Here’s my dog Daisy wearing a Tim the Enchanter hat:
Is that weird?
I’m having a shitty day. I’ve been working since 7 AM, and I’m not finished with all the stuff I have to do yet. I hardly got any sleep at all last night, so I was already tired before I put in a 13-hour-and-counting day.
Oh, and someone left the door open (how long, I do not know), and now there are so damn many mosquitoes in the house I’m probably gonna need a blood transfusion.
I hope your evening is going better than mine. Please feel free to discuss whatever.
Hunter Gathers
She has come to warn ye that Death awaits, with nasty,big, sharp pointy teeth!
BubbaDave
“What… is your favorite– crap, I’m colorblind. Never mind!”
BGinCHI
I just ate waaaay too much sweet corn.
Betty Cracker
@BGinCHI: Sweeet corn! I dispatched my new driver to pick up Chinese food. I knew there would be an upside to the extra $1400 a year she added to our insurance.
SiubhanDuinne
@Hunter Gathers:
What an eccentric performance.
Keith G
I want one! The hat, not the pup, tho Boxers would be on my short list if the cats ever wanted k-9 companionship. Which the girls would never want.
Villago Delenda Est
@Betty Cracker: $1400? That’s a lot of take out trips.
rikyrah
You know you wrong for putting that on the dog.
LOL
max
Is that weird?
No weirder than Penny Dreadful’s ‘Momma’s Little Pumpkin’ Halloween dress. Which she wears with aplomb, for a dog.
I hope your evening is going better than mine.
I thought I had the car door latch fixed, but not yet. I do know how to take it apart now (it was a little confusing) so I will try again when I have more chemicals.
It was hot and humid and there were a few drops of rain, but not enough to cool things off or water any plants.
I finally managed to get Cygwin properly installed. Sadly, the alt and function keys aren’t working in my favorite console editor. {sniff}
max
[‘So, not such a hot day. But a very humid one.’]
JW
Hiya Betty C.,
Regarding mosquitos I feel your pain. Or I did when I lived in Dallas. The city’s infested with those tiny black ones. They’re fast! I used to fog the back yard with pyrethrum at least once a day, otherwise it didn’t pay to go outside.
You ought to try growing sundews in a sunny window. Natural mosquito control.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Sometimes, your posts make me want to travel to Florida. This is not one of those times.
Maybe you could get some house frogs.
Betty Cracker
@efgoldman: Yeah, but they’re usually outside.
Arclite
FUS ROH DOG!!!
BGinCHI
@Betty Cracker: We are down in IN at my ancestral homelands. The sweet corn is damn good and so are the local meat products and garden swag. Neighbors just waved us over and gave us three jars of pickles.
The beer is good too.
Ps. Fuck you Mitch Daniels.
max
Oh, I forgot. BlueGirl (KC edition):
max
[‘So she says we should be mad at Koster. I say, I have plenty of mad to go around, but I’ll make him target #2, ahead of Nixon.’]
John Cole +0
I’ve been in agony for the past 36 hours. Both shoulders feel like they have been stuck with ice picks. I refuse to take narcotics, and the meloxicam is not cutting it.
BD of MN
My parents took off for four weeks in Europe to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Easier for me, they specifically told us they didn’t want a big party. But, we decided to put together a gift for them of family and friends’ remembrances, interspersed with old photos from various sources.. So tonight, we spent quite a while digging through their closets looking for their wedding album, and we’ve struck out.
Perhaps they were on to us before they took off, since the congratulations from the Obamas and the Governor arrived a bit sooner than we planned….
We did find a bunch of older shots of us kids, including one of my younger brother sporting a rather awesome mullet circa 1989…
Karen in GA
I love that hat!
Meanwhile, you may have math, but Iggy has THE math.
Karen in GA
@John Cole +0: Ugh. No advice, but undying sympathy. When can you get back to a doctor?
Mwangangi
One of the few benefits of the California drought here in the North Bay. Barely any mosquitoes.
Betty Cracker
@John Cole +0: Oh man, I’m sorry to hear that. That sucks worse than mosquitoes.
skerry
@BGinCHI: I miss Indiana sweet corn and Jackson County watermelons. Not a lot else I miss about the Hoosier state.
I am a Purdue alum. I gave some money yearly since graduation since I had a nice scholarship that enabled me to get my education and am paying it forward. It always goes to Women in Engineering. However, I keep telling the sorority girls that call and ask for money that I will give again once Mitch is gone. I have returned mail with that written on the reply card. They aren’t getting the message. Mitch = no money from me. My dad thinks it is hilarious.
BGinCHI
@John Cole +0: Are you getting surgery? What was the prognosis?
skerry
@John Cole +0: I’m so sorry that you are in so much pain. Have you ever tried acupuncture? I have had success with it.
Mnemosyne
@John Cole +0:
You may need to take the narcotics. Massive pain means your body won’t be able to heal properly. If you’re worried about your sobriety, write up a dosage schedule and have Shawn or someone from your family give you the medication on schedule so there’s no temptation.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@John Cole +0: Take what you need, JC. Your thinking brain doesn’t know what your body needs right now.
Hang in there.
Cheers,
Scott.
Emma
@John Cole +0: Listen, you dumb white boy. That kind of pain retards healing!
I see Mnemosyne got there first.
Iowa Old Lady
@BGinCHI: Me too. I had a brownie hidden away for when Mr IOL went out to play bridge and I’m too full to eat it.
BGinCHI
@skerry: Hah. Me too. All the way round. From Tippecanoe County. You from Seymour? My new novel is set there and I know waaaay too much about the history of Jackson County.
I keep writing back to the alumni org to kiss my ass while Mitch is there. I will not give them a nickel.
I like coming down here but after a few days it’s straight back to the city.
raven
You’d feel better if the Braves weren’t clubbing the bucs again.
Howard Beale IV
Finishing up 10 days antibiotic, get to break in a new MD tomorrow.
raven
@skerry: Got a buddy from Seymour, Purdue grad and a civil engineer. Johnny was the catcher on his little league team.
BGinCHI
@Iowa Old Lady: Little bites.
Dog On Porch
Very funny. Another “pet shines their owner on” photo. But you forget. Dog is god spelt backwards. And come the rapture, you’re screwed.
BGinCHI
@raven: Is his name John Mellencamp?
Josie
@John Cole +0: Did you have the MRI? You should probably take the narcotics, if just to break the pain cycle. My mother was a nurse, and she used to say that tensing up to handle the pain just made the pain worse and kept the body from healing. She didn’t believe in long term painkillers, but just enough at the worst times to break the cycle of pain, tenseness, worse pain, etc. The other choice would be the acupuncture and/or self hypnosis training. I hope you see a doctor soon who can help you sort it out. Bless you for your patience and fortitude.
raven
@BGinCHI: No, Mellencamp was his catcher. Ted , he moved to Greenville 30 years ago, same year I moved here.
eta I just looked at his wife’s FB and it’s full of Seymour folks.
skerry
@BGinCHI: Raised in Hendricks County. We moved there when I was 3. First husband was from Seymour. Spent 6 years in Tippecanoe County. Could not wait to leave the state.
My parents and brothers all still live in the Indianapolis area. I left right after graduation and have only returned to visit family. Can’t see ever living there. The politics would drive me crazy. Too many years in CA and MD.
The Pale Scot
Oh Betty do I have a toy for you,
Behold the electric flyswatter
No Floridian should be without one, I’ve taken out small roaches with this baby, and it evens shocks big ones motionless until I can throw them outside or down the flusher.
raven
@skerry:
That’s when a sport was a sport
And groovin’ was groovin’
skerry
@raven: I once went to a wedding in Seymour where Mellancamp was the band. Folks said his older brother actually had the music talent, but not the ambition. I never heard the brother play.
ETA: Seymour fun fact: site of the first American train robbery.
raven
@skerry: When I was at Ft Knox we’d take the bus to Naptown to see the copman.
scav
@Josie: I think I remember something like that when mom had her knees operations — don’t let the pain really get established, it sort of burned pathways or ruts. became a habit almost. Better to interrupt the the cycle.
Dog On Porch
“Where ya from, stranger”?’
‘”Seymour”.
“Big city fella, eh”?
raven
@skerry: Saw him open for the Kinks in Champaign when he was the Cougarachi.
Biscuits
Totally and completely off topic, haven’t even read comments, but what do you do when father and daughter do not get along? I feel like I’m walking a tight rope of despair. Love them both but as mom and wife, I’m clueless. Well juicers? Any thoughts?
raven
@Biscuits: It’s an open thread.
Betty Cracker
@The Pale Scot: Might have to give that a try. I’ve wondered if there’s a giant bug / spider vacuum capture contraption on the market that could allow one to take out a giant cockroach or arachnid without getting too close to it or ever having to touch it, even through ten layers of paper towels.
I got the idea during our home reno period when the shop vac lived inside for several weeks. I used the extension thingy to suck those bastards right off the wall while remaining five feet way. But the shop vac can’t live inside all the time. Hmmm. Maybe a Dirt Devil extension? Not sure that would have enough power, though. I tell you, there’s a market for such things!
Betty Cracker
@Biscuits: Why don’t they get along? How old is she?
Josie
@Biscuits: I would seriously consider family counseling. There are behavioral therapists who specialize in family dynamics. It is best if everyone participates, but helpful even if only one or two goes in.
raven
@Betty Cracker: Smack the sonofabitch and then vac it.
hildebrand
Celebrating my 49th birthday today. Great dinner made by the spouse and kids – individual Beef Wellingtons, a lovely veg dish of brussel sprouts, leeks, pancetta, and orange zest, with a nice bit of brie in phyllo for hors d’oeuvres – all complimented with some Old Speckled Hen that we found at our one boutique beer place.
Tomorrow we head off to Austin for the Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award banquet – very nice to be feted by the mothership and her limitless pockets.
Josie
@raven: I smack them with a shoe, shrieking loudly the whole time and then pick them up with two paper towels folded over many times. They absolutely give me goose bumps every time. Here in south Texas (lots of palm trees) they are monsters.
Biscuits
@Betty Cracker:
She’s 19, home from school. He’s 53 and finally got a job. He tries, she tells him he’s smothering her. They both get angry. Sigh. She goes to counseling, he says he’s fine. I’m going insane. I’ve told them both courtesy is a must, but you don’t have to like one another. I’m hoping it will pass when there’s more stability now that we’re both working. But I feel like I’m wresting bulls.
dennis p brown
Lets see if I am sent again to moderation and my post deleted for saying – milk.
Karen in GA
@hildebrand: Happy birthday!
raven
@Josie: This dude was on my tool shelf under the house. Since we’ve been having rat issues the princess agreed to let it stay even though she’d scared shitless.
Iowa Old Lady
@hildebrand: Happy birthday! I want your family cooks to come to my house. And enjoy the award ceremony.
Josie
@raven: Ooooh, he is beautiful. They are your best friends for mouse and rat problems. I’m glad she is letting him live.
leeleeFL
@John Cole +0: JC I highly reccommend you try ginger. In tea , or as a candy or in cooking. It really helped my wrist pain a few years ago.
raven
@Josie: She’s done well since she really is scared of them. She spends so much time in the garden that she see’s varmits quite a bit. My only problem is that I killed 5 with snap traps in a week. WTF is the snake doing?
max
@efgoldman: You need more adjustment to do the work?
Heh, I need the right lube.
max
[‘I could always use a personal lubing, of course.’]
dennis p brown
@Biscuits: Since I can comment again …still wonder why in the hell my post on milk for countering the effects of tear gas was deleted the other day … just too weird …
Back to your real question: You need to ask each privately and in true confidence (and NOT share with the other what either says to you) what caused the friction between them. The longer it goes on, the more damage can occur. One will have to relent and try and patch over the rift – you can help one of them do this by gentile reminders of the loss in the long run they suffer from the loss of of friendship between them. That would be my suggestion – others, no doubt, have even better ones..
Josie
@raven: I guess there are more than he can handle by himself. Maybe he needs a friend. ;)
Mnemosyne
@Biscuits:
Is the conflict over stuff like curfews since she’s at home for the summer, or is it something else?
raven
@Josie: That’s up to him and mrs snake.
raven
@efgoldman: Nah, it’s fine. It’s been living here for quite some time but I never got that close. I ran upstairs and grabbed my camera and put it right on his nose. He didn’t get antsy till I poked his tail but, since it was 6ft from his head, I wasn’t too worried.
scav
The combination of pain, bug and family relationship advice is near perfection if one completely loses track of distinct threads. For some reason 56-57-58 does it for me.
Mnemosyne
So here’s my random question for the open thread: my year-old car has developed a problem with the passenger side window. Should I take it back to the dealership where I got it from (which is 30 miles away) or take it to my local dealership for service?
Baud
@scav:
I’m a big fan of the absence of nested comment threads here.
Betty Cracker
@Biscuits: That’s rough. Your “courtesy is a must” rule is a good one, and it’s probably also a good idea to refuse to be dragged into their disputes. Ultimately, they are responsible for their relationship with each other, not you, and if they realize how much their hostility upsets you, they should knock it off out of respect for you.
The Pale Scot
@John Cole +0: Dear John,
I’ve mentioned this before, I recommend that you try T® åmødøl, it is non- narcotic but does act on the opioid receptors, It’s not a euphoric, taking more than prescribed just keeps you awake with a ringing sound in the ears.
I’ve had problems with opiate tolerance to deal with things like 2 knee surgeries, herniated disks in the neck and back and a chronic hip injury, the stoner pills are a study in diminishing returns. I have success with this stuff though, 5 years and I’m still on the same dosage mixed with Aleve.
My problem is that the pain my neck and knees causes the muscles in the area to spasm, (hamstring and calf muscles especially) NSAIDs don’t seem to help with that.
After you heal you might want to start lifting, swimming is the best to strengthen the posture muscles in the shoulders,
Don’t be a martyr and allow the pain to wear you out.
Baud
@Mnemosyne:
The local dealership should honor the manufacturer’s warranty, assuming it’s a new car.
raven
@Mnemosyne: Call the local and ask if they do warranty work.
raven
@The Pale Scot: I’m having MOHS surgery on my mug friday and I’m taking whatever they give me!
Simon Taverner
@The Pale Scot: Thank you for posting this! I am trying everything to take the focus off my pain, and this inspires me to try joining up at a club to try swimming!
Betty Cracker
@hildebrand: Happy birfday!
raven
@Simon Taverner: I’ve been a daily swimmer for over 10 years. I had a little scare with a torn labrum diagnosis this winter and almost had surgery. With the help of BJ folks I decided against the knife and laid off for 6 weeks. Last week I increased back up to 5 days straight and it’s doing well. Swimming is great if you are not one of those people that has to have all kinds of external motivation.
JCT
@raven: That’a a handsome one! Our beagles were going nuts in a bush last week and flushed a big king snake – it took off across the pool to escape the dogs.
Lots of rattlers out here too, I like to admire them at a distance, though.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@hildebrand: Happy birthday.
Simon Taverner
@raven: Haha! External motivation would be a luxury. No man is an island, unless he’s surrounded by the nothing but sea. I’m already doing elliptical, walking, roller-blading, and weight-lifting. Swimming is just a matter of money, and from everything I hear, it’s worth it. *Dons Sting’s outfit from the end of Dune* i WILL do IT!
skerry
Tommy, are you lurking?
Been looking for you to tell you that a “must-do” on your Scotland vacation is climbing Ben Nevis, near Fort William. Highest mountain in the British Isles (4409 ft) and not a particularly tough walk if you stay on the path. Lots of switch-backs. Beautiful views if the weather is fine. I did it in September and it was a gorgeous day.
Fort William is an easy stopping point to Skye, another don’t miss spot.
I also second a trip to the English Lake District, if you have time. If not, save it for another trip.
SiubhanDuinne
@JW:
Sounds like the Ferguson PD.
The Pale Scot
@Betty Cracker: Huh, spiders, the recluse spider that has been trying to get in for 2 yrs now, (do they really live that long?) has breached the ramparts, late last night out of the corner of my eye I watch the bastard walking along the hallway wall directly into the storage room, probably flipping me off as he went by. The sucker has been lurking near the doorway on the fence trying to slip in with me since 2012. I once went to knock him off and the sucker rears up and starts waving his legs at me.
It was late and I don’t want to just kill it so I let go, but the fucker is huge and I don’t want an eight legged roommate. May have to borrow a shop vac.
So when I went to find a pic to link I found this
Oh Great,
Pretty sure it’s a brown one.
Mnemosyne
@skerry:
Out here in California, we call that a “foothill.” ;-)
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@John Cole +0: Count me among the “take the damned hydrocodone” crowd. You want to break the pain cycle, and getting on top of that is not a failure to tough guy bad ass drink quitting.
skerry
@Mnemosyne: Agreed. But these things are all relative.
Ben Nevis has a side that is quite popular with rock climbers. I didn’t go up that way, but I did watch them for a while.
everbluegreen
@Biscuits:
Has one of them done something to warrant the long-term anger of the other (beyond the usual teenager/dad fights about curfew and privacy and love lives, etc)?
If so, INSIST on family therapy that your husband goes to. If he won’t, go with your daughter together and talk about the problem.
If not, maintain the hard line on basic courtesy, and repeat after me: “Not my problem. Not my problem. Not my problem.” If one of them is bitching to you about the other one, tell her/him to take it up with him/her. If it’s not so big that it needs a professional referee, than it’s something they can hash out themselves without making you miserable.
The Pale Scot
@raven: Good luck
@Simon Taverner: The city pool near me has a discounted deal where you only allowed in 6am to 7am, since I started swimming ever day there has been real improvement all over. The gym wasn’t working because I keep irritating tendons and bursal points and have to take days off. A month into swimming I felt a difference just because I could do it every day.
I highly recommend the “FINIS Glide Swimmer’s Snorkel”, it allows you to breath better and focus on the exorcising.
You need to keep moving, sitting around medicating is self defeating, my back goes nuts if I sit around.
everbluegreen
@Betty Cracker:
I’ve wondered if there’s a giant bug / spider vacuum capture contraption on the market that could allow one to take out a giant cockroach or arachnid without getting too close to it or ever having to touch it, even through ten layers of paper towels.
There is!! My stepdad gave me one in honor of my impressive reputation for shrieking uncontrollably whenever I saw a palmetto bug when I a teenager (and possibly since then too, though I refuse to confirm such reports). Which, since I grew up in Galveston, was a semi-weekly occurrence. http://www.amazon.com/Koolatron-BV01-Rechargeable-Cordless-Handheld/dp/B000AMVOWQ
Mnemosyne
@The Pale Scot:
You might want to try a B vitamin supplement — some people say it helps with muscle cramps. And if you get calf cramps, try eating more bananas (for the potassium).
beth
@Betty Cracker:
Here’s a spider vaccuum I’ve been tempted to get – I wonder if it’s strong enough for palmetto bugs.
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/84801?cm_cat=ProductSEM&cm_pla=AdWordsPLA&source=PRODSEM&gclid=CK6-srfloMACFa_m7AodymQAvg
Anne Laurie
@BD of MN: Do they have a safe deposit box? Or one of the fireproof “document boxes” that are sold at every office supply store these days?
News coverage of disasters always have some “irreplaceable photo” human-interest footage. That’s encouraged people to tuck wedding albums & baby pics away where they’ll be safe(r)…
Jay C
@everbluegreen:
Cool device: I especially liked this feature:
My only question is: safely for WHO? (not the bug: who cares?)
JCT
John- take the meds, you’re still on the mend from the past month and gritting out the pain is just pure unneeded stress on your system. Do the experiment – check your heart rate during the pain, if you’re much over 95 you’re giving yourself a real workout for no benefit. This is what the pain meds are for.
OMG- Palmetto bugs. I still shudder to think of them- spent one year in FL as a child and I can still remember seeing them fly. Shudder.
max
@Mnemosyne: So here’s my random question for the open thread: my year-old car has developed a problem with the passenger side window. Should I take it back to the dealership where I got it from (which is 30 miles away) or take it to my local dealership for service?
Under warranty? If so, it shouldn’t matter as long as the dealer is affiliated with the manufacturer. I’d pick the nicer people, since they usually won’t be as likely to fuck up warranty service.
max
[‘Otherwise, a tossup.’]
magurakurin
I don’t know. I have 26 years sobriety, but I’m a junkie through and through. People saying “take the narcotics” without really knowing the personality of the person…. aren’t junkies I figure. I’d say, gut it out, go to the doctor, see what other things can be done. But that’s because I have an addictive personality and wish to remain sober and clean. Mileage may vary, but a blanket “go ahead take the Oxy”…may not be the best advice..at all. Hang in there John.
Mnemosyne
@magurakurin:
That’s why my suggestion was that John give the meds to someone else to hand out on a schedule. It’s worked well for friends of mine who are in recovery, though they were alcoholics and not opiate addicts.
magurakurin
@skerry:
Indeed, very. I climbed the East Face of Mt. Whitney(the Fresh Air Traverse and the bomb bay chimney after it are amazing), California’s highest and at 14,000 feet it would dwarf New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington of 6,000 feet. But Mt. Washington is one dangerous mountain…sub arctic weather and the record holder for the strongest wind gust, 231mph, for 76 years. Never judge a mountain by it’s elevation only.
Steeplejack
@raven:
You’re going to get a hearty handshake and advice to take some Aleve.
Simon Taverner
@The Pale Scot: No worries there. I’m one of those a**holes who won’t take any medication, whether it will help or not. (Unless you count booze.) I arrogantly figure that once I need a medication to live, I’m already dead. I’m sure that idiotic viewpoint will survive until the exact moment I need a medication to live.
Violet
@John Cole +0: Call up your doctor in the morning and let him know. Managing the pain is important. You want to keep the pain under control rather than tough it out or let the pain go up and down. Recent studies show keeping the pain under control is an important part of healing.
Mnem’s suggestion to get someone to dole out the meds for you on a schedule sounds like it might be good. Could your parents help? A trusted friend who isn’t in the house?
Outside of those things, get yourself to an acupuncturist. They really can help with pain.
stonedstats
aka Betty Cracker…I love your pics. Soooooo happy to see you around this corner of the intertoobz. The ladybugs were the best. <3
Violet
@raven: My dad had Mohs surgery and they didn’t give him anything. Told him to take Tyl3nol or Al3ve. He was in a tremendous amount of pain so I called them and they called in the Tr am a dol. Make sure you ask for a pr3scription ahead of time. They may not offer. They didn’t for my dad.
satby
@John Cole +0: aw, John! Sorry you’re going through that.I got a bit of relief from those Solon-pas adhesives when I had a torn up shoulder. I’d stick them all over it. I can’t take narcotics either, allergic. Common in fingers or so I’m told.
satby
@satby: gingers, not fingers. Fucking Kindle.
satby
@hildebrand: Happy Birthday!
CaseyL
@everbluegreen: Oy: palmetto bugs. I’m not afraid of any (non-human) creature, except those. The fuckers fly when you spray ’em; oftentimes straight at the person doing the spraying. I lived in South Florida for a few years, and hated nearly every day of it, and palmettos were a big part of that special hell.
@John Cole +0: Seconding, thirding, and fourthing the suggestion to talk to your doctor! Intense pain is a major stressor and you don’t need that.
ranchandsyrup
LOL Betty at that pic of daisy. Thanks.
rikyrah
@raven:
I love swimming.
Betsy
@BD of MN: can you get congrats from Obama for 50th anniversary? F’realz?
Jasmine Bleach
@Mnemosyne:
Whenever I eat a banana, I always get calf/foot cramps! Always. I know . . . I’m weird.
Best thing for those types of cramps I’ve found is to stay hydrated. Drink water!
Just One More Canuck
Betty, I need that hat
schrodinger's cat
Great Dogsby! Daisy is cute, even in the silly hat.
Denali
Call your doctor JC, its time.