3 Paws Saloon Attic

Dr Val, I do believe you're on to something. Must remember to keep our pillows fluffed and propped up.

But T-Rex appears to be bounding back heaps faster than me. His temperature's back to normal and his appetite's back. Ate a whole pizza all by himself last night.

Still, I hope to be back at work by Monday...

Nope, not a legal leg to stand on for discrimination grounds.  From what I was told by Simon (our DM) the problem is a district employee saw it (couple with that 'anonymous' call). Since it was 'officially' reported, it has to be 'officially' dealt with. Otherwise, it would be dealt with in house.   I've butted heads enough times in life to know, it just isn't worth the battle in such cases.  You get all these cute labels like 'uncooperative', and they'll just use some other excuse to fire you. And yeah, since we're contracted by the district, if they brought enough pressure, I'd probably get canned or forced into quitting. And we know with the latter, they have their ways, especially when if quit you might not get unemployment or any compensation.  But since, I'm being all 'cooperative' it leans towards the good. 

Yep. Taking a break in cleaning... just a wee one though. Actually waiting for half the floor to dry so I can move stuff and mop the other half.  Might not win an award for House Immaculate or House Beautiful, but...at least, I know I tried and there shouldn't be any unkind remarks, unless the guy that comes is a neat freak. lol

I was talking to God about this last night, and it occured to me that this could be a blessing in disguise. Jerome finally admitted that he'd been to bio-mom's who has- guess what? Uh-huh... and he 'might' have brought some home, but he hadn't wanted to tell me as he was scared he'd get kicked out.  Ok...that explains a lot. Our coats hang next to each other - or rather did. Since the incident, I've been keeping mine isolated.  Given that,I should have the apartment treated - just in case, you know? But, it's pretty expensive. I hear everything from $300 to thousands. No way can I afford even the cheap one.  But, I have promises of getting help. So, we'll see.  

I haven't seen Jerome all morning. He must be hiding out somewhere. I told him I wasn't happy about this, but it's going to be ok.  Still, dark side of the moon and all.  

That was some story, T-Rex! A real breath holder.

Nothing but more bad news on my end. But, I am digging in my heels. I started to cry a couple of times, but told me not to do this to myself.  I just need to be brutal about this. 

Thanks, Jadeite,

Helps to be buoyed up a bit. As you know, I was hesitant to even mention my problems on the boards. Not sure why, not like they can be transferred via internet.  Just the whole stigma thing, I suppose, and as someone pointed out to me, no telling what 'guest' is reading.  

Things are going, slowly to be sure, but going. 

Hooray, lungs normal!

Still plagued by coughing fits though. I hope I'm not keeping the neighbours awake <cringe>. But I got us a few tins of boiled sweets and now I'm happily going through some yummy barley sugars. They help for a while - thanks for the tip, Val.

Just have to wait for this round of antibiotics to run its course.

Got some Chinese takeaway food from the restaurant across the road the other night. Dave often tips the delivery boy (tipping not required in Australia)and I always give him extra money in a red packet during Chinese New Year and Christmas. Paul, the owner would always include something extra with our order. Could be fried shredded beef, spicy soy chicken, honey chicken, prawn crackers, fried rice or a bottle of soft drink. I've tried telling them it isn't necessary to do that but Paul tells me: "No, we must!"

We got some extra chicken stir-fry this time. I shall add them to udon noodles, veg and stock for a chicken noodle soup tonight. Who's coming over for dinner? I'll save you a bowl.

That's such good news.    

I'll use that X-Files quote again "Trust nobody - The truth is out there". Shop Around.

Co. #1 either loads in a huge mark-up on labor or you would have got the gold plated treatment (NOT). 

Restores my faith in "The Local Company" and the "Big Fella Upstairs". Thanks mate!! 

Almost 4:30 AM, been up since around 2:30, doing 'quiet' things, because making a lot of noise at this hour is just...well, rude. 

I did borrow a dolly from the guy downstairs to trundle some large items down to the basement. Things I've been wanting to relegate down there anyway.  Now, I just need to teach Jerome how to use it.  I hope he gets up earlier then he has been. Maybe he isn't 'going anywhere', but we've still things to do! 

Right now, I'm pretty peeved with him, so not much in the sympathy coffer left to give.  Wednesday, I was saying that if the guys were willing next week, I'd have them take the sofa out, and he went off on a tangent.  "Then what do I sit on?" (I wish you could hear the whine.) 

me: Guess you'll take over the armchair  (silently I think, "That you've broken the springs in anyway.) and I'll find a box or something to sit on until we get a new one."

him: You can't afford a new sofa.

me: Save up for it.

him: You can't even save up for the summer!

me: This isn't helping-

He erupts, tearing his shirt like the Hulk or something. Buttons go flying and he shreds his shirt storming out.   Comes back a bit later, "Great. Now I'm going to die of the heat 'cause I gotta keep my coat on."

Silly me asks why. "Because I have NO shirts! (Again with that petulant whine...) I've shredded all of them, and I don't have any money to get more!"

Inwardly I think, "And who's fault is that? I'm not getting you more", but I keep quiet. Let him suffer, maybe he'll learn.  Since yesterday hit 70+ out (spring, is that really you?) I took pity - somewhat.  I told him to put his vest on. He objected, "You can't wear a vest without a shirt!"  Me: "Yeah, you can. Welcome to the redneck way of life, son. It's called making do."  He stomps around in his coat for a bit, and then caves.  Now he keeps whining that he feels 'naked'. Too bad. So sad. 

Well...guess I should maybe have some breakfast and get back to it.

Thanks Val, I learnt a new word today. It looked Latin and seemed anatomical. My first thought was 'You kicked him WHERE??'.   

In my shocked state, I consulted uncle Google and learnt that the word was Yiddish in nature and best of all, only meant something that we all sit on. I don't think he has been kicked there enough times for the message to sink in yet.

The imitation of the Hulk is ironic. The rage that the Big Green Guy feels is, in the majority, of his own making (nobody to blame but himself). I've always wondered how his pants always stay intact - thank god!!

Hey, I've got an idea - when the time comes to take the stuff down to the basement, why don't you paint Jerome green and nobody will give him a second glance (as long as he's wearing pants).

Fergie,

Let Shen know that she possesses a rare talent - impressing boyfriend's mums.

I once thought that I had a similar talent with girlfriend's mums but I 'crashed and burned' at my first meeting with Jadeite's mum. At four feet ten inches and a school teacher (you never retire) she scared the living daylights out of me! She didn't smile or joke in my presence for about a week. Now, I'm severely spoilt by her - after all, she is my mum now.

Considering the circumstances, I wouldn't be too sympathetic toward Jerome either. This calls for "tough love", Val. It's also a learning experience he's got to go through. No running away or hiding from the consequences. Reality bites. You can get him a stool and he can go sit in the naughty corner...

(Haha, must be channelling my Mum - I did do a stint of relief teaching back at my old school. I was class teacher of 45 x eight year olds. They were as easier to handle than Jerome though.)

Fergie, so happy to know that things are going well with Shen and the boyfriend. Sounds like his mother's won over. As T-Rex knows, the Mother has to approve.

Well, Fergie, we've weathered a few cultural shocks on both sides of the family over the past few decades. They're rather funny now when we look back on them. Things were a lot different in those days. But we're all richer in understanding for the experience. For all our differences, our families are very much the same in our hopes, fears and wanting only the best for our loved ones.

I still tease Mum about how "fierce" she was with T-Rex. She's got the LOOK. Stops a toddler tantrum at ten paces. Reduces whiney teen into this high in seconds. Scares living daylights out of new boyfriends.

Of course there were no objections to you. How could anyone say "no" to you?

Tuckus in Latin =  gluteus maximus.  

Everyone here is so blessed to have in laws that love them. I was not so lucky. My FIL, liked me well enough, but the mother? Well, she liked me well enough until she learned 2 things; I didn't come from money (never said I did. But to her that meant I was from the 'wrong side of the tracks') and  that I had a brother in prison. Which means I come from rotten stock and must be 'bad' too.   She was stereo-typical too.  

At our first apartment, you needed to go through our bedroom to use the restroom.  After one of their visits I noticed our bedspread was a tiny bit turned up near the floor, as if someone had been looking underneath it. My guess was his mom, was checking to see if I cleaned under the bed. The next time they were over I placed a placard under the bed. It read, "Hello, nosey!". All I know for sure is she came back from the restroom, beet red!  lol Serves her right.

On the flipside of the coin, I was going with a fella whose mother liked me SO much that when we broke up  she'd call me and beg me to take him back... that went on for like 6 months. Kinda weird...  

Yeh. of course I agree with Jadeite (otherwise she might get scary) LoL.

It's almost as if one is considered as 'breeding stock' rather than 'do these two love each other'? Stone age mentality based on assumptions and we all know what happens when we ASSUME (something about making an ASS of U and ME). Definitely not the first person on one's Xmas Card List - sorry that's single person sentiment - a lot more complicated when married.

I also love the placard. Another one that might have raised an eye brow would be a dust pan and brush with a sign saying 'Thanks for looking. Can you please start in the corner'.

By the way, I did not have such a good time with the 'fathers' in my youth.

When I was finishing up in senior high school, I started dating the daughter of the local Crown Police Sergeant. My dad literally took me by the ear and gave me a stern lecture about either saying good bye to the young lady NOW or I would have to treat her like a goddess. I was already treating her like a goddess, so there was not a problem.

No problem until I met her parents; in particular her dad. I looked at him and he looked at me and we both realized that we had met before. 6 months earlier, I had gotten mixed up in an altercation with an 'out of towner' trying to bully one of our younger clan members down at the beach. We were parted by the same Police Sergeant and given a lecture and threats of being taken down to the Police Station if our argument continued. We pretended to now be good friends and thanked the Sergeant.

Over dinner, we laughed and joked about the incident but the laughter never made it to the eyes. This was like dangling a red rag in front of a bull, I knew his thoughts and I was going to prove him wrong.

Funny how you get blind sided by reality. Within 2 weeks I was dumped by the young lady because I was too boring and did not live up to my reputation as a 'bad boy'. I chuckle at the irony now but at the time I was devastated. Once again dad's first suggestion was the least painful of the two options. 

Val, I found a few great John Wayne quotes for you:

"Hurry it up. We’re burning daylight."

"You tangle with me, I’ll have your hide."

"When the road looks rough ahead, remember the 'Man Upstairs' and the word H-O-P-E. Hang onto both and 'tough it out.'"

And finally, in the words of the Terminator:

"Hasta la vista, baby!"

I think animals are a good judge of character, perhaps better than their human counterparts at times.

After 16 days, since your first hint that something was wrong, I really do hope that you are only a step or two away from leaving the woods and feeling the sun on your back. 

You've still got a cheer squad out here in the ether. Go Val, Go Val, Go Val !!! 

Just my advice - Don't let up on Jerome just yet. He still owes you some good behavior (at least) and that includes no more tearing shirts.  

That would be so cool if we all could, Jadeite. Just the idea of some homemade potstickers has my mouth watering. Rated slightly under meeting some of my favorite people on the planet. I bet we'd all have a blast just kicking back and trading ghostly tales. Wouldn't need any fancy entertaining.  

Oh, I have a potsticker story for you!  Awhile back my daughter and I went out to lunch, and the place, somewhat of a sports bar, had them on their menu. Many folks don't know that depending on place of origin potstickers can taste different, let alone depending on the cook.  I think there's just an alteration in recipe or something, because a Korean potsticker seems heavier than a Vietnamese, and both taste dif than Chinese, and the Chinese seems to depend a bit on providence/state or whatever you call it, and seems to taste a bit different than the Japanese. Then of course so many of our restaurants Americanize the poor thing so much it barely qualifies as a potsticker any more. Although it's basically a Chinese dumpling - it really shouldn't be all doughy/wet.   So, I was asking questions about them. The waiter/bartender seemed surprised that I knew anything about them, and actually got a bit excited, which I thought weird, but uh...okay.  

Now, we hadn't ordered the potstickers, they came up in conversation after our order had been placed, but here comes a small plate of them. The waiter/bartender (caucasian by the way) says the cook insists I try them, as they so seldom seem to have guests that appear to actually know their food.   Man! Were they good! I was nodding and saying, "Now THAT'S a potsticker! My compliments to the cook," and his face is splitting in 2 with the biggest grin, and he says, "Good! I will tell my wife!"  lol.  Being a small eater, we have leftovers that get packed up, and when I got home, I found another serving of them with a note saying, "Enjoy!"  

Tuesday should tell the tale on if I'm out of the woods or not, yet. This company carries a 90 day guarantee, so they must be pretty confident in what they do. I won't be home before they arrive, so I have to depend on Jerome to get Kirby out of the apartment. I told him, since they might be as early as 12, maybe about 11 or so he should start trying to get Kirby down into the basement, which would be less stressful than last minute. I'll remind him of this on Monday. I'll also call the company and let them know I won't be here (or do I need to be?) and where I'll leave the check. Make sure I'm getting the new encasements, etc.  And hopefully that'll be the end of this drama, except for putting things back, which I can do slowly as there's no deadline on that. 

Thought the teddies might enjoy this:

Oh do tell their picnicking adventure! My mom use to sing us that song, in turn I sang it to nieces and nephews, then my own little ones, and literally 100s of other children that happened along.  ( I use to have an in home day care.)

I think I scared Jerome a bit earlier.  For the past 3 days I have been telling him to take the recycling out. He always 'forgets'. My guess is he thinks if he delays long enough - guess who will take care of it?   Well, I came home, he's watching TV, and the bin runneth over.  Ok the apartment looks bad enough with everything we own stacked up in plastic trash bags. do we need the extra 'atmosphere' that empty bottles and such gives?   I sighed and started to lift the bin up, saw the dishes were STILL in the drainer (I'd ask that he put them away), and I thought, nope, not gonna happen. "Gosh darn it, Jerome! Why the Sam Hill am I tripping over the recycling?  And WHY haven't you put up the dishes? Are you out to prove you're the laziest good for nothing on the face of the planet? Cause you're sure doing a great job of it!"  

He comes waddling into the kitchen after standing up with much effort.  "I was going to do it later -" his eyes are large.

I cut him off, "Yeah you said that yesterday, and the day before.  Well, this is later." I pick up the bin and thrust it at him, "Take it NOW."

"Can it wait until this episode-"

"It's Hulu, Jerome hit the frickin' pause button. You can watch it after you take out the cycling and put away the dishes."

"OK - OK."  Fastest I've seen him move in a long time.   I expected another episode when he got back, like dishes 'accidently' breaking because he got clumsy trying to be too fast or something. Instead he asks me if I need him to go to the store, and he's keeping a low profile. We'll see how long it lasts.

I went back for my monthly checkup with my liver specialist yesterday.

All tests are looking good except my red blood cell count is on the low side of average but no concerns as this is probably a side effect of my medication.

I see my lung specialist next week and arrange for the the next round of 'killer flu' shots in 2 weeks.

I must be doing something right as monthly checkups are now two monthly! The last vein that I have left for giving blood is breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Gee Wizz, Jerome - you're displaying lazy tendencies that (I can attest to) will get you in trouble with those that care about you. This behavior comes from the 'lizard' part of your brain where only the very important things get remembered for more than one day (that's those things that cause pleasure or pain). So don't make promises that you don't intend to keep - cause people that know you will know!

Val - I hope and pray that everything goes according to plan.  

Fergie, I was very struck by Angel's eyes, she possessed a very happy soul.  Thanks for sharing.

Yes, 2 treatments are very common. From what I understand, it's very easy to miss an egg  or for 'survivors' to burrow deeper into the walls or say upholstered furniture, to try and avoid the chemicals used, but generally they resurface within a week looking for a meal and some trace sign can be found. We were told that usually the first treatment will 'greatly reduce' activity, and the 2nd finish them off, so we were unusual in that the first time seemed to have gotten them all. So the 2nd treatment is more or less a follow up, like a 2nd rinse cycle with laundry, just to be sure. Also, with the company I went with, there's a 90 day guarantee. 

I'd place Jerome around 12/13 for most areas, although he says 16-18. Ummm - yeah - no, an immature 12 is more like it.  He does grow, just at a much slower pace than the norm.  

Fergie (the speediest Daily Trivia contestant in the west!),

After looking at your pictures of Angel, it struck me that the camera loved both Angel and Shen (must come from Angel's mum). Oh, Shakespeare and the dreaded subject of English. I left reading books to the last year of High School before I discovered 'Day of the Triffids' and 'Lord of the Rings'. They helped me achieve a basic pass in English and matriculation into University. Did Angel have a travelling teddy bear just like Jadeite? DJ had his own passport and was only once refused to be stamped - when we entered the Maldives. Beautiful place, severe authorities.  

Val, so good to hear that things are now heading in the right direction for you.    I hope Kirby will forget all these disruptions and get back to normal. I've said enough about Jerome.

Thanks ladies for your ongoing support, it means a lot.  

Nearly every word in Jadeite's latest story is true!  

Well Val, the teddy bears' picnic is nearly 95% true though. We did pack a picnic lunch to the park under the Roseville bridge. I did feed Doritos to this big bold crow, who hopped onto a branch right next to me. When I thought he had enough chips, I turned my back on him and he sidled up closer to me on the branch and went "Caw", then a much louder "CAW!" It was a demanding thing. He also flew off and returned with his smaller mate for me to feed as well. They are quite intelligent birds, crows. Great survivors.
Wilson wasn't accosted in any way, though he, DJ and Dukey-boy were in the basket at the time. They only pretend-eat - they are teddy bears, after all.

We did spot this whole tribe of water dragons near the exit. The largest ones all claimed the tables as the best spots for basking. There was a short but exciting battle between two males over one table. The bigger dragon won, as expected.

The bunnies were there in full force on the grass. The big brown bunny looked like it was on lookout. When we drove past, I held Duke up to the window to wave to the bunnies. The brown bunny actually sat up and looked right at Duke, its ears shot straight up. It occurred to us that the bear was roughly the same shape, size and colour as the bunny. I'm sure it thought there was another bunny in the car. Its reaction was sooo cute!

Hi lil-woflie - sorry to hear of the hassles with the family. Sad how greed tends to wipe out family ties.

I've seen similar dramas from both sides of the family over such matters too. Leaves a nasty taste no mouthwash can rid. But there family that you're born to and family that you choose. That includes the furkids.

All the best in your new place.