Currently Reading: Our Man In Havana by Graham Greene
Yes, I know, haven't been blogging regularly like I'm supposed to. I should be blogging every week, at least once, to keep everyone up to date with what's going on. And you know, normally I would but what passes for normal around here changes all the time.
End of May, right around Memorial Day, things took an odd turn. The other groomer that works at the clinic decided she'd had enough of working there and was going to quit after Memorial Day. No problem. Then she just up and quit with no warning the week before. Seriously, one week before Memorial Day she comes to the clinic, packs up all her stuff and walks out, leaving them with a full slate of dogs on the schedule, some of which had already arrived. Talk about rude. One semi-frantic phone call later and I'm on the scene taking over.
Naturally this put a major kink in my daily routine. I went from being off 2 to 3 days a week to working a full 5-day week just like everyone else. That means less time for chores or errands or blogging. I'm still getting used to it and I've been at it now for 3 weeks. The chores are mostly getting done now and so are the errands but the blogging, that's taking a hit and I don't play Warcraft nearly as often as I used to.
So that was event number 1. Number 2 was my endoscopy. I don't remember if I mentioned it but I know I told several people in e-mail and on the phone. I was having a problem with acid reflux and my GP gave me a referral to see a specialist who said we were going to do the scope. Went in and had that done on the first of June. Pretty uneventful actually. CC had read on a web site that most of the discomfort that you feel from the procedure comes BEFORE you actually have it and that's only because you're worried about having it in the first place. Seriously, there was no pain or anything involved. We went over there for the appointment (I had to fast of course). Went into our little curtained off area. I changed into a gown and climbed into bed. After a while they came and got me, wheeled me over to the scoping room. The nurse tech had me roll over onto my side. She put on all the monitoring wires and sticky things and at some point the doctor came in. I remember the ringing in my ears started to go away which means I was starting to lose consciousness. I had just enough time to switch off my hearing aids and BAM. Next thing I know I'm back in the curtained room facing the wall. A little while later, after everything wore off, I got dressed and CC took me home.
The results! Well the findings from the procedure that day say they found a mild sliding hiatal hernia and evidence of nonerosive gastritis. Everything else was normal. They took a biopsy of something and we got those results on the 6th. That also came back normal. They put me on some new meds and that was it. Yeah, I know, boring right?
So that brings us up to our FINAL update, Citizen Cecille!
Yes, it's true, my wife is now an official AMERICAN! On Thursday she had her swearing-in ceremony and that went just fine. I'll skip the details and let her write about that in HER blog. I took lots of pictures so I know she'll share those too.
And that brings everything up to date except for ONE little thing. Our fabulous Japanese neighbors from downstairs had to move back to Japan. His company cut back on the number of workers they needed over here from Japan. So Wednesday, they flew back to Osaka. We're going to miss them. They were great neighbors. We gave them a picture book of Memphis so they'll be able to look at that and remember the good stuff. There was a teary scene Tuesday morning when we gave them the book. They didn't really want to move.
So now there are THREE apartments vacant in our building. I hope we get more good neighbords. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
They Went Through An Awful Lot of Trouble To Kill Winona Ryder
Currently Reading: Our Man In Havana by Graham Greene
I'm sure we've all seen the new Star Trek film by now so I'm not really worried about giving away any spoilers at this point. If you haven't seen it, you probably have no intention of seeing it anyway right? So no worries there. That being said, here's my take on the film . . .
The title says it all. They went through an AWFUL lot of trouble just to kill Winona Ryder. I'm not what you'd call a fan of hers. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a Winona HATER but something about that woman just strikes me wrong. On the whole, I can only think of a few movies of hers that I actually liked and in all those cases it had nothing to do with her.
So, on with the Trek. Crazy Romulan ends up going back in time to get revenge on Spock. Not a bad premise for a film. Lots of possibilities there. We've got a new Trek family building up here and, as an added bit of genius, an entirely different time-line to mess with they don't have to worry about upsetting the Trekies.
In this film, Winona plays Spock's mother. Wouldn't have been my first choice but then who really cares right? I mean, she's not a major character or anything and really only shows up a few times in previous Trek outings to mess with Spock and to remind us that he's half human. So no big deal about the casting. I figured I'd just ignore it. I mean hey, who knows, maybe she'll do ok right? But as the plot progresses, I started to think the writers had it in for her.
Ok, Romulan shows up, sticks a big tube into the center of the Vulcan homeworld and starts his machine that creates the mini-black hole in the center of the planet which will make the whole planet implode. Pretty cool actually. Great special effect too. Naturally everyone ON the planet is going to die, including Spock's mom, Winona Ryder. YAY! But wait, a simple, off-camera death isn't good enough. No, they have to send her and several of the Vulcan elders to some secret cave where all these Vulcan relics are being kept.
Enter the Enterprise! Spock and company beam down to the planet in order to save some of these relics so that Vulcan culture can be preserved blah blah blah and wow, what a coincidence, Spock's parents are there. That's just super! Winona is SAVED! Or is she? With the planet imploding around them and things generally going all to hell, they lock onto the coordinates to beam everyone onboard. But wait! What's that happening under Winona's feet? Oh NO! The ledge is collapsing! And . . . wait for it . . . POOF! Winona falls into the gaping chasm thus throwing off the transporting sequence and she dies.
So, in order to kill her off, they don't just shoot her with something or blow her up in a building or even a starship. No, they have to implode an entire PLANET just to get rid of her. But they've got an eye on her, lest she sneak out and somehow survive. Taking refuge in a cave, dodging bolders and stuff falling all over the place, I mean they're TRYING to kill her and still, she won't die. But undaunted, they wait until the last minute before the teleport and BAM that's when they get her.
Just seems like they went through an awful lot of trouble, that's all I'm saying.
I'm sure we've all seen the new Star Trek film by now so I'm not really worried about giving away any spoilers at this point. If you haven't seen it, you probably have no intention of seeing it anyway right? So no worries there. That being said, here's my take on the film . . .
The title says it all. They went through an AWFUL lot of trouble just to kill Winona Ryder. I'm not what you'd call a fan of hers. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a Winona HATER but something about that woman just strikes me wrong. On the whole, I can only think of a few movies of hers that I actually liked and in all those cases it had nothing to do with her.
So, on with the Trek. Crazy Romulan ends up going back in time to get revenge on Spock. Not a bad premise for a film. Lots of possibilities there. We've got a new Trek family building up here and, as an added bit of genius, an entirely different time-line to mess with they don't have to worry about upsetting the Trekies.
In this film, Winona plays Spock's mother. Wouldn't have been my first choice but then who really cares right? I mean, she's not a major character or anything and really only shows up a few times in previous Trek outings to mess with Spock and to remind us that he's half human. So no big deal about the casting. I figured I'd just ignore it. I mean hey, who knows, maybe she'll do ok right? But as the plot progresses, I started to think the writers had it in for her.
Ok, Romulan shows up, sticks a big tube into the center of the Vulcan homeworld and starts his machine that creates the mini-black hole in the center of the planet which will make the whole planet implode. Pretty cool actually. Great special effect too. Naturally everyone ON the planet is going to die, including Spock's mom, Winona Ryder. YAY! But wait, a simple, off-camera death isn't good enough. No, they have to send her and several of the Vulcan elders to some secret cave where all these Vulcan relics are being kept.
Enter the Enterprise!
So, in order to kill her off, they don't just shoot her with something or blow her up in a building or even a starship. No, they have to implode an entire PLANET just to get rid of her. But they've got an eye on her, lest she sneak out and somehow survive. Taking refuge in a cave, dodging bolders and stuff falling all over the place, I mean they're TRYING to kill her and still, she won't die. But undaunted, they wait until the last minute before the teleport and BAM that's when they get her.
Just seems like they went through an awful lot of trouble, that's all I'm saying.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Work, Work, Work
Just Finished Reading: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Well it's been quite an eventful week. No, I take that back. It hasn't been eventful so much as just plain busy.
Last week, I was at the clinic, shaving away, when the clinic manager asked me if I was able to work a few extra days this week. Sure, no problem. She comes back and asks me if I'd be able to go full time after Memorial Day. Sure, no problem. There are a couple of days I'll need off due to prior commitments but that's all. Then Monday happened.
Now, I wasn't supposed to work this Monday. I was supposed to come in Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and then work the last week of May. That was the original plan. Unfortunately, the other groomer had a plan of her own. She came in Monday having decided that she wasn't going to work at the clinic anymore. In fact, she wasn't even going to work that DAY. She gathered up her stuff and left. Just like that.
This sent them scrambling a bit at the clinic. We had a full schedule and several of the dogs had already arrived. Further, she took with her the ratty cork board from the door to the grooming room (to which we pin the 5 x 8 index cards recording the dog's grooming history), the chair we sit in (also pretty beaten up) and the little two drawer, plastic cabinet thing that I rest my equipment tray on.
I get a call, I think it was around 8:30 asking if I could come in all week instead of just Tuesday. Well sure, I hadn't made any plans other than the usual chores around the apartment. I didn't know the other groomer had quit at that point. Tara, the vet tech, explained it all to me when I arrived. I didn't know about the missing chair, etc. until I made it back to the grooming room.
Needless to say we were a little miffed about that. I mean, it's damned rude to quit like that. Bad enough she didn't give any notice but to just walk out at the start of an extremely busy week not knowing or caring if anyone could fill in, that's just really unprofessional and petty. I don't know what she was thinking or even IF she was thinking. Obviously she didn't need the money she was making at the clinic, nor did she need to use them as a reference. Ah well, that's her problem, not mine.
So here I am, finally at the end of the week and let me tell you, it's been a VERY busy week. Wednesday was my slow day, 7 dogs. Problem there was they were all difficult in one way or another. Some just wouldn't stand still. Others were severely matted. I ended up taking at least an hour per dog, usually more. Very slow. Seemed like I was spinning my wheels all day. Today, on the other hand, 7 dogs, 2 cats. Finished half an hour earlier than I did Wednesday and didn't feel rushed at all. They were all very well-behaved and there weren't any major problems with any of them. Naturally the cats took a little longer. You know how most cats just LOVE being bathed in strange rooms where there are lots of loud noises, especially when those rooms smell like dog.
Needless to say I've been a bit tired at the end of the day and not really in the mood to do much more than sit here reading the news or maybe playing a little Warcraft (though I haven't spent much time in game either -- no energy). Mostly I've just been resting up to get ready for the next day.
Fortunately Saturday begins a 3-day weekend! WOO HOO! I'm going to need that extra day to catch up on the things I haven't had time/energy to do! But you know, Angel, the clinic manager said something the other day that put everything in perspective. Yeah, we may have to stay late to take care of all these pets. Yeah it may be tiring and we may be working a little harder this week because of the holiday. But at least we're working. We've got a job and a paycheck, unlike a lot of other people these days.
Well it's been quite an eventful week. No, I take that back. It hasn't been eventful so much as just plain busy.
Last week, I was at the clinic, shaving away, when the clinic manager asked me if I was able to work a few extra days this week. Sure, no problem. She comes back and asks me if I'd be able to go full time after Memorial Day. Sure, no problem. There are a couple of days I'll need off due to prior commitments but that's all. Then Monday happened.
Now, I wasn't supposed to work this Monday. I was supposed to come in Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and then work the last week of May. That was the original plan. Unfortunately, the other groomer had a plan of her own. She came in Monday having decided that she wasn't going to work at the clinic anymore. In fact, she wasn't even going to work that DAY. She gathered up her stuff and left. Just like that.
This sent them scrambling a bit at the clinic. We had a full schedule and several of the dogs had already arrived. Further, she took with her the ratty cork board from the door to the grooming room (to which we pin the 5 x 8 index cards recording the dog's grooming history), the chair we sit in (also pretty beaten up) and the little two drawer, plastic cabinet thing that I rest my equipment tray on.
I get a call, I think it was around 8:30 asking if I could come in all week instead of just Tuesday. Well sure, I hadn't made any plans other than the usual chores around the apartment. I didn't know the other groomer had quit at that point. Tara, the vet tech, explained it all to me when I arrived. I didn't know about the missing chair, etc. until I made it back to the grooming room.
Needless to say we were a little miffed about that. I mean, it's damned rude to quit like that. Bad enough she didn't give any notice but to just walk out at the start of an extremely busy week not knowing or caring if anyone could fill in, that's just really unprofessional and petty. I don't know what she was thinking or even IF she was thinking. Obviously she didn't need the money she was making at the clinic, nor did she need to use them as a reference. Ah well, that's her problem, not mine.
So here I am, finally at the end of the week and let me tell you, it's been a VERY busy week. Wednesday was my slow day, 7 dogs. Problem there was they were all difficult in one way or another. Some just wouldn't stand still. Others were severely matted. I ended up taking at least an hour per dog, usually more. Very slow. Seemed like I was spinning my wheels all day. Today, on the other hand, 7 dogs, 2 cats. Finished half an hour earlier than I did Wednesday and didn't feel rushed at all. They were all very well-behaved and there weren't any major problems with any of them. Naturally the cats took a little longer. You know how most cats just LOVE being bathed in strange rooms where there are lots of loud noises, especially when those rooms smell like dog.
Needless to say I've been a bit tired at the end of the day and not really in the mood to do much more than sit here reading the news or maybe playing a little Warcraft (though I haven't spent much time in game either -- no energy). Mostly I've just been resting up to get ready for the next day.
Fortunately Saturday begins a 3-day weekend! WOO HOO! I'm going to need that extra day to catch up on the things I haven't had time/energy to do! But you know, Angel, the clinic manager said something the other day that put everything in perspective. Yeah, we may have to stay late to take care of all these pets. Yeah it may be tiring and we may be working a little harder this week because of the holiday. But at least we're working. We've got a job and a paycheck, unlike a lot of other people these days.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Random Stuff
Just Finished Reading: Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith
I've been posting a lot of video lately (when I post that is). I was just reviewing my last few entries and they're all about video clips I've seen online somewhere. Usually I like to stick in pictures. Blog entries tend to be a little dull when it's just text so I throw in some visuals.
Going to the doctor June 1 to have an endoscopy. I'm less than thrilled by the prospect. They're going to knock me out and stick a camera down my throat to find out what's causing the acid reflux I've been having. You see, I was treated for acid reflux last fall and while I was on the medication everything was great. Problem is, it came back a few months later and that's not supposed to happen.
CC is back, by the way. She'd been in Manila for just shy of a month. Again, I was less than thrilled (that she was away, not that she's back, I'm TOTALLY thrilled she's back). We're thinking of going on a cruise, probably to Nassau. I'll keep you posted.
With CC gone I didn't really do anything worth mentioning, which is why there haven't been any exciting blog entries. I can't promise that's going to change in the near future but if we DO go on vacation, that'll be something.
It's been gray here for a long time. Today is the first day we've really had any decent sun in a while. Got me feeling all BLAH and my mind is wandering from topic to topic. Ah well, I need to post entries like this from time to time. Sort of like spring cleaning of the brain.
Next time, a less blah entry!
I've been posting a lot of video lately (when I post that is). I was just reviewing my last few entries and they're all about video clips I've seen online somewhere. Usually I like to stick in pictures. Blog entries tend to be a little dull when it's just text so I throw in some visuals.
Going to the doctor June 1 to have an endoscopy. I'm less than thrilled by the prospect. They're going to knock me out and stick a camera down my throat to find out what's causing the acid reflux I've been having. You see, I was treated for acid reflux last fall and while I was on the medication everything was great. Problem is, it came back a few months later and that's not supposed to happen.
CC is back, by the way. She'd been in Manila for just shy of a month. Again, I was less than thrilled (that she was away, not that she's back, I'm TOTALLY thrilled she's back). We're thinking of going on a cruise, probably to Nassau. I'll keep you posted.
With CC gone I didn't really do anything worth mentioning, which is why there haven't been any exciting blog entries. I can't promise that's going to change in the near future but if we DO go on vacation, that'll be something.
It's been gray here for a long time. Today is the first day we've really had any decent sun in a while. Got me feeling all BLAH and my mind is wandering from topic to topic. Ah well, I need to post entries like this from time to time. Sort of like spring cleaning of the brain.
Next time, a less blah entry!
Modern Day Samurai
This video is REALLY cool. It runs a little long (about 8 minutes) but it's pretty amazing. If you ever doubted the legends about what samurai could do, this might convince you.
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