even though doing that would make him think he can walk all over you), or knock on his door
and introduce yourself and then just start singing as loud as you can...
"FEED THE BIRDS,... TOPPINS,....DON'T YOU LOVE THE MOVIE MARY POPPINS??? LOOK OUT ON
YOUR PATIO SIR, THE BIRDS ARE SWEEPING AND THEY ARE EVEN MOPPIN, I WOULD
LIKE TO MAKE AMENDS TO SIR, SO COME ON UP TO MY APARTMENT AND WE'LL SMOKE
A DOOBIE AND LISTEN TO JANIS JOPLIN".
And then follow up with really loud "tra-la-la-la-la" and then leave.
When he doesn't show up, go back down to his apartment and asked him why he didn't show and that you had tea and
strumppets ready for the munchies!


Dear Charlie,
I'd sincerely like to apologize for your
inconvenience. My husband and I are honest
hard-working people (Monday is my husband's 15 year
anniversary with the US Postal Service!) and we would
never intentionally irritate a neighbor (especially
after all the stress Bob goes through at "The
Office"!). We both sincerely apologize! I will be
sure to send Bob down to sweep up your porch Sunday
afternoon. (I'd send him down on Saturday but that's
the day he cleans his guns!!)
With love,
Rita

THANKS TO EVERYONE ABOVE....YOU MADE ME SMILE!
~deb~

On to the more serious things and the reason I am keeping this journal.....

In doing my research today I was re-reading Wyeth's Home Page for Effexor XR.
This time I was a bit more critical with my reading and stopped cold when I saw this...

"EFFEXOR XR is thought to work on both serotonin and norepinephrine ...two chemicals in the brain linked to depression. Correcting the imbalance of these two chemicals may help relieve symptoms of depression."

THOUGHT to work on serotonin and norepinephrine????
Don't they know???

This was actually taken from their own website @ www.effexor.com take a look...
I think they should be ashamed, yes, but they should also be embarrassed!!!

That reminds me that I keep forgetting to mention some of the things which I know now are truly side-effects and withdrawal symptoms of this drug, but things I have learned to live with over the past 2 1/2 years and I am wondering if they will change or go away when I am off this nasty drug.

The first thing is the~~~ deteriorated eye sight~~~ and~~~ blurred vision~~~. I noticed about Thanksgiving that all at once it was very difficult for me to see the television which was no further away than it had been even the day before. And then as I thought about it I realized that for quite some time I had been having a harder and harder time focusing on things. I guess I had just passed it off as getting older and needing to have my eyes checked (it has been 2 years after all), but now it is quite bothersome and I wonder if it will even get better when I am totally off the Effexor?

Another thing that I didn't give much thought to was~~~ yawning~~~. Sometimes I've yawned 20 times or more in succession. It seems like it used to happen in the afternoons and I thought it was somehow connected with that afternoon loss of energy, although lately it seems to happen at any time of the day. I honestly feel like I could just lie down and take at nap at those moments. Is it because I AM really tired or does the yawning MAKE me tired?

When I think back to when I first went on the medication too, I can remember that my~~~ ankles would swell up~~~. That has only happened a few times since then, but in the beginning it happened at least twice a week. At the time I thought it was part of "the change"coming on and it was also August and quite warm, but now that I read what some others say I wonder if this is drug-related also.

Isn't it odd that one of the side effects that Wyeth DOES mention is~~~ anorexia~~~? I have not seen one post in any forum about that. In fact, most posts I see are complaints of weight gain. If someone out there became anorexic after taking Effexor or ANY of the commonly prescribed anti-depressants I would like to hear from you.

It's been a long day and I've worked on my research all day. (Except for those few fun moments of reading through the responses I should be sending to Charles but won't).
I've felt a bit better today too and I don't think I was overly emotional at allGOOD FOR ME!

beach-lover@verizon.net
read and sign the EFFEXOR PETITION