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      Monday, June 01, 2015


catstuff
04:28 PM - 06/01/2015

The topic: Ended up at the vet today with Marco
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I tried giving him some yummy food and he turned his nose up, he did eat a couple pieces of kibble, jumped down onto the floor, went behind the loveseat and puked (greeney, bile looking stuff) and then went behind the sofa to the other side and pooped. Then he laid down breathing hard.

Remember last year he had a coughing problem. Well, he still coughs, but not all the time, so that was a concern. I really didn't like the breathing hard, though. Luckily, they had an opening and I took him in.

After bloodtests and x-rays, his lungs are fine, his heart is fine, his kidney values aren't a cause for concern. There are some things in his lungs and she told me that it was from allergies (hence the coughing). She said he'd had some broken ribs in the past, old injury and they had a calcium buildup on them and I was at a loss to explain them. She said that there was some sort of tissue that had pushed part of his body up (he's always had a weird shaped body). She showed me where there was gas in his intestine and the organs were bunched up, but that could be from dehydration. He also has a fever and higher than normal white blood cell count, so he has an infection somewhere.

I was showing her the video of him going into the carrier I'd posted on Facebook a while ago and I was explaining why we think he does this when it dawned on me. Marco's ribs show signs of breakage because they were probably broken when he fell off the retaining wall. Back when there was the small dispute over ownership of the chain link fence after the dogs over there charged the fence and Marco fell. So, I told her about that and she didn't feel so bad about the old injuries to him, I think she was a little apprehensive about this. I can't believe I'd forgotten about it. 

Anyway, he got an antibiotic shot, fluids, and he'll be on Orbax for ten days. If he doesn't show signs of improvement by Wednesday, she wants me to bring him back in.

I'm pretty relieved that it doesn't look like anything bad at this point.

      Tuesday, June 02, 2015


catstuff
09:07 AM - 06/02/2015

The topic: I just made the appointment for Katie
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We'll be taking her in at 4:30 this afternoon. It's just harder and harder for her to eat and drink. After she rallied last week, she's getting close to hitting the wall. 

She's probably had a jar or watered down baby food this morning, but it's only in small amounts, then she runs off. 

She spent last night on the sofa against Brian and I woke up to her snuggled up against me in bed. She's tired. You can tell her spirit is still strong, but the cancer is winning.

It's time to say goodbye and send her on her way. I know her husband will be waiting for her at the bridge.


catstuff
05:19 PM - 06/02/2015

The topic: She’s gone
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She had a good last day. She had ham baby food this morning, her metacam, she went outside and spent some time in the yard and this afternoon was back in the house, in her basket sleeping soundly.

She was taken out of the carrier at the vet's office and he sedated her, let her back in the carrier, then we waited and visited as she fell asleep. Once she was under, he took her out and she got the final injection.

He said that she was still going at this point was miraculous because this is a very painful cancer. When I told him about the past few days of her hanging out in the yard and just doing things she hasn't done for a while, he said "animals know".

While we had been in the waiting room, we were talking with the receptionist and settling up the charges, I told her that Jackie would be waiting for her and went on about how they were husband and wife.

Then in the examining room, she came in and she told Katie that she'd be all beautiful again and her mouth would be normal in heaven and here husband would be there for her and then I said "and you can have little babies" and Shannon said "No! That stuff doesn't happen in heaven!" It was pretty funny (for a solemn time). 

So, Katie is being cremated and we should have her remains back next week. I know she's in a better place. Brian said for him it was when the tumor on her mouth didn't close over. It would split, then heal, but the past three days, there has been no healing.

Godspeed, Katie Blue and thank you for keeping me warm all of these years. Stop by in my dreams sometime, okay?

      Wednesday, June 03, 2015


otherstuff
10:59 AM - 06/03/2015

The topic: Today is quiet
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And I figured I'd work on reformatting those old entries here. Realizing why I'd quit working on them (really time consuming; after editing each entry, I'd have to scroll to the next one that needed to be edited and there are eighty-five pages of entry listings) I started doing a little research, found an add-on for this software that would put a little pencil icon on each entry and I can just click on that pencil and I get taken to the edit page. It's way quicker. So far, I've done February and March, 2003.  And once I get into a rhythm, it should go even quicker.

I also put her bedding in the washer as well as the bedding from Jackie. I didn't realize I hadn't washed it since we lost him and it's pretty dirty. So, hot water and soak cycle should take care of both of them.Then the cats should start hanging out in the living room again.

It's amazing how I can just sit here and work on this, not having to stop every fifteen minutes to feed Katie or to check on her to see how's she's doing. I have some video to put up of her, to show the dramatic change between last Saturday, when she was outside cleaning herself and yesterday morning when she was laying in a chair on the patio. 

But first I'd like to finish up at least a year of fixing the formatting. 

This morning when we woke up, the bed was full of cats. It's been a while since we've had that many. Even Marco (who is feeling way better) was on my pillow at one point during the night and at my feet this morning.

      Friday, June 05, 2015


the morning walk
07:24 AM - 06/05/2015

The topic: Wow
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there are bunnies around. Lots of bunnies at the top of the hill where we walk. Bunnies by the elementary school.

Last year they did a lot of work to the school (it's become a magnet school) and they prettied it up. Made another driveway, made another parking lot. I'm sure many bunnies were displaced when they did this.

They planted some plants and they get watered. And there are the weeds that come with the plants. Well, Brian started pulling a weed here and there because it bothered him. He put them by another tall weed that he did not pull. Oddly enough, the weeds would be gone from that place the next time we walked by. But no other weeds had been pulled. Strange, right? If someone was picking up the weeds that Brian pulled, why not pull all of the weeds? Somehow, it caught our attention the next time we walked there that the larger weed he'd pulled the day or so before, was still there, only stripped of leaves. Hmm....

So, he tried it again when we walked there on Wednesday, this time with a bigger, taller weed. This morning? Stripped. So, the bunnies are eating the weeds that he's pulled. The stalks are still there, but the rest of it's stripped. 

This morning he pulled a bigger and taller weed and left it by the other weeds, not by the lone weed. We'll see how it looks next week.


geekstuff
07:35 AM - 06/05/2015

The topic: Only five and a half years to go!
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Of reconstructing the old weblog entries. There is a problem with the linking of photos to the larger photos in the gallery (pre-2011), I have no idea what happened there. I'll have to hand code all of those. Until then, if someone wants to see a bigger one they'll have to look for it. *lol*

But if the visitor counts on the photos are any indication, not too many people care about the larger photos. 

It's been two years, it's about time I fixed this.


geekstuff
07:05 PM - 06/05/2015

The topic: Stupid program upgrades
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Upgraded my video software a few weeks ago. Major conflict with my current plugins (the stuff that makes the cool transitions and special effects) and it wouldn't load. I know what the problem is. I bought all of these plugins as they were released from NewBlueFX. Then Corel started adding them to their software upgrades (ultimate). Between the original NewBlueFX and the Corel FX, there are duplicates. And they do not play well together. 

The problem is figuring out which ones are the duplicates. Is "chromakeypro" the same as "chromakey"? It's trial and error. Remove one, start the program? Does it load? No? Remove that plugin and re-start the program. Does it load? Yes, okay, on to the next plugin. I wish there was an easy way to see which ones it crashes on. 

Anyway, the only way to get the version eight to run was to completely uninstall it, the re-install and start over. Except I started getting an error message at re-install. Contacted Corel, they got back to me. Didn't feel like doing it right then, so put it off. Started working on it this morning, they sent me the wrong file to install. So, while I was waiting for them to send me the correct one, I managed to get it re-installed. Just the basic at this point.

But my working version, version six, doesn't work. After fooling with it for a couple of hours, I decided to uninstall it and start from scratch reloading the plugins.

Honestly, I'd rather be washing floors, today would have been a great day to clean. But I can't do videos without the software. 

Right now I'm doing a defrag of the hard drive, then will try the re-install again tomorrow. 


mrs. crankypants
09:27 PM - 06/05/2015

The topic: Stupid commercials
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The ad for an erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra? Any one of those with the good looking woman telling men that it's common for men over the age of forty to have problems. You know what I'd like to see?

An ad with a good looking man, telling women that over a certain age, it's not uncommon for women to have vaginal dryness, making intercourse painful, with a knowing, wink wink nod nod look on his face. And go on to extol the virtues of a drug that makes everything all peachy keen again. 

Think it would happen? I don't. It would skeeve men right out. OMG, women have problems? Hands over ears, lalalalalalalala!

I hate ED adds. More than I hate Progressive ads.

      Saturday, June 06, 2015


geekstuff
12:39 PM - 06/06/2015

The topic: Up and running!
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There were a few falters, a few "why isn't this working" times, but all in all, it went pretty smoothly. Just got done adding in audio and video tracks to the library.

Probably should do some housework.


catstuff
12:40 PM - 06/06/2015

The topic: Brian came in hold Miss Elizabeth
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Earlier and he was really scared. Seems he didn't see her out there and he was welding and she started seizing. She was under the welder. I guess she wet herself and he was pretty shook up. I took her from him and checked her over, her legs seemed kind of weak (she does have arthritis and weakness in them) and laid her on the loveseat. He sat next to her stroking her, I know he felt really bad, like it was his fault. He thought the sparks from the welding may have brought it on. I was thinking heat stroke. 

I got the can of tuna from the fridge that I had opened up earlier this week and she was pretty hungry. Brian ended up taking it away from her because he didn't want her to eat too much and throw up. I gave her fluids, she was due and now she's up in the family room window sleeping soundly. I checked her a while ago, she's alert and she was following my fingers, so I don't think there was any damage to her eyes. I may be stepping up her fluids, though, to every other day, not just twice a week. It's possible her kidneys are finally starting to get worse. She is twenty-one years old, no spring chicken.

*sigh*

      Monday, June 08, 2015


otherstuff
05:19 PM - 06/08/2015

The topic: So, we got the first really hot day of “summer”
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Although it's technically still spring. The first since the trees have been cut back and pretty much stripped of foliage. I didn't realize that it would affect our house, particularly the front yard.

Usually the front of the house is in shade pretty much most of the day. A pleasant place to be. Not today. It was over 106° at the thermometer in the bedroom (the kind that has a wire going outside). At the back of the house, it was 100°. At the pool, it was over 128°. The pool water was 85°.

Well, if it's any consolation, if it's that hot at our house, I can imagine how hot it is next door. In the past years, we've made accommodations for the summer heat on the west side of the house. Attic fan, shades, blinds...we're used to it. Enjoy the summer, neighbors, after all these decades of free shade....and just keep reminding yourselves that trees are good for nothing unless they're fruit trees. 

141031005


otherstuff
05:59 PM - 06/08/2015

The topic: So, today was an easy day…
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I got the floors cleaned. Well, except for my loathed bathroom floor (which I have to get on my hands and knees to clean), the office, the laundry room and the kitchen. The last three, well, I just ran out of steam. I vaccumed the floors and cat trees, then got out the Floormate, washed the family room, dining room, living room, bedroom and hallways, then went over them again with just water (because they felt sticky to my bare feet).

So, today, I figured I'd do some crafty stuff. Everything was going nicely, then I walked outside to say something to Brian back in his shop, came back, sat down and got this awful feeling of "man, I'm gonna nod out right here, it's an effort to hold my eyes open"...it was the strangest thing. And I'd had two cups of coffee and one zip fizz. And all I wanted to do was lay down. 

So, I did. Took a short nap, got up and got moving again. Brian had twelve packages to ship today, I so did the labels for those and then started working on new graphics for my stamps.

Do you know how hard it is? When I did Brian's, he handed me a list. Done in no time at all. But now, it's my turn. 

I have a sheet of film that's 11 x 8.5.  The largest stamp I can make is 4 x 2.75. Now, anyone who's into stamping knows that there's really not going to be that many times you'd use a stamp of that size. I found I can get four to five sentiments on a 4 x 2.75 stamp. I can get six 4 x 2.75 "negatives" on an 11 x 8.5 piece of film. That would be twenty-four to thirty sentiments. crazy Okay, I can do addresses, maybe two to a sheet. And a couple of other things. I'm at four stamps. I have two more to figure out. 

The mind. She's blank. I'm getting nothing from that creative voice. WAKE UP!!!!

      Thursday, June 11, 2015


geekstuff
01:29 PM - 06/11/2015

The topic: I’m totally disgusted with Chrome as a browser
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For a while now, I've been using an old version with some coding that allows me to run old applets. For the past month or so, I've been getting a warning bar across the top of my weather page (http://weather.lisaviolet.com) that the plugins on that page will no longer work in the near future. Same thing over on the UPS website, when I need to get the labels printed out (there's an app for the thermal printer). This morning, I was getting all sorts of blank spots on Facebook, the notifications didn't work. Over on the webcam main page, my menu on the right didn't have any graphics and on the weather page, none of the link images were there. Same thing on the weather page. All of my linked images weren't showing. And the kicker? I couldn't login to our local utility website to see our latest bill. I could input my user name and password, but there was no submit button.

But they showed up just find in Internet Explorer. I don't like Internet Explorer. But it was working.

I used to take my mom to her doctor's appointments. We'd go in the Mustang because she could easily get into it. The car had passenger windows that the driver could operate and lock. One day on the way to her appointment, her window was open and she was yelling and cussing at a truck who had pulled up to the right of us to make a right hand turn. I told her to stop, but she wouldn't. My mom had some boundary issues, I don't doubt that she thought she was being "cute". I wasn't amused by her actions, so I rolled her window up and locked it. Boy, was she mad.

But I did this as a safety issue. I didn't want this guy to get all nuts because of this old woman shouting at him and run into me or shoot us. It wasn't as if he was doing anything that was endangering our lives, you know?

Google Chrome is doing the same thing. They're rolling up that window and locking it so that I can't use plugins that I've been using forever. Like the remote control on the backyard camera, the one that moves it via the internet. Is it an old outdated application? Sure, but there's nothing to replace it. The scrolling weather information on my weather page? I like that scrolling app. I like the label printing app on the UPS website. I like facebook parts working as they're supposed to. I'm an adult. I do safe websurfing. It's bad enough a web browser screams that things aren't safe, but to take away the option to make that decision for myself?

Hello, Firefox.
 


craftstuff
05:17 PM - 06/11/2015

The topic: Well, that was fun.
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I'm lying. It wasn't fun at all. I'm working on making new stamps. I finally get everything figured out and lined up and start the printer. I look at the negatives. Are they black enough? I don't know, I can't tell. Maybe I should run the printhead cleaner utility.

I run it. I do a nozzle head test print (a page with lines of each color and a box with like a black and white checkerboard). It doesn't look right. I run the head cleaner again. I've lost all yellow and orange. This sucks. I get the yellow back. By this time I've gotten a couple of messages that I've run out of this color or that color. I pull up the offending cartridge and reseat it each time. Finally, I figure I'll run the automatic clean. The thing stops part way through. I'm getting alternating blinking lights on the control panel. Turn it off and on. Still won't run, still the lights blink.  Do a little research.

It would seem that the machine thinks I've made enough copies. This thing counts and keeps it a secret until it's done. And it stops at 15,000. The counter needs to be reset (see the comments section of this old entry). Since I've got the waste system installed, I know the ink isn't on the pads. It hasn't gone there for close to two years. It gets dumped outside down one of the railroad ties that does duty as a retaining wall. I find where to download the reset utility. I run it, the counter is reset and I'm back in business.

This has probably taken me three hours.

I reprint the negative page. It looks just like the one I didn't think was okay. But probably is.

*sigh*

banghead

Oh, well, tonight I'll make more stamps. I'm curious how they'll turn out because the designs are more intricate that I made for Brian. Fingers crossed.

141031035

 

      Monday, June 22, 2015


otherstuff
07:20 AM - 06/22/2015

The topic: What a week it was
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It was hot hot hot! And the office is not the place to be when it's hot.

So, last weekend I ended up making some stamps after finally getting the negative sheet done on the 11th. But I didn't just make stamps, I also got some black cardstock and made varying sizes of matting sheets to block out any residual light that might appear at the sides of the negative when I was making the stamp. I used the Silhouette and I made quite a few of these mats. I actually considered taping or gluing the negative to the mat (did I mention I made a lot of them?) but figured I'd just see how this initial set went.

They turned out nicely. I do have to work on getting all of the residual polymer off of the stamp during the cleaning. Either the Dawn dish detergent isn't the optimum cleaner, the brushes don't work (I also started using a toothbrush to clean the the finer and smaller areas of the stamps) or I have no idea how to clean stuff. I decided to let them set for a while and maybe the polymer on the smooth side will come off a lot easier. Nothing I can do on the stamp side. Once that's been hardened under the UV light, it's done.

Then Sunday I did a cleaning of the garage floor. It was horrible. Just a lot of built up crud. It's much nicer now.

Then there was this really, really hot week. Having lost so much of the foliage in the trees, the front of the yard now cooks. So, we're going to have to adjust for that heat in the bedroom. In all of the time we've been here, this has never been a problem. I imagine it's getting pretty toasty in the afternoons at the house next door. The shade from those trees helped them more than it helped us. One can only hope, right? (Have I mentioned I really don't care for these people?) I wonder if they're smart enough to figure out cause and effect. Or maybe they'll think it's climate change!  141031079

Miss E is doing well, no residual problems from the seizure. She's getting her fluids three times a week now, I think it's helping her. I did notice flea dirt on her when I was giving her the fluids. So, last Tuesday, I got all but three cats dosed with Advantage. I got one of those done on Saturday. I most likely won't get the other two (Autumn and Joey). The worst thing about doing this is I start to feel like the dying fleas are jumping on me. Not that I feel them crawling, but I start to itch. Well, sometimes I feel them crawling, like last Thursday when I pulled one from my hairline. (Marco sleeps on my pillow.) But I think it's safe now.

Brian brought Katie's remains home on Friday.

Other than that, there's really not much going on here. Heat does that.

 

 


craftstuff
08:07 AM - 06/22/2015

The topic: So, I have all of these “kits” for paper crafting
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That I've gotten over the years. Hundreds. SVGCuts has this thing when they come out with a new kit, it's free when you spend at least $9.98. That's a hard bargain to pass up. So, I haven't. And then there's SVGAttic.com, I picked up a lot of her stuff before she went into partners with Lori Whitlock. At one point, she had a going out of business sale and everything was a .99 or less. I stocked up.

And here I am with all of these files and it's gotten to the point that I don't know what I've got. I've tried organizing in the past, but I got nowhere with it. Just printed a bunch of graphics.

But now...now, I have a plan. I spent the weekend printing out the main photo of every kit and every set of elements, the photo that has all of the items in the kit in the same photo. And these prints are captioned with the file name (I used Picasa, a free graphic program). The prints are in alphabetical order. Yesterday, I ordered a huge binder and seperators. I will put these prints into my binder.

And I'm going to make a list sheet. The names of the pages will be listed and will tell me at a glance what a certain kit has. If it has regular cards or box cards or lever cards or waterfall cards. If it's summer themed or baby themed or winter themed or birthday themed, I'll know. If I have the PDF file (which shows all the SVG files for each kit and the paper needed) printed. If there is some specialty item, like a haunted mansion or a ferris wheel or a hot air balloon...

I figure I can get fifteen or twenty kits listed on a page.

It will take a while, but it should make this a lot easier.


entertainmentstuff
10:35 AM - 06/22/2015

The topic: Brian is a latecomer to Game of Thrones
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After the season finale last week, I said something about wanting to watch it from the beginning. When I first started I was back in the office doing paperwork and didn't do the full attention to the storyline.

Last night, after watching Guardians of the Galaxy for the gazillionth time, he said "how about GoT?" Okay.

It's on HBO's video on demand, all five seasons. Brian quickly got interested seeing the characters at the beginning. We watched two episodes last night and I realized why Joffrey hated Sansa so much, why he took extra special delight in her misery.

She saw him cry. And he hated her from then on.

141031017
 

      Sunday, June 28, 2015


otherstuff
10:49 AM - 06/28/2015

The topic: Empathy
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I think a lot of people don't have it.

The recent ruling from the Supreme Court, the one on gay marriage, has a lot of panties in a lot of wads. I can't understand this.

But then, homosexuality has never been a big thing to me. I really don't care if someone is gay, trangendered, bisexual, lesbian, assexual or heterosexual. It doesn't affect my day to day life. I just don't care. To me, sexual orientation isn't a priority in my dealings with those around me. Being an asshole about the trees, now there's something that is sure to get my panties in a wad. People speeding up and down the street gets me riled up. Tossing lit cigarettes out a car window, that makes my mop flop. Mosquitoes. I don't care for flies, but they have a purpose. Mosquitoes do not. Potholes. I do not like potholes.The people who leave the house with the gate wide open.

There are lots of things that bother me. Someone's sexual orientation isn't one of them. It never has been. It never will be.

I'm pretty sure there's no handbasket that will be taking us Americans to hell because gay marriage is now legal in all fifty states. God isn't going to send plagues of locusts or turning anyone into a pillar of salt because people in love can get married. Because if this really mattered to God, don't you think He'd do something about it? Seriously? Aren't there so many worse things going on in this world?

And to get all up in arms because it's God's law? It's in the Bible? Yeah, okay, don't you think God can handle this? His law, His judgement, His punishment? Where does it say anyone has the right to judge someone else? I don't remember much from parochial school, but I remember a little. Like "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" (John 8:7). Or "judge not lest ye be judged" (Matthew 7:1). (I had to look those up since I'm not a bible scholar.)

I was raised Catholic. I'm lapsed. I believe in God. I do not believe in organized religion. I don't believe the bible is God's word. I've researched the bible through the years and there are too many contradictions, too many translations, too many humans reporting "the Word" (reminds me of that game we've played, where you have a circle of people, there's something written on a piece of paper and the first one whispers to the next person and that person whispers what he heard to the next person and so on; the last person says out loud what he was told, and it's usually not what was on that piece of paper, because we all have this way of spinning what we've read or been told). But these are my personal feelings and I don't expect others to live their lives by MY feelings....I think it's a wonderful thing, having faith and I respect those who do. It must be a comforting feeling. That said, you won't see me trying to change their belief system. No derision on my part. Not for their beliefs. (It's how they use these beliefs to hurt others is what I don't like.)

And I would hope they afford me that same consideration.

Back to empathy. You know that old "walk a mile in my shoes" saying?  I learned empathy early. I bit a kid at a birthday party when I was just a little girl. Now, what happened next would get a parent arrested for child abuse, but back then, it was an okay thing to do (hey, waddya know, a "times sure change" example). My dad promptly took me home. And he bit me. I don't think he bit me hard, but he got my attention. And he said "did that hurt?" Yes. "Did you like it?" No. "Will you do that again?" No. For a few minutes, I was in someone else's shoes.

Another empathy example. You know I love cats. I hate to see them hurt. I hadn't been on the internet for long, but someone on an old forum complained that feral cats were hitting their poultry, their living and killing them. There were many suggestions about how to stop this from happening, but this woman's husband was so full of hate for the cats for affecting his living, that he implemented none of the suggestions. No, he killed a cat that was going after his chickens. And when he picked up the dead body, he found he'd killed a lactating mother. There were kittens out there. Without a mom. Without a way to eat.

He and his wife went in search of the litter. They found the kittens and hand raised them. He bottle fed these kittens.

He fixed the fencing around his chickens so the feral cats could no longer get to them. They bought food that they left out for the feral cats.

He found empathy the hard way. And he was a better man for it.

Gay marriage won't affect traditional marriage.You can still have your traditional marriages, nothing is undermined. Gay marriage will not prevent you from being traditional married. If it goes against clergy's beliefs, they won't have to perform the ceremony. It happens now. I understand a rabbi can refuse to marry a Jew and a non-Jew. I know of some Catholic churches where you need pre-marital counseling. If you don't get it, you don't get married. By them, anyway. If you work for the govenment, well, that's different. But I'm sure this will all take time to sort out.

Allowing the gay community the same marriage rights as the heterosexual community hurts no one. If God doesn't like it, that's God's problem, not ours. Don't blindly believe what you've been told all of your lives, by your pastor, your friends, your community. Take the time to sit down and really think about it. Think about how two people who really love each other wanting that piece of paper to show their commitment for one another. Find understanding and empathy for them. Put yourself in their shoes. If you feel it will help, pray. I'm sure God won't advise you to smite anyone. That's His job. But I'm sure a week from today, a month, a year from today, you'll find that your life hasn't been affected much by this recent Supreme Court decision.

Unless you're in the business of weddings.....

14110113


otherstuff
01:40 PM - 06/28/2015

The topic: I was going to make a little movie
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Of one of the cats, but as I was transferring the video and photos to my hard drive from my camera, it dawned on me I'd be really sad if I lost all of my videos and photos if the drive went bad, so I decided to back them up right now this very second.

The backup is 57% done. Then I'll make my little movie and share this adorable kitty with you all.

I could probably do it all at the same time, but things go more quickly if I do one CPU intensive project at a time. And rendering movies takes a lot of CPU.

14110111
 

      Monday, June 29, 2015


craftstuff
04:45 PM - 06/29/2015

The topic: Woohoo!
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I finally finished something I started that didn't have a deadline! Yay me! (I still haven't finished fixing the formatting on this weblog...)

I finished the book with the listings of the SVG files I have and the pictures of each one. (And, let's see, it's the end of June? Next week I'll have seven months of bank reconciliations to do....gah!)

But I finished my file book!

Yay me!

smdance

      Tuesday, June 30, 2015


otherstuff
07:52 AM - 06/30/2015

The topic: More from last week
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For the first time since the fall of 2013, I washed most of the windows. Instead of doing them all in one day, since I'm in such crappy shape I figured I'd do a few a day. Then it got hot. *lol* Well, it's wasn't the heat, it was the humidity. I still have the office window and the bedroom window to do. (The bedroom window is a real pain to do, there are roll out windows, I can't just pop the screens off; and the bed is in front of the window, I have to stand on the bed to get to the window.) And if I get really motivated, I'll also do the garage window.

I love clean windows, I don't know why I hadn't cleaned them in so long. They were so bad they reminded me of My Cousin Vinny.

But all (mostly) pretty now!
 


otherstuff
08:00 AM - 06/30/2015

The topic: And more fun stuff from last week.
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Last Tuesday, I walked into the garage and it smelled weird. Like something was burning. I checked all around the garage (you know when you smell something and you sniff so much you get lightheaded? that was me sniffing around the garage) and didn't see anything unusual. I walked outside and sniffed out there, maybe it was coming from next door. Hmm. Nothing.

A little while later, I went back and sniffed again. Still there, but it didn't seem as bad. A little while later, it was bad. I went out back and got Brian. He sniffed. Couldn't find anything, but he smelled something. And he saw something that I didn't, he asked if it looked smokey to me. No, it looks normal. So, we ended up unplugging a bunch of stuff, shut the door to the garage (in case the smell was coming in from outside) and waited. The next time we checked, the garage was horrible. And there was smoke coming from under the freezer. Yeah, the freezer had gone bad and fortunately, this happened during the day and not at night when we were in bed and when we were both home. It could have been a lot worse. A lot. It's scary to even think about.

The freezer was unplugged, I came back to the computer and checked out the local Lowe's inventory, did a little bit of quick research and ordered a 14.4 cubic foot upright freezer that was on sale for $398.00 with a $50.00 rebate. I ordered it and Brian went down to pick it up. Got it home, moved the old freezer out (we still hadn't opened the door since it was unplugged), let the new freezer run for about four hours and I started moving food. Some of it seemed a little soft, but the freezer still had frost in it and I don't think anything thawed out.

Then I checked on the rebate. It was through our local utility company and it was a recycle rebate. They needed the old freezer for us to get the fifty bucks. I signed up for the pick up. Then I read the rebate rules. The freezer has to have been plugged in and turned on for at least an hour before they pick it up so they can check to see if it still runs. Uh oh. I called the number on the form and left a message about canceling the pick up. Brian went to his mom's house that night (his sister was in town) and his brother told him they don't check, just put it out, fifty dollars is fifty dollars. (And besides, even if they didn't haul it away, Brian had already gotten the okay from Lowe's for us to bring the old one to them since that's where we got the new one.) 

I figured I'd just wait to see if they called to double check the pick up and they did. So, it hadn't gotten canceled. When they came out, all they did was look inside (Brian thinks it was to make sure it was empty). It had been "on" for hours and wasn't cold at all. After handing him a slip of paper that said they'd been here, they hauled it away.

I did save the basket that had been in the bottom of the old unit and it fit nicely in the new unit. Which was a good thing because accessing the bottom shelf could be pretty hard on the knees, even for someone close to the ground like me. Much easier to pull out a basket.

It's always something, yanno?

tearhair


otherstuff
03:43 PM - 06/30/2015

The topic: At my house this afternoon
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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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