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Feb. 8th, 2011 05:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* Mache's got sniffles. A tendency to respiratory infections, along with her tendency to snore is a leftover of the illness she had when we rescued her. This particular cold seems rather virulent, but I'm not panicking unless there's respiratory distress. She gets little colds all the time. Otherwise, she appears fine. Picture me and my girl cat taking turns sneezing uncontrollably. She is strongly opposed to me continuing to feed her antibiotics, but is in favour of the tapas style sick kitty feeding station. She's SOL on me stopping the antibiotics before she's done the whole course of meds as I refuse to breed cat eating super virus in my beloved girl cat.
For those curious, there was slightly more in donations than I spent on the vet visit and treatments, but I used it to buy immediate cat needs related things like vet recommended sick kitty foods designed to help her recover and to keep the others from succumbing. I hope that's okay with everyone who chipped in. If you donated and aren't okay with it, PM me and I'll see about refunding part of your donation next month.
Hector's ramping up on me so he got anxiety meds tonight. Junior beasties both seem to be eating reasonable amounts for cats their size. The Butt's still subtly off as far as his sleep to play ratio, but He's more active than, say yesterday. Colour us optimistic.
* If I believed in such things I'd wonder if I were cursed. To Friday's death of the car and Mache's near death experience, add today's special little nightmare. Squirrel lent me his clunker for a collection of key errands (In no particular order: food bank doctor, med pick up, library, double check bank to make sure nothing got overdrawn in the fund shuffling, cat supplies, and the Post Office for a package Squirrel needed picked up). For this story to make sense, you need to understand that Squirrel's car is replete with these incredibly annoying "safety" features he not only doesn't want or need, but which make the car really hard to use. He'd disable them if he could, but he can't, and beggars can't be choosers when it comes to the sort of cars folks like us can afford. One of these so called "features" that looks like a bug to us is an anti-theft thing where because my arms aren't long enough, I must crouch painfully next to the car and stretching one arm up under the wheel to turn the key, I must press a button with the other hand. The timing has to be perfect and you have to press the key in exactly the right amount as you turn it. I can just reach these areas sitting in the seat, but it's actually more painful than the horrible crouch and the extra slack I get crouching next to the car instead of sitting in it is generally worth it. If I'm lucky, it takes about five minutes to start. I can take as long as half an hour. What is a minor nuisance to Squirrel, is a grueling, intensely painful and time consuming process for me. This is in no way Squirrel's fault. I blame a manufacturer who assumed all drivers would have arms about an inch or so longer than mine. So there was the long drama starting the car. At this point, I was getting towards late. I arrived at the food bank two minutes after close, but they were kind enough to thrust food at me as they were packing up. I didn't get to pick and ended up with some inappropriate perishables I'll have to give Squirrel, but I did get a few things I needed. Then there was the 20 minutes I spent starting the car. I got in with 7 minutes to spare at the Doctor. Then 15 minutes to start the car. Then the library, then 15 minutes to start the car. You get the idea. I was actually in sight of the last thing on my errand list, when the breaks went. This is a reoccurring nightmare of mine. I started the slow break for a light and my foot went right through. I practically stood on it and it screeched to a stop. It was at this point I could smell the brake fluid. I would need to pull in to the lot to get the package anyway and it turned out I could brake as long as I didn't go above twenty five and used a combination of inertia and carefully calibrated pressure, with the stand on it method if I didn't have quite enough room. I pulled in, did the last errand. My cell phone turned out to be dead. I figured if I went slow, picked the right roads, and left lots of following distance, I could make it home. I couldn't make big decisions about Squirrel's car myself, and I hadn't money to fix the damned thing anyway. I really wanted to slump over the wheel and weep at this point, but instead, I went about forcing the car to start. The trip home was incredibly harrowing. To the stress of the whole barely working breaks thing, and the physical stress of driving a car for a long errands run that doesn't have any back support in the drivers seat (also, because the designers were imagining all drivers would have arms and inch or so longer than mine), and all the kneeling and crouching on asphalt I'd been doing, an activity not recommended for folks with AS. The pain was impressive really, and my facial tic is now noticeably worse. I carried most of the stuff in, alerted Squirrel, and went to my room. The light bulb blew as I went to turn it on. At this point the Murphy's law nature of this past week really hit me. I found my girl cat and curled around her and gave her the petins while sniffing her head. (She still doesn't have that strong wonderful head musk that's her normal scent, but she does smell a little more like herself now, if very weak). Squirrel thinks it's most likely a shortage of brake fluid, though he may need a new break line. He called for pick up for his game, changed my bulb (The ceiling is high and ladders are dangerous for me with the AS, especially when I can barely walk. He does all ladder, bending, and lifting tasks not involving pets. I clean things and do pets related tasks. It really does work out fair). The bulb broke in the fixture. He did eventually sort it and I don't mind potatoes for dinner. It was at this point I discovered that the med that ran out today is one the newest insurance company foot drags on, so wasn't in my baggie. Face palm. (Don't worry, I don't take psych meds, which are horrific if you miss a dose as a rule, and I have nothing that is immediately gruesome if you cold turkey it. This is the low grade antibiotic I'm supposed to be on all the time now, not even a lung or arthritis med, so the lack is not going to do anything like suffocate me in my sleep or make my legs stop working.) Assuming the car is sorted I may be able to get them Wednesday. If worse comes to worse, we are very close to a reliable mechanic that specializes in brakes and we can get a free tow if we plan in advance.
When the Murphy's Law thing gets this intense and constant all you can do is laugh really.
I'm still wildly happy just to see the cats wandering around doing characteristic things and not being scary sick.
* I suspect my recent random ginger craving might have been the warning sign my ulcer is back. as of today, I'm very sure it's back. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Tzatziki craving is related as well.
* Rereading an old Tamora Pierce, I realized my fondness for Rosethorn is likely because she is so like my beloved great Aunt Ruth.
* "10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan:" http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/05/reagan-centennial/
* Brian Jacques is dead at 71. His books were painfully boring from my perspective, but the content is pretty innocuous and there are tons of them and they've done wonders for literacy among middle school boys. I've had kids who hate reading who would devour those one after the other. Just because I couldn't even get through a single book doesn't mean I don't respect and revere the man for writing a huge long series I didn't even need to hard sell reluctant kids to read. Get them to read one series of books, and you can often soft sell them on others after. I know he'll be greatly missed by students and English teachers all over the English speaking world.
* Computer savy folks: Does anyone know of an easy-to-use program or app. that helps manage medications and other treatments? Specifically, something that would help a patient keep track of exactly what medications she is supposed to take by hour within a day? And which would also keep track of the amount of stock of said meds on hand and issue a reminder at 7 days and then every other day before they run out?
An acquaintance of mine is trying to help a friend keep track of a new, complicated med schedule, and they could use electronic help.
* A thing on the complexities surrounding the making and display of "Fire in My Belly:" http://out.com/detail.asp?id=28655
* "Hidden pornographic poems explain 'bestseller' success of C18 poetical volumes:" http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-hidden-pornographic-poems-bestseller-success.html
"Dr. van Hensbergen said: "‘The Cabinet’ is unusual because it shows us that people read pornographic writing directly alongside the verse of major poets. This raises interesting questions about what counts as literature and where the boundaries between high and low culture lie. These ideas were much more fluid in the 18th century than they are today.""
* "Row over Chopin's Majorcan residence solved by piano:" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8296219/Row-over-Chopins-Majorcan-residence-solved-by-piano.html
Look, anything to do with George Sand and Chopin is relevant to my interests, okay? Don't judge me.
* "The stalker who stole Queen Victoria's underwear:" http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/01/queen-victoria-stalker-boy-jones
* Rm tells a whole lot of truths about "queer rage and the grocery toll:" http://lettersfromtitan.com/2011/02/07/what-the-grocery-toll-is-really-indicative-of/
* And a comic: http://www.asofterworld.com/clean/bigwinner.jpg
For those curious, there was slightly more in donations than I spent on the vet visit and treatments, but I used it to buy immediate cat needs related things like vet recommended sick kitty foods designed to help her recover and to keep the others from succumbing. I hope that's okay with everyone who chipped in. If you donated and aren't okay with it, PM me and I'll see about refunding part of your donation next month.
Hector's ramping up on me so he got anxiety meds tonight. Junior beasties both seem to be eating reasonable amounts for cats their size. The Butt's still subtly off as far as his sleep to play ratio, but He's more active than, say yesterday. Colour us optimistic.
* If I believed in such things I'd wonder if I were cursed. To Friday's death of the car and Mache's near death experience, add today's special little nightmare. Squirrel lent me his clunker for a collection of key errands (In no particular order: food bank doctor, med pick up, library, double check bank to make sure nothing got overdrawn in the fund shuffling, cat supplies, and the Post Office for a package Squirrel needed picked up). For this story to make sense, you need to understand that Squirrel's car is replete with these incredibly annoying "safety" features he not only doesn't want or need, but which make the car really hard to use. He'd disable them if he could, but he can't, and beggars can't be choosers when it comes to the sort of cars folks like us can afford. One of these so called "features" that looks like a bug to us is an anti-theft thing where because my arms aren't long enough, I must crouch painfully next to the car and stretching one arm up under the wheel to turn the key, I must press a button with the other hand. The timing has to be perfect and you have to press the key in exactly the right amount as you turn it. I can just reach these areas sitting in the seat, but it's actually more painful than the horrible crouch and the extra slack I get crouching next to the car instead of sitting in it is generally worth it. If I'm lucky, it takes about five minutes to start. I can take as long as half an hour. What is a minor nuisance to Squirrel, is a grueling, intensely painful and time consuming process for me. This is in no way Squirrel's fault. I blame a manufacturer who assumed all drivers would have arms about an inch or so longer than mine. So there was the long drama starting the car. At this point, I was getting towards late. I arrived at the food bank two minutes after close, but they were kind enough to thrust food at me as they were packing up. I didn't get to pick and ended up with some inappropriate perishables I'll have to give Squirrel, but I did get a few things I needed. Then there was the 20 minutes I spent starting the car. I got in with 7 minutes to spare at the Doctor. Then 15 minutes to start the car. Then the library, then 15 minutes to start the car. You get the idea. I was actually in sight of the last thing on my errand list, when the breaks went. This is a reoccurring nightmare of mine. I started the slow break for a light and my foot went right through. I practically stood on it and it screeched to a stop. It was at this point I could smell the brake fluid. I would need to pull in to the lot to get the package anyway and it turned out I could brake as long as I didn't go above twenty five and used a combination of inertia and carefully calibrated pressure, with the stand on it method if I didn't have quite enough room. I pulled in, did the last errand. My cell phone turned out to be dead. I figured if I went slow, picked the right roads, and left lots of following distance, I could make it home. I couldn't make big decisions about Squirrel's car myself, and I hadn't money to fix the damned thing anyway. I really wanted to slump over the wheel and weep at this point, but instead, I went about forcing the car to start. The trip home was incredibly harrowing. To the stress of the whole barely working breaks thing, and the physical stress of driving a car for a long errands run that doesn't have any back support in the drivers seat (also, because the designers were imagining all drivers would have arms and inch or so longer than mine), and all the kneeling and crouching on asphalt I'd been doing, an activity not recommended for folks with AS. The pain was impressive really, and my facial tic is now noticeably worse. I carried most of the stuff in, alerted Squirrel, and went to my room. The light bulb blew as I went to turn it on. At this point the Murphy's law nature of this past week really hit me. I found my girl cat and curled around her and gave her the petins while sniffing her head. (She still doesn't have that strong wonderful head musk that's her normal scent, but she does smell a little more like herself now, if very weak). Squirrel thinks it's most likely a shortage of brake fluid, though he may need a new break line. He called for pick up for his game, changed my bulb (The ceiling is high and ladders are dangerous for me with the AS, especially when I can barely walk. He does all ladder, bending, and lifting tasks not involving pets. I clean things and do pets related tasks. It really does work out fair). The bulb broke in the fixture. He did eventually sort it and I don't mind potatoes for dinner. It was at this point I discovered that the med that ran out today is one the newest insurance company foot drags on, so wasn't in my baggie. Face palm. (Don't worry, I don't take psych meds, which are horrific if you miss a dose as a rule, and I have nothing that is immediately gruesome if you cold turkey it. This is the low grade antibiotic I'm supposed to be on all the time now, not even a lung or arthritis med, so the lack is not going to do anything like suffocate me in my sleep or make my legs stop working.) Assuming the car is sorted I may be able to get them Wednesday. If worse comes to worse, we are very close to a reliable mechanic that specializes in brakes and we can get a free tow if we plan in advance.
When the Murphy's Law thing gets this intense and constant all you can do is laugh really.
I'm still wildly happy just to see the cats wandering around doing characteristic things and not being scary sick.
* I suspect my recent random ginger craving might have been the warning sign my ulcer is back. as of today, I'm very sure it's back. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Tzatziki craving is related as well.
* Rereading an old Tamora Pierce, I realized my fondness for Rosethorn is likely because she is so like my beloved great Aunt Ruth.
* "10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan:" http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/05/reagan-centennial/
* Brian Jacques is dead at 71. His books were painfully boring from my perspective, but the content is pretty innocuous and there are tons of them and they've done wonders for literacy among middle school boys. I've had kids who hate reading who would devour those one after the other. Just because I couldn't even get through a single book doesn't mean I don't respect and revere the man for writing a huge long series I didn't even need to hard sell reluctant kids to read. Get them to read one series of books, and you can often soft sell them on others after. I know he'll be greatly missed by students and English teachers all over the English speaking world.
* Computer savy folks: Does anyone know of an easy-to-use program or app. that helps manage medications and other treatments? Specifically, something that would help a patient keep track of exactly what medications she is supposed to take by hour within a day? And which would also keep track of the amount of stock of said meds on hand and issue a reminder at 7 days and then every other day before they run out?
An acquaintance of mine is trying to help a friend keep track of a new, complicated med schedule, and they could use electronic help.
* A thing on the complexities surrounding the making and display of "Fire in My Belly:" http://out.com/detail.asp?id=28655
* "Hidden pornographic poems explain 'bestseller' success of C18 poetical volumes:" http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-hidden-pornographic-poems-bestseller-success.html
"Dr. van Hensbergen said: "‘The Cabinet’ is unusual because it shows us that people read pornographic writing directly alongside the verse of major poets. This raises interesting questions about what counts as literature and where the boundaries between high and low culture lie. These ideas were much more fluid in the 18th century than they are today.""
* "Row over Chopin's Majorcan residence solved by piano:" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8296219/Row-over-Chopins-Majorcan-residence-solved-by-piano.html
Look, anything to do with George Sand and Chopin is relevant to my interests, okay? Don't judge me.
* "The stalker who stole Queen Victoria's underwear:" http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/01/queen-victoria-stalker-boy-jones
* Rm tells a whole lot of truths about "queer rage and the grocery toll:" http://lettersfromtitan.com/2011/02/07/what-the-grocery-toll-is-really-indicative-of/
* And a comic: http://www.asofterworld.com/clean/bigwinner.jpg
