sinus crap

Well, in a cruel twist of fate, the Giant Augmentin Horse Pills/Suppositories From Hell weren't what I needed to be taking for the current sinus infection. I went to the ENT (not to be confused with an EMT) who cultured the god-knows-what is growing in my head, and did an antibiotic susceptibility test on it.

While I wasn't told exactly what is growing in my head, it's probably a mix of Streptococcus pneumoniae, S. pyogenes, Haemophilus influinzae, and/or Klebsiella pneumoniae. In other words, common respiratory bacteria. I know S. pneumoniae is one of the mix for me, I've sucessfully cultured it from myself on two separate occasions.

So, what then will take out that nice antibiotic-resistant mix I have growing in my upper respiratory tract? Doxycycline. Well, I can now say that besides a URI, I won't have any of the following once I complete the run:

• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• Typhus
• Chlamydia
• Psittacosis
• Anthrax - any form
• The Plague - that's right, wiped out half of Europe in the Middle Ages, and it's still around
• Cholera
• Listeria
• Syphilis
• Gohorrhea
• Acne
• Vincent's Infenction (Trench Mouth)
• E. coli

This is so freakin' hilarious and sad at the same time. While I won't be sterilized, microbiologically speaking, this is going to get me pretty damn close. I don't have an E. coli infection right now, so I don't really need what is living in my intestines to be killed off. We, humans, must have symbiotic bacteria in our intestines in order to most efficently digest our food. We provide a nice habitat for them, the break down what we eat into more readily digestable nutrients. It's a good system.

So, I get to eat yogurt, to help replace some of the normal flora, and wait until the I get re-colonized natrually for the rest. It's just a pain in the ass. Like I said, at least it's not complete sterilization, I only had to go through that once when I had a bowel resection over a decade ago.

eep's mood for the day

Today's report of the level Eep is pissed at the world in general.


Not a good day, all things considered. While she's not yet the Destroyer of Worlds, Eep was beating up her brother and trying to crack some skulls last night.

carnivale!

It's Carnivale time again, and I'm not just talking about Mardi Gras, either. La Carnivale des Chats! Laissez les bon temps roule! Today's Carnival is being hosted by Watermark, so be sure to check it out when it's posted later today.

Over the next week, be sure to get pictures of your party animals as they celebrate, leading up to the main event of Fat Tuesday itself. Get a King Cake, throw some beads, and Let the good times roll, y'all!

If you haven't had a chance to already, head on over and check out the Friday Ark at Modulator. Yes, I know it's Sunday, and it's been up for two days now. Oh, well. C'est la vie.

Update 23:36 - The Carnival of the Cats #45 is up at Watermark. Ooh, fuzzy...

friday cat poetry blogging

Today I'm going to share with you one of my favorite poems about cats. It is an excerpt from the Jubilate Agno by Christopher Smart, written in 1762 while Smart was confined to what was basically an insane asylum. His only companion during his confinement was his cat, Jeoffry.

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him¹.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
For then he leaps up to catch the musk², which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
For this he performs in ten degrees.
For first he looks upon his fore-paws to see if they are clean.
For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the fore-paws extended.
For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
For fifthly he washes himself.
For Sixthly he rolls upon wash.
For Seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat³.
For Eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
For Ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
For Tenthly he goes in quest of food.
For having consider'd God and himself he will consider his neighbour.
For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.
For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it chance.
For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
For when his day's work is done his business more properly begins.
For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary.
For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.
For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.
For he will not do destruction, if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.
For he purrs in thankfulness, when God tells him he's a good Cat.
For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.
For every house is incompleat without him and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.
For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt.
For every family had one cat at least in the bag.
For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
For he is the cleanest in the use of his fore-paws of any quadrupede.
For the dexterity of his defence is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.
For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
For he is tenacious of his point.
For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
For he knows that God is his Saviour.
For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
For he is of the Lord's poor and so indeed is he called by benevolence perpetually - Poor Jeoffry! poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat.
For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus that Jeoffry is better.
For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in compleat cat.
For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in musick.
For he is docile and can learn certain things.
For he can set up with gravity which is patience upon approbation.
For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment.
For he can jump over a stick which is patience upon proof positive.
For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command⁴.
For he can jump from an eminence into his master's bosom.
For he can catch the cork and toss it again.
For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser.
For the former is afraid of detection.
For the latter refuses the charge⁵.
For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business.
For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly.
For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services.
For he killed the Ichneumon-rat⁶ very pernicious by land.
For his ears are so acute that they sting again⁷.
For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention.
For by stroaking of him I have found out electricity.
For I perceived God's light about him both wax and fire.
For the Electrical fire is the spiritual substance, which God sends from heaven to sustain the bodies both of man and beast.
For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
For, though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadrupede.
For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.
For he can swim for life.
For he can creep.

1. Jeoffry served God by simply being a cat
2. A musk-ball Smart would throw for Jeoffry
3. Appointed rounds, as in the police walking the beat
4. He would perform a trick at either a verbal or gestural command
5. Cost
6. Mongoose
7. Focus on a sound

There is such an elegance and simplicity to this piece that makes it so appealing. Smart describes Jeoffry in such detail that I can see him catching a cork in his paw then batting it around, tossing it in the air and catching it again. The was Smart describes his cat in such detail, it's obvious how much he cared for him, and I can imagine how he cared and nursed Jeoffry when his throat was bit by a rat.

Smart is also showing how much he admires Jeoffry through the form and style. The style is based on the Psalms. By mimicking Biblical style, he is reinforcing the idea the Jeoffry is a servant of God. In essence Jeoffry's entire life is a prayer of praise to God simply by virtue of being a cat, and doing what cats do.

Yes, I have a pretty decent background in art history and literature. I could keep going, write pages on this poem, but that's not what is important. I hope you enjoy this piece as much as I do.

hey doc, i'm not dead

Before I go off on a rant, here's the story, via CNN:

Man wrongly declared dead after traffic accident
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted: 5:30 PM EST (2230 GMT)

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- A medical examiner studying a body in a morgue was startled when the man took a shallow breath.

Emergency medical technicians had declared 29-year-old Larry D. Green dead almost two hours earlier, after he was hit by a car.

Medical examiner J.B. Perdue was called to the accident scene Monday but did not examine Green then. Later, he was documenting Green's injuries when he noticed the man was breathing.

"I had to look twice myself just to make sure it was there, that's how subtle it was," Perdue said.

Green, 29, was taken to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, where he was in critical condition Tuesday.

Several members of the Franklin County emergency medical service have been suspended pending an investigation, said Darnell Batton, the county attorney.

Everybody with me so far? Car vs. pedestrian, pedestrian looses. He looks pretty mangled on the accident scene, so he's declared dead on the scene. HE'S NOT DEAD! And he's in fact so alive he lives without any medical care of any kind for two hours before the medical examiner notices he's breathing.

There's a little something called the Death in the Field Protocol which is a very specific set of criteria for declaring someone dead in the pre-hospital environment. Criteria include

• Injuries to the head and/or chest incompatable with life (crushing head injury, decapation, evisceration of heart/lungs, etc.)
• Asystole on an EKG monitor (flatline)
• Dependent lividity (blood pooling in body from the arteries/veins, causing discoloration)
• Rigor Mortis
• Decompostion

Now you don't have to be a genius to figure out 4 of those 5 by simply looking at a victim. If there's any doubt, YOU TAKE THEM TO THE HOSPITAL, let the ER physician declare death. If the victim isn't badly injured, but isn't breathing and doesn't have a pulse, then it's time to do CPR. Err on the side of taking care of the person. It's not that complicated. Dumbasses.

kitty pics

I know I haven't posted any new kitty pics in a while, so here are a few.


Whitty's wondering what that clicking thing is, and if it means she's going to get skritches.


Poor Whitty Kitty has a cold nose.


Cleo decides the best place for a nap is on top of the knitting, after terrorizing the newspaper.

winter scenery

just google it, dammit!

For the times when you simply want to want to say this to someone.

http://www.justfuckinggoogleit.com/

Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

moving

I hate moving. It's actually one of the few things I truly hate in this world. I'm preparing for my 10th move in as many years. Admittedly, most of those were during college, moving between dorms and off campus apartments, but that was still a lot of moving.

As much as I hate packing, and moving, and unpacking, this time I am happy to be doing it, and I desperately hope it will be my last move for a very long time. After 18 months of separation, Tom and I have been able to work out our problems, become friends again, pick up where we left off, wiser than we were when we separated. We've both learned from our past. After having known each other for 10 years, and being married for 7 years, I know I didn't want to give up on that kind of history, that kind of friendship.

So, I'm in the process of packing up everything of mine I took from the house a year and a half ago, plus all the new acquisitions, and moving them back into the house. Oh, yeah, my brother-in-law, Luke, is living there now, too, so I get to figure out where to put some of this crap. I'm hoping to get a large chunck knocked out this weekend, and finished up middle of next week. Forutnately for me, where Dika and I are living now, and mine and Tom's house are less than 5 miles apart. I can do most of the moving in my car.

So, time to break out the boxes, and pack my entire life into a few loads in my car. I guess that's part of what's so depressing about moving, realizing how much of your life is stuff taking up space, simply crap.

I've barely even started, and I'm so ready for it to be over, to be done. To be back home with my beloved.

eep's mood of the day

Time to break out the Eep Pissed-O-Meter.



Tonight Eep scores a 2 - Oh, holy crap! She actually rubbed up against Noah, instead of trying to crack his skull, and she's not trying to eat the hand that skritches her.

The diffusers may actually be working. Tom and I aren't sure how well they are working to reduce marking. While we haven't found any new puddles of piddle, we can't rule out a stealth piss or two.

it's that time again

The Carnival of the Cats is back again, and is stopping this week at Music and Cats. Ooohhh, kitties...just what one needs to feel better after around of the creeping crud. Kick back, realx, and enjoy the fuzzy goodness.

introducing the eep pissed-o-meter

Wednesday of Tom and I began an experiment, we purchased 2 Feliway pheromone diffuser refills. Ok, so we bought the full systems about 2 years ago, and stopped using them after a while. We tried to treat a 2800 square foot with 2 diffusers, which didn't work out too well, the concentration wasn't high enough. Since we now have part of the basement closed off to the cats, so the squirrel living there won't be harassed, we decided to try them again, with both of them upstairs this time.

So, to determine the effectiveness of the diffusers, I'm introducing the Eep Pissed-O-Meter. Every day, or whenever I get around to it, I will post Eep's current level of pissed. 1 is happy, 10 is destroyer of worlds, and 5 is neutral.



Today's pissed level for Eep: 5 not pissed, not happy



So, let's all keep our fingers crossed the diffusers will help her feel less anxious and less agressive toward people and cats. Also, hopefully the diffusers will reduce the need of the kitties to mark territory in the house, cleaning up cat piddle is getting old.

The Friday Ark is up over at Modulator, head over and check out the rest of the critters this week.

one suck-ass day

Yesterday was officially a bad day. I think I have gastric enteritis (stomach flu) again, in addition to the current sinus infection. Yippee. I went to work for about a whole 4 hours, then came home and tried to rest. That didn't happen, I wasn't able to keep anything down all day, rest, or anything else , other than be miserable. If it wasn't for the fact that I had been to the ER only a month ago for the same symptoms, I would have gone yesterday. It was that bad.

Hell, I ran a 101° F fever for the first time in a couple of years. That's unusual for me, fevers very rarely get over 100.5° F since I started on the Imuran and Remicade for Crohn's. Both medications supress the immune system, and since a fever is an immune response, it's supressed as well. I'd truly forgotten how awful a high fever is, especially since the it aggrivated the pain in my hips and back from the ankylosing spondylitis.

About 1500 I finally was able to get the nausea/vomiting under control and was able to make another attempt at pain relief. I wasn't able to actually get comfortable fall asleep until about 1900, and snoozed until about 2030 when I smelled dinner and woke up. I didn't really get comfortable enough to really sleep until 0030 this morning.

At least today wasn't nearly as bad thanks to the anti-nausea meds. I was able to keep all of my meds down, so I'm not hurting nearly as much, and not running as much of a fever. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

yet another way we're all not eating right

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released yet another revision to the Food Pyramid. Not like it's anything we didn't already know, but just didn't care about. Honestly, Michele at A Small Victory has a better idea.



That's right, folks, the Food Pentagram. Looks like a plan to me.

ss, dd - updated

Same snot, different day. Yep, the sinusitis, tonsilitis/pharyngitis, bronchitis, and all that crap is back. Time to see Dr. F again for another round of antibiotics, and make the appointment to see the specialist to go ahead and get my tonsils taken out. Two little pockets of tissue, causing so much trouble.

At least we both have a sense of humor about it. The last time I saw Dr. F, I had let it all go a little longer than I should have, and was experiencing every color of drainage known to man, and when the nurse asked what color, I told her all the colors. My conversation with Dr. F went something like this:

Dr. F: So, I hear you have the Technicolor snot. (and you though doctors used medical terms)

Me: Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Dr. F: Indigo? Violet? Teal?

Me: Nah, staying away from the blue side of the spectrum. Focusing mainly on the warm colors for now.

Dr. F: Well, that's good. If you had blue drainage I'm afraid I can't do much for that. I'd have to send you to a specialist.

Dr. F looks at my nose and throat

Dr. F: Second verse, same as the first...What antibiotic did I have you on last time?

If you can't laugh at being sick, well, what can you laugh at? You may feel too rotten to laugh much at the time, but you can at least smile. :)

Update 09:00 1/19/04 - After a visit and nice little chat with Dr. F I have -wait for it- a sinus infection! Imagine that. At least I'm still 100% accurate on self-diagnosis of the damn things, I have yet to be told that it's just viral or something else bizarre going on.

The treatment, you ask? Another round of antibiotics, Augmentin XL this time. I know the XL stands for extended release, but I swear to God and all that is holy that I have never seen a bigger pill in my life. It's every bit the size of the average human pinky finger, from the last joint to the tip. I'm not shitting you. And I take two of them, twice a day. I swear I'm gonna choke on one before I'm done.

I worked the rescue truck last night, and a different partner for the evening, since Apollon had to work the ambulance. She looked at the Augmentin tablets as I prepared to take them and just stared. Then she blurted out "Are you supposed to swallow that, or shove it up your butt?" Ah, yes, the reserved thoughts and observations of another EMT.

back at home

Tom and I made it back home earlier this evening after a quick trip to Indiana for the weekend. It was a good trip, I had a chance to spend some time with family I hadn't seen in a while. It was also nice to get out of town for a little while, to leave everything behind.

On Saturday, I said here that I while it was chilly up there, at least it wasn't snowy, like it was a couple of weeks ago. I had to go and open my mouth... when I woke up Sunday morning, there was about 2 inches of snow coating everything., and it was still coming down. I took some pictures of the farm, the scenery near Bloomington/Lake Monroe, and the kitties, all of which will be on here later in the week.

comments from me on commenting

Anyone who visits this site is more than welcome to comment on anything I've posted. While I like flattering comments just as much as the next person, if you don't agree with something and want to let me know, that's fine to. I know not everybody in the world will agree with me. If I've posted some creative writing, constructive criticism is always welcome. I'm always looking to improve art, and feedback is critical in that process.

Comment spam will of course be deleted, since I don't need to enlarge my penis, and hate comments will receive the same treatment. That kind of crap has no place here.

on designing a blog...

Tonight suddenly I felt the need to answer this question, for those who are wondering and haven't asked me directly... Mira, you're a graphic designer, so why are you using a minor variation on a standard Blogger template? Well, I'm also a website developer, mostly self-taught and on the job. I don't think I"m too shabby of one, either, for having very little formal training in HTML, and no formal training in XHTML. To an extent, this is my training in XHTML, right here. I also haven't done much hand-coding in a quite a while, and I'm out of practice. I used the basic layout of the Blogger template, I like the left-side navigation bar, with the main content to the right, and a header across both columns. I keep making minor tweaks to the code of this blog, and when I'm happy with it, then I'll give the graphics a face lift.

My visual design skills are being used more, so I'm not as worried about "use it or loose it" kicking in yet. I paint, draw, sketch, etc., to keep my design skills sharp, and tend to see the world as one large artistic composition of shapes and color, light and shadow. A friend made the comment "you can't see the world like the rest of us do", and he's absolutely right. There is art everywhere, in nature and in our own creations, if one knows where to look.

Not that I'm going to completely change the color/font scheme, or the visual design of this site. The dark brown background will change. It's not bad, I just don't like having the same background as everyone else who uses the Scribe template. I like the warm tones, the aged parchment look, a somewhat archaic look. The word oubliette is from the Middle Ages, so I want the site to have that sort of feel, calligraphy on parchment.

I'm fully aware an oubliette was a dungeon where the only way in or out was a hatch in the ceiling, and impossible to escape from without help. Prisoners were thrown into an oubliette, left there to die from dehydration or starvation, an in the process they usually went insane. A place where a prisoner was put to be forgotten about. Today, oubliette is used as more of a description of someplace. I can say my office is an oubliette - it has no windows, and is inside a conference room, not off a main hallway. It's a little hard to find my office, and easy to forget about me in there. I've seen people who have created oubliettes in their minds, who have suffered great emotional trauma. They withdraw to this place inside to escape the mental anguish and forget about it, and can not, or will not leave without help of another, to get through the traumatic experience. The word oubliette is French, the verb oublier - to forget, and the suffix -ette meaning small or little. A little place of forgetting.

I come here to try to forget about the bullshit of daily life, to unwind. I never guessed how enjoyable this is, writing what I feel for strangers to read, and comment on. I hope you each enjoy your visits to my world.

carnival of the cats, with some attitude

This week's Carnival is up over at IBEJO, an avowed cat-hater. It's deffinitely different, so hang on, enjoy the ride and the commentary.

treacherous beauty

I went down to Clarksville to have dinner with some family. Before we went to the restaurant, I stopped at the park on the banks of the Ohio River, looking across to downtown Louisville, admiring the beauty of the lights against the night sky, reflecting off of the river. The cold air make everything look sharper, more crystalline, the lights shining like mulit-colored jewels in the night.

In contrast to the beauty of the lights, the river is flooded, the dam at Louisville a mere ripple under the water. There's a deadly beauty to the river when it's like this, the water rushing past silently, ripples and eddys hinting at the power and danger of the current. It's easy to be mesmerized by the shifting patterns, the waves formed as the river itself pulses, as if it had a heart beat, so alive, so beautiful, so treacherous. The river calls out, the siren's call, beconing the unwary soul to her watery embrace, and a watery grave. She promises a gentle embrace, a lover's caress, but she is possessive of her lovers. Once she has her choosen love in her embrace, it is unweilding and eternal. As she carries her beloved away into the darkness of her depths, her icy grip becomes warm, fear retreats, and her love embraces her in return.

Grief passes for the one who the river claimed, memory fades. The rains come once again, and the waters begin to rise. And the river sings her siren's song once more.

taking the road more traveled

I'm back in Indiana again. Somehow I seem to pick the coldest days to visit. There's no snow this time, so travel was not nearly as interesting. Which could be good or bad, depending on how one looks at it. Tom and I will be heading back Monday, so we can be back at work Tuesday.

No kitties traveling this time, since it's a short trip. Noah is spending the weekend at home with Eep and McCullough, with Luke to look after them. That's alright, there are still kitties up here who need attention and would really rather not deal with Noah again for a while.

Tom took a couple of pics while on the road, whizzing through Nashville, which will show up here and on Flickr soon.

some bird blogging

Pictures of the bird feeders on the family farm in southern Indiana. Photos were taken early morning on December 27, 2004. Species present at various times included Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, tufted titmice, Winter Wrens, Dark Eyed Juncos, Yellow Shafted Flickers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Chipping Sparrows, House Finches, American Goldfinches, and Mourning Doves.







Update - The birds are included on this week's edition of the Friday Ark at Modulator. Yes, I'm branching out in my animal blogging.

you know you're from alabama when...

• You have a party or a barbeque whenever Alabama plays Auburn in football.
• You go to Gulf Shores every summer.
• You call the Atlanta Braves baseball team "us" like they're actually from Alabama.
• You would much rather visit Florida than California.
• You don't "take", you "carry" or "tote"... as in "You want me to carry you down to the 7-11?"
• A soft drink isn't soda, cola, or pop, it's Coke.
• You call it a "buggy" and not a shopping cart.
• You've said "fixin' to," "might could," or "usetacould" during the last week.
• Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.
• You know the meaning of the phrase "Fobbed again."
• You can properly pronounce Eufaula, Opelika, Bayou La Batre, and Oneonta.
• The Talladega 500 is the biggest sporting event of any sort during the entire year.
• You know exactly what chitlins and mountain oysters are, and you know someone who eats them anyway.
• You think that people who complain about the humidity in other states are sissies.
• You aren't surprised to find rental movies, groceries, ammunition and bait all in the same store.
• You've missed a wedding or a funeral to go to a football game.
• Asian food is always "CHINESE" regardless of the fact that it may actually be Korean or Japanese or Thai
• You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Alabama.

I found a site that has all sorts of blog fodder, so I will be pulling from it every few days, for your amusement, and mine. Enjoy the amusements.

more pics of white death, as promised

Here are the snow pics from the snowstorm in southern Indiana, December 22-23, 2004.


Results of ice storm in central Kentucky, I-65 near Cave City


Tree in snow covered fields on family farm in Indiana. December 26, 2004.


Hoarfrost on trees, before full sunrise with treeline fading into fog. Temps were around -5°F . The fog froze, forming a fuzzy, or hairy, frost. December 27, 2004.


Close-up of hoarfrost on grass, and wind-sculpted snowdrift.


Hoarfrost on trees, before full sunrise


Hoarfrost on trees, after full sunrise with light reflecting off the frost.


Birds at feeders, with hoarfrost on trees. The feeders were a very popular place after the snowstorm dumped 30 inches on the area.

The farm was beautiful with the hoarfrost on everything. Before the sun burned through the fog, it was very ethereal as everything faded into white. The only sounds to be heard were my own footsteps, and the occasional birdsong from the feeders. The bitter cold numbed my face and fingers, my own breath adding to the fog. The sheer peacefulness and tranquility was a wonder.

Hoarfrost is quite literally hairy frost. It's when the frost forms fluffy crystals instead of a thin glaze. It was about and inch thick, and the slightest movement sent the crystals floating to the ground. I had never seen hoarfrost that thick, neither had Mom or Dad, so I suspect I witnessed a once in a lifetime event.

More pictures are on Flickr.

friday cat blogging

As I promised, pictures from mine and Noah's trip to Indiana for Christmas.

Noah is mine and Tom's traveling companion. He loves to go on trips, because wherever he goes, there are other kitties for him to play with. This trip, Tom drove to Indiana on the 27^th, after spending Christmas with his family, so it was just Noah and myself.

The only drawback to traveling with Noah is if he has eaten a big breakfast, and neither Tom or I could prevent it, it will come back up at the start of the trip. Poor thing gets carsick if he has a very full stomach. If he's had a light meal, life is good. Hence the blankets in the background. Everything in the backseat is covered with cheap old blankets or towels, which we don't care if they get puked on. Unfortunately for me, he'd had a big breakfast on Christmas morning before I left for Indiana. I wasn't even 5 minutes out from the house when he showed me everything he'd had to eat, and even more unfortunately, I could smell that morning, my sinuses weren't plugged up. Ick. After that, the trip was grand.

Update - The Friday Ark is up over at Modulator, so why don't you check out all the furry, feathery, or scaly goodness.

mount cocoa, reborn

This morning Mt. Cocoa was not as stable as the last time. Immediately after I finished forming my little island, a fault appeared at the summit, and the entire peak collapsed, creating a cocoa-slide that affected 3/4 of my tiny island. The front edge of the slide formed a ridge at the perimeter of the island, with a sunken ring behind the ridge. As coffee bubbled up through the cocoa, a lagoon formed. Near the center, at the remains of the peak, now a slight rise, a sunken crater has formed, and thick coffee-cocoa is bubbling up through the opening. All this without the Fickle Spoon of Fate, which rests on my desk.

I should probably get out more.

I really wish the caffiene and sugar had kept me going longer than it did. Rapidly...loosing...momentum...

i wanted to do something last night on shift...

Last night I worked the rescue truck, and I wanted to run a simple medical call, or vehicle accident, something since my shift has been (no pun intended) dead for the past several weeks. I just didn't think this is what I'd be doing.

Private plane crash kills 2
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
By KEITH CLINES Times Staff Writer kclines(at)htimes.com
Storm approaching crash area about the time of takeoff

Two people were killed Tuesday night when their private airplane crashed in a swampy area shortly after takeoff from Huntsville International Airport.

Officials at a 9:30 p.m. news conference said they could not release the names of the victims because relatives had not been contacted.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were contacted Tuesday night and investigators were expected to be on the scene this morning to investigate the crash.

The six-seat, single-engine Cessna took off from the west runway of the airport shortly before 6:30 p.m., said airport spokeswoman Cindy Maloney... (read the rest here)

I will not complain about slow nights...
I will not complain about slow nights...
I will not complain about slow nights...

Especially considering our truck didn't clear up the scene until 0100. At least I didn't have to go swimming in swamp-water and aviation fuel, then go through the decontamination procedures. Ick. Or worry about what kind of unfriendly critters were in the swamp. Yes, they were unfriendly enough to warrant shots fired from PD at the site. Our rescue truck staged on a road, about 350 yards from the crash site, where my partner and I could see it, when we heard the shots fired. Crash Investigators/Rescuers 1, Critters 0.

Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention that shift started at 1800, and we got our first page out shortly after for a wreck with possible entrapment. We were cancelled since nobody was entrapped, so the ambulance could handle the injured patient and headed back to the station. We were nearly back at the station when we were sent on another wreck with possible entrapment. Once again, no entrapment, we were cancelled. Once again, almost back at the station, when we were dispatched to the airplane crash. This was at about 1835. Damn long night.

I know I'm not providing as much detail as you, my beloved readers, would like. Due to such things as Ongoing Federal Investigation and Patient/Family Privacy, I'm not going to provide much, if any, more detail on this incident today. Didn't think about that, did you? That's the nature of EMS, we can't always discuss freely what we do. I'll tell as much of the story as I can, when I can.

Update, 11:21 - Apparently this is a newsworthy item across the Southeast region.

Two killed in Huntsville plane crash - Times Daily, AL
Huntsville plane crash leaves two dead - WHNT, AL
Small-plane crash kills 2 - The Decatur Daily, AL
Two killed in Huntsville plane crash - Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA
Breaking News Small Plane Crash - Team Amber Alert News, TX

you know you're addicted to csi when...

• You know the biographies of ALL the personnel from the CSI website
• You never work (or go out) Thursday nites because you'll miss CSI (although you tape it anyway)
• You can't sleep knowing that something exciting is going to happen on the next episode
• Your friend asks you about the episode with "the sparkling room thingie," and you don't even have to think about it before informing them they're thinking of Scooba Doobie-Do.
• Your puppy is called VEGAS as a compromise, because none of your kids could stop arguing over whether it was gonna be called Grissom, Warrick, Greggo or Nicky......
• You start knocking on walls in hope of finding a dead body between them
• You walk around with a Mag-lite
• You change your lighting to UV lighting, just to see those stains in your carpet
• You dust for prints in your knife drawer
• You wrap your house with yellow crime-scene tape
• You wear latex gloves while at home
• You suddenly study chemistry to understand more about those chemical reactions
• You learn Photoshop so you can make wallpapers out of the pics you have
• You've changed your quote from "Smile at the world, and the world will smile back" to "Concentrate on what cannot lie... The evidence"
• When you were a kid, you wanted to be an astronaut. Now you want to be a CSI
• When you are the leader of a group, you think, "What kind of a leader should I be? Gris Style or Horatio?"
• You stare at Grissom's eyeglasses and Horatio's shades, then search for the exact pair (or at least close to it!)
• You plan on living in Las Vegas or Miami
• Your choice of car? The one like Horatio has
• You have a jacket, with the word "Forencics" written on the back
• You'd even settle for a shirt with the same word
• You read HAMLET, cause it was mentioned that HORATIO came from the name of Hamlet's best bud, Horatio
• You got arrested when found crossing the yellow tape
• You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends who are addicted to CSI

is it time to go home yet?

I'm ready for today to be over with so I can go home and take a nap. Work seems to be dragging today, and the fact that I'm starting to feel sick doesn't help at all. Bronchitis kicking up again, whee. I was hoping I could avoid seeing Dr. F for another week or so before having to go on yet another round of antibiotics.

This is why I'm glad I have a private office. Even though I pretty much get locked away for 8 hours a day, I don't have to be exposed to everybody else's colds and crud. Considering I end up seeing Dr. F for a respiratory infection about every 4-6 weeks anyway (that's what immunosuppressants will do to you) I don't need to be out in the general office population. Especially since engineers don't know when to stay home sick, and not come in and infect the rest of us. (Gives her husband a dirty look.) Not that EMTs and Paramedics are any better (razzes her partner). Oh, well, life goes on.

her nerdiness speaks

I've seen the nerdiness quiz on some science blogs recently, and decided I had to give it a try.

That's right, I am the Queen Goddess of the Nerds. All Nerds shall bow whenever I pass by. Bring me my graphing calculator and slide rule, and I shall rule from my throne, er, office chair.

my 1,000th visitor!

The 1,000^th visitor to this site was here at 16:02 CST, from Qwest.com, according to SiteMeter. Yay! Thanks to everyone who has decided to become a regular reader, I never would have imagined how quick the Oubliette took off. Thanks to everyone, I never could have done it without you.

Mira

the geology of a cup of cocoa

I'm sitting here at my desk, preparing on of my favorite cool-weather pick-me-ups: coffee and cocoa. Take a cup of plain coffee, dump in a few packets of instant cocoa of your favorite variety, stir, and enjoy. Very tasty, packed with sugar and caffiene, which are two major food groups, right?

Today I as I poured the cocoa in, it formed this perfect cone in the middle of my cup. This perfect island, sloping into a sea of coffee. So I didn't stir, I just watched.

A crack appeared along the left side of the summit of Mt. Cocoa. A few moments later, the fracture widened, and the area sank into the Coffee Sea. I slowly slid my spoon into the cup, along the opposite side. The coffee rose up, and another part of Mt. Cocoa sank into the coffee, near the spoon. Small areas continuously broke off the main mass of cocoa, sinking, forming a U-shaped area in the side of Mt. Cocoa. Finally, the peak of Mt. Cocoa slowly sank, until there are only a few slight hills, and a thick coffee/cocoa mixture is bubbling up through the powdered cocoa in a few areas near the center.

It's amazing how things repeat on various scales. The geology of the Earth in a cup of cocoa.

carnival of the cats #42

It's that time again. This week's Carnival of the Cats is now up over at Leslie's Omnibus. Get your ticket and get ready for a great ride. There are several stops along the route, so settle back and enjoy!

You can also go to the main Carnival terminal and check out where future Carnivals stop and for all the Carnival details. As always, email your submissions to cats(at)isfullofcrap.com.

an anniversary, and what the oubliette is

I just realized a couple days ago a very important anniversary passed without me noticing. It's been just over a year now since I started receiving Remicade infusions for my Crohn's Disease and Ankylosing Spondylitis. It's amazing the difference it has made. The Remicade seems to have significantly slowed or even stopped the progression of both conditions, which is great news for me. It can't undo the permanent damage that's been done to my digestive tract or my back, which is something I will have to continue to live with. I'm so happy neither seem to be getting worse, both seem to have gone into remission.

I know I really haven't written much about either of my conditions before, only mentioned them in passing in other posts. The Oubliette isn't even 3 months old yet, so I'm really still working out what this blog will be. I knew from the start that I didn't want to have a blog that was about having Crohn's or AS; it's a part of my life, but only a part. I wanted to introduce myself to the blogosphere before I introduced my medical conditions.

This is how I am in the physical world, too. I want people to know me, not my disease. I want people to judge me based on my abilities, opinions, any and everything else. I'm not ashamed of the Crohn's or the AS, I've had nearly 2 decades to come to terms with them. The Crohn's and AS should be an afterthought in people's minds, not the first thing that comes to mind when someone thinks of me. I am not a medical condition, and I don't let them dominate my life.

I don't want pity from anybody. Don't get me wrong, sympathy is great, sympathy and compassion gets a person through the tough times. Pity only makes you feel worse about yourself, drags a person down. It's the difference between encouragement and discouragement. Fortunately for me, I'm not easily offended, or try very hard not to be, because most people mean well. Even if what they are trying to say doesn't quite come out the way they want, in my experience, most people try to be encouraging as much as possible.

So, all this leads to what is The Oubliette about? Whatever has my attention when I decide to compose a post, so almost anything could end up here. This isn't a pure poliblog, newsblog, catblog, or anything else. Since the Crohn's and AS are as much a part of my life as anything else, I really can't exclude them from here without ignoring part of my daily life. Ultimately, that's all they are, a part of my life, and not my entire life.

yay! MI-5 is back!

A&E is running a MI-5 marathon all day today, in preparation for the new season debuting tonight at 9 CST. Woo-hoo! I thought that MI-5 had been cancelled, and mourned yet another decent show biting the dust too soon. I happened to stumble across the marathon today flipping through the channels.

imagine that, dishonest people in this world

Apparently there are people trying to rip you off online, in the wake of the Asian Tsunami. Rellay? I never would have guessed. Oh, wait, I did and posted about it on December 30. The FBI is just now figuring this out? I feel safe, the FBI is on the watch. From Yahoo! News. This is (at time of posting) a top story folks!

FBI warns of Internet scams after tsunami
Fri Jan 7, 1:36 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned of Internet scams claiming to raise funds or help locate survivors of Asian tsunamis.

"The FBI (news - web sites), through the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), has received reports of websites being established purportedly to assist with collection and relief efforts," the FBI said in a statement.

Schemes identified involved spamming, responding to posted e-mail addresses, offering to help locate missing victims of the disaster for a fee, and a fraudulent relief donation website.

"The FBI, in conjunction with domestic and international law enforcement and industry partners, take seriously these egregious actions and are resolved to aggressively pursue those who would attempt to victimize philanthropic individuals," the body said.

It warns people to take care with solicitations from those claiming to be tsunami survivors, and not to open photos of the catastrophe with attachments that may contain a virus.

The FBI's website on the problem is at www.ic3.gov.

I must be some kind of freakin' psychic.

a cat's list of resolutions

• I am not allowed to eat the snake, and the snake is not allowed to eat me. I will learn to be at peace with this.
• I will not leap into the chair after mom has vacated it, and then bat at her behind when she attempts to sit back down.
• I will not puff my entire body up to twice its size for no apparent reason while the humans are watching horror movies.
• I will not sniff mom's feet after she takes her shoes off, freeze my mouth open in disgust and then sniff my butt to make sure it smells better. No matter how amusing it might be to others.
• I will not lean over into the tub to drink and fall in.
• I will not stand on the bathroom counter in the dark and growl at nothing after watching the X-files.
• I will not use the bathtub to store live mice for late night snacks.
• I will not perch on the human's chests and stare into their eyes until they wake up.
• I will not play Herd of Stampeeding Wildebeests up and down the stairs at 3am.
• Screaming at the can of food does not make it open.
• I cannot leap through closed windows to chase the birds outside.
• I will not complain that my butt is wet and I am thirsty after sitting in the waterbowl.
• I will not stick my paw into any container to see if there is something in it. I also will not bite and scratch when the humans have to wash the rubber cement off my paw.
• If I bite the cactus, it will bite back.
• Some bugs don't like to be eaten, and will also bite back.
• It is not a good idea to try to drink boiling hot tea before the humans do.
• Just because I hear voices in my head doesn't mean that I have to answer them.
• When I am chasing my tail, and catch my back leg instead, I will not bite my foot. This hurts.
• If I stand directly behind the humans, I will get stepped on. It is not necessary to attack their ankles after this has happened, as it could have been avoided by not standing directly behind them.
• Just because it is blue and fuzzy doesn't mean its mine.
• Lit cigarettes are not fun to bat around the floor, because one end is really hot.
• Meowing at the wall doesn't accomplish anything. Even if the wall meows back.
• When it rains, it rains on all sides of the house. It is not necessary to check each window to make sure.
• Birds do not come from the bird feeder. Knocking it down and trying to get the birds out will not work.
• Hiding inside the bird feeder with my tail hanging out of one side is not convincing enough for the birds to come back to the bird feeder.
• Yes, there is a snake in the aquarium. Its been there for six months. I don't have to act as if I've discovered the Demon Horror Of The Universe every time I see it.
• I will not play dead cat on the stairs when someone is carrying laundry, or else it might happen.
• When ther humans are typing on the computer, their arms are not hammocks.
• I will not swat mom's head repeatedly while she is doing situps on the living room floor.
• Computer screens to not exist to backlight my lovely tail.
• I am a walking static generator. The humans don't need my help when installing new components into the computers.
• The goldfish likes living in water, and should be allowed to stay there.
• I will not put live food in my bowl and expect it to stay there until I get hungry.
• I will not drag dirty socks up from the basement and deposit them on the bed, howling so that the humans can admire my kill.
• I will not eat spider plants and hallucinate behind the toilet.
• I will not drag magnets, and the papers they are adhering to the refrigerator off the door and bat them underneath so that they stick to the bottom.
• I will not be mad at mom all day and then kiss her on the nose at 2am letting her know that she is forgiven and now can pet me.
• If I must scratch mom, I will not scratch her in a way that the cuts resemble a suicide attempt.
• If I am going to give gifts to overnight guests, toy mice are far more acceptable than live bugs, even if they aren't as tasty.
• I will NOT soak my catnip toys in my water dish to make tea. I will not get high and sit there drinking my tea and kneading the kitchen floor. I will not then get delusions of grandeur and make tea in the toilet bowl or the tub. Making tea with smelly socks is not very effective after the catnip has been taken away.

yay, it's friday!

It's Friday again, and do you know what that means? Well, besides catblogging, which for some of us loonies isn't restricted to Friday Catblogging. The Friday Ark is now up at Modulator. Surf on over and check out what others are saying about their critters.

Remember, the Carnival of the Cats is also accepting you catblogging links for Sunday's Carnival, to be hosted by Leslie's Omnibus. Email your submissions to cats(at)isfullofcrap.com.

The current Carnival is at Martinipundit, so head over there if you haven't checked it out already.

prince muddy paws gets a little crazy

Prince Muddy Paws, the cat who blogs, is a kitty that definitely likes his catnip. Apparently, got a little silly when his mommy gave him and Myst a new catnip infused cardboard scratching pad. If you look closely in the video of the event, Myst moves, proof that the cat is indeed alive, and not a very cute stuffed toy.

this is so wrong in so many ways

CatPrin, a tailor for cats, is showing off his new line for well dressed Japaneese felines. Taken directly from the website.

CATPRIN, a tailor for cats. Ever imagined dressing up your lovely cat into a fabulous beauty? You don't have to dress her everyday, in fact she might not feel comfortable with a dress on for days. Just dress her up only on special occasions like her birthday, takes a photo and that should leave you lots of memories and fantasies.

Fantasies? I don't want to have fantasies with my cats. I'm afraid the ASPCA will come haul me off or something.

Have fun with CatPrin

1. Dress her up. Cheer or yell, do whatever you like to enjoy the moment with your family.

Oh, sure, scare the poor thing to death once you get this thing on her.

2. After you are enough with your joy, take a photo! Take some poses and leave her some cute photos!

Poses? Nobody poses a cat. You can try, but prepare for arterial bleeding.

3. Remove her clothes and give her a hub, say "Thank you!"

Prepare to find out your darling has pooped in your shoes to say "You're welcome!".

What do the cats think? You be the judge.







CatPrin, you have cost me my honor with this ridiculous costume. For me to regain my lost honor, you must die. I will be swift and silent, as the night, and you shall never know when I strike. Upon the spirits of my Ancestors, this I do swear.

snow pictures from indiana

Photos taken after the record snow fall of December 22-23, 2004, which dumped as much as 30 inches on parts of southern Indiana. And yes, I happened to go to one of the parts that got 30 inches to visit my family for Christmas. The pics I took will be posted shortly, once y'all get tired of these. All snow pics will be on Flickr in the Weather album.

Pictures courtesy of Eirene.

i surrender

Whatever my body did to piss of my shoulder, I really wish it would apologize. My shoulder has decided to knot up in this tight little ball of pain today, in retaliation to whatever wrongs it endured. I've had enough of it, time to force a cease-fire. Some Ultram should do the trick, once the meds gets into my system. Just 20 more minutes until the meds kick in...

Update - 16:30

Ahhh...relief.

and you thought we were screwed up in alabama

Evidence that Georgia is just as screwball, if not more, than we are here.

Georgia Sheriff Fires Workers, but Then a Judge Intervenes

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 5, 2005 by the New York Times

JONESBORO, Ga., Jan. 4 (AP) - On his first day at work, the new sheriff of Clayton County called 27 employees into his office on Monday, fired them and had snipers stand guard on the roof as they were escorted out the door.

A judge on Tuesday ordered him to rehire the employees.

The sheriff, Victor Hill, 39, defended the firings and said he had the right to shake up the department in whatever way he felt necessary.

Sheriff Hill also said it was necessary to fire the workers the way he did, including taking some deputies home in vans normally used to transport prisoners because the deputies were barred from using county cars.

Sheriff Hill was among a spate of black candidates elected last year in the county, which was once dominated by rural whites. The fired employees included four of the highest-ranking officers, all of them white. Sheriff Hill told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that their replacements would be black.

Sheriff Hill's move provoked an angry reaction from the newly elected chairman of the county commission, Eldrin Bell, who is black. He called the move illegal and filed for the restraining order granted by the judge, Stephen Boswell.

Judge Boswell granted a 30-day restraining order, halting the firings, and wrote that it appeared that "employees of the sheriff were terminated without cause" and in violation of the county's civil service rules. Sheriff Hill disagreed.

"A lot of people are under the impression that the sheriff's office is under civil service laws," he said. "But my research shows the employees work at the pleasure of the sheriff."

Sheriff Hill said one of the reasons for the security accompanying the firings was the assassination of Sheriff Derwin Brown in neighboring DeKalb County in 2000.

Sheriff Brown was gunned down in the driveway of his home three days before he was to be sworn in. The former sheriff, Sidney Dorsey, was found guilty of plotting to kill him and sentenced to life in prison.

"Derwin Brown sent out letters to 25 to 30 people letting them know they would not be reappointed when he took office," Sheriff Hill said.

The Clayton County Sheriff's Department employs 345 people.

Let me get this straight. This dumbass indiscriminately fires 27 people, violating their rights as civil servants, and quite possibly their civil rights, then claims there might be a plot to murder him? Nah, you think, after pulling a bullshit stunt like that? There might just be some folks pissed at that kind of treatment, regardless of the skin color of the person doing the firing.

weird news headlines of 2004

Now that another year has come and gone, it's time to review some of the more unusual news headlines from the past year.

Humming Sex Toy Shuts Australian Airport

A vibrating sex toy chucked into a rubbish bin at an Australian airport sparked a security alert that only ended when an embarrassed passenger came forward to claim what was identified as "an adult novelty device."

Claim as in identify? Or claim as in "Why, yes, that is my vibrating plastic dick, and I would like it back"?

~

Talking Toilet Orders German Men to Sit Down

A German inventor came up with a best-selling gadget that berates men if they try to use the toilet standing up, telling them: "Put the seat back down right away, you are definitely not to pee standing up."

Do it now! The seat will shut automatically on your member in 3...2...1...argh!!!

~

A Malaysian man shot his wife dead after he mistook her for a monkey picking fruit behind their house.

Did she really look that bad? Talk about a bad hair day. And the whole tail thing, if he had married her, he should have known about that.

~

A British train conductor stamped and carefully returned the ticket of a slumbering passenger without realizing the man was dead.

Upon closer inspection, the dearly departed passenger's ticket was stamped 32 times, and had been riding the train for 6 days.

~

A fervent evangelist who leapt into the lions' den at Taipei zoo and shouted "Jesus will save you" was lucky to escape with just a bite in the right leg when he tried to convert the king of beasts to Christianity.

What if they were Jewish lions and spoke only Hebrew?

~

A Zambian man hanged himself in shame after his wife rushed into their house to investigate a noise and found him having sex with a chicken. The chicken was slaughtered afterwards.

Reportedly, the chicken was not slaughtered, but also hanged itself in shame.

People do the damndest things, and with luck will continue to do so in the upcoming year, much to our amusement. As long as I don't end up as one of those headlines.

carnival of the cats #41

It's a brand new year, and the first Carnival of the Cats of the new year is up over at Martinipundit.

Also check out the Carnival's site for dates and hosts of future Carnivals.

how whitty became stumpy

Continued from Part 1 of Whitty's Story

Whitty ended up not being my cat; when I went off to college, she stayed on the farm. As a result, I don't have many stories to tell from her past 10 years. The story I can relate is that of how Whitty became Stumpy.

About 5 years ago, I gave Dad a purebreed Jack Russell Terrier puppy. She was not the nicest dog in the world, and decided she didn't like the cats so she started chasing them. She convinced the other two larger dogs to do her dirty work for her. Pepper and Festus were normally friendly with cats, and would let the cats rub against them. When Daphne became the leader, she changed that.

One day Whitty was not fast enough getting away from the dogs, and they attacked her, led by Daphne. Whitty was lucky to escape the encounter with her life. She was badly hurt, with a broken tail and partially skinned tail, exposing the muscles and tendons beneath. Mom and Dad took her to the vet, afraid she was mortally wounded, where he amputated her tail, leaving about a two inch stub. Otherwise, she was bruised and battered with no other major injuries.

With just a little stub of a tail, Whitty looks more like a bobcat than ever. She's a brown tabby, with ticked hairs, black stripes on each hair. All she needs are little black tufts of hair on her ears, and one would swear she's a bobcat. She's big enough to almost be one, too. She's 14 pounds, and not a fat kitty. We think she may actually be part bobcat, considering the part of very rural Kentucky I found her in.

Happy 10^th Birthday, Whitty, you're such beautiful wildcat who has decided to share our home.

happy new year

Happy New Year to everyone! May all of you have a prosperous New Year. Warmest wishes to all.