Friday mixed grill

[rolanni]

Only fourteen more workdays until Winter Break.

I can do this.

Cool Things I Forgot to Mention:

Wednesday, I missed my turn when taking the Second Alternate Route to work, and took thereby the Third, which involves going first to China, and then coming back in several miles to Waterville.  Not optimum, though a pretty drive of itself, and a pretty day for it.

While I was mooching along the wrong road, heading in A Direction Oblique to Where I Needed to Be by Eight O’Clock, thinking about George, and being Not Nearly as Panicked As Was Proper, a pileated woodpecker flew across the road at windshield-on-a-Legacy-height barely two feet ahead of me, and attached itself to a big old maple tree.  I adore pileated woodpeckers — the battle cruisers of the woodpecker world — so that made the morning right there.

* * *

Today

Today, there were only six applications to input, which made my hands grateful.  Due to having stayed caught up, though, I did have a period of a couple hours where I had no work to do — I had emails and calls out to people, but could not go forward until I heard back from them.  So, I read a book.  The trouble is, I’m getting paranoid about reading when I ‘m in Wait Mode, since this apparently feeds into the perception that Rolanni Never Has Any Work To Do.

Sigh.  Maybe I should play chess on the internet; at least then I’d look busy.

* * *

Fans of Hexapuma:

Yep, we have a cat fountain, and Hex is its biggest fan.  We’re going to try the wet food and vitamins, and have another vet visit on the 13th to see how that’s working for him.  Giving subcutaneous fluids was mentioned as a therapy — I’d need a refresher in how to administer, but Patia required that intervention in her later years, and we handled it.  I’ll have to look into the kidney function cat food.  The problem, of course, being that we have two other cats and all of them are used to browsing.

I’m am sad because it looks pretty certain that Hex isn’t going to be with us for the years and years we had supposed that he would be (we tend to keep our cats around for a long time, here at the Cat Farm), but I’m trying to focus on the fact that we have him with us now.

* * *

Carousel Tides

There’s a review of Carousel Tides at SFRevu

Someone had mentioned the Open Promotion Thread at Whatever today — yes, I did participate.

For those who did not know about this — go here.  Lots and lots of good readin’ being recommended.

* * *

Couple Hours of Fame:

Don’t forget!  Lee and Miller will be signing atthe Barnes and Noble in the Augusta Marketplace tomorrow, Saturday, December 4, starting at 1 p.m.  Be there, or be somewhere else!

* * *

George:

Lots of thinking, but no actual Words on the Page for George today — which is just about right for this stage in the proceedings.

* * *

Cat Porn:

Mozart is asleep in my the his rocking chair.

He’s snoring.

* * *

G’night.

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[saruby.livejournal.com]

I am very sorry to hear about Hex's illness. We seem to have had a rash of ill cats (lost one to cancer, another to kidney failure/old age and have one younger cat with thyroid problems and seizures). It is never easy, but a blessing to have them while we can.

On the positive side, Seanan McGuire gave you a nice plug for Carousel Tides on her journal which I cannot figure out how to link. Have a relaxing weekend. Remember relief is just two weeks away.

[bearddevil.livejournal.com]

I have two defective (one's got a deformed leg, one's FIV+) cats, both of whom are browsers of crunchy food. The older of the two (deformed leg) gets a special treat of wet food in the evening, though. She was having some issues with getting enough fluids, so I make her wet food into soup my adding two parts of water to one part wet food. It has the effect of slowing down her eating (so less barfing) and also helps keep her hydrated. It does help that she's so excited about wet food that there's no way anyone could get between her and her bowl.

Good luck to Hex!

Misc

[claire774.livejournal.com]

All of us here wish Hex the best. Certainly he will receive the very best care possible. All fingers and paws crossed for him.

Then went to look at John Scalzi's (spelling?) books. Didn't know that he's written so many. I've read a couple beginning with Old Man's War and have a couple on my shelf. Looking forward to reading "Agent to the Stars" which looks hilarious.

Went to Wikipedia to look up the Pileated Woodpecker which, of course, doesn't live around here. Glad to know they have adapted to second growth woods and even parks. We have woodpeckers here in the woods at 8,000 feet up "on the mountain" about an hour and a half away north but of course they are smaller.

Sweet dreams to Mozart,
C. and Gang

Cedar Breaks National Monument

[claire774.livejournal.com]

That would be Cedar Breaks National Monument north of here. Had to go look it up. Worth a visit if you are ever in the neighborhood. Was once a lake many thousands if not millions of years ago. Now the sediments thrust up with the rising of the Colorado Plateau. Has created a kind of bowl where one can see layer after layer going down. Lots of brislecone pines the longest living life forms on the planet. Lots of wild flowers. A welcome change from the desert around here in Kanab. More rain up there in a kind of cloud forest at around 8,000 feet.
C.

Smoothies

[meheyjude.livejournal.com]

I second the soupy wet food strategy. We have had to use on various cats over the years. It is also helpful when you have to add some medications. I tend to just add water "to taste" (!) and mash together with a spoon or fork. But another friend has actually purchased a small blender or food chopper and dumps everything in that to blend together. Cat (or Dog) Smoothies!

[rcartwright (from livejournal.com)]

A suggestion on the job front. The Baen website lets you read online. I recognize that is genre specific and you will run across disreputable scribblers like the Lee and Miller characters :) but that is an option to Look Busy. A wider range option is audible books. It seems to be acceptable these days for Administrative Professionals to wear earphones and listen to mp3 players while working like all the cool kids.

Good thoughts to Hex.

[timepiece]

Yes, I recommend reading online for Looking Busy (TM). My particular vice is fanfiction. There is also the Kindle for PC app, for which there are many free books.

[(Anonymous)]

I use white oak bark for my cats with kidney problems. I use about a sixteenth of a teaspoon in each can of Fancy Feast. (My cats won't eat KD.) My vet researched and could not find any research on using white oak bark with cats but said to keep using it since it was helping a lot. It won't hurt to try anyway. I get the white oak bark from Amazon.

Janet from Tennessee

[(Anonymous)]

I'm very sorry to hear about Hex...our days are numbered but we are
not always allowed to know the number of our days.

Also hoping your days of data entry are coming to a close. I think
that woodpecker was the universe's pack on the back.

Lauretta@ConstellationBooks

PS I know a lawyer who reads electronic books online because it
looks like he's working when he's really waiting for a call back.

Hexapuma

[james parks (from livejournal.com)]

Sorry to hear Hexapuma is feeling a bit under the weather. It's especially hard when it's a valued member of the family that's sick.

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

Very best wishes to Hex.

I just lost my third cat, the ex-feral mamacat that I adopted two and a half years ago, to traffic. I had hoped in two years survival as a stray that she had learned how to cope with our generally backwater street. She was becoming a sweet cat. If you approached her when she was relaxed or asleep and started skritching, she was immediately hypnotized and could be petted for a l-o-o-o-n-g time. And on a few notable occasions she would take the initiative and come into your lap. But she could not be touched when she was awake and alert. She had come so far, and I had hopes of her getting as comfortable with me as the two I adopted as infants. Ah, well... She had a couple of years of warmth and food and no continual pregnancies, anyway.