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      Thursday, August 03, 2017


catstuff
07:15 AM - 08/03/2017

The topic: I think we have a virus
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First was DaNiece. Then, last week, Sagwa got pretty sick.

Scary sick. He quit eating, drinking, he had a hard time walking, when he did he was hunched over like his tummy hurt. He stumbled and could barely stand up.

I didn't catch it right away because of that stupid cold I had (spent a lot of time sleeping). But this past weekend, I worked on getting him better (the bad stuff usually starts on Friday and I don't want to take a cat who isn't in immediate danger of dying to the emergency clinic; you know, like urinary blockages, trouble breathing, obvious thrombosis). I gave him cat food with a syringe, switching to on my finger since I had better control of the delivery.

We gave him fluids every day and would help him get from one place to another. He spent a lot of time in the clover or on the grass, in the meatloaf position. Last week into the weekend, he didn't sleep much.

This week he started to get better. Tuesday he was very interested in food. He ate a small amount of chicken breast, a couple of pieces of kibble and some soft cat food. Yesterday, he ate more.

This morning, his walking is much, much better, his appetite has definitely picked up and he's sleeping like cats do. Curled up on the steps. He's lost weight, though. He's always been a skinny cat, but we need to get some weight on him.

The reason I think we may have a virus going through? Last night, Ron Howard was off. He's lost weight. But he was in much better health than Sagwa or DaNiece to start with, so I think he'll fight it off better. But I'll be grinding up some l-Lysine to put in their food tonight and for the next few days, to boost their immune systems.

I know this weather we're having doesn't help. Hot and muggy. And as much as I loathe doing it because of the cost, the air conditioner has been running for three days now. Not so much because of the heat, but the humidity. Last night, I think there were only two cats in the yard, the rest were in the house.

14110216

sagwa    catstuff   

      Monday, August 07, 2017


otherstuff
12:23 PM - 08/07/2017

The topic: Nice visiting
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Last week, one of Brian's sisters was visiting with her granddaughter and her new beau. (His sister's beau, her granddaughter is only ten.)

The stopped by one afternoon and we sat on the patio while the youngun went swimming. It was really nice.

They were staying at Brian's mom's house and they fed us twice! The first night was a chicken alfredo, the Thursday night was tacos with the works.

Thursday had most of the nearby family there and I enjoyed it a lot. Just talked about a lot of different stuff.

I don't get out much (my choice, my comfort zone is shrinking), so it was a pleasant change.


otherstuff
12:28 PM - 08/07/2017

The topic: The garden
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The corn didn't do well. It was the first to end up out of the ground and in the trash. We think it didn't get enough sun. The ears were dried out and didn't completely fill the husk. And there were bugs.

I moved the pepper plants so that they'd get more sun. The tomato plants had overpowered them. I put them between the catnip and the corn. There had been plenty of room, but the catnip started to fall over from the heavy flowers and overpowered the pepper plants. Yesterday, I cut back a lot of the catnip and it's in the process of drying. I'll have some for sale later on this year.

The gardeners were here last Friday and did a ton of cleanup. You'd never know there had been corn. Unfortunately, when Brian was showing them what needed to be done, he stomped on my little pepper plants. I yelled at him and he was decently chagrined. He won't do that again.

The tomato plants are huge. Brian said he's never seen them that big. The cherry tomatoes are plentiful, I picked some late last week and Saturday, he had them in a salad. He said they were great. Sunday, I picked another container of them and his brother had brought Little Red back home (tractor). I walked over to see how they were doing and Mark ended up with the tomatoes I'd picked. No worries, there are a bunch more where those came from.

I'm not seeing many beefsteak, there are quite a few Indigos, though. They have a ways to go before ripening. I did find one on the verge of perfect beefsteak tomato and picked it. We had BLTs for dinner last night, and boy, howdy, was that tomato good.

Because of the size of the tomato plants, next year they'll be all pulled up and I'll plant the same kind, but not together. There will also be catnip again, as well as peppers . I'm thinking I'd like to plant watermelon and cantaloupe, both fruits I will eat.  The corn will be planted elsewhere, not at the side of the house and it will have more room to grow.

There's farmin' in my blood. Yeehaw.

garden   

      Tuesday, August 08, 2017


disneystuff
09:45 AM - 08/08/2017

The topic: We let our APs lapse last year
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And I'm thankful we did. Each report we get about what's new at Disneyland makes it sound worse and worse.

They keep raising the prices hoping the crowds will thin out. It's not happening. It's getting busier and busier. When we first started going, there were off times, usually in the late winter/early spring. No longer.

When we started the meets around my birthday, there were hardly any crowds. Then states started changing the weeks off schools had and more and more people were there.

And climate change. I know there are deniers, but when we started going in the 80s, it could be downright cold in the winter months. Brian pointed out that the first meets had us in jackets at night, but when we started to wind down, a long sleeved shirt was more than enough to keep us warm in the evenings.

I have no interest in Star Wars. None. I think I may have seen part of the very first movie. If I did, I don't remember it. At all. I haven't seen any of the others and really don't care if I do or not. The Guardians of the Galaxy overlay of Tower of Terror intrigues me,. but not enough to spend hundreds of dollars to fight crowds.

There was a time we'd go up in the evening just to eat at the Blue Bayou. They had this awesome meal, Chicken Florentine. They removed it from the menu when they had a change in Disney management. And over the years, there is really nothing special about the food. So, there's no draw there.

I'm one of those people who believes that one of the reasons the parks are so crowded now is that annual passes have the option to pay monthly. Back when you had to pay in full when you got it, it wasn't nearly so bad. Because people can't/won't save up. It's easier to have it automatically withdrawn from your bank account or credit card. I'm curious how much of a drop in attendance there would be if they ended that. I'm betting a fair amount.

Someone shared a news story yesterday about the new rules for parking in DownTown Disney. Now, to have two hour free parking, you have to spend at least twenty dollars in DTD to have the ticket validated. And it's twelve bucks an hour after that, chargeable for the half hour. I was telling Brian about this last night and he said "you know, I have absolutely no urge to go there again. I'm a little bothered that the only time we went last year was on the last day our passes were valid. But I have no interest in what it's become."

Yeah. Me, either. I don't miss the two hour car ride up, the waiting in line to get on the bus to the park from the parking lot, the wait to get into the park, the wait to get on any rides, the wait for food, the wait for water, the wait for the bus back to the parking lot and the two hour ride home. I have more compelling things to do here at home. And there's no waiting.

disney

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disney   

      Wednesday, August 09, 2017


entertainmentstuff
09:18 AM - 08/09/2017

The topic: Uncle!
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Do you ever start watching a television series from the beginning? And watch faithfully each week? Watch the show grow and expand?

And then one day, you realize you don't really like it anymore? That it's a chore to watch? It's work?

Yeah, me, too. And this time, it's Ray Donovan.

I liked it the first couple of years. It's one of those shows that I record. Well, I recorded this year's season opener on Sunday and watched it yesterday.

When it was over I thought "what the hell was that?" It's gotten to the point I don't like any of the characters. None. Some of them I just can't stand. Thinking over and over again "why haven't they killed you off yet?"  And the constant angst of every single person in the show.

I'm done. I erased the show and took it off of the scheduled recording list. I felt a little guilty, after all, I've put in a lot of time watching each episode. But I'll get over it.

I watch television to be entertained, not annoyed.

hated it   


craftstuff
09:34 AM - 08/09/2017

The topic: I’m pretty excited right now
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We got the second Kobalt storage for my crafting last month and Brian is going to put it together this weekend! It will open up my work area so much!

It's going to replace some of those sterlite rolling drawer things that I've been using. There's not a lot in them. Probably four feet wide and three feet tall worth of storage space will be replaced by four feet wide and six feet tall of storage space. Plus I can put other things on the top (to help prevent cats jumping up there for access to the rafters; don't like the cats in the rafters, too much high wire acts, walking on those boards that are only an inch or two wide, long drop to the cement floor).

And once that's up and I get stuff moved in to it I'll empty the other one so Brian can reinforce the shelves. They aren't rated to carry as much weight as I have on them right now, that paper is heavy.  And one of them is bent, my fault, I was on the floor looking for something on the bottom and used the shelf to pull myself up. Definitely not rated to be used as a grab bar. I have those paper organizers in the middle, I think eight high and the paper keeps sliding out of them now. No fun.

So, I'm excited. It will be a busy weekend for me. And Brian. It's going to be work for him as well. He's doing it because he needs the room in his shop. He found some shelves at Costco with a pretty heavy duty rating for weight and he wants to get them before they no longer have them. (You know Costco.) And he needs my storage container out of there.

The new storage will have all of my adhesives (it will be easier to see when I'm running out of glue), my gel pens (nice dark, cool place), my Stickles, my colored glitter glues, my markers, my colored pencils, my embossing stuff, my container of blades, scissors, etc.  Things that now are on the metal shelves with a towel in front of them to keep the sun off.

And my other stuff, the embellishments, the faux candles, the other things I have to make my projects. I think this might open up two of my tables, giving me a lot more room to work. We'll see. Oh, yes, we'll see!

It's nice to have something to look forward to. Happy camper here. Very happy.

wave2

storage    kobalt    craftstuff   

      Friday, August 11, 2017


craftstuff
08:17 AM - 08/11/2017

The topic: Still excited!
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All of these ideas running through my head for organizing my supplies tomorrow.

One of the things I hope to do is move the shelves off of one table to (not as easily accessible) another table. Things I don't use often.

I'd like to move my paper rolls (that I got earlier this year) to the accessible table. "What paper rolls?" you may ask. Well, for my friends with wide format printers (you know who you are), you may get an idea or two here.

This paper which is heavy enough to be used as cardstock. And this paper for envelopes that I can make with my punch (see the link in the next paragraph) or cut out with a Cameo and an older mat (I've discovered that you don't use regular weight paper with a new, sticky mat, it won't come off). Since I like the inside of the envelopes to compliment the cards I make. Of course, these are both two feet wide and my printer only takes thirteen inches. Cutting the paper in one foot lengths will give me two pieces of 12" x 12" paper.  I've tried using just regular white cardstock for this, the colors are okay, but not vibrant. I want vibrant. I don't want washed out. This paper is photo paper and prints up really nicely.

Brian said he would make a roller for me to put the paper roll that I'm using on, to pull it out more easily (it's awkward to work with, really awkward) for cutting. And I've got a couple of paper cutters that work with paper that's two feet wide. One (same model as mine) I got on eBay, the other on Amazon (link to blog post about the cutter).

I have a couple of projects in mind that will be much more exciting with custom paper and I can hardly wait to get started on them.

But first, the garage. And all of my supplies.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

yippee

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storage    craftstuff   

      Sunday, August 13, 2017


craftstuff
09:40 AM - 08/13/2017

The topic: I thought I worked hard yesterday
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I got stuff moved and rearranged and I was pretty happy with how it all fell into place.

Except I ran out of room. Geez, how much stuff do I have, anyway?

I'm disappointed that I won't be able to leave the table empty liked I had hoped to do. I need the space. I won't have to use all of it, and that's good. I have more paper that needs to go in the paper storage and I have to move the brads and cords out (which should be with the ribbon in the new storage area, anyway).

Brian is going to reinforce the paper storage shelves today and I had to move everything out. Everything. That paper is heavy. And the container door kept getting in my way. There isn't enough room for me to get by if it's propped open, so I just dealt with it each time I walked around it. And I walked around it a lot.

I had no idea I had that much paper. If it was stacked one on top of the other, it would be at least twelve feet high. That's a lot of paper. Brian said "well, you shouldn't need paper for a while".

My fellow crafters, you know that's not how this works.  jesterA  Sometimes, no matter how much you have, there's nothing that is exactly what you have in mind. You can dig and dig and dig, and darn it, you just have to buy something else.

And that's how stacks of paper grow to twelve feet high.

Anyway, the thing is emptied out and some of the stuff that was in there got tossed. (A really nice trimmer is in the trash because the guide broke and it doesn't work without the guide. And the company who made it is no longer in business.)

Remember that Brian was going to make my paper roll dispenser? Well, we were back in the office, both on our computers and I pointed out some of the ones available. Uline.com has one for $24.00, plus shipping and tax. Brian said "that's all they cost? Why don't you just get one from there? I don't know when I'll be able to make one and I had no idea they were so cheap." So, I ordered one Friday, it ships from Los Angeles and with UPS running on Saturdays now, it got here yesterday. And it will be a great one because it folds up. I can hang it from the back of one of the storage containers with bungee cords to use as needed.

This was another reason why I'm not really upset that I won't be using the table as a work table. The depth of the table. It's exactly 24". I had planned (in my mind) to move the shelves to a different table since it would be empty (what had been there would now be behind doors). But I didn't realize that the table was only 18" deep. The shelves wouldn't work the way I wanted to place them. I could only put one down.

And the dispenser is a little wider than 24" and would be awkward to use. I'll be using it on my main work table, out here in the family room. It's plenty deep to accommodate the dispenser.

Man, my arms are starting to get tired. And I still have work to do, but not until Brian has done what he needs to do. Then I can start loading it back up. And be finished with my storage area. It's gonna be so nice once everything is put away and organized! No more digging for supplies.

Yanno, this wouldn't be a problem for someone without so many cats. It all comes back to cats.

Gotta love 'em.

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storage    craftstuff   

      Monday, August 14, 2017


catstuff
06:06 PM - 08/14/2017

The topic: And Rocky will be on medicine for a year
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Probably. Brian noticed a lump on his back a few months ago. I thought "lipoma" but it grew. I'm not used to them growing.

Then, last week, I noticed one of his back toes was swollen. There was a little bloody spot at the base of the claw. It didn't seem to bother him.

But it bothered us. So, I called last Thursday and the first appointment available was for this afternoon. We both went.

The vet checked Rocky over, wasn't really pleased with the toe and the lump. He said he'd like to take x-rays. One of the possibilities was some sort of lung cancer that metastasized to other areas of the body. He aspirated the back lump (put a needle in it and pulled out some cells). Both he and the cat went into the back of the clinic. Rocky had two x-rays taken, one of his chest and one of his paw. Nothing bad showed on either of them, so it was a soft tissue problem with the toe.

After he looked at the aspirate under the microscope, he knew what it was. Remember Chandler had that fungus that ate away at his nose? The fungus that finally won the battle and we had to say goodbye to Chandler? Well, it's the same sort of fungus (cryptococcus). Except it isn't in his nasal cavity or lungs, it's presenting differently that Chandler's did. Thank goodness.

So, he's on meds twice a day for a month to start with and the lump on his back should start getting smaller and the toe problem should resolve. But this fungus is a tricky one for the immune system to beat, which is why it will take so long to get rid of. Rocky is only twelve, so we've got the time. He said there's a titer test for a definitive diagnosis, but what he saw on the slide leaves no doubt in his mind what we're dealing with. If this had been like Chandler's, he would have advised the test. But it's expensive and if medicating him as we will be doing helps, there will be no need.

He doesn't like the taste of his meds.

gulp

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rocky    cryptococcus    catstuff   

      Friday, August 18, 2017


craftstuff
10:01 AM - 08/18/2017

The topic: Organize
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The before picture. At the far right are the litter boxes. The black thing in the front is the heat press. (I want to find a different way of covering that and protecting it from kitty cats.)  The covered thing behind that is the hat press. I got it pretty cheap on eBay a few years ago. Because you just never know when you might need one.

After. A lot neater.

There are a lot more pictures, but I don't want to slow down this page. Click on "more" to see the rest. Oh, and clicking on a photo will take you to the photo gallery where you can see the photos full sized.

Save


But wait! I'm not done yet!
I've got more to say!

storage    kobalt    craftstuff   

      Monday, August 21, 2017


catstuff
06:43 PM - 08/21/2017

The topic: Let’s not do that again
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Back from the vet with DaNiece. A little after five, she laid down on the floor by the rocking chair, where she lays when she's warm, and she started seizing. I got her away from there and held her on the floor. She cried. It was not pretty. My first thought was she was having a stroke or had thrown a blood clot (family history).

Brian held her next to him on the sofa and she calmed down. He set her on the floor and she was able to walk, she seemed okay. She walked back over to her spot by the rocking chair and started to seize again.

I called the vet's office, while I was on hold I started to get dressed for outside of the house. You could hear her screaming from the other room. They came back on and said to bring her down. She was panting. She was panting hard and that scared me pretty bad. They took her into the back and started to work on her. We could hear her crying. At last, the crying stopped, but we were told she was still panting. They started her on oxygen and I understand that helped her a lot. And she had pooped (which the doctor told us looked really good). After that, she calmed down, back to normal. Blood had been drawn and the doctor was waiting for the test results to find something definitive. The office manager was taking care of Neecy, walking around, holding her. She was smitten with our kitten.

Anyway, we were taken into an examining room and her test results were all pretty good. Some of the results that were out of normal were due to her age and the stress of the seizures. The vet prescribed a very small daily dose of phenobarbital. She said that hopefully this will stop the seizures from happening again (recall, she had them back in February). She said worst case is a brain tumor and we'll just have to wait and see.

The vet was very happy that she'd gained as much weight as she had. That was a positive.

I just looked at the bill. We weren't charged for the emergency exam, just the blood work (with a 10% discount) and the meds. What a nice surprise.

We're home now and the last I saw of her, she was eating kibble in the office.

seizures    daniece    catstuff   

      Tuesday, August 22, 2017


geekstuff
07:03 PM - 08/22/2017

The topic: Things just don’t go smoothly
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I got a piece of software today that will allow me to add tags to my posts here. So, if someone wanted to read about DaNiece, or my card, or anything like that, there would be a tag to click on.  I had tried a freebie and had no luck getting it to work, so I bought one.

Because it comes with support. Well, I'm having a hard time getting that one to work. I downloaded all of the documentation and was looking at it and it's for a higher version of this weblog software than I'm running. Where I got this weblog has upgraded their work a few times in the past couple of years and I didn't move up to the next complete rebuild. And neither have I updated the current version to the last update they made. And I need to do that.

So, I need to get the latest old version (following this?). I'm running 2.5.5. The last incarnation of this version is 2.9.x. I went to the place I got the software and the download link for the old version is gone. So, I emailed them. Then I checked the old computer.

Aha! I do have it! I got it back in 2014. So, why haven't I updated this software?

We went shopping and in the car, I remembered why I hadn't updated it. All of my add-ons. I don't want to lose the formatting and special things I did for those.

So, tomorrow I will see if I can export settings, do that, save the add-on files to my computer (so I can just re-upload them after the upgrade).  It's the settings I'm worried about. There was a lot of work that went into some of them.

Of course, I borked the templates for what's already here and they weren't working right at all. It took me a while, but I got it figured out and fixed.

Tomorrow. I'll do the upgrade tomorrow.

geekstuff   

      Wednesday, August 23, 2017


geekstuff
01:32 PM - 08/23/2017

The topic: Blog software has been upgraded
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Finally. There were a few hiccups, but it wasn't too bad. Mostly backing up files. I was sure I'd gotten them all last night, but I was wrong.

But it's up and running now. I was pretty happy that I don't have to redo the settings on the plugins.

The whole reason for the upgrade is that the tagging software needed a higher version of the software than I was running. And I still have the tagging software to get up and running. It's installed, I just have no clue at all about the coding I need to do. There are a lot of samples, but my mind just isn't running that way right now.

So, I'm going to go do something that won't take much thinking. Sorting the stamps that I dumped all together when I got rid of those rolling storage drawers. My new Sterlite containers got here yesterday. And they're bigger than the drawer were, so....MOAR STUFF!!!!

geekstuff   

      Thursday, August 24, 2017


craftstuff
08:07 AM - 08/24/2017

The topic: Well, I’m done with the re-organization
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I got all of my stamps sorted into their new homes.

And the new flie things showed up yesterday so now the speciality cardstock has its own special place. You know, the glitter sheets, the flocked cardstock and the vellum.

It is so much nicer than it was. I can hardly wait to get back to crafting.

storage    craftstuff   

      Sunday, August 27, 2017


otherstuff
06:48 AM - 08/27/2017

The topic: Just stuff
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Not much is happening, it's been fairly quiet.

I've given up for the moment on getting the tags implemented. It's like my brain went stupid and I'm just not seeing it. I've contacted the software designer a couple of times with no response. But it is the weekend, so there's that. And I also put in a help ticket with the company that designed the weblog software. Last week, after I'd upgraded and I tried getting the code for the tags running. I gave up and just put everything back the way it was.

I thought.

For some reason, the only link that worked to the individual article page was on the home page. If you clicked for the month or day, there was no article. I paid for a support plan and used my one emergency ticket. And it was fixed in no time. I copied some code that I shouldn't have. But the plan is for a month, so I figured I'd see if they can help me. But, once again, it's the weekend and it's not a big deal.

And on that night, it was last  Thursday, while I was muddling through code, DaNiece had a seizure. She was on the sofa, I sat next to her and kept her from rolling off onto the floor. It wasn't as bad as the ones Monday. She seemed to come out if it pretty quickly, she jumped on the floor, walked over to her spot next to the rocking chair and had another. I picked her up, put her on the sofa and calmly talked to her and stroked her. This one was shorter than the first. When it was over, there was heavy breathing, but no panting like Monday. I held her against my shoulder and chest, petting her until she was breathing normally again. She wanted down, she got on the floor and just laid down (the floor is cool, she was really warm). At one point, she had left and I found her in the living room under the sewing machine. A half hour or so later, she was outside on the pet bed (it's more like a little trampoline thing, with a good airflow through it; forgiving to lay on and it's about five inches high, so easy to climb on).  I checked on her throughout the night and each time, she was still on it.

The worst part was I had to go through this by myself. Brian threw his back out last Tuesday morning. He was able to drive himself to the chiropractor that day, and it helped a little, but Wednesday he could barely move. It's getting better, but it's not going as quickly as he'd like. He's not doing anything work related, not even answering the phone. People would call the company line, it wasn't answered, then they'd call his cell phone. Which didn't get answered either. I've been going through his mail, getting rid of the junk stuff so it won't be so bad when he gets back up.

Because he's not up, I had to leave my comfort zone. Ever since the accident I had, I've driven less and less. Well, the passenger speaker being out didn't help, either. No music blasting kind of took the joy out of going anywhere. Singing at the top of my lungs. Yes, I'm that driver.  Well, that got fixed earlier this year, but I still hadn't gotten back into the swing of leaving the house by myself. But last week I had to. I was out of blood pressure meds.

I had called in our refills last Sunday (automated). I had no refills, so they had to call my doctor. I called the pharmacy on Wednesday to see if the doctor had okayed it. Nope, nothing. So, I called my doctor's office. Turns out, the doctor has me listed under my first name. The prescription is under my middle name. Which is the name I've been called my entire life. (Note to new parents: please don't call your child by their middle name...if you must, just make their middle name their first name...all of my official papers have my full name spelled out, no initials, so when there's a question about my identity, it's easily answered).

When I found out the problem, I said "thanks mom, thanks dad" and the lady on the other end just laughed. So, she said she'd get it taken care of. My last pill was Thursday, I just figured maybe Brian would be feeling better enough to go to Costco. I called Costco on Thursday to see if the prescription had been filled and it had. Yay!

But Brian wasn't going anywhere. Friday morning, I took a shower, put on bra (!) when I got dressed and off I went. Traffic was really light, the music was really loud and I was in my element. Got to Costco, got the paper towels and cheese, then went over to the pharmacy where there was a short line. I checked my phone and I had a message from Amazon that my order of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 wouldn't ship until this Wednesday. (It should have shipped last Tuesday.) Did I want to cancel? I'd know in a minute.

I got the prescriptions, then went back into the shopping area of the warehouse and looked for the DVDs. Found them, there were only three or four copies of GotGV2. I picked one up and put it in the cart. And when I was waiting in line to pay for my items, I cancelled the order at Amazon. When I got home, I checked, they had a notice that it was taking one to three weeks to ship. What's up with that? Costco having so few and Amazon running out? Weird.

Got home. That wasn't so bad. Friday night I went down to the local Mexican hole in the wall restaurant and got a quesadilla and a bean and cheese burrito for dinner. Took them home, split them (the portions are huge) and that was dinner. Twice in one day! I was proud of myself.

Yesterday, Brian spent most of the day out here. He did take a shower, which made him feel a little more human, but didn't do much for his back. We ended up watching Marvel's "The Defenders" on Netflix. We watched five episodes, have three more for the season.

Well, he's up and about, guess I'll get busy doing something.

seizures    geekstuff    daniece   

      Monday, August 28, 2017


catstuff
04:08 PM - 08/28/2017

The topic: So, there’s blood smeared all over my work table
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I saw it yesterday. I cleaned it up. I looked for Rocky and found him. His foot looks worse.

I mentioned this to Brian and he said we need to make sure Rocky gets his meds when he's supposed to. "The vet said he could lose his paw if this isn't resolved."  And I try, I really try to get his meds into him, but he's a big cat, he doesn't like taking his meds and, bottom line, it's hard to do by myself.

Yeah, when we first started Brian was supposed to be helping. But he hasn't been. Even before his back went out last week. And I reminded him that I can't do it by myself.

So, three meds in a row, Brian has helped. I'll most likely have to remind him for a while, until it becomes habit.

On the plus side, Rocky is pissed for a little while, then he's back inside looking for food. Which he gets. I sure don't want him to lose a paw.

rocky    cryptococcus    catstuff   


geekstuff
04:58 PM - 08/28/2017

The topic: And we now have tags!
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I have a lot of work to do, going back through the years and tagging entries.

The reason I did this was I've seen so many people who have cats that are having health problems similar to the ones here, that I'd like to refer them to this blog. But who wants to slog through months of posts, looking for just the right one?  Not me. I'd much rather just have a list.

So, that's why I decided to try tags. And with help from the support team at ExpressionEngine, I now have working tags! Yay!

Now, I just have to go through all of these entries and add the tags. That doesn't sound like any fun at all.

bonk

geekstuff   

      Tuesday, August 29, 2017


otherstuff
06:45 AM - 08/29/2017

The topic: I don’t know if you see this ad campaign
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In you area. It's a series of commercials that end with a banner and a little song "Funner California".  In a couple of them, David Hasselhoff is featured.

We found them to be incredibly stupid. Not a little stupid, but incredibly stupid. The entire campaign. There are four or five different commercials and each one is just dumb. Non-sensical and we've talked them over, trying to figure out HOW these ads would make California look like a place you'd want to visit. Why on earth would a state tourist bureau put out something so inane?

They are so bad, that last week I actually looked them up on Facebook and posted a complaint. Then I read some of the other complaints.

It's not an official California campaign. It's by Harrah's. A casino and vacation destination. I deleted my complaint.

And it's still one of the worst ads we've ever seen.

hated it   


catstuff
06:52 AM - 08/29/2017

The topic: And another sick cat
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This time it's Potter. I knew he was feeling under the weather and he's been getting attention.

Potter is our little tripod kitty. Yesterday, his back end was all wet. There was nothing wet under him, just his fur on his leg and tummy. I think he peed himself.

I cleaned him off.  Later I took him outside and put him on the grass. He moved to a different location and peed for a fairly long time. Then he came back in the house. He was wet again this morning.

He's eating, he comes running in the kitchen when he hears the chicken bag. But he doesn't eat much. I haven't seen him poop. Not that I ever did. But, it's a concern.

I'm thinking he may have been hit with the same thing the other cats have gotten. Sagwa was so bad he had a hard time walking. He couldn't jump or walk straight (he's all better, by the way).  But if this is what's got Potter, and it's hard for him to walk, I can see him being a little incontinent. I'll keep an eye on him for a couple of more days and if he doesn't show signs of improvement, it will be off to the vet for us.

potter    catstuff   


otherstuff
05:51 PM - 08/29/2017

The topic: My left eye was weird this morning
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And I'm pretty sure it was alerting me to the fact that I may have a migraine coming on.

I shut down the laptop and just laid on the sofa. It's a hot hot hot week here, temps over 100° for the rest of the week. The house was shut up early and the A/C was turned on. It didn't actually start to run until 2:15. Having the house closed early helps.

I took a quarter of a Xanax and rested. Brian suggested I take a couple of Excedrin extra strength, which I did. The headache only hurts when I cough and it runs from the right side of my head up to the top. Not fun.

I sure wish this summer was over. And last week was so nice.....

14110206

      Thursday, August 31, 2017


catstuff
10:51 AM - 08/31/2017

The topic: Dropped Potter off at the vet’s this morning
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Along with a note that described how he's been acting this week. I also said to go ahead and do any work that needs to be done, bloodwork, x-rays...no need wasting time with phone calls back and forth.

This morning, he was first out the door (which is usually open, but due to the high humdity and heat we've been having, the air conditioning is on; not that it makes the house that much cooler, but there is a lot less humidity inside). I thought this was a good sign. I went out and felt his bottom and it wasn't damp. Did he pee somewhere in the house and it didn't just leak out?

I finally got him to pee a little for me, but I'm beginning to thing that his water intake has been greatly reduced through the week and he still hasn't defecated. He turned his nose up at both chicken and tuna this morning. Definitely not like our little guy. So, I called the vet about making an appointment and was told I could drop him off. I took him over there a little before ten.

And now, we wait.

vet    potter    catstuff   


otherstuff
11:25 AM - 08/31/2017

The topic: A couple of times a year
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One of our favorite restaurants has a special on gift cards. You spend fifty dollars and get two ten dollar bonus buck certificates. So, seventy dollars.

The problem is, the bonus bucks have short expiration dates. For a couple of people who go out to a sit down restaurant a couple of time a year, it's tough to do with a time limit.

And you can only use one of the bonus buck certificates per meal. Well, I got two fifty dollar gift cards and four ten dollar bonus buck certificates.

The bonus buck certificates run out today. We have two left. We went to lunch yesterday and used one, which left two. We're going to dinner tonight and will use another one. Which leaves one. We'll just give it to someone there.

The lunch was pretty good. Brian had his eyes set on a burger, but then saw the French dip offering. I got a chicken sandwich, with monterey jack cheese, bacon and avocado. We both got fries. He got the full sandwich. I went with the half sandwich, fries and a salad. We were both full when we left.

We were going to go last week, but Brian couldn't walk. So, that's tough. Last month I had that summer cold from hell. Who feels like eating at a nice place when your head hurts, your nose is constantly running, you cough so hard your ribs hurt and all you want to do is sleep?

This is the second time we've done this. At least this go round, we'll only have one cert left. And now that we know we like their lunch menu, next time, I bet we use every one of them.

meals out   


catstuff
02:43 PM - 08/31/2017

The topic: Back from the vet
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He called my cell a little before noon and for some reason, I couldn't answer it. He called twice and both times, I was unable to pick up. I called back and gave them the number to Brian's cell. An hour later, it rang.

It isn't good news. Potter has lost over half of his weight from his last appointment (don't remember when that was). His kidneys are shot. No amount of fluids will fix them. He said we could keep him alive, but doing so wasn't the best thing for Potter, because he'll never feel good again. He said it wasn't a good way to live.

He said that he didn't have time to do it today, but to make an appointment and bring him down tomorrow. They gave him fluids to get him by overnight and we made the appointment for nine tomorrow morning and paid for everything this afternoon.

Potter has been skinny for a while now, years, but never showed any signs of not feeling well. He eats like a champ and runs all over the yard. He may have slowed down a little this year, but he's fourteen years old. It happens. I guess the lemonade thing is that it was fairly quick.

I don't much like lemonade.


Potter and DaNiece July 7. 2017

potter    photos    catstuff   


catstuff
05:10 PM - 08/31/2017

The topic: When the organs fail, there’s not much can be done
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But DaNiece's bloodwork has always come back good. Nothing horribly out of whack. And nothing definitive about what ailed her.

When I found the picture in the previous entry with Neecy and Potter (who we're losing tomorrow, kidneys are shot), I thought about looking back at a few of the other photos I've taken of her since she's been sick. There is a definite visual change.

photos    daniece    catstuff   

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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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