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      Tuesday, July 01, 2014


catstuff
10:21 AM - 07/01/2014

The topic: Captain is having a very hard time
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Right now. I just called the vet, we're taking him in at 11:40 to say goodbye.


catstuff
12:10 PM - 07/01/2014

The topic: Captain’s gone.
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Before the appointment, he was in the yard, on the railroad ties by the pool, stretching and scratching. He was beside the house when he saw Brian. He ran into the house. I picked him up and cuddled him to my shoulder while Brian got the carrier.

He was gasping, trying to breathe. He went quietly.

And now it's time to remember the good, not the goodbye.


catstuff
06:02 PM - 07/01/2014

The topic: And we just said goodbye to Gracie Anne.
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Georgie's sister.

She's spent the past ten years or so in the garage. She just felt more comfortable out there. Over the years she got thinner and thinner, but she always hung in there. Yesterday she wasn't looking good at all. I gave her fluids and lots of watered down A/D. She ate with a good appetite. Today, she turned her nose up at tuna. She slept on a clean blanket and I watched her as she woke up. She didn't know I was there watching. She couldn't stand up. At all. 

Earlier today Brian said he thought we'd have until next week. We didn't.

That's it. No more. No more for months. I don't want to do this any longer.

      Wednesday, July 02, 2014


catstuff
06:35 AM - 07/02/2014

The topic: So, what I’ll do today
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Is to rearrange the litterbox area of the garage. A long time ago my mom bought me a miniature pool table and since Brian wouldn't play with me, it ended up in the garage. Over by the litterboxes. 

The cats, Gracie mostly, started to use it as a bed. Over time, I'd added blankets to the top and I had to stack boxes underneath because the bolts that attached the legs kept loosening up and it kept leaning and I was scared that it would fall on a cat. With the boxes stacked, if it fell, it would just land on the boxes and not a kitty cat.

And I've hated the whole thing.  Years ago I told Brian "when we lose Gracie, I'm getting rid of that thing".  Yeah, other kitties laid on it, but it was Gracie Anne's bed. 

Before 6:30 this morning the pool table was in the dumpster. I still have the boxes to get rid of and I have to figure out where to put the cat condos that were by it that Gracie uses as stairs of a sort (she's been weak for a while and I wanted to make it as easy as possible for her to get up there).

Life moves on.

      Thursday, July 03, 2014


catstuff
09:14 AM - 07/03/2014

The topic: Moving on…
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Last night was tough in the kitchen. Georgie was usually on the counters during food service and clean up. His job was to lick the plates and he did a really good job of it.

I saw flies on the screens and it brought back memories of our premier fly killer. Captain. He'd lay in the window and watch a fly, then catch it and eat it. He was really good at it.

Georgie and Gracie had the sweetest way of greeting you. You'd put your face up to their's and they'd gently sniff your forehead and nose. Barely touching. None of the other cats do that. 

It's the little things that bring on the waterworks. Remembering the sweet things they did that make the throat swell.

Captain would lay on the sofa and if another cat got in his space, he's swing at them. We used to call him "Slappy Cappy".  

Gracie would talk. Gracie talked all the way to the vet's on Tuesday. It hurt. It hurt bad. 

With time, these memories will bring smiles. About two hours from now. That would be nice. I don't like to cry, not this deep stuff. Meh.

I cleaned up the litterbox area yesterday, now there's a lot more room. I pushed the condos against one another and Brian wasn't too sure of that, but so far, the cats are using them, so I think they'll stay right where they are.

Right now we're in a state of flux with the cats. I know they know what's happened, they probably were aware of it before we were. (Sagwa spent the past weekend next to Gracie on the blankets; the next day, he didn't go into the garage at all - he was keeping watch; this isn't the first time the cats have done this.) Now the relationships will be redefined.

Monday night Rocky gave me a scare. He was acting really weird and kept going into the kitchen and trying to get into the cupboards. Tuesday morning, I couldn't find him anywhere. I was up at four and outside looking for him, but I was 99% sure he'd been in the house when I blocked all of the cat doors. That 1% of doubt, though, that kept me awake. I called and called and he finally came out of one of the kitchen cupboards. They all ended up blocked so kitties couldn't get in. But why was he doing this? Why was he hiding?

He went outside at one point and was in one of the cat houses most of the day. When it was time to get the cats in, he ran out of the house, then stopped and stopped short and started crying. Then he limped into the house. I was able to find him and he spent the night in the bathroom where I could keep an eye on him. I don't know what he'd done to his left back leg, but he was putting weight on it so I was pretty sure he hadn't somehow broken it. Yesterday morning he was walking fine, putting weight on it with no problem.

I let him out of the bathroom and he spent the day in the garage behind the storage cabinets. I checked on him throughout the day and gave him treats. (Cats are SO treat oriented!) He ate them all. He didn't come out at dinner, not that I saw, but this morning I let the cats out around 4:00 (spent the night on the sofa, it's much cooler in there than the bedroom and the couple of times I did try to go to bed, my side of the bed was covered in cats and Brian was fast asleep so moving the cats wasn't an option; Brian's been pretty stressed, too, it's been really hard on him). When I opened up the house at 5:30 Rocky was outside. I petted him and watched him walk and it was normal. Right now he's back in the garage in his spot. I don't know what was going on with him, but it seems to have passed. It's possible that Gracie might have had a seizure and that scared him or maybe there was some predator sniffing around the vent that's next to where he sleeps. This vent is at the front of the house, low to the ground.  It has heavy metal louvres (that are fixed) and no full grown cat could get through if they tried and under those is a welded screen type grate, nothing a cat or coyote could bite or claw through.  But there's a good airflow and I'm sure critters sniff around it.

Anyway, Rocky is okay.

I have some videos I took of Georgie and Captain last week and you'll be able to see why I was dragging my feet on saying goodbye. But they're good videos that will always remind me of how much they filled our lives.


otherstuff
01:17 PM - 07/03/2014

The topic: Right now
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I could eat all of the chocolate pudding in the world.

      Friday, July 04, 2014


otherstuff
10:20 AM - 07/04/2014

The topic: Busy weekend ahead
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Brian is going to finish my laundry room! Yay! 

The dryer wasn't vented properly, it needs to vent from the side and it's been hooked up from the back and it sticks out from the wall into the laundry room. The instructions are a cluster f*ck, as they say in the armed services. "Take the door off", "remove the back panel"....stuff that he couldn't do in the laundry room because there's not enough room to do all of this. So, he took it back to his shop and he did NONE of what the instructions called for. He said it was really simple to do.  And he's going to change the door to open in the opposite direction, which will make loading it a lot easier since the washer is on the right. 

Because I lost my drawers (not undie drawers!) when we got rid of the old washer and dryer, Brian thought that buying a cupboard would be a good thing for my storage. It will go almost to the ceiling and hang on the wall. Under that will be a small table with a solid back (Brian will make this) that will block the dryer vent and the gas hookup (which we don't use) from getting litter and other litter related waste materials spattered on them. I have a step stool in the laundry room already so the higher levels shouldn't be a problem. I'll keep my laundry supplies and cleaning towels in there. It should really neaten up the laundry room.

Yay! I can hardly wait!


craftstuff
10:42 AM - 07/04/2014

The topic: And I’ll be busy, too…
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While Brian does my laundry room, I'll be doing a little crafting this weekend. I find it relaxing and because it's a complicated project, I'll be keeping my mind on that. (Breakfast was kind of hard this morning, we had  Kirkland Belgian waffles (toaster) with fried eggs. When I make eggs, the yolks are always kind of runny. I've made breakfast since we lost Georgie, but this morning, it hit both of us. Georgie wasn't there to clean our plates. He loved egg yolk. To look over Brian's shoulder to the counter and not see Georgie hanging off the edge, waiting, well, damned waterworks.)

I've had this project in mind for a while and I don't want to jinx it by posting exactly what it is. But looking at the instruction sheet, I need eleven sheets of the same color. I don't have eleven sheets of any color I'd want for this, so I'm printing them up myself. Which brings me to this question.

Do the people who craft have an idea what paper they'll be using when they make these kits? I know that Mary from SVGCuts mentions the paper she uses in the kits in her instructional videos. But when crafters show off their completed kits on the SVGCuts facebook page, there's never been one that looks exactly like the one that Mary made. I have all of these kit instructions printed out and I open them up and see what I need and it's like there's some sort of wall between the page and the kit concept in my mind. It's as if my mind just empties of any type of intelligent thought. I stand there staring at that paper with my mouth dropped open and a little tiny river of drool running down one side of my chin. I've got lots of paper. I can print up my own paper (which I usually end up doing since I installed the continuous ink system last year), but not everybody can do that. So, how do they decide what paper to use?

I think I'm one of those people who has a hard time with too many choices. My mind just shuts down and I end up playing Candy Crush Saga or watching NCIS reruns. I envy the people who know what they want. *lol*

Anyway, I'm printing out the base papers for this kit. Both sides the same color. I'll have to check my inkpad stash for a matching color because there are lots of scored pieces (and for this, I'm not using my hand scorer, I'll let the machine do it - the problem there is you'll see the white base of the paper, which is why I need to find some inkpad or, hey, I've got a few of those felt markers, or colored pencils, maybe something there will work...see, this is what I mean about choices...the mind, it boggles). Once I get the paper figured out, it should be smooth sailing. 

For me, the paper choice is the hardest.  If only I had the same talent for envisioning something that Brian does...I envy that.


craftstuff
03:20 PM - 07/04/2014

The topic: The paper has been chosen!
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I had to play with the settings for the patterned paper I was printing out to make sure the pattern didn't get lost in the embossing stage. 

Of course, I asked for Brian's input and he always has some sort of idea of how it could look better, and then I have to explain the limitations of what I'm working with and I'm not sure he always understands the problem. And on such a minute scale, no one is going to even notice. Seriously, I think if I said "well, I can print out individual boards, cut them out and glue them onto the base individually" he'd be all for it.  Each board being about a quarter of an inch. I didn't even bring that up as an option. cussing

After I had that all figured out, I took the paper and the 12" x 12" photo of what I'll be making out to the garage and started looking through my paper stacks for the other parts that need to be cut out and I'm pretty happy with what I picked out. Then there are the fun embellishments I got. I have an idea for a surprise embellishment, but I want to get everything cut out first, then see if the idea is even feasible. And if it is, I'll run it by Brian to see what he thinks. I think he'll love the idea as much as I do.

Tomorrow morning will be the cutting, then putting it together. I'm going to check out SVGCuts YouTube channel and bookmark the tutorial for this kit and watch it on the television while I muddle through the assembly. (Roku now has the YouTube channel.)'

Hopefully, Brian will be finished with the laundry room (he left over an hour ago to see if his brother had some wood he needs, even though he still has to get stuff at Home Depot...that was over an hour ago) and I can shut the house up and turn on the A/C.  It's pretty warm here today. 

maple manor   

      Saturday, July 05, 2014


catstuff
06:47 AM - 07/05/2014

The topic: Two years ago
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My bestie came to visit (the last time she was down here) and she brought me a prezzie. A kitty cat named Mario! A gift that keeps on giving! rotfl

He's sure come a long way in that time, being tossed into a home with a bazillion other cats, all having their own place in the kitty heirarchy. A cat who'd been the boss wherever he went in his previous life. What the hell happened to his life? What was this zoo he'd come to live in?

Well, after finding out the resident cats didn't take kindly to having their tails slapped and attacked from above (I kind of think that's how he played with his old doggy buddy) and the cats shunned him because of that and were quick to defend themselves against him, even though he meant no harm. And he took to hiding. 

Anyway, it took a while, but now he's officially part of the family. He hangs with us in the family room when we watch tv at night and he sleeps on my side of the bed at night (and often during the day), snugged up against me. He roams the yard as if he's always been here, and it's like he's always been here.

He's come a long way in two years.

Happy Gotcha Day, Mario!

 

Here's a little video I took of him this morning. He was talky!

 

      Sunday, July 06, 2014


catstuff
06:30 AM - 07/06/2014

The topic: I was just looking at Georgie’s bio
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And I was surprised to learn that he came to us in 1995, not 1994. So he and Gracie were only nineteen. Only. *sigh*

Still a pretty good age for a kitty cat.

Miss Elizabeth is twenty. I checked Lisa's bio and we got her in 1994. Miss was six months old when we got Lisa. Her birthday is October or November.

      Tuesday, July 08, 2014


otherstuff
01:14 PM - 07/08/2014

The topic: And life goes on
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Last weekend we went to CostCo and I was able to get the latest Stephen King novel, Mr. Mercedes, and it's pretty hard to put down. But I'm trying, between chapters.

Saturday Brian finished the laundry room and I've been moving what used to be on the little table he'd made me (the litter box was under that) into the big closet he installed. I have to wipe everything off because it was so dusty. And I had plenty of room leftover for my cleaning towels. The top shelf of the cabinet is empty, but that's okay, I can't reach it without a ladder. I also wiped down the blinds, they were pretty gross. I was feeling kind of melancholy because Captain loved the laundry room. He liked to lay on top of the dryer for the warmth and the vibration. And if I wasn't doing laundry, he'd lay on the dryer and catch the breeze from the window. Yesterday, Sagwa was on the washer, followed by Richie. 

Sunday I got the litter boxes from the garage and the laundry room washed out. I've never done that. I just would wipe down the insides and add litter. It was a lot of work, believe me. It's a lot cleaner now. 

Yesterday I finished putting things away in the new cabinet in the laundry room and this freed up the table that I had been using for storage. In the garage by the litter boxes, I had a stack of boxes (boxes full of old USPS mailing boxes, which I'd planned on using when lisaviolet designs got real big..haha) and an empty or two, covered with pet blankets. Gracie used to sleep up there and occasionally some other cat would. Well, I measured and this morning, I moved all of those boxes out, swept the area, then put that table in the same spot. Worked out nicely and I'm not afraid of some kitty falling into an empty box.

I'm doing bedding laundry, I'm hot and sweaty, I should go jump in the pool, but I think instead I'll go get another glass of water and keep reading.

I'm feeling human again. Alive.

And it's so hard for me to put a good book down....

      Thursday, July 10, 2014


craftstuff
08:18 AM - 07/10/2014

The topic: Great price on 13 x 19 Canon printer
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Over on Amazon. It's a  Canon Pixma Pro-100. $179.99 after a $200.00 rebate from Canon. 

Seriously, I'd love to add this to my printer collection, but I have no room.


catstuff
09:50 AM - 07/10/2014

The topic: So, it’s been over a week now
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And I'm adjusting. Although I've never been one to be in mourning for long, maybe it's because of my upbringing, moving every two to three years, not just across town, but from one side of the country to the other. I'm used to moving on. 

I do miss the kitties, but there's definitely an upside. One of them is our population no longer numbers in the thirties. I know that twenty-eight is a lot, but it's not thirty. And we're down ten from our high of thirty-eight (if you count Kitty Meeze, and I do).

Opening up that area in the garage seems to have made huge strides in inappropriate pooping. I haven't found any on the floor in the laundry room in days - Georgie used to go in theree and so did Miss Elizabeth. But now there's lots of room in the garage box area and the boxes themselves are easier to get to; the shorter ones are more accessible to an old cat with arthritis in her back legs. Even Jackie is in the boxes and not in front of them. This is all good.

I like not having cats on the counter. Yeah, they get up there, but the Scaat things that spray compressed air help a lot. I like not having to be careful when I put pots and pans and big things in the dish drainer because of the worry that Georgie might have a hard time getting by them and slipping and falling onto the floor.  I like not having to clean different areas of poop off of the kitchen floor and laundry room floor. I like not having major pools of urine on my bathroom floor. I hate that floor anyway, the urine sure didn't make me feel better about it.

You're no longer worried that someone might get hurt doing this or that.

I know it's lemonade out of lemons. If I'd have had the opportunity to choose life as it was vs life as it is, I'd stay with as it was. But that's not my call. 

The sadness is passing quickly. And that's a good thing. 


entertainmentstuff
10:33 AM - 07/10/2014

The topic: Advanced screening “The Purge: Anarchy”
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DON'T GO SEE IT! Don't even rent it when it comes out on Netflix or Redbox or Amazon. When you see it listed in your premium channels, just keep looking. shade_smile

Okay, okay, if you like blood and gore and killing and maiming and guns and mayhem and bad guys in masks, you'll probably love this one.

I didn't. 

We hadn't gotten an advanced screening invite for a couple of weeks and when this one showed up, Brian said to go for it. After all, he'd seen some of the previews and his interest was piqued. Mine was not. At all. Not even a teeny tiny bit. But, we got the passes.

The movie was to start at 7:30 and the theater was full by 7:00 (they overbook these things to make sure the theater is full).  They started the movie at 7:15, which was nice of them. 

At the first scene where I jumped in my seat, we were maybe five or ten minutes into the movie. I actually started thinking if Brian would be okay with me going out and sitting in the car until it was over. The anticipation of the beginning of the purge wasn't fun and the purge wasn't fun. I even started thinking about people I know who'd participate in something like this. Not a pleasant place for the mind to go, to even imagine you might know someone that crazy. wasntme

No thank you very much.

When it was over, Brian was the first one out of his seat. Seriously. He didn't like it one little bit, either.

Too disturbing for my taste.


craftstuff
12:00 PM - 07/10/2014

The topic: While Brian finished my laundry room last Saturday
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I started getting the stuff organized for my next crafting project. As I did this, my mind started to wander off into the distance.

And it wandered to searching for something on the internet and I couldn't find anything that was exactly what I was searching for so I started to wonder if I could make my own. 

I went through all of my beading stuff, found some sterling silver tubes, an earring finding and some Swarovski AB 3mm beads. I used scissors to cut the tubes to size and look what I made! It only took about three or four hours!

A tiny windchime!

 

Is it any wonder I have such a difficult time finishing projects? 

Oh, look! Shiny!

maple manor   

      Friday, July 11, 2014


otherstuff
07:13 AM - 07/11/2014

The topic: I just got an ad for
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The Vermont Country Store. I don't know if you've ever heard of it, but if you're elderly like me ( sick ), you'll see a lot of familiar product names.

So, I hit the link and at the top, there's a scrolling ad banner.  One of the items for sale is "Summer Harvest Cake". I look at it. It looks just like fruit cake to me. I ask Brian to look at it. He says "it looks like that really bad...what is it called?" and I said "fruit cake". "I was thinking nut cake or something like that" he responded, adding that only nuts like it.

cwm35

I like it. 

      Saturday, July 12, 2014


craftstuff
07:04 AM - 07/12/2014

The topic: I had everything I needed cut out
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I thought and had shut off the Silhouette and powered down the laptop, then I realized I hadn't done the vellum.

I've never cut vellum before.

So, I fired up the laptop (it's old and really slow to boot up, but okay once it gets going) and got the Silhoutte back up and running. Opened Silhouette Studio and got my files in place. I already had the vellum on the mat. I started it up and went into the kitchen to continue making dinner (we had very little quick food in the house, so I had the oven going, which I hate doing when it's so stinking hot and was mashing up an avocado and heating up a can of refries to go with the taquitos in I would put in the oven).

The Silhouette finished and I went over to pull out the mat. WTF?! I never put it in the machine. *sigh* 

So, I loaded it in and restarted it. Still busy in the kitchen, I realized it didn't sound right, but I just let it keep working, like I was working. It finished. I checked it out. Many expletives at this point. 

I hadn't changed the physical depth of the blade and it cut right through the mat. And in doing so, it didn't cut the vellum right, obviously. I was sure I'd pulled two pieces of vellum from my stack, but I was wrong. I had to go find the vellum book I had (Grafix, an assortment of colors) and pull another sheet out. And grab another mat (WalMart online has the best prices I can find on these, so I stock up when I get them). I wasn't happy having to use a brand new mat, the sticky on it is very strong and it's difficult to peel the paper off. I ordered more mats earlier last week and I see that Silhouette now has a less tacky mat for more money. Stupid asses. Just make it right to begin with.

We ate dinner (I thought it sucked, but then I was looking right at the Silhouette and the pile of wasted paper and knowing it was because I got in a hurry didn't enhance the great mood I wasn't in), I got the table and dishes cleaned up and went back to work. 

Of course my vellum wasn't in the first storage container, I had to move Sagwa to get to the box it was most likely in. And to get to that box, I had to move another container of paper (you know, if we didn't have so many cats this wouldn't be an issue but inappropriate urination has ruined many things in this house and we've learned our lessons) to get to the one with the vellum. Got my sheet, headed to the dining room, put it on the mat, pulled the blade out, cleaned it out (I don't use the official Silhouette blades, I have a blade holder and I just put in a new blade, which I get on eBay, as needed - which I had to do yesterday, another lesson learned earlier this year, don't waste paper trying to get a dull blade to work), reset how much stuck out from the casing and cut my vellum.

Perfect. The first time. mail

Well, the first time with that sheet of vellum, a reset blade and a new mat.

Today, I assemble! Got the tutorial on the Playon using the Playmark option, which I'll watch on the Playon channel on my Roku in front of the television in the family room

I hope I don't end up throwing the glue bottle across the room and ripping the paper to shreds in frustration. Nah, I'd never do that. Not me. I don't throw tantrums. Or do I?

bonk

maple manor   


catstuff
01:13 PM - 07/12/2014

The topic: Well, this sucks
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It's really not that hot out, but it seems a little humid. 

I just realized that I'm sweating and I can't drip on this paper since I printed it and it leaves a mark when it gets wet (I found this out when I made our own calendars for this year and my hand was damp when I wrote on the one in the laundry room). I also have to make sure my hands are completely dry after washing them when I start to work with it, but that's not a big problem.

I hate running the A/C because it costs money.  

First world problems. My life is full of first world problems.

banana

      Sunday, July 13, 2014


craftstuff
08:32 AM - 07/13/2014

The topic: Should I call the police?
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Someone must have broken into the garage last night and they stole one small piece of the cutouts for the project I'm working on. At first I thought they'd taken two, but I found one of them. There are three different ones and I don't know which style it was so I'm going to have to recut all three styles. 

I know it's stolen because I've gone through all of my cutouts at least five times this morning and it's just not there.

Why would someone do such a thing? It's just mean.

      Monday, July 14, 2014


craftstuff
10:22 AM - 07/14/2014

The topic: Totally frustrated with my project
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I'm taking a few days off. 

I have a house to clean and paperwork to catch up on.

Soon, though. Soon I'll get back to it.


otherstuff
04:10 PM - 07/14/2014

The topic: So far, it’s been a good day
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And now that it's raining, it's an AWESOME day!

I smelled the rain before I knew.

Brian took his mom shopping this morning. When he got home, we went to WalMart and stocked up on catfood (sixty cans of Friskies and a twelve pack of Fancy Feast treat cans for Miss Elizabeth) and I got a couple of scrapbooking project containers. They're four bucks a piece. And we got two Dr Peppers and two Snickers To Go bars, I came home and scanned the receipt and faxed it over to MyPoints.com (if you want to join, let me know, I get credit for people signing up) and should get 1000 points added to my account (which was the original reason for going, but the timing was good for the other stuff we needed).

Got home, unpacked, then headed to CostCo and spent a couple of hundred bucks there (we had no quick meals and when it's hot outside, I really dread the idea of standing in the kitchen for hours with the oven and stove going). 

Brian hadn't eaten all day so on the way home we drove through Carl's Jr and had two of the worst bean and cheese burritos we've ever gotten from there.  Night shift is way better....

Got the groceries put away, Brian's complaining he's hungry, I remind him we got cottage cheese, which is an excellent food. He had a bowlful and is feeling better.

I took a nap, now it's raining.

And it's movie night! (Another advanced screening.)

 

 
Off to take a shower.  
 
The rain is most welcomed. We need it and it's really cooled the area off. It was pretty muggy this morning because of the humidity that comes with the monsoonal flow, but today, the rain followed. Yay!

      Wednesday, July 16, 2014


otherstuff
03:54 PM - 07/16/2014

The topic: I did something to my back
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Earlier this week and Tuesday morning, around two, I was wide awake and couldn't get comfortable.

I got up and instead of taking something for the pain, I took a sleep aid, one of the over-the-counter kind. Mistake. I was tired all day and my back didn't feel any better. 

I took two OTC Naproxins, didn't touch the ache and Brian said to take a third. I did. Mistake. And I had some Rolos and a Dr Pepper and for dinner, since I didn't feel like spending hours in the kitchen and really didn't want fast food, I opened a couple of cans of chili and that's what we had for dinner. 

I felt light headed this morning when I got up, Brian made a good breakfast and I'm drinking a ton of water to help clean out toxins. I'm feeling a lot better now.

Salad for dinner tonight. With fresh homegrown tomatoes, avocado and tuna. 

Yum!

      Thursday, July 17, 2014


geekstuff
10:56 AM - 07/17/2014

The topic: To save money
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I'll be moving the catcam website later this month. It should be done by the 27th, which is when my current hosted domain expires.

Hopefully it will go smoothly.


disneystuff
11:42 AM - 07/17/2014

The topic: Last December
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we went to Disneyland and saw one of the last performances of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies (after years of entertainment, I guess Disney felt they no longer fit the Disney brand...they've since started playing at Knott's Berry Farm as Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies).

I recorded it. I had this up on YouTube but go slapped with a DRM message that part of the soundtrack is from Michael Martin Murphy.  So I put it on one of my other websites.

Billy Hill and the Hillbillies Holiday show

      Friday, July 18, 2014


otherstuff
08:56 AM - 07/18/2014

The topic: That project I was working on
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Got my schedule all messed up. The sore back hasn't helped, either.

But I'm getting back into the groove.  Back to cooking dinner and making breakfast. I slept well last night, the nights before I was tossing and turning. I'd wake up at one or so and just lay there. It's one thing to not be able to sleep because there's something on your mind, but there was nothing. It was like I wasn't tired at all. But I was tired. I don't think the warm weather helps much.

Anyway, made appointments for next week, Marco is getting a geriatric physical and Jackie is going in to be shaved and bathed. He's pretty smelly and I'd like the rest of the mats to come off. There were still some on his neck when we brought him home after the neuter. I was able to pull one off earlier this week, but that's not an option for the rest.

I've looked over my list of things I want to do, like putting those Disney videos from previous years online for the people who were there and *koff* fixing the formatting on the older entries of this weblog that got messed up at the end of last year. Yeah, that's still on the list. 

And then the house really needs a deep cleaning. 

My plate is full, that's for sure.


geekstuff
01:57 PM - 07/18/2014

The topic: So, having the bright idea
----------------------------------------------

to put those movies up, I check out the website and ftp myself into the directory. 

Okay. What the hell did I do? I know I had a bunch of movie snippets in there last year.  The index pages are gone and the movies are nowhere to be found.  What. Did. I. Do? 

I must have not been happy with the way things were working out, so I leveled the place. Nice. I guess I'll have to start from scratch.

Yesterday afternoon, I went through the files on my computer and it looked like I hadn't downloaded one of the videos to my computer. No idea why I hadn't done that, but I sure didn't see it.  Find the disk, start to download it and notice that the computer is running hot. I unplug everything, open up the case and clean the solid sheet of lint/dust/dirt off of the CPU fan. I thought about taking it out and using a toothbrush and the compressor to get the sheet off, but I'm just not in the mood. I found a tweezers and start peeling the sheet off, little by little, using the canned air to blow it out as I worked. Got everything connected back up and started the computer. Checked the heat. It was a good 25° cooler. Still warmer than I think it should be, but a lot better.

Now, to download the disk. My  video program crashes. I restart it. Crash. I try Windows Media Player. Won't start. Reboot. The computer tells me it crashed, should it restart Windows normally? Yeah, go ahead. I still can't run the program. I check the "more" about the crash and it's a stackhash problem. Videocard. Probably the drivers. I go over to the AMD website and download the software that checks the driver I need. I've already got the Catalyst program, but that's not helping right now, so I download the whole darn thing all over again. I ran it and my videocard driver was properly updated and I haven't had the crash since. Good.

(Why can't things just run smoothly?)

And I begin the downloads again, the program works as it should. I'd made new folders up for the disks, figured I'd start from the beginning. I deleted all the ones that I'd done last year and started to download again. And I had problems. I didn't feel like fighting with it, so I restored all of those videos from the recycle bin and moved them to the new folders and deleted the video with different extensions that I didn't want (like avi, swf - it seems I tried different formats to find the best quality last year and this time I settled on QuickTime since it's pretty standard). And I also found the video from 2012, the folder it was in was mismarked. Great, I'm good to go!

Since some of the movies are an hour and a half to over two hours long, I need to figure out a way to split them up. Unfortunately, doing chapters like on the actual disks isn't an option. 

I do know how I'll show them, I'll probably use Pretty Photo (unless I find something else).

I've got my work cut out for me, but I love a challenge. 

      Saturday, July 19, 2014


catstuff
10:48 AM - 07/19/2014

The topic: Last video I took of Georgie
----------------------------------------------

This is video taken the week before he died. The first one with him jumping was on Tuesday, the second two were on Thursday. You can see how well he was doing. Even though I was giving him fluids on a daily basis, I couldn't save him. On Sunday, he could barely walk and turned up his nose at any and all food I put before him. 

 


foodstuff
02:09 PM - 07/19/2014

The topic: If I handed Brian
----------------------------------------------

Four hard boiled eggs, he wouldn't be able to eat them at one sitting.

Earlier this week, we hit CostCo and got three cartons of eggs, eighteen in each carton. Wednesday, I boiled one carton of eggs, peeled the eggs, split the cooked eggs in two and set the whites to one side and the yolks went into a bowl.

I added mayonnaise, mustard and small amounts of vinegar until I got the perfect texture and tangy taste, then filled the egg white bowls. I sprinkled smoked paprika on top of them all (we got this paprika at CostCo and it's really tasty, reminds me of bacon).

So, there were thirty-six deviled eggs. I had three. Brian took six to his mother. We have eight left. Brian ate the rest. This morning I laughed when I asked him if he could eat four hard boiled eggs at one sitting and he said "no way!"

But you can eat eight deviled eggs?

"Yeah, no problem!" 

banana


craftstuff
08:45 PM - 07/19/2014

The topic: Okay, remember that project I was working on?
----------------------------------------------

The one from last week that I got so frustrated working with that I quit working on it?

I lied. I didn't quit working on it. But I couldn't post about it anymore because it was a surprise for a very wonderful person who is turning fifty tomorrow. Happy birthday, Allyson, you're an official COW (Cranky Old Woman).

I was afeared that she was starting to catch on that maybe I was making something special for her and what kind of  a surprise is that? She's having a birthday party tonight (too far for us to drive home, we'd have to get a hotel and that's not an option right now) and she'd posted on Facebook that instead of presents for her, she'd like to have donations for her church's food pantry. Awesome, this would work out nicely.

We picked up some dry goods at CostCo earlier this week, I got a homemade card made up for her with a nice envelope and put that in the box with the goodies. Brian packaged it all up nice and tight and it was sent out Wednesday. She got it on Thursday and was very happy. (I remember getting a Chatty Cathy for Christmas one year as a child; when I opened the box it was full of empty beer cans...I was pretty disappointed, not funny parental units (but they had  gotten her for me, they were just pranking me because I had this knack of guessing what was in the wrapped packages)).

Brian also packaged up another little project and it was shipped to a mutual friend of ours who would be going to the party (thanks, Liz!). She had agreed to take this package to Allyson's party so Allyson would get it tonight.

So, here it is.

 

The back of it opens up and the roof of the tower comes off. The windows are covered in vellum on the inside and you can put battery operated tealights inside for an awesome nighttime vision. If you look at the roof of the porch, you'll see the little windchimes I made. I designed and printed out the siding paper and the roof paper myself. I used my embossing machine to give the roof and siding some depth. It's really pretty cool. 

This project can be found over at SVGCuts, do a search for Maple Manor.

You can see more pictures (there are twenty-one) in my photo gallery. I'll have the descriptions up tomorrow. 

 

 
So, that's it for today. I was up until 12:30 last night because my video editing software wasn't working right and I had to uninstall and reinstall (a couple of times) so that I could make videos. I'm ready to call it a night.

svgcuts    maple manor    craftstuff   

      Sunday, July 20, 2014


catstuff
01:17 PM - 07/20/2014

The topic: One of the toughest things to do
----------------------------------------------

Is making that decision to end a pet's life. I hate it. I loathe it. Yet it's one of the kindest things we can do. To end their suffering before it's unbearable for them. We've had to make that decision three times this year. Two days apart. We lost George on a Sunday, Gracie and Captain on the following Tuesday.

For people who read this blog on a regular basis, you know that Captain was diagnosed with chylothorax back in May and that our vet didn't believe in idiopathic (unknown origin) chylothorax, she believed Captain had cancer. We had him on Rutin which did a bang up job of helping his body process the fluid,  but I guess this cancer abhorred the vacuum left by the absence of fluid and grew.  It grew quickly. On June 26, the vet got almost 150cc of fluids out of his lungs. The following Monday she could get nothing. We said goodbye to him the next day, when he could hardly breathe. 

I took this video the Friday after he had all of the fluid drained from his lungs. He was almost like his old self. Except his breathing was still labored. 

 

 
Tuesday morning we made the appointment and Captain cruised the backyard. He stopped at the railroad ties that act as a retaining wall and stretched out and sharpened his claws on them. By the time he was back in the house, he could barely catch his breath and we knew he'd never get better. We said goodbye to him shortly after.

      Monday, July 21, 2014


otherstuff
01:57 PM - 07/21/2014

The topic: And once again
----------------------------------------------

I see that I'm behind in paperwork. Three weeks. 

Yeah, that doing it tomorrow thing just doesn't seem to work for me.


entertainmentstuff
02:01 PM - 07/21/2014

The topic: Advanced screenings
----------------------------------------------

I just got an invite to see "Into the Storm" on Wednesday. Playing at a theater in San Diego. Except it doesn't say which theater. There are five that I know of, two of those we won't go to. Because parking is a problem. 

But the invite doesn't say which theater. I sign up. Download the passes. Read them. Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. Last time we went to a movie there, parking was ten bucks an hour and with being there early and all, it would have been four hours, since they don't do partial hours. Forty bucks for a free movie is a little out of our league.

I canceled those passes.

Half hour later I get another invite to the same movie. This time it's at ten at night. Yeah, no. Not gonna happen. Doesn't even matter where it's showing.

      Tuesday, July 22, 2014


the morning walk
07:03 AM - 07/22/2014

The topic: On our walk this morning
----------------------------------------------

Yes, we're walking again. That little experiment where we got up, Brian showered while I fixed breakfast so he could start working earlier didn't seem to pan out. He still wasn't out there until nine or later. We're walking again.

Anyway, on our walk this morning, we walked by an elementary school, one that Brian attended when he was a child. With my history, I don't remember much about school. Kindergarten was in Salt Lake City.  My next three grades were probably in Wichita Falls, Texas, then to New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. Fourth and fifth grades at St. Teresa's Parochial school. Sixth, seventh and eighth were spent at the American Academy in Athens, Greece (we were there when the miltary took over, our house overlooked the international airport and we saw the king leaving the country). The first three years of senior high school were spent at Desert High on Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert in California. Senior year at El Capitan in Lakeside, California.

But I digress.

Walking next to this school this morning, I asked Brian if he remembered any art projects. He started thinking back to kindergarten, remembering making stamp pads out of potatoes. I don't recall a lot about my younger years, I blame it on the accident when I was sixteen that had me in the hospital for months. I think the part of my brain that retains memory recall was damaged or something. Anyway, I remember around Easter one year, in early elementary school,  our teacher brought in a dead branch she'd found and she'd planted it in dirt. The kids painted the branch and our parents (back then it was usually the mothers) blow out eggs. I do remember my mom not liking this part of the project. yawn

We took our blown eggs to school, painted them and somehow got them tied to that painted branch with ribbons. And in a few weeks, to the amazement and wonder of the school children, the tree started to bud.

I always smile when I remember that. The teacher probably knew all along this would happen and she just sat back and watched. 

Yeah, that's a good memory.


catstuff
09:59 AM - 07/22/2014

The topic: I feel so bad right now
----------------------------------------------

We'd made an appointment for Jackie to get shaved and a bath today (he's really not into hygeine). But we neglected to get the trap out so the cats would get used to walking through it. And Jackie was very, very wise, didn't go in. I had to cancel the appointment. He's very upset with me right now, he let me pet him a little and rubbed into my hand, but he won't eat any treats I hand him (he hasn't eaten since last night). 

He's very, very upset and I'm feeling like a real asshole right now. 

I could just cry, I want him to be happy and I can't get him to understand that being clean and not having those mats leftover from last year would feel ever so much better.

Just damn.

Marco has an appointment in a half hour. With Marco I can open up the carrier and he'll walk right in and lay down. Not that he goes to the vet's office very often, he's actually been a pretty healthy cat. He's getting older and he coughs when he wakes up. This makes me a little nervous, so I'm taking him in.

I still feel like  about Jackson.


catstuff
12:30 PM - 07/22/2014

The topic: Back from the vet with Marco
----------------------------------------------

He has a bacterial ear infection and he has lost weight. He hasn't been in since 2008, but the vet could tell from the way his skin is hanging and his ribs. 

The vet said his heart sounds good, he couldn't feel any tumors, his teeth are ugly, but since he's still eating, he doesn't think those are the problem. So, blood was taken. 

I have meds for the ear infection and am waiting to hear the results from the bloodwork.

Before we left, I'd taken a short video with Marco.  I hope you'll find it informative.

 

 

 

 

 

catstuff
04:24 PM - 07/22/2014

The topic: Vet called with Marco’s results
----------------------------------------------

Most excellent. His bloodwork looked really, really good. The vet feels that the cough is nothing since it isn't an ongoing thing throughout the day. 

So, the question is "why is he losing weight"? It wasn't answered today.

I'm supposed to start watching him eat. Does he continously drop his food? Does he look uncomfortable when he eats? Does he chew more on one side than the other?

Yeah, okay. I can do that.

Today was good news, that's for sure.

      Thursday, July 24, 2014


catstuff
07:26 AM - 07/24/2014

The topic: I’d like you to meet Bob
----------------------------------------------

and his tail, "Dammit".

It's not annoying enough that Bobby scents everything he comes into contact with. Either by rubbing his face on it or peeing on it. (You can  always tell when he's been in a room by the wet drops on the floor, he sprays.)

But then there's his tail. That tail is alive with a mind of its own, but no way to control itself. It's forever knocking things over. 

He's such a friendly cat.

      Friday, July 25, 2014


otherstuff
07:20 AM - 07/25/2014

The topic: It’s thundering! It’s thundering!
----------------------------------------------

Now, quit screwing around and rain! If it rains, I love this day. 

If it doesn't, well, at least it's cooler than it's been.

Cats aren't really thrilled with the thunder, though.

      Saturday, July 26, 2014


geekstuff
09:51 AM - 07/26/2014

The topic: Moving day
----------------------------------------------

I'm working on moving the catcam website this morning. I think everything is moved, but I can't do much until it propogates and I can see what needs to be fixed. The old site is still up, but there' s a note that it's moving.

The cPanel on the new host has the same build number, but it doesn't have all the stuff the old one has. Like my counters....

I want my counters. I have a message in to support for this, hopefully it will be an easy fix. I really don't want to have to find another one.

      Sunday, July 27, 2014


geekstuff
09:52 AM - 07/27/2014

The topic: Catcam.us has been moved
----------------------------------------------

And that saves about fifty dollars a year. But I don't pay by the year, to get that great rate ($3.95 a month) I had to pay for three years at a time, so it was about a hundred and fifty dollars. Now, I don't pay anything since it's on an enterprise plan (that they no longer have, it's pretty cool that I got in on that when I did, back when I had to do something for Brian's new company). I can have twenty addon domains, I had two, his old company and his brother's windmill company, but his brother never pursued the windmill work and the old company is kaput. It started out as Ranchita.com, but Brian liked Mountain View Ranch better and they were able to change the name of the domain on that server and keep everything.

At one time there were four working domains there, then I dumped Mark's and just added two of mine, one that I hadn't done anything with since I got it (2004) and then the cam pages. Now there are five. The disk space is limited to twenty gig, but that's more than enough. Catcam.us doesn't use much space which is why I decided to move it. 

Last year I moved some domains to the  website lisaviolet designs. I got that from a California company years and years ago and I'd been paying about thirteen dollars a month. Well, last year they moved me to an upgraded server and coming to find out, for the price I was paying I was able to do the put domains on it for free. So, I added a couple that I used to have websites for, but just let them lapse.  And I may or may not do anything with them, one of them is the Pinwheel Moment domain. That's the one I plan on putting up the Disney movies I made after our meets. I can't put those on YouTube because they'd slap me big time for digital rights and remove the movies. But these will be for just the people who were there and they've already seen the movies anyway. I just thought it would be fun to have them online, so if someone's having a bad day at work, or feeling nostalgic, they'll be right there.

Anyway, moving catcam was pretty painless until I found my counters weren't working. I spent some back and forth with tech support and finally just found replacement software. It works, but it's not ideal.

But the catcams are running and headed up to the world wide web and I saved some money so that's a good thing.


entertainmentstuff
10:36 AM - 07/27/2014

The topic: Advance screening: Let’s Be Cops
----------------------------------------------

This movie was a very, very fun movie. Just light entertainment. It kept my interest and it made me laugh. A lot. Brian was kind of disappointed that it wasn't funny all the way through. And for the same reason he was disappointed, I was pleasantly surprised. Two guys move to Los Angeles from Ohio, trying to find their way. Growing up didn't seem all that important. Justin (Damon Wayans, Jr) was on track as a game developer, but Ryan (Jake Johnson) was having a really hard time with the whole concept of growing up. 

There was a story, it wasn't just two guys dressed as cops getting into crazy situations. It wasn't a deep story, but it was an entertaining story, which is how I like my movies to be. Call me shallow, that's okay. I'm not really into finding deep meaning in books or movies. Too much work, I have enough of that in real life, I don't need to go searching it out, if you know what I mean. 

Anyway, if you like fun, you should like this movie. There are a lot of expletives and because there are so many of them, you just become immune (or if you're like me, you don't really care). 

Lighthearted summer fare at its best.

 


otherstuff
10:57 AM - 07/27/2014

The topic: Bags of Crap
----------------------------------------------

I may have mentioned those here a time or two.  Won from a website by the name of Woot.com, a bag of crap was just that. But sometimes it wasn't. 

When I got my first BOC, it was chock full of Sansa players, the old ones. And other stuff, but the MP3 players were the best. I gave some away and others I still have and use. Then Woot sold out to Amazon and the BOCs became crappier and crappier. And not as much fun to get. I still tried, though. The last Woot! BOC I got had some really fun stuff in it, I think it was because I was the first sucker to get one. And it had one of my all time favorite things in it, an electronic fly swatter. This thing was great and it really packed a punch (not that you want to find out, just take my word for it....). Unfortunately, I dropped it when trying to put a string through the handle so I could hang it and I broke it. I got another one on Amazon, but it's bigger and I can't put a string through the handle and it pops even when there's no fly on it.

Well, earlier this summer I was reading through a thread on Woot's Facebook page about the BOCs just given out and someone said that the original owner of Woot was starting up another website with a similar feel to the original Woot, before Amazon took over. (Remembering back, the first deal after the official takeover was a Kindle with keypad for a very good price $149.00; it has whispernet technology so you can connect to the internet without Wi-Fi or cellular. I still have mine and it still works great.) And it was mentioned that there was a Kickstarter campaign and for ten bucks you could get a fukubukuro. A mystery box. Like a BOC. The name of the new site is meh.com.

I bit. I sent my ten bucks. Then I signed Brian up and sent his ten bucks. And the boxes got here the same day. Last Tuesday. The 22nd.

Both boxes had the Meh.com cartoon, the make your own paperbag puppet kit (bags, two crayons each and cut out faces for the bags), five pairs of reading glasses and a little stretchy camera bag.

Mine (well, let's be honest here, they were BOTH mine, but the one addressed to Dianne) had a Mystixx vampire doll and a Hannah Montana outfit to put on her (complete with blonde wig). And some die cut jungle critters that will work fine as craft embellishments.

The one addressed to Brian was a little different. That box had a waterproof case for a iPad tablet. A googly eye. Docking speakers for an iPad mini. And this little baby! There was no power cable, but the docking speakers would take care of that, for sure.  I (I mean Brian) hit the jackpot!

I turned on the iPad and there was nothing on it, besides what it came with. I had a problem registering it, because it was a "used" product, but I think someone got it and only registered it, going no further than that, they just commandeered the power cord. I contacted meh support and was given instructions on how to contact Apple and get it registered in my name. It was originally purchased back in May, so there are still over two hundred days of warranty available.

Of  course I needed a power cord, so I bought one on Amazon. And I got a case for it, too. I spent about twenty dollars there. And I did buy navigation software from the iTunes store. It was on sale, 40% off so I got it. Everything is installed, cable and case are here and I'm a happy camper.

I really like taking photos and having them sent to my facebook page and unlike my dumb phone, I can add text to these. I contacted my cell provider and I can add this to our account for ten bucks a month and use the existing data plan. I'm not going to do that unless business really takes off, but since there's no need for a contract on the addition, if we're going any place for any length of time, I can add it then and remove it when I no longer need internet access via cellular.

It was a pretty good week. New toys and saving money (moving catcam). That's always nice.

      Monday, July 28, 2014


otherstuff
04:52 PM - 07/28/2014

The topic: Today was a good day
----------------------------------------------

Because the doctor renewed our Xanax prescriptions. He only prescribes twenty pills at a time and we were able to stretch them out to over a year. They're only  .5mg.  I always quartered mine because I didn't want to feel as if I was in a different dimension, I just wanted to not feel like I wanted to punch someone in the nose for talking or breathing. (Yeah, I have those days.)  There hasn't even been a handful of days where .125 wasn't enough and most of those were on trips to Disneyland when we started early in the day and stayed late (you know, when we had hotel reservations). 

This morning I woke up in a bad mood. I hate this stinking weather, I don't really mind it when it's hot, but I hate hate hate it when it's muggy and we've had nothing but muggy for a couple of weeks (it came with the sprinkles we got). When I got out of bed, it was muggy and my day went right into the crapper. I took my last quarter pill before we left for our walk.  I made up my mind I'd call the doc today and make appointments for us. Because my doctor will not refill a prescription for something like this without seeing us.  I know. I've tried it twice. I think I called back in May when my supply was getting low.  Now it's gone. 

Yeah, I said "for us".  Brian thinks it will be swell if we go together.  rotfl The first time they had two appointments together first thing in the day is at the end of next month. No problem. We'll not eat the night before, get to the clinic early and have blood taken, then take our turns. I'm going first! I take dibs!

I called the pharmacy a little bit ago, Brian's prescription is in, but not mine, so I called the clinic and said we'd like to not to have to make two trips. They'll be calling it in by the end of today. 

Xanax. Better living through chemistry.  

smilie_lol

      Tuesday, July 29, 2014


otherstuff
09:24 AM - 07/29/2014

The topic: It pays to do the right thing
----------------------------------------------

We don't use landlines for our home and business phones. We use Magic Jacks. lisaviolet designs uses a Magic Jack connected to the computer, the other two are Magic Jack Plus, that run from the router and a electric connection. The adapters for the MJ+s, because they get so warm/hot, die on a fairly regular basis. MJ (the company) does not sell these adapters. You get one replacement and that's it. 

I found that the adapter for my Kindle works. I found these on eBay a few years ago and bought five. We've used those. Last month, I bought some adapters on eBay that said they work with iPad, iPhone, Kindle, and various other products, one of which is the MJ+. They were about a dollar each and came in quantities of ten. Free shipping. I bit.

Horrible. They do NOT work with the MJ+, there is a horrendous buzzing noise on the phone. I contacted the seller, he said to mail them back. I was going to until I realized I'd be out the shipping and the cost of a mailer. Why bother, right?

So, I bought adapters from a different seller. Same problem. She refunded my entire payment and said to just keep the adapters. Nice.

Then I bought official Kindle adapters from a seller from Pennsylvania. They were over twice the cost of the adapters that didn't work, but we need these. No phone, no business.

Then last week I scored that iPad mini in that Fukubukuro box. I can use those other adapters now. I contacted the seller who had refunded my money and told her that I would be sending her payment. And I did.

She was confused and I explained the situation to her and told her that since I could use them now, it was only right that I pay for them. 

She's sending me a case for my iPad. No charge. Because I was so honest.

I told you she was nice.

      Wednesday, July 30, 2014


mrs. crankypants
12:01 PM - 07/30/2014

The topic: I hate telemarketers
----------------------------------------------

Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure they need the job, but when the company they work for does not respect the do-not-call registry, I really don't have sympathy for them.

I usually don't have to listen to their spiels because I don't say "hello" twice.  That second hello usually alerts the computer that "hey, we have a live one!" at which time a live human being comes on the line.

Well, over on Facebook there's a link to a Huffpost YouTube video of every time Samuel L. Jackson says "motherf*cker" in a movie.

I told Brian 'I'm bookmarking this" and he asked me why.

And I said "when that phone rings" and I nod my head in the direction of the lisaviolet designs phone,  "I'm gonna answer it and while the computer connects me to a live person, I'm gonna put the phone up to the computer speaker and start that video".

He laughed.


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

      Thursday, July 31, 2014


entertainmentstuff
09:26 AM - 07/31/2014

The topic: For review: Next Goal Wins
----------------------------------------------

"In 2001, the tiny Pacific island of American Samoa suffered a world record 31-0 defeat at the hands of Australia, garnering headlines across the world as the worst soccer team on the planet. A decade after that humiliating night, they remain rooted to the bottom of FIFA's World rankings, having scored only twice in seventeen years. They have lost every competitive game they have ever played. It would take a miracle-maker or a madman to turn the team's fortunes around - and in maverick Dutch coach Thomas Rongen the islanders somehow find both. With the team about to embark on a grueling World Cup Qualification campaign, Rongen has just one month to transform this ragtag group of losers into a winning team - and perhaps learn a little about himself along the way."

Now, I'm not much of a sports fan, watching basketball on television is more boring than watching paint dry, I can watch baseball if Kevin Costner is in it and I quit football when the lords of the NFL promoted that thug Michael Vick to national hero status. I think it's safe to say, we pretty much don't watch sports at all. So, when I was given the opportunity to review this documentary film I was kind of "should I or shouldn't I?"

And I'm glad I did.

After over a decade of being a cellar team (I learned that from when we used to follow the Padres mad), with a new coach who didn't take any crap, he was in it to win it (after losing their previous coach, the team put out a call for a new one and there were no takers; finally a Dutch coach, Thomas Rongen, stepped up). There was a period of adjustment as the team learned how hard they'd have to work (no smoking, please!) and the coach had to learn about the Samoan culture. There was some headbutting, but  they both profited from the experience.

To see how much better the team got in a month's time was nothing short of miraculous. And they worked for it. They were pushed hard. They worked hard. And they made it. 

I loved learning a little bit about American Samoa, the island and their way of life.

I absolutely fell in love with Jaiyah Saelua, a transgender player. She kicked ass on the field. 

If you get a chance to see this, don't pass it by, give it a look. It's a good movie.

 

 

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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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