Ratbag days
It has been a* . . . £$%^&*(!!!!!, %${{]~@???”+=) couple of days. I wrote about LOOKS** last night partly as a way to get away from my life. Have I mentioned that the vet thought it was probably worth trying to back off on the anti-campy treatment to see if it had wrought a real change or was still just damming the flood***? Guess. The day after the first day that they’d had only one dose rather than two Chaos had the streaming yellow squirts and I mean STREAMING . . . for the first time since they went on the anti-campy in the first place. There have been a few breaks in the dike since but they haven’t been yellow or streaming. Meanwhile the vet has been trying to circle warily around and try a buttressing attempt from a different angle . . . and that remedy has merely inspired them to STOP EATING. AAAAAAUGH.
Meanwhile meanwhile, all four, yes, FOUR of my computers are misbehaving. Two of them were misbehaving anyway–one of these has the excuse of senile decrepitude, it being a laptop of advanced years, like three or four; the other one is merely a pain in the . . . † Of the remaining two, one of them is NEW, for pity’s sake, NEW NEW NEW NEW, even for a laptop . . . oh, all right, early middle aged then. But it wouldn’t go on line, and I live on line, any more. †† And the desktop–! Even the desktop! And Computer Man is on holiday this week. WELL OF COURSE. So I spent quite a bit of yesterday morning crawling around under my desk and getting entangled in the amazing number of wires, cables, flexes and cords††† there arranged. No, deranged. Whilst on the phone to Alternate Computer Man. One of the little peculiarities of the cottage is that the phone is on the other side of the room from my desk, so Computer Men are always trying to tell me to do things that I have to put down the phone to rush to my desk to do, by which time Middle Aged Brain has lost whatever. It was. I was supposed to do. Um.
And then . . . there has been yet another setback in the saga of the weight bearing attic floor at Third House. Remember we had to go through this little i-dotting, t-crossing charade of checking that the ground floor walls of Third House would hold the steel beams they’re going to run upstairs to put the floor on? It’s just a formality. Bungalows of this vintage are always built on good sturdy hardstanding with proper solid walls. So we had the structural engineer around‡, and . . .
No, they won’t.
They what?
No, the walls at Third House will not hold the steel beams for the attic floor. They are going to have to put in steel legs for the steel beams to rest on. This means . . . the structural engineer has to draw up plans. Then the architect has to draw up new plans to go with the structural engineer’s plans.‡‡ And then the builder and I get to look at the plans, and I get to burst into tears, and the builder gets to figure out how to make the steel legs not look like steel legs. Whimper. Meanwhile meanwhile meanwhile, a month ago the builder was going to start work in September. And we’re now sitting around waiting for somebody to get their finger out and give us some plans, and meanwhile x 4, of course the builder has started on another job.
And when I turned up for bell practise last night . . . I’d forgotten it was district practise at the abbey. No local practise. I stood there in the gathering dark‡‡‡ and thought . . . no. If I’d remembered in time I might have pulled myself together and gone. But there isn’t enough of me left to pull together. So I went home and wrote about LOOKS instead.
That was yesterday. Today . . .
. . . My head seems to be hurting. I think I’ll go to bed. And if tomorrow isn’t a whole lot better, I’m moving to Alpha Centauri. Where all hellhounds eat enthusiastically. I’ve already checked this on the immigration prospectus.
* * *
* GRLMMMPHGKKKGHRRRGH!!!! –Suppression in action.
** Does anyone have any suggestions about something to call book blogging other than book review or book report (or book blog)? Book review sounds like something that goes through more than one draft and preferably before ten o’clock at night, and book report really does sound like sixth grade. And book blog is just . . . boring. What do other people call book reviews on line? –I’ve just been for a bit of a cruise, and I’m not finding they call them anything. There are the dedicated book review sites which just get right in there and start talking about books, and then there are other places where people occasionally bring books into the conversation like any other topic. Label! I want something to stick in the virtual ground with writing on it!
*** Pardon graphic metaphor. I’m feeling a trifle graphic, and not in the least metaphoric.
† GRLMMMPHGK!, etc. But I’m beginning to suspect it of being the reincarnation of my first whippet.
†† This is all your fault. You’ve taught me to cruise.
††† Not to mention several weeks’ accumulation of cobwebs, since the last time I was crawling around under my desk. The word has gone out among Hampshire spiders: Pssst! If you fall in the bath she’ll rescue you! So of course they all come to me, bringing their sisters, cousins and aunts. Have I told you that the bath mat at Third House hangs at a sharp angle, so one corner reaches the bottom of the bath? So that any spider that falls in can get out again, in case I don’t get up there–or anyway not into the bathroom–to rescue them for a day or two.
Meanwhile, I’ve learnt something. I’ve despaired of the speed at which spiders drown: if you don’t fish them out IMMEDIATELY they turn into tiny little scraggy motionless lumps with a fringe of too many legs, and by the time you’ve turned the taps off so the vortex isn’t constantly sweeping the frantic little atom away from you it’s already too late. It’s been only recently that I’ve discovered that if you carefully lay the little scraggy lump on the edge of the bath it furtively comes to life again and runs away when you’re not looking. I thought I was imagining this for a while but I finally actually saw one pattering wetly off. Guilt. Guilt. Years and years of throwing away perfectly good spiders on the unwarranted assumption they were ex spiders.
However there has been a revolution in my life recently that has had an effect on the habitability of the underneath of my desk as well as the rest of the house. I bought a Miele Cat and Dog Vacuum Cleaner.^ Yeep. My carpets are carpets again, instead of felted hellhound hair. And I only have to do the hands and knees and dustpan shuffle every other day! I’m sure it would do a number on the cobweb problem too, but . . . Sunshine and I leave occupied webs alone.
^ To my considerable amusement the Warnings and Safety Precautions tell you that you’re only allowed to use it on floors, carpets, and furnishings. You are not allowed to use it on your cats and dogs. Snork.
‡ And what a good thing I’m not fond of the fitted carpet they keep peeling back to look at the floor. And the nonexistent hardstanding.
‡‡ And why didn’t the architect and/or the structural engineer check on the weight-bearingness of the walls before the plans had already been okayed by the building regs people that are requiring me to build a^ LOFT when all I wanted is a weight bearing floor? Oh, well, the architect should have done that, says the structural engineer. Oh, well, of course that’s the structural engineer’s job, says the architect.
^ GRLMMMPHGK!
‡‡‡ And it’s the end of August and it’s getting dark again. Waaaaaah.
comments
Please join the discussion at Robin McKinley's Web Forum.
Book thoughts? no, no, too commonplace.
Book banter? Sounds something the BBC would call a programme.
Book blabbering? That way no one has any expectations.
Bwahaha books? The tone is set.
I dunno. I find titles stymies me. Even in or particularly in translation.
Sorry about the dog and computer squirts. The frustration comes across and our sympathy rebounds back. Deep breath in (no, that won’t work if the dogs have diarrhoea, will it?). I hope it’s over soon. Many congrats on new vacuum. I hope it keeps sucking…
Yes, hoovers are SUPPOSED to suck. Other things . . . not so much.
I rather like Bwahahaha books. :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
I like Bwahaha books too! It’s fun:)
But rather than you recommending or reviewing books, it feels more like you are _sharing_ books with us, so something along those lines? Well, book sharing might not sound good – but…well…something…
Yes, I do like Bwahahaha books. Maybe I need *categories*. . . . :)
Book Blather? ;)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
It IS getting dark so much earlier–it’s so very sad. (And I have a cold. Who gets a cold in AUGUST?) I hope the hellhounds sort themselves out.
Who gets a cold in AUGUST?
I do. I caught a streaming cold for the last two days of my vacation and travelled back home with it. A combination of twenty degree increase in temperature and air travel with head cold laid me out. My sympathy is with you, Q. Feel better soon.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Oh for the love of apostrophes. That sounds *awful*. Tomorrow better be *miles* better or– Well, I don’t know. Or you’ll move to Alpha Centauri, I guess. As long as you can write books and get them published here, I suppose, and blog, too.
I wish I could help. :(
thank you. Yes, I have it on excellent authority that there’s a web link to Alpha Centauri. We’re all set. :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Sounds like a lovely place. Can I come, too?
(Maybe you need to find somewhere nice and secluded where you can scream and act like a crazy-woman until you get it out of your system? Sometimes, just letting it all out can be very therapeutic…)
“‡‡‡ And it’s the end of August and it’s getting dark again. Waaaaaah.”
I know. On the one hand how lovely, it gets a bit cooler of an evening, but *sob* I don’t want it to get dark in the evenings yet. It’s getting noticeable. One major bummer of autumn.
I actually don’t mind, as it’s easier to get my daughter into bed on time… less drama. By far. (Why, oh, why did I get such a dramatic daughter??) And, I like looking at the stars. And home-knitted wool socks.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
::hands over the chocolate::
and that remedy has merely inspired them to STOP EATING. AAAAAAUGH.
You could always tell that you won’t LET them eat for two days. It is for their own good. After all YOU are the responsible adult^ and YOU decide who lives or dies. ::fixes steely glare on offending hellhounds:: MWAHAHAHAHAHA
::normal voice:: If they won’t eat and they have the squirts then i wouldn’t be worried about them not eating. They are actually probably better off not eating.
Not sure if I mentioned that I know a whippet breeder…..
::shakes fist at red-tape and building associates::
::hands over MORE chocolate. And the champagne::
^snork
Nope, over the squirts. THEN stopped eating. And Darkness didn’t have the squirts. And he stopped eating anyway. pass the champagne. . . .
(Comments won't nest below this level)
I’d still tell they aren’t ALLOWED to eat. :p Reverse psych works with kids….. LOL
::hands over the eccles cakes and the dark chocolate mud cake::
I’m so sorry you’ve had a cr*ppy day – makes me think of that Steve Martin song “diarrhoea” – better not…
I SO empathise re the computers – I have 3 – singing dancing 2 year old which is broken, even singier dancier 1 year old laptop which no longer works since the solder inside where the charger goes has come adrift and it costs more than a replacement to get it repaired and it happened days after the warranty ended and … hfffnmpff!
so I currently soldier(or should that be solder????) on with a repaired oldie from the local corner shop/computer man which cost £95 and groans every time I put up more than one tab – which of course I have to do to cruise (fellow addict here lol) and follow certain footnotes :)
This is what you could use on Connie – NOT the ears – but I think it might inhale the hellhounds…
http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?splid=0608RRT&pn=X1-27234&bhcd2=1219966180
horse vacuum
and this is to cheer you up – it’s just cute! (OK I like ferrets too, but I have my hands full so not yet!)
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/08/post-1.html
cute overload
Hugs and lovely big eccles cakes
Golly, Dover Saddlery–that takes me WAAAAAAY back.
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/08/post-1.html
cute overload
********** AWWWWWWWWW. Jodi, are you there???
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Jodi, are you there???
Hee, I am! And I’m glad Southdowner linked to it, since I haven’t been reading Cute Overload. Soooo cute.
cute overload
********** AWWWWWWWWW. Jodi, are you there???
Yeah, Jodi, how come you didn’t let us know that they are such cute babies? We want baby pics Jodi!
Oh, the weeny-ickle tucked up feetses! Daaawwwww.
It HURTS, it’s so cute.
Yeah, Jodi, how come you didn’t let us know that they are such cute babies? We want baby pics Jodi!
I thought everyone knew!
http://jmeadows.livejournal.com/433509.html#cutid1
AWWWWWWWW. :)
****** I haven’t been reading Cute Overload. Soooo cute.
Glad you liked them Jodi – have you had any of yours from this size – we DO want photos :)
I thought everyone knew!
http://jmeadows.livejournal.com/433509.html#cutid1
Ooooh, yes, but even babier (does this word exist?) pics? You know, minute, mamal-baby-face neuron firing pictures? Did you know that all mamals have a bunch of neurons in their brains that fire when they see baby faces and that all mamal babies have the precise arrangement of features to set these neurons firing so we all go: OOOOH CUTE and keep another generation going? (sorry, too much useless information there, but you know, my brain has gone cute-mush).
Yes. And it’s why all baby things have huge eyes too. We’re hard wired to respond.
Austin after his bath is sooooo sweet!
****** Yeah, Jodi, how come you didn’t let us know that they are such cute babies? We want baby pics Jodi!
Austin (ferret baby) after his bath is soooooo sweet!
Ooooh, yes, but even babier (does this word exist?) pics?
Nope. They don’t let babies go from their moms until they’re about 8 weeks old here. Well, we got Leanne when she was 6 weeks old, but that was probably still way too soon. And I don’t breed them; all my ferrets are fixed, because females will get sick from hormone overexposure if you don’t breed them when they go into heat. And what am I going to do with dozens of baby ferrets? Besides go “awwwww!” a lot, I mean.
:)
females will get sick from hormone overexposure if you don’t breed them when they go into heat
********* That’s controversial, you know. The working ferret people over here don’t always breed.
That’s controversial, you know. The working ferret people over here don’t always breed.
I didn’t know! I’ll have to see if I can find out anymore about that; I’m still going off research I did five years ago when we got Miss Suzi.
And, of course, here, they want you to buy from the big companies, and all the ferrets from there come fixed. I’m sure they’re happy to tell everyone about females needing to be spayed.
I think, regardless, I’d still be in favor of neutering and spaying my ferrets, but it’d be nice to do it a little later so they have time to finish growing. If you’ve seen ferrets there, and then saw my ferrets here, mine would look like dwarfs. Because they get fixed at such a young age. *sigh* (And yes, when it comes time I have too few ferrets and want another one, I will be looking into Reputable Ferret Breeders in my area, or find a place to adopt an older one.)
Yes. I get nuts about dogs getting spayed before they’ve had their first season, it’s just not GOOD for them. Spaying/neutering is all about convenience for US and the careless irresponsibility of people and to a very large extent it’s a lesser of evils. BUT the poor critter ought to be allowed to grow up.
:Sends assorted Green&Black bars through the cd drive. And several hugs, and an evening spent in a hot tub under the stars drinking champagne WHILE THE HELLHOUNDS EAT THEIR DAMNED DINNER:
Yes, I like the vision. Hot tub, bubble bath, champagne, roses, starlight . . . and hellhounds going nosh, nosh, nosh. :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Oh Robin, sweetie. Sounds like you need a hug and large quantities of Green and Blacks!
*offers to clobber the builder, architect, structural engineer and building regs buearocrats with their darned steel legs and beams*
I have this wonderful vision now of people using their ‘cat and dog vacuum cleaners’ to actually vacuum said cats and dogs….
(although I seem to remember you used to be able to get a grooming attachment to go on your vacuum which did exactly that!! – since I still have scars up my arm from where our old cat went ballistic when I happened to be holding him and my mum turned the vacuum on, I was never tempted to get one to try….)
You could make a little teeny rope ladder to hang down into the bath for the spiders…
You could make a little teeny rope ladder to hang down into the bath for the spiders…
***** *Snork.*
Yes, I once had a handheld vac thing for critters. Can’t remember what ever happened to it.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
I had one of those little vac-and-brush things too. It clogged with hair in no time flat and was so mch more trouble than a curry comb that I tossed it.
Oh, that’s just horrible! And poor (if you’ll pardon the expression) hellbabies! I feel so sorry for them – do they like being squeezed? If they do, give them a squeeze from me!
As for builders – or anything related! (If you’ll pardon the expression) blah! They can always have things their own way, how can a poor layperson know? We once had a leakage, and some parts of walls had to come down (it was quite odd, whenever the doorbell of above or beneath flat rang, one rushed to the door thinking it was ours). They _said_ it would take only a week; it might have done if they had bothered to show up more often – as it was it took a month or two! (Nearly ruined the teachers’ strike; only my history-teacher didn’t belong to the striking union – woohoo!)
All in all – I think all this calls for a chocolate-orgy! REAL chocolate – drown your sorrows and never mind the consequences!
Yes–the work force that doesn’t show up. ****Nightmare.**** And, unfortunately, COMMON nightmare.
Hellpups DO like being squeezed. It seems to calm ALL of us down. :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
***Hellpups DO like being squeezed. It seems to calm ALL of us down. :)***
The soothing qualities of squeezing – absolutely! Sassi sits on my lap purring, her front paws on my left arm, my right hand pressing her little, soft (her fur’s extra silky-soft – even for a cat) tummy and – KRRRRR!
I find animals soothing; once when I was coming home from the job I had then I was furious – so furious, in fact, that I realized I’d read one and a half page of “Middlemarch” without having any idea what I had read! – I came home, sat down on the kitchen floor to say hello to Sassi and having her in my lap purring away, stroking her fur, really made me calm down.
This is something the scientists have actually managed not to mess up: the tests that PROVE that animals are good for blood pressure and peace of mind.
Robin, I feel your pain. Try rereading an old favorite that you’ve read so many times you don’t have to really concentrate. Get a box of Oreo’s, or an unreasonable facsimile. Also open a bottle of sweet wine, plum for preference. Turn off phone, computers (all four), all lights but one. Try to enjoy.
Oooh, sticky sweet wine! *There’s* an evil indulgence! :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
“Oooh, sticky sweet wine! *There’s* an evil indulgence! :)”
Yes!! Make mine a slightly chilled Muscat de Baume de Venise, please…:)
I think it is time for all the good, healing, comforting, protective spirits in the universe to gather about you and gently, but FIRMLY, put everything right… well, perhaps the load of work re the load bearing floor requirements is not theirs to deal with.
60 years ago my Aunt Caroline had a cat named Petsi that would let herself be vacuumed directly. I’m sure the vacuum cleaner worked more gently than your new Miele Dog and Cat one does. No stories about having to retrieve /release the cat!
As Judith says too, I do KNOW of critter hoovers. But the Miele has an almighty suck on it. It might even hoover up a horse. :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
*****one of these has the excuse of senile decrepitude, it being a laptop of advanced years, like three or four*****
(*sob*) My youngest computer is over four years old. My oldest is 1995 vintage and the middle kid is 1998 or 1999. I’ve been pestering my husband to try to get some memory and hard drive space upgrades for the new kid (a laptop), but the thought of my “brand new” computer being “of advanced years” is horrifying. My CAR is a 1997, and the honeymoon with it still isn’t over.
*****No, the walls at Third House will not hold the steel beams for the attic floor.*****
Nightmare. I’m told they’re common in the building and renovations area, but there’s nothing like living through them to understand the horror.
*****Does anyone have any suggestions about something to call book blogging other than book review or book report (or book blog)?*****
Book Comment. It’s what you’re doing, and “comment” is another term for article, as in magazine article, so it kind of works.
*****I bought a Miele Cat and Dog Vacuum Cleaner. … To my considerable amusement the Warnings and Safety Precautions tell you that you’re only allowed to use it on floors, carpets, and furnishings. You are not allowed to use it on your cats and dogs.*****
Hey, I have a vacuum for use on my horse, so don’t laugh. Horses seem to enjoy being vacuumed, and the times I’ve used a vacuum on the dogs, they didn’t seem to mind either.
We’re planning to buy a Roomba robot vacuum for the new house. They’re pet-safe, and turn off if an animal flips them over out of curiosity. A colleague at the office told me he’d read somewhere that dogs may see it as a challenge to their pack hierarchy, and that upon receiving it, one should “scold” the Roomba so that the dog knows that it is low in the pecking order as it goes about its vacuuming business. That struck me as hilarious.
Judith
one should “scold” the Roomba so that the dog knows that it is low in the pecking order as it goes about its vacuuming business. That struck me as hilarious.
******** ROTFL!!!!! Let us know, please!
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Roombas are awesome. So cute!!! So useful!!! But I’m guessing you might have to empty it out really often if you have pets that shed. I have to empty mine everytime I run it and I DONT have pets. Fortunately for the pecking order in my house. Although I think Roomba might be higher than I am in the pecking order…
actually I could see Roomba rolling over and waving its little wheels in the air (just like the sheep) if faced with a shedding dog. Do keep us posted on the scolding and the shedding.
“We’re planning to buy a Roomba robot vacuum for the new house. ”
A colleague of mine has just bought one and says it’s the best household purchase they’ve made in the last 10 years. He says it just goes around humming to itself and every thing is magically made fur/dust free – like having a helpful house elf!
(Comments won't nest below this level)
They really do work, do they? It has sounded like such a gimmick to me. And I don’t need anything else to TRIP over.
***** “We’re planning to buy a Roomba robot vacuum for the new house.”
A robot roomba – I can just see the bullies faces –
“For us? You provided all this entertainment just for us?” Then with an evil grin apiece they’d set out to trip it up, flip it over & upside down, and…
“Is it dead? Are you sure? US?” (outrage) “We never even THOUGHT of that did we?” (looks of assumed innocence shared, also shared, sense of vast enjoyment…)
No robot roomba in our house unfortunately
(Fortunately for the Roomba lol)
In ferrets, there’s a relatively new (first appeared in the last fifteen years) disease called ECE (Epizootic Catarrhal Enteritis). It’s not usually such a big deal now, because usually they get it while they’re young and it doesn’t cause much trouble. However, when this first showed up, it was a huge deadly deal, and it can still be serious trouble for an older ferret that somehow gets it for the first time. It’s distinguished (oh, is it ever) by chronic slimy green diarrhea.
I really, really hesitate to mention this, but way back when, some people (including me) used an herbal thing called Slippery Elm as part of the treatment for diarrhea from ECE. Supposedly the consistency helps – it’s a mechanical solution, not a chemical/medicinal one. I really hate that stuff and can’t stand the small anymore, but the ferret I used it for survived the ECE. I don’t know if it is safe for dogs or what the dose would be or anything, though. Please forgive the unsolicited crackpot suggestion.
Slippery Elm. Yes, I used to know it well, for my OWN digestive dismays. Hmm. I’ll ask the vet. I’ve thought of it myself but it’s gone in one brain cell and straight out the other (as so many things do). Thanks.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
You don’t know me from the man in the moon, but I just wanted to say that I enjoy your blog immensely. I especially love hearing about Connie and the hellhounds. I’m sorry the hellhounds aren’t eating again and that you’ve had a couple bum days.
Thank you! :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Years and years of throwing away perfectly good spiders on the unwarranted assumption they were ex spiders.
Well, it’s their own fault for being furtive about it. I have this problem also, especially when cleaning out the canoe after a period of disuse–it’s always full of about sixteen kinds of spiders, and as they won’t get out on their own I have to use the hose. About half of them are the roll-up-into-soggy-lumps types, which isn’t bad as I can wet them down, then scoop them out on a dry leaf and hope that they sort themselves out. The other half are the sturdier rush-frantically-uphill-and-wedge-self-into-crevasse models, which are worse because getting them out takes work, and yet I’m not willing to risk having one of them crawl out of Dimension X while I’m out canoeing and end up on my leg. De-spidering the canoe is often the most time-consuming part of a canoe outing for me…
LOL! Right, I can cross canoeing off my list. I have ENOUGH spiders in my life. :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
If you didn’t squish them when throwing them away, it’s possible they climbed out of the garbage, right?
I like to think so. :)
Listening to Obama while I type this … his speech is making me feel better, this is a man who gets it.
Pleeeease cast your absentee ballot before heading for Alpha Centurai.
Actually, if I remember Diane Duane properly Alpha Centurai doesn’t sound all that neat. Maybe Australia would do the trick (alexander and the terrible, horrible …) and the days are getting longer there.
You’ve got to make sure you go to a place with roses, champagne, and chocolate.
I offer my deepest sympathy re. the third house. I am so grateful that I live in Guilford, Vermont where one can just build what will work. If my remodel to my deck collapses, it’s on my head. It took a lot of work with the web, and with my calculator, but I think I finally have all the details figured out. I worked out things like snow load and wind lift, geometry, and stresses. The materials are here or on order, and I know how to put them together. The deck should have a transparent roof and screens and transparent panels to interchange according to the season, by the middle of October, because I’m my own “builder,” architect, and structural engineer. With the assistance of a friendly carpenter (it’s hard to do some things with only two hands) it’ll happen.
Of course I don’t have books to write, or hellhounds to exercise, and when I can’t sleep I sketch building improvements and re-imagine the shrub border. I have a real sympathy for Narl and the other craftsmen of Foggy Bottom. In any case steel posts are easily boxed in with wood, and if one is clever, one builds book shelves around them, and the beams are boxed in in such a way that there are little shelves along the bottom of them to hold paperbacks.
This doesn’t feel like a night for despair … best of luck.
Yes, I’m a disaster at three dimensions. This is why I want to be able to hire EXPERTS. As you might say EXPERT experts. Sigh. I feel I shouldn’t NEED to be able to do three dimensions. I have plenty of OTHER things to do.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
****The day after the first day that they’d had only one dose rather than two Chaos had the streaming yellow squirts and I mean STREAMING . . . for the first time since they went on the anti-campy in the first place.****
This would seem to confirm the diagnosis, no? Sounds like the boys should go right back on the anti-campy treatment, and maybe the vets should let you try adding more attractive foods as an appetite stimulant.
****So I spent quite a bit of yesterday morning crawling around under my desk and getting entangled in the amazing number of wires, cables, flexes and cords††† there arranged.****
Just what you’ve always wanted, to be a PC systems/network specialist! Are you familiar with the unfortunately true adage that everything takes longer and costs more? Whether or not cost enters into it, *takes longer* applies IN SPADES to computer maintenance. The alleged half-hour job INEVITABLY takes four hours, and will probably involve a phone call to some support technician. :: sends sympathy and lovely wine ::
****This is all your fault. You’ve taught me to cruise.****
Oh my, me too. I’ve lost a lot of sleep since getting involved with this group!
****And why didn’t the architect and/or the structural engineer check on the weight-bearingness of the walls before the plans had already been okayed by the building regs people that are requiring me to build a^ LOFT when all I wanted is a weight bearing floor?****
Remember “takes longer and costs more”? As someone who has dealt with builders six times, I will join you in a heartfelt AAARRRRGGHH and in wondering why the #$&%* we hire professionals anyway if this is the result? If you have never read Eric Hodgins’ book MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE, I recommend it. :: proffers *more* sympathy, MORE wine, and CHOCOLATE ::
I’m *afraid* of MR BLANDINGS. . . . ***SIX TIMES***? And you’re alive to tell about it? You’re a better woman than I am Gunga Din. Gunga-ette, possibly. :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
****SIX TIMES?****
Husbandly job transfers, involving mostly new construction and some remodels. There was one five-year stretch when we moved across country 3 times. WORSE than military! Although corporate pays for more of it!
GROSS. At least you lived to tell the tale. Do you tell what aspect of corporate your husband was in, that it sent him chasing cross country so hard?
I love the Blandings books, but they are a bit dark unless you are in the mood.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
I also rather like Susan from Athens’ suggestion of Bwahahahahaha books… it does seem rather fitting– we have Pollyanna one one side, and mysterious shadowy figure going bwahahahahaha on the other. Hmmmm.
MUCH SYMPATHY! HUGS! CHOCOLATE! WONDERFULNESS, WELL BEHAVED HELLHOUNDS WHO EAT LIKE THEY OUGHT TO AND HAVE NO DIGESTIVE ISSUES! COMPUTERS THAT ACTUALLY DO WHAT YOU NEED/WANT THEM TO DO! MORE CHOCOLATE. HUGS TOO.
Plus some carrot cake that I was given as part of my ‘going away from the library…but only until I return during vacations from school’ party… well, actually there was all kinds of stuff, but one of the ladies baked these two enormous cakes and made me take one home. She also gave me some roses from her garden– and they were JULIA roses!
Anyway– so virtual carrot cake as well. Plus magical ‘all-will-be-made-well-and-wonderful-and-extremely-healthy-and-healed’ type waves and thoughts.
[if only that would work...]
–Julia
[*pets hellhounds while encouraging them to eat. glares at builders and at ME. lights virtual candles. sends hugs and gratitude and admiration and so on. plus lots and lots of chocolate.*]
. . . and carrot cake. The ‘Julia’ roses I know are sort of pale coffee coloured. What do yours look like?
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Yellow and smelled WONDERFUL.
I’ll try to find a picture.
–Julia
:)
I guess they are Julia Child roses.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_UEtgtULy2aw/SCRnyNJyjDI/AAAAAAAABdc/EjgkA_IJolI/DSCF5038.JPG
http://www.creeksidenursery.com/uploads/Rose%20julia%20child.jpg
–Julia
Ah. Not the one I know.
I was going to ask you what the ones you know are like, but I realized that I can just search for ‘Julia rose’ in Google images. If I find a pale coffee colored one, I’ll paste the link and then you can tell me if it is indeed the one you know. If you want.
P.S. Just bought another copy of Spindle’s End and of Blue Sword… I was at the book fair and couldn’t resist. Now I have extras– to give as presents to people who then will be compelled to buy everything else you have written, or maybe just for when my current copies fall apart from being read so many times. :)
Hugs,
Julia
:)
Multi copy book buyers! My FAVOURITE! :)
Is THIS it?
[rather beautiful either way, but it sort of fits the description]
http://image38.webshots.com/38/1/36/81/2585136810034686301dhrywF_ph.jpg
–JUlia
This link won’t work for me.
Speaking of Julia Child, did you hear she was a spy?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-julia-child-spy-080814-ht,0,5754614.story
Go Girl Power!
Julia’s Rose http://www.flickr.com/photos/21742944@N05/2522924647/
(A little washed out due to the really bright light when I took it.)
YES. THAT’s the one I used to grow. A sort of very pale russety creamy brown. How does she do for you? She’s known to be cranky and feeble here.
How does she do for you? She’s known to be cranky and feeble here.
Um, I’ve only had her in the ground about 2 years but she is a good size (needs pruning… ahem.. due to a lot of twiggy growth). She hasn’t done too bad. A good feed this year will help her no end. Inclined to drop leaves to black spot I have noticed (more so than some of my others).
Things were so mild this winter (overall) that most of the roses didn’t drop all their leaves. In fact the Crepescule and Peirre de Ronsard don’t even look like there *was* a winter.
Oooooh!
That’s marvelous!
I am back at school now, so can’t really buy roses at the moment. Unless I buy them and send them HOME……
But I think that I simply have to get that rose! Eventually.
:)
–Julia
“I also rather like Susan from Athens’ suggestion of Bwahahahahaha books…”
I do like how the hahahas are multiplying…
(Comments won't nest below this level)
I did that on purpose. Because I noticed Robin added an extra ha in her reply to you.
:)
I must say, hahahahas are apt to multiply, though.
Heehee.
–Julia
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :) (It’s very late at night . . . )
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :) (It’s very late at night . . . )
Does Ha – bloody – Ha sound too curmudgeonly?
Book Ha Bloody Ha would actually suit the book ravings of an evil cow. :) Unfortunately I’m trying to DISGUISE my true nature and come all over POSITIVE and POLLYANNAY.
:)
[Now I'm mentally Bwahahaha-ing in the manner of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony... (Bwa ha ha haaaaa. Bwa ha ha haaa. Bwahahaha ha Bwa ha ha ha Bwa ha ha haaaaaah.....
Wow. It is late.]
–Julia
SNORK. :)
“Does anyone have any suggestions about something to call book blogging other than book review or book report (or book blog)?”
Book Rant
Book Ramble
Book Rave
Exclamations of Withering Contempt (for when one is not feeling particularly Pollyanna-ish)
Prose that Blow My Mind
For Want of a Book, the Reader Was Lost (see, it’s like a recommendation)
Something I’m Glad I Made Time For (you can apply it to reviews of other things, too, like radio shows etc.)
I Could Probably Do It Better, But I’m Glad I Didn’t Because It’s Great (a bit long)
The Book that Caused the Decay of Western Civilization (that’s actually a reference to THE VIEW FROM SATURDAY, and can be both good or bad, depending on your opinion of Western Civilization)
And now these are getting ridiculous, so I’ll leave it there.
Anyway, good luck with the vacuum! I have three dogs, who between them produce the most UNMANAGEABLE FLUFF in existence; at least if it were all the same, it could be handled, BUT NO, the Rottweiller has UNGODLY masses of undercoat hair to shed for half the year, and one of the mutts is some kind of lab/German Shepherd mix that sheds year-round and whose hair has broken every vacuum we’ve owned in the past five years within DAYS.
I am very sorry about the Hellhounds and The Floor. I have only begun to even slightly comprehend the amount of frustration you must be feeling after realizing that these are the exact same problems that you had almost a year ago, when the blog started, and they were ongoing long before that. So good luck and much patience to be sent your way.
LOL! I like Decay of Western Civ, except I am still *striving* to maintain an unnatural Pollyanna front. :)
So how DO you clean your floors???
(Comments won't nest below this level)
View From Saturday the E. L. Konigsburg book???
–Julia
“So how DO you clean your floors???”
Well, the short answer is, we don’t. I sweep up every so often and occasionally mop (our floors are stained concrete), but the rest of my family not only HATE housecleaning but refuse to do any. I got tired years ago of being the only person cleaning up after a household of 4-8 people The only positive trait of the Dog Hair from Hades is that it’s so staticky it sticks to itself in drifts, which makes it easier to collect.
“View From Saturday the E. L. Konigsburg book???”
Yes, several of the adults in the book express their ideas on the kids about “what has caused the Decay of Western Civilization”. Like the ballpoint pen.
Hooray! Indeed, like the ballpoint pen. :)
And nitpicking children who don’t know how to write Bread and Butter letters, eh?!
Heehee. Fun book.
What about “book snogging”?
*innocent look*
How many times do I have to tell you this is a FAMILY blog? :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Oh goodness gracious. Sorry to hear about your lousy day. Good luck with the non-eating puppies.
I made some lovely chocolate raspberry mousse a week or two ago; I’ll send you some (virtual) mousse to help you feel better (not having a whole lot of plain chocolate lying around). Hope it helps. Plus sending some nice cheap yet sturdy and attractive steel legs to support your steel beams, and maybe some nice plans already drawn up so the builder can still get started in September. While you sit there watching him and eating your chocolate raspberry mousse.
You reminded me of all the pet spiders I have around at the moment. This has been an AMAZING year for spiders here; not sure why. I’ve had multiple pet bathroom spiders (although I DO draw the line at them making webs in the BATHTUB; it’s a bad idea for all concerned), occasional spiders in my room, several on my basement stairs (one of the joys of living in the basement), and 1 or 2 pet mirror spiders on my housemates’ car (the car that I drive more than them, enough so that I consider them MY pet spiders). I will admit that the webs on my walls are probably going to have to go away fairly soon since wall cobwebs drive me crazy for some reason (but at least I don’t THINK they have residents anymore).
Speaking of spiders, in washing signs at the zoo (one of the things I do in the area where I’m a lead) I noticed that some of our signs are apparently perfect for spiders, as each one in this size and shape has multiple perfect (or nearly so) beautiful tiny spider webs between sign and post. I have to stop and gaze at them in awe (furtively, so no spider-hating guests will realize there’s something there and destroy them) just about every day that I wash signs. And today in that same area I saw some beautiful kingfishers flying around and landing on the top of some of our enclosures. Everyone else was watching the (admittedly amazing and well worth watching) tigers, while I was all excited about the birds. (just had to share, since my one co-worker who would be excited about this is sick, and I know that people here like animals)
I think that’s it. Take care and feel better!
(This is danceswithpahis, by the way; I’m not on my computer and I’m too tired to try and dig my password out of the depths of my brain to write this one comment)
An idea to call book reviews:
Espionage report
LOL!
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Well, haven’t you just had a lovely few days? Poor Robin…and Peter…and Third House…and hellhounds.
Could you have indoor climbing trellises of roses winding around the steel legs? Or neo-classical columns built around them? Or, given the proper style of house, craftsman style squared off columns shored up by built-in book cabinets.
I join the resounding chorus of people both applauding your ability to get things done in spite of everything and encouraging you to drop us cold if the ME gets to be too much. We’ll be fine. I mean, I’ve now had a headache for the last three-and-a-half days and it keeps me from going to sleep or sleeping continuously and it sucks, but that’s only THREE DAYS. I can’t imagine how you’ve been dealing with nigh unto a *lifetime* of ME. You have my deepest admiration.
I’ve only had ME for about a decade!!!! Although it’s true it gets old REALLY FAST. :) And remember I also have a MILD variety of it. In my case the headache only comes with or as a herald of an acute bout.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Oh dear.
And my comment of yesterday seems to be remarkably, disastously badly timed.
Champagne, chocolate-covered anything-you-like, roses… will those do?
*passes them on*
and FEH to the architect, house, engineer, builder, vet…
Bookbagging? BookBonk?
**Snork.** Sorry, BookBonk would NOT fly in the UK where ‘bonk’ has a very SPECIFIC meaning.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Oh you poor honey! Utmost sympathy – those sorts of days/weeks make me sure that there is some powerful figure sitting somewhere playing dice with one’s life. I hope you wrest back control of things very soon. And if you’re not already squiffy from all the virtual champagne being handed over…*passes over another bottle*.
You could perhaps threaten the structural engineer/architect by muttering darkly about your longheld beliefs in ancient Mayan (or something) rites and the need to bury alive suitable sacrifices at the base of any new uprights that need to be installed…?
somewhere playing dice with one’s life.
******** And SNIGGERING. Don’t forget the SNIGGERING.
I hope you wrest back control of things very soon. And if you’re not already squiffy from all the virtual champagne being handed over…*passes over another bottle*.
******** Virtual squiffy is good. No hangover. :)
You could perhaps threaten the structural engineer/architect by muttering darkly about your longheld beliefs in ancient Mayan (or something) rites and the need to bury alive suitable sacrifices at the base of any new uprights that need to be installed…?
******* I HAVE THOUGHT OF THIS. I’m just afraid the local police have no sense of humour . . .
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Hello! Long-time reader (I was raised on your novels), first time commenter ;).
Please forgive if you weren’t looking for recommendations, but I was mentioning your problem to my sister, who is an ER vet (also a long-time reader). She says that lots of fluid out (liquid diarrhea) without much going in (intestinal upset causes poor appetite and fluid absorption even if they are drinking water) is a big problem. The intestines can’t heal without good blood supply and that requires good fluid balance. Your pups (and it’s even more urgent if they are not drinking much water or if they are vomiting) need injectable fluids. The longer they go without good blood supply to the intestines, the harder it will be for them to recover. Puppies are particularly susceptible to dehydration and get very sick very quickly. Her recommendation is to get them on IV fluids ASAP.
We hope your pups feel better soon! If you have the time, please let us know how you and the hellhounds are doing. We’re holding the very best thoughts!
Sherri
They aren’t puppies any more; they’re two years old, and this has been going on . . . for two years. And they LOOK the absolute picture of health–people look at *me* a little sidelong when I start going on about my problems with them. That said, I worry about how much water they (don’t) drink. I’ll ask my vet about this. Thanks.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
One of the tricks we used with the dogs fresh of the Iditarod to get them off Sub -Q (fluids given under the skin):
high quality canned food, mixed with water.
with my dog, I use organic liver, boiled and then put through the blender. Winkle loves it and will generally drink it when she’s on a squirting streak. (but her squirting streaks are _nothing_ compared to the hellhounds. I guess that makes her AngelHund ;)
R.WinkleBeam
Yes. I think I may try sloppier food. And they do like liver, to the extent they can be said to like ANY food.
How about “book comments?”
I’m thinking good thoughts for the puppies….and the computers and the house and the garden and the writing et al.
regarding instructions not to vacuum the cat or dog: I’ve started a file of stupid instructions. These include: do not dry this cell phone in microwave. Do not spray wasp poison in fish tank. And a bit of an article from the NY Times about a new TV:
The article says the new Sony TV “comes with a comedy booklet entitled “Operating Instructions.” It’s filled with hilarious warnings, like ‘Do not install the TV upside down,’ ‘Do not throw anything at the TV’ and ‘Do not install the TV where insects may enter.’
“(Some of them are physical impossibilities. ‘Do not place objects on top of the TV,’ for example—what could you possibly balance on a 3-millimeter razor’s edge? Or this one: ‘Adjust the volume so as not to trouble your neighbors.’ Listen, the only way this TV’s tiny speaker could trouble your neighbors is if they tried to swallow it.)”
My brother and I tried vacuuming the dog when we were little. Neither the dog nor the vacuum liked it much.
candles, soup, and all best possible wishes to you, hounds, computers. . . .
We might actually start an Idiot Instruction thread. It works for the New Scientist. :) And one always wants to *share* these things, or I do.
(Comments won't nest below this level)
Yes, there is the Marks and Spencer’s cake with the notice on the bottom of the box: do not turn over. If you haven’t turned it over, you can’t read the notice!
Okay, definitely have to get this thread going . . .
“We might actually start an Idiot Instruction thread.”
Didn’t Douglas Adams consign the entire human race to a lunatic asylum in So Long and Thanks for All the Fish after reading the less than common sense instructions on a matchbox?
LOL! I believe it!
******We might actually start an Idiot Instruction thread. It works for the New Scientist. :) And one always wants to *share* these things, or I do.****
Yes! Yes! In the old days, it would have become a book; these days, a thread/blog/computer thing, I suppose. There is a corollary to Murphy’s Law that says, “It’s hard to make things fool proof because fools are so ingenious.” That’s the epigraph (do i mean “epigraph”?) to the whole thing.
Now when I see roses, I think of you.
******We might actually start an Idiot Instruction thread. It works for the New Scientist. :) And one always wants to *share* these things, or I do.****
Yes! Yes! In the old days, it would have become a book; these days, a thread/blog/computer thing, I suppose.
+++++++ I’ll put it to Blogmom.
There is a corollary to Murphy’s Law that says, “It’s hard to make things fool proof because fools are so ingenious.” That’s the epigraph (do i mean “epigraph”?) to the whole thing.
+++++++++++ ROTFL!!!! That’s LOVELY! Presumably it’s been used to death as banners to such threads elsewhere, but it would certainly do gloriously for ours. I’ll add it to the list. :)
Now when I see roses, I think of you.
++++++++++ Thank you! I am–this blog is–a success! :)
Idiot instruction thread
- my ex used to work in a record shop when cassettes were sold. One day a man came in to say that the cassette he’d bought didn’t work. Ex took cassette box, opened it, put cassette in store player – no problem.
He looks at chap, to see chap’s mouth hanging open. Apparently he’d been trying to fit the whole cassette box into the player…
LOL! But you know, the problem there is that . . . er . . . MANY OF US would be capable of something similar. I do things like that on the COMPUTER all the (*&^$£”!!!!! time . . .
Bobbing for Books?
Book at a Look? Book Looks?
Weeding the Reads?
Pages for the Ages?
sigh… not exactly deathless prose. I think that’s why you’re the highly paid ; )writer and I’m NOT!
And *I’ve* always had a problem with titles! :)
(Comments won't nest below this level)