Carol's random babble

We took Buster (aka Boo-boo) to the Family Pet Clinic on March 20 to be neutered. We picked him up the next day, a changed kitty. He's been a bit tentative lately, not quite himself. He also has been compulsively licking the affected area. So Kent took him back Friday afternoon and they gave him a surgical cone. Poor Boo-boo. He can't lick himself, even regular cleaning, unless we take it off. He runs into the side of things with the cone. If you offer him a treat, sometimes it lands on the inside of the cone and he has to try to lick it off. It's really quite comical at times. Also, Cayla finally decided that she had had enough of guinea pig ownership and I placed an ad for the cavies. We sold the last two today. While discussing the ins and outs of guinea pigs, I mentioned to the buyers that Cayla had wanted a rat for some time and I told her "You aren't getting a rat." We gave the last buyers the cages, water bottles and food that we had left. Cayla and I h...

62% Geek Only 62 percent? *hangs head in shame* I just took another test: 30.76923 percent - Total Geek I'm going to have to study harder.

It's "Snip Snip Eunuchy Day" for Buster. This refers to the second "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie where Jack Sparrow tells the cannibals that Will Turner is a eunuch. In the middle of his speech, he says "snip snip eunuchy." Buster wasn't happy when I took him to the vet, but not because he was afraid of the vet - yet. He doesn't like going in the car, and I had bought a cat carrier just for this occasion. I assembled it in the car and brought it in and set it on the floor. He sniffed it and went inside and I shut the door. Then I took him out to the car and drove him to the vet. That was just part of the chain of disasters as far as he was concerned. He was quiet, but scared on the way there. Poor baby.

I had to go to Ames yesterday to pick something up. When I got there, it wasn't there. Some miscommunication had caused the order not to arrive, and there's no way for me to find out until I get there. So, I got back in the Blazer - which I had driven because my car sucks down more gas and the Blazer had a bit more gas - and tried to shut the door. Which wouldn't latch. I tried a few more times, then asked someone for help. He tried a few times with no luck. So I drove around the side of the building where the parking lot slopes, hoping gravity would help. No luck. So, I drove out of Ames with my window down a couple of inches and holding the door shut with my left hand. I shut the window and held the door by the door handle until we got to Little Wall Lake. My plan was to shut the door from the outside, which usually works. In the past, I've done this, then got into the Blazer from the passenger's side and scooted across. In a manner of speaking - you don't exa...

It's really nice to work at a place where you can be sure that when there's a shortage of available people to work on a certain type of project, someone will volunteer/step up. It's reassuring to know that if anybody calls in, or quits, or is unable to get to work for whatever reason, there is someone who can get things done. Until you realize that you are someone, and it kind of sucks to be the person who is always filling in/volunteering/stepping up. And it's not all volunteer, either. This past week is was a note on a Post-It saying this particular project needs to be done ASAP. I started working on it Monday or Tuesday already, but just to get the pieces together in order to do the main part, which is uploading the information to the Web site. Our esteemed webmaster assured the news editor that it would only take 20 minutes per section. After about an hour and a half of prep on Monday or Tuesday (can't remember - it's all a blur), I came in Wednesday (MY DAY...

I've had Bell's palsy manifest at two different times in my life. The first time (1988), I had been mugged and either hit or kicked in the face, and the Bell's palsy came on suddenly a week or so later and lasted a couple of weeks. The second time was during my second pregnancy (1995). I think that was more gradual. At that time, one eye didn't want to stay closed when I was sleeping, so I ended up using first aid tape to tape it closed at night. It gradually went away, and I think there are no aftereffects, except a very slight difference between the right and left sides of my face. Even a mild thing like Bell's palsy can freak you out and mess with your life. I bring this up because of a thread on a forum I frequent. One person was asking for advice on symptoms, and Bell's palsy was one of the suggestions for a possible diagnosis. The main advice was, of course, see a doctor. But reading the responses brought back memories of the times I had Bell's palsy.