Thor's Day!

Thor sez: Oh sure, laugh it up, but I'd like to see you lick under your own chin without making a face or two.

Money, Idiots and WTF?

I must confess, when I saw the headline on Comcast this morning, that a hospital in Spain isn't going to give its nurses bonuses unless they wear skirts, my first thought was: They get BONUSES?

Holy freaking cow.

If someone is "concerned" because they had never heard of Barack Obama before three years ago (but admits to doing no research nor reading any news magazines or publications), but had no similar concerns that they hadn't "heard of" Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee until this primary started, does that make them racist or an idiot?

Have I become stupendously intelligent or has the local news become breathtakingly stupid? This morning on one of the local stations, there was a "news story" (read bit o' propaganda). The newscaster seriously, seriously, y'all said that while these two random national guard soldiers were "a MILLION MILES away from home", they were following the primaries. Cut to shot of two macho uniform guys walking down a side walk to say that when people started talking about the economy and you know, issues facing us here at home, it "HURT their feelings". Really? Hurt your feelings that other issues were being included in national debates? We should ONLY talk about Iraq? That is all we should talk about and nothing else?

You are a grown man and don't understand that there is more than one issue facing this nation, one of the most important is, of course, bringing you home from Cheney's money making scheme? But only one of many issues facing this nation.

Or was is some big wig's idea of trying to be all Karl Rovian and inject a feeling of guilt so that we just shut up? I'd like to talk about who decided that this was news and not some personal opinion. Because that is was it was, personal opinion, not fact.

Loki sez: Well it hurts my feelings that no-one has ever said one word about the issue of shredded versus loaf cat food, but I don't see any news crews out here interviewing me!

May I Gloat?

Just a teeny-tiny bit? Please? You see, most of the time in this household it is Jason saying to me, "You mean you haven't _____?" Fill in the blank with "read this book" or "seen this movie" or "heard this album".

And thus yesterday when I received a reply of "Who?" to my announcement that Dith Pran had passed away, as sad as I was about the planet's loss of that remarkable man, I also felt a little teeny-tiny bit of gloat as I got to ask....

"You mean you haven't seen The Killing Fields?"

Now, I'm not such a humanitarian saint that I just knew who Dith Pran was on his own merits, no. I stumbled upon his story in my quest to feed my insane school girl crush on Sam Waterston, he of original Law and Order fame. I know, I know, but I'm a sucker for a guy with big brains and talent.

For a full sampler of Sam's talent range, start with The Man in the Moon, then move on to The Killing Fields, and finish off with Serial Mom. Of course, you can see him in his all his righteous indignation every day on the Law and Order channel......I mean TNT.

And of course, I just had to trot right on out this morning and rent a copy of The Killing Fields. So Jason could see it, of course.


Thor sez: Oh my Ceiling Cat, you're weird.

Monday Morning Musings

I was so happy to peek outside this morning and see that it had rained last night. I had Jason put down weed & feed on the lawn Saturday because The Weather Channel had given me a 60% chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday. Which never showed up.

I have received an invitation to my high school's 30th reunion. I shall not be attending. I haven't gone to any of them. High school was a very strange time for me: po' ugly white trash girl, socially retarded with no particular gifts or talents to share. Why would I want to go back? The thirty years since then have been far greater than I could ever have imagined back when I was that awkward, backwards girl. Really, I feel sorry for people who say that high school was the best time of their lives. That's an awfully short time span.

And I have completed my bird watching geekiness by installing a triple level feeder. Level one for freeze dried meal worms (Thor ate one! eeewww!) for the bug eating birds like my family of bluebirds and the mockingbirds. Level two for regular bird feed for my seed eaters. And Level three is a hanging cage for suet cakes. I've actually lured the brown thrashers up off the ground to nibble on suet cakes. And last, I purchased a bird bath. I've not seen anyone taking a bath yet, but have spotted the bluebird, the thrasher and Mr. Cardinal takings sips.

I'm thinking about this for my front room. The current rug is not quite right anymore. The walls are buttery yellow and the love seat is an olive-y green. I've hung several of Jason's Blue Ridge in Autumn photographs in the room. I just like the colors and the flow of this rug. I'm sure it's just a reaction to the stress of having to choose house paint colors. I've got a good track record with rugs, so it makes me feel better about myself to know I can pick out something that goes.


Thor sez: Excuse me, but I believe I was promised a love-gloving today!

Loki Sunday!

Yesterday, I asked Loki if he had any suggestions for his Loki Sunday theme. He did not. So he gets what he gets.

One of Loki's favorite things to do is to lick my thumb. He curls up on my lap, hooks a claw or two into my hand and drags it into licking position. I do not know why.

I Don't Understand

This completely baffles me.

I understand the idea of prayer as a tool for recovery. I understand and as a true blue tree hugging just want gays to get married so I can buy them toasters for wedding presents liberal, I support any adult's right to refuse medical care and use whatever form of religious/spiritual care they desire. Go for it. It is your right as an American adult to have freedom of choice in religion.

What I don't understand is these parents. They claim that their religious view barred medical assistance. Their religious view relied on prayer to cure.

So why, then, when the poor girl finally died (and untreated diabetes and ketoacidosis is NOT a quick, nor pleasant way to go), but why then when she died, did her father attempt CPR?

That is a medical intervention.

Why would he believe that prayer was good enough to use as long as his child was only suffering horribly, but the minute she died, medical intervention was just peachy keen?

Or was it his ass he was trying to save at that point?

This is Miss Kitty:

We adopted her when my to-be-26-this-year old son was 4 years old. She was a cranky bitch of a cat. She was annoying because she always had to be on me, next to me, touching me. She didn't like anyone on the planet except me, although she would tolerate my son and not shred his skin on a whim. We had to lock her up when children came to the house.

She lived to be 17 years old. And one day when she was around 15 years old, I noticed she was emptying her water bowl every day and peeing like a race horse. So I snatched her up and took her to the vet immediately. She was diagnosed with diabetes and we began a regime of diet changes and twice a day insulin shots.

Insulin shots. Twice a day. I bought insulin, I bought syringes. I gave her a shot in the morning with breakfast and a shot in the evening with dinner. I took her to the vet once a month to test her sugar.

It makes me sick that a cat would receive more medical attention than a child. That child was given parents to love, protect and guide her.

They used God as an excuse not to do that. Then they used God as an excuse as to why they shouldn't be held accountable for failing in their parental duties.

And that is wrong. I don't care what religion you follow or none. It is wrong to let a child just lapse into a coma and die.

True Colors

The other day, an unfamiliar car pulled into my driveway. I thought the man who got out and walked to the door must have been lost and was coming to the wrong house.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful, ma'am," he told me when I answered the door, "but I've been doing some painting work down the street and..."

"And you noticed my horrible paint job?" I asked.

I took the man's card. He was very sweet. And very right. My house looks like a carnival horror house with peeling paint and spider webs and half the American population of mud daubers. It seriously needs a paint job.

But choosing colors to paint the outside of your house is HUGE. What if it looks horrible? You can't afford to paint twice. And I am completely incapable of accurately imagining the end results. And color blind.

Conversation with my mother over paint chips, one of which was destined to become my kitchen wall color:

Mom: See here, the floor tile you used, the green in it is more of a blue/cool tone and these paint chips have a yellow/warm tone to them. You can't use any of them.

Me: Huh?

Mom, snatching a couple paint chips out of the approximately ten trillion green ones on display: Use this one for the kitchen, that one is too light and won't effectively pick up the green tone in the flooring. You'll need to use this one in the TV room, it is one shade darker and will carry the green tone over from the kitchen floor to the flooring you have in the TV room, but you'll need to get a rug with the darker green tones to balance out the yellow/warm tones in the hardwood flooring that are in conflict with the cool green tones in the kitchen. If you use this darker color and get a rug with perhaps this color scheme (throws about 20 colors on the table) it will eliminate the difference between the two floors.

Me: Uh, okay. (wipes drool from chin)

What do I most frequently ask my mother? "Does this go?"

It's why I only wear jeans or black. Everything goes.

And on a completely unrelated note:

Loki joins the zombie craze sweeping the nation and attempts to eat his brother's brains.

Thor's Day

I really don't think Thor deserves a Thor's day spread because of the laundry basket post. But I am aching to my bones, brain dead tired this morning, so he gets his way.

Thor's new bed:


(Look closely!)

Marcheline!

I blame you.

And Jason.

I've had to endure "Chocolate Rain" and its multitude of imitators more than is humane. Waterboarding is less torture, I'm sure.

It is so stuck in my head, I'm making up my own lyrics.

Loki's fat...
He's the fattest cat around.
Loki's fat...
He runs just like a little girl.
Loki's fat...
He could never catch a squirrel.


Loki sez: I'm not fat! I'm just big-furred!

One Plant, Multiple Solutions

How to solve a huge chunk of America's problems? Sugar cane.

Brazil has been successfully using ethanol made from sugar cane for many years. According to a National Geographic article I read a few months ago, sugar cane yields the most ethanol per gallon of regular oil used in production.

So, we invest in sugar cane technology. This will have many benefits.

We will control our own fuel supplies and stop indirectly funding terrorists with oil dollars. Cheaper fuels costs, improved national security.

We will revitalize the economy of the deep South - coastal Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana - and Hawaii, where the cane can be grown. Improved economy, jobs, better schools, better education, less crime, less social services needs.

Won't significantly impact the farming of corn, wheat and other crops essential to food production, so costs of basic foods won't spin out of control.

Because you get more ethanol from sugar cane than from corn, there will be less use of pesticides and land.

I mean, come on, it makes perfect sense. Oh wait, that's probably the problem then.

Thor sez: Good points, all, but you fail to address the most glaring problem with converting from use of imported oil to use of local ethanol: How will the oil companies continue to make billion dollar quarterly profits?

Happy Easter

to all our peeps!

The Basket Case

I have this laundry basket. I bought it many years ago when the felines who resided in my home were elderly, sedate cats who had no need to strope their claws into razor sharp points.

So I bought a wicker-type basket. It was cute and a good size and cheap at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Times change as they must and if Thor liked to occasionally sink a claw or two into the soft weave of the fiber, well, that's what cats do and I'm not going to freak out about a few puncture wounds in a cheap basket.

Then, yesterday evening, I found Loki staring intently at the basket. "Loki," I asked him, "what's going on?"

"Ummm," Loki replied, nervously licking a paw, "nothing. I'm going under the bed now. Kthnxbai."

And lo and behold once Loki's giant head was gone:


"Thor!"


"You called?"

"What are you doing?"


"Sleeping on your laundry."

"Please remove yourself, at once."


"I never get to have any fun!"

Thor's Day

Holy Ceiling Cats, it's Thor's day again already?

Random Thor fact: Thor loves his smelly buddy, Mick. Loves him. Thor used to get in Mick's cage with him when he was small enough to fit and just hang out smelling the piggie smells.





Photos by JAZ

Zombie, It's the New Black

What's up with the zombies? They are every where these days. Ah well, perhaps an infusion of the undead into our culture will distract us from those dead horses we're still beating.

Hmm...zombie horses.

I'm trying my best to do an accurate zombie impression. Insomnia has reared its ugly head. Spurred on by a nasty cold and fretting over a situation I can do nothing about.

I think I've not slept more than three hours in row for the last six days. And last night was spent tossing and turning and telling my brain to just STFU already and be quiet.

I tried meditation. I tried relaxation. I tried counting backwards from 100. I tried singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. I tried drugs. I tried listening to infomercials.

But alas, I managed to doze off for my prescribed three hours (10:30 pm to 1:40 am), then awoke to toss and turn until 4 am when I gave up and watched an episode of "The World's Most Exciting Police Chases". Thor and Loki enjoyed it.

So I am up at 5 am, having coffee and a peanut butter sammie. I will endeavor to attend a class I have missed twice already at work this morning from 8 am to 1 pm. That's going to be interesting.


Loki sez: The problem with you humans is you try to sleep all at once. You should take 12 naps a day like we do.

Shades of Grey

One of the last times I attended the small Baptist church in which I was baptized was a sunny Spring day. It must have been close to Easter because all the azalea bushes were blooming. I was hanging out at the front doors after the service, waiting for my mother to quit chatting with her friends. I was in my early teens, old enough to understand fully the conversation I heard.

The pastor and two deacons were at the door, speaking to people as they left the church. A black family, mom, dad and two young boys, perhaps eight and ten years old had visited our lily white church that day. The pastor and the deacons thanked them warmly for visiting with us. The pastor asked if they had filled out a visitor's card and the father assured him that they had indeed and complimented the pastor on his fine sermon.

As the family walked away, there was a silence. As they turned the corner, one of the deacons said, "Glad they filled out the card, maybe we can send them directions to the nigra church for next week."

The second deacon laughed and said, "It's only a mile up the road, figure they got lost?"

The pastor said nothing.

Does that make me a racist? I knew those men. I went to school with their children. They taught me in Sunday school. Did it make me a racist?

But that was long ago, you say. The world is different today. Things are better.

No they are not. We are as racist as we have ever been. We love to hate others. Black, Hispanic, gay, Muslim. We are equal opportunity haters.

I didn't hear anyone saying much of nothing after 9/11 when Jerry Falwell said the terrorist strike was God's revenge on America because of homosexuals, feminists and liberals.

That's because the far religious right loves nothing more than to hate gays and feminists with hand selected scripture to back them up, so it was okay to say that, or it could be brushed aside with a grin and a shrug and a "Oh, you know Jerry, always gonna say something over the top."

But good gracious Lord, let a black man give vent to some anger and frustration over the racism that still exists in this country. Let a black man go "over the top" with a statement and it's the end of the freaking world.

Oh, we puff up with our righteous indignation and rebuke any man of the cloth who says anything controversial or incendiary. Oh my goodness gracious, that wasn't nice, what he said.

What Fred Phelps says isn't nice. What Pat Buchanan says isn't nice. What Jerry Falwell says isn't nice. What Ted Haggerty used to say isn't nice. whisper- but they're white, so we overlook it.

Because that sting you may feel when you hear those words is shame and guilt, because deep down, unless you have no capacity to tell yourself the truth, you know there is a nugget of truth in the words. And we don't like to feel shame and guilt, so we project it back at the speaker. You know we are a racist, homophobic, xenophobic society but it's much nicer to just pretend that because you aren't that way, then no-one of your race is that way.

And if you don't believe that overt, hateful racism still exists in this country, then pull your head out of the sand and spend a few minutes perusing the comment sections of Charleston.net. It is appalling. I'm not even black and it offends the hell out of me what people say.

I've heard supposedly educated people in the "helping professions" call WIC supplied formula "welfare juice". I've heard those same people say that illegal aliens should be "shot and their bodies left to rot on the border as a warning". I've heard sentences begin with "all those blacks" or "all those towel heads" or "all those Mexicans" so many times it makes me want to scream.

All? All? You can't see what an insult that is?


Thor sez: Stop! I can't take it no more!

Getting My Irish Up

Every channel I clicked on this morning had clips and experts talking about Dennis Quaid's twins. The twins received a life-threatening incorrect dose of medication. This is a too common experience in all hospitals. All the experts were going on and on about labeling and new scanning devices which will help limit errors.

Not one mentioned the most efficient way to decrease medication errors:

Stop slashing nursing staff to the bone.

Study after study after study has proven again and again that the more RN's at the bedside, the less medication errors, the less infections, the less post-operative complications and better outcomes overall for all patients.

But hospitals continue to slash staffing. Why? Because we are expensive and cut deeply into the hospital's bottom line.

And this Irish dander moment brought to you by my grandmother Radigan, daughter of an Irish immigrant from Crossboyne, Ireland.

Thor sez: Kiss me, I'm Irish!

Loki Sunday

Random Loki fact: he loves chickadees. Sparrows, finches, Carolina wrens may come and go from the bird feeder, but the moment a chickadee arrives, Loki begins to chitter and meow.

Bird watching:

Across the Universe

A few days ago, Jason rented "Across the Universe". For those unfamiliar, it is a musical set entirely to Beatles' songs. Set in the late 1960's, it tells the tale of a young Englishman who comes to America in search of his American G.I. father and finds love and rebellion instead.

Jason pronounced it "interesting". I really liked it. In how many movies can you say, "Is that Joe Cocker?" and "Is that Bono?" and be correct? The changing tone and subject matter of the Beatles is most clearly seen (heard?) on the 1 cd, as they and American youth shed their innocence and struggled against the Vietnam war and the social upheaval of the times. This movie does the exact same thing, but with super talented singers and characters right out of the Beatles's songs. Jude, Lucy, Sadie, Prudence, Jo-Jo all tell their stories as their lives converge and they discover themselves and what they believe.

I was too young to participate in those crazy days of hippies and war and protest, but I was old enough to watch and to understand that something new and exciting was going on. I got stuck with disco as my generations' teen rebellion. Fun, but completely lacking in any sort of greater meaning.


Loki sez: Make love, not war!

Thor's Day!

I know y'all just hang on, waiting for Thor's day to come around. I am whipped after my sixth night and I gave myself a nice knot on my head by walking right into a piece of equipment that I had JUST MOVED 10 SECONDS BEFOREHAND! I'm such a spazzoid.

But enough about me.....

Thor!

And The Winner Is....

Epstein-Barr! Or mono - the test doesn't differentiate. My titers were high enough to confirm a recent infection.

Okay Jason - YOU WERE RIGHT!

So, if I kissed you or stole a swig from your glass in November or December, I'm sorry.

I just need to continue to take it easy and not push myself. Gosh darn it, I guess those ceilings won't get painted any time soon.

I'm happy to just have an answer.


Thor sez: Yeah!