{Link thanks to H&M.}
Instructions: feed cats; work 9~to~5; feed cats; order out; watch TV; fall asleep on sofa. Repeat.
Not much time to post stuff; still playing catch~up. Xmas at the office was inexplicably hectic.
I'd've thought the nine~to~five world would've mellowed during the run~up to the holidays, that people would substitute the demands of work with the demands of the season and use it as an excuse to slack off a bit... but no, apparently only I have that attitude.
So it was up to ME to carry all the responsibility for holiday slacking~off. And things were crazier than they've ever been.
I'm nearly caught~up, though. By the end of today, everything should be done.*
And then I can focus on making some New~Year's Resolutions. Like trying to keep the house clean {snort} and organized {snorffle}, and preparing meals and lunches ahead of time {stifles snikering, shakes uncontrollably}
...oh, gosh {wiping tears from eyes} I can't say any of that with a straight face...
Happy New Year, all. :) Have fun making/breaking resolutions.
~ ~ ~
* Addendum: assuming, of course, that I'm not interrupted. Constantly. And consistently. With higher priority jobs. And the phone keeps ringing. And ringing. So I've done a lot of work. But I'm still as behind now as I was this morning.
Went Xmas shopping downtown.
There had just been a massive snowfall, yet the weather forecast for that evening called for rain. Sidewalks hadn't yet been cleared; and the street ploughs had tumbled even more white stuff onto the pavement.
Falling dusk, and the crowds of Xmas shoppers were stumbling & slipping through waxy soft snow, snow as soft as snow can get before you have to call it slush.
When one has to traverse this kind of terrain, one stares mostly in the vicinity of one's own feet. On those rare moments when one looks up to take one's bearings, one notes that the visibility is quite limited through this throng of shuffling people who are all watching their own steps also.
I felt very boxed in.
A big man veered across my path, blocking my vision nearly to its periphery; I looked up to navigate an anti~collision course, eyes crossed with how close he was to the end of my nose.
As he passed, there was the match~strike of a foot slipping on pavement; past him was a sudden clearing and, down at the end of this unexpected vista, I caught sight of a figure in mid-flight: flapping arms gracelessly outstretched, falling towards a parking meter, catching his balance at the last moment with a slap of his hand on its head.
My first thought was, this is a man who had just found a parking spot & then lost his balance on his way to put change in the meter; thank goodness he'd gotten close enough to reach it before he slipped, or else he'd've landed on his nose.
Mid~condensation of this idea, his eyes lit on mine; I smiled; he smiled; and then he held up a crudely lettered cardboard sign:
A penny a smile / 1¢ un sourire.
I burst out laughing.
There is, somewhere in literary land, a description of a laugh as having in it "a kaleidoscope of possibilities."*
In the one fell swoop of this fleet & melting epiphany of absurdity, the laws of interpersonal monetary physics were temporarily dropped; all the catch-22s of conscience & catechisms were irrelevant.
All I had on hand was a fiver, which I gave him. Would've given him more if I'd had it.
No moral to this fable; I was sitting under the table and someone threw a crust of bread which hit me in the nose.
~ ~ ~
* ...it might be from The Phantom Tollbooth; if so, it would refer to one of the two sisters, Rhyme & Reason.
Some of my favorites:
RADIUM ROW
WADI RUMOR
I, MUD ARROW
MU ARROW ID
A WORD MUIR
I DRUM A ROW
RID OUR MAW
OUR WARM ID
AIR DU WORM
WARM DOUR I
Possible Personages:
I. DU MARROW
OUR MR. WADI [MR. ROU WADI]
IRMA DU ROW
MIRA DU ROW
RAMI DU ROW
MAD URI ROW
IDA MURROW
DR. IOWA RUM
Last we heard, Ed was running with scissors; and then Ed didn't post for a few days... is Ed OK?
Ed wimped out & bought the Xmas outfit. Ed lucked out because the Xmas outfit was cheap. Ed went out to the office Xmas party and had a good time.
Ed is feeling a wee bit delicate this morning.
Ed extends heartfelt thanks to the friends whose companionship made the night worthwhile.
Ed is now crawling off in search of advil & orange juice. :)
Took me a few tries to figure it out... (!) ... but voila, here I am. :)
A thousand thanks, Go raibh mile maith agat, for the new conceptual space to roam around in. Here's 465 of them up front; I'm afraid the rest will have to be paid in installments of one expression of gratitude per day over a two-year period. Will that be okay?
Ah... my very own Wordarium.... *sigh* [rolls back and forth like a happy cat]
FYI:
The partridge in a pear tree is on backorder.
The two turtle doves appears to be a doubleshipment; what is the authorization procedure to return the duplicate for a credit note?
The OLF has mandated that the three french hens should be accompanied by three english hens which must be 40% smaller in size.
Please be advised that these four calling birds may be monitored for quality assurance.
It would seem that the five gold rings may have been lost in shipping; can somebody please confirm the tracking number and start a trace? If we can't pinpoint them, heads are gonna bloody roll.
The six geese~a~laying are buggy. We have tried to patch them with the seven swans~a~swimming, but they still keep crashing. Please be so kind as to ask IT to pasteurize them with the eight maids~a~milking anti~virus software.
The nine ladies dancing? They're from the Accounting Department; the ten lords~a~leaping have bounded past their sales quota for December, and it's just been announced at the office Xmas party that bonuses will be bigger for everyone this year. On a completely unrelated note: does anybody know the number for Operation Nez Rouge?
There are eleven pipers piping out front, thanks to a burst water main; consquently there is ice everywhere, so lords and ladies please do watch your step... you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.
Lastly, the matter of the twelve drummers drumming. That is not my department. Percussion problems should be referred to maintenance.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Happy Yuletide Wishes,
Ed.
Our office Xmas party is looming imminent; and I have nothing to wear... So I have to make a decision: Do I sew my own outfit? Or do I permit Boyfriend make good on his offer to buy me an outfit?
As an Old Fogey, I don't get out much anymore. So an Xmas party outfit would be a one~off; and as such, it would really be a waste to spend any money on it. The economical thing to do would be to sew it myself; but the idea intimidates me. I've never attempted to sew anything that complex.
Don't know why this decision worries me so much; looking at it purely from a fashion perspective, I can't lose. Either way I end up with a nice outfit.
Figure I'll give making it a shot, and gamble on the reception hall being romantically {dimly} lit.
Who knows? It could be fun. I might find that my true calling is to be a clothesmaker. Anything could happen. That's the magic of Xmas. ;}
I'll attempt it tonight; and should it end up a couture catastrophe, then I'll impose on Boyfriend to be as good as his word.
Wish me luck...
The most exciting thing today? I finally paid off my staggering debt to the charity box of chocolate bars at the office. Yep. Mm~hm. One less yoke; one more harness. :)
What?!? The French don't revere the site where England conquered them in battle? How astonishing. C'est incroyable.
The reenactment looks like it will be great fun; but as far as it having the intended effect where the government in Paris is concerned... hmmm... being faced with commemorating their defeat on the one hand probably makes wind turbines on the other hand look even that much more appealing.
A TV program* I saw about wind power recounted how Holland, the land of windmills, had encoutered some fierce opposition to setting up wind turbines ~ and these were a few miles offshore.
Don't understand the fuss; quite like the look of these new~fangled wind turbines. Can only imagine they must be unbearably noisy.
~ ~ ~
* ...on Nova ? no... EXN? no... hmph... can't remember....
Did I say there were 12 shopping days left 'til Xmas? Yet more evidence of the need to readjust the dosage on my meds, I am clearly not coping. Am appropriately red~faced for having been the unwitting source of mild Xmas coronaries.
Evidently, I was wearing my Monday~to~Friday Brain when I made that calculation; you know, the state of mind in which weekends don't count towards your deadline. As of {but not including} yesterday, there were 16 days of shopping left, assuming you're the kind of person who uses your weekends for shopping.
So, really, in practical terms... for me that adds up to 4 full shopping days {the two weekends} plus 4 brief shopping evenings when the stores stay open 'til 9PM {the two Thursdays & Fridays}. That's four~and~a~smidge days where I can personally, physically, go out shopping.
There's virtual shopping, but I fear that Canada Post {et al.} may be already backlogged with packages; and then on Xmas I'd be forced to hand my beloved a printout of the order and say, happy holidays, honey; Santa says your gift is in the mail.
I'm feeling all excited about the Xmas season this year ~~ this is utterly perverse, because {1} normally I'm rather cynical about it, {2} I have no money, and {3} did I mention I'm broke? Yes, Virginia, it's probably due to this very lack of spending capacity that I'm getting warm, gooey & sentimental about the mere concept of Christmas.
Maybe because it gives me a taste of timelessness, and a sense of a time before clocks; and because it embodies, in a sense, a cyclical sort of immortality. The idea that people have been having winter solstice celebrations in one form or another for millenia is very touching...
... well, people who lived temperate & polar climates, anyway. I've no idea whether there are correlating holidays in tropical cultures; and unfortunately I've no clue as to where one would even begin to look up that kind of information... anyone out there able & willing to shine a light on this unknown and chase away my ignorance?
I've got Funfur Xmas Stockings for my cats; how about you?
Their haul, so far:
{Confirmed}
Bought
Three catnip fish.
Handmade
One soft knitted belt cord, which has finally been liberated {i.e., cut off} from the waistline of an old sweater.
{Tentative}
Handmade
A temporary construction: The Christmas Castle of discarded cardboard boxes, for their exploring & shredding delight.
. . .
Yes, pretty paltry... and only 12 shopping days left 'til Xmas. Gotta get cracking on those stocking stuffers...
It's the time of year to have your pet's picture taken ~~ well, yes, of course, for identification purposes, should your pet go missing; but also because it's nearly Christmas. And what pet owner wouldn't want a picture of their pet with Santa? :)
Please remember {& click on} the names of the fourteen women:
{Thanks to Munin for the link.}
Took a moment last night to RE~READ the fax... My errors:
Mercifully, they *do* accept debit cards, which saves me from trying to find a credit company that would give me a $2000 limit... or, from trying to find two companies @ $1000 each... or four companies @ $500...
The $75 consultation fee is actually for the initial meeting between their vet, myself & the kitty in question; and my vet must make the referral for us to get this consultation. It must be scheduled two to four weeks before the appointment date for treatment ~ which means that in all we must make three trips to Kanata {assuming the therapy works on the first try; they claim a 90 ~ 98% success rate, but they do admit some cats may need to be treated twice}.
There is also a huge medical workup {+$$$!} that must be done by my vet and submitted to their vet for this initial consultation. This is done for all the obvious reasons, and for one not~so~obvious reason:
You see, the radioactive iodine they will use has a half~life of about eight days. Once the treatment has started, kitty cannot be removed from his shielded quarters for that period of time. Should kitty meanwhile suffer any sort of medical emergency, the staff will do their best to help him; but, understandably, they are limited in the care they can provide under those circumstances. So part of the reason for the thorough medical workup is to anticipate & prevent any such crises.
And the $600 deposit? That's required just to schedule the appointment for the radiotherapy. No deposit? No appointment!
I'm sure it sounds like I'm complaining, and I don't mean it to sound like that. I don't believe these amounts are expensive; I could save up whole amount in {snap fingers} mere months ~ if only it weren't for, um, that wee little student loan debt thingy... So I don't think they're being at all unreasonable. I'm just exasperated with my own lack of means/togetherness.
*sigh* Say hello to Mr. Crappy Part~Time Weekend Job...
{pouts like a spoiled preschooler} IdonnWANNAworkontheweekends, IdonnWANNAaahaanhhaannh...
{tries to connect with Inner Adult} Think Mr. Happycat thoughts, think only of Mr. Happycat, we're doing this for Mr. Happycat, put on a happyface for Mr. Happycat, happy happy happy Mr. Happycat...
Wow. I've been racking my brains for unique yet cheap Xmas gifts for my Boyfriend ~ now the hunt is over. Oh, I know, he already has one; but in times like these, who couldn't use a spare?
Now it's all down to presentation. If only they sold little festive hermetically sealed reliquaries... and Shroud of Turin Xmas wrapping paper, or gift~bag grails with rosaries for handles.
Nestled in filo~esque Holy Prepuce tissue paper, adorned with ribbons & bows woven from the hair of the Holy Mother, it would be just perfect.
But alas, these are not to be found on Ebay. Maybe Martha will show us how to make those at home... along with those little cakes for that long dark teatime...
Received the fax...
The vet will only accept payment by credit card. Note to self: must apply for a credit card...
... or two...
Okay. Up front, there is a $75 consultation fee {because their vet has to confer with my vet beforehand}. The basic rate is $1100 for the treatment {$600 of that is a non~refundable deposit, payable upon kitty's arrival at the clinic}.
If there are any unexpected complications that require extra medication, that'll be an added $25 a day; and, if The Old Man has to stay beyond the normal length of time {estimated at 7-10 days on average, 14 days maximum} then it will cost another $60 a day for room and board.
Plus 7% GST.
And there is no "lay~away" plan ~ the balance of the bill must be paid in full when kitty is picked up from the clinic.
Oh, and then there's the cost of renting a car to get to Kanata & back {twice} plus gas.
I want to make it clear I'm not complaining about the amount here {and on that note, check out the FAQ's on their website ~ it's apparent that these poor guys have had to deal with a lot of bitchy people whinging at them about cost}. I know that in the end I will be able to manage it ~~ it's just that at the moment I'm a bit boggled by the challenge {>insert litany of financial woes here<}.
Boyfriend has pointed out that by the time I can afford it, the DMV down the street might very well be up and running with their radiology clinic {they told me to check back with them in February 2004}. Fingers crossed: let's hope they are. That would save us the cost {and hassle} of transportation; and the less it costs, the sooner it can be done.
*Finally* found a website for that place in Kanata that does the radiotherapy.
I called for an estimate, and the lady quoted me $1100 CDN ~~ I'm assuming that doesn't cover the cost of the pre~ or post~therapy tests/consultations, or any emergencies that might arise during treatment {thanks to radiocat for that heads~up}. Should've asked if that included tax...
At any rate, they will be faxing me more information soon.
The Old Man's reaction to his medication had so unnerved me that I delayed an extra day, and then started him off slowly ~ one quarter~pill in the evenings ~ so as not to shock his system.
But he's already been boosted up to the current prescription of a quarter~pill twice a day. I'd already forgotten {or mentally blocked out} what he was like before the medication. And he'd reached that point on the curve again, during the once~a~day dosage phase ~ always hungry, constantly irritable, ever restless... he even went back to his old behaviours, like mrowling in other rooms and incessantly begging for milk & cream. The Methimazole seemed to calm all that down.
One curious/interesting thing that I noticed: while he was on his meds, he stopped doing that little thing he used to do, the thing that used to worry me...
He might be sitting perfectly still, or in the middle of doing something; all of the sudden, his skin would ripple involuntarily ~ or sometimes one of his legs might twitch ~ and he would lick down that spot. I found this described as an obsessive~compulsive behaviour in cats; some theorized it was caused by an hormonal imbalance in the brain, and others postulated that was a nervous reaction to stress or conflicting stimuli. Mentioned it to the vet and he said, keep an eye on it, and make a note of when it happens; we can make a better diagnosis when we have more information.
Well, whatever the cause, His Old Manliness had no such nervous tics while medicated; so my current hypothesis is, his twitching was a result of the nervous energy he had from being hyperthyroid...
Perhaps the vet will concur...
See bad examples. See bad examples win awards. Win, bad examples, win!
See good examples. See good examples win awards. Win, good examples, win!
Let's be relevant. Let's be crystal clear. Let's be honest.
Happy Plain English Day!
Only 364 more shopping days until the next one, so let's be sure to getchyer utter drivel while it's still nicely hot & runny, like a three~cheese fondue of Roquefort, Limburger and Livarot on a sultry day in Singapore, just seconds before the southwestern monsoon...
Please link & think:
{Link thanks to Hugin & Munin.}
More fodder for your nodder can be found at:
CBC
World Health Organization
MotherJones
Reuters
Globe & Mail
Salon