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      Thursday, March 01, 2018


otherstuff
10:10 AM - 03/01/2018

The topic: So, this happened
----------------------------------------------

Tuesday afternoon, I was sitting here at my desk, tweeting rude comments to stupid people. Most likely Russian bots, but I was having a swell time of it.

For nibbles, I had a little bowl of in the shell sunflower seeds. Take a couple, pop into my mouth, crack with my teeth, fish out the seed with my tongue and spit out the shell. I had a fair sized pile of empty shells on the paper towel when it happened.

I bite down on the shell, pull the seed out and start to eat it. It's a crunchy one. A crunchy one? Did I get a piece of stalk or a bad seed?  You know how sometimes that happens. I spit it out and proceed to the next shell waiting to be broken. Still little pieces of crunch. No, this isn't right.

I start to go through the pile of empty shells and to my amazement see some white pieces. I pick them out. Examine them closely. Oh, yeah. This is definitely not good. I put my tongue to work.

Well, hallelujah! Part of a molar is missing. It's as if someone took knife and sliced it down the middle and the back half or the tooth was still intact, but the front was gone. And it wasn't a tooth that had cracked, it was a crown. Half a crown is better than none, right? Just great.

It didn't hurt. At all. This is a tooth that's been giving me problems for at least five years now. It will hurt for a week or so, then not hurt. Not the debilitating toothache were you can barely move and all you can do is lay down and cry. Not that kind of bad toothache, just a soreness. And now, it will have to be addressed.

I'm sixty-four years old. We have no dental insurance. We've gotten some good sales so far this year, but Brian is investing in more stock/supplies for the company. Supplies he's been waiting on since last year finally came in and the price had gone up. That came close to emptying the bank account. Fixing this tooth is not in the budget. Not getting another crown, for sure. Cheapest way is removal.

Brian wasn't home when it happened and I waited until he got here to make the appointment. I called our dentist, explained the problem and they got me in at eight yesterday morning. The doctor took an x-ray, looked at it and turned to me. "I can't remove this, the root is too curved. You'll need to go to an oral surgeon. Would you like a referral?"

So, I settled up the bill, ($85)  called Brian to come get me (the dentist is about five minutes away and I hadn't planned on leaving so soon) and got the referral. That appointment was at 10:45 yesterday morning.

We get there about five minutes early, I fill out the paperwork, they take me back and put me in a room. Take my blood pressure, ask if I'd like a blanket (no, I'm okay, I planned for this and wore sweatpants and a heavy sweatshirt). The doctor came in and talked a little, then shot some numbing agents in my cheek and jaw. Another woman came in and started asking about payment. I'd left my glasses with Brian and besides that, one of the injections into my face left me shaking like a leaf. My heart was racing and it was really kind of scary. I asked about it and she said it was the epinephrine, that it constricts the blood vessels and slows down the blood flow. Nice. Do not like this feeling.

Then I asked her, since I didn't have my glasses and was so shaky, if she could get Brian to take care of it. And she did.

Finally, I was taken into the back and the work was started.

Oh. Em. Gee.

They placed a cloth over my eyes. I could see down towards my body, but not up. I think this was to prevent blood spatter and old tooth matter from hitting me in my eyes. I'm dead serious. There was drilling. There was digging. There were multiple reminders to relax my tongue and keep it out of the way (hey, that's my tongue's home, you're just visiting!). My tongue finally got the message that it was safer for it to just stay put.

I watched in horror as he picked up a pair of vice grips and put them in my mouth. He'd attach them onto a piece of tooth and pull. It was not fun. At all. All of the tooth and root gone at last, he mentioned some infection below and started digging that out. He asked me if I'd been having any pain, but I hadn't. His job completed, gauze was placed in my mouth and verbal instructions given about after care. There were also printed out in my little after care bag, with a bunch of gauze pieces in a baggie and a lip balm with the practice's label.  (That was really odd.)

I spent more time waiting in that little room than it took to remove the tooth. It was probably fifteen minutes for the surgery.

We left and got in the car, it was about 1:15, and on the way home I kept punching and slapping my face. I couldn't feel a damned thing. Someone could have hit me with a brick and I'd not have felt it.

I had been told to keep the gauze on for at least twenty minutes, then replace it as needed, as long as the hole was still bleeding. The pressure of the gauze helped to stop the bleeding and let the blood clot in that area.

Let me tell you about that hole. It felt like it took up at least half of the bottom part of my jaw. It was huge. I could most likely store a fun sized Snickers bar there. Huge, I tell you, it was huge. My face was a little swollen, my gums were definitely swollen. And the gauze was really uncomfortable.

When we got home, I took a couple of Advil (the doctor had asked if I needed something stronger for pain, like Vicodin, and after the bout with steroid constipation last year, I said I was okay). About fifteen minutes later, I took out the gauze. It was bloody, but I was confident the bleeding had stopped. Until a half hour later or so I put my finger over there and it came out dripping red. Yeah. I was wrong. I needed gauze.

The gauze pieces aren't big, but I was supposed to stack two or three, then fold them over and place them on the bleeding area. Every hour, I replaced the gauze. Brian was worried about sleeping with it in my mouth. I assured him it would be okay, my mouth being closed would keep it in place.  I slept on the sofa because my head was supposed to stay elevated. I changed the gauze around eleven last night, took more Advil, then back to sleep. Changed the gauze again around three (the bleeding was much lighter by now) and back to sleep.

Since Brian wanted to leave this morning at six-thirty to pick up his order, I got up about five-thirty and cut the check he needed and did a little bit of paperwork, surfed the interwebs a little and then he came back with his cooler and said he was on his way. He left, I fried up a couple of eggs in butter, toasted some cinnamon bread, took my gauze out, ate breakfast, then put gauze back in.

Another nap, then watched a little television.  Took the gauze and and there's only a little pink on tissues I put in now. I think it's good to go.

And that's the story of the first adult tooth that's gone forever.

      Friday, March 02, 2018


otherstuff
09:25 AM - 03/02/2018

The topic: Much better this morning
----------------------------------------------

(Spot is stalking Ronnie and I'm ready to punch him in the nose. Ronnie doesn't even realize it.)

My jaw is sore, but the Advil is taking care of it nicely. Since my instructions called for soft food for the first 24-48 hours, Brian went down to the local Mexican eatery last night and picked up a quesadilla and a bean and cheese burrito. We split them both (they're really big).

Unfortunately, I didn't take a Zantac before eating, which I should have or at least taken one right after, because I had hot sauce and that stuff tastes so yummy, but my tummy doesn't like it as much as my taste buds do. Around one this morning, the reflux started. Out of bed, take the Zantac, lay on the sofa (again)...couldn't sleep, posted on Facebook. Finally went back to bed around four this morning. Dozed off an on. This will be a nap day.

But, boy, howdy, I love my Mexican food.

This morning I had a fig bar early so I had something in my stomach when I took the Advil. We had a good breakfast, I got the dishes done, the pain is gone in my face and now, I have no idea what I want to do. If it wasn't so damned cold, I'd clean or something, but it IS damned cold, even with the heater on.

I got a new embosser on Wednesday,  bigger embosser, a Sizzix Big Shot Plus. I got it with rewards points I'd saved up on different websites and it only costed me sixty-six cents. If I'd beern able to hold my water another day  (not been in such a hurry), it wouldn't have cost anything (had an additional six bucks put in an account for surveys taken the day after I ordered it).  I'm really looking forward to using it. I kind of wish I hadn't had Brian cut down those embossing folders I got so they'd fit my original Big Shot, but oh, well. Something more to save up for.

Since my storage space is full, I'm going to have to rearrange things in my cabinet. Maybe put the Big Shots and embossing folders in the open and have more room for the supplies that need to be stored in a cool, dark place, out of the light. Like glue, adhesives, markers, pens and paint.

But it's cold out there. If I think it's cold in here, I'd best not go into the garage.

Paperwork is still caught up!  Yay!

I think I'll watch some of the stuff I recorded last night, then maybe take a nap and catch up on lost sleep. Hopefully by then it will have warmed up enough to actually get something done.

Oh, and I did get stitches. No one told me I got stitches, but there's thread in my mouth. For some reason, this thread was pretty long. If I pushed it just right, it stuck out of my mouth. Small scissors took care of that. I probably snipped off over a half an inch. I also yanked on it a little bit. Bad idea.....

It should dissolve in about a week, so if I can leave it alone that long, it should be okay.

It's supposed to rain later today.

If this entry feels disjointed, it's because I'm having a hard time concentrating right now... So much I want to do, but it's just too damned cold.

Delicate flower, yanno?

 

storage    craftstuff    broken tooth   


salestuff
04:07 PM - 03/02/2018

The topic: Well, my store is gone
----------------------------------------------

Back in January, the domain that hosts my store was hacked. I ended up pulling the store and the photo gallery for Brian's website.

After a month of no problems, I reinstalled the photo gallery, although I made it accessible with a login name and password. It's right there, out where everyone can see it, but you can't access the actual gallery without logging in. I didn't privatize it for people who wanted to view the pictures, I privatized it because of the crawler bots, who slammed the pages. There are ways that they should stay out, a couple of different ways to block them, but when their IP address is spoofed or they ignore the code that tells them they're not welcome, to move along and they don't, well, my options were pretty limited. I'm not talking about crawlers like googlebot or yahoo slurp, but these unknown crawlers that are searching for pages and files that never existed. They're looking for a way in.

Making that folder private has really stopped them.

I felt safe enough to try to get the store back up.  I uploaded everything and it's all in place and when I go to the store, there's nothing. Just a blank page. No admin, no cart, no catalog.

So I checked out the ecommerce software that is offered by my webhost and made a choice and am in the process of getting the store back up. It looks like I only have one hundred and eleven products, so if I get a couple of them uploaded a day, it shouldn't be too long before it's up and running. And this software is one that is still supported and upgraded. My last one wasn't and safety measures weren't updated. I'll feel safe with this one.

Another fun thing to do. I have catnip to sell.....

to do list    not happy    lvdesigns    hackers    catnip   

      Wednesday, March 07, 2018


catstuff
08:40 AM - 03/07/2018

The topic: We really need to go shopping
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We're really low on butter, maybe a half of a stick left. Only six more eggs.

Not even enough cheese to make a sandwich.

This morning, I fried our eggs in Smart Balance, because we have more of that than butter. The Smart Balance is for our toast.

Usually the cats lick up the yolk from the plates (we kind of don't finish so the cats get a treat - the cats appreciate it).

Guess what didn't get licked clean? Right. The plates. We had Bobby, Lorelei and Opie checking them out.

Who knew? The cats. The cats knew.

catstuff   


geekstuff
08:57 AM - 03/07/2018

The topic: Rewards, rewards, rewards!
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Back when we used our credit cards on a regular basis, I saved up enough rewards to drop the cost of our annual Disney passes to under two hundred bucks.

Those days are long gone. Credit cards are rarely used. The rewards we get from Costco are spent at Costco, just for regular shopping.

And I've spent the occasional fifty dollar rewards card at Amazon, rewards from the two places I take surveys or view emails. It isn't a lot. I did kind of save up for the Big Shot Plus I got last week. Otherwise, I'd not have gotten it.

Well, a couple of years ago I got a notification from UPS (who we use for our company shipping) about their rewards program. And I joined up.

We spend maybe a thousand a month in UPS shipping. I know that might sound like a lot for a small company, but each shipment is between $50 and $90. They add up over a month's time. And the rewards points are slowly adding up.

I'm still at bronze level. I was checking out what's available and the have Amazon products!  Kindles, paperwhites, Echoes! And I have enough points to get something decent.  Do I want a full sized Echo? Or another Dot? (The cats kind of screwed up the one I have in the family room. they pulled it down from the shelf it was on and it hasn't worked right since.)

Or do I just want to bide my time and build up more points and get a new camera? Nah, I don't care for anything that they have.

Gold level has a bunch of Apple products.  Well, I don't have to save up for those. A few cameras, but I want a small camera, not a big heavy one. I have a big heavy one. With lenses and everything that I rarely use. Checking out the silver level, lots of cookware and small kitchen appliances. Watches. Vacuums. Headphones, Bose speakers. Nothing that really grabs me.

So, it looks like I'll be spending all of my points on the Bronze level. Yay! 

I think I'll get an Amazon Echo to start with. Then move this little Dot that may or may not be healthy, back to the office and I can drop in on Brian. Or do I want an Echo Spot?  Nah, I don't need another clock, I'm going with the Echo, for a thousand points less. And when I build up enough points, maybe I'll get another Dot...

I love getting stuff in the mail. Even if I have to send it to myself. lol!

geekstuff   

      Thursday, March 08, 2018


otherstuff
08:25 AM - 03/08/2018

The topic: This will be nice
----------------------------------------------

You know I pulled the catcams offline. No one was watching them. Months after they were gone, I had a couple of people ask me where they were. I let the domain go, it has a new owner and he has a cat or two. I think.

Anyway, I kept the backyard cam. The one that the viewer could watch and move. But then, technology moves forward and bad actors take advantage of old applications so that the software that ran it was no longer considered secure and the hoops someone needed to jump through to view the live version were just crazy.

Then the little machine that made it move froze. I couldn't get it to move at all. It's on the roof and I can't do anything with it at this point.

All that you could see is a tree. A image that changes every thirty seconds of that same view of that same tree.

Well, yesterday I mentioned that I'd like to try to unfreeze the remote and at the same time, try to get the rain gauge thing for the weather station working again (I think it's stuck).

Brian said to look for an outdoor camera and he'd change it out. Then I pointed to one of the Foscam wifi cameras I have and asked if maybe that would fit in the glass globe. He said it would.

So, I don't need to spend money on a camera. This is one of the cameras I use when I watch a cat I think is sick. Like when Skippy was in the bathroom. I could watch him without bothering him.

Last night, I took the old camera offline.

I figured out how to send the image to the website with the newer camera, but the streaming might not be an option. If I could figure out how to limit the viewing time, it would be a lot easier, but just having it run for however long would probably quickly use up my alloted bandwidth.  I'll keep researching the options, but at least I'll have a camera that doesn't just point at the tree. 

And if it rains, I hope I'll get an accurate measurement.

Yay!

141031028

webcams    geekstuff   

      Saturday, March 10, 2018


otherstuff
12:36 PM - 03/10/2018

The topic: Pretty excited about getting the camera changed out
----------------------------------------------

I played with different softwares this past week, found one that will be acceptable, I think.

I spent hours researching them. I hope the one I chose will work, the only problem is the computer has to be on, so I'll download it to the old computer and try to get it working from there. If it doesn't work, I can "cancel at any time".

I did get the image to upload to the website every thirty seconds without needing a computer to be on. I was really looking forward to having it up and running by the end of the weekend. It's on the roof and Brian would need to do it. Well, he's had some problems back in his shop and told me yesterday he'd be too busy this weekend, that this stuff needs to get out on Monday., And it's drizzly. Not ideal for working from a ladder.

So, this morning I'm out here watching some old Rifleman show, thinking how much I don't like this episode and I hear a voice from the office. It's Brian.

Me: Are you calling me?

Him: Yes. I need your help for a minute.

Me: Let me put the timer on.

Him:

Me (on my way to the office): Do you need me to hold the ladder?

Him: (not amused)

Well, I thought it was funny. (He needed help moving photos from the memory card to the computer.)

webcams    conversations   

      Monday, March 12, 2018


craftstuff
12:57 PM - 03/12/2018

The topic: Decisions, decisions
----------------------------------------------

I'm making another balloon. I have a spot for one in the living room. I think it will look pretty cool there.

I got all of those digital paper designs over on Etsy last month. I printed some of them out and not one knocked my socks off. I looked through my other files and found one that might look pretty cool as the balloon part of a balloon. And hey, you know what would be even cooler? If I could get the diamonds spaced just right so that I could emboss them and make the paper look puffy!

I'd set the size, print a sheet, measure it against the embossing folder. Hours later, I finally got it right on. Printed out about sixteen sheets of this design. Cut enough balloon pieces so that I'd have a few left over in case I screwed something up. I didn't cut enough. The embossed pieces looked like 14110113. Either the embossing wasn't deep enough or it was too deep and it did something to the printed paper, made it looked ripped.  Fed up, I set it aside for a couple of days. What did I want to do?

I decided to try some commerical paper. I spent some time yesterday and today looking for something that would look good with the basket and banner I already had cut out. Went through pads and pads of paper, comparing this one with that, would these work well together? I had some pretty decent combinations picked out. Then I showed them to Brian.

"You're not going with the blue?"

I thought about it and recut the panels from the design I'd originally chose. They will not be embossed. And now, all I have left to do is assemble. 

Like I've said, the hardest part for me is picking out the paper.

cuttting paper    craftstuff    balloon   

      Tuesday, March 20, 2018


otherstuff
01:05 PM - 03/20/2018

The topic: I did something today I haven’t done in years
----------------------------------------------

So, we're supposed to have this huge rainstorm starting tomorrow night. I swept the patio late this morning and looked out at the lawn that hadn't been mowed in a while.

Since his cancer treatments, Brian's schedule has been pretty wonky and he's trying hard to keep up with work, but it's difficult. We'd discussed doing yard work this weekend and he was going to put the new camera up on the roof.

But we got a notice in the mail yesterday that our landline wasn't going to work anymore when they did the upgrades to our telephone system (going digital). Our landline has the FAX machine. So, I called and found out that the line would just go dead if it wasn't taken care of. I'm really reluctant to have peeps in my house, just because. But if I let it go and the line does indeed go dead, we'll need to pay for a technician to fix it. Something needs to be done to the box outside and possibly something inside.

A telephone modem. I'm still not clear on what needs to be done, I found nothing about it on their website. (Note to self: take a Xanax before calling for things like this...) I made the appointment for next Tuesday.

But the office needs to be cleaned, for sure. I mean, down on my hands and knees, washing under the desks clean. I am not looking forward to this. There's always the possibility nothing will need to be done, but just in case....so, there goes my weekend.

So, I'm sitting here thinking that it would be nice if the lawn was mowed before the storm hit. I said something to Brian. He said "go ahead". I blink. Then I say "okay".

And, for the first time in years, I mowed the lawn. More activity than I'm used to, but the lawn is ready for the rain. Brian set up a large trashcan for me to put the clippings in and I filled that baby to the top.I tried to dance like that guy in the drug commercial, you know, the one where he gets up from his desk and walks away from the camera and his pants are stuck in his butt crack. And at the end, he's mowing the lawn in a circle, doing this dorky little dance. My back was having none of it.

Yay me!

141031028

the yard   

      Wednesday, March 21, 2018


catstuff
12:51 PM - 03/21/2018

The topic: At the vet this morning
----------------------------------------------

Recall Rocky and his problem?  The crypto?

Well, he's been getting the fluconazole pretty close to every day. He hates it. He hates us. Well, he hates us because he believes that we're the reason for the nasty stuff being shot into his mouth with a syringe. Cold and nasty tasting. A refill was needed last week and the refill is from a different pharmacy. This doesn't need to be refrigerated and it would appear the taste isn't nearly so nasty. He's gotten five days of doses with hardly a blink. Instead of jetting out the door and away from us evil humans, we can put him back to the spot wherever we got him from and he lays back down.

The lump on his back is definitely smaller. But in the past two weeks, his foot blew up. Not literally, but figuratively. Then, last Saturday, it looked like a piece of it had been sliced off. Pretty icky looking. (The technical term we found out this morning is "granuloma".)

It didn't seem to bother him very much, not painful, he was walking and running on it, he didn't flinch when I put some Bacitracin on it, it didn't bleed, but there's something obviously very, very wrong. The only sign that it bothers him is he will shake the paw when he's walking. The only analogy I can think of is when you've got something stuck on your fingers and you try to shake it off. He does that with this paw. That only started yesterday.  Monday, I call and make an appointment to see his doctor, who is the owner of the clinic. We were there this morning at 9:30.

He had gained a half pound since his last visit. That was good. But what wasn't good was that foot. The doctor said the lump on the back was somewhat smaller. That was good. But, again, that foot. Not good. The vet turned off the light and looked through a scope into Rocky's eyes. There are lesions. They don't affect his sight, but it's an indication that the fungus has spread. The good news is the weight gain, Rocky's heart and lungs sound good and he's in good spirits.

The vet said he's of the opinion that the fungus is becoming resistant to the fluconazole. That there's another one we can try, the same med that's in athlete's foot ointment. Terbinafine. He pulled in his Merck veterinary manual and looked up how this would work. The two meds taken together are synergistic.

Relating to the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
"the synergistic interaction of mind and body"

So, Rocky will be getting a compounded (for those of you not familiar, compounding makes meds more palatable) terbinafine once a day and fluconazole three times a week. They're using a different company to get their meds from, no longer the rat bastards at Roadrunner Pharmacy, but one by the name of Diamondback Drugs. So, we wait for them to call us and we'll give them our credit card information and they'll ship Rocky's meds.

He also had blood taken for a antigen test to be done at an outside lab. This will give him a titer (the concentration of an antibody) of the fungus so he'll have a baseline for future information. If this combination of drugs works and there's a visible shrinkage of the foot problem, we'll know it's working. If there is no visible shrinkage, he'll get another titer test (in June) to see if he's gotten any better and take it from there.

The vet also mentioned the possibility that Rocky might need surgery to remove the toe, if it starts to bother him too much. He told us that the x-ray from last year (he pulled it up on the monitor) showed some deterioration of the bone. (We don't remember that being shared with us last year and I think it's something we would have remembered). But surgery is an option. It won't get rid of the crypto, but it will make Rocky more comfortable (if he needs it).

He kept repeating that we've done a good job. And he was really apologetic about the cost, he actually said that he wasn't trying to take advantage of us. We know that! We tried to stress that it's not a problem if it helps keep Rocky healthy and happy. If we can get him better, let's do it.

So, that was our morning. I took some pictures when we got home, just a warning, they're pretty high on the ick scale. But I know some might find them interesting. That pink area is just one toe. Clicking on a picture will take you to a bigger photo in my family album; clicking on that picture will open a larger photo.

 

rocky    photos    cryptococcus    catstuff   

      Friday, March 23, 2018


otherstuff
06:41 AM - 03/23/2018

The topic: Last year I got new glasses
----------------------------------------------

I got them from Zenni.com and I've been pretty happy with them.

I got two pair. One was a set of progressives with Transitions and the other was just for far sightedness. To watch television.

Well, in the past month or so, I'd be watching television with the glasses on and grab my little tablet and check stuff out while watching tv. Or if it was something Brian was interested in, I'd play a game. But I couldn't see the screen clearly, so I'd put on my readers. Over my glasses.

Yeah, I'd have two sets of glasses on at the same time.

So, earlier this month I ordered a set of bifocals!  lol! And the old person clip on sunglasses that go over them.

They got here a couple of days ago and I'm rockin' those things. 

And it was less than $35 for the glasses and sunglass clip on.

zenni    love it   

      Monday, March 26, 2018


catstuff
02:14 PM - 03/26/2018

The topic: Short Rocky update
----------------------------------------------

What did not hurt last week at this time, hurts this week.

He has settled in to the little cat sleep center in the living room. Maybe it was the colder weather this past weekend, but he's not moving around much.

I had a bag of Nutro kitten food leftover from last year with DaNiece and he really likes that. Smaller pieces of kibble jam packed with nutrition. He's never had much of an appetite for soft food and he turned his nose up at turkey baby food a little while ago, but he loves that kibble.

The thing is I have to sit with him while he eats. Because cats. He did go out late yesterday afternoon and drank some water out of the fountain and peed.

Later, he made his way over to the swing and scratched at one of the legs, stretching out (it's an oak swing). We left the door open until he came in.

I moved the cat trees around so I could access the bottom of the sleep center, there's a basket there and there's very little climbing to get to it. He likes that basket. Brian let me know that Rocky was in the hall and I was able to switch out the bedding for some clean, fresh stuff.

The terbinafine got her Friday afternoon (much better service than Roadrunner), only two days after it was ordered. He's not real thrilled with being medicated. Even though he got two doses on Friday, he was still okay with getting meds this weekend. He gets two meds three days a week. Today is a two med day.

I sure hope we can beat this thing. He's a really nice cat.

rocky    cryptococcus    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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