tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66261949842340627662024-03-12T18:48:06.740-04:00AZ SheaThe website of Anne S. Zanoni -- where I hang my copyediting hat.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger385125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-91932936852230693722023-02-28T15:42:00.000-05:002023-02-28T15:42:04.288-05:00Blackie, parkour cat. <p>On 6-February, we trapped our associate cat, Blackie. A day we're never gonna forget, I promise you. </p><p><br /></p><p>He'd hurt his paw; I suspect he'd got frostbite, and/or sprained his paw, which dangled unhappily for a few days. I consulted our vet, explaining that he was partly tame, not a purely feral cat. We set an appointment for Tuesday. </p><p><br /></p><p>Monday night, we trapped him, not knowing what we were in for. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p>=-= Parkour time =-= </p><p><br /></p><p>We'd trapped tomcats before, usually to get them fixed [Little Guy] or to the vet [Ollie, fka Bad Kitty]. Our cats Jack and Tiny Cat, we'd just stuffed into carriers; they were born outside but mostly tame by then. </p><p><br /></p><p>Blackie was different. </p><p><br /></p><p>Not house-trained, and somehow didn't grok a litter box either! </p><p><br /></p><p>He parkoured all over the tiny half-bath. Got onto the light fixtures on the mirror cabinet -- three times! Peed himself there the first time. :/ Poor baby, he had so much dust on him, especially his face.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course this was after 1am, so my SO had to help Blackie down the first time. </p><p><br /></p><p>=-= Boxes and feces =-=</p><p><br /></p><p>Blackie pooped in the corner as he huddled as far from the door as possible... then he parkoured up all flat surfaces. Plus he opened the mirror cabinet to throw anything he touched. </p><p><br /></p><p>I worried that he'd clocked himself with something, frankly. </p><p><br /></p><p>He threw a box into one litter box and buried the other with cardboard. [I put cardboard on three sides of litter boxes to minimize thrown debris.] I offered him a new box to hide in: <b>nope!</b> and a chair to hide under: <b>yes</b>. </p><p><br /></p><p>=-= Litter? =-=</p><p><br /></p><p>Blackie also peed on a towel I'd thrown over the toilet seat, hoping he might like it. </p><p><br /></p><p>After he sat in the sink and pooped over its edge, I explained to him that litter went onto poop, and demonstrated, pouring litter over his poop. [The chair blocked me; I couldn't reach the poop, nor move the chair due to my splint.] I also poured litter into the litter box. </p><p><br /></p><p>He seemed to take this advice to heart, using one litter box Wednesday morning. I suspect he also wanted to rub his feet clean on the grass. They were caked with litter. </p><p><br /></p><p>=-= Leaving =-= </p><p><br /></p><p>Bent out a light bulb on Tuesday, his second night; my SO thinks he cut a back paw on the fixture, but somehow Blackie didn't break the bulb! </p><p><br /></p><p>During Tuesday, I began asking Blackie if he wanted to leave. I'd open the bathroom door, and the house side door, and invite him to go back outside. Clearly going from a trap-cage into a little room was Bad. Its litter boxes smelled like other kitties, with no trees to climb, no good hiding places.</p><p><br /></p><p>He wanted to leave, but outside was windy and loud, so also scary. </p><p><br /></p><p>After two nights of parkour, by Wednesday it was quiet outdoors, and Blackie clearly chattered that he did want to go, thank you... he'd had a really large breakfast too. Under an hour later, he was on the back step, happy to sniff our fingers and eat treats. </p><p><br /></p><p>=-= Aftermath =-=</p><p><br /></p><p>Blackie's paw has a pale white spot, up on the top, with missing fur -- right to his skin? I cannot tell you. We never got him to the vet. </p><p><br /></p><p>He likes me, and chatted with me the most during his imprisonment. His paw stopped dangling, possibly by Monday, as he didn't seem to favor it. I hope the fur will grow back.</p><p><br /></p><p>He still chats with us. He is a squeaky cat. </p><p><br /></p><p>During his time inside, Blackie was very hissy. He got less hissy, and eventually almost squeaky again. </p><p><br /></p><p>But I couldn't pick him up; I still cannot turn my left wrist, not until my next surgery in March. He didn't want us nearer, he didn't like Allen for carrying him in the trap, and putting him into the carrier seemed improbable. Blackie is a largish tomcat, at least 15 pounds. He was clearly much less tame than we'd presumed. </p><p><br /></p><p>Wherever we go next, we'll take him. Even of he stays just an outdoor cat. I'm not sure we have the spoons to try for him becoming an outdoor cat with indoor privileges, like Jack and Sweetpea are.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-23367416840403408772023-01-16T13:54:00.005-05:002023-01-16T13:58:02.136-05:00Years ago: Pontiac, Mich. <p>I was a college undergrad for years. So I moved around quite a lot, up to 0-4 times a year. Most of my roomies liked having me around; alas, that doesn't pay the bills. </p><p><br /></p><p>Usually I couldn't afford to not live with my parents, not until the mid-1990s. Paying for a car and food and rent, let alone utilities, was just too much. </p><p><br /></p><p>~ Income ~</p><p><br /></p><p>For years, I earned Michigan's minimum wage, which was $3.35/hour from 1986 onward. I want to say until the 90s; <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/STTMINWGMI" target="_blank">FRED says</a> it went up to $5.15 by 1998! </p><p><br /></p><p>Not a living wage, most certainly. </p><p><br /></p><p>(I'd been doing temp jobs from 1988-91, and in 1993, so my wages would've been higher. Probably as much as double. I clearly recall my final assignment in 2001 for Kelly Services. I said I could not afford to make only $9.00/hour for more than the fortnight* they claimed it'd last.) </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p>I remember getting over $6/hour at Kinko's [1997-98] for the 1.5 years I worked there. When I was with Kinko's, I lived in Rochester Hills, and Oxford, Michigan. </p><p><br /></p><p>Neither place had maps with <a href="https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=16/42.678/-83.28&city=pontiac-mi&area=C4" target="_blank">the Mapping Inequality site, unlike the city of Pontiac</a>, which makes sense. The Michigan maps they have are for all the cities, like Lansing and Detroit. </p><p><br /></p><p>~ My zones ~</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1988, I moved out for the first time. I lived on Oliver Street in Pontiac, which means I was in a blue zone, or "still desirable" according to the redlining map. Just south of the Pontiac Fiero plant. </p><p><br /></p><p>In 1990-91, I was on East Tennyson, where we used the dirty bookstore at the end of the street as a landmark for directions. In 1994, I was on East Chicago. </p><p><br /></p><p>Both of these were yellow zones, aka "definitely declining" by the map codes. </p><p><br /></p><p>In 1995-96, I was on Melrose, a redlined zone. </p><p><br /></p><p>My apartment complex off Perry -- which my then-boyfriend called Plywood Townhomes, back in 1994-95 -- isn't in a colored zone. It's between a yellow and a red zone. Nor was the house I'd lived in briefly on Walton. [In early 1996, I think.] That house is on the edge of the Pontiac map, in another uncolored area. </p><p><br /></p><p>Fifty or sixty years later? Some of those homes are in seedy areas. The homes on Tennyson and Walton, and probably Chicago, aren't so bad. </p><p><br /></p><p>And we could order pizza for that apartment, after moving in during August 1994, for a couple months. The same pizza joint wouldn't deliver after that. Apparently Plywood Townhomes had too many robberies in or nearby. :/ </p><p><br /></p><p>Inspired by this <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/19/498536077/interactive-redlining-map-zooms-in-on-americas-history-of-discrimination" target="_blank">2016 redlining article over at NPR</a>. </p><p><br /></p><p>= - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = </p><p><br /></p><p>* After that assignment, Kelly Services fired me. </p><p><br /></p><p>Probably because the client was mad I had left; they'd assumed they could have me indefinitely. [I'd taken better-paying work with another agency.] The client was an OEM supplier in Automation Alley... </p><p><br /></p><p>I'd also informed the client that I was leaving, since no one at Kelly wanted to. </p><p><br /></p><p>If you wanted to get paid the same week, you got your timecard signed by the client. The Kelly office had breezily told me they'd handle it, but my recruiter wasn't in that week. Which meant I wouldn't get paid on time. Like most people, I had regular bills, and, "Gosh, I didn't get paid on time!" doesn't cut it... </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-6746659523053014852022-12-27T13:10:00.000-05:002022-12-27T13:10:44.694-05:00"Stair dot" | our cats.<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A couple years ago, we had guests over for a long while. Back then, a game I'd play with our two kittens was throwing dots -- dots are what we call the Blue Buffalo kibble, you see. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The kittens loved it. Chasing prey! <b>Eating </b>prey! Wheeeeeee!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">After our guests left, the kittens were full of energy, and I threw too hard: the dots escaped and went hurtling down the stairs.<b> Ooooooooooh!</b> said Digger and Misty, and promptly hurtled after them. I promptly blamed our guests for this-- </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Thus the "stair dot game" was born. :D </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I'd have to go down the stairs to rescue the lost dots. Once I ran out of steam, each kitten would get to snarf up the leftover dots in a bowl. Digger would try stealing it from his sister too. The pawsy squirt. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We play a different variant now -- the kibble game -- with different kibble, and in the living room. [<b>Much </b>easier on my knees.] I'd throw Kit & Kaboodle, which has actual shapes with colors; my roomie calls them caltrops! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Digger liked to chase them the most. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">=-=</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This too has changed. I got Purina hairball control, which are also colored, so we humans can see these flat kibbles better, but now I control who eats them. Digger gets a bowl like LG; he wanted to be Just Like Brother! and Misty eats atop their scratching post -- her favorite place for meals and treats is Up High.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Little Guy loves the New Kibble [all the cats do] as they're mostly meat by-products. Alas, like nearly everything else, they upset his digestion. He gets a few sprinkled into the BB dots so he can participate too. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">After all, he is now officially part of Team Kitten. Just like his new sibs, his buddy Digger and his nemesis Misty. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">=-=</span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Note 1: Initially, Little Guy had discovered the joys of eating his while hiding in the cat-garage. This is where he goes when overstimulated or unhappy. </span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Note 2: Digger and Misty were born in 2019, so the stair dot period was 2020. :) </span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Inspired by a recent post over at <a href="https://www.wayofcats.com/blog/" target="_blank">The Way of Cats blog</a> -- <a href="https://www.wayofcats.com/blog/stairs-as-cat-trees/54468" target="_blank">Stairs as Cat Trees</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-34529099103400099042022-12-20T13:13:00.004-05:002022-12-20T13:14:23.943-05:002022 feline update.<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It has been a crazy year in many ways. For one, our cat Jack elected to adopt more tomcats! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">No, really. First he'd mentored Little Guy, back in March 2022. Jack decided he liked it -- so after we trapped LG and adopted him ourselves, Jack found Cheeto, a fluffy-tailed ginger tabby, and then His Own Doppelganger cat, Blackie, another panther. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Months ago, possibly last year, Blackie got accidentally let into the house, when my roomie realized the black cat present <i>wasn't</i> Jack. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We rehomed Cheeto, just before winter got bad. He was clearly a former housecat; he didn't hunt, and he glued himself to our house, continually trying to get in. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Cheeto went to a nice couple seeking an older cat. Their vet said he's 6.5 yrs old, with feline leukemia, poor boy. But he is very cuddly and affectionate, and follows his people around, talking to them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">With Blackie, he squeaks at us, trying to put his face into the house, He knows that that orange cat Cheeto went inside. It must be the good place! He never came back out! It is where the food lives, and warmth. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Problem is, five cats is already pushing it in our little ranch. Jack and Sweetpea come sleep indoors, under a bed, because the snow and cold is upon us. Adding to the normal trio of Digger, Misty, and Little Guy. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">HRM Misty thinks that LG is just here to destroy her peace -- how dare an Outside Cat enter her territory! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We had to ask our vet for something to ease her aggression. The calming version of Purina FortiFlora usually works, even on the very first day! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Every so often -- once a week? -- Misty is too stressed to eat it. And it's obvious, because she'll chase Little Guy up the entire staircase and onward, unless she's stopped. Or she tries to swat or b!tch-slap him. She'll chase Sweetie down the hall, into hiding-- =sigh=</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">After weeks passed [a month? so likely July] Digger had accepted that LG could indeed be his playmate and little brother. Misty seems to dislike this situation, instead of looking at it as "Digger isn't harassing <b>you </b>to play." \_o_/ </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">LG manipulates differently; Digger will aggressively groom his sister or LG to get whatever spot they're in. While Little Guy will get loud ["No no, stop that!"] to get Digger in trouble, even if Digger is just near him. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">So yeah, this is our cat horde. :D </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-5002359993942829082022-12-18T20:56:00.006-05:002022-12-26T13:01:25.909-05:00Where I'll be, aside from here.<p><span style="font-family: arial;">*** UPDATE at end of this post. *** </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So since today the "Chief Twit" has decided that other social networks don't get "free" [wtf!!!] adverts in His Site... </span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I made my <a href="http://@ninja_CE@toot.io" target="_blank">Mastodon account</a>... Thus far my goal is to use the same handle I had on Twitter, which was <a href="https://twitter.com/ninja_CE" target="_blank">@<span style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ninja_CE</span></a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Last month, I'd made <a href="http://@ninja_ce@counter.social" target="_blank">my account over at CounterSocial</a>, or CoSo, but blamed if I can figure out how to do aught there! Also, I fiddled around and made one column vanish, so I may have gacked my CoSo up. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strike>When I make my Post account, it too should be ninja_CE</strike>. :) I will update here later. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For older accounts, I am on FB, as of 2017. Also LinkedIn -- as of 2008, I believe. Both are</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">under my given name. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">=========================================================</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">ETA 26-Dec-22: I've changed my mind after reading the terms of service [TOS] for Post. Their focus on micropayments -- and on keeping financial info, even after it's expired, to </span><b style="font-family: arial;">keep billing it!!</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> -- already tells me something important. To wit, they want money. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I do not want to give them my money, my data, or my time. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't care how much the team at Post plan on creating a happier, gentler site! So far, they only show that they grok capitalism and profit. Had they said, "Hey, we will arrange for premium features that you pay for" -- like CounterSocial does, and/or have a tip jar/donation button, again like CoSo... but they didn't. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I refer you to Cat Valente's wonderous blog post on social media -- and how they want our money, on the bird site's chaos this year, and how these sites destroy the online communities we build -- </span><a href="https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other-and-start" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things: Three Decades of Survival in the Desert of Social Media</a><span style="font-family: arial;">. It's on her Substack page. </span></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-37988371522301967472022-06-15T11:29:00.001-04:002022-06-15T11:31:02.765-04:00Going to the vet: June. <p>[ Written 9-June-22 ]</p><p><br /></p><p>My SO is out of town; therefore I am currently <a href="https://aszanoni.blogspot.com/2022/05/little-guy.htm">Little Guy</a>'s main caretaker. </p><p><br /></p><p>I'm so used to him going and checking on LG that I keep forgetting, except that I do remember he'd need his boxes cleaned. And my roomie has helped too -- apparently I strained my leg Tuesday morning. After twinges, my leg freaked out last night. So she kindly checked his box last night for me. </p><p><br /></p><p>LG has been very good, and barely hissed much at all. Heck, the last few times he did hiss were muted. Pretty much stating to us: "I am registering my dislike, but not horribly put out." </p><p><br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p>I've been bribing LG with Churu twice a day. We have a little ritual; I take him half in the bowl, go away to let him eat, then I come back and squish the rest out so he can see it. When I return, voila! gone it is. :D </p><p><br /></p><p>He loves the cat pudding and we gave him meds in it previously. Sadly, that doesn't work with the new meds. They really don't consider cats you cannot just pour liquid into! </p><p><br /></p><p>Unfortunately, after Day One, Little Guy cottoned to what was going on. Not only did we give him all this bland food -- yuck! -- but horrors,<i> there was medicine in it!</i> He does NOT approve. </p><p><br /></p><p>=-=</p><p><br /></p><p>Now we come to the mat problem. Before he left, my SO changed LG's litter mat. New mat is grey. His old mat was one we'd had a while. That mat got squished underneath his carrier. </p><p><br /></p><p>Yesterday morning, I found a weird greyish blob, and a wet spot, right where the mat ends. It looks like a hairball. The mat is grey; when he sheds, Little Guy's fur is always grey. I figure it's either caused by the mat fibers being spat up, or hairballs. This morning, more of the same. It had no scent. </p><p><br /></p><p>I enlisted my roomie's help. We moved LG [in his carrier] out of his bathroom, and I tidied things up, then switched the litter mats back. </p><p><br /></p><p>My hope is that tomorrow no grey blobs will appear -- or that they'll be smaller. I wonder if he'd let himself be brushed? I must mention it to my SO... who is the only one who gets to pet LG, when he takes LG down for field trips, aka visits to his basement office. </p><p><br /></p><p>Right after I opened his carrier and came back in with his bowls refilled, he was sitting in the smaller litter box. I asked how he was doing; he blinked slowly at me. So he wasn't mad, but he didn't wanna be picked up. I told him that was fine and quite understandable. </p><p><br /></p><p>=-=</p><p><br /></p><p>You can tell that LG's been abused, yelled at, and probably struck. He cowers whenever he makes a mess. It's very clear that he expects and fears repercussions. </p><p><br /></p><p>The first time LG had dribbled a mess onto his mat, I told him he just needed to cover it up, just like in his box. I showed him too, to be sure he'd grok. LG took this to heart, and so he does indeed cover it up, whether it's a poop puddle, barf, or pee. We always tell him what a good boy he is -- and he is! </p><p><br /></p><p>I am very proud of him. LG is a smart cat, and he pays attention. Aside from the recent thunderstorm -- which he found very scary and understandably distressing! -- he has behaved well and also seemed in fairly good spirits. </p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-75719418458557393712022-05-26T23:07:00.002-04:002022-06-09T19:29:07.279-04:00Little Guy... As I said on <a href="https://twitter.com/ninja_CE/status/1530001077889863683" target="_blank">Twitter</a>: <div><br /></div><div>"This is Little Guy. We trapped him 1-April-22. He was clearly abused or neglected when he appeared in our yard. <div><br /></div><div>"Next month he has his neuter appt. My SO has been socializing LG, who rarely hisses at me any more." And today, even though I got my SO to take this picture of LG -- still no hisses!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYtCmvn1CMpxr1vMy6az0uSfEY6g9Qj2IHAyr94miqdFttY5ukcFOtuTev5sNiWGZTIt36G9FPqZP3aQmYVw_qcweB5PhW7PKL2kSzA1zM3fZQ_rL00I7rFXtaf5tfLVjYYuG9H-_xDRpMEQHeeltOFWyAv5nX0cMGY7wGtdl7jexbJrXMzDJtCOL/s679/Little%20Guy.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYtCmvn1CMpxr1vMy6az0uSfEY6g9Qj2IHAyr94miqdFttY5ukcFOtuTev5sNiWGZTIt36G9FPqZP3aQmYVw_qcweB5PhW7PKL2kSzA1zM3fZQ_rL00I7rFXtaf5tfLVjYYuG9H-_xDRpMEQHeeltOFWyAv5nX0cMGY7wGtdl7jexbJrXMzDJtCOL/s320/Little%20Guy.jpg" /></a><span><a name='more'></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYtCmvn1CMpxr1vMy6az0uSfEY6g9Qj2IHAyr94miqdFttY5ukcFOtuTev5sNiWGZTIt36G9FPqZP3aQmYVw_qcweB5PhW7PKL2kSzA1zM3fZQ_rL00I7rFXtaf5tfLVjYYuG9H-_xDRpMEQHeeltOFWyAv5nX0cMGY7wGtdl7jexbJrXMzDJtCOL/s679/Little%20Guy.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div></div></div>
Poor LG. He looks very scowly here, understandably. Normally he sits downstairs for an afternoon with my SO. <br />
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<br />
Since LG seemed to have a good time yesterday, my SO brought him down for the second day in a row. When LG sits in his extra litter box like this, it is clearly him saying "No. I do NOT want you humans picking up My House and taking me somewhere again. I am too overstimulated/anxious."<div><br /></div><div>He spends much of his time in the pink carrier, mostly offscreen; thus My House in his parlance. <br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-19481739292710688932022-01-25T01:53:00.000-05:002022-01-25T01:53:12.095-05:00The lucky break (for the cats). <p>Happily, we got a new cat sitter this month. I say happily because at first finding someone was hard. NextDoor is my usual resource, and either people weren't answering or unavailable. </p><p><br /></p><p>I spent an hour hunting through sitters on Facebook -- and then messaging them. Not how I wanted to do things, certes! </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p>But our previous sitter kindly referred me to her own, a vet tech. She proved perfect. Best of all, Digger heard us talking and decided she must be Mummy's friend. He came to inspect her, then flirted... ending by smooching her fingers and rubbing on her. Befriended!</p><p> </p><p>She not only fed them, but even slid bowls under beds to make sure all hiding cats got fed too. Even shoveling our walk on Sunday. </p><p><br /></p><p>We are extraordinarily fortunate. </p><p><br /></p><p>I hope to post her pics of Digger later. He was delighted his new friend came to see him, to play, and to provide for his needs. We may be forgiven; still, all the cats want far more food than usual, and they've sought more attention. Unsurprisingly. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-84131747301211334972021-12-25T23:52:00.000-05:002021-12-25T23:52:01.353-05:002021, in part.<p> I may run late, but I do plan to do an overview on 2021. </p><p><br /></p><p>For a brief recap of the past six months, I finally had knee surgery for my right knee, which had two tears in the meniscus. I'm just over two months out from that, and although walking is far, far better now -- stairs, not so much. </p><p><br /></p><p>Doing stairs is weirdly random too; I've managed to go into the basement a few times, but other days, my knee[s] will freak out. Definitely will need to see physical therapists for that next month.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p>Last month I was introduced to the <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/where-to-start-15873237" target="_blank">Birdverse</a>. I got to copy edit a novella in R.B. Lemberg's universe, which was a lovely experience, both as a reader and an editor. I have a new favorite author -- and series -- which makes me very happy. </p><p><br /></p><p>My editor also sent me a novella by Jane Yolen to copy edit, months ago, and that was definitely something unusual. Jane kindly wrote me a poem afterward as well!</p><p><br /></p><p>=-=</p><p><br /></p><p>I sold my beloved 2005 Pacifica. Sadly, when an old car leaks so badly that it's not easily fixable -- and mushrooms grow in the back floor wells!! -- and the mildew smell is fighting with the internal condensation to see which will triumph... :/</p><p><br /></p><p>I had Paca for mere months before issues began, and then worsened, and went from worse to much, much worse. </p><p><br /></p><p>Alas, my poor Paca died right before we left town for Convergence... I miss my Paca. =sigh= I got to have Paca for one year and eleven months. I have gone through more cars, living in Lansing, than anywhere else in such a short time. Really hoping my next car lasts better. </p><p><br /></p><p>=-=</p><p><br /></p><p>The kittens remain with us, although they're nearly 2.5 years old now, so they're about 26 in human years. Digger and Misty both still respond to <b>Kittens!</b> however. I expect they always will. :)</p><p><br /></p><p>Amusingly enough, I have a cat video on the tv now, for them, but they were both snoring away when I began typing this. Now Digger is looking around, but not really at the vid. :D</p><p><br /></p><p>Misty finds my SO's son concerning. Understandable, since during the pandemic, they have little interaction with The Outside World. Hell, Misty growls at delivery guys -- yes, just like a dog! -- and I notice that means the drivers for Amazon, FedEx, and UPS. Yet she accepts the mail lady without any complaint. Probably because the mail lady rarely knocks loudly on the door... </p><p><br /></p><p>Time to for bed, and that means for playing with the cats too. Be well. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-161264935940261612021-12-24T13:22:00.002-05:002021-12-24T13:22:37.350-05:00Almost to 2022!<p> What a year it's been. I kept hoping I joked when I'd say, "Year Two of the pandemic" while I feared I was not joking. And sure enough, it was not a joke, just a faint hope, swiftly disproved. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p>But we've gotten to two sff conventions this year, for masked and vaccinated attendees only: <a href="https://www.convergence-con.org/" target="_blank">Convergence 2021</a> and <a href="https://discon3.org/" target="_blank">Discon III</a>, the 79th Worldcon. </p><p><br /></p><p>In fact, we just returned from the latter this past Monday. </p><p><br /></p><p>We'd driven out to DC for the con, and stayed in one of the overflow hotels -- the Sonesta, which was not an extended-stay hotel... unlike the Boston Sonesta and the Columbus [Ohio] Sonesta, to our dismay. </p><p><br /></p><p>At Worldcon, I chatted with many folks, from publishers and authors to divers others. We saw some of our fellow Michigan fans there also. Despite the Omni Shoreham being a hotel of many accessibility travails, it was a gorgeous place, and I enjoyed seeing it. Being in a posh hotel that had stone balconies overlooking DC was neat; very different from many of the con hotels we're used to. </p><p><br /></p><p>Next month we're off to the first con of 2022, <a href="https://2022.confusionsf.org/" target="_blank">Rising ConFusion</a>. Right here in Novi, Michigan. It'll be <b>so nice</b> to see many of our local friends! Hoping some folks at Worldcon join us too. :)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-1969518262095088662021-05-05T12:52:00.008-04:002021-05-05T12:54:39.690-04:00New allergic reactions... <br />Last Friday I found a long red blotch on my left wrist. It seemed a bit rawer by evening, but didn't hurt, and reminded me of a scrape. On Saturday, it looked more like bug bites. Applied Benadryl cream... <br /><br />That didn't appear to help much. <br /><br />Not bug bites. Hives. Swapped today's chiro appointment -- which I needed, I had a really bad muscle spasm on Saturday, dammit -- for allergist instead. <br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />I began taking Benadryl at night when I went to bed, but... more red spots began to appear. I've only gotten hives a few times in my life, so that's not something I initially think of when I find mystery red blotches. <br /><br /><br />Progression: <br /><br />Friday, original mark that worsened as day waned. <br /><br />Sunday, new spot on right forearm. <br /><br />Monday, new hive on opposite side of same forearm. <br /><br />Monday night, three spots on left foot. Points on a triangle. <br /><br />Tuesday morning, the three separate hives on my foot were trying to become One Great Hive. <br /><br />Tuesday afternoon, I woke up from a nap and I was cold. Feet, hands, nose -- not the usual reaction I get when I wake up. I should've been warm! I also kept getting a little hitch in my throat throughout the day. <br /><br /><br /><br />I cannot take more Benadryl. Monday I took one after brunch -- and slept entire afternoon; clearly it stays in my system longer now, since I mostly avoid Benadryl these days. <br /><br /><br /><br />Probable causes: <br /><br />1] Belated drug-allergic reaction to 2nd COVID shot. [This is how I reacted to sulfa too, nearly 3 weeks later.] <br /><br />2] Reacting to a new OTC. Hyaluronic acid, particularly Hyalo Gel. Apparently Mayo Clinic has the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">side effects listed</a> -- if it's taken as an injection for knee pain. I use it as a topical, but also injected. <br /><br />3] Some random unknown plant. I believe Thursday was the night I chased one of the local tomcats in the back forty, which is a morass of flora. But--! one would think that a plant-based allergic reaction would happen on or by my ankles, dammit! In my experience you don't have a hive or three pop up every couple of days after encountering Some Plant. <br /><br />Also, I escort the kittens outside every damned day, sometimes twice. Granted, I don't go in the far back often, but still. <br /><br />Hives starting on my wrist suggests that it'd affect my other wrist too, or my hands. Random spots all over is exactly how I reacted to the sulfa last year.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My plan is to knock off using Hyalo Gel. Betting that these are drug-allergic reactions. Getting chilled yesterday for no reason, on top of the hives, puts this up in the severe end of allergic problems. </div><div><br /></div><div>Luckily, it's an OTC that you take every three days. This is after three doses, mind you. Thankful I didn't try it daily! <br /> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-48574619923133658502020-12-31T00:26:00.001-05:002020-12-31T00:27:44.932-05:00Cogan's and my health. <span style="font-size: medium;">Was noodling around, found out today that <a href="https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/eye-disorders/corneal-disorders/cogan-syndrome" target="_blank">Cogan's syndrome</a> -- my <a href="https://www.autoimmuneregistry.org/cogan-syndrome" target="_blank">corneal dystrophy</a> -- also affects hearing. That's likely why I've had hearing loss since '90. Cogan's is a rare autoimmune disorder; bet you that the ENTs I saw never thought of it. </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't know that diagnosis before I saw either of 'em -- one in 2014, one last year. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The bad news is that the hearing loss is not fixable. I'm in the unlucky 15% who has both ocular and hearing troubles.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Apparently I wanted a full suite of problems when I chose genetically, eh? :p </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I'd been looking up my autoimmune diseases. [RA is the other.] I knew that rheumatoid arthritis would be a reason I'm at risk for coronavirus, so I wanted to be sure I wasn't mistaken. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">No other big news. I had PT from September through early December for the left knee. Then, right before I was all done, I half blew out my other knee.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">My doc is sending me back to physical therapy. I start next week. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Happy New Year, everyone. May 2021 be nothing like the horrors of 2020! </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-56969967601748225792020-07-07T22:32:00.001-04:002020-07-07T22:32:48.670-04:00Sneaky muscle spasm. -_-<br />
I am so tired. Makes sense, I had a major system shock. Muscle spasms are awful.<br />
<br />
Apparently this was a slow spasm, so I didn't figure it out until the nausea hit. A really slow one. I hate those. They're all bad, but some spasms are worse'n others.<br />
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<br />
This morning putting on a hair tie hurt, and that didn't clue me either. Just thought I'd a really bad headache. I was also really congested, which I put down to not sleeping so well.<br />
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A couple weeks ago, I popped part of my left knee somehow. Hyperextended maybe? Last night, I'd had to put a lot of Tiger Balm (the arthritis version) on my knee to sleep. Once that wore off, I knew I'd be restless if I stayed asleep.<br />
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Apparently I did stay asleep overnight...<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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Today I cancelled chiro; hope to reschedule tomorrow, before he goes on vacation. Rescheduled GERD checkup, explaining to my doctor's staff that I felt awful due to spasm. Icing my neck only worked for a few minutes. -_-<br />
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Then Allen put a Tiger Balm patch on my neck, and sometime later, I managed to nap.<br />
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<br />
Only plus is that that old standby worked. :p Taking my meds, which aren't coated, make me violently ill. That's the basic reset my body wants during/after a spasm hits.<br />
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T'other problem is that we don't normally WANT to vomit. I spent about an hour, trying to figure out a way to counteract that without having something like projectile blah.<br />
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Happily [I say, knocking on wood] I only lost liquids. So far Canada Dry is proving a friend to my abused bod. It's gentle. I only like the nice ginger ales, versus the harsh ones.<br />
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I really just wanna be asleep again. To heal. Spasms don't heal, but they do ease off a little during sleep... Hopefully I will sleep better tonight.<br />
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Be well, all. xo<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-71419491126582095262020-06-26T13:53:00.001-04:002020-06-26T13:53:04.075-04:00Message from MK: 2020 mythos antho. MK sent me an email about doing a 2020 anthology. It's a theme antho -- he wants Lovecraftian mythos stories. Before 31-July-2020, ideally.<br />
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I created <a href="https://aszanoni.blogspot.com/p/first-off-my-sincere-apologies-for.html">a page for it here on my blog</a>, so you could see most of the info he wrote.<br />
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<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I edited his email slightly, and inserted some additional line breaks to make it easier to read, and to find out the guidelines and so forth. Added links too, in case you wanted an idea about the Clark Ashton Smith story he references.<br />
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I sifted through the writing workshop stories I had on my hard drive; apparently I had quite a few, since I was the primary workshop moderator. :b What I didn't have was all the participants' email addresses, so I found some and Tweeted a couple.<br />
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Some are on FB, so I plan to tag my own page there presently.<br />
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I hope to attach another post with just the condensed G/L soon. We'll see if 'soon' and 'deadline weekend' are at loggerheads, eh?<br />
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So don't expect that post immediately -- certainly not before next Monday, 29-June.<br />
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His email address is NOT on my blog.<br />
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If you like, email me and I can send his message direct, or simply give you his address. I do not publish people's addresses online, not without their permission. I dislike having people give out my phone number, and I tend to treat email addresses like my phone number. Held privately unless told otherwise.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-13993303033585005512020-06-07T14:02:00.004-04:002020-06-07T14:02:58.008-04:00Adventure kittens!In recent weeks, Digger has become addicted to eating everyday grass* and to simply going outside. He wears his harness, so he can inspect things, sit on the grass or the patio, and just hang out. I always pick a handful of grass; that way I can let both kittens enjoy it when he's done perambulating.<br />
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Hell, yesterday I dumped a few handfuls of dried grass out. It was on a towel, and Digger likes snuggling up in that box. I suspect he likes knowing he can just nibble the grass at any time. He finds it comforting, having that on his towel. 8)<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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Misty doesn't like going outside. Most neighbors have dogs, and she hates dogs. Humans make other sounds: cars, power tools, various thumps and bangs...<br />
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And oh yeah, this neighborhood loves firecrackers. Day or night, they've been setting those off. For <b>weeks </b>-- no joke!<br />
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I have been trying to persuade Misty that a different leash is safer. I don't know why it's the leash to blame and not me, or whatever scares her, but she is a cat very much into displacement. I just roll with that.<br />
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I put the green bungee leash on her; she gets to choose whether she goes out.<br />
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Today she chose <b>Yes</b>. Thus they had an adventure outside today. <br />
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So I had a kitten on each hand. This is particularly exciting as I was the only human of our household awake, and because of my left thumb. Somehow I sprained it in late January [while sleeping!] and it keeps going out of joint. Acts a lot like trigger thumb...<br />
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My thumb may be healing at last, but that means I cannot always rely on having two hands that fully work. <br />
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Until each kitten started going in different directions, it wasn't so bad. <br />
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A couple times I had to hook one cat -- twice Digger was that cat -- to something so I could get to the other cat and untangle her/him. Or be able to not have two kittens pulling leashes behind me. Loads of fun. :/<br />
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He leapt backwards out of his harness -- something scared him, a bug perhaps. Then Digger went inside like a good boy. <br />
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A few minutes passed. <br />
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His sister somehow tangled herself up in the plastic lawn chairs and freaked out; I got her inside after two tries. Misty was upset the door wall wasn't standing wide open for her escape. <b>Then </b>she ran down the basement stairs before I could unleash her, dragging her leash, and flew back up again... and I finally caught her. Fairly sure that Digger herded her back upstairs, actually.<br />
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I snuggled her a little, and then let them both go chill out. <br />
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After that, they got grass before their nap... I went and brought them back a big handful. 8)<br />
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* NOT weed, I am somewhat allergic to pot smoke.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-87542970532991289042020-04-30T00:02:00.001-04:002020-04-30T22:27:13.698-04:00Monday, O Monday...Monday was an exciting day. First, the furnace guy returned. From last Thursday [starting sometime Wed. evening] through Monday, we had no heat. <i>Again. </i><br />
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Furnace got repaired maybe 2 weeks ago?<br />
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The kittens and I got shut into our BR so he could work. HRM was upset; the heat came on near instantly, but the imprisonment didn't end!<br />
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Queen Misty wanted to dig her way out from under the door. This was also the opposite of fun.<br />
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The plus was that I wasn't sitting there, sans socks, in a cold room in a cold house, trying to calm two kittens. Unlike the previous furnace repair!<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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On Monday afternoon, the kittens went back to vet. Misty hyperventilates if she's in the car without Digger, so we took him along. He complained all the time, both ways.<br />
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Since he'd had his first bath Saturday night, and complained as only a Siamese half-breed can, this was frustrating. Still, Digger-Pocito didn't wail in the car, so that helped! Nor did he have an accident; he was just mightily upset.<br />
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Digger was a little consoled that I stayed with him during her visit. I couldn't open his carrier -- the door was in inside-out! -- but he was affectionate and got much petting. I got lots of kisses and head butts through the door.<br />
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Their office just got me the receipt today... We'd been sitting so long, and they were so swamped, that I asked for them to email the paperwork.<br />
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During quarantine, our vet is doing curbside service; they get your pet, go care for him or her, and bring your pet[s] back. So Misty didn't have us with her -- just as Pocito hadn't when we'd brought him in on 16-April-20. She is doing better. We'd split his eye drops with her when her eyes got all gunky, y'see, as they both have feline herpes. Gonna be on lysine for life.<br />
<br />
She still has to have daily eye drops, which Misty hates. And she's sneezing, but Misty is doing better overall.<br />
<br />
<br />
So it was a very very stressful day for them.<br />
<br />
They are ten months old now. Pocito is 12.7 pounds! Yep, he's been stress-eating for at least two months, if not more. Misty is 9.9 pounds and only slightly overweight; she has the Siamese build and fur, unlike her brother. Digger likely has a lot of Toyger in him...<br />
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And the cat-sitter we got in October was a lovely person, but overfed the kittens. Siamese can apparently put on a pound in a single day. -_-<br />
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We do love our two little monsters; some days they are daemons, and some days they are delightful. Often in the same day. =twinkle=<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-18573064297403294992020-02-12T23:01:00.002-05:002020-02-12T23:01:54.361-05:00ER trip 3: More health wth.<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<br /></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
I AM FINE. It was not a heart attack as feared! </h4>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
ER trip 3 in under five months! since I went in on 29-Sept-2019, the day before my fifty-first birthday [!] and also last month on 5-Jan-2020, both for another health issue* [see bottom of page].<br />
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Am out of hospital and back home, so I just have to wait on seeing my GP, who's free next Wednesday.<br />
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Pain caused by one of three possibles, per Dr. Hershey: acid reflux, arthritis, or nerve problems. All of which I already have.<br />
<br />
Spent nearly 24 hrs in Sparrow Hospital.<br />
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=-=<br />
<br />
Yesterday I left home in an ambulance circa 1:16pm, going to ER. Sparrow Hospital checked me in come evening for a stress test -- to confirm it was not my heart.<br />
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I'd called 9/11 because I thought I was having a heart attack.<br />
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Intense pain at edge of rib cage, then in my back, that would NOT STOP. I have a high pain tolerance, but sharp sudden pain can debilitate me as much as anyone.<br />
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-_-<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Felt like 10 minutes passed, going closer to 20 by the time I went for help... You can imagine why I'd freak out.<br />
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The pain'd gone from one Thomas Dolby song to the next** with no sign of stopping-- that's when I began doing research.<br />
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Asked Alexa twice what the symptoms of a woman's heart attack was. Then I Googled. Discounting fatigue, since I'd been about to take a nap, and was already on the bed; the only one I had was the pain. Out of five.<br />
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But I didn't <b>know</b> what the hell was going on. So I called 9/11 -- after telling my bf first, since he works from home.<br />
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Then I woke my roomie. You're supposed to secure pets, y'see, and the two kittens were definitely not secured. :P She got up instantly and kept an eye on the little boogers for me.<br />
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=-=<br />
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Of <i>course </i>Digger wanted to come meet the nice men with backpacks who were talking to Mummy... and then took her away!<br />
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Grabbed cell and the tablet I'd taken to bedroom, then the emergency were knocking on door. Got shoes and coat, then off we went.<br />
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=-=<br />
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Triage thought it was my gall bladder. ER kept doing heart tests, however, and the hospital continued them today.<br />
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Four blood draws yesterday, one this morning; running on the Flash's Cosmic Treadmill today; plus way too much time on gurneys and having heart monitors stuck to me.<br />
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Sparrow gave me two meals on Wednesday. Tuesday I was allowed one meal [one!] after fasting and no water from my arrival -- around 1:30pm Eastern? -- til they got results back from tests. I think it was a good 6+ hours without sustenance. :/<br />
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Not being hydrated was actually worse. Luckily I finally remembered to start using eye drops again!<br />
<br />
I've got some impressive bruises on my hands and arms, as my veins didn't want to participate in all the blood withdrawals.<br />
<br />
=-=<br />
<br />
Last night, my SO was a darling and brought me a snack [chicken nuggets] to make up for the hours foodless. ER got me a boxed lunch, but that was all the hospital had left by 10pm when I was settled into a room.<br />
<br />
He also brought me books, chargers, my meds, and a change of clothing. So I was set in case I had to stay longer. Being given the stress test in the morning instead of the afternoon was a godsend.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
~ Postscript ~</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Leaving was more exciting, as the hospital wifi sucks, and so I could call or text up on the eighth floor, but not in the frickin' lobby. I did finally get Uber'd home.<br />
<br />
Once I got home, I took something into kitchen, and Digger slipped up behind me. I stepped back onto him; he screeched, I screeched, then fell straight down. I don't recall falling, only that I went from standing to slipping to sitting on floor.<br />
<br />
He is okay!<br />
<br />
Pretty sure I'm okay too. Too bad I missed any chance to get to chiro. But sleeping for hours helped a lot.<br />
<br />
We've checked him over and Pocito seemed more rattled from the screeches than anything else, and he's stopped watching my feet warily by now.<br />
<br />
Took long nap once I'd unpacked and such. Feeling much more like myself now.<br />
<br />
=-=<br />
<br />
* Long story short, as my cousin likes to say: I have corneal dystrophy. Discovered last summer. Not life-threatening per se. My Cogan's dystrophy is being managed. Will likely blog about it another time. =grimace=<br />
<br />
** <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmGxh1FhtxE">"Hyperactive!"</a> and "You Blinded Me With Science", in case you're wondering. :p<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-15858042942167706512019-11-04T19:04:00.004-05:002019-11-04T19:05:59.235-05:00Hanging by a thread-- Ahhh, and Blogger decided to eat the post's title, fun fun! Grrr. --<br />
<br />
<br />
Most people who are mentally ill aren't in a good way. Not collectively. We treat our mentally ill poorly overall. Closing American mental hospitals was a rotten start to this century.<br />
<br />
From NPR's <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776036170/the-great-pretender-seeks-the-truth-about-on-being-sane-in-insane-places">review about <i>The Great Pretender</i></a>; the review concludes:<br />
<br />
' <i>The Great Pretender </i>is an essential book, and a plea for the world to come to terms with the way we're treating some of our most vulnerable people. "We are all hanging on by a very thin thread," she writes, "and some of us won't survive our fall." '<br />
<br />
She's right. :(<br />
<br />
In 1992, I was in one of the last mental institutions that got closed: Clinton Valley Center in Pontiac, Michigan.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I was lucky; I had a support system already. I survived not only being thrown into the system by a young doctor and his hospital -- who probably pushed for sending me as an involuntary court-ordered patient -- but I also got better. Back in the 90s, odds were a lot poorer that you'd be able to have anything like the life you'd had before.<br />
<br />
I don't "seem sick" to most people. Telling when another person's manic or depressive is <b>HARD</b>. Even for your nearest and dearest, let alone yourself. :(<br />
<br />
It's because I'm not sick, I have a mental illness. When I say I am [or was] "sick" it's usually shorthand for "manic" in my personal lexicon.<br />
<br />
<br />
It took me a few years to leave the mental health/CMH system, compounded by poverty. I fixed that by finishing college and rejoining the full-time work force; until then, I'd income from disability and supplemented it with two student-employee jobs.<br />
<br />
Community Mental Health took care of my meds and doctor visits from 1992-97. Far longer than I'd expected to need that assistance, but grateful to have it. I liked to joke that I was "using my Social Security now" during the 90s.<br />
<br />
Hey, that's what paying taxes is for, you know!<br />
<br />
<br />
I completed my undergrad degree via a program called Michigan Rehab Services. :) They made me take it slow -- snail-level slow, in my book! I live by forward momentum, dammit, and doing almost nothing was crazy-making.<br />
<br />
The rehab staffers were used to people who leapt back into reclaiming their old lives -- and crashing down again, failing badly -- which was not my problem. I'm sure they thought I was wrong. =big grin= I wasn't.<br />
<br />
Still, that is what happened to many <i>many </i>people. "I feel good, I don't need my meds--" then <b>boom</b>; s/he would go manic, depressive, psychotic, etc. :/<br />
<br />
I'm high functioning (and high energy) which masks my depressions nearly constantly. My borderline ADHD adds to those aspects too. So I happen to be very aware, not only of my own illness and how it manifests, but how it's affected my life from 1991 onward.<br />
<br />
Not everyone is like that.<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm not hanging by a thread. Not today.<br />
<br />
Not depressive; not manic either, thank the Great Maker! I'm partway between them, actually, which is the ideal place to be. I'd like to stay there.<br />
<br />
We'll see how it goes, eh? Maybe I can persuade my current doc to listen to me on that -- on needing a secondary med only half the time, and not all the time. Rather than have that med "decide" so to speak that "you must need to be manic!" and try forcing that. Doctors like to mix up medical cocktails they think should keep working forever with a little tinkering.<br />
<br />
Not everyone's built that way. I'm certainly not... so and so. And I'd meant to write briefly and stop, so it is time to sign off. :p<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-7516066353361364902019-10-15T12:20:00.001-04:002019-10-15T12:20:03.186-04:00Morning in kitten-land. Her Worship was all comfy on Her Throne, and calming down, grooming. Then Misty saw a string! It was sneakily hiding under some flat object, which she didn't care about. String! <i>Oh yeah.</i><br />
<br />
A little drawstring bag's cord. And she had to have it, she HAD to.<br />
<br />
I persuaded her to accept something else and carried off the bag.<br />
<br />
It is currently hiding in my pocket so I can send it to another home outside our house. :p<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
On Sunday, we found several anti-kitten devices [that failed] like a hook and eye for the laundry room door.<br />
<br />
We also located replacement jingle balls.<br />
<br />
Pocito had lost the two we had for the toy; one of those cardboard rings with a ball the cat can knock around. Said toy began with two balls. He is always heartbroken when he gets the ball out [success! O mighty hunter] and we can't find it.<br />
<br />
Hartz, bless 'em, has balls of the right size and -- more importantly -- the right jingle sound.<br />
<br />
<br />
Today Digger dug out the New Ball and carried it off. We'd emptied a giant box of bubble wrap.<br />
<br />
He took New Ball there and thumped and jingled it around merrily. Enough that Misty had to go see what he was doing. She may be about to pounce in and help.<br />
<br />
Then he brought the ball back out, played with it on the floor, and took it back to the giant box.<br />
<br />
He is there now. This is the ball's <strike>third</strike> fourth trip to the box. <br />
<br />
<br />
We went outside too, the kittens and I. 8)<br />
<br />
I stuffed the kittens into their favorite carrier, the soft one, and ported them out to the porch. Transferred them into the big bedroom [hard carriers are bedrooms to them] and let them sit. Jack came to talk to them and was quite intrigued that they were in His Space.<br />
<br />
Only took a couple moments for him to decide that yes, he could go up, they were restrained. He has not trusted the humans to hold the kittens. Jack knows what it's like to be rushed by kittens.<br />
<br />
He liked tapping paws through carrier door. Much like how they three play by paw-grabbing through the door wall.<br />
<br />
<br />
Postscript It is NOT her throne, it's the purple gaming chair my SO bought me. But it is mine, and therefore hers; chair smells like me, and the blanket on't does too. This is after all the same kitten who went straight to our bedroom when her carrier was first opened. :D<br />
<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-51329333654337364492019-10-02T00:38:00.000-04:002019-11-04T19:11:15.437-05:00October-2: kitten update.Queen Misty and Digger/Pocito are just rocketing around the house lately. Let alone yesterday, when I looked up to roomie saying: "The kittens, they're both <i>outside</i>." Just like that moment in<i> Jurassic Park </i>when they find the raptors are <b>inside </b>the room with them -- that's how I'm sure Jack and Sweetpea felt!<br />
<br />
Amazingly, we got 'em back into the house. Pocito seemed a little shell-shocked by the yard; Queenie acted like it was no big deal. As she stalked Jack. Who looked appalled, frankly.<br />
<br />
<br />
Annnnnnnnnnnd the kittens climbed the blinds on this night.<br />
<br />
Her Majesty was the primary perp, and I got her off the blinds. She was upset, not just to have her fun wrecked, but that I was clearly Not Happy.<br />
<br />
:: But the cords, such temptations, such a grand toy! The texture of the blinds! ::<br />
<br />
No matter that I've put the frickin' cords behind the blinds, they can be SEEN, and lusted after, if one is a kitten. =rolls eyes=<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
I took her to the bedroom and snuggled her. Said it was not her I was mad at, that I just don't want her on those. Misty accepted this and snuggled with abandon.<br />
<br />
She has been very cuddly the last couple days.<br />
<br />
But then my bf and I were gone all Sunday afternoon... that's another (medical) story.<br />
<br />
<br />
Tonight Digger was persuaded that getting on kitchen table ain't the thing. I stamped my feet and shouted No; poor boy-cat cowered, but then Pocito listened when roomie told him "No" when he wanted to eat dinner/share table space with her. <br />
<br />
I cuddled Digger and consoled him that I wasn't mad at him. He decided he required toys ASAP. <br />
<br />
Pocito is so fearless I've been wondering if he's a high-functioning sociopath (like Sherlock) or a clone of Indiana Jones before the snake incident. <br />
<br />
I realize that isn't the best way to teach him negatives, but I would like to submit that it's been a long couple days, with not enough sleep. Sometimes I don't respond with my brain; my hindbrain takes over. This can be good, it can be bad, it can be both--<br />
<br />
<br />
Both kittens have been hurtling toward their fourth month. Queen Misty is over 4.5 pounds, and her brother remains smaller, enough so that she is half again his size, little Digger Pocito. :)<br />
<br />
I suspect the terrible twos in cats lasts up to the junior stage, aka six months. We'll see, eh? :p<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-29357323695590005242019-09-15T20:42:00.002-04:002019-09-15T20:42:59.726-04:00Kittens today.Cheetah is still very snuffly, and sleeps more than his sister, likely due to his awful sinus infection. :/<br />
<br />
He likes to cuddle up with people, and/or onto a Soft Place to sleep. To his great delight, I have set up plush throws for him to sleep on the LR couch and the basement futon.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
I was advised to have Cheetah stay in bathroom with me whilst I showered, to steam his poor little nose. I set up a shoe box with a towel for him...<br />
<br />
He loves to be with people, so Cheetah tried to a] climb into shower too b] climb UP tub c] find a path to me. Roomie rescued him before that went poorly! <br />
<br />
Now he is snoozing happily on downstairs futon; Allen discovered that Cheetah loves human voices and the sounds of game menus. But not game play. He's got Twitch on for Cheetah. <br />
<br />
<br />
Her Worship, Mist-Bliss, she of many names, aka The Queen of the entire universe... decided that of <b>course </b>she had to go downstairs. Today.<br />
<br />
After I warned her off 2-4 times, she leapt at the box we pretend is the cat-door blocking the basement... a polite fiction our other cats have all accepted.<br />
<br />
Box fell over, she skedaddled, and promptly vanished. After several tense minutes, I found that she had not gone into my bf's office [a room of much chaos] and secured that door. [ A real wooden door. :P ] I found Queenie at last, happily identifying my areas -- the bead table, which must have a lot of my shed hair nearby, and my desk.<br />
<br />
My desk, to her delight, smelled like me, but my chair, oh! That even more so. I have been using that chair since '06 and it's a very good office chair. My [shed] hair is always tangled in its wheels, no matter what.<br />
<br />
<br />
We discussed her coming downstairs, Queen Misty ignored me, as royalty does, and then she went upstairs again.<br />
<br />
<br />
She hasn't got to terrorize/slap up Jack today. [Knock on wood!!] Poor, poor Jack. Last night she refused to let me catch her, and then wanted to meet Jack.<br />
<br />
Jack came up to her, staring, and I believe using mind-meld to say :: You look like my sister. Yes. You remind me of my sister, Cali. ::<br />
<br />
Her Majesty decided this was cheek, and began hissing at him, her tail doubled -- not tripled, not zomg cat hairbrush tail -- but definitely threat-tail. She would not let Jack be, he wasn't attacking her, and she kept trying to dominate him.<br />
<br />
<br />
Poor Jack. He is unhappy. He eats during the day, but now that it's Sunday evening, he is very sad. I gave him chicken this morning as a consolation for not being able to come inside as he expected to. Come evening, Jack let Sweetie eat all the chicken, but left his.<br />
<br />
He will eat some treats, but Jack feels there needs to be discussion. I'm not sure yet if it's between me and him, between he and the kittens, or a big group talk. But definitely talk.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Jack hasn't been face to face, not in person [versus through door wall] with Cheetah yet. Perhaps he wants to find out if the other kitten is pushy too. :/<br />
<br />
My poor black boy-kitten; he's only 1.5 years old, and they seemed like shoo-ins -- to him, and I fear to my hindbrain also -- for taking the place in his heart for his lost siblings. 8(<br />
<br />
<a href="http://aszanoni.blogspot.com/2019/07/july-2018-to-now.html#more">Lost a year and a couple weeks ago</a>. <br />
<br />
We have time. Now, I just need to keep our royal girl-kitten of much cattiude from rushing things further!!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-973377987448821212019-09-13T23:40:00.004-04:002019-11-27T11:26:44.356-05:00Double cat trouble. Today my roomie [SL] and I went ostensibly to drop off stuff -- for the barn cats of Saved By Zade, our local cat rescue.<br />
<br />
Little Cheetah began smooching my fingers. I thought I was lost, and then some little girls took an interest in his cuddliness. I stepped back, but no... their mom backed out.<br />
<br />
Yeah, we came home with two kittens. How did you know? :P :P :P<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Cheetah's sister Bliss, who I kept calling Mist(*) then decided SHE was taking charge of me. Purred -- got happy tail no matter what odd position she contorted into atop my shoulder, and later on got possessive when I tried to reach for Cheetah over her. Bliss even started pawing at me -- gently -- and play-nibbling on my fingers.<br />
<br />
Her fosterer said "Bliss never likes me!" and was both tickled and surprised that Bliss was so enraptured with me.<br />
<br />
Wellll... I have a history of the cats "who don't like strangers" being the cats who like me. Or who walk up to me as their human says, "My cat always hides-- hey!" or most often: "My cat doesn't like anyone but me..."<br />
<br />
Thus I was given a cat off Freecycle, back before they stopped letting people do that. I rescued a Maine coon who fell in love with me [and I with him] back in 2007. His humans watched Gamble walk straight to me, and decided I was the right person to help their cat have a new home.<br />
<br />
<br />
Mist-Bliss is a sweetheart. She is also the kind of cat who listens when she feels like it, and has charted all the curves and hidey-holes of our upstairs.<br />
<br />
Allen says [with cause: merely two days later, <a href="http://aszanoni.blogspot.com/2019/09/kittens-today.html">very accurately, as the next post shows</a>!] that she will go downstairs asap. She will, too. This kitten was bouncing up onto anything and everything. Vertical and horizontal mean nothing to her.<br />
<br />
I cleared the papers I'd had on the futon, since I could tell that would be a target soon enough.<br />
<br />
<br />
The only snag is we lack paperwork for her brother, since it wasn't there when I adopted them this evening. And that poor Cheetah got the snuffles bad minutes after we got home. He must have a terrible cold. Poor little darling! He is such a cutie too, a tiger/tabby about a pound less than his sister.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow morning we'll be taking him to the vet.<br />
<br />
He perked up a lot after I got out the ring-toys, and they both played with them nearly nonstop, barring a few pauses to eat or drink. Endorphins for the win, hey?<br />
<br />
Also, Cheetah loves my SO. He was sitting in Allen's lap and just turning into a happy little cat noodle. 8)<br />
<br />
Later, when Allen brought Cheetah into our room and set him on the bed, Cheetah was beside himself with happiness. Purring, kneading, trying to climb up my back as he purred. One delighted boy-cat!<br />
<br />
<br />
Dad envies our cats. I told him he'd have to come over to meet them. :)<br />
<br />
Now we've got twice as many cats. Jack hasn't decided how he feels about this yet, nor has he come inside, although I'm sure by now he and Sweetpea have figured out what their humans did. | You've been playing with other cats! | as our roomie puts it.<br />
<br />
I snugged Queenie Mist-Bliss into a towel and we put the kittens into the half-bath an hour ago. She is a very twitchy cat, and that makes sense. Queenie was a kitten rescued from a factory. It must've been a scary and loud place to be. :/<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how it is that Cheetah is as calm and friendly as he is, but like all beings, cats have different personalities and different reactions to everything.<br />
<br />
<br />
(*) Apparently from prescience. Queen Mist [?] is a cat who escapes and skitters through any tiny aperture. I am calling her Queenie, for she is definitely the queen of her universe, probably something longwinded like Bliss, Queen Mist. Queenie for short. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-56990186830304488392019-09-12T09:08:00.003-04:002019-09-19T23:37:17.505-04:00Random autumn update--Normally I post in Septembers past about rate changes. Sometimes I mention other things, like milestones.<br />
<br />
But you know what? I began copyediting in 2007. I may post later about milestones, and I may just talk about cons [like CVG or Dublin Worldcon] or <a href="http://aszanoni.blogspot.com/search/label/cats">my cats</a>, or something else. I don't know yet.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I've also been hit with various medical issues this year. Last month, I discovered that I had <a href="https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/9732/epithelial-basement-membrane-corneal-dystrophy">a rare eye disease</a> [a link <a href="https://www.aao.org/eye-health/ask-ophthalmologist-q/how-to-avoid-map-dot-fingerprint-dystrophy-flareup">about its flareups here</a>] and over the summer, my plantar fasciitis returned with a vengeance. Which happens when you walk a lot in convention centers with cement floors...<br />
<br />
To help with the various bodily complaints, I got a different car barely 2.5 weeks ago. A 2007 Pacifica with just over 107k miles on't. I lucked out, as older Chryslers of that generation didn't fare too well; there's loads of unhappy customers, about 300k in fact and a failed class action lawsuit! Mine just wanted a brake job. :D<br />
<br />
I feel very lucky with my Seabug. Who, I kid you not, tells me some days he's male and other days she's female. I haven't had a car who did that before. Also, Seabug wants me to get a blue version of Fred Bugg's <a href="https://youngjustice.fandom.com/wiki/Forager">actual self from </a><i><a href="https://youngjustice.fandom.com/wiki/Forager">Young Justice: Outsiders</a>.</i> Makes sense!<br />
<br />
Anyway, I'll see if I can get back to bed after I take my meds and eat. I could use more sleep; hot flashes and cranky eyes and spasming hands suck for sleep deprivation.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-70832128747053093422019-09-12T08:27:00.003-04:002019-09-12T08:52:43.033-04:00October relaxacon and onward... Last week, because apparently I cannot control my <a href="https://aszanoni.blogspot.com/2019/07/more-hypo-medical-stupid.html">hypomanic*</a> impulses, I suggested twice that I create <a href="https://aszanoni.blogspot.com/p/fiasco-relaxacon.html">a FAQ page for Fiasco 2019</a>... which I keep typing today as Fiascon. Urm. Clearly "con" is meant to be part of any con name in my lizard brain. Figures.<br />
<br />
This relaxacon is just Friday and Saturday, 18-October and 19-October, held by Metro Airport.<br />
<br />
NOT a weekend-long three-day con.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2415091182044515/permalink/2488006481419651/">The relaxacon is run by Urban Future</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2415091182044515/permalink/">its main FB page is here</a>; posts are tagged with #Fiasco2019MI on FB.<br />
<br />
I expect to fiddle with this page on and off until the week of con, give or take, and any related links I might create. I cannot promise that I'll sort the programming too, that'd go much easier into a spreadsheet [hello, Google Docs!] and is officially not my problem.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6626194984234062766.post-73083745869897400322019-08-27T14:19:00.000-04:002019-09-05T22:06:36.236-04:00Angry Robot's female writers: 2013.Considering how some outcry existed this year about oh noes, men don't get into the Hugo awards anymore, but they write! as if it was men and not everyone else who had been kept out for so long, I thought it was a nice theme to discover sff by women. Maybe I'm biased?<br />
<br />
Nah!<br />
<br />
<br />
So back when I was freelancing for Angry Robot Books, sometimes I'd read their blog a lot, sometimes not.<br />
<br />
I am rather an erratic person on stuff like that. Also, have you been on the Internet? It's wicked huge!<br />
<br />
I missed this post back in 2013: <a href="https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/2013/04/discover-some-great-sf-by-women-writers/">Discover some great SF by women writers</a>. Where Lee said, "We’d like to help promote some great science fiction by our own female writers, to show the incredible quality of SF that can be enjoyed, whatever your gender."<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The kicker is that I copyedited these three:<br />
<br />
<em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Debris</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> by Jo Anderton</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span> <em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">vN</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> by Madeline Ashby</span><br />
<em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />
</em> <em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><img alt="vN, cover by Martin Bland" class=" wp-image-10021 alignright" height="210" sizes="(max-width: 139px) 100vw, 139px" src="https://angryrobotbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vN-144dpi-198x300.jpg" srcset="https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vN-144dpi-198x300.jpg 198w, https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vN-144dpi-200x303.jpg 200w, https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vN-144dpi-400x605.jpg 400w, https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vN-144dpi-676x1024.jpg 676w, https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vN-144dpi.jpg 738w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; height: auto; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 15px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="139" />Broken</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> by A E Rought</span><br />
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I did the c/e for a Kaaron Warren book too, but it is not in that post. :D<br />
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I have a draft in my queue of AR titles -- and AR imprint titles -- that I did the c/e on, and will post that when I'm ready. I hope sometime this week.<br />
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Also, is this not another great cover? AR had so many. <a href="http://aszanoni.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-favorite-2010-book.html">My first c/e (for them) had a brilliant cover </a>too.<br />
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