misty, don't worry! (willo gets a shout out, too!)

in class last night, which is all about how people act in organizations and how organizations survive, my teacher talked about environmental selection. its kinda like natural selection, but for companies. and it means that due to circumstances some companies may die out over time because of their environment and until they do they just try to prolong their existence.

and then he highlighted BLOCKBUSTER.

misty is afraid that blockbuster may kick netflix to the curb because they are now offering a similar service as netflix but for cheaper! and, they are now allowing their in store rentals to be kept for 30 days with no late fees. this may all sound like a strategic plan to overturn netflix, but after class last night it was obvious that it is blockbusters attempt at trying to stay in the game and they are just kind of, pulling out all the stops before their inevitable decline.

so misty, don't worry. blockbuster is going down. and if you're still unsure just think: you don't see them building any new blockbusters, do ya?

i've decided that for my birthday (even tho i bought myself a couch) that i am finally going to go in for lasik surgery. i mean, i'm already in debt, whats a few more thousand? right? (shut up about coachella...)

last summer i went for a consultation with a dr. faktorovich (fac-TOR-oh-vitch....which really, if anyone has ever been or lived in foreign country or had a foreign friend...especially RUSSIAN you would know that her name should be pronounced fac-tah-ROW-vitch...but anyway)

i was tested and they told me that i was an excellent candidate for the new wavefront technology, which is the first improvement in lasik in about 9 years. one change, is they cut your eyeball (the clear jelly part) with a laser which means that its a cleaner incision and will heal faster. they also take a topographical map of your cornea. what makes people's vision poor is that the cornea should be smooth and when you have vision problems, your cornea has waves in it. the topographical map provides coordinates for your eye, which are then programmed into the computer and the laser burns away any "waves" or irregularities in your cornea for an attempt to make it smooth. the largest benefit of wavefront is now they doctors get more centralized information about what to correct, say 200 individual coordinates to the original 100 (i just made up that number). i've also heard that it reduces the chances of nightvision and halos. of course...this is how i understand and interpret it. go here for what REALLY happens..hahaha.

ok, so Dr. F's people were really nice and they did all the testing on me and gave me print outs of my eye map. but then, they got me into this office and said, " so when can we schedule your appointment?" i was kind of taken aback, since they had just told me that my surgery would cost SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS (i mean, they literally wrote it on a piece of paper and slid it across the table) and that even with my insurance discount it was $5,600 and they were like, we can do you next week. i was like, well, i don't have that kind of money. the woman told me that i could put some money down, and then put the rest on a credit card. at the time i had $35 in my checking account and no credit card and was dealing with a car payment. i just laughed at her and then she said i was approved for financing. i really felt pressured and they made me feel like i was making a big mistake by waiting. glad to say i walked and told them i would think about it.

then, 3 weeks later they called and said that if i agreed to have visiting doctors sit in on my procedure that they would drop it down to $5000 (i've heard a similar story from someone else and they offered her $3400!) again i declined. then a few weeks after that they called and said, "we're having a special! if you come in by (insert date here) we'll take 10% off."

what the hell?

i didn't take any of these "offers" and kind of pushed lasik aside for the moment. but then i met willo who had just had her eyes done. she went to dr. faktorovich also and had a similar pushy experience and she walked too! then she found dr. hyver, whom she highly recommended. i have a constultaion with him on may 4th and i can't wait! i really hope he doesn't charge $7000!