Friday Randomness (on Saturday)
Maybe I should say something about the election that’s coming up, but I can’t. I’m sick of the whole thing. I wish that Clinton had a more worthy adversary. I want her to win, but I’d rather it be on her own merits, not because her opponent is such an asshole.
We went to Portland a couple of weeks ago for a ‘drive by visit’. Maya is in school, Ted and I don’t have a lot of vacation time saved up, so we flew up Friday night, spent Saturday with family, flew home Sunday morning. My sister got married back in March, a VERY small ceremony, and this was the party to celebrate. It was so lovely to see everyone, but again it reminded us that we are living far from my family, and the kids are growing up without our frequently getting to see them.
Back when I worked in a cubicle farm, I had a clock radio/iPod docking station, because I wanted to listen to my iPod at work. When I started working from home, I brought it home and put it next to my bed. The clock sucked for being next to my bed. I hated the backlit display, SO bright, and it was hard to read the numbers at night. At some point along the way, the volume stopped working well. It was hard to get it to a decent volume. Too loud, or too quiet. I had no idea how to set the alarm on the thing. For some reason, inertia mostly, I kept it for years. Finally, I decided that I had had enough, and I went to the drug store and bought myself a new clock radio to keep by my bed. It’s not the best ever, but it has a dark face with red numbers, very easy to read at night. It was still a bit more bright than I wanted, so I bought an interesting product to dim it. It’s black film that clings to the front of the clock. You can’t even see the numbers during the day, but I don’t care about that. What I like is that it’s dark in our room at night, and I can easily read the numbers. I haven’t tried setting the alarm yet, so we’ll have to see how that works.
Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. Since Ted was born in Canada (though they came to the U.S. when he was just over a year old), I like to make Thanksgiving dinner for the three of us. Often I make a turkey breast, but this year I wanted leftovers, so I made a small turkey, about 10lbs. There was enough that Monday night we had Thanksgiving dinner, Tuesday we had turkey chili, Wednesday we had leftovers, Thursday we had turkey pot pie. Friday I was looking in the fridge, and we still have yams, cranberry sauce, and gravy, but no more turkey. So I decided to buy a turkey breast, and we would have Thanksgiving dinner part 2. When I told Ted, he said he would rather have pizza, he’s a little tired of turkey. So pizza it was. I’d already bought the turkey breast, so we will be having that along with the yams and so on, probably tonight.
Are you a fan of the Gilmore Girls? I’m a fan, and I’ve been watching the series again on Netflix in anticipation of the new season coming out after Thanksgiving. If you’ve not been paying attention, it’s going to be 4 episodes, I believe 90 minutes each. Each episode will be a different season, so they will take place over the course of one year. There’s been a lot of speculation as to what has changed over the almost 10 years since the series ended. One change is that the actor who played the father, Ed Hermann, has died in the interim, so there will be no Richard Gilmore. I’m sad about that. I loved him and Emily best for the whole show.
Puppy Boy was super sick last week. We have to assume that he ate something he shouldn’t have, or licked up something nasty off the ground, but we don’t know exactly. He has a habit of barfing. Not sure why, but he does. Maybe he has an acid prone stomach. Generally we give him a Pepcid AC every morning, and that takes care of it. But last week, he started barfing and couldn’t stop. He threw up all over the house, with us following close behind with the carpet cleaner, until it had been a couple of hours and he was just puking foam. We decided enough was enough, and took him to the vet. He threw up in the car on the way there, and at the vet’s as well. The vet said it could be that he ate something dangerous, or it could be obstructed bowels, or who knows. Blood work and x-rays were next, followed by an IV of liquids and anti-nausea meds. He stopped barfing. The vet said to take him home, and if he was OK in the morning, no need to come back. If he threw up again in the morning, we had to bring him in again. There was something on the x-Ray that was PROBABLY nothing, but if he was still barfing the next morning, we should check into it. Morning came, he drank some water, and barfed it up. Back to the vet for us. More x-rays. More IV. More meds. The x-Ray was again inconclusive, but the spot that the vet worried about was gone. We brought him home, and then the diarrhea started. That went on much of Friday, thankfully all in the yard, none at home. Saturday he was a little better. Sunday he seemed almost back to his regular self, and every day got a little better until now he’s fine. The only thing that’s bothering him at all now is that while he was sick, he was eating chicken and rice, and now it’s all gone and it’s back to kibble. So, we never found out exactly what was wrong, except that the blood work didn’t show anything like poison, and the x-rays didn’t show anything too crazy. Our puppy boy is fine. Our bank account is not.
11 Comments
Nance
You know, you really didn’t eat “yams.” LOL.
Like you, I really wish Hillary had a different adversary. I am so disgusted by this whole election and the fact that anyone is supporting that boorish misogynist. I’m struggling to keep from writing about it, but honestly, I don’t want to add to the cacophony.
Re: clock radio lights. I cannot stand any light whatsoever in the bedroom at night. None. I’m like a vampire. I drape a washcloth over the displays. No idea there was an actual product out there. Good find!
J
Indeed, sweet potatoes they were! Funny how we both wrote about yams. 🙂
If you drape a washcloth over the displays, how do you know what time it is when you wake up in the middle of the night? Or do you not care? Or maybe you take a peek under the washcloth?
Nance
It’s rare that I awaken in the night. If I do, the last thing I want to know is what time it is. (Retired! Why do I care?)
I forgot to mention what an adorable fluffball Mulder is. And how odd it is that he has been having Tummy Troubles. My dog niece Abbi was, too, and almost identical to Mulder’s. She is much older, not at all the same breed (half Corgi, half Cocker), and hers was accompanied by some uncharacteristic chewing behavior. She rooted up some carpeting–something she had never done before. Like you, we all suspected obstruction, toxicity, etc. Then she suddenly recovered. What the heck?
simon
We changed alarm clock once. The numbers glowed pale blue and were so bright that I joked to my wife that it looked like those scenes on TV or in the movies where they turn the light out to go to sleep but there’s still a bright blueish light in the room so that you can still see the actors. After a while draping a cloth over it to dim it a little we ended up just buying a new one.
J
Yes, I left out of my story the clock that I bought and was TOO BRIGHT no matter what, and I took it back. What I can’t figure out is why the hell I kept the bright iPod one for so darned long.
Ted
Puppy boy’s illness was pretty bad. It was sad to see him in that sullen state for the days when it was really bad.
But now he’s back to his usual barky self. 🙂
J
Thank goodness!
Karenmeg
Just getting caught up with you Julie! The election is bizarre enough to watch unfold as a Canadian – I can’t imagine what it must be like as a voter! It’s unfortunate that the politics have become more entertainment news fodder than anything else. I feel for you.
I don’t normally need alarms anymore as my body seems programmed to resist sleep beyond 5.5 hours – irritatingly precise that way!
I just discovered Gilmore girls on Netflix as a means to bond with G – she is hooked on the new show “This is Us” with me and I figure if we can start watching GG and binge in time for the follow up it will connect us further. It’s TV, but if it makes us closer I’ll take it.
Glad that puppy is feeling better. Vet visits like those are scary, as are the bills – I agree!
J
Who knows, if Trump wins, maybe we’ll be neighbors. Ted is a Canadian citizen, so we could maybe move up there. Though I think I’m more inclined toward Vancouver, since our family is all on the West Coast. (I’m all talk…we would stay and try io fix it, not cut and run…though the temptation is there…)
Enjoy Gilmore Girls! I’m really looking forward to the revival next month.
We went to a party last weekend for the rescue where we got Mulder, and someone else was telling me that their dog was also sick…likely a virus. Don’t know if that was what Mulder had or not. Sigh.
Stephanie Faris
I have an iHome next to my bed, too, and I know exactly what you mean. I dimmed the display and now I can barely see it! I can’t figure out how to set the alarm, either. It’s too complicated. Last time I tried, I somehow managed to put the thing on military time. Now I just use the silent alarm on my Fitbit and my iPhone as a backup alarm.
J
Crazy that we can’t figure out the alarm feature. My dad has one and he sets the alarm on it no problem. I guess he’s a genius. Anyway, glad you found a solution. And if it’s too bright, I suggest getting another alarm clock. I’m much happier with my new one, which I can see, isn’t too bright (with the light dimming sheet), and doesn’t make the room too light. 🙂