Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Netfoot]

Struggling to keep my eyes open. Have been all day. Last night Mo was very playful, waking me several times to play Tummy Trampoline, get cuddles or generally just cuddle. Quality time, but it does leave you tired the next day. 

By the way, he is on the brink of being up for sale again. The kitchen spatula which I use for everything, has gone missing. I've searched high and low and I can't find it anywhere. Yes, I've searched the garden and also looked under the bed. No luck. I have no proof he is responsible, so he is only on the brink. But recall that only a couple days ago it was the spring loaded tongs...

Fire & Rain by James Taylor. Written when he heard the news of the death of childhood friend (Suzanne) along with other incidents which occurred during the early part of his career. Recording his first album in London, family and friends thought the news of her death would distract him so they withheld the news for several months. 

Went to the pharmacy today. "No Digoxin!" Derived from the foxglove (digitalis) plant, Digoxin is a heart medication used to combat problems with heart rhythm. I don't think I really need to be on it, but I won't argue. No doubt, there are many people who do need to be on it. Well, they are all just  SOL this week.

Tired. Going to wind it up for today.

[andidante]

See I am not understanding why they called you and told you that you had an appointment and now you don't? Are they incompetent over there? So frustrated for you!

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, andidante said:

I am not understanding why they called you and told you that you had an appointment and now you don't?

It's weird. Someone had to call, give me an appointment date, get the day of the week wrong, and fail to record the appointment in what ever system they use. It makes mo sense. 

But given that my two recent encounters with the system both end up being monumental screw-ups, I'd guess that it is mostly at for the course. 

[Netfoot]

Got another call from QEH telling me to expect a call with the date/time of the appointment. No idea when that might come.

It was hosing down a while ago. Right now no water is falling but I can hear the drip-drip from the roof. Also the loud whistling frogs doing their best to get laid. 

Still no sign of the spatula. Searched inside the house and outside but no luck. I am starting to think that Mo is innocent. I can't imagine him hiding it so well. The hand towel he stole today was just left lying in the driveway next to the gate. When it finally shows up (assuming that it eventually does) it will be behind the ice trays in the freezer, where input it for safekeeping for some reason.

There is no more milk so I tried using a little lime juice instead. It's drinkable but not really all that good. I ate the last of the meat/beans mixture with help from Mo. I have some rice, onions and corned beef left. Also a package of chicken chunks (tenders?) Which I may cook into some rice as an alternative to bully beef. Most worried about food for Mo. He will have to eat rice & corned beef too, when his chow runs out. 

My pension came through today. It is just under what I need to pay rent by about $15. I also have to service the bank for another $15 per month. Right now, there isn't enough in the bank to pay rent at the end of the month and pay the bank. I have to get some cash before month end. Jobs just aren't there. And I don't have a lot I can sell. Also got to buy my Mestinon substitute (can't remember it's name) next week for $18. Don't have enough for that either.

I have been very unsteady on my feet recently. It's worse when I change position suddenly. Say I'm sitting and suddenly stand up to go for a glass of water. Or I bend down to pick up Mo's bowl to refill his water and straighten up again. Or even just look up at the ceiling. I get all wobbly and fally-downy. I have actually managed to avoid falling so far by grabbing something and arresting my downward motion. The worst I've had was when I nearly fell off the top steps. I would have landed on the concrete floor of the garage with quite a bang!

Today was bad. Not the wobblies themselves, but the fact that it was all day long. Every time I moved I felt like I was going to fall down. I wonder if something is affecting my semicircular canals? Well, not that I wonder - I'm pretty convinced! 

I Believe by Blessed Union Of Souls. Their album Home includes two versions of this song, the original and a PC version for the emotionally delicate. Hard to believe that you could listen to the original, absorb the sentiments expressed by the lyrics and that in the end your takeaway would be that you were offended. But the world seems to be full of fragile souls, and getting fuller all the time. I guess they will have a hard time surviving The Event. 

Mo is absent. Not sure where he is, but I don't think he's outside playing in the wet. I hope not! I don't really want him hopping in here with me, sodden from head to foot. Was woken again last night by rain falling on my face and a howling wind in the window. I imagine he will join me soon. When he is in the house, he usually comes to snuggle when the lights go out. But he generally shows up every so often before that for a cuddle, a peek out the window or a game of Tummy Trampoline. 

Just gone midnight. Better think about locking up and getting some shut-eye.

Edited January 12 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Well, got up this morning to find phones & internet offline. No surprise - have not been able to pay bill for two months. Electricity & internet will be next. 

Using "Guest Internet" from a shop across the street. It is not reliable but we will see if this gets out. Only works at all if I sit in bed - that window is closest to them. 

Will stay in touch this way until I can get out of this hole. Not sure how that is going to happen, but.....

Mo is fine. He was here a second ago but had now popped out again. 

Going to go and catch water in containers before that gets disconnected too!

ETA: internet not reliable at home. I can make a connection if I sit by the bedroom window but it drops quickly - only a minute or two before I'm offline again. Right now I am over at the mall so connection is good.

Edited January 12 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Internet very spotty. It's one of those things where you can connect but before they let you onto the net you have to leave a bogus email address. But the address harvester seems to be broken.  And the signal is so weak it's always dropping out and forcing you to do it all over again. 

Mo is fast asleep in bed next time to me. This bodes poorly for the remainder of the night. As soon as he wakes up he will be like a kite with a popped string!

It was very hot today and I sweated like... I don't even know like what. Applied for three more jobs today. Cook's assistant at a food court restaurant, Blender operator at a smoothie bar and general factotum at a sand blasting/powder coating place. Still have lights and water. 

Very shakey day, and difficult to behave normally while asking for work. Face & jaw feel funny.

Lack of internet is hard. I've been relying on the ability to Google things or check stuff online for so long it is a shock when you suddenly realize you can't.

Poison Arrow by ABC. Taken from their debut album Lexicon Of Love. A good track from a good album. Yet for some reason I never followed up on the remainder of their catalogue of maybe a dozen albums. I guess there isn't enough time to listen to everything. How these guys with music collections numbering in the tens or hundreds of thousands of albums manage to enjoy them I don't know. You'd never have a chance to hear anything more than once. Assuming you get to listen to everything even once...

Tomorrow is Brighton Market but I'm not going. BRB... Ok, alarm off. Having a bad time with tiredness. Got out of bed late this morning (blood sugar 3.4 mmol/L!!) and almost immediately fell asleep with my head on the desk. Had to drag myself awake to go out job-hunting.

Anyway, the net has been down twice since I started typing this post so I will see if I can connect again and get this sent.

Edited January 13 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Been job hunting all morning. Several possibilities but nothing really too promising. 

Wasn't able to connect at home this AM soni am over at the mall. Leaving for home again now 

Mo sweet and snuggly last night but dragged me out at 4:00 to let him out of the house. Might as well have gone to Brighton, except have very little gas to spare.

Will try to connect from home later. Don't know why it would work any better than last night, but nothing beats a trial.

[Netfoot]

Connected from home, which is encouraging.

While at the mall I made inquiries at a restaurant in the food court. While in there I noticed they had a back entrance which led to a separate balconied dining area I've never noticed before! 

I peeped through the door to see what it was like (quite pleasant) and saw... A stunningly pretty young woman h I'd estimate 25ish. Long, straight black hair (not brown) and a really lovely face. Then she stood up and she had a figure to match. 

Now, my "ideal" girl is a blonde (it runs in my family, apparently). This despite the fact that probably a majority of girlfriends have been brunette, so go figure. But I mention this fact to say that I am not predisposed to raven-haired beauties or anything.

So the real question that has me awonder: How have I frequented this mall since I was a youngster and actually lived across the road for 15ish years and never known about that balcony before today? 

[Netfoot]

I've been getting cramps in my hands for the last few days. Today after I got home I lay in bed and after a few minutes I started getting cramps in my calves, shins and feet. They would not stop unless I stood up. And I can't stand up for ever. So after about 3 hours of fighting it, I went out and bought more rehydration salts. Mixed up a packet (1L) and I've been swigging that noxious shit ever since, with some angostura bitters to offset the barf. Got about ⅔L down and will drink the rest tomorrow.

Discovered I've got $29! Started thinking milk, cheese, bread... But a bag of chow for Mo is $28.99 so I guess we all know where the money is going to get spent. And he got the last of my spaghetti dinner tonight!

I've been having stomach issues for awhile now, with what we call "belly cuttings" (a stomach ache) and the trots. I am eating mostly carbs these days with not much in the way of protein. Maybe that's the issue. The salts taste like they could only make matters worse but maybe they will have the opposite effect. 

Something 4 The Weekend by Super Furry Animals. A good, underappreciated Welch band that deserves more credit. I've got two of their albums, including Fuzzy Logic, their debut from which this track is taken.

Applied for several positions today. The most hopeful would appear to be to the local cinema in the mall across the road. The job would be cleaning up between screenings. The guy I talked to seemed very amused that I was considering the job (which pays minimum wage US$3.12 per hour) but while it's hardly a good job at least it's a job! But I couldn't help get the feeling that my chances were low. He seemed positive in his words but the fact he thought it was a huge joke was not encouraging.

The wifi had gone away again, and I may have to try repeatedly for a while before I reestablish a connection. 

Mo is curled up at the foot of the bed. He's been well fed with chow and a spoonful of sweetener (meaty, tinned dog food). Plus the last couple of mouthfuls of my spaghetti - and you know the last morsels are the best, right? So you'd think he would do something for me in return. Like behave in the car and not destroy my left eardrum by barking directly into it at 105dB. He was very cuddly after we got back. Curled up behind me in bed and kicked me in the butt and back with both back feet repeatedly until I stopped what I was doing and gave him tummy rubs. 

Anyway, my book is progressing nicely. I've reached pp. 788 out of 916. Eliza finally gave up her virginity and not (obviously) to "Half-Cocked" Jack. Daniel has escaped the clutches of the Star Chamber. William of Orange has been saved from the kidnap attempt by minions of Leroy (Jack's name for le roi, Louis XIV) and Jack himself has hardly been seen since Eliza pinned him to the mast of his departing ship with a harpoon through the forearm. To mention only the simplest and most uncomplicated goings on. 

Wayne had my pocket knife and promised to bring it back ASAP but there is no rush. I know it will be safe with him and I'm carrying this little thing now:

which is much more cop-friendly anyway. 

So I will post this now and get back to my book.

(Mo just gave me another severe kicking until he received ample tummy rubs... then he left the building!

Edited January 14 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Sitting outside Central Vet South. Mo is fine; I'm applying for a job here. Again, the staff seem to think it's a joke. The young woman I spoke to laughed when I first asked and when I asked again she said, "Oh, you're serious!"

Didn't sleep too badly. Minimum cramping. Will finish the yuck and hope that puts it to bed for a while. Not sure what is causing this. Maybe bad nutrition? Before, with the heat down at Cattlewash I was soaked in sweat all day but that is not the case these days. Last couple of days have been hot, it's true, but I've not been sweating to the point that the cramps make sense.

Very wobbly this morning after I got out of bed. I must have bashed into the wall ten times just getting from the living room to the bedroom.

Well, I've sent in my application using the vet's wifi, and another application as well. I've also taken the opportunity to catch up on messages, and I guess I'm all done now. So I will head home.

I hope I make it. The gas tank on the van is EMPTY !!

[andidante]

Not sure why these people think your asking for a job is a joke? How insulting! I hope you find something soon!

[Spunkygal]

57 minutes ago, andidante said:

Not sure why these people think your asking for a job is a joke? How insulting! I hope you find something soon!

I agree! So rude! Everyone is hurting financially these days! 😡

[Netfoot]

Loyalty card: $35. Debit card: $29.

Pyridostigmine: ~$18 off the debit card. Considered skipping this but that might make me unable to work, if I should find a job.

Gasoline: $10 off the debit card. Need to be minimally mobile in case I get a call to come for an interview. Could skip and rely on busses but a little gas would be nice to have in case of emergencies.

Food for Mo: up to $29 from the Loyalty card. A bag of chow (2Kg, ~1 week) will take it all. A 2Kg bag of cheap chow will be ~$18 with some change for food for me. Or! Rice & corned beef that Mo & I can both eat. 1¾Kg rice for $6.80. And $5 for a tin of corned beef. So 3½Kg of rice for $13.60 and 3 tins of  corned beef for $15. Total of $28.60 the lot. Not the best diet for Mo but at least it's food he will eat.

I'm thinking drugs, $10 in gas and corned beef & rice. If you think this is a bad idea, let me know. Will make one trip from home tomorrow morning. 

Posting now because I've lost signal three times already, so while I have it back again...

Edited January 14 by Netfoot

[andidante]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Loyalty card: $35. Debit card: $29.

Pyridostigmine: ~$18 off the debit card. Considered skipping this but that might make me unable to work, if I should find a job.

Gasoline: $10 off the debit card. Need to be minimally mobile in case I get a call to come for an interview. Could skip and rely on busses but a little gas would be nice to have in case of emergencies.

Food for Mo: up to $29 from the Loyalty card. A bag of chow (2Kg, ~1 week) will take it all. A 2Kg bag of cheap chow will be ~$18 with some change for food for me. Or! Rice & corned beef that Mo & I can both eat. 1¾Kg rice for $6.80. And $5 for a tin of corned beef. So 3½Kg of rice for $13.60 and 3 tins of  corned beef for $15. Total of $28.60 the lot. Not the best diet for Mo but at least it's food he will eat.

I'm thinking drugs, $10 in gas and corned beef & rice. If you think this is a bad idea, let me know. Will make one trip from home tomorrow morning. 

Posting now because I've lost signal three times already, so while I have it back again...

I think it's a good idea! However you can stretch the money.

[Netfoot]

In bed. Legs hurting from the knees down. I expect the hours of cramping the other afternoon have left those muscles sore.

Sent a message and decided to leave the phone connected to see if I got a reply. Put the phone on the window sill where signal is strongest. On the inside of the burglar bars, so perfectly safe. But didn't take Mo into account. Returned 30 minutes later... No phone! Rushed outside to find it 6 feet down on the concrete, in a puddle of water. This is a phone that is so badly broken already you can look I side the cracks and see circuitry and electronic components! But she takes a licking...

When Will I See You Again by The Three Degrees. This is off a collection album. I only got it for this one track. When I had my first serious girlfriend at around 17, she decided this was "Our Song". Ok, well the song isn't bad. In fact it's the only one on this collection that I ever listen to. But the reason I got it is nostalgia. Brings back memories. When I could take my girl out with $10 in my pocket. $2 each entry fee to a blparty with two live bands and a DJ. With a beer or a rum & mix for 50¢. Started on rum & coke, then over the years migrated through rum & seven, then rum & ginger, rum & OJ, rum & tonic, rum & soda and finally rum & water.  Haven't touched a drop now since August 1991.

My old girlfriend is married now but we are still friendly and it's always a pleasure to run into her. She used to drink "Corn & Oil" which is rum & falernum. Falernum is an alcoholic mixer. Sort of a light, boozy syrup. Too sweet for me. Not sure what's in it. Must google it some time. No idea what (if anything) she drinks these days. 

Cooked up a cup of rice with corned beef for Mo. It was a lot! I split it into two portions and gave him one. He inhaled it and made known that he would like some more. So I gave him the second portion and he inhaled that too. Feeding him on corned beef & rice won't be a problem. I must look into getting a bag of speckled rice (AKA dog rice) for him... it's much cheaper than regular rice but you usually have to buy it in bulk. 

Speckled rice, so called because it is speckled with black spots which are bad or burnt grains. When I was a youngster, this is the only rice we used to get. Before cooking you'd have to pick the rice. This involved putting your rice in a heap on the kitchen table, then using the blade of a knife, transferring the heap from one place to another, a few grains at a time, picking out the bad ones as you go. When cooking for the dog, picking was considered unnecessary.

Nowadays, nobody picks rice. They use rice with no speckles for themselves and only buy speckled rice for the dogs. But believe me, speckled rice is perfectly good eating.

I doubt I will be using speckled rice. It's cheap overall but you have to buy a big bag. Like 25 lbs. at a time. 

Well, guess I'd better get back to my book. Daniel has a bladder stone. Like a kidney stone only not in your kidney. The only cute (apparently) is surgery. The incision is made through the perineum and since they have not invented anesthetics in 1688, he is very reluctant to have the procedure. But he recently met Eliza and is now somewhat besotted. She is so tangled in French and Dutch court politics I can't quite work out whose agent she is, nor whose double-agent, nor whose triple-agent. And still no sign of pox-maddened Jack since his ship was captured by Barbary pirates. 

So I'd better go see what happens next!

Edited January 15 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Fairly comfortable night. Mo didn't want to come inside at first. I'd left his van open and he decided to sleep in there. Taking a risk, I left the door ajar and several times during the night I felt him snuggle up against my back but more than once I woke up and he was gone again. So I presume he alternated. It's a pity we live in a world where you have to lock everything up. Just having the door open is very convenient. But it would be unwise to get into that habit. My door isn't easily visible from the street and there are several obstacles between the gate and the door (have you seen my garage?) but that door is not left open unless I fall asleep unexpectedly while reading at night.

Just bought $10 in gas and my Pyridostigmine. The latter cost $16.79 so I saved a buck there. And I found a quarter and a dime so there is that. 

Taking out my laundry. Normally 9 do this on Sunday and fill the car at the same time. But since $10 doesn't fill the car much and since I had to come to the pharmacy this morning I decided to make one trip of it.

Right, so off to drop the laundry and then to buy food for Mo and I.

[Netfoot]

Checked the fridge and realized I had an extra 4 lb. bag of rice on the bottom shelf. This allowed me to buy one extra 4 lb. bag, some salt (was running perilously low), three tins of beef, and then I did something selfish. I bought a liter of evap. milk and a bag of sugar. This will allow me to have a mug of tea but will also make the remainder of the oatmeal eatable as well.

Mean time I was to cut my hair/beard yesterday but didn't get around to it. Someone is coming here shortly to drop off some RC gear and I don't want to be dealing with them either half a haircut so I will do it after lunch.

Akso, I am periodically logging on over the road from the bedroom to see if I have any email or WhatsApp messages. It's a hassle because it can drop out again after only a few seconds. And the connection process is fraught. I have to keep making up fake email addresses to avoid spam. But the harvester is broken so 3 out of 4 tried it simply hangs up and I have to disconnect and do it all over again. 

See? It's just dropped out again. So I will try to reconnect and post this.

Trying to send a WhatsApp message a while back and having no luck, I suddenly connected to TB GUEST WIFI and my message went out! A second later the connection dropped.

Who is TB?!?? Looked out the window and saw a Transport Board bus driving away.....

Now, if only I can persuade the busses to linger at the junction for a little longer...

Edited January 15 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Well, the pharmacy still doesn't have any digoxin. I will run out in five days. Not sure how critical it is. 

I suffer from arrhythmia, brought on by stress. The worse the stress the worse it gets. A couple years ago, in the midst of CV19 with blood-clotty lungs and MG threatening to shut down my breathing entirely while I swallowed anti-immune medication like peanuts, I was very stressed and Dr. K. sent me to see a cardiologist. They immediately stuck me on a bunch of heart meds that I'm surely are not necessary. All I needed was a chill-pill or to do some yoga or something to ease the stress. But a stack of meds is what I got and i'm still on them. So the lack of Digoxin is probably meaningless. But Dr. K. is quite rightly not going to overrule a specialist. So here is hoping they get the digoxin or some equivalent before the end of the week!

Over at the mall again, sending emails and exchanging messages. Sitting in the food court with my mouth watering and $1.35 in my pocket. I had lunch. Cooked a cup of rice & bully beef. Took three spoonful for myself and gave Mo the rest. He insisted on getting some of my bowl before he would address the contents of his own. Then he slurped up his own lunch in the blink of an eye and wandered off. He still had not returned the spatula. Put a package of lentils to soak. They may be a welcome addition to the rice tomorrow. Tonight Mo will get more rice and I will have macaroni or oatmeal. 

Anyway, going back over to the house. Will see if another bus will pass by and give me a few seconds to check messages. 

I just can't believe the Balcony of the Beautiful Brunette has been there all this time and I never new it!

[Netfoot]

After a struggle in I'm online and able to bring up a new post. And now the drain rain is down fairly heavy, which can only help attenuate signal strength. But if I lose signal I will still finish the post and reconnect to send.

Mo and I shared a pot of macaroni and corned beef. Wholesome and filling if not terribly tasty. Might be the meds or it might be that I used a minimal quantity of the bully. Mo slurped his lot up in a hurry and rushed over to demand what ever  was left of mine. And he got it too! But I had been slurping too, so he didn't get all that much.

Had a mug of tea and it was great. Should really have had one after Garden Patrol but I skipped that. I took my blood sugar today and it was 3.7 mmol/L which is too low. Last time it was 3.4 which is worse! And I'm on steroids which is expected to drive your BS up! So there is no accounting for it. I also drank a second liter of electrolyte rehydration yuk and so long as I can afford to buy the packets ($1.15/liter) I will drink one every blood-sugar test day. Which is generally every three days. I've got 6 packets left so another 18 days at least.

I've managed to get a bit of a sunburn! I have always had issues with burning and after the grafts went on in '91 it has been 10 times worse. So I'm usually attuned to it and automatically take steps to avoid it. But I've been going abroad without benefit of a cap and I think today was just one day too many, bareheaded in the sun.

Still not cut hair/beard. Something always seems to come up and put the kibosh on the plan.

The rain is still lashing down but at least there is not much breeze so the window can stay open. The net connection has gone down twice since I started this post. This doesn't stop me from composing the post once it's started. But it does stop me looking up the correct spelling of "kibosh".

Sent another application out today, to a pet store. Not sure what they might need me for but I've made it plain that any job I can do I will. Also went round to speak to the manager at a restaurant who was not available on Saturday. Unfortunately, he was not available today either. 

I've looked in at several restaurants and the idea appeals. There might be an opportunity to take kitchen scraps home for Mo. Bones and offcuts of meat that would normally be discarded. Unfortunately I've never worked as a waiter. And can't cook worth a damn. It would have to be kitchen drudge work. But I'm OK with that.

Listening to You Don't Care About Us by Placebo. This is from the Without You I'm Nothing album (their 2nd). Lead singer Brian Molko is known for his high-pitched voice and androgynous appearance. And he makes no secret of his heavy use of recreational drugs, including heroin. Drugs, mental health issues and sexuality are openly discussed in their lyrics. But I like their style and the music is good. I have a friend who is a serious drummer and he complemented the band in their drumming. I do think that sometimes the lyrics can be absurdly funny, such as the opening lines of Pure Morning, opening track on this album: "A friend in need’s a friend indeed/A friend with weed is better." You can't help but laugh, can you?

Mo is here all catspraddled against my leg and sort of hunting hinting that he would like tummy rubs but he is too snoozy to kick and bark any demands. I will lock up soon and we will both be snoozing. But I might read a chapter first. Coming close to the end of Volume #1 of The Baroque Cycle. 

Uh-oh! The net has gone away again. Ok, well best I try to reconnect and get this sent.

Edited January 16 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Got up at 1:30 AM and made a cuppa tea. Not sure what to do today. Other than cut hair/beard. 

Also trying to fix a video file for a friend. She has an ancient computer and the file is encoded with a fairly new codec. Therefore her computer can't play it. I've re-encoded the file to a format I know her old machine can handle but now, how to get the file (1.1 Gbytes) to her? When I have very spotty internet at best? I think she will have to come and get it in person. 

Ok, let's get that hair cut. I won't take everything off as I normally do because that leaves me looking very scruffy for a week or so and scruffy is not the look I'm going fot these days. So I will trim it back short and see how it looks. May send before/after photos for you all to laugh at.

[Netfoot]

Hair & beard trimmed.  Don't think the results look impressive. Shorter but not neat.

Before:

After:

Klepto-pup:

Not easy to cut your own hair when you don't even have a mirror. Probably got missed patches and various zogs at the back. Oh well.....

[Spunkygal]

Good job on the cut! Looks very nice! Klepto Pup is cute as usual!

[andidante]

You look very nice Netfoot! Good job. 

[Netfoot]

I've finished Quicksilver. I nearly finished it last night, but was tired enough that I dropped the book several times trying to come to the end. This resulted in minor damage to the book which is somewhat fragile, given that it is not new.

The book ends with Eliza going into confinement and delivering her baby, in the midst of much political turmoil about which personage of The quality might be the sire of the child, and whether the child will survive or not.

And in the final chapter the members of the Royal Society have conspired to trick Daniel into being "cut for the stone", which he was not inclined to agree to on his own.

The damage to the book consists of a dozen pages loosened from the spine. I am now in the process of gluing them carefully back into place and clamping the book until the glue has dried. I may want to read this again in a few years time, assuming I live so long.

Now sitting on the bed is Volume #2, The Confusion (only 825 pages) and I've samples a bit of the 1st chapter in which Jack resurfaces.  Jack, who is going mad from the pox is not always lucid and he "wakes up" in the middle of a battle, with hundreds of huge cannon firing all around him. He has no idea what's going on.

Also, Eliza apparently loses the fortune she struggled so hard to amass and struggles to reacquire it, the rivalry between Newton and Leibniz intensifies and Daniel seeks passage to Massachusetts.

I watched a movie called Hostiles with Rosamund Pike, Christian Bale and a few other recognizable names, even a young Timothée Chalamet! (He doesn't last long.) It's a western and pretty good, but apparently didn't do so well at the box office. Not sure why. The rubbish that is coming out of the great cinematic houses these days isn't worth watching and they still make hundreds of millions (and still show a loss somehow). Nobody wants to make a movie now. They want to create a franchise. Or reimagine a classic by replacing all that was good about the original with crap. Or do a live-action remake of a feature length animated movie. Fantasia with real elephants (in tutus) and rap music. Shit, I'm sorry I said that. Some ninehammer in Hollywood might hear about it and pitch it to another ninehammer. Next thing you know they'd vomit up the movie and we'd be forced to watch it or be cancelled for the sin of having a sense of taste.

Listening to Ziggy Stardust by Bowie. I like this album but I've always felt that there was a message therein which I failed to grasp. One of these days I will do some research and see what (if anything) I've been missing.

Fell out of my chair tonight. Literally. Just before eating oatmeal for dinner. I also stole some of Mo's rice right out of his bowl as I walked it from the kitchen to his feed station. Much to his dismay! But seeing me eat some probably made it more desirable in his eyes. He polished it off in no time and there was a lot of it.

Chair. Yes. It's an old office swivel chair, with arms. I bought it for $20 about 20 years ago. It was clapped out then. It's IK but the mechanism is worn. The seat pivots forward and backwards on a steel bolt. The original bolt wore through and I replaced it a few years ago. But the steel plates that the bolt passes through are also worn and the holes in which the bolt pivots have enlarged over the years. This means it can now pivot forward more than it should. The seat, when pivoted right forward actually leans forward and I have a tendency to slide forward. So this evening I was deliberately sliding forward to stand when the chair shot out backwards from under me, and dumped me on the floor. But not satisfied, the chair then fell forward, landing on the top of my head... right where the sunburn is the worst. I shoved it violently off... so it landed square on my left foot. 

I'm sure it would have been funny to watch but I'm glad Mo was not a spectator. He would no doubt have been caught up in the middle of the flying furniture, tumbling down human and loud cussing which all happened so quickly. And I wouldn't want him subject to danger!

Speaking of danger, there is a word I hear more and more these days and I'm getting sick of it. When I was a little boy in Trinidad (single digit age) my class at primary school were taken to visit a fire station. All students were encouraged to use the shiny, brass pole to slide down from upstairs to the garage where the engines were. Several of us boys and one or two of the girls kept running back upstairs and sliding again. 

I've recently heard that such poles have been removed from service in the USA and in many stations have been physically removed. To keep the firemen (or is it firethey these days?) safe. Adults who risk their lives by running into burning buildings for a living, must be kept safe by removing fire station poles. 

I'm starting to hate the word safe.

Sorry, no steak knife for you. We have provided a plastic spork instead! To keep you safe! To keep you safe, your fuel can is now fitted with a spring-loaded gizmo on the spout that makes the can much more difficult to use and has been proven to spill more gas than the old type of spout. The pair of compasses you will use in geometry class has had the pointy bit removed to keep you safe. Don't expect it to be able to actually draw arcs and circles on paper. Please do not applaud any speaker because some people don't like loud noises and we want everyone to feel safe!

What sort of physical and emotional weaklings are we breeding these days? 

It's been getting harder and harder to get connectivity today. On a couple of occasions when I had to check messages I ended up going out into the garden to get a little closer to the signal source across the road. When you do get on, you had better move fast with what you are trying to do because after half a dozen failed connection attempts you may finally get online... For 20 seconds. I may have to take another walk around outside (Garden Patrol #2) in order to get this posted!

Got up this morning to find the door open. Pretty sure I locked it last night. But remember, the bolt was broken a couple weeks ago. Now, for some reason Mo has not opened it since the bolt failed. So I have not pursed the matter. But this morning it was open. If he has decided to unlock the door and open up in the dead of night I will have to revisit that situation. I will carefully lock tonight and see what the morning brings.

Yes, oatmeal for dinner with all visible bugs picked out of it. (Have you ever considered how difficult it is to make oatmeal without a kitchen spatula?) And a mug of tea to go with it. The oatmeal wasn't particularly tasty. Perhaps I should have left the bugs in. But the tea was great! Which probably means I put too much sugar in it. There is very little oatmeal left in that bag. I have another, smaller bag if a different brand and I will probably have to add some of the new bag to the dregs of the old to make the next bowlful. Infact, I will look at the last of the old bag and unless it contains more than I recall, I will check it out, bugs and all. Hopefully the new bag will.not be buggy.

Oh, the gas cylinder ran out. Fortunately, the spare cylinder was full and quickly switched into place. But now my spare cylinder is the empty one! Last cylinder lasted 2 to 2½ months, so this new cylinder should last until mid March and maybe as far as All Fool's Day. Which is fine because the food will run out before then.

Cramp starting in my right leg. After two liters of yuk in the last three days. I begin to wonder if lost electrolytes are responsible or not 

To return to oatmeal. I eat it with sugar & a bit of milk. And/or raisins if available. It is traditionally eaten in some places with salt. I'm not fond of that. But would it be reasonable to try oatmeal with savoury additions instead of going the sweet way? Like bacon bits? Grated cheese? Olives? I mean, if you can eat it with salt, why not peanuts? Shredded red herring? Chopped onion? 

I remember as a lad we'd occasionally get cornmeal porridge. I have some cornmeal here that I add to wheat flour when making dumplings. I would try adding some to the oatmeal but I I think that the oatmeal is processed so as cook in one minute and the cornmeal probably isn't. Mixing the two could result in something really nasty! 

A while ago I bought a tin of baked beans to make beans on toast. Completely forgetting that my toaster had bought the farm. So now I dunno what to do with the beans. Warm and eat with a spoon, I suppose. But I keep looking at the tin trying to come up with a clever idea on how to beat use them. There is a YT guy I watch who is always yaking on about the British and their beans on toast. Of course, if you don't like baked beans, beans in toast obviously holds no appeal. My mum made great beans on toast. Because she didn't stick to those two ingredients. She would start with good toast and lay down a layer of fried ham or bacon. Then the beans, well seasoned and tasty. Next, a fried egg with the yolk a little runny still. And finally, grated cheddar, and a sprinkle of black pepper. What's not to like?

Ok, I guess I'd better try and get this posted. Then I can call Mozie in and lock the door. I'm actually interested to find out what Jack has gotten himself into! And I'm sort of in love with Eliza.

[chitowngirl]

16 hours ago, Netfoot said:

To keep the firemen (or is it firethey these days?) safe.

Firefighters

[Netfoot]

When the Virus of Unknown Origin appeared in early 2020 I was suffering from multiple blood clots in my lungs and taking warfarin to deal with them. Also, MG which has a tendency to stop your diaphragm from functioning, requiring the use of a ventilator to stay alive. To treat the MG I was taking Azathioprine which is an immunosuppressant. With your lungs are already compromised in two different ways and you are also suppressing your immune system, the prospect of a highly infectious plague that attacks your ability to breathe is something you have to take serious. 

It should come as no surprise that when the first official talk if possible lockdowns surfaced, my own personal lockdown plan wad fairly advanced. I had been shopping twice a week instead of once and buying  2-3 times the normal amount each time. Literally dozens and dozens of frozen chicken breasts, hamburger patties, tasty sausages, etc, as well as dozens more tins of meats, fish plus dried milk, tinned vegetables... Any type of food that I could think of that I could keep and eat in the (potentially) many months I'd have to self-isolate at home. 

One of the things I bought was a huge bag of mashed potato flakes. I mean huge. But the mashed potato never really tasted that good so I only used it sparingly and many times told myself to just chuck it out. But I never did 

So, Mo and I had mashed potato for lunch. I didn't know if he'd eat it, but I shouldn't have worried. He eats most things with relish. I cooked up some bully beef and onions, made up the mash and divided it into two portions. Mo's portion got the lion's share of the beef and I got the lion's share of the onion and we both had that for lunch. 

After lunch, I made up a mixture of corned beef, lentil peas I've been soaking for 48 hours, and a little tomato sauce with a bit of spice (no pepper). Our dinner was rice with a couple spoonsful of the sauce. With 5 minutes left on the rice timer I remembered that hidden in the back of the freezer was another giant bag I bought for lockdown. It contained Broccoli Normandy. Which means with cauliflower and carrots. There was one small portion of this left so I threw it into the rice to come up to temperature as the rice finished. So no more Broccoli Normandy and only a few more cups of masked potato flakes. But it is good to change it up a bit. 

Tomorrow I will take my blood sugar and drink another liter oy that nasty stuff. I had a few twinges of cramp in my legs this afternoon. I dunno why, because I've already had two liters in the last few days. A medical mystery like why my blood sugar tends so low despite being on steroids and adding four teaspoons of sugar to my tea to get some flavour and eating essentially carbs and little else.

I also had a strange episode yesterday. I don't know what brought it on but I started to experience a throbbing sensation in my head, in time with my heartbeat. And with each throb, my vision blurred. Lasted about five minutes and went away as suddenly as it came. All I was doing was sitting there....

Mo was here a moment ago but has gone out again. Oh, here he is! Just jumped in the bed and curled up on one corner at the foot. He has taken to giving kisses all the time, now. In the form of s lick of the tip of my nose. Oh, he's gone... No, he's back an rolling around on my feet.

Speaking of which, my foot that got clobbered by the chair when I fell out of it hurts, but fortunately not too bad. Unless, say, a puppy rolls about on it. There is a nice bruise on the instep of that foot where the chair whacked down on it. But the bruise is directly over a birthmark. I have always called it "Santa Clause" for some reason. As a little boy I insisted it looked like Santa (believe me, it looks like nothing of the sort) and the name persists decades later. Mind you, it isn't something I talk about very often. But the bruise with Santa underneath is much more impressive than if the chair had fallen on the other foot with no birthmark. 

I'm listening to Ready Or Not by Sarah Cracknell. Now, I recently read somewhere that she had joined a band as their lead singer or something like that. But I can't recall what it was and with no internet I can't quickly look it up. 

Nearly midnight. I could murder a cup of tea but if I go drinking sweet tea now, it could bias my blood sugar test tomorrow. I want to get an honest reading, so no. Funny what you long for when you sent yourself, for whatever reason. I have a real urge to eat chips (fries). I could go and splurge my $8.55 on fries at Chefette (local fast food joint) but you'd think I'd be lusting after pizza or roti or burgers or their main offering, fried chicken. But what I want is chips! 

Oh dear god. Mo has just jumped into bed soaking wet and wants to play Tummy Trampoline. I will end here and go deal with him. He's going nuts! I am his favourite bath towel! If I can't get back online to post this tonight I'm not going out and walk around in the garden to get soaked like he is. I'll save it tomorrow. Assuming it doesn't get eaten by the editor....  

[andidante]

15 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

I'm listening to Ready Or Not by Sarah Cracknell. Now, I recently read somewhere that she had joined a band as their lead singer or something like that. But I can't recall what it was and with no internet I can't quickly look it up. 

 

I was curious so I Googled her: Sarah Jane Cracknell is an English singer-songwriter and lead singer of the electronic music band Saint Etienne. 

[Netfoot]

10 hours ago, andidante said:

I was curious so I Googled her: Sarah Jane Cracknell is an English singer-songwriter and lead singer of the electronic music band Saint Etienne. 

That's right! I was listening to some St. Etienne a few days ago (Tiger Bay album) and googled them to see if there was anything new and interesting. That's when I discovered that Cracknell had joined their lineup. I have a couple of her albums from before that move. I don't usually research what a band or it's members are up to unless prompted by something or the other.

Mo's cough continues to worry me a bit but he is mostly good. He did not open the door during the night. That does not mean he couldn't, just that he didn't.

By the way, it's been butter cold these last few nights. I remember a year or so ago a period when I had to sleep in long pants, long sleeve shirt, dicks and gloves, with a "buff" around/over my head. Hope that isn't coming back. Damned uncomfortable! (Who made up the stupid name "buff"?)

[Netfoot]

Damnit, a whole post eaten again!

Blood sugar this morning was 4.0 mmol/L which is the bottom of the acceptable range. But better than the 3.?? That I've been getting for the last few times. 

Sold a couple parts that were going to get thrown away and trousered $80. I am sorely tempted to go strait to the grocery and buy some veggies to enliven our diet. Potatoes, pak choy, cucumbers... But I think I will pay it towards our water bill instead. Can't live without water. We must cook, bathe and flush. 

Prepared 1½ cups of rice and divided it into three. One part was Mo's lunch, one part was my lunch and the last part was Mo's dinner. My dinner was pasta. Corned beef & lentil slush on all portions 

I run out of Digoxin in the next few days (over the weekend) so I hope the pharmacy has received a supply!

Will cut this short and post now. 

[Netfoot]

After days of giving me crap to connect, I was playing a game and noticed that the net had connected all by itself! Go figure. Ironic that I don't actually have anything much to do online. 

Mo had not been coughing today. Maybe he is recovering on his own? He's right here curled up against my tummy and snoozing. I'm noticing little wisps of silver hair appearing over various parts of his body. You have to look to notice them but his stygian blackness that once promoted me to make him collars out of brightly coloured Paracord isn't quite so stygian any more. His ridge is now sporting sun-blonde tips. Not sure why. He doesn't spend that my h time in the sun. And the silvery streaks on his ears, the crown of his head... He is not going gray! He's still a baby! Not yet three!

We had s good game of TT earlier on. I was lying on my side reading, but The Claw Soon rolled me over to where he could get a good bounce going. Only problem: he's noticed the bruised birthmark on my left foot, and wants to lick it. And it's surprisingly painful when he does, despite him visibly trying to be delicate & gentle. Strange, because it causes me no discomfort otherwise. Mind you, I don't go playing football with it (Football. The real football. Not the game played with your hands. Sometimes referred to as "sacker".)

Bob Geldof sings Thinking Voyager Two Type Thoughts.

Why am I unable to italicize? Let's try bold, italic, underline, & strikeout. Nope, none of them working. Wonder what else? No nothing much works. I hope "Submit Reply" does... Let's try it now! Grrrrrr! The submit button doesn't work!

I HATE THIS EDITOR!

I hate using my phone for surfing the net in general, but if you are away from your desktop machine, well, when you don't have horse you ride cow.

Mo has roused himself enough to roll on his back and demand tummy rubs. If I can't post this, does that mean it will get lost beyond some digital event horizon? Lose two posts almost consecutively?

[Netfoot]

So I did get that post to go last night. Nothing worked on the page so I had to reload it. This deleted the post. But since I was smart enough to copy/paste it first, I was able to paste it back into a new post and send.

Right now over at the mall again. Called the pharmacy and they do have Toloxin which is a Digoxin substitute so I'm on my way there now.

My bruised birthmark is extremely painful this morning to the extent that I had to put some surgical tape over it to get it into the shoe. When I get back home I will clean the bruised area wlth alcohol and dusting with BNT powder.

Just deposited the $80 in the bank. Later I will pay it towards the water bill. But the car is almost dry so I might have to divert $10 towards my fuel tank. 

Mo is waiting in the car park, so I will check messages and get going.

Edited January 19 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

At the pharmacy, now. Pulled a number, waiting to tell them why I'm here. Only 3 numbers ahead of me. They're usually pretty fast in here at the pharmacy. Not sure how it would go if I asked to see a doctor...

[Netfoot]

Deposited the cash hours ago but it has not shown up in my account yet. Therefore can't pay anything towards the water. They have a nasty habit of cutting you off late on a Friday and then they won't reconnect until Monday. That way you get to spend the entire weekend without water. I used the drop box at the bank. I could have got in line and made a deposit direct to a teller but that could have meant an hour in line. The drop box doesn't usually take this long...

Anyway, cooked macaroni for lunch. Gave Mo his share and poured half the sauce over it. Then I added curry powder to the remainder, cooked it a bit more and had that over my share. 

Puppies like their food tasty but I don't push the envelope with spices. I left a bit of my curried pasta for Mo to taste after Hecate his own lunch and he wouldn't eat it so it was a wide call not to curry his lunch. He may still go and finish my curry later but in the mean time he has got his own lunch down his neck with minimal delay.

[Netfoot]

The deposit finally landed and I paid $50 to the water bill immediately. The additional $30 can be paid at any time and meanwhile, it is handy to have that in case there is an emergency of some sort. 

Have been recently thinking about savory oatmeal instead of the usual sweet oatmeal I usually take. So tonight I cooked up a bowl of oatmeal with salt, garlic powder and corned beef (what else?). It was... Not terrible. Not good but not awful. And it's easy to see how it could have been improved with different ingredients. Which I don't have, but not relevant. Grated cheese, quartered olives, diced onion, salted fish, even chopped boiled egg, little cubes of your actual Spam... I think it could be made actually quite tasty!

Anyway, Mo and I are off to bed. I will check to see if the water is already off. If it isn't, I might get lucky or it might get disconnected in the morning. Either way, I've had enough of today. I'm not feeling too happy with life right now, and I think I will lose myself in my book and then in the arms of Morpheus. 

Might watch a movie first. And considering another mug of tea. Or might watch for as long as it takes to boil, boil, draw and drink the tea, then pause until the morning.

Damn it, the net is down again. OK, will try to reconnect...

[Netfoot]

Still got water. Hopefully they won't disconnect over the weekend and by Monday the payment will have landed on their computers.

Mo was very snuggly last night but bogarted the top sheet for the whole time. Good thing he is warm and cuddly!

[Netfoot]

Sold some stuff.

Paid one month of the phone bill and got reconnected.  Will be in arrears again from tomorrow... but should get 2 weeks grace to make another payment. Went to grocery and bought potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, pak choy, white cabbage, more rice, more oatmeal (same buggy brand, alas!) and a fair amount of pasta. No meat. gotta be satisfied with the corned beef we've got. Blew $3 on a piece of cake. Well, cakey bread. Or bready cake. Split it with Mo who scarfed his share and mobbed me for mine.

Small amount of cash left over to pay towards electric bill. 

Stomach ache.

[Netfoot]

In bed, using my own wifi. It will be cut off again in a couple weeks if I don't find a way to make another payment but I have to pay it anyway because I can't just not pay - the arrears would just run away from me.

Last night when I was going to bed I spread the top sheet out, ready for me to slip under. Mo jumped up, ensconced himself in the geometric middle of the sheet and wouldn't move until morning. I spent the night trying to keep warm under one corner of the sheet. 

To forestall this happening again, as I headed into the shower, I took the top sheet and placed it over to one side, off the bed entirely. I returned to find Mo ensconced directly on top of the pile of four pillows. 

Listening to Death Of A Party from Blur's eponymous album. I've got several albums by this band - six or seven perhaps - and think well of the band. It was very popular in the UK, and considered part of the foundation of BritPop. For some reason, the band's front man (Damon Albarn) decided to create a "fictional" or if you prefer "virtual" band called Gorillaz. Gorillaz consisted mostly of the members of Blur, simply performing under a separate name. They did very well, by all accounts, but I don't (think I) have any of their albums. Albarn had a long standing relationship with Justine Frischmann, ex-guitarist for Suede (another popular UK band I like a great deal), Frischmann went on to become the front woman for Elastica, a band which it was said produced music suspiciously similar to Albarn's own work in style. I have two Elastica albums; they are quite listenable but not particularly remarkable. Any similarities could, I think, be put down to the fact that bands do draw from and are influenced by the music they like and are inspired by.

Today, I cooked a pot of rice for Mo with corned beef and lentil peas. Divided in two, he had half for lunch and half for dinner. My lunch was two salt bread with peanut butter. For dinner I boiled potato, carrot and pak choy and fried onion and a chicken tender which I had cut into little cubes. (Mo is now rolling around behind me kicking me in the shoulder blades with both back feet.) As I posted plated his and my dinner I took one serving spoon of Mo's rice and had my boiled veg with that spoonful of rice. 

We both enjoyed our meal. It was nice to get a little variation in the diet. I had the chicken tenders in the fridge for awhile and broke out a tender for the occasion. Got a pack of mince in there as well. And a half pack each of some really low grade stew beef and lamb necks. 

Also found "loose pasta" and bought some. This is pasta of various types that probably came in 100 lb. sacks rather than individual plastic packages. Weighed out into plastic bags of various sizes in the back of the grocery and sold by the pound. Got to do some math to find out if it's cheaper than regular. I got a bag of penne.

Still no appointment to see Dr. Jacinto, and I've been trying since 11th December. I've had a very wobbly, giddy and wooly-headed day. Especially the afternoon. I would really like a specialist to offer some guidance on medication dosage because while I realize this dosage may be required, I think it's just as likely that the level of meds can be titrated down to where the side effects are less problematic. 

Tomorrow I will test blood sugar again (and drink a liter of hyena piss). Hopefully the blood sugar will have gone up a little. I like it in mid to low fours but 4.0 and lower is going too far. Especially several tests in a row. At least I've had no more cramps in the last few days.

Anyway, I'm very tired. I've not been sleeping too well the last couple of weeks, but I feel like I could sleep solidly tonight. I'll go and inform his lordship (who departed in disgust just now, when the tummy rubs were not to his satisfaction) that the door is being closed and invite him to be on the inside of it.

Edited January 21 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Mo can instinctively know when I have a few dollars in hand.

Woke up this morning to find him panting furiously. It didn't stop.Tempted him with bread & peanut butter (my lunch-to-be). refused the first time. Took it the second time but spat it out. Ate it the third time. This is not usual behaviour from foodaholic Mo.

Took him to the vet. Today is Error Barrow Day (a local public holiday) so there is a $100 call-out fee for the vet. Temperature within normal range but slightly towards the high end of the range.  X-rays. Possible signs of very mild infection in his chest, probably from the cough he had a couple days ago. Innards otherwise look normal and good. Lungs & heart seem OK.

Steroids, antibiotics, mild sedative.

I had $183 dollars in the bank to pay towards the light bill. Vet bill was $362.43 total, including the call-out fee. So no electricity payment tomorrow and insufficient money for rent come month end.

Then, my darling boy pulled his head out of the collar and went for a 15-minute rampage all round the property, with a merrie bande of people in full chase. Because at least five ccars of people showed up with pets, unaware that today the place was unofficially closed. And (lucky them) because I'd already paid the $100 call-out fee, they don't have to.

Mo was in the road and had to be chased back into the yard again before a car came along and killed him. He attempted to roll on every pile of dog doodoo he could find, of which there are many in the yard of a veterinary clinic. Dunno if he got them all, but he got most of them, including all the ones that are sticky and nasty and won't wash out of his fur.

Well, at least I got one good night's sleep before it all came crashing down again, worst than ever.

Now, three hours after waking, I think I will start my day by drinking a glass of muck...

[Netfoot]

Ok. Mo is breathing normally again by the looks of it. I gave him his steroids but I don't know if they would have had time to kick in yet. He is calm and looks perfectly happy, snoozing on the floor in the bedroom. I hope he doesn't decide to migrate into bed just yet. He is stink! I've tried to wipe, wash and brush him down but it only works so well. More later after I've had a chance to observe him more. He will get his other meds this evening. It's a timing thing. 

Pasta! Looked at the pre-packages stuff and the "Loose" stuff I bought yesterday. 

Sedani Rigati:
Pre-packaged: $1.85 fo 500g or 270 grams for a buck.
Four-pack, discounted: $700 for 2,000g or 285 grams per buck.

Penne :
"Loose" Grocery-packed: $2.70 for 790g or 292 grams per buck.

So the loose pasta is cheaper by a small margin of 8.1% over the regular package price and of 2½% over the discounted price for buying 4 packs at once.

I get the good price without having to buy bulk. Different types of "loose" pasta may sell for different prices. Elbows may be cheaper than penne for instance, but I will have to check next time I'm there. Assuming they have "loose" pasta available next time - it may not always be available.

A lower price is always good, the quality looks the same (nothing obviously wrong with the "loose" penne). Nothing to say how long to cook the "loose" stuff so I will have to watch the pot and keep trying it. 

Edited January 21 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Mo ate his lunch (pasta with a small amount of sauce) fine and is apparently breathing normally with no panting.

I, on the other hand, have belly-cuttings, wobbly head, and blurred vision. That last may be because my glasses need cleaning or because reasons.

Edited January 21 by Netfoot

[Spunkygal]

I haven’t been able to react or reply to anyone’s posts for the past couple of days. I don’t know if it’s because I’m on my iPad or what. It’s kind of annoying.

Just now, Spunkygal said:

I haven’t been able to react or reply to anyone’s posts for the past couple of days. I don’t know if it’s because I’m on my iPad or what. It’s kind of annoying.

Finally! It just worked!

[Netfoot]

22 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

Finally! It just worked!

What ever the reason, glad it just worked -- nice to have you back.

Don't have much to say about those devices from Apple. I know that when I access the site from my Android phone it can be very problematic. I think it's more the site design than the device itself. The money-grubbing forum owners insist on plastering so many adverts over the content that it's very difficult to navigate without error. You're just about to press [SEND] and an advert pops up from nowhere over the button. Inadvertently touch than and you're off to some undesirable site and your post is history. Try to remove the advert itself by pressing the miniscule little X in the corner and you realize the active area of the X is only 2x2 pixels and you are visiting the undesirable site and your post is history anyway. I hope it's easier when using the relatively larger area of a tablet. But I suspect a bigger tablet area would just mean room for more adverts.

Desktop, baby! With two adblockers in full swing!

I am happy to say Mo appears to be in his usual form. he even came a moment ago and implied that he wouldn't mind having his dinner. I put my hand down to pat him and discovered a nasty patch of... let us say mud... on his neck. He is filthy and I dunno how to get him clean other than manhandle him into the shower and just scrub him all over with dish soap. This will probably cause his cough to flare up... 

I am extremely worried because I spent the rent money on him this morning. Not all of it, but enough that I can't pay rent at the end of the month. This is the first time I've ever not had the means to cover the rent and if I don't find it, the landlord isn't the kind to be understanding about it. Now I have to calculate exactly what I need to make up the difference and find that amount within the next 10 days or else!

I think I will have to lock Mo out of the house tonight and do the manhandle/wash thing tomorrow, when he can dry off in the sun. Yes, I will towel him dry afterwards but I don't know that towel drying will be sufficient in the cool of the evening. I don't like to wash my own hair at night unless I'm feeling fine. And I don't want to have to pay another $100 call-out fee in the morning plus whatever the treatment costs. 

ETA: And the rain just began to fall, so...

Edited January 21 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

I've just put Mo out for the night and he really didn't want to go. Believe me, I really wish it was not necessary because I love him snuggling up with me, even if he is only curling up between my shoulder blades, but he is filthy and I can't have him sleeping in the bed with me that way. True, the sheets will change tomorrow, but that wouldn't make him any more pleasant to be with tonight. I'm going to miss him though. It's already chilly and in the wee hours his absence will be felt.

He ate his dinner well and had his meds without issue. Dinner was more of the pasta cooked for his/our lunch. For myself, I had bread and peanut butter.

Blood sugar this morning was 4.2 mmol/L which intake I take as a good number. I drank my liter of yak bile today too. And you know, it is really not too pleasant. But why? It has axsirtbif stake a sort of stale, salty taste that is just not very nice. I've mixed it up in the past with sugar and lime juice which helps a little with the stale taste but unless you use a lot of sugar and lime the saltiness remains. I wonder if I could make up a drink with spicy tomato juice instead? (Not that I have any...) It would be good to find a way to drink this stuff without the feeling you're being punished or taking medicine of some sort. OK, so I am taking medicine of some sort. But it would be better if it was less of a chore. I could drink the stuff every day, then. Assuming there is no issue with drinking too much of it. 

I've been thinking how tasty peanut flavoured sauces can be. I have no idea how they are made but quite possibly from peanut butter. Google will probably explain how if I ever decide to try it.  But tomorrow we will have rice or veggies. I've not made dumplings of fry-bread for awhile but I am lazy and that is time consuming. So prolly rice which is easy to make and does not require hand-holding so long as you give it a stir every 5 minutes or so. 

Listening to the title track from Steely Dan's Aja album. I have all of their albums prior to their 1981 breakup. And they are all worthy, but Aja remains my favourite for some reason.

You know, the new replacement for my phone can have as much as 1Tb of memory. I would be able to place my entire music collection on board with ample room to spare. How big is my collection again?

I have a software tool (lsmp3) I wrote that will analyze my music files and give me some info, but it takes a while to run. It generates no output until it is finished. I could alter it to give running information as it processes the collection but the constant production of interim data would slow the process and delay the final results. I don't run it on the entire collection very often - it gets mostly used to examine one album or one artist at a time. In that case it works well enough. But when faced with the entire collection it does begin to show it's limitations. Really, I should redesign the tool to be more flexible and easy to use. But mostly I use it to examine the music files of an album and checking the embedded tags in those files. I wrote another tool (tagset) for adding, changing/correcting tags which works well. 

Oh, here we go: results. 588 artists, 2,008 albums, 27,001 tracks. Total playtime is 79 days, 14 hours, 51 minutes and 26 seconds. Disk space total: 186.946 gigabytes. That's less than 20% of the new phones. 

Well, today hasn't been the best of days. What with being worried about Mo and his frantic panting this morning, the spending of money I didn't have to get him seen to, and off & on rain showers all day. I hope tomorrow will be a little kinder. 

But the problem with Mo escaping the collar and going walkabout is one that must be solved. Neither Dotty nor Bud would do this. But if you have Mo on the lead and he chooses to go off on his own (which only takes him half a second to decide) he pulls his head back out of the collar and he's gone! The obvious solution would be to get him a harness with a chest strap and if I was liquid I would do exactly that. So I will have to think of a way to make something that will work with the collar he already wears. Maybe a strap that goes around his chest and clips to the lead-ring on the collar, thereby converting it to a harness? Got to find a solution. 

Anyway, it's late and I will stop here. Missing my boy already. And the cool breeze in the window does as feared, indicate I will miss him more later!

Edited January 22 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

The barking under the bedroom window started at around 4:30 but I ignored it until 7:00 when I allowed him in. He went strait to the bedroom window and then alternated between there and outside. No rolling in the bed or I'd have out him back out again. 

He took his morning meds fine and when the sun is high I will try to give him a shampoo. Mo does not like to be bathed and I'm sure he will resist but I can't have him be nasty like that for however many days it takes for him to clean himself. I avoid washing puppers because they can clean themselves. But too much in the way of baths and they lose the ability. 

Very woozy this morning, nearly falling twice between bed and front door this morning when I went to open up. I've nearly fallen quite a few times but not actually hit the floor very often. This because I've fallen against something like a wall, the refrigerator, a door frame or the van. I suppose they should all be counted as falls because we're it not for the intervention of inanimate objects I would have been down on the ground. 

Anyway, Mo seems fine (if stinky) but he will continue to get his meds as directed. Steroids once a day, and the antibiotics and mild sedative twice a day 12 hours apart, morning and evening. He will get the steroids at lunch, so he doesn't have to take too much stuff at any one time.

I wish I had one of those inflatable pools or even an old-fashioned zinc bath. I think if I jumped in and started splashing around there is a chance Mo would consider joining in voluntarily. I could take him to the beach but if he then pulled his head out of the collar that might be the end of him. Most beaches have an easy path between road and beach to make it easier for people to gain access. But the same path would make it easy for a runaway puppy to get to the street and immediately out in traffic and under a bus. Dotty did this once years ago and I had to fling myself into traffic several times to halt cars and a bus that were obviously not planning to stop. 

ETA: quite chilly last night. Had to pull the sheet right over my head. Even this morning with the sun shining in through the window it was still cool enough to require the use of the top sheet.

Edited January 22 by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

Mo's been miserable all day. After the day yesterday and this morning receiving less than normal amounts of caresses, plus being banned from the house last night he was miserable, not knowing what he'd done wrong. Because rolling on every pile of dog-crap he could find in the yard of a large vet's yard wouldn't occur to him as anything undesirable. 

Well, he's been washed/shampooed, dried with a towel, run around in the sun (when it will deign to shine) and is now as fuzzy as a dandelion and happy as a clam. He is also clean and a pleasure to have around.

The bathing itself didn't take that long. The preparation for and cleanup after took several times longer than the actual shampooing. I had to find and take out the hose, a box to sit on, the towel for post-bath drying, a small bucket containing a scrubbing brush and a bottle of puppy shampoo. Then I had to find a way to secure him, which I did with a length of rope, incorporating my ideas of how his collar could be incorporated into a harness of some sort.

Eventually, I was able to soak him down and apply a bunch of shampoo. Rubbing this into his fur all over, and getting him all lathered up and let that soak in for a while, all the time talking to him and trying to put him at ease. I waited until the middle of the day with the sun blazing down. Of course, the rain was sprinkling by time we were done. 

Once the lather had time to work, I took the scrubbing brush and went to work on the dirtiest parts of him. In no time his fur felt clean under the foam so the hose was deployed to wash all the suds (and dirt) away. He seemed completely spotless at that point, so I reapplied more shampoo and did it all over again. 

By time I was satisfied he was thrilled to get some attention from the towel and then run around in the sun, which was back out and shining brightly by then. 

So the puppy is clean and soon to be completely dry. It's nice to have him back and in a state where he is not actually unpleasant to be with.

Now, time for lunch. Rice with cucumber, carrot, pak choy and (if I can find a tin in the back of the cupboard) tuna fish instead of bully beef. But first, I need to get bathed. I don't know how I ended up this nasty!

[Netfoot]

Just back from Garden Patrol. For the first time since Mo came home weighing 5 lbs, I set off on my own. Mo is usually front and center, every time I pick up the torch and turn it on. Tonight, his eyes moved, but the rest of him just lay there. We have patrolled every single night, wet or dry, hailstorm or blizzard. But mindful of the fact that he is on sedatives, even a very mild one, I cut him some slack and told him I would patrol on my own tonight.

So off I set, and within a few seconds, he was at my side. So we had a full & proper patrol together and all is well with the world. It's dry outside, but it's windy & blustery and the gusts are cool.

He is here in bed with me now, smelling fresh and sweet. The shampoo I used on him today is not scented in any way, so he just smells of clean puppy. I'm very glad to have him inside again, because he is dear to me. He doesn't always spend the night inside but mostly he does and I will settle for that.

Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts. This group was big in its day, but never a huge favourite of mine. Still, there is no denying they had some good tunes and I think this is one of them.

For lunch today, I cooked rice, with lentil peas, cucumber, carrot, and the last tin of tuna in the house. I also added garlic and a small amount of curry powder. Not because I wanted a curry flavour but because for some reason I wanted a yellow colour to the rice. It didn't work. If I want yellow rice I will have to buy tumeric. Which ain't going to happen because yellow isn't all that important. I know it isn't $$$ like saffron, but at present I can just do without even the tumeric price.

The tuna tin was so old it didn't have a ring-pull top. I had to dig out my hand opener and start pumping. 

No, it wasn't an old tin. It was just not a modern design. Bought cheap. Guaranteed to contain no more than 12½% porpoise. If I was going to take a chance on a dodgy tin of food, it wouldn't be a tin of fish! (And I made up the part about containing porpoise.)

Mo and I got lunch and there was enough left over for Mo's dinner. I had oatmeal for dinner, with sugar and a small sprinkle of raisins, plus a splash of milk. Given the state of my taste buds I'd say the rice was pretty tasty and the oatmeal for dinner was too. Mo is really going with the cooked food, too. He finishes his meals in a hurry, so I assume he is liking the cuisine. They say if you feel your pup cooked food he will not go back to chow. But Mo has always enjoyed cooked food. He gets at least a taste of pretty much everything I eat so he is no stranger to pot food. And it never stopped him from chowing down on his own food before.

Edited January 23 by Netfoot

[andidante]

15 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts. This group was big in its day, but never a huge favourite of mine. Still, there is no denying they had some good tunes and I think this is one of them.

 

 

 

This is my favorite song by them. I also like Diamond Girl. 

[Netfoot]

Mo was very snuggly and a comfort to have alongside during the cold night.

But at around 4:00 he demanded I open the door. From then on, he kept going out, getting wet, and coming back in to dry off by playing Tummy Trampoline. We played Tummy Trampoline off and on, for hours!

12 hours ago, andidante said:

This is my favorite song by them.

I also think it is my favourite of theirs. It's over 50 years old (!!!) but I liked it from when it first came out. 

[andidante]

6 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I also think it is my favourite of theirs. It's over 50 years old (!!!) but I liked it from when it first came out. 

I can't believe it's been that long! I keep thinking the 70s were not that long ago, LOL

[Netfoot]

After Garden Patrol and a hot shower, I'm in bed with a sleepy puppy. It's cold again tonight but not so had bad as last night. It also looks like it will rain off  on during the night, so I guess that could mean wet Tummy Trampoline games from foreday morning until I finally drag myself oudda bed tomorrow. Which could be late because I'm sleepy too.

Ventura Highway by America. A band that produced a number of good albums and a good handful of corking tracks, like this one and A Horse With No Name to name but two. 

Cooked rice with lentils and corned beef. Mo got two meals out of it but I only got a spoonful. Because I also cooked potatoes, carrots and cucumber with corned beef for myself. For dinner I had a small portion of macaroni elbows with bully and onions. 

No idea what to cook tomorrow, seeing as I already cooked rice and pasta and potatoes today. So maybe dumplings and fried bread?

I'm starting to learn or relearn how to deal with the wobblies. I can not stand in one foot/leg. But how often do you do that? Well, every time I have to put my feet into my sandals, I have to stand on one foot while pushing the other foot into the sandal. It only takes a split second, but I have to hold on to something (like  a door frame) or I will fall down. Putting on trousers takes a little longer than slip-on shoes. And I can't hold on to something because the trousers need pulling up. So I have to lean back against the wall and let both shoulder blades touch.

The puppy sneaked off to bed before I turned in. So I found him curled up in the bed, fast asleep in a nest made from the top sheet. Maybe later he will move off the sheet and I can grab it. Meanwhile, well, thankfully it isn't that chilly tonight.

Blood sugar tomorrow. And a liter of yuk ready to drink. 

PS: for some reason, forgot to post this last night. Posting now. Blood sugar this AM was 3.4 mmol/L, complete with flashing red light on meter..... ☹️

Edited January 24 by Netfoot