I really should learn to keep my obscure book quotes to myself. I was having supper with a group of girls this past Monday evening when the conversation turned to someone staying in another's spare room. The first girl said something about the girl in the spare room being "Sarah of Spare Oom." I can't resist a Narnia quote so around my spoonful of soup I sighed despondently and said "Food for Wiggles is poison for humans I shouldn't wonder."
They all looked at me like I had eels crawling out of my ears! Don't people read anymore??? Or are they all too busy watching the movies books are based on? Bless me but what DO they teach them at these schools?
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Well, it has been a while since I posted so I guess I should bite the bullet and do it. I have been obsessively commenting on back issues of the Wiggle's blog for the past half hour. Some people have all the fun......
Well Grandpa's funeral went well. Except that the graveside service was in the middle of a thunderstorm so we all got DRENCHED. I wore my Sutherland plaid and crest pin that reads SANS PEUR (without fear) to the funeral. Grandpa would have been thrilled.
My foot is still swollen as anything, and the foot surgeon says it will take a year for the swelling to go down. But I am gradually forcing my feet into more and more shoes.
After we got back it turns out that my blood tests for my liver aren't looking all that great so I got whisked down to Charleston for a liver biopsy. Let me just say that there are very VERY few things in this world I would rather do than have a ginormous needle shoved in my side; so I was rather, um, frightened...angry....irritated...all around not happy. But in the last eight years since I had one technology has improved. Instead of blindly shoving a needle in you and hoping they don't hit a vein or a lung they actually do a CT-scan first to see where everything is. Rather than being in the hospital all day (and potentially all night) I was in and out in five hours.
I have mentioned I had a liver transplant 13 years ago, haven't I? Well in case I have not, I had a transplant 13 years ago.
It turns out I had a little bit of rejection going on. Apparently I was not on enough medication, so they upped that by half and put me on a second one. Strange, I must have been poorly for longer than I thought (the few days before the biopsy I was actually not feeling to well, so apparently I was going down hill) because the past few weeks I have felt better than I have in several months. Praise God that after a month on the new regimen my blood tests are looking better. Oh! And, my cyclosporine is made in Canada. Olds, Alberta to be precise. I figured all my Canadian readers would appreciate that.
I don't have a permanent job yet, but I am faithfully looking. Unfortunately, I don't know that I am qualified to work in Canada....or Glasgow for that matter. ;) I wonder if that aspiration I had of teaching at Oxford is still viable.....
Well Grandpa's funeral went well. Except that the graveside service was in the middle of a thunderstorm so we all got DRENCHED. I wore my Sutherland plaid and crest pin that reads SANS PEUR (without fear) to the funeral. Grandpa would have been thrilled.
My foot is still swollen as anything, and the foot surgeon says it will take a year for the swelling to go down. But I am gradually forcing my feet into more and more shoes.
After we got back it turns out that my blood tests for my liver aren't looking all that great so I got whisked down to Charleston for a liver biopsy. Let me just say that there are very VERY few things in this world I would rather do than have a ginormous needle shoved in my side; so I was rather, um, frightened...angry....irritated...all around not happy. But in the last eight years since I had one technology has improved. Instead of blindly shoving a needle in you and hoping they don't hit a vein or a lung they actually do a CT-scan first to see where everything is. Rather than being in the hospital all day (and potentially all night) I was in and out in five hours.
I have mentioned I had a liver transplant 13 years ago, haven't I? Well in case I have not, I had a transplant 13 years ago.
It turns out I had a little bit of rejection going on. Apparently I was not on enough medication, so they upped that by half and put me on a second one. Strange, I must have been poorly for longer than I thought (the few days before the biopsy I was actually not feeling to well, so apparently I was going down hill) because the past few weeks I have felt better than I have in several months. Praise God that after a month on the new regimen my blood tests are looking better. Oh! And, my cyclosporine is made in Canada. Olds, Alberta to be precise. I figured all my Canadian readers would appreciate that.
I don't have a permanent job yet, but I am faithfully looking. Unfortunately, I don't know that I am qualified to work in Canada....or Glasgow for that matter. ;) I wonder if that aspiration I had of teaching at Oxford is still viable.....
Monday, June 15, 2009
My computer is being a PIECE OF JUNK! I'm wasting my evening fighting with it rather than getting things done. Well, what's been going on with my life.
Stitches came out right on schedule..but my did they pinch coming out. I was not expecting it to be that painful. I got fitted with a splint and had to wear it constantly for two weeks. The highlight was being able to take a real shower again.
Meantime, we get set to planning a family vacation. Great, haven't had a vacation in seven years. Asked for time off work and everything.. Sorry! Grandpa died, gotta go to his funeral. It wasn't unexpected, he had Alzheimer's for years and was in a nursing home for nearly a year. He had stopped eating some weeks before. We knew it would not be long. So, trek to Alabama to have a graveside service in a thunderstorm. We..got....soaked, but not as soaked as the honor guard who presented the flag and did a 21-gun salute for my grandfather. (He's a war veteran, Korea and Vietnam.)
Just before the funeral I went to the Highland Games that they hold in this city every year. I do not know why they wait until hot weather to have them, but they do....and I can't afford to go to the ones in Inverness. Five pipe and drum bands playing altogether....it was GLORIOUS! Deafening, but what a wonderful way to go deaf! I paid my dues and became an official member of the Mackintosh clan. (I'm a Ritchie, a sept of Clan Mackintosh, my friend, who is a Paul, is also a Mackintosh, so we are technically related.) I also signed the registries of Clan Sutherland (through the Cheyney family) and Clan Donnacaidh (Duncan, through the Williams). I bought myself a Sutherland tartan scarf and crest pin and wore them to Grandpa's funeral. He would have gotten a kick out of that. They asked me if I wanted to make a toast of friendship when I joined Clan Mackintosh...so I had a little silver cupful of Scotch. It was....strong to say the least.
Just before we left for Alabama I had x-rays and got permission to start trying to wear real shoes...I was so excited!!! What a dissapointment..... With the splint off, my foot swelled up so much I can't even get it into a shoe. Flip-flops are about all I can wear....at least it is summertime. I still have to wear the splint at night.
We had a massive thunderstorm today just as I got off work. I got soaked again. I had to park a ways away because they coned off the parking lot (again) for some function on campus. Hike to the car in the pouring rain. Very good Wiggle-weather.
Speaking of Wiggles, I once asked mine if Marsh-wiggles go to church. She said no, too close quarters for them to be in church. I said, well what if they sat one Wiggle per pew? I have proof now that they go to church, and that proof is in Ireland. In the book "The Flowering of Ireland: Saints, Scholars, & Kings" In the high cross at Moone, County Kidare there is, among other lively depictions of biblical scenes, a portrayal of the Miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes "five loaves, two fishes, and two eels....." Eels. Marsh-wiggles live in Ireland (or did at one time) and they go to church. And they carve their delicacies onto their monuments.
Stitches came out right on schedule..but my did they pinch coming out. I was not expecting it to be that painful. I got fitted with a splint and had to wear it constantly for two weeks. The highlight was being able to take a real shower again.
Meantime, we get set to planning a family vacation. Great, haven't had a vacation in seven years. Asked for time off work and everything.. Sorry! Grandpa died, gotta go to his funeral. It wasn't unexpected, he had Alzheimer's for years and was in a nursing home for nearly a year. He had stopped eating some weeks before. We knew it would not be long. So, trek to Alabama to have a graveside service in a thunderstorm. We..got....soaked, but not as soaked as the honor guard who presented the flag and did a 21-gun salute for my grandfather. (He's a war veteran, Korea and Vietnam.)
Just before the funeral I went to the Highland Games that they hold in this city every year. I do not know why they wait until hot weather to have them, but they do....and I can't afford to go to the ones in Inverness. Five pipe and drum bands playing altogether....it was GLORIOUS! Deafening, but what a wonderful way to go deaf! I paid my dues and became an official member of the Mackintosh clan. (I'm a Ritchie, a sept of Clan Mackintosh, my friend, who is a Paul, is also a Mackintosh, so we are technically related.) I also signed the registries of Clan Sutherland (through the Cheyney family) and Clan Donnacaidh (Duncan, through the Williams). I bought myself a Sutherland tartan scarf and crest pin and wore them to Grandpa's funeral. He would have gotten a kick out of that. They asked me if I wanted to make a toast of friendship when I joined Clan Mackintosh...so I had a little silver cupful of Scotch. It was....strong to say the least.
Just before we left for Alabama I had x-rays and got permission to start trying to wear real shoes...I was so excited!!! What a dissapointment..... With the splint off, my foot swelled up so much I can't even get it into a shoe. Flip-flops are about all I can wear....at least it is summertime. I still have to wear the splint at night.
We had a massive thunderstorm today just as I got off work. I got soaked again. I had to park a ways away because they coned off the parking lot (again) for some function on campus. Hike to the car in the pouring rain. Very good Wiggle-weather.
Speaking of Wiggles, I once asked mine if Marsh-wiggles go to church. She said no, too close quarters for them to be in church. I said, well what if they sat one Wiggle per pew? I have proof now that they go to church, and that proof is in Ireland. In the book "The Flowering of Ireland: Saints, Scholars, & Kings" In the high cross at Moone, County Kidare there is, among other lively depictions of biblical scenes, a portrayal of the Miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes "five loaves, two fishes, and two eels....." Eels. Marsh-wiggles live in Ireland (or did at one time) and they go to church. And they carve their delicacies onto their monuments.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Other Explanations as to Why I have a Bandaged Foot and a Limp That Sound More Heroic Than Bunion Surgery.....
1. A Dalek ran over my foot.
2. Davros ran over it.
3. It nearly got bit off by a Drashig.
4. I kicked the Master too hard in the head.
5. I dropped a bag of REALLY stale Jelly Babies on it.
6. Man, that Lady of the Green Kirtle got REAL mad at me when I stomped on her fire. What a snake!
7. Never go fishing with your feet! At least if you are a human!
8. The White Witch drove her sled over my foot.
9. I dropped a cricket ball on it. (Highly improbable, since I've never even held one. Although I DID get a softball dropped on the same foot last summer.)
10. While making an exciting and new archaeological discovery, someone pushed over a huge idol in the temple and it landed on my foot.
11. I tangled with a very large opossum.
12. I was in the museum late one night and someone was trying to break in and steal priceless artifacts. In an attempt to thwart them, the thieves ran over my foot with the getaway car. (heh, Indiana Jones I'm not. Which leads to 10)
13. I was practicing with my whip when things got out of hand.
14. No one told me there was a shark in the water......
15. While helping two old friends by the name of Holmes and Watson solve a grisly murder, Watson tripped over a fold in the rug and landed on my foot. That Watson, he's so clumsy....
16. You know, I always heard those beavers in Canada were dangerous, but I never believed it......
OK has this gotten silly enough yet?
I'm just trying to entertain myself until I can have my stitches out.
The surgery was the 14th, a week ago this past Thursday. As for the surgery part, it was one of the easiest I had. Although the nurse had to tell the anesthesiologist he could not do anything to me until she got my heart rate down after putting the IV in. (OK so I got a little nervous.) A nerve block, some mild sedation and I was whisked off to surgery. I did not sleep the whole time, and got to hear the surgeon and all attendees have little conversations about things. I heard someone say "Careful not to leave a scar." and the surgeon said "I don't think she's worried about scars." True, from my neck to my waist I have a ridiculous amount of them, what's one more?
After surgery all was good, save for the fact that I could not walk, which drove me nuts. Until the nerve block wore off.....then I wanted to DIE. I have been in a lot of pain before, but that was almost unbearable. Two Lortab (4 hours apart) finally made me able to sleep. I was on Lortab all the next day and still could not walk, too painful. Could not walk Saturday, but graduated to extra strength Tylenol instead.
Pain subsided enough Sunday to let me walk with a cane. Every day the pain gets a little less. I was on heavy doses of Tylenol until Wednesday when my specialist called saying my routine blood tests were showing my liver was stressed. No more Tylenol! SO, I have been off any sort of pain pills since 2 p.m. Wednesday. Actually, I'm in almost no pain and have not really used the cane since Thursday. I still have a massive bandage on my foot (it's been there over a week and is getting nasty) and have to wear a big, heavy, ugly post-op shoe. Stitches and nasty bandage come off Tuesday (YAY!) and hopefully I will have a little smaller bandage. Still have to wear the shoe.
Maybe in a few more weeks, I can wear real shoes again.....
1. A Dalek ran over my foot.
2. Davros ran over it.
3. It nearly got bit off by a Drashig.
4. I kicked the Master too hard in the head.
5. I dropped a bag of REALLY stale Jelly Babies on it.
6. Man, that Lady of the Green Kirtle got REAL mad at me when I stomped on her fire. What a snake!
7. Never go fishing with your feet! At least if you are a human!
8. The White Witch drove her sled over my foot.
9. I dropped a cricket ball on it. (Highly improbable, since I've never even held one. Although I DID get a softball dropped on the same foot last summer.)
10. While making an exciting and new archaeological discovery, someone pushed over a huge idol in the temple and it landed on my foot.
11. I tangled with a very large opossum.
12. I was in the museum late one night and someone was trying to break in and steal priceless artifacts. In an attempt to thwart them, the thieves ran over my foot with the getaway car. (heh, Indiana Jones I'm not. Which leads to 10)
13. I was practicing with my whip when things got out of hand.
14. No one told me there was a shark in the water......
15. While helping two old friends by the name of Holmes and Watson solve a grisly murder, Watson tripped over a fold in the rug and landed on my foot. That Watson, he's so clumsy....
16. You know, I always heard those beavers in Canada were dangerous, but I never believed it......
OK has this gotten silly enough yet?
I'm just trying to entertain myself until I can have my stitches out.
The surgery was the 14th, a week ago this past Thursday. As for the surgery part, it was one of the easiest I had. Although the nurse had to tell the anesthesiologist he could not do anything to me until she got my heart rate down after putting the IV in. (OK so I got a little nervous.) A nerve block, some mild sedation and I was whisked off to surgery. I did not sleep the whole time, and got to hear the surgeon and all attendees have little conversations about things. I heard someone say "Careful not to leave a scar." and the surgeon said "I don't think she's worried about scars." True, from my neck to my waist I have a ridiculous amount of them, what's one more?
After surgery all was good, save for the fact that I could not walk, which drove me nuts. Until the nerve block wore off.....then I wanted to DIE. I have been in a lot of pain before, but that was almost unbearable. Two Lortab (4 hours apart) finally made me able to sleep. I was on Lortab all the next day and still could not walk, too painful. Could not walk Saturday, but graduated to extra strength Tylenol instead.
Pain subsided enough Sunday to let me walk with a cane. Every day the pain gets a little less. I was on heavy doses of Tylenol until Wednesday when my specialist called saying my routine blood tests were showing my liver was stressed. No more Tylenol! SO, I have been off any sort of pain pills since 2 p.m. Wednesday. Actually, I'm in almost no pain and have not really used the cane since Thursday. I still have a massive bandage on my foot (it's been there over a week and is getting nasty) and have to wear a big, heavy, ugly post-op shoe. Stitches and nasty bandage come off Tuesday (YAY!) and hopefully I will have a little smaller bandage. Still have to wear the shoe.
Maybe in a few more weeks, I can wear real shoes again.....
Saturday, May 9, 2009
I am positively seething. Charles is my former love interest and he's about to become my former friend. He really crossed the line last night.
Let me begin by saying that this man swears that I no longer want to be with him because my parents brain washed me into it. I made the decision of my own free will, and it has more to do with him being a mama's boy with an attitude that he is superior to everyone and NEVER EVER admits that he is ever wrong about anything or has any faults. And the fact that he is an insanely bitter person who can't go five minutes without either whining about something or being in someone's face about a disagreement he has with them. Charles is also convinced that I spent all my home school years locked in the basement being brain-washed. Let me also say that this man has been particularly belligerent and antagonistic not just toward me but toward most of the world since I broke up with him. While our own circle have all be more than nice to him. So, on to last night.
I was talking to him and several other friends when someone (probably me and my big mouth) brought up home schooling. We chatted about it for a bit when he says "Homeschooling is not good." Now I know he really detests home schooling so I asked why he said that. The reply was "It may improve academic performance to a point, but it severely impairs social experience and skills." I asked what was wrong with my social skills and he said "And when you deal with politics in the workplace and anywhere else now, what happens?
You lose your cool and get upset."
That rather hurt me. I know I am not the most emotionally mature person in the world, and yes I can have a bit of a temper problem, but I am far better than I used to be. And yes, it has been a hard long road. I said to him I would probably be of the same personality even if I had gone to public school. I said some things about people can't be changed. His reply was "Umm.....bull corn, once again. I see you and I are going to have a philosophical impasse." I said "I'm not going to argue with you. You can have your opinion and I can have mine without causing a tear in space-time"
His reply was "This is true. I'm right, but it's still true."
I'm still seething as I type this. I wanted to slap his face. I SHOULD have said "I'd like to see you read Seneca!" Or "At least I'm not a mama's boy!". Let me add that Charles was one of the most withdrawn and antisocial people I knew in college so to quote my mother, the pot is calling the kettle black here.
*sigh* I try not to be maladjusted and antisocial. What can I do?
Let me begin by saying that this man swears that I no longer want to be with him because my parents brain washed me into it. I made the decision of my own free will, and it has more to do with him being a mama's boy with an attitude that he is superior to everyone and NEVER EVER admits that he is ever wrong about anything or has any faults. And the fact that he is an insanely bitter person who can't go five minutes without either whining about something or being in someone's face about a disagreement he has with them. Charles is also convinced that I spent all my home school years locked in the basement being brain-washed. Let me also say that this man has been particularly belligerent and antagonistic not just toward me but toward most of the world since I broke up with him. While our own circle have all be more than nice to him. So, on to last night.
I was talking to him and several other friends when someone (probably me and my big mouth) brought up home schooling. We chatted about it for a bit when he says "Homeschooling is not good." Now I know he really detests home schooling so I asked why he said that. The reply was "It may improve academic performance to a point, but it severely impairs social experience and skills." I asked what was wrong with my social skills and he said "And when you deal with politics in the workplace and anywhere else now, what happens?
You lose your cool and get upset."
That rather hurt me. I know I am not the most emotionally mature person in the world, and yes I can have a bit of a temper problem, but I am far better than I used to be. And yes, it has been a hard long road. I said to him I would probably be of the same personality even if I had gone to public school. I said some things about people can't be changed. His reply was "Umm.....bull corn, once again. I see you and I are going to have a philosophical impasse." I said "I'm not going to argue with you. You can have your opinion and I can have mine without causing a tear in space-time"
His reply was "This is true. I'm right, but it's still true."
I'm still seething as I type this. I wanted to slap his face. I SHOULD have said "I'd like to see you read Seneca!" Or "At least I'm not a mama's boy!". Let me add that Charles was one of the most withdrawn and antisocial people I knew in college so to quote my mother, the pot is calling the kettle black here.
*sigh* I try not to be maladjusted and antisocial. What can I do?
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Reshpeckobiggle.....
No there's nothing frog with me...yet. But I will probably be equivalent to a Respectowiggle next week when I am taking lortab after the surgery. I signed the paperwork for surgery Monday. When filling out my info they asked if I had a religious preference. "Uhhh......Christian? Other than that I'm not picky." I was rather caught off guard there. What would I say, Protestant? Baptist? "I'm Agnostic, say half a prayer for me."? I wouldn't call myself non-denominational but I cringe to think who th hospital might send if I'm dying on the table. My dad will be there, he's a liscenced minister. Can I have him?
In the mean time, I am enjoying reading Seneca. Nothing like a kindly Roman Stoic out to improve his fellow man to ease the soul. That and I am getting into this http://www.icc.ac.uk/content/are-evangelicals-fundamentalists. This dispute interests me particularly at this point because I work for a hyper-separatist/fundamentalist organization that likes to tell me what to wear, what to listen to, and what to watch. They also tend to cringe and make the sign of the cross over you if you mention the work Evangelical. (I myself am not a separatist, at least in that way.)
Also "The final meeting of the project is scheduled to be held in London in December 2009 and the organisers extend an invitation to anyone who is interested in hearing the outcomes of the research. Further details will be posted on the project’s website nearer the time. " Ooh! Can I come? Not only does the subject interest me but...it's in London! Whee!! I've never even been outside the US!
I am acting a bit erratic tonight....maybe I don't need the pain meds. ;)
As for what Reyna said about having to pay for everything and being one broken bone or cold away fro, being bankrupt.....Yes, that is how it is for some people. And, if you have a pre-existing condition (like me) it's a nightmare to get insurance companies to accept you. Unless you have AIDS, then they have to take you anyway......
In the mean time, I am enjoying reading Seneca. Nothing like a kindly Roman Stoic out to improve his fellow man to ease the soul. That and I am getting into this http://www.icc.ac.uk/content/are-evangelicals-fundamentalists. This dispute interests me particularly at this point because I work for a hyper-separatist/fundamentalist organization that likes to tell me what to wear, what to listen to, and what to watch. They also tend to cringe and make the sign of the cross over you if you mention the work Evangelical. (I myself am not a separatist, at least in that way.)
Also "The final meeting of the project is scheduled to be held in London in December 2009 and the organisers extend an invitation to anyone who is interested in hearing the outcomes of the research. Further details will be posted on the project’s website nearer the time. " Ooh! Can I come? Not only does the subject interest me but...it's in London! Whee!! I've never even been outside the US!
I am acting a bit erratic tonight....maybe I don't need the pain meds. ;)
As for what Reyna said about having to pay for everything and being one broken bone or cold away fro, being bankrupt.....Yes, that is how it is for some people. And, if you have a pre-existing condition (like me) it's a nightmare to get insurance companies to accept you. Unless you have AIDS, then they have to take you anyway......
Friday, May 1, 2009
So now I have three Canadians following this thing, eh? Some kind of odd trend.... I suppose I must now start translating all my measurements.
Speaking of Canada, I was bored (as usual) at my job the other day so I started messing around with the internet and looking at the weather forecast. I looked up High River, Alberta. It was about 68 degrees F here at the time (20 C) and it was 4 degrees C in High River. I thought to myself "What? 4 degrees? It's the middle of April and it's that cold? How do people LIVE up there?" Then I realized it said 4 C. Uhh yeah, dumb American again. It was 39 F, a more reasonable temperature. I suppose. My air conditioner is broken and it is 79 degrees F in my house (26 C).
It's been 12 degrees C (55 F) and rainy in Glasgow lately. Rather nice weather for Marsh-Wiggles I'll wager.
I was applying for a job online last weekend when it application asked me if I was certified to work in Canada. (No, I'm not) But I thought to myself "Sure, move me up there. Send me to High River. Maybe then my health insurance won't cost me $564 a month. And I can do something besides shove papers around all day."
As for the Swine Flu, let's hope it stays minimized. One of my co-workers was coming down with something yesterday but we could not persuade her to GO HOME! I did not see her today so I don't know what she has...
Turns out that I am going to have to have surgery. I have a rather painful bunion on my left foot. It's gotten to the point that I can barely wear shoes without being in pain. The surgeon has to go in and re-align the crooked bone and pin it. It's outpatient so no hospital time and I can walk on it right away. Still, I am nervous. This is by no means the first surgery I have had, and it is probably one of the least invasive. BUT....it is the first one I have had to plan myself and the first one I have had to think about. Surgery's on the 14th, two weeks from yesterday. I want to get this taken care of, but I really don't want to have surgery.
Turns out that I am going to have to have surgery. I have a rather painful bunion on my left foot. It's gotten to the point that I can barely wear shoes without being in pain. The surgeon has to go in and re-align the crooked bone and pin it. It's outpatient so no hospital time and I can walk on it right away. Still, I am nervous. This is by no means the first surgery I have had, and it is probably one of the least invasive. BUT....it is the first one I have had to plan myself and the first one I have had to think about. Surgery's on the 14th, two weeks from yesterday. I want to get this taken care of, but I really don't want to have surgery.
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