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      Friday, September 01, 2006


catstuff
09:05 AM - 09/01/2006

The topic: Tapeworms
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Bleh.  I noticed Ronnie had some last week and I gave him a worm pill.  Last night, Rory sat on my arm and when she left my arm was a little damp.  I wiped it with a tissue and there was blood on the tissue.  Then I grabbed her up, had Brian turn on a light so I could better see what I was looking at, I wiped her bottom and there was a smear of mucusy blood.  And a tapeworm segment.

*sigh*

I gave her a worm pill.  I hope the worms are the source of her anal irritation, that which is causing the bleeding.


otherstuff
09:09 AM - 09/01/2006

The topic: Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man’s Chest
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Brian’s brother hasn’t been able to work for him much this week (his bro also is working for Nissan, at their La Jolla plant, in design).  Brian’s been keeping busy, though.  I asked him earlier in the week if he could get off work early and maybe we could finally go see the new Pirates movie. 

He called yesterday afternoon and said he could be home by three, did I still want to go. 

You bet.

We went.  We watched.  And when we left I thought “I just sat through over two and a half hours of movie and it’s NOT FINISHED?  I won’t know how it ends until the next installment?”

Arrrghh!!!! (<——that’s my pirate noise)


otherstuff
09:14 AM - 09/01/2006

The topic: Ah, the joys of aging
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I had the initial eye exam in June. I got my contact lenses at CostCo last month. I knew I had better get the prescription in for my bifocals so I could get used to them before October. I’ll probably wear those to the parks instead of the contacts, and if I do, I don’t want to be falling down steps or walking into people because I’m still getting used to the glasses.

I looked at some frames at CostCo and I gotta tell ya. I don’t like these little itty bitty glasses they have now. They do not look good on me. Of all of the frames they had available, I was most interested in the men’s styles. More like it.

Now, I’ve gotten my eyes checked four times in my life. The first time was in my mid twenties and I got regular glasses and sunglasses. I still have the glasses. Two pair. Sunglasses eventually died. Then I got contacts which I wore for a year or so.  I also bought new sunglasses, but with no prescription in the lenses.  I couldn’t find sunglasses of this quality on any rack.  Those sunglasses eventually just wore out.

Then I had some sort of floatie thing in one of my eyes and I saw an opthamologist.  Turned out to be nothing. But I also got a new prescription for glasses.  I got a regular pair and a pair of Transistions.  The new frames were getting smaller and lighter.  I like the lightness, I did not like the smallness. I was surprised the Transistions didn’t get any darker.  I was glad I still had my old prescription sunglasses, which still worked just fine.  My eyesight hadn’t gotten worse.

Well, a decade plus later, my near sight is getting worse.  I need reading glasses.  I was tired of having two sets of glasses, but I could live with it.  Brian’s vision has gotten worse and he’s wanted to get his eyes checked for a couple of years now.  I blogged about all of that back in June.

So, I went to Wal-Mart yesterday, prescription in hand.  I spent a half hour or so looking at what was available. I went to Wal-Mart because I knew they had a bigger selection of lenses than CostCo.  I knew I’d want two pair.  I knew I didn’t want itty-bitty glasses. I found one frame I thought looked nice on me, metal, lightweight.  Not round, not rectangular, but a nice shape.  I found another pair of dark metal frames that were rectangular.  I figured this would do it.

I ended up not getting the rectangular pair since they didn’t look as good on me as the others.  We found a frame similar to the first one I picked out, but darker.  One set of the glasses will have Transistions, the other will be sunglasses.  At home, I can wear the glasses that I’ve already got, I just wanted something practical for away from home.

She puts the frames on me, has me look at her finger, then she marks the lens.  Because these lenses will be progressive bifocals, they have to mark how my eyes will be seeing out just right.  She explained how they’re made and how I’d look through them.  We picked out a darkness for the sunglasses and then we were done.  I asked how much of a deposit they needed and she told me since they were custom items, they’d need to be paid in full. 

So, she figured out the cost and told me.  I hope I didn’t flinch.  It was $585.00.  *koff*

I put it on my credit card and called Brian from the parking lot.  He said “hey, I thought they did the same type of thing Dr. Levanthal does, I thought you could get two pair for a hundred bucks!”  I laughed at that.  When we figure that it will probably be a long time before I need new ones, this really isn’t that bad.  And like I told him “it’s like when you go to the dentist”.  That dentist always finds something wrong that costs a bunch of toonas.  You get your teeth cleaned, he pokes his head in, asks “how ya doin’ today?”, then charges you extra because you saw the dentist. And, gee whiz, what’s this, an old filling that really should be replaced…. cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching…

The glasses should be in by the twelfth of September.  That will give me plenty of time to learn how to see out of them.


catstuff
10:15 AM - 09/01/2006

The topic: Lorelei, the huntress
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So, I’m on the phone to my mom and I hear a cat’s muffled meows coming from outside. 

I get up and glance out.  Ah, Lorelei caught something and is talking with her mouth full. I can’t see what she’s got, the table is in my way.

I walk outside and around the table to view her catch (and hopefully save it if it’s not too late).

She has her prize laying in front of her.  There’s no bringing it back to life.  And she’s just as proud of herself as any cat could be. 

As I look down, I try not to laugh, I don’t want to hurt her feelings.

I mean, after all, she did chase this thing and she did carry it all the way back to the patio. She did subdue it to the best of her ability.

This dried up old leaf off of the liquid amber tree.

      Saturday, September 02, 2006


mailstuff
04:25 PM - 09/02/2006

The topic: Nigerian email scam
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I got a variation of this in one of my emails this morning.  You know.  The one where you send them your bank account number, they’ll transfer millions and millons of dollars to it, withdraw most of what they deposited, and leave you a nice sum for your trouble. (Except, of course, they clean you out.  Or something along those lines.  That’s why these emails are supposed to be forwarded the U.S. Gummint.) Urgent, of course.  I couldn’t help myself.  I responded.

Something urgent for you:

I am the queen of France.
I love to sing and dance.
And if you don’t believe me
I will punch you in the pants.”

They haven’t responded as yet.

      Sunday, September 03, 2006


otherstuff
05:56 PM - 09/03/2006

The topic: It’s so hot
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I’m thinking about dinner, don’t know what to have.  Brian isn’t home right now, said to go ahead and eat without him.

I don’t want to cook.  I don’t want to drive anywhere.  We don’t have any bread.  We had a full loaf that we got last week and it was smelling a little moldy. 

I’m hungry.  I wish we had a Del Taco that wasn’t twenty minutes away.  I’m not that hungry.

      Tuesday, September 05, 2006


catstuff
07:20 AM - 09/05/2006

The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #7
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click on the picture for a larger image

This Tuesday Tummy model is, once again, the very soft bellied Richie Cunningham.  Showing off his spotted belly, letting us all know that there is no tummy is fine as his.

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If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!

      Wednesday, September 06, 2006


otherstuff
08:57 AM - 09/06/2006

The topic: Do you Woot?
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I Woot. I've gotten other people to Woot. It's always fun to pop your Woot cherry. I Wooted this morning, as a matter of fact, even before I ate breakfast.

What is Woot? you ask? I'll tell you. Woot is Woot.com.Woot sells one thing a day.  They start selling that item at midnight, central time. If they sell out of that product before the twenty four hours is up, they don’t sell anything else that day.  If they don’t sell out, that item is either sold during a “Woot off” or sold in a “Bag O’ Crap”.

And they have great prices on what they sell.  This morning, it was a “Dazzle to Go USB 2.0 TV Tuner and Video Editor” for $44.99.  With $5.00 shipping.  It’s always $5.00 shipping.  You can only buy three of an item.  Per credit card, that is. And the shipping is still just $5.00.  If you buy three 61” plasma televisions, the shipping is $5.00.  Total.  For all three.  The “Dazzle to Go” sells elsewhere for twice the price I paid for mine this morning.  A great deal.  So great, I bought two.  Well, one’s for my buds in the Bay area, since I know they were interested in something like this.  I called them up when I saw the bouncing “buy me” button.  When the buy button bounces, the product is almost gone.  So you have to act fast.  I did call them to inquire if they would be interested in this woot.  I knew, though, that it would be gone by the time they had the computer booted up and I was on the checkout page already.  I was told by all means, to woot for them.  I did.  I love to woot.

A “woot-off” is awful.  Well, not awful, it’s really fun, but you don’t want to miss anything during the woot-off.  They sell what didn’t sell earlier.  They sell it more cheaply than they did before.  During the last woot-off, I bought two refurbed 256MB SanDisk MP3 players.  For $12.99 each.  With $5.00 total shipping.  My entry into the world of portable music.  I like it.  I’ll be watching for bigger and better ones.  On Woot.com, of course.  The woot-off lasts for up to 48 hours.  Or when they sell out of the last item. See, they put a product up, and you can watch the bar go down as the item sells.  Once it’s sold out, they move onto a new item.  They do this until all they’ve got to sell, sells out.  If something doesn’t sell, it’s known as a “woot-off killer”.  I’ve seen the selling slow way down, but eventually, everything gets sold.  It’s fun! Except you don’t want to go to sleep, because there might be something you really, really need (that you never even knew you needed until you saw it on Woot) at a great price. 

They sell all sorts of things. Ice cream makers.  Bread machines.  Video cards. Plasma televisions. Speakers. Televisions. DVD players.  Bagel splitters.  Wine.  Airbeds.   The variety is wide.

One thing I’d love to be able to buy is a Bag O’ Crap.  A BOC is a dollar.  With $5.00 shipping.  For three dollars, you can get three Bags O’ Crap.  With $5.00 shipping.  You don’t know what you bought until you get it.  And some of the stuff they send is great.  I’ve read where someone got a 35” plasma television in his BOC.  I read where another got a pencil.  You don’t know what you’re going to get.  I want the opportunity to buy three BOCs.  I really do.  But they sell out quickly, within seconds.

Anyway, since I so enjoy Wooting, I thought I’d share this little pasttime of mine with my readers.

Oh, the stuff I bought this morning?  By the time I was done with my checkout, they were sold out.  Whew!  Just in the knick of time. I love to Woot.

      Sunday, September 10, 2006


otherstuff
11:33 AM - 09/10/2006

The topic: I’m really bored
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I’ve got tons of stuff to do.  It’s not like I couldn’t do something to keep myself busy, but I don’t feel like doing any of it.

So far this morning, I’ve cleaned up the office a little, moved stuff around in the extra room, stuff I’ve got to get up on the auctions.

I’ve got auctions I could put up, laundry I could do, empty the dishwasher, litterboxes to clean, windows that could be washed, books I could read, movies I could watch and I don’t feel like doing any of it.

Makes me nuts, feeling like this.

Maybe I’m just adjusting to the new wonderful, cooler weather.  It’s a good twenty degrees cooler than it was four days ago.  It’s so nice.

Maybe I’ll go lay by the pool.  Since it’s not so hot, maybe I can handle being out there longer.

After I empty the dishwasher and start more laundry.

      Monday, September 11, 2006


catstuff
09:25 PM - 09/11/2006

The topic: Happy Gotcha Day
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To Phoebe, Monica and Joey. They've been here two years today. Phoebe is pretty friendly, Monica is a little cooler and Joey wouldn't come near me if I wasn't the one who gave him yummies. He tolerates my petting for a little bit, then he jets. But that's okay, they've got better lives here than they ever would have had out front.

      Tuesday, September 12, 2006


catstuff
07:05 AM - 09/12/2006

The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #8!
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click for a larger pic

Today’s cathouse Tummy Tuesday entry is our little three legged Potter Pot Pie.  Here he’s showing off his shaved belly, free from all of the mats he’s had all through this summer.  (Little squirmy cat does not like being combed or brushed.)

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If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!

 


catstuff
11:54 AM - 09/12/2006

The topic: A Happy Gotcha Day
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Goes out to Little Bit, who unwillingly joined the clowder two years ago today.

She hardly ever hisses at the other cats now and she no longer runs when we talk to her. 

We still haven’t been able to touch her, though.

I think she’s assimilated well.  She’s got her own spaces in the house and keeps to herself.  She wasn’t all that friendly with the other cats when she was out front, although she warmed up to KittyMeeze. 

I wonder if she’d remember him.

 

      Wednesday, September 13, 2006


otherstuff
09:00 AM - 09/13/2006

The topic: Bad husband.  Bad.
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Have you ever had a dream where your SO did something to piss you off and you woke up angry?

The other night, I dreamed that we still had carpeting and Brian wasn’t happy with the state of the litterbox.  I was like “oh, well, you don’t like the way I take care of it, do it yourself” and he promptly picked it up and dumped it into the carpet.  You see, vacuuming is my job.

jesterA

      Thursday, September 14, 2006


otherstuff
10:27 AM - 09/14/2006

The topic: Spambots
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I hate spambots.  Spambots are the reason that you can’t just leave a comment here, but you have to fill in that extra space with the numbers and letters you see in the graphic.  Spambots are the reason I’ve got the same type of thing on all of my guestbooks.  Spambots are the reason I had problems with my trackbacks here on the journal.  Luckily, I found that Expression Engine has a workaround for trackback spam, which works nicely.

In the control panel for my websites, there are many ways of seeing visitors, the error messages that are being generated.  The error messages let me know when a non-existent page is getting hits (the 404 error message) or when someone is trying to get into a protected page (the 403 error message).  Years ago, I had a couple of the old style CGI forums set up (they were like the current Boardhost boards).  They were attacked by spambots and I had to disable them all, because it put a hurt on the server where my sites reside.  Using up 96% of the CPU at times of the day when no one was around.

So, I left the forums up so they could be read, but there could be no activity on them.  No posting.  No replying.  They were read only.  But the spambots kept trying to hit them.  I changed the directory name of the boards.  So, the bots have nothing to hit.  I get hundreds of hits to non-existent pages now, from these bots.  Luckily, one of the options available in my control panel is the ability to see where the hits are coming from.   I know they’re bogus, but they give me a link to the sites that these spambots would link to, if they could post on the forums. 

I do a little research and sometimes I find contact pages.  And the contact pages have the exact information that a post on a forum would have.  Name, email, URL and comment, then submit.  So, I’ve started redirecting the spambots to those pages.  I sure hope that the bots are filling in these forms and submitting them.  It would be so nice to know that the spammers are spamming themselves.

The casino spam has dropped way off since I started this.  Then it went to auto insurance and that’s slowed down.  I still get a few, but not many.  Today, I’m getting spam for loan companies.  You know the same jerks run the pages that they’re trying to give the URL for, because each and every one looks exactly alike.  The only difference is the domain name.

Let’s see how long these take to go away. 


catstuff
10:47 AM - 09/14/2006

The topic: Must have been really tired….
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My little Katie Boogins....


click for a larger pic

She fell asleep cleaning herself.

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Visit the Friday Ark #104.


catstuff
12:16 PM - 09/14/2006

The topic: The kittens
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I hadn't taken any kitten pics in a while and I thought maybe I should before they weren't kittens any longer. I took a series this morning of Ronnie and Rory.

 


click for a larger pic

Ron Howard. A nice looking young boy kitten.


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His sister, Rory Gilmore. I love this face.


click for a larger pic

 

I love the perspective in this one. There are more over at the Family Album (link at the bottom of this page).

      Saturday, September 16, 2006


catstuff
11:43 AM - 09/16/2006

The topic: Cross your fingers and pray
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Last night, Frisky of TBIFOC escaped. Laurence and his wife are out of town for the weekend and Frisky got out before they left.

Keep all fingers and paws crossed that Frisky is safe at home.  Laurence left food and water out on the patio for Frisky.

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Frisky is okay!

      Sunday, September 17, 2006


catstuff
10:39 AM - 09/17/2006

The topic: Something’s wrong with Lisa
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It started last week.  She’d sound like she was gagging on something, but nothing ever came up.  It wasn’t like a “I’m gonna puke!” cat gag, it was like it was hard for her to swallow type of gag.  She ate kibble yesterday afternoon, but I watched this morning and she had one piece in her mouth, tried to swallow and spit it back up.

I was able to get some Hill’s A/D down her (she wouldn’t eat it on her own, she prefers the kibble) and she kept it down.  I also tried a little NutriCal, which she liked.  She licked that off of her leg and did a little grooming after that. She also was able to eat a little piece of cornbread.

I’m thinking she either has a sore throat, or there is something wrong in her mouth.  Teeth, gums, I dunno.  I do know I’ll be taking her to the vet this coming week. 

I don’t like it when a cat can’t eat.

      Monday, September 18, 2006


otherstuff
08:59 AM - 09/18/2006
We found 3 pennies on our walk this morning

The topic: Movies
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Here’s something that sounded like it would be fun, but it’s harder than I thought.  On a forum I frequent, someone asked about your favorite movies. 

I asked Brian last night, what his are.  We both kept shouting out faves.  Then he said “what if you could only have ten movies?  Which ten would you have?”  I figured that since some of his favorites are mine, I could pick some different ones.  You know, like I could have twenty favorites.  Nope.  I can only choose ten.

I start looking through our collection.  Trimming it down to just ten would be very, very hard.  One for sure would be “Bridges of Madison County”.  Not because I watch it all that often, but because, when you’re in the right mood, it’s a great movie for the release of a good cry.  I know one person who hated that film because she felt it glamorized an affair, but for me, it had the opposite effect.  I mean, who’d want to go through their life knowing there was something better?  Something more deep and more passionate?  I’d rather remain ignorant, thank you very much. Ignorance is bliss. There was so much longing in that movie, it was almost tangible.  Huh uh.  Not something I’d want to be a part of.  But I like the movie.

But I really don’t know what the other nine would be.  Tin Cup?  I love that movie.  Thunderheart?  I’ve watched it over and over.  The Incredibles? Another one of those movies we never get tired of.  Pirates of the Caribbean; the Black Pearl?  Leave behind Captain Jack Sparrow? Are you nuts?  I just don’t know.  I suck at choosing where to eat dinner, I’d have a really hard time narrowing down my list of ten most desired movies.

What about you? What would your choices be? And why would they be your choices?


catstuff
09:10 AM - 09/18/2006

The topic: Lisa sees the vet tomorrow
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Her appointment is at 9:30.

Last night, I took a good look in her mouth. And say a massive amount of tartar buildup on her right top molars.  I scraped it with my fingernail and it came off in my hand.  Two pieces.  Bigger than her molar.  And her gum was bright deep red.  So, I’m thinking she’ll need a dental.

I didn’t want to schedule the dental, though, I’d like to make sure the problem is with her teeth and gums.  And with Richie, he was on antibiotics before he got his dental so the infection wouldn’t spread throughout his system.  If Lisa doesn’t need a pre-dental course of meds, then she can probably have the dental later this week.  If that’s her problem.

Poor little girl.

      Tuesday, September 19, 2006


catstuff
08:01 AM - 09/19/2006
We found a nickel on our walk this morning

The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #9!
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Click for a bigger pic

Today’s tummy belongs to none other than Bartholomew Bradley, he of the extra toes (both front and back paws).  He’d bite me if he knew I was posting this picture.

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If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!


catstuff
11:18 AM - 09/19/2006

The topic: Back from the vet
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Well, it looks like she has something called (short name) stomatitis.  This is a problem with the immune system, where the immune system spots an intruder and goes overboard trying to defend against it.  In this case, the intruder was most likely something to do with the buildup of tartar on her teeth.

The vet really doesn’t want to pull the teeth, although that would be the aggressive treatment.  He wants to give her a deep dental, cleaning under the gums and trying to scrape all the crap out.  He was ready to do this today, but when he checked his surgery schedule, he’s doing a lung operation on a dog and he wants as much extra room as possible.  We made her appointment for Thursday. 

She’s already been started on antibiotics to help with any infection.  He said after the antibiotics, she might need a course of prednisone to keep the immune system at bay, until this clears up.

He said her teeth don’t appear to have any cavities and they aren’t loose, so he thinks there’s a good chance they can be saved.  If he finds differently during the dental, he’ll pull them.  If not, we try this other course of action.  He said, if down the road, she does need these teeth pulled and he spanks himself for not having done it now, he’ll not charge us for the extractions.

So, Thursday it is. 

He also asked about Ciara.  I guess no one told him.

confused


otherstuff
03:05 PM - 09/19/2006

The topic: Today is national “Talk Like A Pirate” day
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My pirate name is:
Captain Anne Read
Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Even through many pirates have a reputation for not being the brightest souls on earth, you defy the sterotypes. You've got taste and education. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

      Thursday, September 21, 2006


catstuff
10:21 AM - 09/21/2006
We found nothing on our walk this morning

The topic: I hate waiting
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Lisa is at the vet’s office, where she’ll have a dental today.  They’re also going to do pre-anesthetic bloodwork, which is a good idea.  She’s twelve and a half years old now and a blood panel is warranted at this age.  It will alert us to any problems with her organs, like kidney disease.

She was very good on the way over and wasn’t upset about not having any food since last night. 

Last night, when we pulled the food up, she was eating kibble without any problem, so I’m hoping that she doesn’t need any teeth extracted.

I bet she’s scared right now.  I can go pick her up after three this afternoon.


catstuff
10:29 AM - 09/21/2006

The topic: Food
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We had pancakes for breakfast.  Because I bought a bottle of blueberry syrup yesterday.  The cats like pancakes.  So, Brian always makes enough batter to make a huge pancake for the cats, which he rips apart and tosses to the unwashed masses.

Yesterday, I cooked a roast in the crockpot.  Not for dinner, but for Brian’s lunch.  I slice it up and it makes a couple of week’s worth of sandwiches.  I cook it one day, wrap it in foil, put in the frig, then run the slicer the next morning.  I usually have a problem with helpers when I do the slicing. 

Not this morning, they were too busy eating pancakes.

The didn’t eat all of the pancake, though, and I had to go through the kitchen and dining room, picking up uneaten pieces of pancake.  They’re no fun to step on barefoot, ya know.


otherstuff
01:09 PM - 09/21/2006

The topic: Doctor’s appointment
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I made my first doctor’s appointment in twenty years this morning.  I’ve been good about the woman doc, but not about the general health doc.

See, an hour or so ago, my left eye went wacky. It was like someone had shot a flash or I’d looked into the sun.   But that hadn’t happened.  Then my left thumb started to tingle.  Then it quit tingling and my left index finger started to tingle. 

Concerned, I took my blood pressure.  It was sky high.  So, I started cleaning litterboxes and I did the dishes, just in case something happened. And I took some calcium.  I called my old doctor and made an appointment, for Monday at 10:15.  Since both of my parents have/had high blood pressure, I guess I might be stuck on meds.  And I’m fat.  There, I said it.

Anyway, she said if things got really bad, to get to the Urgent Care that’s next to a major hospital in the area.  If Urgent Care can’t do anything, they’ll send me over to the hospital.  *sigh*

Anyway, dishes done, litterboxes cleaned, I laid on the sofa and took my blood pressure.  It’s come way down.   That’s good.

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Update:  I took my BP at 1:35 and it was 120/83.  Not bad at all.  I wonder why it spiked like it did.  I find that very odd.  At the suggestion of the nurse, I’ll be sporadically taking my pressure and writing it down to take with me on Monday.


catstuff
03:37 PM - 09/21/2006

The topic: Lisa’s home
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And she lost some teeth.  The receptionist counted five listed, but he only mentioned three.  He said he went down to the jawline and did some major scraping there, this crap had invaded it.  Hopefully, the extraction will take care of the stomatitis.

Her blood panel came back good, said no sign of trouble, although her globulin was off.  He attributed that to the inflammation in her gums.

I take her back on October 2 for a recheck, to see if the surgery did what we hope it did.

.

      Friday, September 22, 2006


otherstuff
09:54 AM - 09/22/2006

The topic: Blood pressure is normal today
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I took it shortly after getting up this morning, it was 136/83 pulse rate 87

Got dressed, we went for our morning walk, were gone for about forty minutes, I did break a sweat and I took it immediately.  136/82 pulse 109.  Five minutes later, after I’d cooled down somewhat I took it again.  115/85.  Pulse 104.  So, I don’t think I’m in eminent danger of a stroke, but I’m still going Monday.  And I’ve got a chiro appointment at 11:30 this morning, since my back is kind of sore.

Lovely. 

I actually got on a scale yesterday.  It wasn’t good.  I didn’t weigh as much as I did when I did the weight watchers thing back in 2003, but it was damn close.  This past month I’ve cut back on a lot of the nibbling I’d been doing and I think I’ve probably lost ten pounds, I’ve lost something, how my clothes fit is a definite indication, so that would have put me over the WW beginning weight. 

Ah, well, at least I know there’s a problem and I’m doing something about it.  Not thinking about it doesn’t make it go away.

      Tuesday, September 26, 2006


catstuff
07:22 AM - 09/26/2006

The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #10!
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Click for a bigger pic

Today’s tummy belongs to Benny.  This was taken at the beginning of the month and you can see how his fur is growing in curly.  It doesn’t stay that way, though. 

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If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!


otherstuff
08:26 AM - 09/26/2006

The topic: About the doctor’s visit
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I don’t have high blood pressure.  He did suggest getting a blood panel done, just to rule out anything else that might be going on, like we do for our aging cats.

I would have done it yesterday, but I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and you need to have fasted overnight.


catstuff
08:29 AM - 09/26/2006

The topic: I think Jackson has a cold
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I hope and pray that’s all it is.

Yesterday, late afternoon, he was drooling really badly.  As the night went on, the drooling quit and his nose was very runny.  Still is today, just dripping.  It isn’t constant, but when he lays down, there’s a steady drip.

You might recall that Jackie is the only adult that hasn’t been neutered.  Because we can’t grab him and get him in a carrier without major skin damage. 

Thinking back on it, he has been under the weather, actually sleeping on the loveseat in the family room.  I’m thinking he might have the same thing that Georgie is just now getting over, that Monica has finally overcome and that Joey still has.  Not as bad as it was, but he’s still got a little of it in his system.

I’m going to do an online search for l-Lysine in powdered form.  That would be great to have and just add to their nightly food ration.

Jackie is still eating, he ate some of the Nutro kibble last night, he had dinner with the other cats and later I was able to get him to lick some Wellness off of my index finger.  He ate over a half of a small can.  It went much easier when he was in the bedroom and I was able to shut the door to keep the other cats from trying to the the food before he did.

Could you please keep a good thought for him?


otherstuff
08:35 AM - 09/26/2006

The topic: I haven’t been posting much
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because sitting in this chair in front of the computer is really bothering my lower back.  I don’t know what I did to it, it’s not as bad now as it was last week, but sitting here for long periods of time makes it worse, so I’m not sitting here.

And that’s why I haven’t been posting as much.

      Wednesday, September 27, 2006


catstuff
10:32 AM - 09/27/2006

The topic: Jackie update
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He drools no more. 

Yesterday it kept getting a little bit lighter and lighter.  This morning, I saw a little bit and now, nothing. 

Whew.

I kept thinking back to Pepper, who had a tumor in her lower jaw, then Handsome.   But, we’re okay.

I am going to make an effort to tame him up.  A big effort.  If something bad does happen to him, as it is now, it will be near impossible to get him to a vet.


catstuff
10:34 AM - 09/27/2006

The topic: SSscat!
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Have you ever heard of these?  They’re cans of compressed air, with a top that uses batteries.  The top comes separate from the air and you put four AAA batteries in it, pop it on the can, and set it.  What it does is put out this weird noise, then it shoots a puff of air.  It works on a motion sensor. 

Tired of Autumn using the area under the sofa in the family room as her very own personal toilet, and tired of Brian complaining that it smells like litterbox by his side of the loveseat (which it most definitely did), I bought two of these.  I was going to do one under the sofa and one under the loveseat.

Yesterday, I ran the Scooba in the family room, pulling the sofas away from the wall and let the little machine do its job and the area under the loveseat hadn’t been used as a litter box, so there won’t be a need for one there, but the second one will find a home on the kitchen counter, where the cats pee the most. 

At first, you set it for sound and air and after the cats come to connect the sound with the shot of air, they avoid the area when they hear the noise.  Then you set it to just sound.  Well, this morning I pulled all the furniture from the dining room and started the Roomba to vacuuming.  Once the floor was free of most of the loose dirt, I started up the Scooba. 

I was sitting on the sofa, reading the paper when I heard the “hiss” of the Ssscat.  Then I saw Autumn running.  I think it’s gonna work. 

No more under the sofa litterbox.  Yay!

      Saturday, September 30, 2006


otherstuff
12:17 PM - 09/30/2006

The topic: Technology….pfft!
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So, our digital channels have had major pixelization problems.  We can watch analog with no problem, but digital channels are unwatchable.  Brian does not want to have anyone out to work on this.  We bought equipment over two years ago for setting this ourselves, but have never used it.

This morning, he went up on the roof and got busy.  We were getting signals of 100, but the quality was in the sixties.  He did as much as he could, following the instructions.  And still, the picture pixelized. 

I posted a help message on a satellite forum and I also emailed one of the members. After I did this, I got my stool and tightened up the connections at the back of the satellite receiver. 

The pixelization seems to have stopped.  They weren’t noticibly loose, but something helped.  I’ll be curious to see if the picture stays good. 

The quality should be higher, though.  I know it can go higher.

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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.

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

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