Bummer

Recently all I have been doing is complaining about the wretched heat.  Not while I'm inside with blessed air conditioning, but only when I had to go outside.  Rain was needed badly in our area so when it did rain these last few days it didn't bother me.  I was more than glad to see it and welcomed it with open arms, so to speak.   I love rain.  When I was little I used to play in the rain, barefoot, all the time.  My mother was always yelling at me to come inside.

It wasn't supposed to rain tonight.  But it did.  And it wrecked our evening.  I wrote a few months ago about the tickets we won to see a local band, Crazy Hearts.  It was a great concert and I became an instant fan.  Tonight they were appearing a few miles north of us for a local benefit.  They do a lot of local benefits.  Tonight the concert was free,  and the food vendors were hoping those that came to see the band would spend their money at the various food stands.

It started at 7:00 and we arrived a few minutes after that.  We found a space to sit under the trees using our portable chairs.  We settled in hoping for an evening of listening to country western music under the stars.  Within ten minutes it started raining ever so lightly.  Everyone thought it wouldn't last, including the band.  Soon it was pouring, accompanied by thunder and some lightning.   We gathered up our chairs and made a bee-line for our truck, which, thank goodness, wasn't too far away.  Sitting under trees while lightning is happening is not smart.


We ended up sitting in the truck quite some time hoping the rain would stop.  At least the lightning stopped and the thunder was soon farther away.  That indicated the storm was moving out.  Or not.  It wasn't long before more rain clouds moved in with more rain.  After waiting in the truck, and talking about other people we saw running here there and everywhere, we finally decided to leave.


Our evening was ruined.  We stopped at Mickey D's and had coffee and a soft ice cream cone and decided to come home.  Like I said...bummer.

You will also remember when we went to the first Crazy Hearts concert, I had just finished a ten-day regimen of a sulfa-based antibiotic.   I broke out with a rash, which my doctor said was hives, while we were at the concert.  I didn't know what it was until I researched it on the Internet and then it took awhile for the light bulb to go on over my head.


Fast forward to now and I am on a different antibiotic.  I learned the hard way that I am allergic to sulfa-based medicines and it didn't work like it was supposed to.  I can only hope this antibiotic works like it should.  The hardest part of this one is that I have to take it three times a day on an empty stomach.  Mornings are the worst since it has to be taken an hour before I eat.  There is nothing worse than a glassful of water on an empty stomach.  It almost makes me want to upchuck.


So here's hoping that by next week my infection goes away...and stays away this time.  Because ever since we lost our sister-in-law (my husband's brother's wife), I have been on the roller coaster from hell.  With all my symptoms, both real and imagined, I had somehow put myself in her shoes and thought the same thing would happen to me.  I know better now.

What A Difference A Carrier Makes

This is the story of Dakota-Sioux, aka Cody, and her recent visit to the vet.

Last year I transported all my cats to the vet in a soft-sided carrier with a zippered flap on the top. It worked fine for many years. But for some reason Dakota did not want to be in it when it was time for her visit to the vet a year ago. As soon as I got her in it, she popped right out and ran away. Try finding a cat, or catching one when you do find it, if they do not want to be caught or found. No easy task. She ran me ragged last year. When I finally caught up to her and was able to get her into that carrier, I was a blithering idiot.

 I called ahead to the vet explaining my dilemma and they were concerned we would miss our appointment. Five minutes prior to the appointment time we were still in the house, but I did have Dakota in the carrier. We decided to see if we would be able to get there in time. Normal drive time is approximately 15 minutes, longer depending on the traffic. Somehow we were able to walk in the door only a few minutes late.

 Fast forward to Dakota's visit this year. I have since started using a hard sided carrier that loads on the end instead of the top. Stick their head in and shove. Works like a charm. Once I picked her up and started walking she stiffened. It was like she knew what was coming, even though I pick her up and walk numerous times on any given day. That particular day I hung on to her so she wouldn't get away. Easy peasy this year.

 I should have switched to the hard-sided carrier long ago but I was determined to make the soft one work because it was smaller. Now that all the cats are bigger, the hard-sided one will always be used. For more reasons than one.

How Hot Is It?

It's so hot, they expect it to reach at least 100° today, maybe more.

It's so hot, I feel like I live in the desert and have to stare at this sun.

It's so hot, my cats outside don't run when I go out to feed. They stay right where they are. Lying on the cement or the deck. They usually all hightail it under the deck.

 It's so hot, that even with the air conditioning on inside, the minute I do housework, the waterworks starts and I soon find myself wiping my brow...and a few other things.

 It's so hot, my husband and I don't want to ride the trike.

 It's so hot, all I want to do is... oh hell, I don't know what I want to do. My brain is too fried from all this heat.

 One more day, they say. By Thursday morning things should be cooler. And then I suppose another heat wave is right around the corner, lurking, just waiting to pounce on us again and slap us right in the face when we step out the door.

Unhappy Days

We lost a sister-in-law a few days ago.  It all happened so fast I'm still not quite sure it's not all a dream.

Forty-two days. 

Forty-Two days from the time we learned what was wrong till the time she left this earth.

And now her widowed husband sits at home with her ashes not knowing what will happen to him from one day to the next.

When did life get so damn unfair?

In Response To My Previous Post

I haven't tried the Synch program again but I did realize that despite the fact that I had Internet capabilities on my laptop from the router, I still had to marry said laptop to the router. I don't know if that makes a difference and I am not in a hurry to find out.

 E-mail? I am currently using my Yahoo account that was set up on my PC a long time ago as a backup. I no longer have a need to download another mail system on the laptop and mess around with all that it entails. My Yahoo account is all I need for now.

 Eli, who had been sick with stomach problems along with nasty diarrhea, is much better. I always keep Culturelle for Kids in the house, so I started giving him that as well as all the other cats just to be safe. I am fairly certain Eli's problem was due to a change in his diet and nothing more. All four cats are now on the same page as far as food goes so hopefully this problem won't arise again.

We are finally experiencing some normalcy with the weather. After 11 or so days of excessive heat, sometimes into the triple digits, today is not as hot but you could cut the humidity with a knife. By Monday things should be much nicer with lower temps and humidity. All I can say is thank goodness for air conditioning. We recently installed another one in the computer room after not having one in there for a year.

Yesterday I thought I was going to the land of the munchkins. I went out to feed early due to an impending storm and I was hoping to beat it and get back inside before it hit us. Too late. I got caught while inside the greenhouse. I had to stay inside during the entire storm because the two vent flaps would have broken off from the high winds. So, while holding both of them down with both hands, I had to use my foot to close the door to stop the wind from blowing through the greenhouse. I ended up riding out that storm with winds at 70 plus mph not knowing if it was my last day on earth or not. Let met tell you...that was no picnic.

What A Week This Has Been

First of all, let me preface this by saying I finally have my laptop working.  I thought that day would never come.  I broke out the brand new Cisco Valet Plus  wireless router and hooked it up.  And it didn't work the first time I tried it, but I was not going to let it get the better of me so I tried again and that time it worked.  I then attempted to synch the two computers but that isn't going to happen in the near future.  They weren't speaking to one another and I didn't have the patience to find out why.  There are so many other things I have to do before I can figure that out.  Since both computers are on Windows 7, there is a Synch program but I couldn't get it to work.  I also tried Windows Live Mesh to no avail.  So it's not like I didn't try.  For now, I am quite happy that I have the laptop working so I am not tied to this computer room whenever I need to work on one.

Naturally, that has kept me busy most of the week.  The next major step is to figure out the e-mail system.  No hurry on that, but it will get done.

Moving on to another subject, we have a sick cat.  Eli is not quite a year old yet, he has a few months to go, but he is not up to par.  He has to see the vet and I will be making that call Monday morning. So I have been fussing over him while working on the laptop.

I always say, if it isn't one thing, it's another around this place.  A lot of times I think how boring it is sometimes and then something goes wonky and I have to eat my words.  I have been eating a lot of words this past week so far.

Dale Jr. finished 4th in the race Saturday night.  That hoisted him from 3rd to 2nd in the points.  Another top five finish to add to his bag of tricks.  Next week is Daytona, one of his favorite tracks.  Mine too.  Since Dale is running a lot better than he has been for the past few years, I am hoping he does well at Daytona.  Fingers crossed.

And that, folks, is all she wrote...for now.