[ Home | All Archives ]

      Tuesday, September 03, 2013


catstuff
11:13 AM - 09/03/2013

The topic: Scary night
----------------------------------------------

I think we almost lost Georgie last night. To heat stroke.

It's been miserable hot here, I can handle the hot, but I can't handle the humidity this heat has with it. We ran the A/C for a week, but money's tight and it's not quite as hot (low 90s instead of high 90s) and I think the humidity has dropped a little so the house is open, fans are running.

The cats have been laying on whatever is cool, kitchen counter, floors (we've got tile), anywhere that doesn't hold a lot of heat. On the freshly watered lawn. Lots of fresh water with ice cubes. I didn't have anything defrosted for dinner and I really didn't want to turn on the oven, so we had Jack in the Box (with coupons). Brian got two ultimate burgers and shared with the cats. Georgie liked it.

Miss E and George get fluids twice a week via two 60cc syringes. I heated the fluids up in the microwave as I usually do. They're not hot, but warm to the touch. George knows when he's going to get fluids. He runs. I found him under the coffee table in the living room, carried him back to the sofa and gave him the fluids.

He seemed to take them well, but as the evening wore on, he got more and more lethargic and his right side was sore. He climbs and jumps on counters in the kitchen and we've seen him slip. He growled at me when I touched his right front leg. It hurt him all the way down. He was on a blanket on my desk and I watched him. He wouldn't drink any water at all. He did eat some tuna, though, quite a bit, then back to the office. I checked on him at 11:30 last night and his breathing was rapid.

I picked him up and he was burning up, very, very hot. I took him into the family room, put him on a chair and got a Coldpak wrap and lay it next to him. I got a little blue ice pack and put it against his back paws. And I sat on the floor in front of him for forty-five minutes, watching him. I took his temperature with an pet ear thermometer and it was 104.5°. An hour later it had dropped a degree. His breathing gradually slowed down. Two hours after this started, he went into the laundry room and peed. Then back into the family room where he drank a good amount of water. Then he laid down on the tile next to the water bowl, where he slept for a couple of hours.

I was on the sofa with a flashlight and I kept checking on his progress. Eventually I put him back on the chair (his paws and ears were no longer hot, but cool to the touch, his temp was now 100.4) where he stayed until the sun was up. I had a wave of relief when he gave me a gentle headbutt on my face when I started to pet him. Then came the purr. A huge wave of relief.

Looking at him now, you'd have no idea he had been in such distress just hours before. He was on the kitchen counter begging for food, jumped from the counter to the stove looking for breakfast pans to lick (they don't go into the sink until they've cooled down, safest place to cool down is the stove).

What I figure happened is he might have taken a tumble from the counter (his back legs are a little wobbly, he is, after all, nineteen and a half years old). He was hot and the warm fluids did not help. I think this brought on heat stroke.

Note to self: when it's hot, give fluids in the morning, when it's still fairly cool.


craftstuff
07:22 PM - 09/03/2013

The topic: An idea
----------------------------------------------

I'm going to try my hand at making my own paper for some of my crafting projects. SVGcuts has some great 3D kits that are just screaming for specialty paper. Instead of spending hours looking for just the right thing, I can print my own. My printer is a wide format, so a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock will be a snap. And I've got white cardstock and it is inkjet friendly.

I've got a long to do list right now, so I may play around with it a little, but I'll have more time to really get into it after mid-October.

Color me excited!

 

      Thursday, September 05, 2013


otherstuff
07:41 AM - 09/05/2013

The topic: It was miserable hot yesterday
----------------------------------------------

It was over a 101.5° in the shade. It's humid (dear Mexico, you can send your people, just keep your stinking monsoonal weather, thank you, very much).

It's wearing me out.

I won passes to an advanced screening of the latest Riddick movie and before we left the house, I opened the garage door to let some of the cool air go into the garage (it was as hot in there as it was outside and we've got cats who live out there, they don't come into the house - Gracie and Autumn live out there full time and Phoebe and Opie prefer to be out there). We were advised to get to the theater early because they often give out more passes than there are seats. We got there an hour early and there was already a considerable line. We were in the sun. It was early evening, but it was still hot.

When we left, the outside temperature, according the car, was 78°. It was 9:30. As we got drove home, inland from where the movie was, it got hotter. When we got home it was 84°. And when we walked inside, even though I'd cleaned cat pee and the litterboxes earlier in the day, the smell about knocked me over. Of course, it was coming from the garage.

I really want this weather to go away. I want to clean the garage. I want to open the house and get a nice breeze. I don't want it closed up with the air conditioner. I dread the upcoming utility bill.

Today, I'll turn off the computer in the office. I'll turn off the peripherals. And I'll use the netbook in the other room.

It's supposed to be hotter today.

I'm so over this heat.

 

      Sunday, September 08, 2013


otherstuff
04:47 PM - 09/08/2013
The current weather is hothothothothot

The topic: The company website
----------------------------------------------

As the company has grown, so has the website. Some of the growth has been much needed, like photos and clarifications. I've added customer videos and powerpoint presentations that were done by satisfied customers.

But one addition was something I'd wanted to do for a while now. A pricing page. Brian was against it because he thought people would just start ordering stuff and they can't order stuff without knowing how much the shipping will be (shipping is based on zip code and is worked out per quote). But time and time again, he'd take the time to work out the quote, only to be told "oh, I didn't know it would cost that much" and he never hears from that person again.

There has been one person who has asked for a quote for three years in a row now. Same guy. Same machine. And his response this last time was "oh, your prices have gone up since last year". But he's yet to buy anything.

My thinking was that if there was a price list for the various products, people wouldn't get hit with sticker shock. I know I don't like going to a website in search of something and finding out I have to contact someone to get a price. I'll go another website that does have a price. And I'm sure it's the same with our website.

So, at the end of last month, I started a pricing page. And I told Brian I was doing it. And I showed him what I'd done. And he got up a list for me of all of the products he sells. I put it all together and uploaded it to the site. And he's getting less email asking for quotes. So, that's less needless work for him. And that's a good thing.

I was concerned that maybe he'd lose sales, but he doesn't think so. Because people aren't going to order something they can't afford no matter how they're informed of the cost.

Whew.

 

      Friday, September 13, 2013


catstuff
07:40 AM - 09/13/2013

The topic: I’m so tired right now
----------------------------------------------

I think whatever hit Georgie last week, hit Potter this week. Wednesday morning he was fine, climbing all over my lap (which I don't care for because he won't let me trim his claws and they hurt). It just got worse throughout the day. He threw up white sticky foam multiple times (indicates an empty stomach). He pooped a couple of times, nasty dark, mucusy stuff, which I attributed to the empty tummy. He had a fever of a couple of degrees. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink.

Yesterday morning at 4 am, I gave him 60cc of fluids. That seemed to help throughout the day, but he still wouldn't eat or drink. I gave him an additional 60cc (the usual amount I give the kidney kitties it 120cc twice a week). He crashed. He had the same soreness that Georgie had. He growled at me every time I touched him. I was able to get him onto the bed, where he stayed. At 9:30 last night I got an amoxicillan into him. Since Brian spent the night on his sofa (so as not to bother Potter), as did I, I was able to turn on the light in the bedroom to check on Pot. At 4 this morning, he gave me a little purr. Still not eating, but I think he's getting close. I tried a little bit of cat food this morning and put a taste in his mouth (sometimes they forget to be hungry and the taste of food wakes up the appetite). I didn't "force feed" him, figure it's not time for that yet.

He spit out what I gave him, but a little while later he smelled the little lump of food and licked at it. Which is more than he's done in the past 36 hours, so I think we'll be okay.

But I'll be watching to make sure he keeps getting better, or it's off to the vet we go. I don't want him sick like this over the weekend.

 

 

      Sunday, September 15, 2013


catstuff
03:32 PM - 09/15/2013

The topic: Argh!
----------------------------------------------

So, it's hot here today. To keep the heat inside down, I defrosted a couple of chicken breasts and put them in my little crockpot. When they're done, I'll shred them and dump some alfredo sauce on them and serve it over noodles.

I'm in the office, I hear a clatter in the kitchen. I know what it is, it's the crockpot lid. It's plastic. I jump up and start yelling "you better get down from there!" all the way into the kitchen.

There's Charlie, head in the crockpot, he's pulling out a chicken breast. The lid (damnit, he just did it AGAIN!) is laying to the side. He quickly jumped down and I washed the chicken off, put it back in the crockpot (which after the second time now has foil under the lid).

As I walked out of the kitchen (the first time), he's down by the kibble, eating. "It wasn't me, mom".  The second time he was on the table, cleaning his face.

Cats. Gotta love 'em.

 

      Monday, September 16, 2013


otherstuff
08:53 AM - 09/16/2013

The topic: I hate it when days start off like today
----------------------------------------------

Turn on the computer. Turn on the cameras. Brian does his situp exercises, comes in and starts up his computer.

The electrical starts going nuts. On. Off. On. Off. On. Off. Just here in the office.

Turns out something's sparking in the electrical panel outside. He checks the breakers, still sparking. It's coming from the ground strip (probably 3/4" wide, 4" long with screws in it and the ground wires attach - the electrical setup in this house makes no sense at all). He turns off the power and tightens all the wires. Turns power back on. Sparking stopped, so it probably was a loose wire.

Come inside, turn stuff back on. I wasn't in front of my computer when it started to boot up. It didn't, it was running a "startup repair". WTF? I ended up manually shutting it down (holding the power button down for ten seconds) and rebooting. I had the choice to start Windows normally or go with the starup repair. I booted normally. Everything's okay. Whew.

When the power went out, the two range extenders for wireless internet crashed. Since our home phone line is on one of those, I had to reset that. Then I had to reset the one in the living room that runs the Roku and wireless devices in the family room. Of course it didn't go smoothly. Very frustrating.

Brian made breakfast (eggs and English muffins) and asked if I'd seen the mail he sent me (no, I've not been on the computer, I've been busy doing other things - geez).

There's a potential customer who's quote is over three thousand dollars. He asked for a quote on company letterhead to turn in to the company, but don't mention tractors. Okay, hinky, right? And then he said to send two quotes, get one under the three thousand mark, then do the second one for the balance (he'll pay that one).

I'm working on the first one, asking Brian to double check my numbers. They're wrong. He says it's added wrong. No, the QuickBooks does not "add wrong". There's something different.

I tell him the numbers I've got. He gets annoyed with me. "I didn't send that number!" he tells me. I have him look at the email. Yep, he did send me that number. "Oh, there's two, I guess I sent the wrong one".

Fuse is getting short. I took a Xanax before I hurt anyone.

 

      Tuesday, September 17, 2013


dreamstuff
07:02 AM - 09/17/2013

The topic: The best dream I’ve had in a long time
----------------------------------------------

It was absolutely awesome and fun. There were a bunch of us at a hotel, on the balcony, overlooking a beautiful water view (don't know if it was ocean or lake). We were on the second story and sitting on the edge of the railing. I slipped and started to fall. No one would help me climb back up. I almost made it, but slipped again. I was terrified I was going to drop and die. I looked down.

The ground was about a foot away. sick Yeah, I can do this. I dropped and went back inside, planning on going up to my room. I walked over to the elevator and everybody was so nice. I vaguely recall thinking they were Canadians. They were happy and making jokes. I got into the elevator and noticed a different exit. I went through it into this really wonderful toy shop.

The toys were alive! Not human (think Toy Story), but they interacted with the humans in the shop. They had personalities. One side of the store there were stuffed animals, one was a blue fuzzy ferret. His face was so realistic (even if it was blue and fuzzy). One of the employees warned me to stay away from that one "he's mean" she said. And sure enough, the little bastard bit me. But it didn't hurt at all. Because he was a blue fuzzy stuffed toy. I walked through this store, grinning from ear to ear, finding some real joy in what I was seeing. I was entranced.

Then I woke up. Grinning.

It was right up there with the best dreams ever.

 

      Wednesday, September 18, 2013


otherstuff
06:27 AM - 09/18/2013

The topic: Three of my favorite words
----------------------------------------------

"Out for delivery"


otherstuff
01:48 PM - 09/18/2013

The topic: Since I’ve done just about everything I need to do
----------------------------------------------

For the meet next month, I'm getting started on house cleaning. I'm cleaning things I haven't cleaned in years, like the china and glasses in the cabinet.

We've got three full sets of china. Two Brian bought when we got married because they reminded him of his grandma's (not the pattern I would have gotten, too flowery, way back then Franklin Mint had this awesome black with gold and I loved it - Franklin Mint got to keep it because we got stuff that reminded him of his grandma's - I had no say in the matter) and a set from my parents.

They're all in the cabinet. I'm putting them in the dishwasher, light load, it's going to take a while to get through everything (ideally I'd like to pack it all away and sell it or something, we don't entertain and we never use it). Dust catchers is all that stuff is.Anyway, the first set of dishes getting washed is the set my parents gave us. There are only two cups. WTF? Where are the other six? I find this incredibly odd that I'm missing six cups.kiss

And we've got ten cups for Irish coffee. Four of those have the recipe on them. I don't think I've ever had Irish coffee. Why, then, do we have so many of these glasses?

 

 


otherstuff
04:39 PM - 09/18/2013

The topic: Grrr….
----------------------------------------------

So, I'm cleaning stuff in the glass case, right?  There are four musical domes in there from Franklin Mint. Wizard of Oz domes.

I'm cleaning everything in there and I take the glass domes off to wash by hand. I notice that two of the domes have broken parts inside. WTF? How? They've been in that case for decades.

I find most of the pieces and glue them back on. And I've come to a conclusion of how they became broken. Someone had taken them down, taken the domes off, then broke the various pieces when putting the domes back on. And there's only one family that had that opportunity.

Brian was gone and when he got home, I told him that they were broken. He said "I'm sorry". Then I told him pieces were missing. I let that sink in. He said "that bitch."

He came to the same conclusion I had.

The old petsitter. The one on who's watch Wally got so sick he died. The one on who's watch Lisa Violet got so upset that she ended up dying (stroke).

Someone got on that counter and took those music boxes down. Someone opened them up and broke them putting them back together. It wasn't me. It wasn't Brian. The only people in this house when we aren't home have been the various petsitters. And there was so much grime on the domes, it's been a long time since they were opened.

Will I ever be rid of her?

 


otherstuff
05:14 PM - 09/18/2013

The topic: Well, I think we know what happened to the six missing cups
----------------------------------------------

They were probably broken when the musical domes were broken. And there were so many cups up there that we didn't use, I never noticed.

I found them on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/91625670/international-porcelain-kensington

And I found them on another site, but can't find them again. I don't really want the saucers.

 


otherstuff
05:41 PM - 09/18/2013

The topic: I just ordered six cups
----------------------------------------------

from Southern Pattern Matching. Brian is okay with it. He agrees, it would be one thing if I did something with them, but for them to be missing because of someone else? Not good. He likes the pattern, too.

I'm glad he's making some sales right now, otherwise I might be out of luck.

I've got a little handwashing to do and one more dishwasher load, then I'll be finished with this project. Hopefully I'll be finished tonight.

Oh, and to top it off?

Some cat peed on my shoes.

 

      Sunday, September 29, 2013


otherstuff
12:31 PM - 09/29/2013

The topic: So, I ask Brian
----------------------------------------------

After this year's Disney meet, how will we ever get anything done in the house?

He had to think about the question. You know, what do you mean get anything done? Then I saw the light in his eyes.

"Because the only time we do anything is before the Disneyland trip?"

Yeppers.

A couple of years ago, I cleaned the kitchen cupboard doors with almond wax that I'd added a stain to. Made them look much nicer than they had in years (they're original from when the house was built back in the early 70s). He finished the kitchen window that had been in for over ten years and painted the kitchen.

Last year, I washed down my bathroom walls and ceiling with TSP, because of all the dead mosquito splats on the ceiling (I had one of those telescoping swiffer dusters, worked great to smash them). Since the walls were clean, but looked weird, he said "let's paint" so I picked out a couple of paint colors, he put down laminate (huge, huge, huge, huge, huge mistake, laminate and urinating cats do not mix, hopefully it will be gone by the time we leave in October) and painted the room.

This year, we were able to get a Spinalator (it did wonders for my back at the chiro's office after me and my car rolled down that hill a few years back and we've been looking for one ever since - found one, I sold some stock, I hated to do it, but money was getting pretty tight) and it's in the living room. So, it's a matter of where do we put it? I said "over there, will that wall unit you built for the cats fit over there?" and he measured and it will. So, today, we're working on that.

There's a pattern here. We only do anything before the Disney meet because the cat sitter will be here for a couple of days.

What will we do next year?  *lol*

 

      Monday, September 30, 2013


catstuff
06:57 AM - 09/30/2013

The topic: After all the work we did yesterday,
----------------------------------------------

I've got the occasional cam up and running again.

I still have to vacuum and clean the cat trees. Yesterday I was happy to just get them all over there in a decent arrangement. Put them one way, watch the cats, see how they react.

The major move was the cat tree that looks like a tree. Joey came running in the house, ran up it, only to find Charlie at the top. Joey pretty much just dropped to the cement floor. Not good. So, the tall stuff is against the sleep center and the shorter trees and condos are in front of those.

Jackie is not sure of this arrangement. This makes me sad, because I don't believe Jackie will be with us much longer, he's really slowing down the past few months. It's harder and harder for him to climb (Jackie is one of those cats like Kitty Meeze was - when I can pick him up because he's so weak, it will be time to say goodbye, because there will be no treating him).

But the other kitties seem to be quickly adjusting to the new setup.

Yay!

All Archives


lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

In her spare time, she makes pretty things to sell in her store.

September 2013
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30          



SVG Cutting Files at SVGCuts.com


website design by





©lisaviolet 1996-2024
Photographic images are the property of the photographer,and may not be copied, printed, or otherwise reproduced on any other site or used in any other publishing medium without the written permission of each individual photographer and kennel/cattery owner. Cathouse privacy policy.