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      Wednesday, December 03, 2014


otherstuff
07:16 AM - 12/03/2014

The topic: Hope your holiday weekend was a good one
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Ours was okay.  Originally we were just going to hang out and maybe go see John Wick, but Brian's niece called Monday morning and suggested taking Brian's mom to dinner for Thanksgiving. At that late date, there wasn't anywhere to make dinner reservations, so we figured on HomeTown Buffet. Not my favorite place to eat, but it was about all that was available. Brian's older brother and wife came to town, it was a spur of the moment thing and we didn't know about it until Wednesday morning. We were supposed to pick Mama up, but instead her oldest son and wife did the duty. She was really surprised and overjoyed. They called when they were leaving and we jumped in our car and they followed us to the restaurant, where we met up with Brian's niece and nephew (the visiting brother's kids) and their SOs. It was a nice dinner, but I still don't have any love for that restaurant. Brian got a couple slices of turkey and shared them with me and one of them wasn't cooked. And he'd had to wait for the guy to slice them off the turkey. Yeah, not a big fan of HomeTown Buffet.

Afterwards, we headed over to Mama's house where we had a nice long conversation. Everybody was happy and laughing, it was how family get togethers should be. It was really nice. Brian visited over there a couple of times during the weekend, I stayed home and worked on my Christmas cards. I've got at least three more to do. Gosh, I love glitter! 

My bathroom floor was supposed to have been changed out, but it's okay. I'll just hate it for another month until Brian gets the time to fix it. And he didn't get my new storage cabinet put together, but that's okay, too. It won't take him long once he has the time. He's so darned busy right now.

We went to an advanced screening of Wild last night. It was a pretty good movie. It sure didn't glamorize the work of walking the Pacific Crest Trail (Brian's niece did this earlier this year and she wasn't able to finish, due to weather and fire damage up north). There weren't many people in the theater, which isn't normal, but this was a screening where you needed an AMC Stubs card, which is twelve bucks and is good for a year. And there was rain! It hit hard during evening drive time, so I'm thinking lots of people got home and thought "I'm not leaving". 

One of the things I've noticed during these advance screenings is laughter at inappropriate times. Like some of these people laugh at everything. Not giving a spoiler here, but there was a part in the movie where Cheryl had gotten some bad news, really, really bad news. She was in a bathroom stall and her mother asked if she was okay. She replied "yes" and she looked at herself in one of those seat cover containers that's metal and wiped the tears from her face. People laughed at that. It wasn't funny. It wasn't funny at all. The laughter was off putting and I wanted to ask these people "what the hell is wrong with you?" 

My paperwork is falling behind. I have to get our health insurance straightened out since HealthNet decided they weren't going to carry the plan we have through Covered California. They're changing the plan we have to one where the only doctors and stuff they'll carry is when it's on their network. If it's a doctor that isn't in their network (like some specialists) they won't cover any of those charges. Yeah, that's not going to work. Not that we need specialists, but you never know what life is going to throw your way, you know?

And that's about it. Not much exciting happening.

14110107


otherstuff
06:29 PM - 12/03/2014

The topic: Been on hold with Covered California
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For about forty-five minutes now. We have to choose a new plan because the HealthNet dropped the plan we currently have for 2015. I'm making sure that our doctor is on one of their plans and it doesn't look like he is. I call them up and nope, he's not in any of their plans. I do some research and there's only one insurance company that has him as a provider and that's Blue Shield. Well, that sure cuts down our options, so I find an affordable plan and get all the  way to the checkout page and they need my PIN. I don't know what my PIN is. That's why I'm on hold. It might be in the personal files for this year, but Lorelei is laying on it.

The on hold music is giving me a headache. Maybe I'll move the cat.

14110411

      Friday, December 05, 2014


otherstuff
01:42 PM - 12/05/2014

The topic: Had a thingy on my back removed this morning.
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The doctor noticed it last August, said he wanted to remove it. Finally made the appoinment, went in this morning. 

The thing he removed is not the thing I thought he was going to remove. He asked me how long had this bump been scaly on the top? It kind of hurts, not much, but if you know it's there and the bra rubs it or whatever, I'm aware that it's there and alive and hitting nerves. So, he and the nurse keep zinging it with their fingers. As if it's something they've never seen before. I kept saying "ow", they'd apologize, then do it again. 

Anyway, the flat dark mole was removed and will be sent out for testing. He wants me to make another appointment so he can remove the other one. When I'd asked if he could do them both at the same time, he said he'd rather have the results from the first one before he decided what to do on the second. He didn't seem very concerned about it, he said he could burn it off or slice it off. Oh, yay.

14110111

      Saturday, December 06, 2014


otherstuff
09:08 AM - 12/06/2014

The topic: Got the health insurance changed over
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For the first time since we've had our own insurance coverage, we actually got a phone call yesterday from our current provider about why we aren't renewing with them. Pretty simple explanation. Our doctor is not on any of the plans you provide in the insurance market place.

It was nice to be off the phone with a salesperson so quickly.

      Wednesday, December 10, 2014


otherstuff
02:59 PM - 12/10/2014

The topic: The doc called with the results
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There were some atypical cells, so it was a good thing we had it removed. The margins were clean so there's nothing to worry about. As soon as this one is healed up, he wants to remove the other one.

Yay!


catstuff
03:10 PM - 12/10/2014

The topic: Spotty was spotting
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Sunday night he squatted in front of me and it was pink. A few drops. Damn it.

So, I started him on Clavamox Monday morning. I had four pills from a previous prescription, but it wouldn't be enough for a full treatment. I called the vet and placed an order for more, as well as some Cerenia. I also got more fluids for Miss Elizabeth. All of this was less than twenty seven dollars! I had a credit from the last time we got meds. We were in a hurry and I paid cash and told them to put change onto the account. And the new girl overcharged me for fluids, so I got a credit on that, too.

So, I open the Clavamox this morning, there are only six pills. What? I don't think that will be nearly enough to kick this infection. Spotty did pee this morning, the volume is way better, but there's a lot of blood in the urine. He will need the full week's worth. I called them and I asked about it and she laughed. She said "we can't count" and told me the rest of the pills would be waiting for me when I came in next time. 

Poor Spotty.

14110113


entertainmentstuff
03:42 PM - 12/10/2014

The topic: “Chef”
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We got this from Netflix a couple of days ago and finally watched it last night. Great movie! 

I love it when someone is able to live their joy. 

If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest it. There is a lot of adult language, but no violence or nekkid sex or anything along those lines. 

      Thursday, December 11, 2014


catstuff
08:18 AM - 12/11/2014

The topic: Spot peed in the bathroom sink last night
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And it's looking way better. Hardly any pink at all. Yay! 

I know these infections have to really hurt for these guys. I guess it had been coming on for a few weeks because he's been particularly needy. Wanting to be petted and held, talking to us, staying close to us. 

Funny how they do that. You always hear that cats go off to die. I've never believed that. Since cats instinctually hide their pain, often it's not until it's too late to do anything about it before we notice it. Cats don't go off to die, they're too sick to come home.

Anyway, Spot is on the road to recovery. 


otherstuff
08:23 AM - 12/11/2014

The topic: We had over an inch of rain last weekend
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And we're in for more! It's supposed to start tonight. I wonder if Rocky will come in. I'm not worried about him, he navigates the cat doors whether or not they're locked. And he likes the cathouses. Brian put some rubber mats on top of the one under the office window to help it from getting so wet. And that's the house he likes most. Miss Elizabeth has been going outside during the day and laying in the sun, but she didn't even try last week when it was raining. She stayed inside. She'll probably do the same tomorrow and Saturday. 

I'm really looking forward to this. It's part of what is called the "Pineapple Express" since it's bringing up the warm air from Hawaii. I had to laugh, over on Facebook, one of the local news outlets posted about this big storm and a couple of people said it wasn't that big, they remember a really big one. El Nino!  Like that was the name of the storm. Trying to show off how smart they all were. Morons. I posted a link to information about El Nino. Maybe they'll learn something.

I'm looking forward to using an umbrella!


otherstuff
08:39 AM - 12/11/2014

The topic: I got my cards finished!
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I got the envelopes and sentiments done yesterday. One envelope was messed up (if the blade is at all dull, there's a definite problem during cutting), but it's for the card for my mother-in-law and I can redo that at anytime. The rest I want to get out into the mail. 

I'm very happy with how they turned out, I'll share photos after I get these sent out.

But it's sure nice to have them all done.


otherstuff
12:57 PM - 12/11/2014

The topic: It’s official!
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We now have Blue Shield as insurance provides. Got a robo call about making payment, said to press zero, pressed zero, got a dial tone. Found their phone number on the internet and called back, got everything set up. Yay!

In other news, we got a thing yesterday from HealthNet informing us that they weren't going to pay for the labwork after my colonoscopy (two benign polyps). Wouldn't that be part of cancer screening? $490.00. And our benefit booklet states that we pay 30% for in network tests, 50% for out of network tests. I don't think we should have to pay the full amount. Something to look forward to.

banghead

      Saturday, December 13, 2014


otherstuff
12:10 PM - 12/13/2014

The topic: Sad news this morning (not here)
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An online acquaintance's house burned to the ground yesterday. She has done much for cats and people since I've known her. She had a feral colony and eventually moved them into her home. She's taken great care of them over the years, some were just starting to get comfortable out of their little cubbies. 

As far as has been determined, four lived. She had many more than that. She's in the hospital. She went inside twice to save the kitties. A Gofundme account has been set up for her. Please help out if you can.

The news reports have the wrong address. She's donated through Benny's Fund in the past and her address is listed there. It's not the one in the news reports and at first I had hope that more of the cats survived. But a friend drove over to her home and found that it IS her house that's gone.

The cause of the fire is still being determined.

Click here for the story and photos. And please, donate if you can.

Fire is the scariest thing I can imagine for the cats. It used to scare me that my mother drank and smoked. We don't burn candles here. We're very careful about leaving burners on (and I'm glad we switched to the electric igniters, so there's not a constant pilot light going). We do what we can to keep ourselves safe from fire but still....there's that fear....

Godspeed kitties. And healing prayers for Judith. Both emotional and physical. 

I just can't even imagine a tragedy like this. My mind just can't think about it....

 

      Tuesday, December 16, 2014


otherstuff
06:47 AM - 12/16/2014

The topic: The cards went out yesterday
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And I've got three packages going out in an exchange on a forum where I play. Two are ready, just have to have them taped well and labeled. I'm waiting on a delivery from the post office so I can get the third package out. It's not an actual Christmas exchange, but along the lines of foisting stuff you already have onto someone else. I have so much stuff I bought years ago to sell in my store and never did. I relish the opportunity to get rid of some of it. All of it's useful and if the recipients don't need it, they can regift it. I'm sure someone out there can use it.

And if you'd like, you can still donate to Judith's fund. One of the cats who was saved, didn't make it. The smoke inhalation was too bad. So, right now, only three of her cats are still alive. They're at her vet's for constant observation.

Remember, this woman lost EVERYTHING she owned, except what was in her car. She worked from home, all of her work product was on her computer, her clothes, her furniture, her home....it will take her time and money to rebuild. She's still in the hospital, the breathing tube was removed yesterday. She doesn't know the extent of the damage right now because the doctors want her to heal. She's going to need all of the help she can get. I know I don't have a big following here, but if you could find it in your heart to share this with your friends and acquaintances, and be thankful for what you have and help out someone who's lost everything, every dollar counts, I sure would appreciate it.

Judith's Fund

 


otherstuff
10:15 AM - 12/16/2014

The topic: We have a ceiling fan in the kitchen
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A nice, small white fan with lights. And a couple of months ago, the light switch in the fan started to die. I think it's done now, the death throes have finished. It's bitten the giant schnitzel. No matter how many times you pull the chain, the lights do not come on. It needs a new switch.

So, last night we're watching tv, Brian walks into the kitchen. Pulls the chain. Pulls the chain. Pulls the chain. Pulls the chain...keeps pulling the chain. I finally yelled out "INSANITY!" He started laughing and stopped pulling the chain. 

Because we all know what the definition of insanity is, right?

      Friday, December 19, 2014


otherstuff
11:05 AM - 12/19/2014

The topic: I’m behind in paperwork again
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I haven't done the order labels since the first week of November. And I haven't done any invoicing since the first week of November. And I haven't reconciled the bank accounts for at least three months. Yesterday I did set up new accounts for those who've paid since the middle of November. Funny how time slips away.

I'm planning on making cookies this weekend! Not as many as I used to, but enough to give some to the mailman, trashman and vet's office. I don't want a lot leftover. I do need to go shopping before I can bake, though. Need eggs, butter and oatmeal.

We'd planned on going to Disneyland yesterday, but Brian realized he had a product that was supposed to arrive back east by Christmas. He made the order yesterday, but the paint wasn't dry enough to box up. It will be going out today, but won't arrive until the week after Christmas. As far as I can tell from the UPS website, they're not doing regular deliveries on Friday, the 26th.

So, I have a busy couple of days ahead.

We're probably going to a movie on Christmas Day. A nice and relaxing day, I hope.

141031067

      Friday, December 26, 2014


otherstuff
11:38 AM - 12/26/2014

The topic: Entries have been slow this month
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The past month or so. I have reasons, really, I do! I started posting on a different internet store forum last month after some body went off on the company's support group. I'd had nothing but great support and this person was being really unreasonable about the whole situation. The thing is, the forum is a hoot. You're not censored for very much, although you get in trouble for personal attacks. But there aren't many of them at all. So far, I've not seen any religious postings (pro or con Christian) and there haven't been any types of political crap. Partison or non. Very refreshing. There is very little fighting and arguing and what there is, is handled (for the most part) with maturity and humor. The two are not mutually exclusive.

And one of the funnest methods of responding to posts is the posting of a funny GIF. I've actually been in a couple of arguments all played out with GIFs.

Anyway, I really got on this person's complaining and because of my involvement, I became noticed and somehow was voted the scapegoat for the month of December. Which meant anything that went wrong with anything could be blamed on me. My email has picked up this month and I've done my best to respond (laughingly) to the many things that were my fault. It's taken up a fair amount of my time and now I only have a week left.

They had a mystery box exchange and I put in for three. Kind of along the bags of crap from Woot. I filled the three boxes with brand new stuff I had here, but had no use for. I've gotten two back so far and my last one should be here on Tuesday.

I made the Christmas cards, which took some time.

Then I made cookies last weekend, threw out my back and ended up not doing anything for three days. Luckily, I'd boxed the cookies as I went along.  Brian had to buy cards to put the money in for the mailman and trashman (money in just an envelope sounds so tacky) since I wasn't in any shape to hand make them. Brian had to deliver the boxes of cookies to his mom and the vet's office.

Yesterday we spent at the movies We saw Interstellar in the morning, Mockingjay Pt 1 in the late afternoon. Due to family drama (all because of one person, I bet you can figure out who it was, the same person who has always been the major source of conflict since joining the family) on Thanksgiving week, we chose not to spend the day around people who make us very, very uncomfortable. Yesterday was a good day, except for the popcorn bellyache I had last night. First time we've had theater popcorn since September 2013. It will probably be a lot longer before we have theater popcorn again.

Today I'm doing house laundry. Brian left a little while ago, headed to Home Depot, then to meet an old friend for lunch, so I have a couple of hours to myself. Which doesn't happen very often, so I'm relishing this aloneness. For a little while, anyway.

Miss Elizabeth has started going outside during the day and laying in the sun. She navigates the cat door with no problem. We've taken to putting a folded up towel under her so she doesn't get the dampness from the ground. Last week, she was down by the pool, which is a concern. She's twenty-one years old and I'm sure has some muscle weakness in her back legs. Her falling into the pool isn't a thing we want to see happening and it's really tough to keep an eye on her. So, Brian put the gate up at the bottom of the steps this morning, the gate he originally put up to keep the Bud dog away from the pool. That should help ease the worry a lot.

I hope you're enjoying a great holiday!

141031026

 

 


geekstuff
12:54 PM - 12/26/2014

The topic: Can I be having again?
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Or will I never be having again? Will I be can hasing forever? It works! It works! I can be having again! Stupid Mod_Sec. 

141031006

      Saturday, December 27, 2014


geekstuff
10:48 AM - 12/27/2014

The topic: What went wrong
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Hosting companies have certain safeguards in place to keep things running clean and smoothly. One of them used by companies that have Apache servers, is called "mod_security".

"When coding a dynamic website, sometimes users forget to write code to help prevent hacks by doing things such as validating input. Mod_security can help in some cases those users that run sites that don't have security checks in their code."

Well, one of the things that happens is the mod_security itself has problems. When I lost my weblog a year ago (overwrote the damned thing with nothing and I still haven't finished reformatting all the saved entries - I found an old saved database file on my computer that my weblog support was able to get back online, but it had no paragraph formatting). I couldn't put in the word "xanax". It booted me off of my own website. It took a couple of days for me to track down the exact problem and I had to contact my host to fix it. Xanax, levitra, viagra would kick me out. I couldn't submit an entry. (Oddly enough, cialis went through.)

Well, the same thing was happening with the entry I made yesterday. I copied and pasted the entire thing into Notepad on my computer, then started adding the paragraphs in one at a time and submitting. The submitting took until the very last paragraph. So, I put that one in one word at a time. The word that was getting me kicked out? "Having." Seriously. I changed that to "enjoying" and the entry took. I could use the word in the title, but not in any of the text areas. I went into my host's support and they've changed it so all the tickets from before are gone. I had nothing to reference with them. I explained what was happening to the best of my ablility and got a response that they would like to be able to replicate the problem. I gave them my login and password to this weblog and explained how to make a post. 

I went into my website control panels for lisaviolet.com and catcam.us (where I was always redirected when I was kicked out; I have no idea why I set it like that). And I checked out the latest visitors logs. And sure enough, support got kicked out. Since we had an idea where to look because of what happened last year (even though my support ticket was gone) it took no time at all to get it fixed. I can now post the word "having" as many times as I want!

I really think it's odd that that's a word that sends up red flags. I don't understand that one at all.

141031008
 


otherstuff
05:56 PM - 12/27/2014

The topic: The International Space Station is quite visible this week
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Someone posted a link on Facebook earlier this week and I printed out the times in our area. It will have been visible for six nights, it started on Wednesday. Tonight, it was visible for six minutes. We went outside and watched it. It's just so cool to see something man made flying across the sky, so far up.

I said "Wolowitz has been on that" and Brian laughed.

With the space station out of our sight, I came back in and Brian left to get Mexican food for dinner.

Nothing on television tonight, not really. We'll probably watch Forever on On Demand, then hit Netflix for past episodes of Arrow. Every once in a while I'll go through Netflix offerings and add to my watchlist, things that I feel Brian would enjoy. And he is enjoying Arrow. It's one of those shows that I can sleep through, which I'll probably be doing tonight. My allergies are acting up, my right ear keeps trying to pop and I'm grinding my teeth from the pressure in my head. I'll most likely be taking a Benedryl after dinner.

I am glad we made it outside to watch the space station. It's gorgeous tonight. Clear, crisp, refreshing. 52° and it's just a little after six. Not often it gets that cold this early, but it really didn't warm up much today.

But that's okay! Because it's winter!

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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.

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