Bastet

Same here; I regard it as my duty as a member of a capitalist society -- CEOs can do as they wish with their profits (so long as it's legal), but I won't be giving them my money to do it with.

Oh, holy balls. I am so happy you adopted this cat, but so aggravated by the shelter. An upper respiratory infection in a cat is virtually always caused by one of four viruses, and the most common culprit is a herpes virus (basically the feline version of HSV-1 in humans, the one the vast majority of us are infected with that causes cold sores upon flare-up) -- a cat coming out of a shelter or other crowded environment is highly likely to carry the virus, and it will flare up during times when the immune system is stressed elsewhere (just as we'll get a cold sore when ill, incredibly stressed out or depressed, etc.), perhaps even leading to a secondary bacterial infection. Giving the amino acid L-Lysine - again, like in those of us who get cold sores - is often enough to tamp down a flare-up, and there are anti-virals (e.g. Famciclovir) that can be given for more serious cases, and of course antibiotics to treat secondary infections in the worst cases. In other words, a URI is highly (and cheaply) treatable so long as one keeps on top of it. My late kitty Maddie was literally wasting away from the effects of a long-untreated URI (originating with the herpes virus) when I adopted her; what the shelter (which was shut down within six months for neglectful conditions) could have easily nipped in the bud had progressed to something that took weeks of intensive therapy. But shelters - whether because of incompetence, ignorance, or the very best-intentioned use of pitiful resources - often don't treat, and wind up euthanizing. Had I not happened upon her when I did, she'd have been a sad statistic. Bottom line: There's a blood test that can identify which virus is causing a URI. In a cat who is prone to such infections, it's highly beneficial to learn the underlying virus and thus know what anti-viral to have on hand in case of a "moderate to severe" (as the commercials would say if they were humans) flare-up in order to tamp it down before it gets any worse.

Yes, cystocentesis (needle into the bladder) is the best way to get a sterile sample. Your vet must be trying to ensure there's urine in the bladder to retrieve by having you take the boxes away -- the theory being if there are no boxes to pee in for five hours prior to the appointment, the cats won't pee anytime in those five hours. I've never done that; the odds of the cat happening to pee close enough to the appointment time that there is no urine in the bladder at the time they go to retrieve a sample are pretty low, and on the few times it has happened over the decades, I have simply left the cat there for a few hours and picked her/him back up after they were able to retrieve a sample, or brought the cat back another day. Since yours are harder to take to the vet, get more stressed out, etc., the vet is likely trying to make sure you don't have to do that. So it's your call whether you want to take the boxes away and risk them going to pee during that window, finding the boxes missing, and stressing out, or leave the boxes out and risk someone peeing close enough to appointment time to have an empty bladder.

Oh, the humanity! While I remember WKRP's take, in an iconic episode, on the "Oh, the humanity!" quote from the radio journalist witnessing the Hindenburg disaster, the pop culture reference that has stuck in my mind ever since it aired is Newman on Seinfeld -- whenever I quote that line, it's as him.

It was nice hearing everyone talk about each other as worthy competitors, and I, too, noticed several, "Uh oh - Brooke is back on her game; she's going to be hard to beat" style commentary from at least two, if not all three (I don't specifically remember John), of the others. I think all three have an equal shot at winning, which - combined with the fact I like what I see of all three of them as people, in addition to enjoying watching them cook - makes for a good finale. I'll be sad to lose whomever we lose to get to the final two, but I'll also be happy for whomever wins. Shifting gears, I liked the little glimpse we got of how the tequila is made; no wonder my Patron is so expensive.

Splishy Splashy, have you seen the movie Easy A? It's very funny, with terrifically biting social commentary on several issues, particularly the bullshit leveled at high school girls who've had (or who are rumored to have had) sex. The behavior you describe is a serious problem, and I despair that it seems to have become worse (in terms of being easier to engage in and disseminate, thanks to text messaging, cell phone cameras, and social media) than it was when I was your age (many, many moons ago). There are some great documentaries and articles on the subject, highlighting how pervasive and destructive it is and discussing ways of addressing it, but it's also good to sometimes sit back and sort of share a knowing laugh with fictional characters about how utterly fucked up it is.

Go ahead and do that; there is nothing wrong with putting it down in a memo. In fact, it illustrates the serious nature of the issue.

I'm the opposite; the only time my back is to the water is when I'm rinsing my hair or my back. I turn the water off when I'm soaping up, shaving, etc. And, no, I don't get cold, because I live in a mild climate and for times when it is cold, I have a heater in the bathroom.

I finally got to watch this, and Tom's face when Blais was blathering on about Brooke playing it safe with her dish is thus far the highlight of my weekend.

I don't take medication (yet), because mine isn't that bad or that frequent (yet). But my mom takes a pill every evening for it; I don't recall the name, but it's a low dose of one of the drugs used to treat Parkinson's Disease (that's a class of drugs commonly used to treat Restless Leg Syndrome, because the dopamine agents that help control the symptoms of Parkinson's are quite effective at treating the symptoms of RLS). So, definitely something to discuss with your (or another) doctor if it's wrecking your sleep.

I love that, too (about Bev's mug shot), and when she asks, "Okay, if I can't have the picture, can you just give me the numbers off the bottom, because I want to play the lotto." And, of course, the Super Bowl party without beer. "She's in there! Bev. Beverage. Non-alcoholic Beverage is in there!"

That wasn't cool of your doctor. No, it won't kill you, but it's uncomfortable and annoying and interfering with sleep is no small matter. There are medications for it, and she should have discussed them with you. If it's a real problem for you, talk with her again or a different doctor, because the medications work well.

I have terrible motion sickness, and cannot handle 3D rides, museum exhibits, etc. If you're at all prone to motion sickness, I would definitely recommend Bonine as a precaution.

I don't like eggplant, either, but have never had - and would never have - that kind of reaction to it. I don't like baby corn, either. Otherwise, I think I liked everyone's dreaded ingredients. I saw the first episode, and then saw some of this episode because as I was going around the dial while a friend was visiting, she saw Daniel and noted that she knows him. So I stopped to see if I remembered him from the other episode I'd seen; I sort of did, and looked up my post here to see I'd referred to him as Mr. Mansplain. This might shed some light on why Anne doesn't like him - if, indeed, she doesn't; this show is so hideously fake, who knows - because my friend (who knows him via professional association) says he is a sexist asshat. So if the whiff I got from him during that one appearance and my friend's impression of him are accurate, that doesn't sound like the kind of person Anne would suffer gladly.

The programmable signs Cal-Trans put on the freeway today read, "Rain May Cause Flooding. Be Caution." Not "Be Cautious," or "Use Caution," but "Be Caution." Okay.

Although I love Twin Peaks, Frost will always be Mr. Ross to me thanks to Seinfeld. I loved him in that role.

When she said small pasta, she meant it with the stars. I'm generally a larger pasta person, but in the context of this soup it turned out I really liked having teeny tiny pasta. I prefer whole wheat pasta, though, which wasn't an option with the stars.

I didn't make the Italian wedding soup back when I had planned to, as I realized I had some turkey stock I needed to use and decided to make a turkey soup instead, but I finally got around to making a half batch of it on this stormy day. Yum! I couldn't decide between two chicken sausages that I like - one with basil, one with spinach and feta - so I used equal amounts of each. I left out the carrots as I hate them cooked, and I didn't have any Pecorino Romano so I used extra Parmigiano-reggiano. I love dill, and it's a great component of this soup; next time, I think I'll add a little more of it. (I'll also remember to pick up some Pecorino Romano if I don't have any, <sigh>, as I think having a sheep's milk cheese in there, too, would make the meatballs even better.) I'd never bought stars pasta before, and could not find it for the most frustrating time -- I didn't realize it was before the rest of the pasta, in a little bag on a shelf with little bags of alphabet pasta.

I haven't had a chance to watch yet, but I couldn't wait to find out what happened -- I am thrilled to hear Brooke is back and John is out; now I can sit back and relax, knowing I'll be happy with the winner, regardless of who it is. I think Sheldon, Shirley, and Brooke are all great chefs - each with as good a chance of winning as any of the others, so this is anybody's game, which makes it interesting - and I enjoy them all as people, too, so I'm happy as a clam.

Me too. The commercial as a whole is awful, but I love that segment, and whenever I realize the commercial being aired is the abbreviated version that doesn't include it, I'm bummed.

Another police-heavy episode from Tampa. And, good lord, this show thus far portrays the people of Tampa as total assholes. This feels like deliberately-edited propaganda to counteract public opinion about police. Not to say, of course, that police are always in the wrong or that they don't encounter belligerent (without cause) people, but they sure seem to be cherry picking such scenarios. And, while I'm grumbling, what's with all the Jesus messages -- the pan to the billboard, and then choosing to highlight the suicidal patient's endorsement of church? So far, I'm not feeling the Tampa version of the show. I enjoyed the dog rescue by Fire Rescue, though. I really enjoyed the round table discussion with Holly, Nick, Dan, and Titus. It was labeled part one of two, so I hope we do indeed get more next week. If I didn't like Nick already, I surely would have upon finding out he a) adopts pit bulls, and b) once drove a Sprint unit to a vet's office to help a dog.

I always eat larb with cabbage. Yum.

Something I noticed when I did a marathon watch of all nine seasons in a fairly short period of time is that Bev's initial reaction to virtually everything Roseanne or Jackie does is negative; seriously, there is about a 99% rate of reflex negativity. But despite the fact she's hypercritical (and so passive-aggressive she could teach courses on it at the graduate level), they don't become mean to her until she moves to Lanford and they have to deal with her on a regular basis. Before then, Roseanne limits herself to sarcastic remarks -- and runs a lot of interference between Bev and Jackie. She also engages in a lot of quick little affectionate touches to Bev. Things change when Bev is a constant presence, and Bev is every bit an equal combatant in that trio; she's no innocent victim of bullying, ungrateful daughters.

I would watch Showgirls, Waterworld, Ishtar, Howard the Duck, Glitter, and Gigli back-to-back before I'd see that movie.

When getting ready to open a new register, the clerks at my local market will invite the next couple of people in the nearby lines directly. And if someone at the end of a line tries to dart over in front, they put a stop to it, but that usually doesn't happen -- by directly addressing the "I'm opening up register X" announcement to the people entitled to line up for it first, it sets the stage for people to respect the natural order.