JTOK Chatter > Page 398

A month of miscellaneous updates.

Posted on by

Wow, it’s been almost a month since I last posted. Nothing much has been going on…just little things here and there.

Well, I did have some major problems with my new Vista computer, but at that point I really wasn’t loving any computer and was keeping my distance so was not online posting about it. What happened? Let’s just say that little things here and there weren’t working right, so I had to do some system restores, then in trying to get those little things to work right, the solutions caused my system to crash and I had to do three (yes, THREE) full system recoveries (which means taking the computer back to day 1) which meant I lost all installed programs…never fun. It’s back up and working now, but it was a very, VERY, VERY traumatic few days. >:(:'(

I’ve had some good times with our friends… a few drinking and hot tub nights over at Roger and Ursula’s and a night out at a local bar with a co-worker (which made me glad I did not really have to live through the dating scene).

I had my vein surgery just about a month ago and it went very well—he said it could not have gone better. I have to go back shortly for a follow-up to make sure it’s still doing well.

We have had more rain and storms this past month than the whole time we’ve lived here, I think. Poor Maggie… and add the 4th of July sounds to that, and miscellaneous noises in the neighborhood? The poor dog must think she’s going nuts.

My job is…well, it’s still just a job. I am not having any fun and some days it’s just dreadful. There’s a long and involved story but suffice it to say I am SERIOUSLY looking for other employment.

And last but not least, Tom and I continue to chat and talk just about every day. He’s online every morning (my morning) from about 8:30 to noon, and he tries to call once a day. If I am up late some nights (mainly on the weekends) we chat around midnight or 1am as well. Right now, we’re counting down the days until he gets here—we’re finally under one month!! :>>

Maggie does not like storms!

Posted on by

So tonight it was storming—thunder and lightning, the whole shebang. I knew from before that Maggie doesn’t like storms, but she isn’t usually too bad—she likes to come hide with me, try to get behind me on the couch, that sort of thing. I usually keep her occupied by playing fetch.

But last night it was pretty bad, and something struck and messed with the receiver (I was watching TV, so it was on) and the sound went HAYWIRE, got very loud and fuzzy, and it scared the shit out of her (hell, it scared the shit out of me!) :)) and she was shaking and trembling and panting (complete with tongue hanging out). She wanted to hide but didn’t want to get under the blanket, she wanted to sit on my lap but didn’t want to stay, she wanted me to give her attention but didn’t want to let me hold her, she wanted to sit on top of the couch behind my head but she wanted me to help her get up there!

I would just get her calmed down a little, but she was still panting like crazy and shaking like mad. It was really scary for me to see her like that—I knew she was just scared and had been frightened, but I just kept thinking something else might be wrong (which of course it wasn’t). After about 15 minutes, she finally layed down on my lap and after about an hour, she finally stopped shaking. Poor thing!!

My mornings on the computer…

Posted on by

Charlie waits for me at the door to the living room (same exact spot every morning) and when she sees me coming, she starts talking and runs into the office and up into the bed, walking around and around, talking at me, bumping into me and my hand wanting me to pet her. However, that is short-lived as Maggie follows closely behind (having just come in from outside) and wants up in the bed, so I lift her up and put her in—which kicks Charlie out because Charlie doesn’t much like to share, but Charlie still wants attention so she hangs around and sits right there. I managed to snap some pics this morning. It’s the same thing every morning!

I cannot wait until…

Posted on by

we have a dedicated place for everything, so I can keep everything in its place. Today? My wish is for a pantry.

I ran out of paper towels today. I know I bought a HUGE pack of them at Sam’s Club a few weeks ago—but do you think I can find them? I mean, how many places could I hide 12 rolls of paper towels in this house? I thought I knew exactly where they were—where Tom and I have always kept extras (in a storage bin in the garage). Nope, not there. Hmmm, okay. I checked the second place they might be—still on the garage floor, waiting to be put away somewhere. Nope, not there (the toilet paper is there, though!). The third? Fourth? Fifth obvious places? HA. Nope. The joke’s on me.

SO WHERE CAN THEY BE? 🙄 Now I’m starting to wonder if I even bought them…but I KNOW I did.

Oh, but I did find my camera from a few posts back—on my desk, where I thought it was—I had just overlooked it in my rush to find it.

So, in our next house? I want a real pantry. A monstrous pantry. Something bigger than half a coat closet where I can put a 12-pack of paper towels or a case of cream of chicken soup, so I don’t have to store them throughout the house or in the garage.

UPDATE (5:16pm)

I found them. They were in the garage, just in a spot on the other side of the car. Not right next to the spot I originally anticipated finding them…but on the same wall. I obviously put them there because that’s as close as I could get them to the proper spot without backing the car out.

As I said, MONSTROUS pantry. 🙂

Two delicious salads!

Posted on by

I forgot to post this picture earlier! After my bountiful trip to the produce market last weekend, I made not one but TWO tomato/cucumber salads because I couldn’t decide which type to make!! On the left is the tastes-like-home favorite made with sour cream and vinegar—and on the right is an olive oil/balsamic vinegar/feta concoction. Mmmmm, both were yummilicious! Yes, that was my entire dinner!!!

Will wonders never cease?

Posted on by

So Maggie and I don’t agree on trimming her nails: I want to do it and she hates it. :)) I still try to do it every so often, and I play with her feet while she’s laying in her bed next to the computer…just to try to get her used to it. But she never falls for it. Sometimes, I manage to get one or two nails cut before she is too fidgety to control. When Tom is here, one of us placates her with treats (me) while the other person snips (Tom). It’s nearly impossible for one person to do alone—especially since we are always afraid we are going to cut too much and get the quick—until tonight. When I successfully clipped ALL of her nails! I’m not sure why she let me tonight—and there was still some fidgeting—but not enough to deter me! YEA! That’s money saved, as I usually take her to Petsmart to have it done!!

Disappearing camera!

Posted on by

No matter what I seem to do, I am constantly misplacing my camera. I usually leave it on my desk, on the dresser, on my nightstand, or on the counter downstairs…but half the time it ends up somewhere else and I spend 20 minutes looking for it. I know I had it last night upstairs because I took a picture of my dinner (long story :)) ) but this morning? Gone. It’s nowhere to be found. I looked for it, but only had so much time before I had to leave for work—I am hoping it just appears by the time I get home. :))

I hate 65,000 mile check-ups.

Posted on by

So I took my car in for its 65,000 mile check-up, knowing I’d probably have to get something done to the brakes (considering my two recent trips to Sam’s Club for a balance)… but of course, I was due for a litany of other things (to the tune of $822.79). 88| I am sure it wasn’t 100% necessary to get them all done today, but I figured why not, better safe than sorry, at least we have the extra money in the bank now, and most of all I won’t have to do anything major for another 30,000 miles.

Computer Woes Downgraded to Computer Annoyances

Posted on by

There aren’t really many woes at this point (since most of my info is transferred and nost of my software is reinstalled), just annoyances.

Windows Vista has some great new features (photo handling, search capability), but some of the things are REALLY different and are taking some getting used to (a few folders in different places, a different style start menu). Also, there are certain programs of mine that just WILL NOT install—luckily they aren’t life or death programs (like software to backup my cell phone address book), but I do need them so I have to keep messing with it.

Right now, the new computer is still hooked up on Tom’s monitor/desk, but I am thinking that by tonight, I will move it over to my desk so I can have my keyboard and mouse back (I hate the ones that came with the computer, but left the good ones attached to my old computer since I am still using it quite a bit—posting this entry from there, actually). I still need to have my old computer running for a bit, just in case I find something I didn’t transfer or some settings I need to look up.

I do have to say a big PHEW! to our backup hard drive, though. I used it to transfer all our pictures and music and documents (etc.)—which, in and of itself was great. But then, I accidentally deleted a huge folder (probably 50GB of stuff) and since it was too big for the deleted bin, it erased it completely! Backup hard drive to the rescue!!

A Busy Day

Posted on by

So I was finally able to sleep in today—I never seem to be able to sleep in, but I had stayed up later than normal, so woke up when Tom called me at 10am!! 88|

My actual agenda for the day started with a quick pass through the pantry to check for the necessary ingredients for a double batch of Lin’s spaghetti sauce, as well as premeasuring all the spices for two double batches (I like to have one set done ahead of time). But my day actually started by cleaning up nasty piles of Maggie vomit. She apparently found some eggs in the yard and either ate one or it was already broken and she was rolling in it. (I also tried to get a grooming appointment but they were booked.) I am not sure where the eggs came from—there are some birds that are always in our yard, which made me think maybe there was a nest somewhere (our neighbors had a nest in their grass!) but I didn’t see one.

After my spices and pantry-perusing was done, I made my shopping list, and off I went! Since I had to go to Sam’s anyway I decided to get the tires balanced again—I just had it done in April because the car was shaking when braking from a medium speed, but it was doing it again and when I picked it up, they said, yes they were off again. That concerns me somewhat because I am not doing any off-roading or anything that would skew the balance. (I have an appointment Monday morning for the 65,000 mile checkup, so will have them take a look at it, as well.) I also had a stop at Petsmart and Food Lion (for the odds and ends I couldn’t get at Sam’s).

On the way home I stopped at Bryant’s Farm, a roadside fruit/veggie market up the road about a mile. I always forget about it, but our neighbors reminded me of it (I went to dinner there the other night and raved about the strawberries—they were from Bryant’s). There was SO much good stuff there, I spent $25!! 88| The only thing missing from this picture is the watermelon and the piece of strawberry bread that disappeared 10 seconds after getting home!! Everything is soooo good, but the best? Fresh-shucked garden peas…and pickled beets! When I picked up the jar to look at them, the lady told me they were pickled beets—I told her I knew, I was hoping they were, and I hoped they tasted like my family’s beets! (I am sure no one here knows what they are. I can’t wait to try them!) I also can’t wait to have a toasted tomato sandwich, make a tomato/cucumber salad, make a tomato/basil/feta salad, and make a fruit salad!!!

Then it was time to make the sauce! Again, our kitchen is just too small for any real cooking…every counter was filled, the sink was full, and almost every cupboard door was open by the time I was done! I had decided to make lasagna, and of course, my eyes were bigger than my stomach (I wanted leftovers, but I make SUCH a huge vat of it, there is plenty for dinner for four PLUS leftovers for everyone), so I actually put the lasagna in the frig and invited neighbors for dinner tomorrow. 😀

Then it was up to the office to do some work to make up time from my Charleston vacation. I worked on the website, which is something I just don’t have time to do at work. Well, I sorta do have time at work, but I get interrupted so much it’s nice to just be able to do it on my own, at my leisure, without interruptions—it would probably take me twice as long to get the same amount accomplished.

Then I cleaned up the house a bit and finished unpacking from Charleston (I’ve been slowly using things out of the suitcase—I hate unpacking), watched some TV, and went to bed!

Computer Woes

Posted on by

I am so tired of this crap I want to throw it out the @#%$ window.

So if you haven’t heard, I have been having MAJOR computer issues. I tried to reinstall Windows to fix some major errors, and it didn’t work—so now I am stuck with Windows XP Pro SP1—which you need SP2 for just about everything since SP1 is not secure. So, after dealing with that for a good long week, we decided to order me a new computer—with Vista Home Premium. The first one arrived damaged, so had to send it back (and it hasn’t even been picked up yet) and I had to order a new one, which came today.

So I started up the new computer just fine, and went to transfer my settings with the stupid $30 Easy Transfer cable I bought. But guess what? It won’t work, since my old computer no longer has SP2 installed (it refused to install, which is one of the reasons we got a new computer)! Of course, NOTHING on the cable packaging says it needs SP2. Lovely. So I try to use the transfer program that is already installed in XP (which the Vista computer told me to do) and that pops up, but of course cannot find the other computer (yes, the cable is attached). However, when the cable is plugged into the old computer, I get a Found New Hardward Wizard, but the software won’t install, even if I direct it to the correct drive (which, I assume, is because I don’t have SP2 installed).

So it looks like I wasted $30 on this stupid cable. Wonderful. Maybe Sams will take it back, but it says right on the packaging that it cannot be returned, only exchanged for the same item. I either need a drink or I need to go to bed.

Why did I think this would be easy?

20 MINUTES LATER…

Oh, now I’m having even MORE fun. I discovered that I can save my settings to a CD or thumb drive to transfer them to the new computer. Cool. So I put them on a thumb drive and…Vista can’t see it (within the Transfer function). I tell it it’s on a flash drive, pick the correct drive, and hit next and it says “put the media in” — um, it IS in. I try again, nothing. There is a password field, but I have no idea what that’s for, so I try my logon password and that does nothing, either. So I think, maybe it’s an issue with the thumb drive, so I burn it to a CD. And that doesn’t work either.

GRRRRRRRRRRR. >:(

Charleston, SC, with the peeps!

Posted on by

https://www.hudson2001.com…charleston0507/

I drove to Charleston, SC, to spend the weekend with the peeps! Who are the peeps, you ask? They are the same group of people we spent New Year’s Eve with in Raleigh.

One of the girls was having a surprise 30th birthday party for her husband, and invited us all down for a long weekend…and since it was close enough for me to drive, I just had to go! I took Friday off so I could get there with some time to decompress from the drive (I hate driving, especially when I don’t really know where I’m going, and I knew I would arrive with a headache). I had about an hour to relax at the hotel before my roommate showed up and we ordered chinese/thai for dinner since we weren’t in the mood for pizza. After we ate, we headed to the host’s house for some Wiiiiiii and visiting (and some banana coladas—yummilicious, Eddy!). The schedules were a little off on Saturday due to unforseen circumstances, so we hit the beach for a few hours and had some great food at a place called The Mustard Seed, topping off the night back at the host’s house.

The plan for Sunday was brunch, then a fun park for mini golf and go-karting, Pirates of the Carribean 3, and then the “Memorial Day BBQ” (a.k.a. surprise party). I begged out of the movie to “visit with the girls” and helped get everything set up and ready for the party! He was surprised, so that was good!

The best part about the weekend—aside from meeting Eddy!—was Tom texting me at midnight on Sunday to tell me that his leave dates were changed and he is going to be able to go to Orlando to the Tivo Con with me! (The Con is another huge party/meeting with this same group of people—although usually there are 50+ attendees.) Originally, he was going to be leaving for Iraq the same day I was leaving for Orlando—but after some haggling with fellow marines, he was able to push his leave back!! Of course, everyone was THRILLED, because they can’t wait to see him again—and they know how excited I am about him being able to be there!! When I told them, they all cheered!!

Monday morning was just a quick breakfast with my roommate before heading home. She let me borrow her Garmin Nuvi GPS for the ride home—lots of people in our group have them, and are ESSENTIAL when driving around at out-of-town meets—and Tom and I have been jonesing for one, but I didn’t think they were really that useful or cool because I hadn’t really paid close attention to them. So, Tammy let me borrow hers (she also has one in her car) to see if I really liked it or thought we could use it. And I have to say it really is very cool, but we probably won’t need one until we move somewhere larger where we know nothing about the area…or, if we end up doing more travelling here. It really is SO much easier and less hassle than having printed maps. (One of the best things? If you miss a turn, it will automatically reroute you to get you back on track!)

So, it was a very nice weekend…and it was nice to get out of town, even if it meant I have to make up 8 hours of work (remember, I used all my 2007 vacation to come home at Christmas) and even if I had to drive through Myrtle Beach (yuck). The peeps are always worth it!!

Three gripes for the day!

Posted on by
  1. I just found out some family is moving to Atlanta, which excited me because Atlanta is now a direct flight from our piddly airport, so I figured we could get cheap non-stop flights. Ha. HAHA. I just checked, and the cheapest flight is still a one-stop flight. And the direct flights are 2x as much. GRRRR.
  2. People who use confusing subject lines in emails. I have been postponing submitting an ad because the email subject line said “May 19th pickup” so I thought I would do it today. Well, as it turns out, that is the ISSUE date and not the ad pickup date, so it’s too late to submit a new ad. Lovely. The boss is going to love that one. (Yes, I did read the initial email when it came in, which gave the correct information, but I was busy last week and just kept seeing the subject line.)
  3. I think I have mentioned this before, but Drugstore.com annoys me to no end. The last deployment, they had free S/H to Iraq. Now, there are surcharges and overweight charges… We put more than enough in the cart for free S/H, yet when I got to the checkout, I got knocked for $5.99 S/H + a $4.99 surcharge. GRRR.

Welcome to Dallas!

Posted on by

https://www.hudson2001.com…007/dallas0507/

This past weekend I was off to Dallas, Texas, for a birthday party!

The strange part is whose birthday it was—someone I had never even met! It was the mother of one of my new Tivo friends, and it was a surprise 50th party!

To be completely honest, I was actually going more for the abundance of other Tivo peeps that were going to be there—ones I hadn’t met yet, since there is a LARGE Texas contingent that don’t often make it to the east coast meets.

I was picked up at the airport by a new (CJ)) and old (Jeff) friend, where it was off to a yummy Thai lunch. Then it was off to a gaming place where we met up with a bunch of others to hang out, chat, and play games. (While I was there, our friends from home who were watching Maggie, called to say that our garage door keypad died so he couldn’t get Maggie right away—he had to go to the store for batteries!)

Then it was back to the hotel to rest and relax a bit before dinner—everyone was splitting into smaller groups for different restaurants, and our group was going to a mexican place—which was perfect since it was Cinco de Mayo! I was sharing a room with Jennifer, who I had never met. Luckily we got along SMASHINGLY!

The next day was lunch at Mia’s where I was [easily] coerced into trying their famous Brisket Tacos. OMG. TO DIE FOR. Then it was back to the hotel where Jen and I offered our room as Party Central—for peeps to gather and drink between party events (basically to drink cheap drinks instead of paying bar prices) and then watch the Kentucky Derby (complete with mint juleps, courtesy of Jeff #2, aka Smeek, our resident foodie). Here I am with two of the cute boys in attendance, David and Scott. ;D

Then it was time for the birthday party downstairs! During the latter hours of the party, it was off to the Pudding Shack—or, technically, OUR ROOM. :>> You see, a local peep is famous for banana pudding, and since we were all staying at the hotel, they needed a place to keep it cold…so we kept the Party Central and turned in into the Pudding Shack, since the pudding ended up in our tub:

Sunday morning it was time for people to start leaving—the worst part of any meet weekend. Those of us with later flights went to a game park and played mini golf (I beat the guys, YAY!) and rode go-karts.

A trip down memory lane…

Posted on by

Braided barrettes! I don’t know why I thought of these today, but I did, so had to google them and oh man, the memories!

I loved these and had them in every color—my mom actually learned how to make them because she could make them lots cheaper than we could buy them! It was cool because she would make them to match my outfits! She would also put beads and stuff on the ends (all the pics I have found don’t show any accessories).

If you’re interested at all, here are instructions!

What a gorgeous day!

Posted on by

Today is a gorgous day—sunny, breezy, and 80°—and it’s a nice surprise, since the past few days have been quite warm. I have all the windows open and there’s a nice breeze blowing throughout the house. The birds are [still] chirping. People are mowing their lawns so the neighborhood is filled with that delicious fresh-cut grass smell… It’s also a day where I wish I actually golfed so I could take advantage of living in a golf course community! :))

If only the entire summer could be like this, I am pretty sure we would never leave.

Birds chirping at 1am?

Posted on by

So I happen to be up at this crazy hour because Tom was online and we were emailing back and forth. And all the windows are open because it was crazy warm here today and I so far have refused to turn the A/C on (because it gets cool at night). So I am sitting here and the neighborhood is completely quiet…except for a bunch of chirping birds that must think it’s daytime. I have never heard birds like this at night before and it’s honestly freaking me out just a little bit.

Yea! Cholesterol!

Posted on by

I’ve always wondered what my cholesterol was—although honestly, I’ve also been a little scared to find out. Well, due to some recent bloodwork I had, I found out… and it couldn’t be better!! All of my levels (general cholesterol, HDL, LDL) are all way below optimal levels. Wow!

Total Cholesterol: 133
Less than 200 = Desirable

HDL: 46
Less than 150 = Normal

LDL: 70.6
Less than 100 = Optimal

Carpal tunnel? Nah, carpet trouble!

Posted on by

So my wrists have been hurting lately—like all the time hurting. Especially at work and while on the computer, so of course I was thinking carpal tunnel. I have even taking to cracking my wrist like Tom does! However, nothing really has changed at work or at home (seating configuration, desk, keyboard, chair, etc.) so I wasn’t sure why all of a sudden my wrists (both of them, not just the right one) would hurt so much.

But I think I have figured it out. Since both hurt, but the right is definitely worse than the left…it’s the Rug Doctor! I have been cleaning the carpets like crazy (I am on cleaning #5 I think downstairs and I’ve done upstairs twice). I always pull the unit with my right hand while also using the same hand to push the solution button! If I “test” grip (close my hand into a fist) I can feel it hurting.

So, why have I been cleaning the carpets so much, you ask??? Because they are filthy! Before, we would run the machine over the carpet once, get out the spots, empty the water, and it would be hideously, disgustingly gray. Well, that means (duh!) they’re still dirty!! So, I decided to keep cleaning them until the water runs clean! OMG! 88| It’s not happening! As I said, I am on time #5 downstairs (and it’s still dirty, and I am not even moving big furniture) and I’ve done the living room/hallway (upstairs) twice. The scary thing is it doesn’t seem to be getting THAT much better with each pass…so it’s either amazingly dirty, or the Rug Doctor has a glitch that spits a reserve of dirt into the water so you clean and clean and clean and use more product!! 🙂

But anyway, I am now taking a break because I have got to let my wrists get better—it’s painful to do a lot of things, including work on the computer all day!!

Bloodwork Results

Posted on by

I went this morning to get the results of my bloodwork—the first stop in trying to determine what might be wrong with me, if anything.

And you know what? I’m perfectly healthy (other than needing to lose weight, of course).

My sugar levels are good, my kidneys work, my liver is functioning, and my cholesterol is awesome (which is cool because I’ve always been curious).

And, most importantly, all my female things are on target (at acceptable/normal levels)…I can’t remember what all the things were (and hell if I can understand the results sheet he gave me) but all my hormones are okay and I am ovulating (that was a big question, as I had done ovulation tests for a month with no positive results).

So, he referred me to a specialist. I will probably get an appointment within a month or so, so until then…

Nothing is safe with these cats!

Posted on by

So we all know that cats love grass and plants—which is precisely why we don’t have any in our house (I got sick of seeing chewed leaves and vomit piles with leaves in them). So guess what I found when I got home the other day? If you’re squeamish, you may want to look away. :>

Yes, friends. That is a leaf from our FAKE topiary in the middle of a vomit pile! 88| Of course there was also a huge hairball, but I am used to those. But a fake leaf? :crazy:

I love a rainy Sunday.

Posted on by

We haven’t had a rainy Sunday in awhile, and I just love them. I usually feel guilty about sleeping in or staying in bed late and watching TV (cuddled up with Maggie), but last night was stormy and it continued this morning, so I actually DIDN’T feel guilty this morning, and actually even fell back asleep with Maggie snoring next to me. What a luxury! By this point in the day, however, it has finally cleared up enough to open the windows and enoy a little bit of sunshine…

Guess what I just had to do!

Posted on by

Seriously, guess what I just @$&% had to do! I don’t think you could guess if you guessed for 10 years.

I had to pull grass out of Maggie’s butt because she couldn’t poop it out! 88|

No lie.

I see her out there squatting and straining and I am not seeing anything else come out, so I grab some tissue and head out and I see blades of grass actually sticking out of her butt. So I pull them out and there are more. And I actually had to tug a little—I was actually afraid something larger was in there and I was going to hurt her. Then I pulled out a weed or something that was, no shit, like 4″ long with little bulbs on the end.

Oh.

My.

God.

88|

My medical lessons for the day!

Posted on by

Today was my appointment at the hospital for a [I forget what it was technically called, but basically, an ultrasound on the veins in my leg to see if they were working correctly or not]. Interestingly, once I saw the machine and sat down, I realized I had already had this same procedure back in Virginia at Bethesda (2002ish)—so, apparently at the time, they had determined nothing was wrong??

Anyway, for the most part, the veins in my leg are okay—no deep vein issues, everything was superficial. However, the tech did find one vein that doesn’t seem to be working properly—it’s not horrible, but it is definitely why I’m feeling pain again in my lower leg. (And no, it’s not at all related to the sprain I had.)

So where does the medical lesson come in?

Well, since I had a captive audience :>> I asked the tech a few questions. Yes, I could ask my doctor, but I always seem to forget what I want to ask (I know, I know—I should write everything down) so I figured why not ask the guy who was running a wand over my leg and explaining everything he was doing. :)) (He was awesome, by the way.)

I learned that during my previous surgery (microinvasive phlebectomy, if I remember correctly) what happened was that they made a bunch of micro cuts, pulled out the vein via a fishhook type device, and tied off the bad vein(s). I am sure I knew this part at one time. However, what I didn’t know is what happened to the blood that ran through those veins. I always sort of wondered what happened to it—where it went if the veins were tied off. Well, now I know: apparently the body is such an amazing thing that it creates new veins or seeks out alternate veins that may not have been used before (much like blocking off a riverbed—the water has to find somewhere to flow!).

I asked why this was happening again, since I had surgery for this very thing two years ago. He said they could have missed one bad vein the first time, and it just took this long to become a problem…or another vein just went bad. Another surgery could fix it completely, or I could be going through this every so often.

I also learned that weight really doesn’t have that much to do with the problems I am having. He said that bad veins are mainly hereditary and can happen to anyone at any time.

So, the gist of the appointment is that the problem vein is a perfect candidate for a newer type of surgery that the doc will have to decide on—instead of cutting into the leg to tie off the veins, they do an RF something-or-other [I looked it up, and I think it’s Radiofrequency Ablation of Saphenous Vein] and make one incision, insert a catheter into the vein, and through the magic of science, when they pull the catheter out it seals up the vein like a zipper. It is much less invasive than the other surgery.

Radiofrequency Ablation of Saphenous Vein

So, my next appointment is April 9, when the doctor will tell me what’s what and if I will be having surgery, and which surgery I will be having.

Talk about instant heart failure!

Posted on by

My routine rarely varies.

I come home, let Maggie out and play with her, bring her inside, feed her dinner, go out to get the mail through the front door, come back inside through the garage, shut the garage door, then go upstairs to relax for a bit and watch TV.

And today was no different.

So I was upstairs watching an hour-long show (so, with Tivo, it was maybe 40 minutes). Then I splurged and watched a half hour show (so, another 20 minutes). Then I realized I was hungry, so went downstairs to eat dinner, with Maggie bounding ahead of me as usual. As I rounded the corner and headed into the kitchen, I am not sure whether I actually saw what I was seeing or whether my brain just sensed that it was too bright at the front of the house (where normally it would be dark)—but I do know that the next few moments were a blur and I think my heart actually stopped for a brief moment…until it started pounding so hard and so loud I almost couldn’t breathe.

What was so wrong?

THE FRONT DOOR WAS WIDE OPEN! 88| 88| 88| 88| 88| 88|

For a split second, I had thought we had a glass storm door (which of course we don’t), but why else would there be light coming in?

I didn’t even have time to think why the door would even be open—but if that fact weren’t scary (freaky) enough, Maggie was sitting at the threshhold, ears raised, as if she was mere microseconds from bounding outside. I yelled for her to stay and tried to get her to come to me. Luckily she didn’t move, and I was to her in about three strides and grabbing her collar. As I did so, I noticed a cat outside on the lawn (one of the neighborhood cats that is always roaming about) which is what had drawn Maggie’s attention. But what scared me even more?

BELLA WAS ON THE PORCH! 88| 88| 88| 88| 88| 88|

It actually took a good two seconds (I’m guessing) for it to register that yes, this was MY cat on the porch (and not another neighborhood cat). I pulled the door shut behind me and instinctively yelled Bella’s name, even though I was sure it would be pointless. The other cat was slinking away, and I prayed that Bella didn’t decide to be adventurous and chase after her. I made a grab for her and she darted away—thankfully just to the other side of the porch (and not out into the yard) but I knew she could still easily run away. I gently knelt down and she was crouched against the side of the house and as she tried to get past me, I grabbed her and got back in the house.

Then I had another scary thought: OH MY GOD. Where is Charlie? I shook the treat container and thankfully heard a THUNK upstairs, which signalled that she had jumped down off the entertainment center. It was at this point that I think I started breathing again.

I tried to piece together how on earth the door could have come open, and I just cannot fathom it. I always shut the door behind me—and make sure it’s shut—for this very reason, as I am paranoid about the animals getting out. I briefly thought that someone HAD to have opened it—but I can’t imagine anyone opening the door for the hell of it (or left it open if they had snuck in or ran out when they heard me coming) but I did a cursory look around the house anyway (although, thinking back, I probably should have called someone to come look with me, just in case). And how long was it open? I was upstairs for just about an hour—was it open the whole time? The only thing that makes sense is the door didn’t latch and was just lightly pushed shut…but even then, it would have taken QUITE a gust of wind to blow it open (and it wasn’t windy). In my stupor, I thought maybe the animals saw it partially open and pushed it the rest of the way—except when clearer thought prevailed, I realized the door opened inward so they would have had to PULL the door open. Now, I know they’re intelligent, but I doubt Bella could do that on her own.

I am still just in complete shock. And you can bet your ass from now on I will be double- and triple-checking every door, every time.

It’s the same old argument at work…

Posted on by

It’s the same old argument at work—it’s too freakin’ cold in here and the bosses don’t care. I hate hate HATE dressing for office weather—when it’s 73 and gorgeous outside, I shouldn’t have to have my heater on or wear a freakin’ sweater.

Just yesterday, the bosses (and the other agent) were going to be gone ALL day. So I innocently asked if we couldn’t bump the temp up just a smidge because BOTH OF US were freezing and they were going to be gone ALL DAY. Of course, I got attitude about it, and was told that “we keep it cool for our clients.” Okay, but if you are not going to be here, why would your clients be here? Even if they just stopped by, I don’t think having the office at 72 is going to sweat them out after three minutes.

I just get SO tired of it. And so tired of the attitude I get. One day, a boss walked in and said “It feels perfect in here so you must be freezing!” Like it’s some big joke. Yeah, haha, funny, I’m glad you are enjoying that I’m freezing. 😡

My Leg Update

Posted on by

I went to the specialist this morning (the same guy I went to in 2004/2005 and who did my surgery). The gist of the visit was that there is an issue and they need to do more tests…so I have an appointment at the hospital in two weeks, at which time the results will determine what comes next (possibly another surgery). If I recall correctly, I believe he said that the other surgery is a more invasive surgery than the one they did before (something like the one he did two years ago was the starter surgery, for lack of a better term, to see if that took care of it). Of course, he also said that I should be wearing my compression stockings as much as possible. 😳

Oh, and he said the “pulled muscle” that I experienced was unrelated to the vein issues, and that he didn’t hear anything that sounded like a clot—but the hospital tests will show more.

My weekend in DC

Posted on by

https://www.hudson2001.com/scrapbook/2007/dc0307/

So it has been pointed out to me that I didn’t explain why I was going to Washington, DC. So…I was going for a bachelorette party for one of the girls I met at the New Year’s Eve shindig in Raleigh. There were to be nine of us in attendance, all of whom I met at the NYE thing. It was a way for me to get out of the house, spend some quality time with some good (new) friends, and have some fun. Except, as you have already read, I wasn’t having much fun prepping to go.

And I have to say that my craptastic luck continued on the trip to DC.

Well, first, the drive down wasn’t bad at all—pretty much a straight shot out 24 then 40 and it took a hair less than two hours. I spent the night there with friends (the people who hosted the NYE party) and they were taking me to the train station in the morning (about a mile from their house). We ate breakfast out in the morning and it was cool.

So I get dropped off at the station at about 10am—the train was due to leave at 10:43. So tick tock, time passes, I chat with another guy whose first trip it was on the train—and as 10:43 approaches, we all go out to wait for the train. (This station is basically a whistle stop—no ticket counter or even a ticket machine and about 10 chairs in the waiting room—it’s in the same building as the DMV!) By the time I got out there, the one guy (whose brother and dad were already on the train) said his brother just called and said they were running late because—are you ready for this—the train hit a car! So they were stopped filling out paperwork and all that jazz (apparently no one was hurt, otherwise surely the trip would have been cancelled).

So by the time the train gets there to pick us up, it’s after noon. But, we figure, not a huge deal, as we’re really only 1.5 hours late. (I wasn’t too worried because our Friday night dinner was planned for 8, so arriving at 6 still gave me plenty of time to get picked up, change, and get to the restaurant.) However, being even that little bit late threw us completely off schedule, which meant we had to stop along the way (I think three times) in order to let the freight trains pass us (single track, they have precedence). Each time, we were stopped for anywhere from 15-45 minutes. So, our little 1.5 hour delay turned into…FOUR HOURS LATE!!! 88|

So I had obviously had missed my ride from the train station (I had been texting everyone with updates) and they told me not to freak out (they knew I was paranoid about traveling around DC) and that the best thing was just to grab a cab to the restaurant…so $20 later, it was almost 9:30 by the time I cabbed it to Benihana. I was a tired puppy, let me tell you. (And so much for worrying about what to pack—I went to dinner in my travel clothes. Of course no one cared, but still.) They had ordered me dinner, so I did have some food as soon as I walked in, but I missed the soup and salad…and the old waitress sucked so bad I didn’t even think about trying to order some sushi—it was all I could do to get a refill on my water.

So, aside from that MAJOR SNAFU, the weekend ended up to be quite fun. We had security knock on the door at 12:30am telling us to quiet down, we had fun shopping at Pentagon City Mall (is that the name?), trying on bras, and eating lunch at Nordstom’s:

…I had a delicious Chocolixir drink at Godiva (thanks, AmyJo), and we had the best Indian meal ever (okay, it was my first Indian meal ever, but it was soooooooooooo good!).

The only bad thing, really, about the whole weekend, was the money situation. I knew ahead of time that we’d be splitting the bills to make things easy—especially since we were all paying for the bride’s meals and drinks (which I had NO problem with)—but in my opinion it ended up VERY lopsided on my part and it was a little hard to stomach. Meaning…my $20 chicken dinner that they ordered for me at Benihana cost me $50 (everyone else ordered lobster, scallops, filet, sake, wine, etc.) so when the bill was split evenly between 12 people, that was my share. 88| And the same thing happened for our Indian dinner—I had a $20 dinner, plus maybe $10 or so for the appetizers, plus I had a half glass of the $35 wine—and my share was $70 (because “the rest of the table” shared two bottles of $45 red wine). 88| 88| That said, I totally don’t mind splitting the bill or paying for the bride—and I agree about not quibbling about $2 here or “I only had 1/3 of that bottle of wine” there….but knowing I was WAY overpaying hurt my pocketbook (I just know that if I ordered something way more expensive, I would definitely chip in a little more). Anyway, I know it will all even out over the course of my lifetime, but it certainly was a big (BIG!) surprise for those meals! By the end of the weekend, I only had $13 cash left.

But I digress… I don’t mean to be whiny about it…it was just something so out of my normal realm of daily life that it really threw me for a loop. And I am not one to make waves (me? confrontational? never!), so I would never think of saying anything (although, I did ask about how much the wine was).

The train ride home was fairly uneventful. And by that I mean we didn’t hit a car. :>> But we did manage to get off schedule (got in 30 minutes late) and I hadn’t locked my ipod in the OFF position…so I only had about an hour’s worth of charge left (when I thought I would have at least four). And I was dead tired but couldn’t sleep. So, I’m thinking even though I hate driving and I don’t want to drive to/through DC…the next trip? I think I’m driving. 😀

So, overall, I’m glad I went. I love love (LOVE!) the girls I was hanging out with—if I could, I would be hanging out with them on a weekly basis (too bad they’re not closer!). BUT, I wouldn’t be clamoring to do the same weekend again anytime soon. Meaning…visit and hang out with the girls, yes. In a New York Minute. But to do all the expensive stuff again…splitting meals completely evenly? I’d have to think about it, then would probably have to say no—only agreeing if we split the bills more fairly.