I just looked and @amymeme hasn't logged in since last Monday (that's Sep 30) I've seen her go several days without posting but anytime I've looked she's been signed in 'recently'.
Anyone know what she's doing?? More importantly is she okay??

It's possible she's away for the Holidays that fall early this month??

Weird

Alive and well. Sort of. My surgery is end of month. Multiple dr, Lab, pre op, skin check, medical clearance appts. I'm addition, we got 3 cords of wood 10 days ago and between the two of us, were got it stacked. But in increments. Plus closing the pool. Slowly. And my knee is cranky. So it's work a little, crash, elevate, ice, fall asleep. Not to mention the high holidays in the midst of that. I managed to make honey Cake and tzimmis which was about all i could manage Josh and Jess hosted and made the rest of the dinner. Also a birthday celebration for husband. DIL made an absolutely fabulous chocolate flourless torte that was incredible. And son made a glorious round Challah. It was beautiful and everyone said it was delicious. But I'm dragging. Walking is always uncomfortable though the Cosamin ASU at least reduces the swelling enough that i can walk with almost normal heel type gait. But man, unless i walk slowly with only about a12 inch stride, the one grinds, crunches and catches. Which send me through the roof. I'm afraid i waited too long, probably should have had this done a few years ago. Guess i was "ostrich-ing" with my head on the sand

How's the hand coming?

Glad to hear that you're doing okay - well, sort of. (( Hm ... "sort of okay" or "sort of glad" - English is so much fun!! )) You have my sympathy, I had three trips to Odessa before surgery on my hand and now two more after ... I keep trying to get travel pay but I make too much on SocSec (expletive deleted!) so while they're paying for the hospital, doctor, etc I get to pay for transportation ... I suppose I should be more appreciative.

The hand: Well, other than having a bit of loss of sensitivity in the finger, it's doing well. I figure I'll get 'touch' back after a while - hope so, it's rough trying to hit the shift or an 'a' key when your finger isn't sure where it is!

Also, VERY glad to see you here, the alternatives aren't anywhere near as much fun!

I'm beginning to suspect my surgery may be postponed - Helene took out the Baxter facility in NC which makes 60% of the country's IV bags. A few hospitals are already starting to postpone elective surgery. I'm guessing most will by the time I'm scheduled.

You might be delayed and from what I'm seeing that delay might be longer than you'd like. Some interesting comments re Duke, et al

The procedures they're recommending right now really seem to prolong use of IV bags that might have been only partially used. (Bringing bags from the OR to a room rather than disposing of a partial bag ... makes common sense, to me)

We shall see. Hopefully not a long wait, I'm really getting lame and limited. And most nights i wake up with my knee aching and stiff.

Nice article, btw. Thanks.

Delays are never fun. Im working on trying to figure out if i want to file a 1151 claim or file a malpractice lawsuit against the va for the or mystery goo delays and what the 2 month delay ment as far as prognosis.

How does the va base no travel pay on ss benefits? Jerry gets those and the va pays for the gas for both va and community care. Lately if i use the portal they have about a week for va. Appointments and 2 months for community care appointments.

"Florida??" wasn't that the strip of mud pointing off toward Cuba before it got blown and washed away?  Helene wasn't bad enough now comes along Milton ... Maybe I'm just dense but if your house gets blown away and it repeats ad nauseam how many times do you rebuild?  Florida's a great place to visit - I even did that when I was in my motorcycle days - but live there?  Ain't no way in Hades!!

---

Since I'm 0% handicapped (ignoring PTSD, Heart problems and COPD, etc which they do) they base my financial benefits on income and, like I said, I make $2000 too much SocSec.  I've been dealing with the local VSO - who is also the school principal so he's got a full plate! - who keeps saying "Wait!" ... yeh, if I wait much longer there won't be any problem, I'll be dead.  (( am I frustrated with this system?  Yep, big time!! ))

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ETA: Maybe I've just got a bad attitude but we donated to SocSec for years - *I* started when I was 15 throwing papers, and some of spent a lot of time in a place called VietNam (and the military in general). The SocSec that I remember was supposed to keep us alive with a roof over our heads - I was never promised a palace but I expected better than a tent (and for me it is better, ignoring a very old dilapidated trailer.) In my memory the military promised us medical care for life in exchange for putting out lives in the line, but that was back in RVN days when they promised anything to get enough canon fodder for first WWII, then Korea, then RVN ...

and that's where my ride to go get these stitches out just drove up. Later folks.

Stitches are out and I'm home though with the blood loss where the doctor asked if I need a transfusion ... well, gee, no it wasn't that bad just I just didn't expect it.  Backstory:  being typically me I was giving the nurse who was going to take the sutures out a hard time ... "Can you do it?  Have you ever done it before?", etc. She calls the doctor in (who, I think realizes I'm okay just harassing the hired help)  he says that she's taken out a few thousand stitches so there shouldn't be a problem but if there is that I should just scream ... loudly!
She did a good job of taking them out ... and @amymeme they're a form of mattress suture but he connects the ends as if it were a regular suture so she just had to cut beside the knot and pull the suture out ... the first couple went fine then she had one that ran through a scab, didn't come as easy but I didn't need to scream ... just threatened!!
The blood loss came after they were done from me pulling what I thought was a piece of loose skin that turned out to be attached to the other side and I started a small bleed. I asked if I could get a band aid and that started a process in the clinic ... again, geeze, it wasn't a major issue.

The pups and I are going to have a discussion.  I knew this was going to be a long day (3 hours travel, ??? hours in clinic, 3 hours back ... add in a couple for eating and big city shopping (( 8:30 - 18:00 )) ) so I left the dogs out in the house (MISTAKE!!!!!)  The worst I expected was that Belle would get into the food - didn't think about bloat! - she didn't but she tore up the comforter I use as a cover and a cushion from the couch - already torn but, geeze, enough!  
Sorry guys, it's gonna be in the crate - if I can't trust all of you then you all are gonna be in a box!

We haven't tested kasper out of the crate again since he had his escapade dragging dirty laundry that was in the bedroom out into the living room and throwing some pillows around. I think he would be fine to try again but then I also just don't know. I've not had an issue with him when I'm at the house but outside when he's in but I didn't have an issue with him prior doing things as long as I was still on the property.

Our first freeze is tonight. Going to cover up the sweet potato vines and see if they make it through. the seller just waited way too long to ship them and they haven't really set potatoes very well yet. I need them in as long as possible. Tonight and tomorrow night are going to be cold then it's supposed to go up again and I might be able to get them a couple more weeks of growing time.

So what is the 78th parallel and why is there a sign about driving across it. Our ski area opened today up hill. Of couse here it hit mid 50s. Estes park and the stanley hotel were fun. Came home to squirt sick.

Look into the pact act. You should be able to claim the copd. Should being the issue. We applied for aid and attendance again. And this time got a different denial. So they gave jerry 30% for the tardive dyskinesia caused by his bipolar meds. Which was about half the reason for applying for a&a. He did not apply for the rating increase for the td. So the denial was because he needs 60% or higher to qualify for a&a and they were granting the max of 30% for td so he didnt qualify. But he has 100% for bipolar. Make as much sense as how 100% +30%+30%=100%+ denial after denial.

So good your hand feels better.

Well, let's see ... 78th parallel ... it passes through a couple of islands but absolutely nothing in the continents.  See 78th Parallel  I think the thing with driving across it would be: unless you're on one of the islands there's no way to drive across it (and as far north as the islands are, there may not be any roads to drive on!!)

Sick dogs are no fun!  Sky hasn't been eating much for the last couple of days so last night I 'spiced' her kibble with chicken/rice canned food ... and today she's been wandering around constipated but when she does let go of anything it's a little very runny.  Well, shit!!  We're gonna do some rice this evening ... don't have any chicken and not gonna make a store run for any.  Methinks the little lady is gonna spend the evening (or more) on the porch tonight.  Sokay, she likes staying out ...

VA ????  Well, I ain't gonna say what I'm thinking ...

Sky last night was a nightmare!!  We went to bed about 11:30 and about 01:00 she woke me up because she was screaming.  Of course when I got unwrapped from sheets, etc she was setting there looking at me.  If she'd been a kid I'd have said she had had a nightmare.  
Then she asked to go out about 3:00 (ish) so I put both of the old dogs out and went back to bed until Avalanche told me he wanted back in about 4:30 (pre sun anyway)
I really would like to get a good nights sleep (sorta like Amy??)

Her feces today have been moister than normal but at least they're solid and a LOT fewer of them!!  I'm thinking she's gonna get another round of rice with a bit of kibble ....

ETA: I put her down with about 2C of cooked rice (of course it's cooked, idiot!) and about 1/2C of kibble. About 1/2 the rice is gone and most of the kibble ... so all told that's about 1.5C of edibles, right? Let's see how tonight works.

Sigh. The vagaries of old dogs. Hope you find a way to get some sleep🥰

I am so over the old dog woes. I've had nights where kenzi has needed to go out 6 times. I've started giving her a higher dose of insulin at night and basically putting her in a low blood sugar coma to sleep, but now kye thinks he needs out but doesn't actually want to go out. He would just rather crap in the house quietly. Kasper has gotten wise to the fact that this is not okay and will tattle on him, so sometime around midnight kye may get up with the intent of needing to poop and kasper will take off like a shot down the hall which usually wakes me up so I can go force kye outside (and most importantly keep him from pooping on the living room rug, which really grinds my gears)

Last night apparently I was just too exhausted to notice kasper ratting him out in time. I heard kasper move down the hall but wasn't lucid enough to get up immediately then kasper came back and got in bed because basically once poop hits the floor in the house he doesn't feel it's fit for him to walk on anymore. I'm over cleaning up messes in the house at 3am though. We take all the dogs for an evening walk when we get off work, then I throw kye out again right before I feed around 8pm because he's under my feet the whole time if I don't, then I make him go back out as soon as he's done eating, and we make all the dogs go out right before bedtime. Kye will rush. He never wants to be outside so he will rush down the stairs once forced out there and pee at the base, sometimes not even really off the stair, then try to rush back in the house without moving around a little to see if maybe he needs to poop as well.

Ugh, Jenn, what an exhausting hassle. And not what you need this stage in your life. Will be thinking of you

Good vibes are appreciated. Between the dogs and the fact that I got bumped into "high risk" protocol today at my ultrasound it's been an irksome day. We were growing in the 12th percentile a month ago at our ultrasound, now we are in the 3rd percentile. I have no doubt she's going to be a small baby. I wasn't very big and neither was my husband, but regardless I'm now back to weekly ultrasounds and now have to go in for a consultation with a high risk doctor after my ultrasound on monday. I'm not fully kicked out of the low intervention program yet since everything with the baby is perfectly fine. Heart, lungs, kidneys, proportions, movements and everything is perfectly formed and working. And my vitals have been great as well. She passed a non-stress test today when they saw that she was tracking very small (3 pounds at 32 weeks). Frustration. I did not want to have to go in weekly. And my husband is now freaking out.

Jenn, I'm so sorry. Hopefully, growth rate will pick up a bit over the next few weeks. Will be keeping you in my thoughts.

Next time i pass it ill get a pic. It says the forgotten war below then some other stuff.

Jenn that sucks.

I think im going through a minor depression over that i think squirt is dying so haven't been on the forum as much.

Emily, tough to watch our old dogs in their final days. And i think a bunch of us are at that stage. Though not quite as acute as you and Squirt. Hugs

amymeme wrote:

Emily, tough to watch our old dogs in their final days. And i think a bunch of us are at that stage. Though not quite as acute as you and Squirt. Hugs

Yup, I'm looking at 13 and 14 years old and every morning when I get up I look to see if the two 'pups' are gonna get up and keep me company. When I had Sasha put down, there's a part of me that says it was for the best - she was having a real hard time getting around and getting up / down steps (or even the ramp), there were times where she'd fall backward when she was taking a dump but she was my dog and for all the hell she put me through I wasn't ready to put her down. (( I should have waited )) Sky has been with me longer than Sasha was but, in my mind, I could put her down with less of a problem - hell, Sasha was just really involved in my life. Avalanche - oh man!!! - how do I put down a dog who's been a brother to me ... I was joking with Zac (the vet) about the cost for putting down a human ... that got me a "are you serious" look and not really but that's what it's gonna feel like when / if I have to put Avalanche to sleep.

And, just dawned on me, I have a friend in Las Vegas (gamboling) and I need to go check on his dog ....

It looks like squirt has a husky/northern breed problem with her lungs and pneumonia. 4 meds aamd she is feeling a little better and will eat chicken and frosted mini wheats but no dog food. If we can get the pneumonia under control and handle a lifetime of prednisone we still have to get past the damned dog can not live on chicken breasts and frosted mini wheats because malnutrition will kill her.

@amymeme and I had a discussion last summer about keyboards and I went looking for a Microsoft 5050 when my old one went out and it appears as if MS isn't in the 'aftermarket' market. So I went looking for something that was similar - full-sized KBD, numeric key pad, function keys that I can set to a function. Seems as if MS isn't doing them at all and the couple I did find were in the $200+ range --- nope ain't doing that for a keyboard that'll last me to a year - year and a half. Ended up buying a Logitech K345 ( I don't like Logitech! ) so we'll see how this works out.

I like my Logitech g15( i think) keyboard. Has the programmable m keys and an lcd display. It was a really nice gaming keyboard when i bought it for $150 in i wanna say 2005. Still works great all these years later. Keyboard has outlasted 3 laptops so far.

Finally figured out what is killing my current laptop. Windoze claimed my battery was just fine, bios saw the battery problem but couldnt tell me what it was exactly, just the battery wasnt holding a charge correctly. Ubuntu was able to tell me exactly what cells were going bad. I hate internal batteries and i hate that hp doesnt want to sell me a battery but wants me to go to an authorized hp repair place. I refuse to pay someone to fix my laptop when i can do it myself. Previous hp (cost $200 at walmart) became a very small desktop when that battery died and it was more to replace the battery then what i paid for the laptop. Current hp was a very high end gaming laptop 4 years ago and still on par with a mid range laptop. Had to replace the inverter 2 years ago and now i need to find a cheap hp with the same battery or maybe hunt down one on amazon or something. Its not the best time to shop for a new laptop. Tempted to build a desktop if i go new computer route that i can use as a mining rig when its not being used. I understand the hardware end of the build but not the software to run the mining algorithm. Ive been trying to figure out how to fund my pipe dream of buying one of the high end EVs that uses a subscription service to enable features like the heated seats in the bmw and reverse engineer it so i could, for a fee, permanently enable all the subscription features without paying for a subscription. In theory it seems simple. Autocad was one of the easiest things ive ever hacked but it still took me 6 months to find the one stupid line that needed a false changed to a true. Tedious but easy. And windoze its in the lower level machine code where you create a loop on the validation key.

So now im going to look up they keyboard you ordered because im curious and have nothing better to do.