Mutterings and a thank you

How do you like my new laptop?

Click to make it bigger.

I typed that up on Saturday, when the Sterling first arrived. As yet I haven't had a chance to really play with it, since Missouri has been off for the last few days and the basement is really in no condition for much of anything yet. For starters, it's been mopped twice but still looks like a pigsty, partially the fault of the former tenants, and partially because of all the construction that had to be done down there. On the bright side, I have yet to meet any Rachnoss, so while some of their webs remain intact (every time I THINK I've gotten them all...) they seem to have abandoned our basement for greener pastures. Or darker caves, or whatever it is that giant, half-human alien spiders prefer.

It seems that all of the blogs I follow are doing retrospectives this week, but honestly, I'm not feeling the love. This is probably because at the moment I am sick AGAIN (this is is what, the sixth time this year?) and my general feeling towards 2012 is "Good riddance, don't let the door hit you on your way out." The election, partisan politics, the increase in violent crime around the country (at least in terms of mass shootings and such), and some of the natural disasters the world has suffered of late, have not helped this feeling. For my part, I'm lighting a candle and hoping we can put all of this bad juju behind us for 2013.

Some good things have happened--I got published, twice for short stories, and once for a knitting pattern; I had a knitting pattern go semi-viral (1739 downloads and counting), I was saved from near homelessness by the kindness of one of my dad's clients, and through the magic of the internet I met some fantastic people at conventions and writing meetups, and have gained both a great typewriter (or three...maybe) and lots of knowledge because of it. So all in all, not too bad, I guess.

Now pass me that Nyquill. I'm going back to bed.

This isn't what I set out to write. But it was the right thing to write.

Well, I said that details would follow, so here they are:

There are a few reasons that the blog has been light on content and heavy on the random and silly lately. For starters, I've basically been sick since the middle of April. It started with an allergic reaction to a frozen dinner (why can't "chicken" just be chicken anymore? Why do they have to put soy in EVERYTHING?), which combined with yo-yoing Ohio temperatures, dry weather, and an extremely high pollen count that ended with bronchitis. Now normally, bronchitis, which is caused by a virus, works itself out and goes away on it's own after three weeks. In my case, however, it decided to linger. I finally went to the doctor and was given medication, which has made me feel much better but tends to make me a little shaky and tired. Still, not as tired as coughing 24/7 did. It did make knitting a little difficult, though.

While all of this was going on, my grandmother was admitted to the hospital for internal bleeding. They kept her for a few hours, then sent her home. The same day I called my mother to get the phone number for the doctor's office, she told me that Grandma had been re-admitted for severe dehydration. Again, several smaller problems snowballed, and she was two points away from being on dialysis. That night, I came home to find an email that she had stopped eating and drinking, and was not in a good way.

I wanted to go see her, but I also didn't want to be in a hospital while hacking up a lung. So I took a day, went to the doctor, got my meds, and then spent the day in front of the tv.

Then I went to see her.

Everyone was surprised to see me, since they knew I was sick (when everyone you work with tells you to see a doctor, you know you are ill). But I couldn't stay away.

On February 14, 2002, my maternal grandmother had a stroke. It was the middle of the school year and she lived in Canada, so my parents went up to see her and I stayed behind to go to school. They were gone a week, and when they came back we started making plans to visit over the summer. Grandma Ray made slow improvement and was starting to regain some of her functions when in early June, she had a second stroke, robbing her of the little progress she'd made.

When she was first admitted to the hospital, they took her off her medication because of the risk of stroke. Without the ability to speak, she couldn't communicate the things she was seeing to the doctors or to my mom or uncle.

She was a paranoid schizophrenic.

On June 20 we got a call from my uncle that she had gone off food. We called and begged her to eat. It was enough to get her to take a few bites. On July 1, we got the call that she had passed, after once again going off food. We were at my other grandparent's house, celebrating my 15th birthday.

So, when I found out that my grandma--the only one I have left--had also gone off food, and during the same season, exactly ten years after my other grandmother, well, I was scared. And I just want to say thank you to everyone who thought good things for her. She's doing much better now and we are cautiously optimistic about the future.

My maternal grandmother was an avid knitter, crocheter, and sewer. She was a strong woman who didn't sugarcoat the truth as she saw it, and even though she had her problems she loved her family and did her best to do right by them.

I believe that there are two kinds of relationships that people have: There are people that you are close to because you spend a lot of time with them, and there are people you are close to because you fit together, because your personalities mesh. Similar to soul mates, but these relationships are not necessarily romantic in nature and can be between a parent and child, friends, siblings, coworkers, or pen pals.

If there is one person in the world that I could spend an afternoon with in heaven, it would be Grandma Ray. Because she lived so far away, I only saw her once every few years and most of my knowledge of her is anecdotal. I wish more than anything I'd gotten a chance to know her better.

Grandma Jerry has been there since I was born. She was my first babysitter and according to rumor had me trained at the age of two to smile and pose for the camera whenever one was produced. It's thanks to her that I have a bit of an addiction to Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, since we would watch it every evening when I was at her house, me laying on the floor on my stomach and her in her trademark orange recliner.

From her I have inherited a love of tea, a hatred for cooking, and a passion for history. I wish I had her orderly, tidy nature as well, but I'll have to settle for organized chaos and a passing acquaintance with the vacuum cleaner and the dishwasher.

In case you have forgotten, this Sunday is Mother's Day. Thank your mother, and your grandmother, and your great-grandmother if you're lucky enough to still have her around.

Grandmas are important people. Make sure they know it.

Recovery

Error: KnotMagick is recovering from an abnormal shutdown. Please stand by. Some stitches may be lost if you did not move them to a holder beforehand.

Continue in pattern or proceed with garter stitch? Y/N

To avoid this problem in the future, please bind off appropriately and block well.

Yes, that is my night stand right now.

Yes, the M&Ms are essential to a quick recovery. As is the Mountain Dew. (Don't worry, I'm also drinking lots and lots of water.)

Why thank you, I am doing better. (The number of medications actually means improvement, if you can believe it.)

No, I am not the only one who is ill right now. If you are the praying sort, my grandma could use it right now.

Details to follow.

Next verse, same as the first.

Well, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but unfortunately, I have to continue with the random today. My mental bandwidth is extremely low right now for several reasons.

For starters, it is official: I'm allergic to work. That is, my place of employment is aggravating my allergies to the point that I think it's time for a new job. Between the perfumes we sell, the lint and dust from the clothes, the pollen that blows in from the continually opening and closing doors, and the chemicals used by the cleaning crew, I have basically been sick for the past week. To top it off, the only allergy medication I've found that has any effect will only let me sleep 5 hours a night, max, and then only if I take a Tylenol PM on top of it (last night I didn't and got about 2.5). I would like to get allergy tested, and figure out specifically what is causing the problem and what I can do about it, but since my insurance covers absolutely nothing (no prescriptions, no testing, no preventative care, and only 1 check up every 2 years, and only with one of their doctors) that is out of the question.

I have been writing (a little). Missouri challenged me to write a short story for her publisher's annual shape-shifter's anthology, but as I'm having trouble getting out of bed in the morning (or the afternoon...as the case may or may not be) it hasn't been going so well.

I still have not photographed the socks (which did get finished, finally), and I've been meaning to take pictures of the Royalite so I can post them on the Yahoo group (it's still up for grabs, if anyone wants it). Maybe later today.

Must. Find. Motivation.

In the mean time, let me distract you with this, in honor of the Avenger's movie, which comes out May 4th. The sound I made when I first saw this could have shattered glass:

Ironically, when I pulled into work yesterday, this happened to come on the radio:



Did I rock out in the parking lot for all the world (and my boss) to see?

Why yes, yes I did.

Travel Tuesday: Being Sick Abroad

I'm not feeling so hot today, so I though I'd do a little travel blog to cheer myself up and share some of my experiences of being sick abroad. I'm one of those people that seems to get sick every time I leave the house, so I've got plenty of experience to draw from :)

A little disclaimer: I do mention a few specific medications and products in this list; please remember that this list comes from my personal experience only, and that you shouldn't take any medication without talking to your doctor first, and that I'm not a health professional or qualified to make direct recommendations in any way. This is just what I've found to be useful.

This is written from the perspective of an American abroad, but if you're traveling to the US a lot of the information could still come in handy.

• Something I always mean to do but forget: Take a multivitamin or at least a vitamin C pill starting at least a week before the trip, so that it can build up in the immune system. Travel weakens your immune system (between the stress, crappy airline food, close quarters, and the not sleeping), and trains, planes, taxis, and airports are basically giant petri dishes.
  
  
• Wash and sanitize your hands frequently to prevent illness, especially in unfamiliar places where you haven't had a chance to build up an immunity to the local bugs (what is considered the common cold in Florence always knocks me flat on my back. Don't assume that "the flu" is the same thing everywhere, because trust me, it ain't).
  
  
• Airport friendly, multifunction first aide kit: hand sanitizer (travel size), band aides, antibiotic cream (3 oz tube or smaller), ibprophen, and, in my case, Midol (you really don't want me to travel without it, trust me). I've never had any problems with this kit passing airline inspection. The hand sanitizer (especially if it's the spray-on kind) is basically pure alcohol so if I get a cut, say, putting my suitcase in the luggage rack on the train, I can disinfect it, put on the antibiotic barrier, and put a bandage on it. Yes, the hand sanitizer stings like a bitch but it gets the job done.
  
  I like the anti-inflammatory properties of ibprophen over other OTC pain killers, but that's my preference. If you can't take it, don't bring it, and again, consult your doctor.
  
  
• If I'm going abroad, I'll take my allergy medicines regardless of the season, since you never know how foreign pollen or changes in latitude will affect you. I also take one before I get on the plane because my ears don't pop and this helps with the pressure (but that's a subject for a different post). I've also learned to bring at least one or two doses of my preferred cold medicine with me (see #2).
  
  
  
• Keep all medicines in their original containers (even OTC meds and vitamins) or print off the drug facts from the manufacturers website website. That way, if you run out of say, DayQuil (as I did) you can just hand the page to the pharmacist and they'll be able to find a suitable substitute. This usually works, even if you don't speak the same language. If you need a prescription, though, I'd talk to a doctor (see below).
  
  
  
• Most guidebooks have a quick-ref in the back on how to say words like "doctor", "headache," or "vomit." Take it with you, just in case the specific medication you're looking for isn't available in the country your visiting. It is my experience that EU pharmacists are more helpful than American ones when it comes to recommending products for colds and every day ailments--so long as you at least attempt to speak their native tongue. Usually if you can at least describe your symptoms, they can tell you what's wrong and what might help.
  
  
• Most hotel or hostel (or university, if you're studying abroad) front desks can provide you with a list of the nearest English language pharmacies, doctors, and hospitals upon request. You can also check with tourism offices, as they sometimes are linked to clinics that offer low-cost services to travelers, even if uninsured.
  
  
• Lastly, don't overdo it. Relax. You're on vacation. Give yourself time to recover from strenuous activity.

I'm going to go take my own advice and lay down for a little bit. Happy trails!

ESP Fail

(click to enlarge)

We are all still sick. Turns out my allergic reaction decided overlap with either regular allergies or a cold, I don't know what, but I slept for eleven hours last night and still had trouble getting out of bed.

Hermes however, seems to be doing better. I've been cranking out these strips at a surprising rate, but at the loss of my daily writing goal. I'm having a little trouble with my current set of scenes, so I'm welcoming any distraction I can find. Before I go in to work today though, I want to sit down and give Cassie a serious workover, though.

If you haven't been keeping track, I do have the third Cassie novel up on Fiction Press, along with the first two, so you are welcome to go read them. I post a new chapter every two weeks.

In the CD player: Jose and the Pussycats soundtrack
In the DVD player: Beauty and the Beast (Disney animated version)
On the night stand: Dark Mysteries of the Vatican

The Eyes Have It.

Conjunctivitis, that is. My poor baby had to go to the vet today. His eye has been runny all week. I knew he’d have to go to the vet, but was trying to put it off until I had a paycheck in my hand. Then this afternoon I noticed that it was swollen. No more procrastination. My vet is a saint and took a post-dated check.

It has been a Week here at chez KnotMagick. I’ve been picking up hours at the Discount Retailer, even though I wasn’t set to officially start back until Sunday. I ended up calling in sick though, because on Saturday night I had an allergic reaction to a granola bar I brought as a snack for my break. Why do all health food companies find it necessary to add soy to all of their products?

Anyway, my throat swelled up--not enough to merit a trip to the ER, thankfully, but I ended up staying in bed until 1 the next afternoon. I’m pretty much back to normal now, but I had a moment of panic when the vet gave Hermes his antibiotic, then handed me the box and told me to give it to him twice a day for a week. If you’ve never given a cat meds before, then let me tell you, it’s a very messy process involving claws and teeth. It took me, a vet tech, and the vet to hold Hermes down so that ointment could be applied to his eye (another fun chore I get for the next seven days). But the antibiotic he gave me was amoxicillin--along with it’s sister med, penicillin, these are the two things I am most allergic to. I informed the vet of this, and he swapped it out for Liquid Gold, which is what we call penicillin substitutes around here, since a one week supply for a human runs upwards of $80. Thankfully, both prescriptions plus the office visit only came in at $55, which, ironically, is the cheapest vet bill I’ve had since I got him.

I’ve had kitty on the brain lately. If I wasn’t living with my parents and their dogs, I’d be tempted to get him a sibling (actually, I’m still tempted, but I like my head on my shoulders and I’m pretty sure my dad would kill me). Alice and my friend T keep telling me I need to make a Hermes comic strip, so while I was sick that was exactly what I did. He’s just such a character, I’m surprised it took me this long. I’m looking forward to spending time with him this summer. I’ve missed the furry little demon.

Click for the big version.



On my ipod: You Can't Always Get What You Want--Glee Cast
On the night stand: Death du Jour--Kathy Reichs
On the needles: random crochet hat and Mystery Project #1. Little to no progress on either.