Marilee J. Layman

08:28 pm: Skipping Online Today
I read email and I assume anything really important was in that.

We had good bookgroup (although next month is Hominids), but then we went to the boy scout dinner and auction and I had 2.5 more hours of sitting up (in a folding metal chair) and being bright and intelligent to people I don't know, so I'm taking some codeine and going to sleep in the recliner for a bit. I don't think I'll be back online today.

07:55 pm: Asimov's July 2008
This was a strange issue. A lot of the stories seemed less SF and more absurdist. I admit that I didn't read the Brian Stableford novella The Philosopher's Stone because the lead-in said it was the third story about an alternate universe and I had to plow through the first two and didn't feel like plowing through this one. The only story I really liked:

The Woman Under the World by Steven Utley - what happens when a transdimensional portal has a little blip and something that thinks it's the transported person shows up?

Tags: books

07:36 pm: Solicitor, Shiva, Strange Dream
A guy came to the door last night selling alarm systems and when I told him I didn't need that, he said I should have Life Alert and when I told him I didn't need that, he implied that I was an idiot to say no. So I shut the door in his face.

Shiva still isn't relating the pain meds to less pain, so I had to actually tip the safe haven cage and slide him out to give him pain meds. He wouldn't eat plain AD so I put some water in and he had some. Now they're both on the heating pad.

Last night, I woke up and he was under the covers with me, on a bare little bit next to the edge. I woke up because I needed to pee, so I sort of bridged my knees over him and turned carefully and when I got back, he was stretched out in the middle of the bed, under the covers. I ended up sleeping diagonally.

I had a weird dream before waking up today -- it was back when Rick and I were teenagers and I was his guardian. I was in our apartment when I heard our stepmother's voice outside on the landing. When I opened the door, the landing suddenly became a big fancy hall, all decorated in white, and she was talking to a lot of other women and she was saying she was leaving. I asked why she was leaving and she said she had to have Crab Louie and she got into a tiny car with her daughter in it, and flew out an open window. I watched it go into the distance and then when I turned back to the hall, it was decorated in black.

Now, when I had that phone call with her after Dad died, and I mentioned how she'd taken the kids and gone to a hotel when he wanted any of them to do something they didn't want to do, she called it "running away." So I suppose it might have something to do with that. But I dunno, I don't remember her ever mentioning Crab Louie, and why wasn't her son with her? Dreams are strange.

Tags: cats, dreams

07:48 pm: Shiva Is Getting Better
Last night he sat with us in the recliner for a while (drooled like crazy, I'm changing the towel in his safe haven twice a day) and then went down to sleep on the cat blankie on the bed. After a while I went down and petted him and he purred. He came back out and tried a piece of dry food and spit it out, then ran down the hall again. After I turned out the light, he came and snuggled like he usually does, but wetly.

When I got up today, he was back in the safe haven and I had to pull the towel out to get him out and give him his pain meds. He came out here and hid under an end table. I gave him some very watery AD slurry and he ate all of that. Then I headed off to get more bird seed. It takes about five days to deliver the seed I ordered online and I need more before that. When I got home and put the new seed in the metal trash-can-looking container, I saw bright scratches on the edges where the squirrel had tried to open it.

While I was out there, a woman came across the street and I recognized her -- she used to serve at Pizza Hut before I stopped going because of the rude manager. She had her baby and when she wanted to go back, he wouldn't take her. So now she's working at Mamma Mia's (and she thinks I should come have pizza there) and living diagonally from me. Her family (husband, two kids) are renting from the Hispanic family who used to live there (the ones who started out with eight people and ended up with three) and are already having problems. She had recognized my van and when I was out on the porch with the seed, came over to say Hi. From where I was sitting, I could see a small fan in the master bedroom window, which is not allowed. I asked her about it and she said they found out after they moved in that the heating and air-conditioning doesn't work and the owners said they'd fix it and brought the fan. That's not enough here, and isn't acceptable to our bylaws, either. I told her there'd be a problem and she said she'd talk to them again. The baby has dark curly hair and pretty dark eyes.

Shiva just came out to sit on the heating pad and smell the outdoors and Spirit came to sit with him.

Tags: birds, cats

07:46 pm: Barely Moving
Me and Shiva. He has the attitude -- he's still really mad at me -- but I was able to get the pain med in just on the bed (only has to go in the mouth, not down the throat). And the dental vet just called and the woman at the desk gave me the wrong two things to watch -- it's attitude and elimination. It's okay if he doesn't eat or drink until Saturday, even. He's definitely been eliminating (had an IV during surgery). So I went down to tell him that and he'd had some of the very watery AD slurry I'd taken down earlier.

He shed like crazy yesterday so I furminated him and misted the area with water and thought I got all the fur under control. But when I went to bed, I got hair in both eyes and had to take generic Benadryl, so I got up late and had trouble walking from walking so much yesterday. I had too much to do, though, so I did it.

I took trash and recycling out, then got more snackies at PetSmart and had lunch/dinner at Chili's. A friend told me the Big Mouth Bites (sliders) were really good and Chili's is in the same shopping center. I saw them as a platter, but with both onion straws and french fries, so I looked at the appetizers and ordered the appetizer (came with onion straws) plus a house salad. The server asked if I wanted the platter instead and I decided just to say no instead of explaining I'd purposely ordered that way to get the salad instead of the fries. They were very good, but the onion straws were amazing.

A friend came by to tell me that the reason I wasn't seeing feral cats anymore is because we have a group of coyotes in the woods behind the buildings (about 20 feet). The woods go linearly for miles following the sides of the branch, and apparently the coyotes have worked their way in this far. Now that they've killed all the small mammals (nobody's seen fox, deer, groundhogs, raccoons, etc., either), I guess they'll have to move further inward.

Now to start washing the cat blankies that I usually do on Mondays.

Tags: cats, errands, health

08:07 pm: Shiva Has No Teeth
He was really zonked out from pain meds when I brought him home and is sitting in my tile shower, I think for coolness.

We got there at 11:30, 30 minutes early, but didn't see the dentist until we'd been there 75 minutes. He took one look at Shiva's mouth and said "Those all have to come out." We did the discussing and then I signed a release and headed off to run some errands. I went to Star's Beads and I really didn't see very much new interesting stuff this time. She's cut her seeds in half and given that space to Hill Tribe silver, but not much else. I did buy some abalone carved flowers.

Then I went to Knossos for lunch to have souvlaki from a real Greek place. That was good. I stopped by the bakery next door and got a cinnamon roll for later. Then I went to Cox Farms and found they don't have a plant thing I need and that the other place I'd thought to try had closed. So I headed back up Maple Ave. looking for a florist or craft store. I hit a Michael's first and got them there, plus some yarn I need. I'd started having to stop every few steps to stabilize so I went back to the dental vets.

I took in two old WashPosts with me. My feet hurt a lot so I asked if I might take my shoes off and she said yes. As I sat down to start the papers, I saw a binder on their coffee table about their work at the National Zoo -- apparently they do all the mammal dental work -- the most well-known would be Tai Shan, the panda young'un. I finished the WPs about fifteen minutes before he was ready to go and we left at 5:45pm and got home at 6:45pm. I have syringes to squirt into his mouth for pain twice a day, if needed, and have to watch for attitude and drinking. He definitely has the attitude, but I just tried to get him to eat very watery AD slurry and he wouldn't. I'll take some water down in a bit.

The dishwasher just finished washing and they should air dry in a few minutes (from the heat when I opened it). Then I can put the birdfeeder in and wash it. It has green mold on it from all the rain. I brought it in before I left and poured a lot of seed on the porch. When I got back, it was gone and a little squirrel was trying to get my metal seed can open. I walked over and we looked at each other (he turned his head so he saw me with both beady eyes) and he kept working on it. Then I tapped on the window and he left.

Spirit is not sure about either of us. I'm not sure she's ever been alone this long before.

I need to call tomorrow to get a follow-up in two weeks. I was pretty sure what days I had doctor appointments on that week, but figured I should come home and check.

Tags: birdfeeder, cats, errands

05:30 pm: Reading By Flashlight
ETA: A friend who lives at the other end of the county sent his picture of the sinkhole.

I haven't done that in a long time, and our power hadn't gone out in more than a decade. I was getting ready for bed last night when the power went out and I went on -- putting in eyedrops, setting up the pillows, getting the book from the headboard -- and then realized I was going to need light to read. I got my windup flashlight and thought I should probably go pull the powersquids for the computer stuff and the TV stuff. I did that and then settled down to reading (tried the radio to see if anything exciting happened -- a big earthquake in China, 9K dead so far). Shiva walked in front of the flashlight once and made a nice shadow on the wall. I put the book away, the overnight blurring drops in my eyes and turned the flashlight off at 4:43 and the light by the bed came back on at 5:02am. I got up and plugged the TV powersquid back in -- the new VCR/DVD still had the programming to tape a soap opera today, but it didn't know what time it was. I gave the TV, VCR, and VCR/DVD the time and went back to bed.

We had an amazing amount of rain and wind last night, and since our power comes underground from the substation, either the substation went out or flooding got it. The other end of the county has a sinkhole, there's cars under water north of us, and lots of trees down. And then there's the tornados in NC, wildfires in FL, and snow in PA. Quite a day for weather.

I got groceries today and when I got home parked the car so I could get the side door open easily and put Shiva-in-cage there tomorrow. I have to get up early tomorrow and I'm yawning like crazy now. I think I'm taking a nap, but with the alarm clock. Shiva will only be near me in bed, and he keeps waking me up.

Tags: cats, power, weather

09:16 pm: Sleep is Queen
Apparently. I didn't sleep well last night -- I woke up with Shiva under the covers and he kept moving around and finally got out and lay down next to me, leaving me just enough room to turn over in place so I kept waking up. When the alarm went off, he dashed for the safe place in the back of the closet and I turned it off and slept for two more hours. I was up long enough to feed the cats (Spirit is learning she can't have the AD), put the paper in the right order, and watch Meet the Press, and yawned like crazy during the last 15 minutes of that. I was determined to stay awake and moved my reading glasses and a banana over to the desk but then without thinking, got the duvet and pillow out of the closet. So I went ahead and set the VCRs to watch TV and slept for 3.5 hours. I don't think this is benefiting having to get up early on Tuesday to take Shiva to the dental vet.

Tags: sleep

06:40 pm: Scouting For AD
First thing when I got up, I put on my bathrobe and came out to see if Shiva had eaten any dry food and he hadn't. That means he's two days behind starting dry food and the antibiotics aren't helping that, so I didn't give him any this morning (I'm just stopping two doses short of what the dental vet wanted). But then I used the last of the AD I had to make slurry for his breakfast, and I clearly needed more because that and ice cream are all he's eating. I remembered that Morganna, the place I've taken him these two times, was open on Saturday, but when I got there, it turned out they were only open until 2pm and I got up at 2pm today (and most of the week, I don't know why).

So I thought about the internal medicine vet, but they're not open on weekends, and that reminded me of the emergency vet hospital next door to them and I headed there. The AD there is more expensive, and since it's a medical food*, they had to start a chart, but I got five cans which would carry us beyond the dental vet visit on Tuesday (they may want him to have AD slurry, too).

I got money for the week and had Greek Salad and garlic bread at Tony's (brought half the garlic bread home). Luke is less stable than usual, so after I brought my mail, the AD, and the iced tea and garlic bread in, I knocked and got his keys and drove back down to get his mail. I separated it into junk and stuff he should read and put them perpendicular to each other so he'd know which is which. He told me this week when he was pushing his wheeled wire mesh cart with trash and newspapers that he walks a lot better with the cart and I said "You know what this means, it might be time for a walker." He looked at me and said with finality "We'll see." I wonder if needing a walker would propel him into assisted living.

We both got mail from Wegman's, an expensive grocery that I know is going up about 30 minutes away, and I assumed it was coupons or advertising, but it turned out to be a hiring notice. It came "To Our Neighbor" so I guess they're looking all over.

Shiva was hiding in the cage/shelter in the back of my closet this morning and I took his AD slurry there but when I got back in, he was in the castle. He lets me pet him there, but he's not coming out. I hope it's because he's still worried about meds rather than that he hurts a lot. Spirit wanted to be near him, so she's sitting on the lip outside the castle, as close to him as she can get.

*I looked at the ingredients on AD and the first three are water, pork liver, and poultry liver. The stuff is pate!

Tags: cats, errands

06:01 pm: Self-Caging Shiva
I got up, put on my bathrobe, prepared his meds, and got him with the towel. After he was done and I let him go, he jumped off the recliner headfirst into the wire mesh trash can by the recliner. While I was putting the foot down, I was trying not to laugh. He went around in circles a few times and then figured out his head should be up and jumped out just as I was reaching for the trash can. How embarrassing! He's still only eating the AD in a slurry and in the past, he's been on dry food by now. I'm glad we have the dental vet appointment.

My left eye was stuck together today and it was itchy again, so I flushed and I think it worked. I have a lot of goop in that eye, though, so I'm not putting the fountain together today. Too cool and dank outside, too.

The tornado hit the county to our southeast -- no dead, two hurt, about a hundred houses damaged, most because their roofs were lifted off. There's tested and tried bolting that will keep a roof on in a tornado/hurricane and adds less than $100 to a house. I can't believe people don't automatically build houses with that. The flooding is worse north of here, but is expected to spread as more of the water comes down the geography. There are lots of trees down all over the area.

I ordered Chinese food -- not only do I not feel like zapping something, my glands are swollen and my throat is sore. When I post this, I'm going to go put out more birdseed. I found a place online that sells hulled sunflower seeds 50 pounds for $84.93 with free shipping while the increase locally gave me 40 pounds for $73.59 (including tax) and that will save me five cents a pound. I'm going through two pounds a day right now, so that will be a big help.

Tags: birds, cats, health, weather

08:12 pm: New Holes In My Arm
Shiva didn't hurt me while I gave him his meds (although I had to explain the yelling to Luke), but I didn't direct his escape after very well and his hind claws dug in my right arm for a good takeoff. I'll have to be more careful. We're seeing the dental vet on Tuesday at noon and Shiva has to stop the antibiotics Sunday night and food Monday night (he hasn't started eating solid food yet, still the AD slurry).

I took recycling out and then had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's with chocolate cake and ice cream to remember Henry. Where I was sitting, there was a deep bass rumble, felt and heard, and I asked the waitress about it and she said she hadn't heard it until she listened on my side of the restaurant. The manager came and I told him it was probably an air handler and he pointed to a vent on the line of hearing. I told him vibrating like that was not good for a building, plus it was a low D# which tends to scare people, and he went and turned it down a bit so it stopped. The rain poured just as I left and then stopped. As I got home, a fill-in mailguy was at the clusterboxes before ours, so I kept my shoes on and when he went past, gathered Luke's keys and went to get our mail. The mailguy told me that we may not have a permanent mailperson for about six months and he wished us luck. My last two BFAC wins came -- the "Last Trail" horn & necklace and the Saragaro-style netted necklace. They're really great!

You'd think courting mourning doves -- the male chases the female, trying to peck the back of her neck, and we have four pairs now -- would be enough excitement, but a while ago, one of the four crows wanted badly to eat at the feeder, even though I'd put some seed on the porch. There was a squirrel sitting on one side eating and a mourning dove sitting on the other, also eating, and he started dive-bombing them and they both ignored him and his CAWs. Then he carefully stepped down onto the other end of the side the mourning dove was on, and she flapped her wings at him and made him go. So while the crows and mourning doves usually co-exist, clearly the doves are higher in rank.

I've been planning to set up the porch fountain for a couple of weeks and had to keep moving it down the list, but it looks clear for tomorrow. We're past frost so it's safe, and it's nice to have the sound and look of the fountain, and of course, the birds like it.

Tags: beads, birds, cats, fountain

06:16 pm: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The other pieces I've read by Cory have been full of good tech ideas but a little short on story and plot. This one has story and plot.

It's a YA about what happens to San Francisco after terrorists blow up the Bay Bridge. DHS descends and secretly incarcerates all the people they find on the street (and probably more) on Treasure Island*. Our 17-year-old protagonist, Marcus, tells the story in first person and when he manages to get out, he starts fighting back. An Xbox network, cloning RFIDs, giving counsel in a blog. His life becomes more and more dangerous and he draws a new girlfriend into it.

The story is pretty good, but my two big problems with it are the language (it's a lot like I write here and I know I don't write well anymore) and the constant infodumps on the technology. I'm 53, I know all this tech, shouldn't teens?

He says there are suicide fences on the Golden Gate Bridge and there aren't. A year ago tomorrow, the 17-year-old son of a friend jumped off. They're going back tomorrow for a brief memorial. In fact, many San Franciscans are against suicide prevention because it will make the bridge look less pretty and cost a lot. They also say that those people will kill themselves anyway, so why not the bridge? The last is definitely not true, this WashPost article includes references to the study. The book is set in the near future, and I suppose they could have them up by then, but it seems unlikely.

He also says that computers are good because they do exactly what you tell them to do. From a tester's standpoint, that is not always a good thing. I've seen a lot of programmers tell them to do things that weren't intended.

This is the best of Cory's work I've read, but it feels like an adult telling a teen story; it should feel more like a teen telling the story. Almost everybody else who's read it has loved it, so you should probably go by their enthusiasm.

*We were at Treasure Island for six weeks in 1961 because my smallpox vaccination wouldn't take. They tried over and over and finally sent us to Guam anyway. We had planned to be there six days and it was definitely an adventure in improvisation.

Tags: books

05:39 pm: Back To The Vet
Lucila came today (had to say home with Jesus yesterday -- he had a cold) and Shiva spent the entire time under the duvet cover in the recliner with me. Spirit never came to sit with us and just stayed in the castle. When Lucila left, I had some time online, but then had to get Shiva into the carrier (and one of his hairs into my left eye) and the carrier into the rolling crate. We got to the clinic and found that they had the accessible entrance closed because they were doing work on it, so I went up the curbcut and then to the other entrance and leaned forward and banged on the door. One of the assistants came and took the carrier in and then gave me an arm.

We waited a bit and I kept talking to him. He seemed to calm down, but he did like seeing another cat in a carrier. I don't think the other cat saw him. This is not the vet I saw last time -- she only works on Fridays -- and this one gave me another week of the antibiotics* and recommended we see a veterinary dentist because of his tooth disease. Shiva has gained seven ounces, which is good, and the assistant helped us back down to the parking lot.

I did stop for the mail on the way home -- I know I should have brought him home first and gone back, but I'm going to be taking pain meds tonight for lifting him around and I figured one less in and out of the van would be better. I called the vet dentist in Vienna (closer than Leesburg and I know where it is), but they close at 4pm. I'll call tomorrow.

I've flushed the hair out of my swollen eye and will eat as soon as I do a review.

*She seemed to elevate her opinion of me when I mentioned that he doesn't like the amoxicillin as much as the first antibiotic because it has a slight banana ester, but he ate faster and lasted longer after the amoxicillin so I'd take it. She probably doesn't have too many customers who talk about esters.

Tags: cats

06:18 pm: Shiva's Ulcers Are Back
He's been eating dry food and snackies that I give directly to him, but this morning he tried snackies and barked three times. I caught him in the towel and looked at his mouth -- the ulcers are back, but not as bad. I called the clinic and a vet was supposed to call me back, but I haven't heard yet. I just gave him about a third of a can of AD as a slurry and he liked that.

We had an earthquake today -- 1.8 -- and I slept through it. Oh well.

I went to vote for city elections today. I didn't vote for Mayor because the incumbent Republican is the only one running. I didn't vote for Council because the Republicans got together and put up only two people for the two slots and nobody else is running. I did vote for two of the five candidates for four slots on the School Board. I voted for one incumbent who seems to have sense, and I voted for someone who has worked for the Board. I specifically didn't vote for a guy who flooded me with brochures using the slogan "It's All For the Kids!" because I think it's for the teachers and other employees and buildings and school buses, too.

Tags: cats, earthquake, politics

07:20 pm: More Reading Glasses!
I ordered another set today, same frames but purple, to keep at the desk. Then I just have to carry the red ones back and forth between the recliner and bed for a couple months until I buy the third pair. $37.90 including shipping for extra-strength reading glasses is really good!

Shiva is still avoiding me at cat breakfast time, but he slept cuddled up to me last night. I took some beads to the post office and got delivery confirmation on the ones I'm sending to replace a box that didn't arrive. I can't replace the materials, but I can send her equal value. Then I got groceries plus kitty litter and some OTC meds the doctors tell me to take. The bill started out at $101, but went down to $72 with sales and coupons. Still, yikes. I put the OTC meds in my medical database and they'll have some effect on my taxes, but I still have to pay for them now.

Lucila came by and said she can't clean tomorrow and how is Wednesday and I said that was fine. I was just going to take recycling out and I can do that when she's done.

Tags: cats, errands, glasses

05:50 pm: Oobleck on TV!
Yesterday, I was offline at 4:30, went straight to a nap in the recliner and woke up at 11:30. I watched the shows I'd taped Friday night, and Numbers had oobleck at the beginning and end! They called it "non-Newtonian fluid" but it was oobleck! Then I read some papers, went to bed and read more of Little Brother, and turned the light off at 7am. I set the alarm for 2pm and so far don't feel sleepy, and I hope that lasts.

Shiva is still not eating morning food with Spirit, I assume he'll have to wait a bit to realize I'm not going to give him more meds. I'm washing bed linens and putting new linens on, and every so often I'm vanishing into the workroom to work on a beadswap. It's a nice low-70s day today and the cats are watching the birds and squirrels at the feeder.

Tags: cats, housekeeping, tv

02:18 pm: Early Up
Which means I'll probably end up with a nap, since I was up late last night because I took a nap yesterday. I got five hours of sleep, which is usually too little. I had to get up early because today is Household Hazardous Waste day until noon at the transfer station and I needed to take the dead VCR. I could have waited another month, but it was taking up room in my workroom. Then as I left the transfer station, I decided I was going to drive to the east end of the county for Free Comic Book Day. I'd read Slate's reviews of the free comics and picked up Hulk/Iron Man, Hellboy, and Superman.

Then back to the credit union for money for next week and lunch at Tony's. One of the specials was gnocchi, which I really like, so I had that (comes with salad & garlic bread) and iced tea. I came home and after I took my shoes off, I tried to pet the cats, who were sitting in the recliner, but they both hid behind it. It'll take a while for them to trust me not to give Shiva medicine.

Tags: cats, errands, food

05:31 pm: Indecency
I got to stay home today, the only day in the week, and apparently I turned off the alarm and slept a couple more hours to celebrate. It's 80F today so I put on my one summer-weight tie-dye top and, well, it's a good thing I'm staying home. The first piece of clothing that made obvious I was losing weight was my coat when I could overlap it four inches. Now I have a light-weight t-shirt with v-neck that shows excessive cleavage and large portions of bra when it's not falling off my shoulders. I think I can adjust the V a little higher so it won't do that, and then it will have a pleat in the front.

Shiva is still wary of me, although he doesn't get any more meds. I hope that will relax. Tomorrow I have to be up early to take the dead VCR to the electronic recycling at the transfer station.

Tags: cats, clothes

05:10 pm: Asimov's June 2008
Sheila's editorial talks more about what she likes in stories and Agberg talked about how we're using up metals. I found a number of the stories satisfying, but only one really interesting:

Call Back Yesterday by Nancy Kress -- juveniles in a mental health facility without windows suspect things are not as they look.

I would have liked Ian R. MacLeod's The Hob Carpet except, dear reader, for the florid and protracted descriptions in a prolonged narrative missive which invoked a manifest termination. (Okay, I frequently know the ends of stories near the beginning, but I think a six-year-old would get this. It would have been better as a pointed short story.)

A new author, Derek Kunsken, made a good beginning with Beneath Sunlit Shallows. I'll be looking for his next.

Tags: books

04:55 pm: Two More Doses!
Thank Ghu. I had to catch Shiva twice last night to give him the whole dose and came away with a claw hole and bruise at the base of my throat. This morning was not so exciting, but we'll both be glad when we're done with the amoxicillin. I called the clinic today and left a message for the vet -- telling her that he's gained all the weight back and is eating and elminating like crazy, and that his mouth looks fine to me. We'll see if she wants another week of meds.

I headed up to Kaiser Fair Oaks to get the screw back in my reading glasses -- I was there less than three minutes and round trip took more than 10 times that. I stopped at that Red Robin on the way back, though, and they no longer have pot roast burgers. :::sob::: The bacon guacamole burger was pretty good and I hear their other stuff is good, too. And it turns out the manager up there is right -- we are getting a RR near Davis Ford Crossing plus the one I stopped by. There's only about six miles between them, so I guess they think Manassas is a good demographic for them.

I stopped by the library to pick up Little Brother to start tonight. Shiva let me touch his head when I came back, but scooted back in the chair so I couldn't touch more of him.

Tags: books, cats, food, glasses

04:41 pm: Mmmm Duck Red Curry
I took the trash and recycling out and then stopped at the Salvation Army to see if they had any small dining-height tables. I really do need to get something to put right at the entrance to the bedroom hallway, and a table could be used for other things, too. They didn't, but they had a triangle lift-coffee-table that they had in backwards so the lift was away from the sectional they had it in front of. They were too busy so I didn't tell them. I was the only "white" person there -- everybody else was black or obviously Hispanic. I haven't been there in five or six years, but it used to be mostly white customers.

Then I went to the Thai place where I had a coupon, to see if Rick & family would like it. I had Duck Red Curry which was wonderful! They've really decorated the place beautifully, too. Unfortunately, they have no American food, so my niece may refuse to go there. She's half-Chinese and likes only the blandest of American food.

Then I bought gas. Gracious. I'll be driving longer than usual tomorrow, too -- a screw came out of my reading glasses and I need to go up to the Kaiser clinic that has Vision Services for them to put it back in (I tried briefly last night, but it'll take a magnetic eyeglass screwdriver and I have one of each, but not both) and on the way back, pick up my copy of Little Brother which came into the library today. Excellent timing, since I should finish the Asimov's tonight.

Tags: errands, food

01:47 am: Happy Birthdays davidgoldfarb and dlacey!
I hope you guys have wonderful days and fun happy years!

06:01 pm: Sun!
It's actually colder than yesterday, but it feels warmer because of the sun. I went off to get more birdseed (this is getting much more expensive with the increase in the price of seed and having to get it more often) and stopped on the way back for souvlaki and onion rings.

When I got in the car to go out, in the car between the birdfeed store and Roma restaurant, and in the car on the way home, I felt like the left side of my face had globs of fat on it. Now, that's the side that's partially-paralyzed and I sometimes feel that side of my face is longer and I know that means I'm too tired or stressed and take a nap. I'm not sure what to think about feeling like it has globs of fat (it doesn't -- I looked in the mirror and felt with my hands), but my eyes are really hurting, too, even minutes after I put the drops in, so maybe I'll take a nap anyway.

It's nice enough to have the windows open, so Shiva is smelling out the kitchen window. Spirit is just curled up next to him.

I thought of the Changes idea for yesterday's post because of changes I'm making now that Giorgio is dead, and then I didn't put any in! For a few years I've put the pull cord for the kitchen blinds up on top of the fridge so he wouldn't eat it like he did the last two. I'm trying to train myself to leave it down now. I meant to get flowers at the store yesterday to see if Shiva eats them. Giorgio did and so there was no use in having them. I've moved some glass items back on top of a tall chest of drawers because the other cats never dash up there. But the hardest thing is the goodnight saying. For years I said "Time for ni-ni, Marilee and kitties ni-ni. Spirit and Giorgio, and Shiva and Marilee, everybody ni-ni!" I'm trying to make it more like triplets -- Spirit and Shiva and Marilee -- but sometimes I forget and then I cry. The cats don't seem to notice as much.

Tags: cats, health, shopping, weather

06:21 pm: Making Changes
Not with the cat food -- it doesn't matter the order of feeding or giving meds, Shiva won't eat morning food. He's doing well with the dry food, though. I saw the feeder was empty this morning and planned to fill it after I got back from groceries and rested a bit, but then there was a line of birds and squirrels looking in the window. Just the mourning doves, I guess the other birds didn't think it was safe. So I went out and filled it, and noted that the squirrels had eaten the edges of the porch floor wood. Silly critters.

I went to get groceries today and bought some pre-made pasta salads (vinaigrettes instead of mayo) instead of new frozen food. They're a bit cheaper, although I don't know if they're any better for me. I had the cranky cashier again and asked her to balance my stuff between the two bags, but she put all the heavy stuff (half-gallon milk, bananas, the three pounds of pasta salads, onions, and more) all in one and the loaf of bread and cake slice in the other. I had to change them around before I carried them to the car.

I've been letting my hair grow a bit longer since I'm able to stand up in the shower long enough to wash it and the rest of me. It's long enough now that I have to clip the bangs back. I'll keep letting it grow until I hit having to get out and rest, and if slightly shorter than that looks good, I'll keep it there. Otherwise, it goes back to short.

Hmmm, a change I didn't expect. One of my neighbors just pulled up in a different car -- a black PT Cruiser. This probably explains why the two young men who live with her were carrying stuff out of the trunk of the old car yesterday.

Tags: cars, cats, food, hair

04:30 pm: Amazing What the Sun Can Do
It's 68F today, which should be warm, but it's overcast and it's cold. I had to turn the heat on.

Our last BFAC auctions are today and we have some really wonderful pieces up. There's a real horn beaded over with a "Last Trail" picture plus a necklace, a fringy necklace and earrings, a beaded tapestry, a butterfly-beaded purse, an asymmetrically-strung onyx and bead necklace with added focal, a hip chain and beaded bead necklace, and a Saraguro-style netted necklace. Go see if you want any of them!

I fed the cats first today, but Shiva wouldn't come to eat and I still had to catch him for his meds. He's eating now, I can hear him eating the dry food, but it would be nice if he had the wet stuff, too, since he's the reason we started having it.

The dark-eyed junco does seem to have left, but I have four blackbirds who are using the feeder, too. I'll have to get more seed this week, and the price increased $2 for five pounds less, so it will be expensive.

Tags: auctions, birds, cats, weather

03:35 pm: An Alchemy of Mind by Diane Ackerman -- only read 1/3 through
Yes, the same author as the last book, and entirely by accident. The Zookeeper's Wife was widely recommended and I went on the library queue at 48 a few months ago. An Alchemy of Mind had been read by the husband of a friend and he liked it and since I like reading about the mind, I put in a request for it (to get it to my library -- both copies were at the opposite ends of the county) and it came in a couple days after the other and I picked them up at the same time. I hadn't even realized they were the same author until I got into the car and I checked the back flap copy to be sure -- same picture.

This is a popular science book and I don't read a lot of those. It's divided into ways the brain/mind works and includes science (from 2004, since it was published in 2005) and anecdotes and allegories. My problems with it were 1) that I keep up with brain science so I actually knew more in some areas than the book included, and b) the anecdotes and allegories were all about her. I don't mind good first person and she writes it well, but the anecdotes and allegories all felt too personal. Too intimate. More than I wanted to know about her. And then she believes in ESP and that humans probably had telepathy earlier and most of us lost it.

I went to read it more last night and realized I wasn't looking forward to it, so I put it back and started on the current Asimov's. I'm clearly not the customer for this book, but others may be.

Tags: books

03:20 pm: Various Things
Shiva ate dry food last night and then, some time after I gave him the antibiotics this morning, he ate more dry food and snackies. Tomorrow, I feed them first and then give meds! I hope this works.

I took the book I'd started back to the library -- a partial review and explanation of why I didn't finish will come next. Then I had lunch at Tony's and I had one of the specials -- smoked salmon in a light cream sauce on farfalle with a salad and garlic bread. This is the kind of thing I used to cook for myself (without the garlic bread) and I really enjoyed it.

I forgot to say yesterday that all the summer pants I've been wearing have been big, but okay, until the second outfit I wore yesterday. That didn't come from MIB and they were fine in the house but as soon as I took a few steps with wallet in one pocket and phone and keys in the other, they kept sliding down. The problem is that the waist of the pants is about four inches below my waist, so there's not a lot to hold them up. I'm going to see if I can tuck the waist a bit and have the elastic still come over my hips. If not, maybe a drawstring.

Also yesterday, the vet was in a different direction than I usually go and I knew there was a SuperTarget just built, but I stopped in after picking up the food and paying the vet and drove down the line of other stores. None are open, but one is a TJ Maxx. But out in the parking lot? A Red Robin! The manager of the Fair Lakes store was wrong about where it would be. I parked and went in (nice fresh wood smell) and asked if anybody knew when it was opening, and they didn't, but one pointed out a giant RV in the parking lot with a giant sign about hiring for the restaurant. So I drove up, opened the door -- a sign said come right in, but I couldn't do that -- and I yelled hello and then asked for someone to come to the door. I told the woman I didn't want to work, I wanted to eat and when would they open? May 19th. So I may eat there that day. The advantage of having one closer is that I'll probably try something other than the pot roast "burger." The disadvantage is that I'll probably eat there more often.

And finally, a really good Tom Toles editorial cartoon about the housing situation.

Tags: cats, clothes, food, satire

05:35 pm: The Carpet Makers Redux
We discussed this last Saturday in bookgroup and I reviewed it here.

Well, I can't believe I was so stupid -- there's even cards with pictures of the Emperor hanging upside down in the book -- but I realized last night that the major characters might all match the Tarot Major Arcana. I printed a list of all the Tarot face cards and today I went to the library and pulled the book. I skimmed through it and indeed, the characters are based on Tarot. That doesn't actually make the book any better for me, but I emailed the others about it.

I wonder if Scott Card would have pushed Tor to publish it and then written an enthusiastic introduction if he knew it had to do with pagan stuff.

Tags: books

05:25 pm: Shiva Visits A New Vet
Well, I woke up at 9am, worried about him, and was still awake at 9:30 and called the Internal Medicine vets for a recommendation for a clinic. I got an appt for 11:30 and then called my regular vet to leave her a message that I'd done this, and she answered!

It turned out that she left the wrong message on her voicemail. She left the "I'm not available now, leave a message and I'll call back" instead of the "I'm out of town until Friday." She was really busy today anyway and was fine with me taking him to a clinic. She even faxed over his chart.

I've thought about this before -- how I would get a cat to a regular vet -- and I put Shiva in the one-kitty carrier, sat down, and then lowered it carefully (so it was in endwise and he was sitting up) into my collapsible rolling crate. This is how I get everything else in and out of the house. I warned him it would tilt and then pulled him out and down the ramp to the van. Then I sat in the back of the van (one of the reasons I'll have to get another van when this one dies) and lifted his carrier out and up, turning it back horizontal as I put it in the back space. I left the crate made up and put it in, too. That's how I got him in & out through all of this.

So I towed him into Morganna's and several of the female staff commented through the time we were there that that was very practical. I was glad because I didn't want to seem like I was being mean to him. The vet there had the other vet's bloodwork and did an exam and said it looked to her like it was just the ulcers, but asked if he'd been tested for Feline AIDS. He was before he came out of quarantine back in 2001 and I don't know how he could have gotten it here. But that's something
to think about if the antibiotics don't work. She gave me a stronger med (amoxicillin) that takes longer to get through and I'm to call her tomorrow and see if the steroid shot she gave him made him eat more. She said if the antibiotics don't work, the next step would be steroids. He's lost 1.5 pounds in the last two weeks.

So I brought him home, changed clothes to go out to run errands (I was covered with cat fur), and just as I was getting home from those, they called me and when I heard the name, I said "I forgot to pay you!" She said "Yes, but the doctor wanted you to take A/D home with you for him to try, too." My check had come in the mail (early -- they mailed it a day earlier than usual, which probably means they were delivering them late and paying too much penalty) so I put that in the bank and went and paid and got the food. I had to make it into a slurry, but he's having a go at it every 15 minutes or so.

One of my errands was to the library and I'll post about that next and then I'm taking a nap.

Tags: cats

05:50 pm: Restaurant Trial and Baseball Question
I decided to try one of the restaurants with coupons today. I'd always thought of it as a boozy noisy place, although I don't know why, but I was right. The bar was full and the few people in the restaurant were mostly drinking liquor. The coupons' "Great for kids" was not true for kids I know. It was a bit dilapidated and there was a floor for a band & dancing with lights and disco ball. The steak & cheese with onion rings was good, though, and when I asked the young waiter what kind of bands they had, he ended up sitting with me and talking about music (leaving to seat more people). He didn't know what folk was and had only heard soft jazz, that abomination. So I sang bits of songs for him and while I didn't get the idea that he was really interested in the different styles of music (he didn't know who B.B. King was, but recognized "The City of New Orleans" and "Blowing in the Wind"), he was interested in knowing about them.

So we talked some more and he wants to go to college to be a psychiatrist but doesn't have any money and I told him he could work his way through or a lot of the Ivy League colleges are now giving grants instead of loans. He said he got a 3.5, which is pretty good. So I may go back -- the food was okay and he was interesting to talk to.

I turned out to be out of ice cream so I gave Shiva the "cream" part of a creamy chicken soup last night and he liked that. He didn't want skim milk today (I'd like him to have some protein), so I may have to open another creamy soup and join the veggies and chicken from the two for my dinner. The vet didn't return my call and when I called earlier, I got that her phone couldn't connect. I just tried again and left another message.

In the old WashPosts I was reading last night, there was a review of the eating places at the new stadium. I wasn't too interested because I don't expect to go, but then they had a rating system where I knew the ends -- Home Run and Error -- but not the relative positions of Run and Hit. I even read the reviews to see if I could tell the difference that way, and I couldn't. Anybody know?

And also in the papers, there was an ad to get a coupon from Allergan's Refresh Tears at http://www.refreshmyeyes.com and I've learned those are sometimes more general (I use the Refresh Celluvisc at night), so I looked it up. It is indeed more general -- $3 off any Refresh product -- so I printed one out and the prompt stayed up. I ended up printing 10 of them (expire 12/31/08) and although they do print the rest of the page black and you have to wait for it to dry before printing another on the back (other end in first), that's a good bit of savings. It made my black ink level go down about a quarter, which is about .70 and that's still a good deal. Maybe some of you are interested.

Tags: baseball, cats, food, health

05:49 pm: The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
I've had more unsettling dreams and I'm pretty sure it's because I was reading this WWII book before bed. Diane Ackerman uses Antonina Zabinski's memoirs as well as interviews and many other references to tell us Antonina's story when Warsaw was taken by the Nazis through the Uprising and the end of their war.

Jan Zabinski was the zookeeper of the major European zoo in Warsaw. His wife Antonina was not only spouse and mother, but cared for sick and young animals. Jan had made a zoo with different environments for set of animals and things were wonderful until the Nazis entered the city. Jan, Antonina, and their son Rys were Polish Christians but Jan worked in the underground and they hid more than 300 Guests in their villa and zoo houses during the war. They had a lot of help from other Christians -- many wanted the Jews to escape -- but the Nazis had more weapons.

The book tells this horrible tale from Antonina's view in the villa, the zoo, and near the end of the war, in exile. We learn about not only the Guests (who frequently acquired animal names) and the animals, but the long numbers that the Nazis lined up and sent to death camps. My heart sank over and over. I knew this intellectually, but Ackerman gave me a story that grabbed me -- both in intensity and desolation. There's no actual blood in the book, but the tension and the massive numbers of the dead walking in front of you is devastating. Still highly recommended.

Tags: books

05:29 pm: Out and About
I put down two dishes with a wet pouch-worth on each, and Spirit has eaten from both. Shiva keeps looking at me longingly.

ETA: It occurred to me to grab Shiva in a towel and look at his mouth again. Yuck. I called the vet. He lapped some ice cream last night, I'll try some of that.

I went out to run errands -- drop the condo fee return envelope (I don't use these, they might as well have them back) and the proof that I had my dryer vent cleaned myself. I could have waited for now, I suppose, it would be cheaper, but I might have completely lost drying capability. Then I dropped by Hancock Fabrics where I found batik fabric just the right colors for my BFAC project, then on to the library to drop off a book.

On the way home, I picked up two days-worth of mail because we never saw the maillady yesterday. I got coupons for two new restaurants in the mail, so I'll try them before Rick and family come to see if we want to go to one of them and use the coupon (coupons rarely work for single people who don't eat much). I have small presents for the kids (from Merimask) -- a blue dragon keychain for my nephew and a small luna moth barrette for my niece -- but I'm not my dad, I wouldn't make them come in order to get them.

It's a lovely day -- warm and sunny, lots of dandelion fluff in the air -- and will be a bit hotter tomorrow. We have the windows open again. I'm wearing one of the new tops I got and was noticing that they really do expect large women to be shaped differently than I am. The two front pockets are about a third around to my side. They think when you gain weight, you get wide and flat, but I kept my hourglass shape -- it's just a centuryglass now.

Tags: cats, errands, shape

07:21 pm: Clean Birdfeeder
I hadn't filled it yesterday when it was almost empty because I knew it would be growing stuff from all the rain -- 3.5" over two days -- so I went out this morning and it was empty and the metal screen was green. I put it into the dishwasher. Lucila seemed surprised the dishwasher was going when she got here, and thought the feeder was new when I put it out during the end of her cleaning. We've had many guests since. There were four crows on the building across the street for a while which led me to see that gutter needs fixing. We also have a new birdsong (I haven't seen the bird) that I don't know. It goes wreeeEEEEETTTT wreeeEEEEETTTT (a seventh) chchchchchchchcchch. The chch is different lengths, but it always starts with the two wreeEEEETTTTs.

I didn't sleep right when she came so slept another couple hours after she left.

Shiva wouldn't even come into the kitchen this morning, so I just fed Spirit. I put what she didn't eat into the fridge and warmed it up after Lucila left, but only Spirit would eat it. I opened another pouch for Shiva, which he really wanted, but he wouldn't jump on the counter. Spirit, however, did. Food is a big prize for her. If he comes into the kitchen tomorrow morning, I'll try two dishes.

I mentioned that Lucila's husband was here looking at the laminate a week or so ago. Lucila told me that he'd had hardwood glued to the concrete slab. No moisture barrier. She didn't know enough to know that's a bad thing, but they'll regret that.

Tags: birds, cats, floors

09:33 pm: Much Pain, Strange Dream
I'm still having trouble finding a way to get Shiva food without Spirit eating it. Maybe tomorrow I'll try two pouches and two dishes and see how that goes.

I woke up with a lot of pain today and went to get groceries, came home and got mail for me and Luke (our maillady is retiring next Friday -- I suppose things won't go as well for a while), then took pain meds and napped for five hours.

My last dream before I woke up was weird:

I had been in "my" house and then there was suddenly other people there (many of them you guys) and lots of extra furniture and electronics and when they were sure I was okay, most of them started leaving with their stuff. They'd taken care of me for at least a week, but they wouldn't tell me for what, and the cats were gone. I kept trying to figure out if I'd had a stroke or went crazy or what.

Now, I forgot to take the rehydration fluid yesterday and I'd only had meds and a glass of water at that point, so now I'm drinking a lot and will zap something. I really hope it isn't predictive!

Tags: cats, dream, health

06:27 pm: BFAC Auction!
I forgot to put this in my daily post! This is the next-to-last week of auctions, and almost all of our proceeds go to the National Colorectal Cancer Research Association. We have to spend a little money on the website and the annual audit and such, but the rest goes to NCCRA.

This week we have some really interesting things: a flaming-tooth choker, a leather blank journal with a bead panel, a bead and ribbon indoor windsock, a polyclay & bead dragon necklace, a polyclay & bead phoenix necklace/pin and earrings, a stately art doll, and a realistic butterfly necklace!

Go look and see if there's anything you like!

Tags: bfac

05:35 pm: Rain and Thunder; Drenched Doves
We've gone back to the 50s with lots of rain today, more tomorrow. We might get 3" which would really help the watershed. I had three completely drenched mourning doves today and the dry doves wouldn't let them near the feeder, so I went out and poured a scoop of seed on the dry part of the porch. The drenched doves came to eat and wouldn't let the dry doves eat there!

My electricity bill was in yesterday's mail, and the city sends a four-page letter from some city department in every bill. This one was Town Hall and I was both pleased and taken aback to find out that I qualify for a home repair program for people with "extremely-low income." In fact, I get about $7K less than their max for a single person. They specificly mention "accessibility improvements" so I think I'll apply there first for the new concrete ramp.

One of the bookgroup members took the DVD player yesterday -- in fact, someone took everything I had to give away and that was nice. I read another 2.5 old newspapers last night and hope to continue at that rate.

Shiva was very hungry last night so I put another pouch of wet food on a plate and then put it on the counter, because Spirit can't jump to the counter anymore. Or I thought so. After Shiva got up and started eating, she was highly agitated -- food and she didn't have any -- and she jumped to the seat of my swivel rolling desk chair, then to the top of the back of it, and from there, two feet to the top of the half-wall between the kitchen and the dining room. She was pretty desperate. Fortunately, she only ate a bit and then Shiva came back and finished it. The problem is that if she can get to the counter (she can't jump up to it from the kitchen floor anymore, doesn't see well enough), then I don't have anyplace high enough to put food where Shiva can get it and she can't (except bookcases, which would be stupid). This morning I put the wet food dish on the floor and after she ate most of it, Shiva went in and finished. I really need to give them separate food, where she can't get to his, without shutting anybody behind doors, and I can't figure out a way to do it. I'm going to have to make a step for her to the heating pad, too, she's starting to just barely make the jump.

Tags: cats, ramp, weather

05:11 pm: The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach
This was the bookgroup book yesterday and we were quite divided about it. It was a lovely spring Saturday with days of rain in the future, so we only had six adults (years since we had so few) and two teens who mostly slept (usually we don't allow teens and these two read in the library itself during group). Of the six, two hated it, two loved it, two thought it was okay. I was in the hate group.

The structure of the book is that each chapter tells a small story without much plot. We meet a person or a place in each chapter and may have mention of them later, but you never really get a character to care about. If I wasn't reading it for group, it would have gotten The Eight Deadly Words.

Most of the chapters are about people on a planet that has had some kind of apocalypse and the society is strongly feudal. The people at the top of the planet's hierarchy are the hair carpet makers. Each man takes a lifetime to knot a hair carpet from the hair of his wives and daughters. If more than one son is born, the newer one dies (usually) because the income from the father's carpet will support only one son who then makes a carpet from his wives' and daughter's hair.

Everybody on the planet believes that the carpets are bought by the God-Emperor and used in his palace. People who question anything are killed. Everybody has a subsistence-level living. So into this, comes a scout ship -- the Emperor (who was not God) has been killed and the rebels have won -- and one of the soldiers landed. He goes missing quickly. Even shown pictures, the people don't believe that the Emperor is dead (after all, he's God) and they kill the people who speak heresy.

There's a lot of working up to why the Emperor died and how, and where the carpets go, and the book ends in a way that reminded me of "The Gifts of the Magi." You could read the first chapter and then the last two and get the entire plot. It would have made a nice short story. But what about all you learn about the people in the story-chapters? Well, I think a good author could have put that in a short story.

Before the stroke, I liked deep sociological and political plots, but when my brain rewired, it wired me to like stories where things happen. Nothing happens in this book.

Tags: books

08:48 pm: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
We discussed hair carpet makers in bookgroup today and then went out to Friday's (people wanted something fast and inexpensive). I gave the jewelry-type donations to the boy scout, and wore all three of the necklaces I won from BFAC -- serially, not at once -- and people liked all of them.

I didn't cook last night because I actually finished online in time to watch TV in real time instead of on tape and then I read 2.5 old newspapers. Not really much interesting today.

The WashPost did their second Peeps diorama contest and here's their top 37.

While i was reading old papers last night, I ran into a Tom Toles' cartoon that I put on the fridge.

06:27 pm: A New Bird!
I've had a new bird the last week and finally took the time to run one of the bird ID website and identify it -- it's a dark-eyed junco. It's 83F today and I have the windows open (not too hot when I had the AC on overnight until noon) and we have lots of birds and squirrels today. Shiva has been very happy about it. Spirit has been cuddling up to him.

I swapped the two serial splitters for the four-way and put the two two-way and the extra cable in my AV drawer. I took my friend AJ's descriptions for the boy scout auction items and printed them out on postcard paper and packed each item in something nice. I put them all in a box to give to the mother of the boy scout of whom I'm fond tomorrow at bookgroup. My bookgroup load is growing: the DVD player (if nobody wants it, I'll take it to the charity thrift shop), a totebag, the boy scout stuff, presents for our librarian/fan leader on our 6th anniversary (a hardcover copy of All Seated on the Ground and a copy of Jason Shiga's Bookhunter -- which I carefully read before wrapping it), my totebag, and the bookgroup book. Tomorrow I'll add a beadwork box and my non-BPA water bottle with the rehydration fluid in it. Good thing I have that collapsible rolling crate!

I feel pretty good today, I may try some form of cooking later. My labs were normal-for-me for the rheumatologist, but worse for the nephrologist -- my BUN is up again and my GFR down (means kidney disease is a little worse than it's been for a while), the ferritin and iron are both better than last time, but not normal, and my CO2 has dropped again, a lot. The blood sugar is down to 90, though, which is good.

Tags: birds, bookgroup, cats, health

08:05 pm: Cables and Cables
I'd had my earlier two VCRs, one DVD, and one TV set up so I could do a lot with one remote (a benefit of my TV) but that didn't work with the new DVD/VCR last night so it took me a while to cable it and I ended up using two splitters serially. Everything works -- both the DVD & VCR record and play, I was able to set it up so I could access the TV from the DVD/VCR remote, and, if the second VCR is on, change channels on it. I can record on one and watch the other. I put some .jpgs on a flashdrive and it showed me them, too. Won't show anything other than movies or .jpgs, though. I didn't try dubbing between DVD & VCR or editing a disc -- I don't think I'll use those and it's not important enough to test now. I got the DVD box down and packed it up.

I'd fasted after midnight (actually after 8pm, I wish I'd remembered earlier that I planned to do labs today) and the pain kept me awake. If I took the codeine, I would have slept all day and lost the benefit of the fasting. The twisting of cables made skin breaks on my right thumb and index finger, so the tips of those fingers have bright purple vet wrap on them. I finally got up at 9am and started running errands. What had originally been the lab and PetSmart extended to Radioshack (four-way splitter -- no three-way -- the clerk asked if I was just connecting my VCR to my TV and I thought a moment and said "trust me, I need this") then taking accummulated cardboard to recycling, then labs and PetSmart. A brief trip back to Circuit City to return something and I was so sleepy and had so much pain -- walking and standing -- that I knew if I came home I'd be in the recliner and not eat. I went sort of next door to Friday's and had a Cobb Salad and then came home at 1:20pm. By 1:30pm, I was in the recliner with the cats. I woke up at 6pm.

I'm not going out tomorrow so I'll swap the four-way splitter in tomorrow. I'm doing pretty well at using the remote without the directions, but I'll keep them by the recliner for a few more days.

Ah, my lipid panel just came back -- everything is where it's supposed to be except I'm still 6 points high on triglycerides. Not too bad.

Tags: electronics, health

07:26 pm: Good Mouf
I took trash and recycling out today and when I got back, gathered Shiva in a towel (and he didn't struggle) and got him to open his mouth for me. The top looks fine, and the sides of the bottom look good, but he yelled both times I touched his tongue so I could see under. I'll report to the vet tomorrow and see if I need to hold his tongue up or something.

My last two trips to Minicon, I noticed that both my big suitcase and my carryon weren't completely full (even with 16 old WashPosts this last time), so when I got a sale email from luggageonline, I bought a duffle with extending handle & wheels. It arrived today. Everything I usually put in the carryon will fit in there. I don't think I can fit everything else into the other carryon (and check it), but it does mean it will be easier to get the new carryon into the overhead and to carry it on my lap while I'm in the wheelchairs.

I've been tempted to put the DVD/VCR in earlier because the news has been all Pope all day, but other things online took my time so when I finish this, I'm going to go install.

Tags: cats, electronics, travel

09:07 pm: Sleep Sleepity Sleep
I got up and put on my robe and when I got close to the bed again, Shiva dashed out to the living room, which was good because when I got out there, I was able to set up the first dropper dose and then follow him down to the bedroom again. He was sitting under a long dress in the closet so I closed the bedroom door. As I came toward him, he dashed for the door and just sat by it. He didn't argue when I picked him up, but when I opened the door, he started struggling. I got his dose in (last one tonight) and actually went right back to sleep in the recliner. When I woke up 20 minutes later, still sleepy, I went back to bed. Spirit woke me up about 4:45, so no putting the DVD/VCR in today.

Shiva has been eating and eliminating fine -- I'll have to put him in a towel to check his mouth tomorrow -- and I've been doing laundry and setting up auction pages for Sunday so the rest of the board can check them. Spirit has been mostly sleeping with Shiva.

Tags: cats

08:30 pm: Happy Birthday stevendj!
I hope it's a great day and an even better year!

08:27 pm: Shiva's Bloodwork is Perfect!
:::whew::: And he not only pooped last night and today, but he eagerly finished my soup from last night (he likes the creamy versions). The vet called today and apologized for not calling when she said she would, but since his bloodwork is fine, it's just the mouth. I have to continue the med until we run out, and I need to report back to her on Wednesday or Thursday on what his mouth looks like. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to do that. He's stronger than I am and I can either hold him or open his mouth. I could use a gripping hand.

When I opened the living room shades today, we had squirrel acrobatics. One was sitting in the feeder eating, but two were on the porch scavaging. A fourth came and the three on the ground dashed around and made backflips and other fine entertainment.

I went to get groceries today and on the way in, there was a table with two middle-school girls advertising Giant's Triple Winner tickets -- they co-sponsor this with Johns Hopkins' Comprehensive Cancer Center and The Children's Cancer Foundation and usually a ticket is a dollar. The girls had a deal: two tickets, a soda, and a small bag of chips for $2. I told them I didn't want the soda and chips, but I'd give them two dollars -- my last two dollar coins, which they'd never seen before and I had to explain -- and take the tickets. At checkout, I got the cranky cashier (she wears latex gloves so she won't catch anything from the money) and she asked me if I wanted a ticket and I told her I'd already gotten two. She said "Those girls accosted you!" and I said "I read their sign on the way in and went over and gave them money, that's not accosting" and she said "Yes, they accosted you." I wonder what she'd think of the people who walk up to you and ask you to buy stuff.

The mail hadn't come by the time I came home and I didn't see the truck, but I don't think it's a holiday. After I got the groceries put away, I used a key to scrape off the plastic on the tickets. Each ticket has two parts -- one is instant win (money, product coupon, $5K) and the other has three things printed on it and if they're all the same, that's $10K. Both of my Triple Match were wrong and one Instant Win was a coupon for Paul Newman's Dressing (which I don't want), but the other was for $2 Cash, so I donated and didn't lose any money. I'll have to get more tickets next week, since I had really planned to donate.

I really need new winter pants. Part of the problem is that I've lost weight, although if that was the only problem, I'd just keep hiking them up. The big problem is that I've had most of them for about 10 years and they're splitting at all the edges -- hem, waist, pockets -- and I'm beginning to look grubby. (Some people assume all fat people are grubby regardless of their attire, but I'd rather have intact clothing anyway.) I found a local tailor who makes pants and I figured before I went and committed, I'd look through Stef's Supersize Clothing list again. I already buy most of my clothes from MIB, and I can keep buying tops there, but the new owner only makes pants in boring colors. I went through possibles and really didn't see much (a couple of tops I liked and marked, but I don't really need new tops) so I guess I'll be seeing the tailor in a month or so. It's a long list and hard to keep up, so I sent Stef a couple of changes from the pages I looked at. I spent way too much time on this, so I'll be up late tonight, but I don't have to go out tomorrow and I'll hook up the new DVD/VCR tomorrow, too.

Tags: cats, clothes, errands

04:52 pm: Zombieland
I feel like I'm not quite connected today, which is unusual because although I have new pain (the left side of my left foot -- the rheumatologist says this happens because I don't have enough flesh under my bones), I haven't taken pain meds.

I did, however, get the BFAC auctions up. There's a wonderful "Spam Guard" beaded doll, a great collar with cabochon, a lovely bead-embellished mermaid tapestry, a spectacular sunburst necklace, an amazing beaded bead necklace, a striking abstract necklace, and a flowery lampwork and bead bracelet.

I used the bathrobe protection to dose Shiva last night and this morning. Last night he slept snuggled up to the side of my legs, but today he's a little scared of me. He hasn't eaten a lot in the last day, and he hasn't pooped for two days. I'm debating calling the internal medicine vet tomorrow and seeing if they can see him and thus pay for two sets of bloodwork.

I'm reading The Carpetmakers for next Saturday's bookgroup. I'm a third of the way in, and nothing very interesting has happened yet. I should have known -- OSC "found" the author.

Tags: bfac, books, cats, health

05:28 pm: No Vet Call
She still hasn't called, so I called and left her a message. Her message says she won't listen to messages until she gets back on Tuesday, but I hope that's not true. Shiva does seem to be better -- I put the robe on over my clothes last night and gave him his antibiotic doses and after finishing online, went to bed.

Had the robe on again for his morning doses and he didn't try so hard to get away today. He still wouldn't eat the wet food, and I haven't seen him trying, but he's been having snackies and dry food.

It was blue when I left the house today, but as I got into the van, I saw dark clouds covering the west. I went to get money for next week and to pick up two books at the library. The really weird thing was that they turned out to be by the same author. The Zookeeper's Wife got a really good review in the WashPost and it's the third and last of the non-SF I put a hold on. I was 48th in the queue when I started so I knew it would be a couple of months before it was my turn. The other, An Alchemy of Mind, I put on hold because a friend's husband really liked it and I'm all for knowing about the mind. I put the hold on because both available copies were at the opposite ends of the county and I might as well have the library use the gas. So I was surprised to get in the car and find out they were both by Diane Ackerman. I looked at the back flap copy, and yes, it's even the same picture. Hmmmm.

As I headed to Tony's, the gray clouds started taking over. Tony's was really busy for that time of day, so I ordered and then asked a guy sitting alone at a big table if he was alone and if I could share the table, and that was okay with him. He turned out to be talkative -- told me about the IT work he was doing and his military days. I had Greek salad and garlic bread with cheese and brought most of the bread home for later. As I left, the first raindrops fell and then they started really falling -- I had to put my wipers on at extra high -- but as I stopped to get mail, they were less and there was some blue. Now it's blue again and very temperate.

The camera battery finished charging as I wrote that, so I've been off taking pictures of the items for the boy scout auction and then putting them up. These are just so my friend who is good with words (same friend as above) can give me descriptions to print for the auctioneer -- so I didn't worry too much about the photos:

1. http://beadwork.mjlayman.com/alspring.jpg - "Always Spring" a ruffled 1.5" ponytail holder

2. http://beadwork.mjlayman.com/orbpower.jpg - "Orb of Power" a badge holder with extension wire -- the bit of bubblewrap you see sticking out at the right was to lift it up even because the clip made it angle down

3. http://beadwork.mjlayman.com/ordbeauty.jpg - "Order of Beauty" a necklace with gold-colored freshwater pearls, red Swarovski bicones, and a dichroic donut pendant -- this is a little yellower than the actual item

And now on to LJ and ML.

Tags: beadwork, cats, errands

11:13 pm: Asimov's April/May 2008
This is one of their double issues and I didn't find as many, proportionally, that I liked. I usually just talk about the ones I like, but there were some odd stories and I want to mention them:

Memory Dog by Kathleen Ann Goonan - a man realizes he has failed his wife and moves his engram into a dog and maneuvers to be her dog. This is written in an odd first-person style that really put me off.

An Almanac for the Alien Invaders by Merrie Haskill -- each para starts with omni and moves to first-person. If the omni was set off somehow -- space or font -- it would have been less jarring.

The stories I liked were:

Slidin' by Neal Barrett, Jr. - some time fissures open in places all over the world -- the one our protagonist works is in Canada -- and prefugees come through from awful times in the past. Our guy is in charge of greeting them and following up with them over time.

An Art, Like Everything Else by Nick Wolven - we have moved to using sims all the time, being in places without leaving our homes. A gay man's partner dies, but he still keeps appearing in the man's life via sim and the man has to figure out how to handle it.

Strangers When We Meet by Kate Wilhelm - this is another of her excellent stories, but it does have a lot in common with some recent movies. A girl has been in a car accident and her memory remains only for a day. It's determined that the best thing for her is to take part in a brain study because she can be protected there and the study will get a fresh mind every day. Turns out the military is interested in the brain study and her amnesia, too.

The Room of Lost Souls by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - this is a follow-up to Diving Into the Wreck which was in Asimov's December 2005. I liked the first story and liked this one, too. It was easily the best in the mag. A woman who used to "dive" into spacewrecks stopped when she lost too many divers. She's offered an odd commission -- to retrieve someone's father from the Room of Lost Souls, which is on an unusual space station. In general, everybody who goes into the Room doesn't come back, but she did, when she was a child. She decides to take the job, but the rules about it and the reason for it change disastrously. This needs a third novella and then Rusch has an excellent novel.

Tags: books

11:01 pm: I Should Have Posted This...
...before my nap. I woke up in a lot of pain today -- the base of my right big toe and base of my right index finger are probably gout flares, and the right wrist pain and right knee clicking are osteo, but I think my right shoulder is catching Shiva.

He stopped grazing last night about 10pm -- I think the steroid shot wore off -- but was very loving at night again. It was 81 today so I planned to wear one of the new tops I bought and I decided I should stop before I put outer clothes on, put my robe on, and catch him for meds rather than chance the top being damaged. I did that, and it turns out he still doesn't want me to open his mouth, but if I show him the syringe, he'll open the front of his mouth enough that I can put it in. He has to get two doses at a time. Then I got dressed and came out to feed them and he was very enthusiastic about that, too, until I put the dish down and he ate a bite and dashed off. He ate snackies and finished the dish later on.

I went out to have lunch. Sometimes I just really need cheese fries, and a half-portion at Glory Days fills the kind of oval platter that most places use for a dinner. I discriminately ate it down to toaster-oven size and will have the rest soon. When I came in, there were four moms and four kids (two boys, two girls) and they were all having a lot of fun without being difficult. They were very creative playing with plastic sharks, which seemed to come with their ice cream sundaes. I was facing a screen with ESPN Headlines and every so often across the bottom would run "So-and-so to announce future in conf. Monday" and I kept thinking, now that would be a great conference!

I came home and started online but hurt so much by 5pm that I took pain meds and napped. A very close thunderboomer woke me up at 10pm. Shiva insisted on fresh dry food, so I threw out the Meow Mix and special Science Diet from yesterday, washed and dryed the dish, and put down some normal Science Diet dry food and he started eating. Maybe antibiotics work faster in cats.

I've been catching up online and moving laundry around and such and will now be up late reading LJ and ML. I never heard from the vet, so I'll call her tomorrow. If she has any sense, she'll have her phone off in class.

Tags: cats, food, health

05:01 pm: Shiva and the Vet
He hadn't eaten in 24 hours and his face looked smaller, so I called the vet a bit before 8am and left a message. Then I went back to sleep and when I got up, he still wasn't eating. I had used the last of a box of kitty litter last night and so used it as a container for the papers I shredded and was on the way out with that to the mixed paper recycling when the vet called back. She said that it sounded like nausea and usually that's from renal failure. My heart sank. She said she'd be here about 3:30-4:00.

I went on and took the paper to recycling and when I came back got the carrier (and the little piece I glued last night) out of the storeroom and put a towel in the bottom. It's really hot today -- I got up partway through last night to turn the AC on and when I went out, I had the windows down and was thinking that the people with their windows up and AC on in their cars were overdoing it, but on the way back, I had the AC on, too. But the condo was cool enough when I got back that I turned the AC off and opened the windows. Shiva loves open windows.

I did online things until I saw the vet coming and I put Shiva in the carrier (and got a couple of scratches in the process). She took him out and I not only heard him making his "why am I here" noise over the engine, he screamed twice. She brought him back in and said that normally she wouldn't say a cat wouldn't eat because of their mouth, but that was until she saw his mouth. One of the screams was when she gently touched an ulcer and she said he tried to turn himself inside out. His mouth is full of ulcers and she gave him a shot of a mild steroid and the first dose of an antibiotic drop, both of which he took well. I had her go ahead and draw blood, just in case. She's leaving for a continuing education class tomorrow, but changes planes in Charlottesville and will check the blood results there and call me.

I paid and she went out to the mobile clinic and as soon as she left, he came out and ate. A few bites, but he ate! I called her rather than dashing out, and told her and she said that was an excellent sign. I hope it really is just his mouth. I mean, it's awful that he has ulcers all over his mouth, but that's treatable.

I may not install the new DVD/VCR tonight -- I'll be home tomorrow, too, without screaming cats and a vet. And I should eat now.

Tags: cats

06:48 pm: Catfood Roulette
I had a bit of cheese before bed and Shiva ate all three pieces I put down for them. He kept cuddling up with me last night, but was stand-offish today. He never had any wet food or snackies.

I took newspapers to recycling, then went to Circuit City to look at DVD/VCR remotes. I found a remote I think I can handle, and the DVD/VCR was an internet return so it was cheaper than usual. I'll read the manual tonight and hook it up tomorrow.

Then I had lunch at Logan's Roadhouse, which I had a coupon for, and enjoyed Southern Fried Catfish with a salad and broccoli. Two yeast rolls, but only two peanuts (a pail of peanuts on each table). The entrance to the restaurant is on the opposite side from the parking lot and you have to walk on an uneven board deck surface (it's suspended over a catchwater pool), and I was thinking Rick and family and I would go there when they come in May and I should check it again.

Then on to PetSmart where I got more wet food and snackies, plus a small bag of a new type of Science Diet. I stopped for the mail on the way in, and Shiva was waiting at the door. He was very enthusiastic when I washed the dish, and nudged his head in when I put the SD on half the dish, but wouldn't eat. I put Meow Mix on the other half and he had one bite.

I had a stiff envelope from Kaiser and I was thinking it was a brochure or something, but no, it's an occult stool collection kit with USPS-approved return envelope. It is time to do it again, but I wasn't expecting to get it in the mail.

Then when I was gathering what I needed to glue some beadwork to a finding (small project) in the workroom, I heard Shiva bark twice. When I came out, he and Spirit both came out of my bathroom to look at me as if nothing had happened. I went out on the porch because of the glue fumes, but haven't heard anything else from them.

Tags: cats, dvd/vcr, health