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Monday, October 26, 2015

Bok bok bok

Feral chicks

It's still Monday morning early afternoon here, and today is pecking me to death already!   Apparently, there is a blue light special on work-related emotional breakdowns (not mine, this time), two for the price of one.  On the other hand, I got some tedious but informative work done this weekend, which feels very virtuous.

Food news:  The new Thai place is good!  And very nearby!  This restaurant space has had a few loser years since the Mexican place closed -- the last incarnation was (I think) Chinese, but they kept the curtains closed and didn't post a menu; and the restaurant before that was all tofu.  And I have no real objection to tofu, except that never in my life have I thought, "Oh, I'm just dying for some tofu!"

Wildlife news:  My cat Polly, a feral rescue foster kitten who never became social enough for adoption, has not allowed anyone to pet her in the last 8 years.  She slept by my feet last night.  And in a true breakthrough, she put her little head by my leg; and then she let me pet her with my foot!  She even turned her head so my foot could rub the other side!  I know, this sounds underwhelming, but trust me, it is HUGE. 

Weather report:  Dry dry dry dry.  Rain expected Wednesday, then dry dry dry.  They keep promising us this El Nino, but one day does not a drought cure.  Hugs to our Texas contingent, because lately, they've gotten rather more than is useful.  

Political news:  GO, LIZ!  

What's the news up your way?

68 comments:

Miranda said...

I have many work albatrossi right now. I'm still new here so I feel the need for a little more support which I am not getting. However I don't get complaints either. It's very baffling to me since I came from a group with a more, shall we say, invested upper manager leadership style.

W: So much work travel.

W? AW? One of the main reasons I stepped off the parish council was I did not want to be part of the discussion regarding whether same sex couples could be married in our sanctuary or by members of our clergy. Namely, if there was dissent, I did not want to know who was involved or what was said. My minister is very pro marriage equality. However, our governance structure has been interpreted to mean we should do this whole church discussion. They are discussing this at the next meeting. Which I was asked to attend as a sub. I thought about declining but after prayerful consideration, it feels like I should be there. Send the good vibes Wednesday. All of them. So that I may speak and attend this meeting from a place of love. Their opinion does not alter my truth or change my self worth.

esperanza said...

Go, Miranda, go!

W: struggling to get my brain working in a functional manner. Grief is weird. Or rather, its effects are.

kathy a. said...

Yay, Miranda! Except all the travel and not enough support. Lots to be said for not getting complaints.

Wishing you and your congregation well with this discussion. Seems to me you have wisdom to contribute.

((( Esperanza ))) This grief is bad, and family, and fresh. Lots of love to everyone. xoxo

Anonymous said...

Prayers for you and love and support on Wednesday, Miranda.
(((esperanza)))
--Neighbor Lady

Queen of West Procrastination said...

So many hugs for esperanza. Be gentle with yourself, in the midst of this complicated grief, friend.

Miranda! I hope Wednesday goes well.

Sue said...

((((esperanza)))) So many hugs and prayers.

Prayers and lots of good energy for you and the congregation on Wednesday, Miranda.

AW: Magic Needle Doc did her magic and another treatment is done. I had dinner with my son and his partner on Sunday night, which was so lovely. They are so sweet together and so happy. Does my mama heart good. Treatment went well, and the flight home wasn't full so I had lots of room to spread out my books and do some work.

W: Today I'm achy and sore, but that's not unusual.

AW: This should help reduce pain-world during the upcoming Christmas season. Yay!

kathy a. said...

W: My ancient printer is still going strong, but the local office goods store no longer stocks the toner needed. AW: Ze magic internet. W: Wanted to use the printer today.

GO LIZ! I hear rumors suggesting she is outdoing even herself as the Doorbell Queen.

My poor Polly cat. Think I've mentioned before that she is ill; she has visible tumors on her abdomen, appears weaker and bony, and now she is seeking comfort in ways she hasn't before. We used to joke that we'd really know she was sick if she let anyone catch her to take her to the vet, and now that is the actual plan. Meanwhile, doing my best to spoil her. She adores cheese, so niblets of cheese it is. Yesterday, I almost got to pet her with my hand! (I know, she sounds so anti-social, but she has really adored the housecat life, and hanging out where she can watch all the action.)

kathy a. said...

Hooray, Sue, about the treatment and the kid visit!

esperanza said...

Yay, Sue. Being relatively pain-free must give you so much more energy. So glad you got in a good visit with your son and his love.

AW: I think Mr E is planning on returning home tonight or tomorrow. Baboos will be beside themselves.

W: which leaves me one-on-two for the school's fall festival this evening. Sweet is super high maintenance for these kinds of things.

AW: I have purchased the PTSD-inducing wristbands in advance, however, so we can put them on at home rather than in the midst of the crowd. (They are similar to hospital bracelets; hence the PTSD for Sweet. It's for real).

kathy a. said...

Continuing hugs to your family, Esperanza. xoxo

Sending a virtual sparkly sticker to make the admission band more festive than a hospital band.

W: Daughter's taking the GRE tomorrow, and freaking out a little. AW: Mama has always preached not freaking out for tests, get some sleep tonight. W: Tomorrow is the first rain in a while, which she didn't realize, and already they are predicting horrible traffic conditions and lots of accidents. Plus, the test site is on the other side of the #1 worst stretch of freeway in the entire metropolitan area, a huge congested tangle of interchanges. And she hardly drives freeways, certainly not that route.

AW: She was going to meet her dad for lunch after; his work isn't so far from there. SO, after some parental collusion and to her great relief, dad will drop her off and pick her up; she can take the train home from his office after lunch. Victory!

esperanza said...

Whew, glad the carpoolimg is working out,

Wristbands for Fall Festival are *already* sparkly! Win!

kathy a. said...

Sparkles for the win!

My whine probably sounded tres stupid. My husband has been riding his bike to work every day he can, 4-5 days a week, so daughter didn't even think to ask him.

Anonymous said...

It did not sound stupid at all.
Traffic can be very stressful! Especially in the rain!
--Neighbor Lady

Queen of West Procrastination said...

I'm glad that Daughter doesn't have to stress about the roads anymore, in addition to her test-taking jitters. Crossing all appendages for her GREs tomorrow.

I hope the sparkles offset the hospital wristband PTSD, esperanza. That poor sweetie has been through too much. And so many hugs for all of you.

Sue, I'm so glad that you've had your appointment with the Magic Needle Doctor, and a wonderful visit with your son and his partner.

Miraculous AWs: on the big front, my bff (who has found herself both unemployed and a single mom, recently) has had two calls from potential employers, asking her to apply, and is now comparing good offers (and will be employed by Friday: she just has to decide where). (She called a friend at the job she left a year and a half ago, to ask for a reference for this other job, and it turned into her year-and-a-half-ago job begging her to come back, as they've been a mess since she was gone, and they've fired her bad old manager, who was the reason why she left). This is such an answer to prayer, because things have been getting desperate, now that she's a single parent, handling a mortgage on her own.

And the small miracle: E enthusiastically ate a whole bowl of curried chickpeas for supper, after an extended "I only want really plain food" phase. This used to be her favourite meal, but for the past six months she's refused to look at it.

Liz Miller said...

Je suis tres fatigue parce que j'ai

kathy a. said...

Go, BFF! It is a miracle when stuff like that works out, QWP; and great to hear the news even from afar.

Don't even ask me about kiddo food preferences -- who knows, on a given day?! But great she has found her new old favorite again. :)

Liz Miller said...

....knocked a butt load od doors and don't know how to say that in French.

Hugs to everyone who is in need of one.

Kathy, I was gonna suggest your daughter get a hotel room nearby the testing facility, it's what I did one time when I had an important exam early in the morning.

Yay for carpooling, sparkly wrist bands to minimize psd, and pokey needles that remove pain!!

Hooray also for Daily K0s, and my friends at SEIU 512. And for my opponent's boss at his day job who sent him to CHICAGO FOR A CONFERENCE this week!!! Hahahahahaha!!!! Six days til showtime!

kathy a. said...

Go, LIZ! And your fans, and endorsements! I'm ROFL about your opponent's boss sending him away this week -- that is awesome. Sending coffee and advil for the rest of the doorbell queen marathon; fingers firmly crossed that you can use the virtual champagne next week!

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Cheering for Liz as she approached the finish line/election day!

Sue said...

kathy, I'm sorry to hear Polly is struggling. It's good to know there is enough trust there for her to come to you for comfort. All appendages crossed for the GRE test! I'm glad the transportation is worked out - traffic can add so much stress to an already stressful day.

Continued prayers and hugs to you and all the family esperanza. I hope the festival goes well.

QWP, that's such good news about your friend's job options! Yay!!

Go Liz!!!!! You are amazing. Simply amazing. We're all cheering you along the way, but you know that. That's hilarious about your opponent's work conference!

esperanza said...

Snickering about Liz's opponent's out of town trip this week. Go opponent's boss! And go, Liz go! You've got this!

Daddy is home. Festival wasn't as bad as last year. I question everything about it: in October we already have the huge town festival, many Halloweeny parties, and trick or treating this week? Why now for a school festival? Teachers were all exhausted this morning.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Ugh, the poor teachers. Extraneous Required Fun on a weeknight is no good.

I'm relying heavily on caffeine and my SAD lamp today: I got less than four hours of sleep last night. Mr. Q and I tried to go to bed early, but it had been a long and stressful day (as part of a long and stressful semester), and we got arguing about all the things that need to be done, which somehow led into me having an existential crisis about the fact that I'm looking at a few more years of stay-at-home parenting, and there are no prospects around here even if I wanted to do something, and that led to me having a panic attack about the ten years of grad school that is feeling wasted, and that led to me having a lot of trouble sleeping tonight. Ugh.

I really am excited about how the immediate future is shaping up: Mr. Q has a great job, and we're applying so that he can start good MEd next year (it's a professional program that is all night classes and online classes, to allow him to work at the same time), and we're likely going to be able to start looking at houses to buy at the end of winter. But all of this will work best if I'm home, running everything (and keeping everything organized). And I know that basically everyone else from my grad school cohort is facing the same crisis of "our job market is on free fall, and we might not use our training", but it's hard to have job satisfaction when your entire life involves unsuccessfully potty training a stubborn toddler.

So, that's what's occupying my brain today. And sleepiness. (At about 2am, I decided that maybe the answer is to try to track down small amounts of research freelance work, even though there isn't a lot of that work available right now. That would be more satisfying, and make more sense, than teaching a night class next year. If Mr. Q is taking night classes, it would be a huge pain for me to be teaching one.)

esperanza said...

Mullet for QWP for "Extraneous Required Fun," because yes, exactly. It was so hyped up that it felt required, even for students.

And I'm so sorry about the professional angst, which usually strikes m in the middle of the night also. Glad Mr. Q is getting some good opportunities.

kathy a. said...

QWP, so sorry about the angst.

Sue said...

I'll second the Mullet nom. Extraneous Required Fun - the struggle is real.

Sorry about the professional struggles and worries QWP. :( And I know you've heard this before, but what you're doing right now is so important. You're teaching E how to be the best person she can be. It may not seem that way during tantrums and potty woes, but it's true.

W: Remember that brand new roof we had installed at the church last year?? IT'S LEAKING. Argh.

AW: Warranty still good.

kathy a. said...

Oh, excuse me, Universe? Leaks in the new roof?? If I get around to awards this week (don't hold breath), that certainly merits a Morton Salt Award (when it rains, it pours).

Rain report: at least 4 drops. "Well, that sure broke up," said the weather geniuses.

kathy a. said...

GRE = survived! She got preliminary scores on all but the essay (these newfangled computer tests) -- way up there on verbal, meh on math. She is not planning to study physics or rocket science, and has a good attitude if she applies and gets rejected. Is settling in to look for a new job. yay!

esperanza said...

Go, Daughter!

W: Am trying my best to be patient with Mr. E. He said he was going to the store for "comfort food." I said I was planning on cooking meatloaf and mashed potatoes (is this not the definition of "comfort food"?). He returned with a salad. A salad.

kathy a. said...

Maybe he just needed a time out? Been a terrible week or two.

esperanza said...

Well...he'd had a time out most of the day. Whatever. I will transform that ground meat into something else. I'm just whiny about eating Baboo Favorites for two weeks straight (pizza, mac/cheese, tacos/nachos, repeat). A neighbor did bring some soup last week, and I've eaten a lot of it.

Liz Miller said...

Hugs to all who need it.

Aw: 85 doors! W: in the rain
W: large puddle in the basement.
Aw: mr. Spock is gonna take care of it.

kathy a. said...

GO, LIZ! Boo on the basement puddle.

So, my internet is at least working, but the email provided by my ISP (which I use for work) has been out over 6.5 hours for reasons unexplained, and will be for an uncertain time -- and I had something that wasn't downloaded before the crash, which I needed to fix and get out today. But no.

I decided to take them up on the live chat problem-solving option, and from the beginning, the wait time was never reported as more than 12 minutes. It has been about 2 hours 20 minutes now that I have been waiting. And the chat option is (comparatively speaking) just excellent because I can go do other things -- cook dinner, noodle around the internet, etc. -- without once getting lost in a phone tree, or hearing muzak or a sales pitch. But I'm starting to think the entire "live chat" staff bolted for the nearest bar; or else they really don't have any live chat staff at all, just a program that tells people random short wait times.

Sue said...

(((esperanza)))

kathy, I hope your interweb troubles are resolved now. I imagined the live chat staff running out of the building screaming. Ha!

Yay Liz!!!!!! (sorry about the unwelcomed water in the basement though)

W: Second day of heavy rain here. I'm achy and have some head pain but I can't decide if it's residual pain from my treatment Monday, or some break-through-migraine-y stuff. Either way, it isn't fun. A%vil on deck to help.



kathy a. said...

Sue, we'll take some of that rain. Ouchy on the stupid head thing; hope it alleviates. xoxo

I never got to live chat. My email came back eventually, no explanation for its unexcused absence.

kathy a. said...

Maybe I've mentioned before that I'm part of an online support group for people dealing with my SIL's rare and challenging dementia. And it is a good group -- lots of information, very supportive -- most people have never heard of this peculiar dementia, including a lot of doctors.

Mostly the members are caregivers or family members, the occasional friend. A few are patients, the rare ones who understand they are ill -- most patients think they are perfectly fine, everybody else is messed up.

This new person joined, someone who thinks he has this dementia. And the last couple weeks, he is all over everybody, all the time. He has his own theories of how the disease works. He has been beating people over the head about how stupid they are to fear threatening behavior, instead of just dealing with threats and punches and yelling all day. Basically, he thinks no problem if there isn't blood on the floor. This got really evident on a thread where a caregiver was fearful for safety after a psychiatrist told her husband that she had reported hoarding drugs and other disturbing behavior, so the husband with this dementia got all wrapped up in a fury, and she was afraid for herself and their teen daughter.

This is punching more buttons than I even knew I had. Every single person who responds kindly and factually gets a barrage from this guy. He also has extra comments about the irrationality of women generally and individually. Am working really hard to just respond to the people who aren't suffering the major brain deficits that this illness brings. But yikes. The mods are aware, are saying the right things, but this is just a bad situation. And I am unreasonably upset about it, in what is usually a safe place.

Anonymous said...

(((kathy a.))) Yes, the fact that the discussion group is usually a safe space, for dealing with such a horrible disease, is probably pushing all kinds of buttons (understandably!). So sorry that the discussion forum is getting hijacked. Hopefully the moderators will step in soon, to preserve the safety and comfort of the healing space you all have created for each other.
Hugs,
Neighbor Lady

kathy a. said...

Thanks, NL. I just have to, like, never read this person again.

This just in: the clocks change Sunday morning. FALL BACK! It will be terrible, dark so early! Arrgghhh. That is all.

esperanza said...

I am too tired to figure out how the time change will screw up the Baboos' sleep schedules (ha! As if Mini even has one) but I know it will somehow result in me not getting enough sleep.

kathy a. said...

Let's just say, hypothetically, that your local Baboo usually gets up at 7 a.m. After the disastrous FALL BACK, that Baboo will instead get up at SIX O'FREAKIN CLOCK. Whereas, the night before, the parental units went to bed at the usual time, so PARENTS LOSE ONE HOUR.

Otherwise, assuming no other obligations on Sunday morning, things proceed normally. Except if Church is involved, people will show up an hour early because they forgot, and be all grumpy about things running so far behind schedule. So, Mom recommends the church ladies bring lots of brownies to moderate moods as needed.

esperanza said...

hahahahaha "no other obligations on Sunday morning" hahahaha.

Sweet wakes up at 6 AM, regularly. Woe is me.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Please pray, pixies. Upstairs Dog is missing. His owners left for Maui today, and a friend has him while they were gone, and when she let him outside, he escaped under a hole under the gate. We're just frantic about this. There have been a few sightings of him, over the past couple of hours, and it sounds like he's trying to head home (but I hope he just finds someplace warm, and doesn't try to cross anymore busy streets: he's a small, black dog, and it's very dark outside).

kathy a. said...

Oh, no, QWP! Dogs will try to come home. Any way to keep the gate open and an eye out? Check tomorrow with local shelters; contact the neighbors and put up posters. Does he have a tag with the owner's phone number on it?

xoxo

Queen of West Procrastination said...

The local humane society has been notified, and word is spreading (and everyone is combing the city for him). He has tags, but not a current phone number on them. If he still hasn't shown up by tomorrow, then we start with posters.

Argh I'm so stressed out about this. I've had to drastically play down what's going on when E is around, because she heard me say that he's missing, and she freaked out. (He's her best friend! She spent yesterday trying to get him to play with her teddy bears.)

kathy a. said...

Seriously, dogs are good at turning up, and I'm sending very powerful mind-waves to the pup right this minute. The tags are a giveaway that this is a beloved pet, even if there isn't a current number. xoxo

Queen of West Procrastination said...

There have been a few sightings this evening, all in the same neighbourhood, and so there are a lot of people out looking for him, including the humane society, and I'm thankful for all of those people.

In other news, we all got our flu shots today, and E is pretty fussy now. I hope the ibuprofen I just gave her helps her to stay asleep tonight.

Sue said...

kathy a, I'm so sorry about the awful hijacker in your group. Is there an admin person in the group who can block him? There may be a forum for him, but it certainly isn't yours, given his behaviour. :(

I REALLY wish we could all give up this Daylight Saving Time nonsense. It's been proven ineffective in every way, so can we all just let it go??? There is an entire province in Canada that has never been involved in DST, so let's just follow their lead, 'kay???

QWP - Oh no!! I hope the pup has been found this morning. Sending lots of prayers and love your way.

Liz Miller said...

Sending hope for upstairs dog to find his way home safely!

kathy a. said...

Also hoping the doggie turns up soon!

In the support group -- yesterday, it emerged that Mr. Knowitall is agitated about people's perceptions of threats for his own reason. One of his doctors feels threatened by him, so he is extremely invested in "proving" that despite his language and behavior, he would never actually hurt a fly. He has decided that no patient with this would hurt a fly unless they used lethal force in their previous functional life (Not True), so therefore, voila! Just a taste of the crazy fun with this illness!

To celebrate National Cat Day yesterday, one of them decorated the carpet. :)

kathy a. said...

Just click this link: https://www.facebook.com/tiphero/photos/a.10151476582768761.591243.225525523760/10153440390968761/?type=3

esperanza said...

Y'all, it's flooding here again (well, not precisely here, but the same locations that got hammered on Memorial Day weekend). Unbelievable. As you may recall, all their flood waters eventually make it to our little town. Current river crest is forecast at *just* below the highway river bridge on...Sunday morning. Sunday morning is when I need to cross said river to go preach. This is not motivating the sermon-writing at all. If it's dangerous, we'll just cancel.

kathy a. said...

Well, that doesn't sound great, Esperanza. Then again, the weather gods predicted a storm here the other day, and it was 4 drips. You'll have like an extra hour to prepare, having arisen at some unholy hour. Um, this isn't helping, is it?

kathy a. said...

xoxo

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Oh no, esperanza!

AW: Upstairs Dog is home!! Someone took him in last night, and tracked down his vet (from something on his tags, since the phone number on the tags out of date), who phoned Upstairs Neighbours. He's safe and healthy, and I insisted that he just stay here with us, instead of returning to the dog sitter. (He's now sleeping on his owners' bed.)

esperanza said...

You are just full of cheer and optimism, kathy a! I've already called for a ride on Sunday morning, given that I drive a Prius, which is approximately 6 inches off the ground (yes, I've measured it), and the church is on a dirt road. We'll play it by ear till Sunday morning. In May, they over-estimated the crest by a few (crucial) feet, and were off on the timing a bit, too. It's a total mathematical mystery how they do it anyway, so I'll forgive them a few inaccuracies. There will be less than 10 people to call if we need to cancel.

esperanza said...

Whew. So glad to hear that Upstairs Dog is safe. It's clear he would rather be at home, so good call, QWP. (I've corralled a dog in the back yard before, called the vet, who called their humans, who called me, and I returned the dog to the proper neighborhood backyard. I think vet offices must be accustomed to the procedure!)

I am at least glad I am not attempting to travel more than two blocks today, given my highway adventures of last Friday.

kathy a. said...

Oh, good dog, good dog! And very good, letting doggie come home instead of getting lost at a dog-sitter's.

Sue said...

I hope the water stays away esperanza...that's a lot of rain in a month! Tricky for sermonizing, but on the other hand, if it's ready to go you can always tuck it away for another time.

kathy, what is happening with the guy on the forum? Will he still be posting there? I hope if he does that there are some boundaries placed on the level of misinformation and vitriol he can spew.

QWP - Yay for the return of the doggie!!! WooHoo!!

kathy a. said...

Yes, hoping for relative dryness in Esperanza's area.

I do not know what happened behind scenes with my group. That guy is still there, but yesterday he posted only a couple of innocuous items. The day before, I think it was close to 20 detailed rants.

Liz Miller said...

Yay for the found doggie!!

Me am tired.

kathy a. said...

DOORBELL QUEEN! Any extra candy, it is yours.

Liz Miller said...

Nearly 100 doors. Over 20k steps.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Wow! Go go go, Liz!

Queen of West Procrastination said...

You guys, I'm SO glad that we don't do the time change in this province, because E woke up at 5:50 this morning, and in every other province, it would have been 4:50. I know that it's technically the same time, but my brain would not have handled that today. (Halloween was very fun, but very tiring, with not enough sleep.)

esperanza said...

Sweet woke up at 4:20. My brain did not handle it well. My brain IS not handling it well.

kathy a. said...

Yikes, Esperanza! Did you get to your preaching place today?

esperanza said...

Yes. River forecast was about a foot higher than actual, so the bridge was fine. LOTS of water. I made it to my carpool's house, and we traveled the rest of the way in his Suburban. There was one spot on the dirt road where my Prius would have had trouble, I think. It would definitely have stressed me out.

This day has lasted 400 hours.

Liz Miller said...

23,000 steps. A rally with the governor and a senator. Fun but tired

kathy a. said...

Just a few more days to victory, Liz!